Calf-Tear Update: 13Yrs Later

I remember being very surprised when I Googled "Calf Tear" back in 2009 when this happened to me, and there were no good images on the web to show how the wound might look and progress over time, so I had the presence of mind to do that for the World. The last 10yr or so I noticed more than a few podiatrists and sports physicians have linked my blog post, and in some cases stolen my photos (that's OK, my goal was to help people who were freaked out they had a serious injury and wanted to know how bad it was going to be), so that's probably why it's my most viewed post.

 

I thought it might also be nice to give people the benefit of long experience and report on the long-term effects of this injury, so happy to report it isn't an issue at all anymore. 

I would say the first 5yrs my calf would get sore on hard rides, not so much long rides, although it did squawk a bit after some long rides, but mostly it was the intensity of my rides that would affect it. During the Pandemic in 2020 I rode a LOT of Metric Centuries, just as a challenge, and because with so little traffic during the shut-downs I could ride in a lot of places I never could before. In May and June I did two Metric Centuries a week on many weeks (while collecting Social Security checks!), and the calf never bothered me. Oddly, my other calf, which was never injured, DID bother me. Go figure! 

Also, in 2019 I put in a lot of miles, took 6 weeks off at the end of the summer, and then rode the Victor Valley Bike Tour's longest ride - 73 miles, and no problems with either calf there either. In part because of a nice tail-wind the last 18 miles of that ride I not only set a lot of PBs on that end of the course, but managed to ride an almost perfect ride, my BP being within 10% of average at every point in the ride, so extremely well paced (riding TTs is great training for taking yourself right up to your max sustainable performance and holding it), and again, no problems with either calf. 

Spiking my Gatorade with Nunn, Emergen-C, taking Co-Q10, and Pterostilbene while on the ride was a great help in maintaining that pace. Pacing was, of course, also very important, as the course hit every hill in this area. You have to stay within yourself, whatever pace that turns out to be in wind and hills. It wasn't an issue for this ride, as I had taken such a long break beforehand, but for fast recoveries, like multiple Metrics in a week, Muscle Milk is a HUGE benefit. My muscles use to ache for days, especially quads, but that's gone in under an hour with MM. The Nunn sodium supplement is a big help as our only calm wind months are June, July & August, and by noon temps are well over 100, often approaching 120F, so cramping and heat-stroke are always threatening.

Bottom line, even while pushing my cardio and endurance to the max, and probably beyond if not for a lot of nutrition and supplement tweaking, my calf has never been a problem since I took up riding again in late 2017 after a 3yr hiatus, so if you've just sustained a calf injury this should be good news. My only advice beyond what I said in my original post in 2009 is be very, very careful to not re-injure the calf while it's mending, and go easy on it when you start retraining after. 

Cheers!

Saving Money on Gatorade in Bulk

 I'm always looking for ways to save money on my cycling habit, and recently discovered that while my old stand-by 51oz canister of powdered Gatorade is getting hard to find and expensive, it's because there's a new 76oz size that ROCKS! 

Yes, I still spike it with Emergn-C to make a very tasty Fruit Punch and Raspberry ride fuel and electrolyte foundation for my rides, but it just costs less now. A reminder. The powdered Gatorade has no high-fructose corn syrup. They use sugar and glucose instead.

Maximizing Summer-End Sales

At this time of year there are a lot of tire and summer clothing sales that can save you a bundle, but how to you keep those tires and shorts fresh & new? The short answer is to keep them sealed off from unlimited free oxygen they'll be exposed to unless sealed in an airtight wrapping, bag, or container - or better yet - all of the above.

 

 

I stocked up on a bunch of tires in 2020, not wanting to run out due to COVID shortages, and usually just wrap each Conti GP5KTL in two layers of grocery bags, tape them shut with shipping tape, put them in a big plastic garbage bag, and stick them in the back of the closet where it's dark and cool. 

However, I was in the process of moving early this year and wanted a airtight box to store dog food, as it goes rancid fast if left exposed to all the free oxygen in ambient air. Not able to find what I was looking for, I found Husky airtight storage boxes at Home Depot instead, and thought the 5 lb box was going to be a lot more flexible than the RX I got from a friend. 

Turns out putting the 37 lb bag in the bottom of my refrigerator worked even better at keeping my dog's food fresh and affordable (about 60% per pound as the price of a 6lb bag), so the Husky storage box got repurposed as my tire vault, and does a GREAT job. The gasket keeps air from getting into the box all day long, everyday, and that keeps new tires pristine. Yes, I still wrap them in double plastic bags too, because those tires are tough and it may take 2-3yrs before I use the last of them.

I learned this trick by accidentally storing my SCUBA first stage regulator in a plastic bag inside a pretty airtight suitcase whose empty space was taken up by down sleeping bags packed in tight by sitting on the suitcase so I could get it to latch. 10yrs later I took the regulator to a SCUBA shop and had it rebuilt as I was taking up the sport again. The technician asked me how I had stored it, as he had never seen so little oxidation of the seals in a regulator before. By law, he was required to replace the parts anyway, but pointed out how pristine they were when I picked up my gear. 

Lesson learned, I have been packing my rubber bits in airtight containers ever since. While jerseys are pretty robust against oxidation, chamios are NOT, and neither is the latex-based Spandex that provides the compression that gives them support and keeps the chamios between you and the seat. High tech rain-gear is also sensitive to oxidation, so it should get packed in an airtight container as well.

The Husky box has lots of uses, and if you decide to get more, they stack, and stack with other Husky boxes in a way that really locks them together. Here's a nice review of the product, now go snag yourself a nice bit of rain gear and store it in one of these when summer comes around so it will be fresh and new next winter.

Cheers!

Conti GP5k TL: Dead of Natural Causes

As documented in my post on Jan 27th, I added a full wack of sealant to my front 25mm Conti GP5k TLs, which was only ~ 600 miles ago, as I now have a dog, and have spent early mornings out walking her instead of riding, but still, these tires were put on almost 18 months ago, so they have a LOT of miles on them.

 I was out riding when I noticed a bubble in my sidewall, which seriously pissed me off because I didn't realize how old the tires were. When I was taking this pic with my phone I thought to check the wear dimples. GONE! Still, it's worth mentioning here that this is the death I expect from any Conti tire, as sidewalls are Conti's perpetual weakness. Not sure why. They seem to have an institutional blind-spot about the importance, or perhaps, the performance of their sidewalls. 

That said, after all the glass and thorns and goat-heads, it was nice to FINALLY wear out a front tire. (I wore out a back 28mm in 2019. I never did a thing to it except air it up before rides. I just rode it and rode it and rode it until it had a fat chicken-strip down the middle and the wear dimples were gone. Sweet!) I did cut my ride short by 5mi just to be on the safe side, and I am surprised the sidewall seems to have a separate rubber liner that almost looks like an inner-tube here. 

This is the front wheel with a big ding in the brake-track I got from hitting a rock in the far edge of a pothole and therefore, didn't want to put a new tire on it. The thing is, I just HATE radially laced wheels now, or maybe it's just that custom, hand-built wheels are so much better, but after trying to ride the OEM wheels on my Pinarello I shrugged and went back to my Chris King R45 + Easton + DT Swiss Aerolite with 2X cross spoking as the effect on braking was minimal except at very low speeds, when it pulses a bit. 

I've put another Conti GP5k TL 25mm on the wheel and am looking forward to riding again in the mornings now that temps are not melting the asphalt mid-day anymore. Anyone want to walk my dog for me? She's a real sweetheart and fast as a blur when off-leash!

Here's a pic showing the sidewall failure