Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

[KG]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Clutch tips. Thank you.

If I were to bike to the basketball courts and play for a few hours, would I have to turn that into two trips? One bike ride there, stop, start another ride back, then stop?

Naa....you can pause the ride and resume it when you ride home.

[DJ]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

The weather here in Colorado the past month has been ridiculous. Rain every day, along with some snow and hail. I've never seen a May like this in my 11 years here. We're barely at 60 degrees, a good 10-20 degrees below usual temps at this time.

Managed to get a 2-hour ride in today. Of course, the second I got on the road the skies opened up and I was riding in the rain for a good 30 minutes. Thankfully I have some excellent rain-proof gear so I stayed pretty dry. The ride was a lot of fun, despite the rain.

Two weeks from today I'm doing a 40-mile ride. It's a big event in CO; there's a 100-mile and 67-mile ride in addition to the one I'm doing. Figured 40 was a good starting point for me, as I typically don't ride more than 25-30 miles on my longer rides around town. Plus, I'm running a half-marathon next week, so don't want to destroy my legs.

[Hammerhunker]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

The weather here in Colorado the past month has been ridiculous. Rain every day, along with some snow and hail. I've never seen a May like this in my 11 years here. We're barely at 60 degrees, a good 10-20 degrees below usual temps at this time.

Weird year! Remember the near 70 degree weather in February? At least we've caught up in water content and the fire danger is low. We'll be complaining about the heat in no time, no doubt.

[VDusen04]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Question for anyone who might use MapMyRide, does is there a way to pause it when you stop without manually hitting the button? Can it recognize that speed has dropped to 0.0 or anything?

Separately, I've heard that biking and running work completely different muscles, but can biking offer benefits for basketball? Or is it counter-intuitive?

[DJ]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Question for anyone who might use MapMyRide, does is there a way to pause it when you stop without manually hitting the button? Can it recognize that speed has dropped to 0.0 or anything?

Separately, I've heard that biking and running work completely different muscles, but can biking offer benefits for basketball? Or is it counter-intuitive?

There's a few differences in muscles recruited during running and cycling. (This is from an article a few years ago that I've lost the link to, but have in a word doc)

1. The type of strength. Running involves absorbing shocks, which is an eccentric contraction for the main leg muscles involved. Cycling doesn't involve absorbing any shock, except perhaps downhill mountain biking. In cycling, you perform concentric contractions with the leg muscles, and isometric contractions (holding still) with the core and other stabilizing muscles. Incidentally, this is why delayed onset muscle soreness is more common in running than cycling.

2. The muscle groups involved. I wish I knew more about this. in general, I'd say cycling is more specifically heavy on the quadriceps and back/neck muscles (to maintain a bent-forward posture). Generally the calves don't flex, they merely hold their position for to transfer force from the upper legs to the pedal. The glutes, hip adductors, and hip abductors likewise are merely fixators in cycling, not flexors. Basically all the musculature is set up to harness energy from the quads and glutes while the rest of it just holds still for them to move only in the front-back plane.

By contrast, running involves more of the calf muscles, interior foot muscles, hip abductors, and deep glutes. The more irregular of a surface you're running on, the more this is true.

I don't think cycling can hurt you in terms of basketball; if anything it'll strengthen your legs and give you a stronger base on the court.

[VDusen04]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

There's a few differences in muscles recruited during running and cycling. (This is from an article a few years ago that I've lost the link to, but have in a word doc)

1. The type of strength. Running involves absorbing shocks, which is an eccentric contraction for the main leg muscles involved. Cycling doesn't involve absorbing any shock, except perhaps downhill mountain biking. In cycling, you perform concentric contractions with the leg muscles, and isometric contractions (holding still) with the core and other stabilizing muscles. Incidentally, this is why delayed onset muscle soreness is more common in running than cycling.

2. The muscle groups involved. I wish I knew more about this. in general, I'd say cycling is more specifically heavy on the quadriceps and back/neck muscles (to maintain a bent-forward posture). Generally the calves don't flex, they merely hold their position for to transfer force from the upper legs to the pedal. The glutes, hip adductors, and hip abductors likewise are merely fixators in cycling, not flexors. Basically all the musculature is set up to harness energy from the quads and glutes while the rest of it just holds still for them to move only in the front-back plane.

By contrast, running involves more of the calf muscles, interior foot muscles, hip abductors, and deep glutes. The more irregular of a surface you're running on, the more this is true.

I don't think cycling can hurt you in terms of basketball; if anything it'll strengthen your legs and give you a stronger base on the court.

Good stuff, everything seemed so logical as you were saying it.

I've always chalked biking up as a good supplement for basketball over the years but with my uptick in cycling lately, I was curious as to how much ground I might have been losing in terms of being in basketball shape by opting to bike instead of run on many days.

[DJ]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Got in a nice 20-mile ride this morning. We're finally hitting 90 degrees here and I could definitely feel the heat on my last couple of miles. If you don't get on the road by 9 a.m., you are in for a rough experience.

The ride was good; I started on one of my usual routes, but turned down some different side streets and discovered some places that I'll be adding to my rides in the future.

I'm up over 100 miles now in the National Bike Challenge. Not being able to ride most of May has hurt my total, but I'm pleased with where I'm at now.

