System of Up

Being an engineer by nature and training, I have a systematic approach to problem-solving, including those that limit my cycling goals, which lately have been range and mileage. When I bought my new tubeless wheels the goal was to reduce flats to the point I could ride without obsessing about everything on the road that might give me a flat, and get home reliabally.

It took a few tries to get the tires right, but the GP5000 TLs were a home-run. I can now ride without much caring where or when or how bad the surface because they are the toughest tires I have ever ridden, roll VERY well, and as a huge bonus, have a nice plush ride.

Starting last summer I realized the tires and wheels were reliable enough to start doing longer rides, which was very liberating, as we have some great, remote places to ride here, but nowhere you'd want to sit and wait for a friend to pick you up from if $hit happened.

Persists for 4-5 hrs

That worked so well I started hitting a new barrier to long miles - saddle sores. The solution to that problem has mostly been scrupulous hygiene. I always wash my bum now with anti-bacterial soap, and sometimes with Hibiclens, before I put on my bib tights. I've also largely abandoned the Voler brand bib shorts I've ridden for most of the last decade, searching for something that protects me better. (the subject of bib-shorts needs its own post, and I'll do that when I have more experience with my new PI Pro bib-shorts)

I've also boosted my heart support by taking CoQ-10, and spiking my Gatorade with Emergen-C. This combo also helps with cramping and adds a little fuel, so muscle support on the bike is pretty good now, but muscle recovery was becoming a problem with more miles and longer rides.

A couple of weeks ago I realized my cardio and general fatigue were no longer issues with recovery, but my legs just weren't recovering from 50 mile rides every-other day, so I scratched my head and started looking for a solution. That solution turned out to be Muscle Milk. The rice has a little protein in it too (GU does not), but I can actually feel my muscles soak this stuff up in a weaker version of how my calf muscle felt healing up from a bad tear, knitting itself together. It's also pretty great it tastes like of like ice-cream!

Ice-Cream that makes you muscles smile

After setting a new distance record since moving to SoCal 5 years ago on Monday - 73 miles, I rode 52 yesterday, so in 3 days I've ridden 125 miles. I'm in my 60s now, so I'm pretty proud of that, and hope to break my May Is Bike Month distance record from 2012, which I will do on my next ride.

I haven't tried any other protein powder, so perhaps there are even better supplements, but MM is making a huge improvement in muscle recovery for me at the moment, and I wanted to spread the word. If you're new to cycling just know, cycling requires much more protein than weight training.

I did the latter for 20 years before taking up cycling again seriously, and was shocked that cycling required 2-3X as much protein as weight training - mostly on long rides lasting more than 2 hours. A good rule of thumb is 1 gram of protein for every pound of lean body weight. Most professional cycling coaches seem to have adopted this metric now.

I don't know where the next bottle-neck will appear, but right now I am very happy with where I am, which BTW, is atop the Leader Board at my local bike club!