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

Keeping Cool in the Shadow of Old Italians

In the high desert here north of LA, this time of year we ride very early in the morning when the air is still hopefully cool, but it's also rather humid, and DEAD CALM. The dead calm is a welcome change from incessant winds, usually in the afternoon this time of year, but all day long during spring, fall and to a lessor extent, winter.  

The calm does have a downside though, and it can be very uncomfortable, or in extreme cases maybe even life-threatening. This because if you climb a long hill or otherwise really exert yourself, making a sustained push into Zone 5, when you get to the top of the hill or end of the Strava Segment and pull over to catch your breath and hydrate you can actually get even HOTTER. 

With the high morning humidity in the 60-70% range, stopping means no wind, and probably no shade either. Even in the shade though, the lack of any breeze means your body's evaporation cooling system doesn't work, and your core temp can soar. I've been more aware of this lately bc I now have a short-haired dog I walk ever morning, and dogs don't sweat, they cool themselves by panting and evaporating moisture off their nose and mouth, and by standing broadside to any wind. 

 

There is often a solution to this still air however, and it was discovered by the Italian physicist Giovanni Battista Venturi and published in 1796.

The Venturi Effect states that when the flow of air is constricted two things happen.

1. The air speeds up
2. The pressure of the air decreases by a commensurate amount

We're obviously interested in the first, but the second effect is what makes the carburetor in a car operate as the low pressure draws gasoline into the air-stream, effectively creating an optimal fuel air mixture. So how do you get a restricted airflow while on a ride? Usually by getting between two buildings, fences, or occasionally a large stand of trees like Cyprus Trees that grow straight up like walls.

It's really striking how much of a difference this can make, especially since energy = mass * velocity squared. That extra velocity means a lot more work is getting done and those beads of sweat will soon be gone and your discomfort with it. 

As a pilot I feel compelled to point out the Venturi Effect is also responsible for the fog that forms on the tops of wings when aircraft pull high Gs. This is because the wing's topside is curved, while its bottom side is flat, so the air is accelerated along the topside, lowering the pressure and with it the temp of the air. When the air temp drops, especially in humid conditions, water-vapor becomes visible.  

There, now you have something to contemplate while out riding, and a way to stay cool in still & humid conditions, plus, doesn't this image just look cool? BTW, wanna guess why your CO2 cartridge gets so cold when you use it? :)

Upgrade Your Water Bottle Now!

 I often start my rides with temps in the 70s or 80s, but they end in the 100s, so I have learned from experience the tremendous difference between CamelBak's Podium Ice and all other bottles. Seriously, the Podium Chill aren't worth the water they displace, because you could pack the bottle with ice, fill with water, and the loss in volume when the ice melts is less than the 3-4oz you lose to thicker insulation in the Podium Ice. 

Bottom Line: It's Podium Ice or warm Gatorade.

So why the "News-Flash"?, because the small silicone cap on the  inside of the lid has been flagged as a choking hazard, so these (and all other CamelBak) bottles are now on sale for up to $11 off, making these wonderful, but expensive $26 bottles a once in a lifetime bargain. Oh, and if you're one of the few people left on Earth who still use a Polar Bottle, for God's sake upgrade your gear!

I have two stations for water bottles on my Pinarello. The Red one on the down-tube is for Gatorade, and the Blue one on the seat-tube is for water. I actually prefer the pale blue one, but this one is more distinctive, so a better illustration.

I have quite a specific management protocol for hydration using these bottles, as I live in the high desert and it's very hot and dry here. 

The Gatorade bottle gets filled about half full of the crescent shaped ice my ice maker supplies, but I make the Gatorade from powder and water that sits overnight in the coldest spot in my refrigerator, so it's usually partially frozen. I add Emergen-C powder to the Gatorade powder, pour in the quasi-frozen water and shake. I then put the entire bottle in the freezer while I dress & shower. The insulation prevents the mixture from freezing and ruining the bottle, which it ABSOLUTELY will do! 

The pure water bottle is packed with ice. If you have crushed ice, use it. Whatever ice you use, don't add any cold-wicking water to the bottle until you absolutely have to while out riding. Solid ice has very little contact surface with the walls of the bottle, so it will last a lot longer if you don't fill it with water. I can fit a Zefal Magnum water bottle on the seat-tube, which is where my pure water goes. It's a great option, filled with ice, if you only have warm tap water to refill with on your ride. Its much larger size makes it a better option than the Podium Chill bottles bc it holds so much more ice.

When you need more Gatorade, take the cap off and hold it in your mouth, the same one you're going to be drinking with, and WITHOUT taking the lid off the bottle holding melted ice, squirt the very cold water into your Gatorade bottle. Replace the cap you've been holding in your mouth. NEVER take the lid off of both bottles at the same time as an unlucky gesture like trying to keep your bike from falling over, sliding, etc. leaves ALL of your fluids dumped into the sand. This could be fatal, or at least life-threatening (probably not, but it's a very, very bad feeling to see all your hydration spilled on the ground). 