Wednesday is National Bike To Work Day so if you can, get on your bikes and ride to work! I will be out there, for sure.

[VDusen04]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Got in a nice 20-mile ride this morning. We're finally hitting 90 degrees here and I could definitely feel the heat on my last couple of miles. If you don't get on the road by 9 a.m., you are in for a rough experience.

The ride was good; I started on one of my usual routes, but turned down some different side streets and discovered some places that I'll be adding to my rides in the future.

I'm up over 100 miles now in the National Bike Challenge. Not being able to ride most of May has hurt my total, but I'm pleased with where I'm at now.

Wednesday is National Bike To Work Day so if you can, get on your bikes and ride to work! I will be out there, for sure.

I'm at 159 miles on the National Bike Challenge. I'll gloat for now before you pass me following your next three rides, haha.

By the by, is the National Bike Challenge just a random mile tracker? Is there anything else going on there? Am I supposed to be chasing a goal? I signed up just because it seemed like a cool way to track my miles, but I wasn't sure if I was missing something.

Super off-topic, but I'm driving through Colorado soon, from Fort Collins to Denver then over through Grand Junction. Are there any super can't-miss things along that route? We're kind of looking ahead to Arches in Utah a little bit and I always hear about how cool Colorado is but don't quite know what to do with my brief time there.

[DJ]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

I'm at 159 miles on the National Bike Challenge. I'll gloat for now before you pass me following your next three rides, haha.

By the by, is the National Bike Challenge just a random mile tracker? Is there anything else going on there? Am I supposed to be chasing a goal? I signed up just because it seemed like a cool way to track my miles, but I wasn't sure if I was missing something.

Super off-topic, but I'm driving through Colorado soon, from Fort Collins to Denver then over through Grand Junction. Are there any super can't-miss things along that route? We're kind of looking ahead to Arches in Utah a little bit and I always hear about how cool Colorado is but don't quite know what to do with my brief time there.

Nice work! As far as I know, it's just a way to track miles and try and get more people into cycling, whether it be recreational or commuting.

If you're driving through that part of CO, you'll want to visit Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park (not far from Ft. Collins). You can drive through the entire park, but don't volunteer to drive if you're afraid of heights and/or no shoulder. It's really not that bad and it's not like you're racing up Pikes Peak. The park is worth the trip, though.

Red Rocks isn't far from I-70 and you could check that out as well.

[VDusen04]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Nice work! As far as I know, it's just a way to track miles and try and get more people into cycling, whether it be recreational or commuting.

If you're driving through that part of CO, you'll want to visit Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park (not far from Ft. Collins). You can drive through the entire park, but don't volunteer to drive if you're afraid of heights and/or no shoulder. It's really not that bad and it's not like you're racing up Pikes Peak. The park is worth the trip, though.

Red Rocks isn't far from I-70 and you could check that out as well.

Thanks, man. We're actually camping in Fort Collins for one night, I believe, so I'm guessing the plan was to hit up Rocky Mountain National Park from there - I probably should touch base with the planner in that regard, haha. Any specific favorite things in Rocky National?

[DJ]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

I mis-spoke earlier; today is Bike to Work Day ... in Colorado. The national event is mid-May. Colorado wisely pushes its back to June due to unpredictable weather in May (especially this year).

Saw a good number of people riding this morning, which is good because the Springs is definitely lacking in terms of accessible bike lanes. The roads themselves are in poor shape, but that's a whole other story.

Hoping I'll get to ride home; heavy thunderstorms in the area now. If they don't clear out my wife will have to come pick me up.

[DJ]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Bringing this thread back to see if we have any new cyclists in our group.

In 2019 I transitioned to mostly gravel bike riding and it's been a blast. Who knew at the beginning of the year that I'd move from Arizona to a state with hundreds of gravel roads and trails (Iowa)? I surely didn't know that, but it makes my gravel bike purchase even more fortuitous. In the 9 months since picking up my Salsa Cycles Journeyman (https://salsacycles.com/bikes/journe...man_claris_700), I've ridden the bike in 3 states (Arizona, California and Iowa) and traveled over 300 miles (most rides are 15-30 miles).

In 2020, my goal is to get into a consistent riding schedule, and ideally that would be 3 days a week, which would allow for 2 days for running and strength training. My riding has been sporadic lately, party due to the weather, lack of daylight and my work schedule. I've had to re-purchase some cold weather gear since I obviously didn't need it in Arizona, and some of the gear I kept from Colorado no longer fit properly, so now that I can properly tackle the colder days.

[KSUowls]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Just became a cyclist as of about 2 weeks ago. I bought a Trek AL 3 and a Kickr Core Trainer.

I also subscribed to Zwift. I've done 4 rides so far, and I'm enjoying it. I will take it out on a nearby paved trail eventually, but right now I'm trying to build up a foundation.

[DJ]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Just became a cyclist as of about 2 weeks ago. I bought a Trek AL 3 and a Kickr Core Trainer.

I also subscribed to Zwift. I've done 4 rides so far, and I'm enjoying it. I will take it out on a nearby paved trail eventually, but right now I'm trying to build up a foundation.

That's awesome! Congrats!

[DJ]

Re: Any cyclists/mountain bikers/commuters?

Going to check out a group ride on New Year's Day, hopefully it'll be a good experience, as I'd like to ride with other people occasionally.