Bike Away From Diabetes

As some of you know, I am an Objibwa/Potawatomi Indian. My reservation (where both my parents were born) is Walpole Island Indian Reserve on the St. Clair River. But what most of you don't know is that on a national average diabetes in Native Americans are at a much higher rate than the average white person.

Here are some alarming statistics;

1. American Indians/Alaska Native adults were 2.7 times as likely as white adults to be diagnosed with diabetes. 2. American Indians/Alaska Native adults were almost twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to die from diabetes in 2006. 3. American Indians/Alaska Native adults were 1.6 times as likely as White adults to be obese. And 4. American Indians/Alaska Native adults were 1.3 times as likely as White adults to have high blood pressure.

So with this in mind The Walpole Island Health Center asked me to come for a few visits to help motivate and educate tribal members on cycling and cycling safety and more importantly, promote a healthier life style thru exercise. We had 4 Saturdays set aside with the first one to talk a little bit about cycling and some of the rules and throw in a smaller ride. The other days we will slowly increase our mileage on our rides and hopefully conclude with about a 10 mile trip.

We had riders from age 12 to 40 something's. Everything went well and our first trip included a rest stop for drinks, fruit or a snack bar and then we headed back. We took turns having ride leaders and we practiced our single file riding and hand signals.

We also handed out small log books to keep track of our time spent on the bike. This would help them keep a few minor details of how they felt during the ride, the wind and weather and the time on the bike. At the end of the our four schedule rides, we would award the participant who had the most minutes.

The four sessions went well, we had a little humidity and heat, but no rain and the participants ended up doing a 2 hour ride with a lunch stop in the middle. Our rider with the most time on the bike won a bicycle and another boy won a unicycle! We averaged 12 participants per session and to me that's a success story indeed!

Back Road Ride

Hey, long time no see...life has been busy, a good busy. I didn't ride the bike much but managed to get back in the groove of late.

Saturday a few single speed buddy's and I set out to do a back road ride. We had planned for a "3 hour cruise" or maybe a little bit more. Four of us set up at a leisurely pace and the usual banter came just before the first climb for the Polka Dot card. We hit the climb and sized each other up to see who may "win" the first climb, I personally like to let everyone lead out and see who's feeling it today. Everyone's techinque is different and sometimes tells a different story. I like to stand and "dance" on the pedals and this time was no different. With the final turn out of the way and just Chris Werth and myself out front, it was time to hit the gas and see what you had.

After it was all said and done, the heart rate up to 177 bpm and me seeing stars (not really), I looked forward to the long downhill and just take it easy. As we all go together again, the usually comments ensued and we kept going.

We did a nice loop towards Romeo and Wayne and Bryan had more important things to do so they turned around at about 40 minnows and Chris and I kept going. We did a nice loop just on the Romeo city limits and then towards Rochester. I was planning on doing the Watters Bump and Run race, a fairly gnarly (you will get wet) 4 mile running (yes, running) trail race with some He-Man drills thrown in. When we got to Bloomer the tailend finishers were just coming in and they were wet from head to toe. During our ride out we quickly asked two participants if they liked the race and both raved about it, so, I may have to give up a future 50 miler to do this race, sorry.

Any who, it was back on the bikes, ride to the Paint Creek Trail back to home, and as we passed Chicken Shack, Applebee's, Sagebrush Cantina and finally Buffalo Wild Wings our attention turned to food, but we had a nice spin and cool down all the way home.

50 miles, 2480 calories burned, avg. heart rate was 132, max 177, fun factor 4 out of 5 stars.

Single Track...finally!

Well, it's that time of year, the spring thaw is gone, the trails are dialed and I was ready to ride some singletrack. I grabbed the Stumpy this morning, threw on top of the Jeep and went straight to PLRA after work.
My buddy Richard called at the last minute and met me out there. We got there about the same time and took off. The trail was actually pretty dry. It's been a while since I've rode out there and with a rigid fork, it reminded me why I don't go out there to often, it was a rough ride! What made it worse is my sprang hand, which is painful on the bumpy downhills while braking, and as we all know, the first 3 miles at PLRA is all that. So I backed off a little and had a good easy ride. I forgot to turn on the Garmin, so no vital stats to give, but PLRA is in good shape and ready to rock!

Ride Baby, Ride!!!

A good friend of mine always tells me that when it's time to get the bike out. So today, when he emailed me and said, "RBR!!!" (ride baby ride), I had too!
27.5 miles with an average heart rate of 143 and a max of 171. I burned around 1600 calories, so the Frito's I had at lunch were fully justified and enjoyed! It was a nice ride, good average heart rate and when I looked at the Garmin print out, it was like a good EKG read out! Nothing eratic! The sun was out and it was beautiful...tomorrow, PLRA!!! Trails...for the first time this year!

Specialized Romin SL Saddle

The latest bicycle component that I have purchased is the Specialized Romin SL saddle. While it is designed for the road, specifically time trialing and triathlon, I thought it's design would lend itself well for the needs of my backroad rocket ship the Specialized Tri-cross single speed.

