I recently rode in the blazing heat. I was reminded of how I also rode in some really hot weather last year. You can do so much prep when the mercury starts to climb into the upper 80′s and 90′s, but the main things are staying hydrated, balancing electrolytes, and taking it easy.

On a ride last year, a friend and I went for a 25-mile ride in the heat. It was just under 90 degrees Fahrenheit when we headed out. Although it was warm and humid, proper hydration seemed to help us from dying out there. I drank more water than usual to keep my hydration levels ready for the heat. I also took some CamelBak Elixir to provide additional electrolytes so that I could absorb the fluids better.

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I recently took down a link to the Bicycle Tutor cycling maintenance Web site from my list of links. Why? It is now a paid subscription.

I used to review his videos to gain some insight on how to maintain my bike. I found his videos and accompanying transcripts very useful. He definitely seemed to know his stuff, since it also worked for me. However, some of the more advanced maintenance issues could be a little tough to follow.

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The temperature is dipping below 50 degrees. The sun goes down before 5:00. Let’s face it: it’s time to move the ride indoors. For those of us that want to keep up our cycling fitness, we find it necessary to resort to our basements and spend the non-snowing days riding our bikes (once the snow comes, I’m taking to the snowshoes and the skis).

I ride a bicycle trainer in the winter to keep my cycling fitness up. This ingenious device keeps me pedaling my bike in the winter without worrying about slipping and sliding on icy roads (or watching other vehicles potentially slip and slide into me on those same roads). Just to be clear, though, I am not condemning riding in snow, it’s just not my thing (yet). Let’s face it, though, riding on the trainer can seem more like a chore.

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This is part three of a three-part series

If you’ve been reading about my new road bike, you know that I pretty much went all out. My new Trek 6-series Madone is one sweet bike, especially since I set it up through Trek’s Project One Web site. With the Madone built (including handlebars wrapped), I was ready to take it on its maiden ride. I don’t often ride as far as I would like, but my goal this year is to accomplish a number of 50-mile rides and maybe push a metric century (62 miles) near the end of the season. At any rate, I had a long Memorial Day weekend coming up, so I figured that I could get some base miles in, including a 50-mile ride.

As you’ll note, the title of this post states first rides (plural). This implies that I actually took the new bike out for more than one ride – in fact, I took it out for two long rides this past weekend. It also involves two friends named Josh: one used to work with me at a previous day job and the other worked with me at my part time job.

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I wear a Road ID Wrist ID Sport on every ride. After watching these testimonials from members of Team Road ID, I knew I had to share it with others. It’s fairly inexpensive, but the information to rescue workers is priceless to your life.

Part two of a three-part series.

As I recently posted, I purchased a 2010 Trek 6-series Madone. This is essentially the same bike that Team Radio Shack rides. I may not race, but I do like going for long rides. And as you can probably guess, I’m really excited about it.

The bike was shipped in a box to the bike shop that I work for and would be built by one of the techs there. Most of the components were already on the bike, but it still had to be assembled. This past weekend, one of our techs, Ian, started working on it (after hours, of course). I also indicated that I would list out some specs on the bike. However, I decided that it makes little sense to give the same information that you could read on Trek’s Madone 6 Web site. But I will cover some basics before going into how I chose to enhance my experience.

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I recently read this article about how some bicyclists who are cited for running red lights on a bike have a choice of either paying their tickets or going to a cycling traffic class. The author chose the latter, learning about some important things along the way.

As I will continue to attest, legally cyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as other road users. On a bike on the road, bicycles are a vehicle. When we run through a stop sign or red light, we are breaking the law. It makes cyclists look bad, and it puts you into a very dangerous situation. By acting unpredictably, the one time you decide to fly through a stop sign when a driver doesn’t see you could be the last time.

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Although the Giro d’Italia is over, I finally got around to reading some of the coverage. The BikeSnobNYC recently posted on the NBC Universal’s Giro d’Italia Web site as a guest author. I thought this post answered my frequently asked questions about the Giro and about cycle racing in general the best.

My favorite:

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I’ll admit that I’m mostly a fair-weather cyclist. I ride during the spring, summer, and fall. I don’t ride in the snow… yet. At any rate, I get excited when most of the snow melts. It means that I can finally get off the trainer and do some real riding.

So when we finally had some decent weather this past week, I got on the bike and rode to and from work. I only got to ride a couple of days, just in time for more snow to come this weekend. But it sounds like it may be minor, and we should have some nicer days ahead. Continue reading →