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5/15/2019

Joy Drinks and Rides

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Don't laugh: I couldn't grab my water bottles on my TT bike.  Me, the girl who competed at the UCI Gran Fondo World Champs.  How could this be?!?
 
About a year ago, I rode with a bunch of women on a @bicycle_network ride and two women in our capable group couldn't ride and drink at the same time.  Kate,  our fearless leader, guided them through the process by breaking it down:
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  1. Riding your bike, just lean down and tap your water bottle.  Do that until you're comfortable.
  2. Pull the bottle out of its cage and put it back immediately.  Practice that while riding. 
  3. Now pull the bottle out, bring it up to your body and then put it back.  And once that feels natural, take a sip before putting the bottle back into its cage.
 
Given the water bottles on my TT bike were mounted behind me (gotta be aero, baby!), they presented two additional challenges:  I couldn't see them and, to pull them out of their cage, I had to pull them up and AWAY from me. 
 
With Kate's words in my head, I practiced pulling out my water bottles with the TT bike mounted on my trainer.  The action was unnatural but after twenty+ attempts, I could sip water in my living room. 
 
It was time to add steering to the mix.  For that, I headed to my local velodrome but a large empty parking lot would work, too.  Once I had a comfortable pace going, I reached back and pulled out a bottle.  Feeling cocky, I skipped a couple of Kate's steps, took a good gulp and tried to put it back.  Big mistake.  I pedalled four laps of the velodrome single-armed, blindly trying to find the slot for my bottle. 
 
Aaaughh. I was tempted to pitch the bottle in the grass; who needs it anyway?!?  The problem was: I did.  In a couple of weeks I was going to do a half Ironman and  being able to hydrate during that 90km bike was crucial.  By now, another rider had pulled up alongside of me.  "No, it's further back.  Go the right," he encouraged me, acting as my eyes.  I still couldn't find it and then, suddenly, I did.
 
I went back to Kate's step-by-step method and, at the end of two hours, I had a 90% success rate.  My cute riding socks say "Joy rides" but real Joy is being able to drink while you ride.

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5/9/2019

Cadence helps Power

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Geeeeesh. Looks like I need to work on my cadence. â–¡ I tend to think of power as how hard you push the pedals â–¡... But it's also how fast you rotate them. #letsspinthosewheels . . . . . #poweronbike #cadence #biketrainer #beatyesterday #cyclinggirl #roadcycling #ilovemybike #cyclist #cycling #cyclinglife #instacycling #fromwhereiride #outsideisfree #ridetolive #cyclingwomen #ellesfontduvelo #iamspecialized_wmn #womenonbikes #miamiridelife #shetriumphs #triathlon #triathlete #swimbikerun #tri_community #SBR #triathletebike #triathlongirl #triathlontraining #kieseraustralia

A post shared by She TRIumphs (@shetriumphs) on May 7, 2019 at 4:19pm PDT

Like most cyclists and triathletes, I'm striving to improve my ride.  That means increasing my power, which seemed like a such a fuzzy thing until I saw this:

P = F x V
Power = Force on the pedal x angular velocity (cadence)

Yes, I'm a bit of a nerd.   But it really helps me understand what I'm feeling on the bike.  I can do, say 200 watts, by standing on my pedals and grinding it out at a low cadence OR I can sit down, and hit it by pedaling really fast.  My leg muscles will burn at low cadence; my heart rate will go through the roof if I spin like mad.  The real trick is finding the right balance between the two to get the maximum power for the race I'm doing.  

If you're interested in a quick, easy read on the subject (they're not all quick and easy), check out Andres Diaz's article at â€‹https://www.power2max.com/en/2018/06/cycling-power-cadence-small-guide-optimal-cadence/

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5/6/2019

From P.U. to Pleasant: stink-defying laundry tips

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I sweat; my clothes s.t.i.n.k.

Yes, I wear antiperspirant 😂.  Yes, I try to wash my workout clothes the same day I sweat in 'em 😅.  But, over time, some of my beloved items have acquired a certain...umm...reek that washing doesn't remove. 
 
The solution: soak them in 1 part white distilled vinegar and 4 parts cold water for 30 minutes before washing 💦. This was just one tip I gleaned from "11 Ways to Get The Sweat Smell Out Of Your Workout Clothes" by Kristin Canning at the Women's Health Magazine website https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a27059552/how-to-get-sweat-smell-out-of-gym-clothes/
 
So I tried it.  I mixed 2 cups of vinegar and 8 cups of water in a plastic bucket.  It wasn't a lot of liquid (I didn't have any more vinegar on hand) so I soaked my clothes in batches.  Then I tossed them in the washing machine.  I added two-thirds my usual amount of laundry detergent (less is more when it comes to cleaning workout clothes as Kristin mentioned in another tip) and washed them.  And woohoo!🤗 - it worked. 
 
Read her article to learn more about how to clean those high performance fabrics.
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