The Specialized Body Geometry components are designed for comfort which in the end will equal performance. The saddle is medically proven to assure blood flow to sensitive areas, while I'm not a doctor, one ride on this saddle proved to be one of the most comfortable saddles I have ever had the pleasure of throwing a leg over. The cutout in the middle of the saddle is not felt in the least bit, which is probably the intent of the design, no pressure points or areas, just pure comfort.

With the nose of the saddle almost an inch longer than a regular saddle like the Toupe, it gives you valuable real estate fore and aft to gain valuable traction or get aero. The titanium rails keep the weight don and the tough Micromatrix cover is water resistant.

You may ask yourself what difference a saddle would make on a bike primarily used on the gravel and dirt roads of rural Michigan. With one gear, you are forced to use a different riding style than normal, momentum and power is a key element. For instance, if you are on a long sustained climb where you can stay in the saddle, I'm usually sliding foward on the seat to throw more power down on the pedals. With the Romin SL, I am able to do this more effectively with a more comfortable position, thus holding the position longer and if it's a longer ride or race, I can do this more often without fatigue.

When it's all said and done, the comfort of this saddle and its ability to provide me a more efficient ride far outweigh (no pun intended) any weight weenie saddle I have had previously. The Romin comes in two versions, the Romin SL (tested here) with titanium rails and a slightly higher price tag and a comoly version along with a smaller price tag, but the same great ride qualities!

Barry-Roubaix 2010

The first race of the season was a real test of mettle. With not knowing much about the course except for what my misleading buddy told me, =;) I was able to make the proper selection in gear choice and weaponry. With a 1.5 mile rollout and over 600 cyclists, the first part of the race was probably the most eventful. I could tell the "roadies" from the mountain bikers and I each have their own uniqueness, some good, some bad, some that shine and some that doesn't shine. If you can determine who you are with, you can use it to your advantage.

My second concern was with the fixie and how much time I would lose on the downhills. Being a fixed gear bike you HAVE TO PEDAL all the time, no coasting. So with that said, I would actually have to use the brakes to slow down on downhills so I could keep pedaling. Any group I was working with would be long gone. I was getting a little bummed out but soon realized that everyone in my class would be facing the same issue.

After the first part roll out we got to experience the most "technical" part of the course, it was very reminiscent of the certain sandy area's in a certain first weekend of November race near Traverse City complete with carnage and tailgating racers, which induces even more carnage. Once past this section, it was wide open racing with some good and challenging power racing. And when I say power racing, I mean climbs that are not sustained, pitch differently and just require some power to get up and over. I seen a fellow fixie racer on such a climb walking his trusty steed and I thought this would be a good time to pounce. He had other ideas as his gear was more condusive to higher speeds everywhere else. I stayed with him for a short time, but was unable to keep it up on the downhills.

With each successive climb and downhill, I would be losing time until my calves starting cramping and I was forced to do something about it, this would be the exact moment I would learn something about "fixie racing". I would unclip after a burst of energy and let gravity take over. It must have been a sight to see and one fellow racer commenting on my technique, little did he know I discovered it out of necessity, but it allowed me to go faster on the downhills, sometimes 4-5 mph faster!

With my new technique I am somewhat reenergized or maybe it was the fact my calves werent' cramping anymore. With part of the last course being all downhill, literally, race fans and volunteers just weren't saying that, it was all downhill and I could tell as geared folks were flying by at high rates of speed and a tandem passed me like I was standing still. But once it flattened out for the last 3 miles, I put head down and gave all I had left, spinning like a madman, drafting off some gear folks and then once we entered the park road, it was soooo much fun. Along side of me was Dave Massey the Specialized Rep and some other fast cat, we all took turns turning up the heat and it as a blast, with the last chacane thrown in complete potholes it made for an exciting finish.

I ended up finishing fourth in the Expert Fixie Class with a time of 2:08:13. I learned a few things about the bike, the race and will return with some different fitness in mind and a few tweaks of the gear...and the technique...the technique will be improved!

Dog bite ride

I have a favorite loop that I do, I've done this loop many times with friends (all two of them) and all alone (which is normal...sniff, sniff). Anywho, about 10 minnows into the ride is a long gradual climb, along this climb is many houses and a dog. I've never seen the dog until tonight and I seen it under a good head of steam and I seen it's teeth up close and personal...and my ankle not only seen it, but felt it's teeth. Yes, I got a bite. 35 years of serious riding and this is my first dog bite! It's not really a bad bite, it didn't break any skin, but it made some contact and it bruised a little.

After the dog altercation I got my mojo back and started to get going again. This loop has Rattalee Lake Road hill and Granger Road hill, two climbs where a 64 gear inches ratio will be put to the test...or more like 64 gear inches putting me to the test. I survived all climbs and did the loop 22 minnows faster than I have done it before...excellent!