Friday Bike poster: How bikes can save us

Thought I reblogged this – never too late!

Kite*Surf*Bike*Rambling

as it say – they are the solution.

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Losing weight on a bike – 101

I found that I’m doing most of this already. Being a typical American with an Italian heritage, I slack at the last bit of advice quite excessively sometimes.

Just another thing to work on.

Anyone else have some tips?

Money Can’t Buy Happiness…

Yup!

Fit Recovery

From Gerry at the Vicious Cycle:

Yup, that’s about right.

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A Photographical How To: Clean Your Bike After a Ride in the Rain

An excellent how-to on how to clean up a bike.

Fit Recovery

Many cyclists, myself included, keep a rain bike.  Unfortunately, every now and again the good bike ends up out in the bad weather, it’s just a fact of life.  Rain plays havoc with the moving parts of a bike and if not properly maintained after a wet ride, all kinds of bad things can happen, including rust.  It just so happens, on our way home from Georgia (USA), we drove through a few thunderstorms of Biblical proportions.  It was gnarly.

On arriving home, everything on the bike worked fine, the chain was a little gritty, but quiet all the same… I still set to stripping it down and cleaning everything.  Now, when I say everything, I mean everything, including every single metal bolt on the bike and relubing all of the important parts – the whole process took about hour and a half.  This is how it went…

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Saddles and the threat they pose to our children

Sorry, no pics this time.

In case you haven’t been reading this blog, which is most of the inter-web people (yes sarcasm), I just started riding my road bike again for the first time since 2006, when I was 25. To me, I figured I could just get right back on the same bike I was using back then and everything would be fantastic. How I was wrong.

First things first, if you take a long hiatus from riding, the first couple times your ride, you will hurt. Not in the, I worked muscles I forgot I had kind of way. More in the, wow my saddle is really digging into me. For a short time, it will continue to do so, too. If the pain continues, though, it is definitely something you need to fix.

Before you read on, please consult a bike shop professional  to ensure that your bike is the right size, your saddle isn’t too high or low and your handlebars aren’t too high or low. Also, get some riding shorts or bibs. Not the $10 ones at Walmart. Invest in some good pads that will protect your backside from unwanted pressure. If this solves the pain problem, you’re golden! If not, here’s some info for you that should scare you into saddle shopping.

 

Why does this need fixing?

Being a nurse, I can think of a few things just off the top of my head. First and foremost, ergonomics. Your hips are the biggest joints in your body. If a saddle is too big or small, your hips will be forced into positions for which they aren’t meant. Over time, especially if you’re over 40, this can lead to hip bursitis, dislocations, and if you also develop disorders like osteoporosis or osteoarthritis, fractures.

Second, is the physiology of the pelvis. You are meant to sit on two protrusions of your pelvic bones, called the ischial tuberosities (aptly referred to as your “sit bones”). Their inferior (bottom) side is wide, flat and surrounded by fat – perfect for sitting. If your saddle doesn’t adequately sit underneath this portion of bone, you will put too much pressure on the pubic bones.

Very briefly, the pubic bones are not good for sitting. They are full of vessels and nerves. When the nerves are agitated, the result is pain. If repeated for long periods of time, this can result in permanent nerve damage, leaving you with either permanent pain or partial/complete numbness in the area. When the vessels are agitated, they take on different symptoms for each sex.

For men, this can lead to some rather unpleasant consequences. To name a few, ostetitis pubis, dislocation, bursitis, and erectile dysfunction. Yes, erectile dysfunction. Turns out, a great few vessels that supply blood in your “time of need” actually run directly under your pubic bones. Too much pressure, and those vessels could rupture or clot off permanently, resulting in a very difficult time pitching tents.

As with men, some important vessels also exist under female pubic bones. If compromised, sex could become very unpleasing or just numbing. There’s also the added threat of causing tissue damage in the area that can result in some fairly wicked tears during childbirth.

The good news is, a saddle that is too wide usually only causes some thigh discomfort from rubbing against the front of your saddle.

For more possible outcomes, do your own research with reputable medical or cycling websites, books and magazines. Most of them are fairly minor – the ones I’ve listed are the ones I find most concerning. For this blog, I used cervelo.com, livestrong.org, and MedlinePlus.

Also, thanks to bgddyjim for bringing this to my attention!

 

Does this saddle make me look fat?

How do you fix it? Sizing! I found a GREAT article listing the method in doing so. If you don’t frequently look at your body, or other people’s bodies like say doctors, nurses and CNAs do, then I wouldn’t suggest trying to do this yourself. A majority of bike shops will actually do this for you (if you’re comfortable enough having someone measure your backside). They will point you in the direction of at least a few saddles in stock or that they can order.

So, do like I do. Think of the (future) children!

 

For some good laughs regarding the subject, head over here!

Now…off to ride!