So you want to ride in the heat

The dog days of summer are here, and with it the heat and humidity. Kristin and Steve discuss riding in the heat, including what to wear, how to acclimate and properly hydrate. They also recap this year's Pan-Mass Challenge, discuss Kristin's new obsession with women's racing, and cover what to do about a broken spoke.

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Kristin 0:00

This week on Cycling Together, we're talking about riding in the extreme heat, the Tour de Zwift Femme Avex Zwift and Kate Courtney making the jump to road racing and what to do when you break a spoke. Oh, all right. Yeah.

Steve 0:14

So it yeah, it has been a very hot summer across most of the US and Europe, certainly. And so yeah, let's that came to us late in the game. So we'll talk about a little bit about heat.

Kristin 0:26

It's a suggestion from friends, but let's uh let's get rolling. This is Kristin.

Steve 0:32

And I'm Steve, and you are listening to Cycling Together, a podcast about all things bikes, riding, and riding together.

Kristin 0:37

But first, PMC weekend was last weekend. That's why I got a new t-shirt.

Steve 0:43

PMC the Panmas Challenge. We've talked about it many times.

Kristin 0:46

We have. Do you like my new t-shirt? I do. I'm a sucker for a cut letter man. Oh, yeah. Cut letters are always the best.

Steve 0:54

I did not re see you get that. No. Did you get it at the swag tent?

Kristin 0:58

I did. Yeah. Yep. Got my shorts and got it at the swag tent. So um a couple of things to recap this year. So we once again set up at Dover Sherburne uh high school. High school? High school and middle school. Um, which is what 10 miles from the start of the Wellesley. And we had a couple of observations this year. Did you want to share some of them?

Steve 1:22

About the riders?

Kristin 1:24

Um, we're gonna talk about the riders, but let's start about the ride. Number one, no one stopped at the tent.

Steve 1:31

So I'm normally very busy with a lot of riders with early problems. Yeah. And it is I I would say it's mostly first-time riders or or riders who don't maybe have done the Panama before but don't generally ride throughout the year.

Kristin 1:49

Yes.

Steve 1:50

A lot of flat, a lot of like low tires, you know, little little underinflation, a lot of shifting issues, um, dragging brakes, um, usually minor tweaks. Um, rarely uh, rarely a major thing, occasionally.

Kristin 2:07

Right.

Steve 2:08

And we did not now a lot most of the time we have a sign ahead put out ahead of our stop.

Kristin 2:17

Yeah.

Steve 2:17

And we didn't have that out this year. We did not have anybody stop with any mechanicals.

Kristin 2:22

So I do wonder if maybe just all the riders were better prepared this year.

Steve 2:28

Which is actually the goal. Which is the goal. To be honest, this is this is good. That would be awesome. Yes, right. This is good that nobody stopped. But I do wonder if it was in part because you didn't have your which is not even that far up the Yeah, so people who might have been having issues but rideable issues might have just passed by not realizing they could have gotten help. Exactly.

Kristin 2:48

So I guess I have to redo the sign because you said it got somewhere discarded. Um, we also had a lot of people like when we pulled up, so it starts at what 6 45 in the morning.

Steve 3:04

And when we're the fastest riders, let's say, should get there really only about 7 15.

Kristin 3:09

Yeah, and when we pulled into the parking lot at 6, 6 15, 620, there were already a good number of riders going past us.

Steve 3:20

Yeah, the flow of riders was heavy fairly heavy, actually, and steady. Yeah. And we don't even know how many we missed before that.

Kristin 3:26

Yeah.

Steve 3:27

So a lot, a lot of people are leaving earlier than the official start.

Kristin 3:31

Yeah, and when I talk to people about why, most of them I think are experienced riders. They've done it before and they just know it's a big heavy start. And maybe they live in Wellesley and it's just easier to leave out of their house and just get going. So it's I think general nervousness about just the sheer number of riders. I will say there was at least one I know of who was doing his first PMC ride, and his team went by early, and I was a little bummed for him because there is something special about being there at the start.

Steve 4:05

The pop and circumstance.

Kristin 4:06

Yeah, exactly. So I get both ways, but yeah, Lau, let's talk about because Sophie was with us for the first time. Um, not the first time, first time probably since she was 11. Yeah, she was with us to watch. And we all had, I think, some of the same observations about the riders. And then I rode the next day. I did the 50 mile from Wellesley and had kind of the same, same observations about the riders. And we'll say it's probably the newer riders. Absolutely. So, what were some of our our um observations equipment-wise?

Steve 4:38

Helmets, helmets, yeah. So, a lot of a lot of helmets too back, too far back on the forehead, too many, too much forehead showing.

Kristin 4:45

Yep, I know. I keep saying to people, it's not a hard hat, it's not to prevent you from something falling on your head, it's to protect your forehead. We also saw a lot of when we were riding the next day, toe clips, more toe clips than I thought were still in circulation. But then those people that had toe clips, a lot of them were nervous to use them, so they were upside down, which seems even more dangerous.

Steve 5:12

When I get the very few bikes I still get into the shop for service with toe clips when I'm testing them, I can't think of a single time, you know, because I don't put my feet into the toe clips, I'm just quickly testing it in the parking lot. Yeah, that they that that they're not so they're hanging down, yeah, that they're not scraping the ground.

Kristin 5:29

I don't know.

Steve 5:29

So I don't, I'm really not sure how they were riding on the back side of the pedals with the toe clips down, scraping the ground.