When you have an opportunity, fill the bottle with ice and melted water with the coldest water you can find, and repeat the process to make more Gatorade. This is the ONLY time the lid should come off of your water bearing bottle, and only when the lid is on and tightly shut on your Gatorade bottle. The idea is to sacrifice cold water for cold Gatorade bc warm Gatorade sucks, and doesn't do anything to cool you off that just sweating would. Try to keep the bottle for water only ice by topping up your Gatorade bottle.

When you get to the end of your ride they won't  be enough ice left to chill a full bottle, so try to judge how much water you can add and still end up with cold Gatorade when you use it to make Gatorade in your front bottle. I often can only top up my Gatorade bottle with chilled water at this point, and have to fill my water bearing bottle with warm water, but that's still a great problem to have after 4-5hrs of riding in 90-115F heat.

PS: If you just have to have pure water along from the start, consider buying an ice-cube tray that makes giant ice-cubes - like 2" squares. Walmart sells them and so do others. The larger the cube the longer it takes to melt into the water that's in contact with the walls of the bottle. It works, but it's a  PITA to work with giant ice-cubes.

New Phone, Old Charger/s

 Last year I did a post on my portable power station here (scroll to bottom half of post), and I'm thrilled to report the Yilon AC Charger's USC-C port will fast charge my new Motorola Moto G7 Plus as fast as the charger that came with the phone - full up in ~ 30min. 

 

After waiting 18 months I finally snagged this $325 (original price) phone for $120 unlocked at Best Buys ($65 with an AT&T contract). As it doesn't support CDMA I switched to the virtual carrier RedPocket, which is buying time from T-Mobile, the carrier providing the cell service. My pre-paid (no contract) RedPocket service is unlimited talk, text and 1G of data for ten bucks. Yup, you read that right, $10/mo! I transferred my phone number and while RedPocket warned it would take 2 days to 2 weeks, Verizon had it done in ~ 2 seconds. Nice!

Unfortunately, the LIPO battery-based chargers I bought will NOT fast charge my phone, or anything else, because while they can charge it, they can't speed charge it, so it takes hours. Thus I'm now looking for such a battery-based speed charger. 

You may recall I bought two separate devices is because I want the AC charger to be able to charge all of  the stuff on my bike AND the LIPO charger's battery AT THE SAME TIME, so when I have access to an AC outlet I can charge my devices and my portable charger. This allows me to ride all day if I want with only one AC outlet on hand. 

This Anker 10k MAh Power Bank comes close, but as you can see, it takes over 4hrs to fully recharge. My phone wouldn't take the whole 10k, as its battery is only 3k, but it would probably take 4k (a lossy process) and even if just topping off, this Anker would take over an hour. I'd much rather have a 5k unit that fully recharges in 30 min from the Yilon AC charger I already have, so I will keep looking, but if you're training for a Double Century or a long cross country tour, 10k might be nice, and maybe even something bigger like a 25k MAh. Note that with this Anker you'd need a 3:1 "Y" splitter cable, and 4-5 would be better, for charging low-power bike stuff, saving the C-to-C speed charging port for your phone. Amazon seems to be churning them out like hot cakes.

Just a heads-up. When the sun starts to set and you're still not "there", this stuff all becomes a LOT more important. You need those lights to work all day in Day-Flash mode to keep you safe, at night to see and be seen, and to phone home to give loved ones a new ETA and status report.

NOTE: I originally tried to go with a $15 T-Mobile plan directly (not via RedPocket), made an appointment at the local store, and then sat there for 20 minutes while they fiddled with their system until finally reporting the required website was down and they couldn't do anything useful for me, directing me to the Target store across the parking lot. Driving home I decided there's no point in having local "support" that can't get anything useful done for me, and decided putting in my own SIM card couldn't be THAT difficult. It wasn't. I had to wait 2 days for USPS delivery for the SIM card, but everything went smoothly and RedPocket's online support, which was asked some pointed questions BEFORE buying the service, was pretty good. RedPocket has plans as low as $2.50 a month.

Air on the Side of NOT

I was asked this question by a friend the other day and realized I have never weighed in on this pretty basic, yet important tire maintenance question. If you don't ride for a few days/weeks should you keep airing up your tubeless tires, or just let them go flat? 

Thinking about it, the answer seemed pretty obvious. Let them go flat, or fla-ish. Tires like the Conti GP5KTL, especially the first 300-500 miles, can let go of the rim if air pressure falls below 10psi, but as they age that number drops to almost zero. If you don't let the bike stand on the tires bc it/s turned upside down, or hung, that number is also probably a lot closer to zero based on turning mine upside down a few times.The greater the pressure differential, the faster the air leaks out, so the last 10psi takes 20X as long to leak out as the first 10psi. (this is true for heat too btw, where pressure is called the "heat gradient")

 

 

WHY is this an important issue? Because every time you add air it sucks up some of the liquid in the sealant, and takes it out of the tire as it escapes. Eventually you end up with dried sealant in the tire that does nothing useful. The conclusion is obvious, cycle as little air through the tire as possible so you don't dry out the sealant. This is NOT a recommendation to ride at a lower tire pressure, although I'd recommend a personal search for the lowest number, because it gives a more comfortable, puncture resistant ride, but that's not what I'm aiming at here. 

