Cycling

updated 8/8/98

MarC is gravitationally challenged (well....OK, let's say it - he's fat!), which means he goes down hills MUCH faster than he goes up them. However, cycling has the benefit of getting weight off your feet and ankles, and aside from swimming, is one of the few things that is easy on those parts of the body that excess weight has been stressing for years - then again there are those skinny bicycle seats...

MarC finally managed to meet his goal of 2500 miles last year, (actually made it over 2800!) But travel and a winter that seems to be more like Noah's flood seemed destined to keep him off the road this year.  If you have never tried a century (or a metric like MarC tried in '95) you might want to try out the Patuxent Area Cycling Enthusiasts (PACE) Amish Hundred or even their May Metric. It was their eighth year, and it is a reasonably flat (well...OK there were three hills this year) beautiful bucolic course through the Amish and Mennonite areas of St. Mary's County, MD. The PPTC century was reported to be a real hillfest in the first third - MarC ran the metric, and can testify that there were a few bad hills on that, but much of the course ran into Pennsylvania farm country - pretty flat and quite scenic. MarC's travel did allow him to start off 1998 with a bang, and a metric Century run from Chandler to Casa Grande, in the Phoenix, AZ area. Talk about flat courses! Even the climb over the gap to Casa Grande was a gentle rise. One other thing can be said about this area of Arizona, cue sheets tend to be short as intersections are few and far between. Other than the instructions for getting through the community areas at each end of the course, it can be best described as: Right, go 15 miles, turn right at the rest stop, go another 15 miles, lunch break, then reverse course and return to start. Believe it or not, we almost got lost, and a number of century riders did - adding about 20 miles to their path and getting them into lunch late.

Even with that auspicious start, so far this year, MarC has only logged:

Most experienced tourers and racers talk about "rolling terrain" - let me translate for fellow beginners: these are HILLS! The things novices walk up and more experienced recreational riders frantically shift into granny gears for. You need to learn to hate hills with enough passion to get over them. Actually, going down a big hill always bothers me - for I know I must regain that altitude sometime later. Lets examine what happens to your average speed if you live in an area of "rolling terrain". Let's assume for every two miles you have one mile of flat terrain followed by 0.5 miles up a hill and 0.5 miles back down. If you average 12 MPH on the flat, but only 6 MPH up the hill (Hey!-for MarC maybe only 5 - and once 3.5 - lets hear it for LOW gears) and you coast down the hill at an amazing 24 MPH your average speed is...(tada) 10.7 MPH. Hmmm, need to get back up to that 12 MPH average. OK, lets say we pedal down the hill some to get our speed up to 30 MPH - that's only 100 RPM in a 52x14 gear - that gets us up to a 10.9 MPH average, or maybe we'll go even faster, say 40 MPH, which will haul our average up to 11.2 MPH. Hey, lets push it all the way to the floor and hit WARP 2 Mr. Sulu - OK, finally got close! Now our overall average is up to 11.99999997 MPH (whew!). So what is the secret to getting your average speed up? Well, getting up your average on the flat helps a lot - but if you can't go up hills at more than half your flat speed, you are still going to be running slow. If you can get up the hill at 8 MPH, then you can collapse in cardiac arrest at the top and coast down the hill at 24 MPH and still maintain your 12 MPH average. Of course, this is a bad case of do what I say, not what I do. MarC has not been able to regain his uphill speed from last year yet, and he still finds a lot of sub 6 MPH hills (that even his best 45 MPH downhill have not compensated for). So now you know why you really have to hate those hills.

Looking for a nice mixed ride (yes, it has those HILL thingies mentioned above)? The area in and around the USDA National Agriculture Center in Beltsville, MD is a nice place to ride (although the roads are getting to need repair). If you have DeLorme's Street Atlas 4.0 you can even see one of MarC's favorite routes, complete with cue sheet, by downloading this file .  One of the new things to check out in this area is the National Wildlife Visitor Center, located on Scarlet Tanager Loop, off of Powder Mill Road, two miles east of the Baltimore/Washington parkway. The center has been open for about three years, but seems to be largely undiscovered. This is a great place to go with the kids as there are a lot of educational displays and a viewing/listening room that lets you see and hear the wildlife in the adjacent lake. A number of birds (notably Canadian Geese) winter here, but spring or fall migration times will show the largest variation in species. There are walking paths, and an electric tram guided tour of the area (sorry, bicycles are not allowed on the paths - but there are bike racks). Powder Mill Road has recently been rebuilt on the approaches to the Center, and is now completely open, with wide paved shoulders suitable for cycling. Scarlet Tanager Loop is one way in each direction, has no shoulders, but is wide enough for vehicles to easily pass (although many mini-van drivers seem to not think so <g>). Traffic is typically light, even on nice spring days. Plan a break here and commune with nature.
 
We need to remember that staying hydrated is one of the most important things to do. Although water is always the simplest (and many say, best) approach, you also need to think about keeping your body fueled. You may want to look into using a sports drink or making your own, or taking along some energy bars. In fact, now that winter is here, maybe we need to think about how to dress, and how to prep our bikes (including studding tires!). If you want to ride this winter then you should check out the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society homepage.

If you find yourself in the middle of the country, try dropping by Lincoln, Nebraska. MarC found the state capital to be a bicycle friendly town with a number of on and off-road bicycle paths (maps for which are available separately, but can also be found in the phone book!), lots of bicycle racks, and friendly people who take great pride in their town everywhere. Drop by and visit Bike Pedalers in town or Walton Trading Company, their other outlet off the Mopac Trail (a 25 mile rails-to-trails path) in nearby Walton, NE to rent a bike, or just say hello - they made MarC's stay in Lincoln even more enjoyable. If you get a chance and want to find out more about human locomotion, you should also check out the National Museum of Roller Skating  in Lincoln.

If you are interested in more info on cycling, check out the CIS Cycling Forum or one of the web sites below:

MarC has joined the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club (PPTC) to be able to enjoy the company of others and to discover new roads in the region. PPTC, the largest cycle touring club in the US, is a Washington, DC, area club that supports everything from friendly 10 mile, 10 MPH, beginner rides, to rock'em sock'em jamfests for the racer crowd - and the mountain bike crowd is not denied either. Rides are offered virtually every day of the year, and some people are crazy enough to ride in almost any weather!

Some other local and national organizations are:

MarC is also a member of the WABA (Washington Area Bicyclist Association), a local advocacy group founded to support safety and bikeways in support of the commuting cyclist. They have been active in national rule making and actively lobby Congress and local lawmakers. They have a long history in promoting helmet use and testing and were responsible for the first testing of bicycle helmets. Members receive discounts at local bike shops. Look for their swapfests - a great place to find a used bike or parts for your aging steed - or to donate a bike to a good cause.

The League of American Bicyclists (LAB), previously called the League of American Wheelmen, has been promoting improved paths and roads for cyclists since 1880 - before there were cars looking for hard surface roads, but when cyclists were brushed off by horses and wagons instead. LAB members can, through the league travel office, arrange air travel and take their bikes along at no extra charge. Call LAB at 1-800-288-BIKE

The Maryland Bicycle Advisory Committee is one of the Governor's independent agencies concerned with promoting bicycle use, training, safety, trails, and other legislative issues. Looking to improve things? Try working through the system with MBAC.