Kristin 5:36

And they could have been each time, but I saw what I was behind one one guy, and his toe clips were not hitting, but they were definitely upside down. He was also in the category of the saddle being, I think, too low.

Steve 5:50

Yep.

Kristin 5:50

Um, or I'll even say at one point I said to my friend, I was like, that man, he's about we were about 10 minutes, 10 miles from the end. So we were 40 miles into the ride. And I was like, that man is so uncomfortable right now. My friend was like, How can you tell? And I was like, Because it's the pedal pedal pedal, stand, wiggle your bum a little bit, sit down, go pedal, but you know, I was like, that man is all kinds of uncomfortable right now, which I mean that's just the nature of if you haven't ridden a lot and you haven't really acclemented your sit your sit bones or anything like that.

Steve 6:24

But I felt I felt pain before you're gonna be able to do it so there's a kind of a call to action for friends to help other rider friends, you know, like she just mentioned yeah, you know, you may your helmet should be level on your head. Um so so pe toe clips, people with toe clips. I try to gently nudge them out of toe clips. Yeah. Um you know, toe clips, toe clips were something that were used 50s, 60s, 70s, early 80s by professional racers where they would put their shoes in, right, crank down the strap, and not have to get out to the finish because the roads were closed.

Kristin 7:06

Right.

Steve 7:06

Right? Yeah, you know, there there was no coming to stop signs, no coming to traffic lights.

Kristin 7:11

Yep.

Steve 7:12

You know, but of course, then amateur cyclists are emulating the professionals. Uh, so we have that equipment. I rode with toe clips for a while, and a lot of people don't know that the the cycling shoes actually had a cleat. So it's and so the cleat had a groove in it. And so the groove sat in the back side of the pedal. Okay. Okay, so it was more than just the toe clip holding your foot down, it was actually also this groove which prevented your foot from sliding back and out. Yep. I did not realize that. Um, and so yeah, and they're just they're just they're just horrible. They're horrible. You know, I mean 84 is when look came out with the clipless pedal. Yep. Uh 80 by 86, I had gotten my first pair. They were really, really readily available to to cyclists. Um, and um, and that and they just quickly died from there, but there are still still to this day, hold on.

Kristin 8:12

So many toe clips. Yeah.

Steve 8:14

And you're better off with flats, like mountain bike pedals with pins, flats, yeah, than you are with a toe clip. You don't have to, you don't get a clipless pedal, you don't have to clip into your shoe in, but you are better off with a flat pedal.

Kristin 8:26

The irony of the people who I think stay with toe clips because they're afraid of clipless because they're gonna fall. Fall. I mean, A, I'm fairly sure I will definitely fall if I'm trapped in my pedals with a toe clip. But the other thing is I always try to remind people like you're not following, you're not falling at speed. It's it's when you're stopped. Like this, they there's this fear like I'm gonna fall, but it's like, no, it's it's when you're like barely, and then you just kind of topple over, which doesn't not hurt, but um yeah, I would be much more inclined to to recommend flats than tokens.

Steve 9:06

We we all know everyone, including ourselves, who is probably when they got like their first set of clipless pedals or whatever, and they did that come to the stop and fell over. So so so many of us have done that, but I don't know a single person who has ever actually really injured themselves in that process.

Kristin 9:24

So no, it's interesting to know if you know somebody. Yeah, no, we have one friend I who fell like at the end of a um rail trail, and she broke her shoulder her her collarbone, and I don't think it's that she couldn't unclip, but it definitely was not like a high speed crash. Like I don't know what the circumstances were that she fell over and broke something, but yeah, most of us, it's just more bruised ego. Like I saw one guy at a rest stop on Sunday who I'm I actually think he was in toe clips and he couldn't clip out, and so he fell over. And then he did that thing where I'm just gonna sit here because I totally intended to do that. Like, we're like, what is I wonder what's bruised more? His hip or his ego? Right. My friend goes, Oh, definitely his ego. All right, and the other thing with the newer riders, I I put in the category of um technique challenges, right? So the biggest one was watching the newer riders not pedal consistently. Yes, you know, doing that. Pedal pedal coast.

Steve 10:45

Pedal pedal coast. Yep.

Kristin 10:46

Yeah, and that that one we saw one go by us on Saturday, like really slowly, and she's just pedal pedal coast, pedal pedal, coast, that tends to be she is never getting there.

Steve 10:57

If you're in the wrong gear, that is gonna be what your body says you should do.

Kristin 11:02

Yeah, yep, yeah. So um, that was the big one. It's just like, I just want to tell people maybe shift it to a little harder gear and just keep pedaling. Don't not be peddling, right? You know, but that is a practice thing, that's uh also a fitness thing. Um, we had a lot of wobbly one-handers if they would take their hands off at all. We had that one couple that stopped so she could take the bottle out of her fanny pack, take a drink, put it back, and then keep going.

Steve 11:32

Yes, that's the only way she could drink.

Kristin 11:33

That was the only way she could drink. And then definitely in that category of just maintaining a line, right? Watch it. I would be behind, like Nancy and I would be behind a rider, yeah, and we'd be like, I want to pass, but he is not going straight, which is where it becomes important to say on your left, so that hopefully I can prepare him for the fact that I am about to Yeah, I think we mentioned that in our group ride um podcast about how maintaining a steady, straight line is one of the just most important things you can do in group rides.

Steve 12:08

Yeah. And being consistent in your in where you're heading.

