spokesNspin

When is it the end of summer for you?  Does it end when children start back to school?  Is it after labor day?  Do you stick with the autumnal equinox?

 One of the things that marks the season for me is bicycle lighting.

I leave for work at 5:00 AM.  That means that I need a light on my bike all year round when I start my ride.  Part of my ride is on a bike path through wooded areas.  It can be very dark in there.  During most of the year I ride with a Cateye Triple Shot light on my handlebars and another light on my helmet. 

It takes two lights to see in the dark woods. One that follows the handlebars and the other to shine where I look around curves.

In early June, it is normally light enough that I can get by without the helmet light.  It is light enough by the time I get to the woods that one light is sufficient.  I need no light at all by the time I get to my office.

I can do that for about 6-8 weeks.   Yesterday I started using my helmet light again.  I really should have started a couple of weeks ago. 

When I need to start using my helmet light again it tells me summer is coming to an end.  It means cooler weather is not far away.  Summer can be unbearable here but it is hard to beat fall in Northern Virginia.

One of the great things about bicycling is that it meets you at whatever your fitness level.  Many people who can’t run or do impact type aerobic exercise can ride a bicycle.

One of the bad things about bicycling is that it meets you at whatever your  fitness level.   Unlike running for example,  it is possible to ride a bicycle and get very little exercise.  It is possible to just easily pedal along and enjoy the view and not really get any exercise. 

There is nothing wrong with that unless becoming more physically fit is your goal. 

Bicycle commuters can also get in a rut and never improve their fitness level because of the routine of the ride.

Following are some ways to bicycle and improve your fitness.  I admit up front that have no type of training certifications or formal education.  What you get here is based on my experience and personal reading.  My use of certain techniques may not be exact either.  They are simply ways for me to schedule and vary my routine.

An important aspect of almost all training is to vary the routine and intensity of the activity.  I have read that most people don’t go hard enough when they go hard and don’t go easy enough when they go easy. 

Here is how I use the terrain/geography etc to initiate variety in my routine while commuting by bicycle.  

One type of technique is called fartlek.   Fartlek is Swedish for speed play and is not a comment on Guillermo’s playful tendencies.  Fartlek is a type of interval training.  Interval training is varying the intensity between very intense periods and less intense periods during one exercise session.  You can google the two terms to learn more.

My definition may not be exact but for my routine I use sprinting as fartlek.

A lot of stop signs can be frustrating when traveling by bicycle if you are trying to keep the heart rate up and get exercise.  Instead of getting aggravated, I use stop signs to initiate and motivate sprints.   When I come to the section of many stop signs I often sprint as hard as I can between them.

On a regular basis, I do what I refer to as my time trial or big gear pace.  I do this at times when I figure the bike trail will not be busy.  That means it is generally during my morning commute.  On these days I try to ride at a pace that will leave me pretty well physically spent at the end of my commute which is about 50 minutes.   Sometimes I do it by monitoring my heart rate and going as fast as I can.  Other times I do it by using my large chain ring and never shifting out of it.

Giving some variation makes it more fun and interesting.

I also do intervals.  This difference between intervals and what I call fartlek is that my sprint is longer and timed.  The fartleks are like sprints as if I am racing to the finish line.  The intervals are more like hard accelerations over a period of 1-3 minutes with the goal of dropping other riders.  I generally use a heart rate monitor when doing intervals.

The goal is to do about three accelerations with a short recovery period between the accelerations.   I have about three places along my commute that are good for this.  I sometimes detour to Hain’s Point for intervals.  Hain’s Point is a park with a  3 mile loop with very little traffic.  I can also loop by Fort Hunt Park for a mile loop and use it for intervals.

I have found a neighborhood with some short but intense hills.  On a regular basis,  I do loops in this neighborhood.  By looping around the loop I get about 1000 feet of climbing in a short distance.

Taking time to recover and ride easy is also important. I  schedule very easy rides into my routine.  A way to add some fun and challenge to this is to ride in a hilly area and work on easy and smooth pedaling and keeping the heart rate low all at the same time.

Another way to make sure I get recovery rides is to take time to ride with slower inexperienced riders.  It is a good time to mentor other riders and ensure that I don’t ride too hard.  I will also do very easy social club rides as a way to get some nice recovery time on the bike.

If fitness is your goal do some reading on some of the terms I have used and put some variety in your rides.

“Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century”

That is what GW is quoted as saying in regards to the Georgia/Russian situation. Does this guy ever cease to amaze?

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

Is the hypocrisy completely lost on politicians or are they so self absorbed that they don’t care?

Bicycle riding in the rain can be enjoyable and rather pleasant.  In my opinion the worst part is taking care of my gear after I get done riding in the rain.  Which is why I normally try to avoid it. 

Riding in a thunder storm is another story.  It is scary and dangerous.  Wild thunderstorms are generally short lived so I have mentally pegged places along my commute route where I can take shelter and wait out the storm.   When traveling by bicycle you pays your money and takes your chances.

Yesterday it was raining only slightly as I left the office.  A mile later there was a lot of thunder and lightning.  I didn’t relish the thought of going over the 14th street bridge in those conditions.  I pulled off and instead took shelter under the bridge along Ohio Drive.  It was a good move.  Things got pretty wild for about twenty minutes.

The pics don’t do the storm justice.  You can’t hear it or see the lightning.  Then about 20-30 minutes laters it had calmed down and I left.  Now look at this pic taken from the other side of the river looking back at where I had been taking shelter just a few minutes earlier.

There was still a fair amount of thunder and lightning just across the river but I made it home pretty much dry and safe.

Here is an interesting rainbow pic I took along the way.

It’s not really a bow but more of a ribbon across the top of the buildings on the other side of the river.

For a selection of pics from other blogs stop over at Candidcarrie.

I like to encourage people to get out and ride bikes.  I don’t expect initially that they should be as committed to commuting and running errands as I am.  I wasn’t initially so obsessed.  In fact, if they are not an experienced cyclist I would prefer that they start out nice and slooooow. 

I want them to be comfortable and confident on the bicycle before venturing out to do a lot of riding around the streets on personal business.  I want the experience to be safe and enjoyable.

Recently I saw a video from the CBS Sunday Morning Program over on The Daily Cyclist about how many people are turning to bicycling to save money.  Mia Burke made a statement that I thought was very good.

She said that she would encourage everyone to think of just one trip they could make on a bicycle that they would normally make by car and do it once a week.  Find an easy place less than two miles from home that you normally drive to and try to ride a bike there once a week to take care of your business.

Is it the bank, the library or the gym?  Just give it a try.

I hope in the near future to have some guest posts from new bicyclists and people who are trying to use the bike for more than just fun.  I have a couple in mind.   If you are a blogger  and take up this challenge of just one trip, write about your experience on your blog and let me know.  I would like to link to the story from my blog.  If you don’t blog, give me the information and we can post it here.

Just one trip.  That’s all I ask.