Kristin 12:11

Yeah, even if you're riding, I mean, like this one person I was passing was effectively by himself. But just so you're predictable for a car that's passing you, it's very ner it's very nerve-wracking to walk to be coming up on a rider who is wee like and it doesn't appear to be intentional, right? Like versus like, whoo, look at me go. This is more like oh we which way are they going? So um I will say we had a lot of we had a lot of stealthy passers also. So these are people who are going past maybe a little faster than us, and they would just suddenly be there on our left. And and my friend would be like, on your left, as they passed us. And one of them even was like, Thank you. No, no, we're trying to tell you that it would be great if you would tell us that you're there. Because even if we're maintaining a line, yeah, there could be something ahead of us that that we need to swerve, and it would be really helpful to know if there's someone right back there.

Steve 13:17

I I I totally get that. I say I have a distance limit of when I call on the left. So I I do try to call on your left if I'm coming by close, but if somebody say is hugging the the white line on the right, and I'm and we've got, you know, and I'm cruising along, say near the middle by the yellow line. Yeah, I can see that. You know, eight feet away. I don't I'm not gonna go. I can see that.

Kristin 13:43

None of them were that far for me. They were all pretty close. And I would say use a bell, but I don't think a lot of people had bells. And and I'm gonna tell you, my garment is hit or miss on that bell working.

Steve 13:53

You're not doing it right then.

Kristin 13:55

It's possible, but also it shouldn't be that hard for me to first of all. I don't think I like I don't like reaching to the middle of the bars to double tap. I think I'd rather have like a physical bell that's right there near my where I can just bing, bing. I don't I don't like it.

Steve 14:11

You know I don't like it. I'm gonna look into this, but I believe there's a way to set up SRAM access buttons to ring the bell. I'm gonna see if that's possible.

Kristin 14:22

But bells are so pretty. I can get really pretty if that really pretty bell that's missing the big thing.

Steve 14:27

I know, but there's on a road bike, there's just not a lot of great places. There are the oi bell is a kind of a cool bell. It can go on certain areas. We'll look we'll look at we'll look for a physical bell for you.

Kristin 14:37

Well, anyway, that's the PMC in the book books. Uh, we should say thank you because I am done with my or I've I've hit my fundraising goals thanks in large part to the Manic Mommies listeners, our my former podcast. And you also are like a hair's breadth away.

Steve 14:55

I think I am, yeah. From the very ride is in October, so uh yeah, right.

Kristin 15:00

But also thanks to the Manic Mommies, they really stepped up. Jamie Impression really stepped up with a big donation. So a huge thank you to everybody. So we can focus on we can focus on what's next. So what are we talking about this week?

Steve 15:17

Heat, I think, right? Yeah, yeah.

Kristin 15:19

We went on a ride today.

Steve 15:21

We are featuring a heat wave right now here in in Massachusetts. It's like the third, right?

Kristin 15:26

It's been a hot summer. I have no scientific facts for that.

Steve 15:29

But August is August is not only hot, but it's also humid. Yes. If I look at any year of riding, I can always see August is down for me for riding. Really? So I clearly ride the least in the heat.

Kristin 15:47

Yeah. And we so we were out today, and as we sat around the pool afterwards, the people we're riding with were like, you should do a show about riding in the heat. Um, so here we are. We're gonna talk about that. And I will say, I do think it's been a challenging you're you're right about August, but this has got to be our third heat wave of the summer, to the point that I even canceled one of our women's rides.

Steve 16:15

Due to the heat.

Kristin 16:16

Due to the heat, because it was over a hundred degrees. And we had we did have a one of our riders still went out with her husband because she had like um she had a babysitter. So she's like, I'm going out anyway. And I was like, that's fine. I'm not liable for you if you go out anyway. So let's talk about, let's start with number one when it comes to heat riding, which is um acclimating to it. And I wanted to bring this up because I know my Garmin, every now and then I'll go for a ride and it'll be like you are 10% acclimating to the heat. I don't actually know what that means.

Steve 16:52

Yeah, I don't, yeah, right. It gives you that exactly, it gives you a percentage of your acclimation to the heat, and you're like, okay, that's nice, but what's that gonna do for me? Right, right.

Kristin 17:01

Yeah so I read an article, first of all, on the Garmin's. Um, if you do four what they consider qualifying training days, um, at minimum, you will become 100% acclimated to the heat. So that's based on your Garmin seeing it has to be connected to the weather. So it has to know the weather, right? And I think the length of the ride, and that's when it's tells so that's why it doesn't tell you every time, right? It may not have qualified. And then if you don't go for three days of then you start to lose your okay. So apparently it does not stick, right? Getting acclimated.

Steve 17:42

You would yeah, you would naturally lose it. Right.

Kristin 17:43

So one article I read was that to acclimate, you have to ride in the heat for 60 to 90 minutes per day at a moderate effort for at least 10 consecutive days.

Steve 17:54

Ten consecutive days? That's a lot. Wow.

Kristin 17:57

I don't think I've ridden.

Steve 17:58

It's a lot when it's hot.

Kristin 17:59

I don't think I've ever ridden 10 consecutive days. Right. Ever. Yeah. Like just 10 days in a row. Yeah, life. That sounds great. I don't do that. But basically it says you'll know you're getting acclimated when the same effort feels easier. Your heart rate is lower for a given pace, and you're sweating more freely. You're sweating more freely. I sweat freely. I don't I don't know how it would be more than a freaking way.

Steve 18:27

Yeah, I don't know how my sweat would be constricted, I guess, right?

Kristin 18:30

I guess not. Yeah. Anyway, all right. What else when it's this hot do we do?

Steve 18:35

Time your rides. Time of day is the bigger thing. Yeah. Biggest thing, right? Um, you know, you don't want that. Usually it's between what, 1 and 4 p.m. is the hottest, but afternoon rides are the worst in the heat.

Kristin 18:47

I know. That's the killer about the women's rides because they start at weekend. Well, they start at a good time, though. Yeah, 5 30 is a good time. But it's still hot. Like it's it's better than yes, one to four. We've been doing the Friday morning rides, which start at 5 45 a.m. Yeah. But like once I'm out there, I'm happy. It's just getting out there. And it was hot last Friday. It was hot last Friday.

Steve 19:15

That bad. It was yeah, it was certainly manageable.

Kristin 19:17

Okay. So time of day.

Steve 19:19

Time of day is is key.

Kristin 19:21

Yep. Um, clothing. I'm gonna tell you, you've noticed, I have gone full cross-country during mountain biking.

Steve 19:30

For your mountain biking.

Kristin 19:32

Cause it's so when I say that, that means I I'm not, I'm just wearing lycro bib shorts. Road kit. Yeah, I'm wearing my road kit. Well, it started because I was like, I am not putting those over shorts on. Like, I'm not putting another layer of clothing on. Yep. So now I'm wearing my bib shorts and I was like, oh, but I need a pocket. So I can't I can't wear my mountain bike jersey because there's no pockets. So there you that there it is, then your full your full road kit. But even my helmet. Like I start I've been wearing my road helmet this month. Because it's just it's the lightest helmet. It's the lightest helmet I have.

Steve 20:12

Has bigger vents too.

Kristin 20:13

Yeah. I've gone full, I'm going full K Courtney.

Steve 20:17

I have not. Um, but my I have I have pairs of of shorts, over shorts that I wear over my bibs for mountain biking by gore that are really, really lightweight.

Kristin 20:30

Okay.

Steve 20:31

Um, you know, you pick them up and you're like, oh, these are, you know, there's 300. You also have and I and I love those.

Kristin 20:36

You also have more meshy bib shorts than I have. Okay.

Steve 20:41

I feel like you have some bib shorts that are like that's a good point. I actually have what I consider my hot weather bib shorts. They're not they're not bib shorts that I would wear by themselves, right?

Kristin 20:55

You would not you can see your bum.

Steve 20:56

You would never wear these exposed, right? Okay. So they're not for road railway rides.

Kristin 21:02

Okay.

Steve 21:02

But yeah, because they're there's way more mesh on them. Um, and they're literally for wearing underneath um, say, my mountain bike shorts.

Kristin 21:13

So I think that's a big difference. I don't have any of those. So when I'm wearing bib shorts, you're wearing under thick shorts shorts. Lycra. Yes, I'm wearing full thick lycra. So I think that's one reason. And the other thing is I realized Friday morning I was wearing a kit that I got from it's a custom kit. It's for the for for the agency. And I was like, oh, this was the wrong kit. This is my kind of early fall kit. Like you you forget that the lycras do have different weights, like the jerseys where like our mountain bike jersey is is mesh on the back. And actually, one of our friends who's riding today, I was like, I could totally see through his jersey. Like I could see his big shorts underneath. No, that wasn't ours. But my point is there are there are lighter weights. Clothing that maybe people realize.

Steve 22:03

Yeah, I was wearing a very lightweight mountain bike jersey today. So aesthetically, this is my own personal preference, but I don't like wearing lycra bib shorts by themselves. Okay. Unless I'm wearing a tight road style jersey in the top. I don't like wearing a loose-fitting mountain bike top with tight fitting shorts.

Kristin 22:26

Chaos. Chaos.

Steve 22:27

Yep.

Kristin 22:28

No, no, I'm with you. Right?

Steve 22:30

There's something about the look of that I don't particularly like.

Kristin 22:33

Yeah.

Steve 22:33

That's me.

Kristin 22:34

No, I'm I did that one day. Oh, I mean, the other issue was I had no pockets. Like I was like, have you got to be able to do it?

Steve 22:39

Actually, it's whips off for me too. You don't like I don't like wearing, say, I'll wear my bibs with mountain bike shorts, baggies over the top. Yes. Then I don't particularly care for wearing a tight-fitting road jersey style on the top as well, with that combination.

Kristin 22:52

Because it's all like business on the top, party on the bottom.

Steve 22:55

I'm loose. I gotta be loose, yeah. Loose, loose, tight, tight. There we go.

Kristin 23:00

Okay. But I think the key here is, I mean, the nice thing about the over shorts for mountain biking is they protect your your um lycra. They do from from branches, good pockets. Pockets, yep. But I need lighter undershorts for that. I also can we also talk about the under layer. So we were riding once, it was really hot, and I was in full lyra because I was in a road kit, but like the sweat was making me itchy. And so now I wear a lot of the times those very tight under tanks that you gave me. They're very thin.

Steve 23:38

Yeah, because their studies have shown that if you wear a wicking layer, you can actually be cooler even though you're wearing another layer.

Kristin 23:44

Yeah, I find them very comfortable. Something about it was pulling the moisture away, but I also I was just having like a full body reaction to like the sweat and whatever lyra I was wearing, and the and so that tank top helps kind of keep me a little cooler, keeps the keeps the sweat off of me and keeps me less itchy. So you gave me I like the white ones the best. I have to look at who they're from.

Steve 24:10

Yeah, I don't know who they're from.

Kristin 24:11

But they're impossible. They're really hard to get on in when I'm not sweaty, and they are impossible to get off without help. Oh when I am sweating. Like right before I go down, I'm like, help me! I can't, because they're so tight.

Steve 24:26

That is the funny thing is when you're really sweaty at the end of the ride or a certain clothing, you're like, I can't get this off. I need this peeled off me.

Kristin 24:34

Exactly. All right. And then even gloves, we have those awesome hand-up gloves that are mesh on the back. Meshed on the back, still have the Terry cloths for me sweating my snot and stuff like that. Yeah. And then I like a good headband to keep the sweat from dripping into my eyeballs.

Steve 24:55

So I'm sure all of the hair challenge people out there will talk about how they have to wear some sort of do rag. Yes, you know, over their head because of the sweat issue. Yeah. Yeah.

Kristin 25:06

Oh, we have one friend, like he just brings like rags with him. Yeah. So he's a big sweater. The rags, and he's like, you see them, they're just like sticking out the edge. Today, my biggest issue, honestly, was my ponytail started to get really sweaty and uncomfortable. So I have a different hair challenge. Too much hair.

Steve 25:25

I can't think of the company. There is somebody, and some helmets actually come with it, with basically this very thin silicone band that's in the on the forehead pad of your helmet. Yeah. And so as the sweat comes down, it hits that part which is now a little bit tighter against your forehead, and then goes to the outside so it doesn't go into your eyes.

Kristin 25:44

Um I will say the other thing with helmets, I have noticed after a month like this, we are gonna have to detox our helmets because the insides get really, really sweaty. And so I will like try to wash the insides of them. If there's anything removable, I'll try to remove the the pads and like and then soak them. And I'll even soak the straps in a bowl of water just because I mean all that sweat. All that salt crust is going up on the straps. So gross. So yeah, all of our stuff's gonna have to get detoxed after this. Okay, here's the big one hydration.

Steve 26:22

Oh, yeah.

Kristin 26:24

I I am a chronically dehydrated person. So this one is my is my struggle because apparently um we're supposed to get so what they recommend, American College Sports Medicine recommends getting in five to sell it seven milliliters of fluid per kilogram of body weight at least four hours before heading out in the heat.

Steve 26:49

Oh, this is before heading out in the heat. Yeah, before you even get out.

Kristin 26:53

They're basically you cannot be a chronically dehydrated person like me. You need to be drinking leading up to the ride, and then they're like, you need to figure you need to try to figure out how much water you lose during the ride. So they actually suggest that you weigh yourself before your ride and after your ride, but don't go to the bathroom.

Steve 27:19

Right.

Kristin 27:20

And then you subtract any ounces you drink between, and that will help you figure out basically um how much water you have sweat off.

Steve 27:36

It is crazy. I don't think people realize how much weight you can lose in in water weight on a hot, long ride. And um, I mean you can you can lose 10 pounds, 10 pounds off your body just in water weight on say a really hot, sweaty century ride.

Kristin 28:00

Right. It said the this article said the goal is to make sure you're drinking enough during your workout that you don't wind up 2% or more lighter than when you started. So if you weigh 150 pounds and you learn you lost four pounds an hour while cycling, that means you'll have to drink a little over 16 ounces during an hour-long ride to keep the difference under 2%.

Steve 28:21

So yeah, my rule of thumb always was mainly road rides, yeah, but it was um one bottle every 15 miles. Okay. If it was extreme heat, uh bring that down closer to, you know, 10, 12 miles. Right. Um one bottle.

Kristin 28:40

Plus, we gotta get electrolytes in there. Yeah. Plus we get to get salt in there. Yes. So like liquid IV or noon or salt tabs or energy drinks. I have to say, I really like Anders. Um, we were working at the shop on Saturday, and Anders went out and brought back vitamin water.

Steve 28:58

Yeah, yeah. From the from the pharmacy.

Kristin 29:01

I really like that stuff. I wish we had that in the house. Oh. I think I would drink more things if we had that like dragon fruit vitamin water. I thought that was good.

Steve 29:13

But um, I remember noon was the noon tabs were like the market right now is flooded with different brands and stuff, right? And they were fairly new. Like this is this is that this was not there was not a lot of brands doing doing this kind of hydration stuff all that much. And noon came out and it was very easy. You plop a tab in and it would dissolve in there. Um, and so in at Innerbike in Las Vegas, they would drive us out to Boulder City and we would have what's outer bike, and we'd be test butt riding bikes all day in 95 degree dry heat. And I just remember being like, like noon was keeping me alive, is what I kept kept thinking. Oh, really? I was working those bikes, and I'd used test lap after test lap after test lap. And every single time coming back, just chugging probably 20 to 30 ounces of noon water.

Kristin 30:09

Yeah, well, they said for every pound of fluid you lost during exercise, you should shoot to replace 24 ounces of fluid. That's a lot.

Steve 30:20

That's a lot.

Kristin 30:21

I think, yeah. So, but I think that's the when it gets really hot, you either I'm not saying you don't get thirsty, but if you don't get thirsty, that's a concern. You know, make sure you're you're drinking a lot. And I think sometimes when you when you're riding out in the heat, you might not eat enough, or just in general, take you know, listen to your body enough. So that's the big thing is you want to make sure. Now, what do you think about in the heat? In the woods, road riding or mountain biking? What's your preference?

Steve 30:50

In the heat?

Kristin 30:51

Yeah, in this kind of heat.

Steve 30:53

See in general, I always like being in the woods. So the woods are well, I'd say the roads so the woods are always cooler, right? Because the the asphalt is just hot and depending on where you live, you might not have any relief from the sun. And the sun, of course, is a big part of the of riding in the heat. Um which also means sunscreen and the and the wind, if you're out on the road. Sunglasses. Yeah. Um I I like I remember doing one sentry ride, and I had just gotten big sort of sunglasses. Yeah. Um, and and it was just it was hot and it was really, really bright. And I and I could almost feel myself sort of hiding, like I was in this like cocoon behind these sunglasses. Like they were just shading the world, and I knew everything was bright and beating down on me out there, but but I was behind this shield of protection, and it was sunglasses make all the difference.

Kristin 32:01

I made the mistake this year. I got some new prescription sunglasses, um, and I got really dark ones, which out on the road or when we're like paddle boarding, glorious. But I got those into the woods and I was like, oh, this was a strategic error. These needed to be way lighter. So I did end up getting a second pair.

Steve 32:22

Um I my preference is very light lenses for everything. So that's what I say.

Kristin 32:32

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm with you. Because I I really don't use those dark ones much at all.

Steve 32:38

It's probably an aged eye thing, too.

Kristin 32:41

It's probably. What do you mean? Anyway, so that's that's a quick and dirty on riding in the heat. I I mean, I did see one tip that was like, if it's hot, just ride inside on a trainer. And I was like, that's not the kind of advice I'm looking for. I would I want to ride outside. Yeah, I want to ride outside. Yeah, but it's it can be you far, you know. I will say the other challenge we've had this year beyond the heat was the smoke that we had one women's ride that was coming in from Canada of uh wildfire smoke.

Steve 33:18

Yeah, yeah.

Kristin 33:19

So that day was another one. It's really tricky with these rides when you have weather alerts coming in where it's like health warning, heat, health warning, smoke, health warning. And you're like, should I run the ride?

Steve 33:33

Okay, should I that that wildfire smoke? And a lot of people across the country experience that. Yeah, that drove me nuts because they were saying on the news in the morning, oh well, this is like it is it is bad. Like, it's how do they how do they express it? It was like bad for you if you're in a an affected or you have certain conditions if you were vulnerable. Over certain conditions, but like that doesn't make any sense. Like you may be a more affected if you're vulnerable, but it's that smoke, it's gotta be bad for everybody. Like they just didn't, it's like they didn't want to say, don't go outside. Yeah, which is what they really probably should have said.

Kristin 34:13

And yet we ran our women's rides. Because we just I basically I had already canceled one because of the extreme heat, and I gave everyone the chance. I said, look, you know, you don't have to come, it's really no problem, but we're gonna ride. It wasn't you're it wasn't that thick when we when we were out there. Um, and ironically, it made it cooler because it was blocking the sun. Right. So that wasn't terrifying at all.

Steve 34:40

The the woods I think are cooler, cooler while you're riding, but like when you stop and regather, it's just so uncomfortably hot. But there's less wind in the woods. Yeah. Whereas on when you're road riding, you're you tend not to really stop. And so you're just constantly moving, so that airflow is nice. You get that nice breeze.

Kristin 35:02

I will say I'm still probably gonna say woods over road when it's really, really hot, because again, the shade. Um I mean, you're gonna take it easy either way, but when you're stopping, you're still stopping in the shade. Yeah. Without that, even without that breeze. And a nice mixed terrain ride. That'll that's kind of the best of both worlds, right? You hit a little bit of the road just to get some breeze, and then you're back back into the woods. Back in the woods. All right. All right, what's next?

Steve 35:36

Women's racing. I'm obsessed. How good is the Tour de France from Exist!

Kristin 35:46

By the way, um, the reason I Which wrapped up this it's wrapping up today. We have not watched the end yet, although I kind of know who already won. Um, this race is the reason I still have not I have I will keep my Zwift going even though I'm not riding indoors. Traditionally, I have paused my Zwift during the off months just to save a little money. But when they started sponsoring this race, I was like, take my money. You deserve it. And I like it. Have you been watching it every day? I watch every day. Really? Yeah. How do you how have you enjoyed it?

Steve 36:24

It's it's really good because the competition is um it's been very good.

Kristin 36:30

Compared to, yeah, so tell me, because you were watching the tour and you were saying that it was boring, the men's tour. Well, it had gotten boring.

Steve 36:39

I think on day five we knew who was gonna win. I should say day one. We knew who probably was gonna win. But day five was like, yeah, he's definitely gonna win. Yeah. And then I kind of stopped watching for a few days. I said, no, no, no, let me come back. There's you know, there's green jersey, there's cl there's polka doctors, that kind of thing. And I came back, and you know, and it's and it's entertaining and it's a nice spectacle and the and so forth. So I still enjoyed watching it. Right. Um, but it was I'd say in this particular case where we've had what six yellow jersey changes, right?

Kristin 37:14

It's been nearly daily. There have been a couple days where a woman held on to it. I think uh only two women have held on to it for two days, and the rest it's been a change every other day. Um, I have not been able to watch every day because I'm at work, I don't have the same, but I have been listening to a podcast uh from Escape Collective called Wheel Talk, and it is for professional women talking about this race and just racing in general, and that alone has been awesome to listen to. I've never had a podcast, I've never listened to a podcast about women's sports by women being only women, you know, breaking it down. That has been so cool to listen to. So um there have been a couple of issues with the coverage.

Steve 38:09

Has there?

Kristin 38:10

Yeah, apparently, apparently, three of the nine stages, um, only three of the nine stages were covered in full.

Steve 38:18

Oh, okay.

Kristin 38:19

Okay, so that means that so basically the first 70k of each stage was missed by the live broadcast, which means they missed a major crash, they missed a move that that was the win of the day. They meant like they missed because what I've noticed with women's riding is they seem to be on the attack almost from the get on each like there's no like oh it'll be 70k of nothing, and then they get they get their act together. These women are on it right from the start, which means they've missed quite a bit of the action, and that's not on. I know a lot of people are yelling at Peacock. It's not Peacock, it's the uh ASO who who runs Tour de France and um Right.

Steve 39:07

So they're the ones who put out, they're just they're the ones who put out the signal. Like all of and then that feed, you know, the commentators sit in their box or sometimes sit in their house, they're watching that feed, right, and then they're doing their commentary. Yeah it is not Peacock's feed. Right. It's not the peacock is not, doesn't have the helicopters or the cars, the motorcycles.

Kristin 39:29

Issue number one, we're we're not covering the whole thing, which is crazy. Um, issue two, so most of the time it's been Hannah Walker and Anthony McCrosson McCrossan, yeah, who've been doing the commentary. I think they've been great.

Steve 39:43

They have been great, and I always love everything he's done, and and I've heard of her a few times now, and she's getting really quite good. Yeah. Um, Hannah. But we got to this weekend, and it was like, where'd they go? And where did they go? Now I've been listening to Phil Ligett now. This is gonna be my 40th year listening to Phil Liggett. Okay, right, and I I will always like Phil Liggett, but he he is getting very old, and he loses it on a lot of names and uh stutters on um certain sections. You know, he doesn't he doesn't have quite the the flow that he used to.

Kristin 40:22

Right. And the other thing is he has misnamed the race multiple times. Yeah, he keeps calling the Tour de Feminine, yes, which was a race, apparently, in the past. Yeah, yeah.

Steve 40:33

So in the it's probably the one he in the 80s that I mean there was a Tour de France with women, like in the 80s, and I remember this.

Kristin 40:39

And I I've been following some of the complaints on the threads, you know, he's his misnaming. Um, he's been calling the riders girls. Okay, you wouldn't say, Oh, look at the boys racing today.

Steve 40:53

Well, he does say that.

Kristin 40:54

Does he? Oh, yeah. Okay, well, that's good. He calls them the boys, okay. Yeah, so I don't know that people know that because he's been saying the girls, and people are like, these are women.

Steve 41:03

Oh no, no, he always uses the boys.

Kristin 41:05

Doesn't make it ring, just is. Um, and yeah, I saw a really funny tweet. Somebody said, not tweet, it was on threads. Um, how to stay hydrated while watching the final stage, take a drink of water every time Phil Liggett calls the race something other than the Tour de France Femme of X Swift or mispronounces a writer's name because apparently it is rampant. Right. And then I feel badly. So I am a firm believer that every women's race should be commentated on by at least one woman.

Steve 41:35

I have to agree. And that is progress.

Kristin 41:37

It is progress that we are having a woman because in the past that was not always the case. Like, and I say that about local cycle cross races too. I have no patience for we have plenty of um experienced cross-racer women in New England that can and should be commentating our women's races. But they replaced Hannah with Megan.

Steve 42:01

Megan. I'm not sure of the last name.

Kristin 42:03

I think it's Gournier.

Steve 42:04

Who is not in France, she's in her living room in the United States. Yes. Oh, not a commentator. Sorry, Megan.

Kristin 42:11

She just needs work. That's the only thing. I have no problem. My issue is that Hannah and Anthony were great.

Steve 42:17

Yeah.

Kristin 42:18

And I don't know why we had to replace them.

Steve 42:20

Exactly. So I somebody said, so like they work for TNT sports. Now TNT is HBO Max and the whole what Paramount Now or whatever it is. Sure. So it could be that Peacock was just using their feed. Maybe their commentary feed for the week. And then we got to the weekend, the last two stages, and they brought in Phil, who they had contract with, obviously. Right. And this and Megan, who was wearing an NBC shirt.

Kristin 42:52

So she'll get there. She'll get there.

Steve 42:55

I just I don't know why, but right.

Kristin 42:58

This all is astounding to me in part because, as you know, I have never been a sports fan. And today, while we were on our ride and was talking to one of the women we were riding with, I'm like describing the attack on the second to last day and the controversy and the riders yelling at each other. And I'm like, I am deep, I am deep into watching sports. And then um, we had Kate Courtney, who we've been following for a couple of years now, and she was on an Allied, which we which we sell.

Steve 43:36

You know, time flies. It's been uh eight years we've been following her.

Kristin 43:41

So it does that does fly because I would have told you it was only two or three, but you're right, it was like eight years. And she just joined the FDJ United um team because she's making the jump to road racing, and that I even knew that and cared was like such a change. In my brain, because again, I have not been traditionally a sports no.

Steve 44:05

Well, we always been watching the mountain bike races, but yeah, yeah, even that's fairly new to me.

Kristin 44:10

But yeah, today I was like breaking it down from one of the riders about like the different women and how they ride and how their body types are and how they are, you know. And I was like, good lord, I guess we have to go to Lake Placid to go see the to go see the um the mountain bike world cup race.

Steve 44:29

Yeah, yep, and it which is the last one in Lake Placid.

Kristin 44:33

That's too bad. It is anyway, but yes, go watch women's riding, it's awesome. All right, last thing. Yeah, we're gonna talk about something mechanical. Ooh. Cause you know, you're a mechanic. I broke a spoke on my mountain bike wheel. I don't think I've ever broken a spoke before. I think you have. Have I? I cannot think of it. Why do why do spokes break? Start with that.

Steve 44:59

Well, they can break because something goes into your spokes, especially on mountain bikes. Oh, okay. Generally not on road bikes, but um yeah, so something can just go into your spokes. Sometimes you don't even realize that the stick kind of went in your spoke.

Kristin 45:12

That must have been what happened to me because it was like one time it was fine, and then suddenly it was I was walking up something and it sounded like a rattle.

Steve 45:20

Right. Uh in your case, you popped the head off of a spoke nipple. And so so spokes, I mean, spokes themselves can break. Usually they break because of fatigue.

Kristin 45:33

Okay.

Steve 45:34

And not to go too much in the weeds, but it's usually comes sometimes an under tension thing because they then have a lot of um stress and de stress moments, and then that's why they fatigue and then and over time, and then so they sort of prematurely get to a point where they start breaking. Yeah. And then you can also have a situation where it's uh the tension is too t too high as well. Okay. Um, nipples breaking can sometimes be a too high tension thing, or it can just be a bad luck thing. Yep. Uh tubeless sealant can also react with nipples if it's gotten down in there, and then sometimes that can cause nipple heads to break.

Kristin 46:14

Um, so so mine broke and went into the tire, into the nipple head breaks. It can go into the wheel. I can hear it. And so but because my tubeless fluid, is that why I didn't have any um I didn't flat or anything? Like, isn't that like now a hole in my nah?

Steve 46:32

So, yeah. So the depending on the way a spoke can break, sometimes it can go up and puncture your tubeless tape, uh, and then you lose your and then you go flat as well. Okay, right. In your case, you just broke the head off, yeah, right, which is in the cavity of the rim. So your tubeless tape is just intact. So you that's why you're fine.

Kristin 46:50

Oh, and that's why I could hear it rattling around the room.

Steve 46:54

Yeah, it's in the cavity of the rim.

Kristin 46:56

Okay. And then I what I ended up doing is I wrapped it around the spoke that was right next to it as a way to get home because I was in the middle of our ride.

Steve 47:07

Yep. If now on on disc braked bikes, yeah, if you have a wobble in your wheel and it's um not hitting the frame, your tires are still not hitting the frame, you you can ride it. Okay. Um, gosh, I've known guys who've had one, two spokes broken and they're like, and may ride on it for months. Don't I don't suggest it.

Kristin 47:30

Okay.

Steve 47:31

But uh, you know, there's actually one spoke out of the whole wheel. You're you're fine.

Kristin 47:37

Okay. So that was gonna be my question. Because I did two rides on that. It was it was that typical like broke it on one, went a whole week, got the got it out of the van, went oh poop. My my my spoke is still broken. We did not fix that. We did not fix that.

Steve 47:54

So could you have ridden on it again today? Yeah, but I had a spare wheel in the garage, so I just threw that off.

Kristin 48:00

Yeah, but interesting. Also, my it was making a lot of creaking noises, and then when you changed the wheel, the creaking noises all went away. So is it possible those were coming from the wheel also?

Steve 48:15

Possible, but uh not from the spoke issue. Just in general. So I that's something I'm gonna look at.

Kristin 48:20

Yeah. Well, there you go. Thank you for fixing my broken spoke.

Steve 48:24

That might have just been a uh an axle, through axle thing.

Kristin 48:29

Oh got it.

Steve 48:31

And then you reseeded it, so yeah, through axles, a lot of times through axles can make a lot of odd noises that either just tightening or a little grease and tightening takes care of. And and it can sometimes uh echo in places of the frame that you don't realize it's the through axle.

Kristin 48:51

That was the issue. I was like, where, what, what? And you were like, it's coming from so it could be so many places. And I was like, I think I feel it. My feet maybe it's coming from there. Like I was I was convinced it was the bottom bracket, and you were like, no, I don't think it is.

Steve 49:05

Oh, everybody, everybody thinks it's the bottom bracket.

Kristin 49:07

Because that seems to be maybe it's because it resonates through.

Steve 49:12

But everybody thinks a noise is a bottom bracket, and it's um very many times not.

Kristin 49:17

Really?

Steve 49:17

Yeah, yeah. I've had many times where people come in and say, Oh, my bottom thracket's creaking, I think I need a bottom bracket. And the great times are where I'm like, let me just tighten your rear thoract.

Kristin 49:28

They're like that'll be $150 now. All right, well, we should wrap that up um for this week. We're gonna shorten our uh wrap-up because it's way too long. We're basically gonna say, if you like the show, please leave a review or share with a friend. You can find show notes links to or leave a comment, question, or topic suggestion by visiting cycling together.bike.

Steve 49:54

Uh, you can follow the shop on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok at SteveBikeEye.

Kristin 50:00

Thanks for joining the ride.

Steve 50:02

All right, we'll see you next time.