Also, for those of you who are new to the sport, CO2 molecules are much smaller than air, which is a mix of gasses, and mostly nitrogen, and therefore, CO2 will leak away tire pressure much faster than air. (there's also a special gas mixture you can buy, StayFill, originally developed for fire-extinguisher systems, that will probably go for years without losing pressure if you could somehow manage not to run over thorns, nails, tacks, or glass)

It was 1yr ago on the 25th, Memorial Day 2020 that we found an abandoned dog, which we named Emma, and she's been an absolutely wonderful addition to our, and now my, household. I can't believe someone threw her away, but they did, and lucky us, we found a very scared and traumatized puppy who has grown in so many ways and become an awesome companion. What someone else didn't want, or couldn't keep, was our immense gain. 

To a lessor degree, this is true of old bikes as well. If it's just sitting around gathering dust, find a good home for it and make someone very happy. Nieces, nephews, cousins, and grand-children are obvious choices. My first bike probably cost my dad $25 - back when a buck was worth a buck, but still a bargain.

Back in the Saddle Again

"Life" and very challenging weather has kept me off the bike for a bit over 2 months, but I had a nice ride on Sunday, and as expected, am feeling it today. I had a little back pain while out riding, but to my surprise, it's my calves that are killing me. Long-time readers may remember I tore my right calf badly in 2010, so in order to prevent re-injuring it, I'm taking another day off today. 

I'm a little surprised because I have a dog now, and she's a working dog, so requires a lot of exercise, so it's not like I've been sedentary, but as I discovered when I tried to substitute walking for riding before, riding is just much more demanding, especially if you're riding 50-70 mile rides.

For my comeback ride, I did a little over 20 miles on pretty flat terrain and stayed nearby so if $hit happened I could get home without too much trouble. The only way to do it is to "Just Do It". Nike had that dead right. 

After moving, and only partially unpacking, it took a long time to get out the door because so much of my routine was baked into putting things in "their" place, allowing me plenty of short-cuts to get out the door quickly. I assume the next ride will go a lot smoother. The weather though was finally accommodating, with the wind remaining fairly calm until noon and the pollen, at least whatever it is that has been bothering me, took the day off. 

I'm smiling through the pain because it's still thrilling to be propelling yourself through time & space under your own power, especially while drawing social security checks! Also, I really do love the Pinarello!

Cheers!

Riding Without A Mask: I told you so!

So the scientists at CDC have finally caught up with centuries of best practices and common sense and issued new mask guidelines. They are all entirely consistent with those I offered my readers over a year ago. Perhaps next time people start dropping like flies someone at the CDC or DHS or somewhere could do the unthinkable, step outside what can be proven at that very moment, and offer guidance based on centuries of fighting communicable diseases and common sense observations like public drinking fountains have been kept sanitary for centuries by sunlight. 

When the science isn't in yet, offer SOME guidance based on experience. Obviously you're perfectly willing to admit you got it wrong after the fact, so just take a good scientific wild-assed guess, make the standard "Do no harm", and give us your best guess confident you'll do at least SOME good. It's hard to imagine getting this so wrong it's worse than leaving people to figure it out for themselves and all the ways THAT can go wrong.

I just have to wonder, did the CDC not read the DHS Lab's reports regarding the fact that direct, noon-day sunlight at sea-level, like at noon in Manhattan, kills COVID-19 to undetectable levels in less than 3 minutes? SMH. If the best that can be said for the CDC is they aren't making things worse, then how is that better than having no CDC at all? They have a huge budget, and spend it on hand-wringing and 2nd guessing themselves?

 

Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover ... err... Car

I have twice now been fortunate to live in a city in California where I don't really need a car. Getting work and home in the same zip-code is really key there, or working from home in my case. Although this piece makes a good run at it, it is very, very hard to describe the sense of freedom & belonging, two things rarely found under the same roof, from NOT having to climb into a car 10-times a day. I love both the tech of cars and driving, but never a good idea to make something you love a chore, and commuting is a chore!

 

 

When I saw the count - 50 - I immediately thought of this Paul Simon song, but really love this cover, so went with it. Enjoy the music while you read the article, preferably while sitting at a Bistro Table with a friend outdoors on a sunny day. Cheers!

Spin-Class Death: Just Say NO!

When I'm out riding I try to avoid entering ANY enclosed spaces, as we here in the high desert enjoy an especially potent UV sterilizer in the very intense sunlight we get at 3,000ft elevation. When at the Apple Valley Airport I wait outside in the sun until my HR returns to normal, don the mask I bring with me, and pop inside to use the Men's Room. (despite my best efforts, wearing a mask is impossible if you want a good workout at ~ 80% of max HR, and according to Dr. Fauchi, unnecessary unless you go indoors or stop to talk to people)

I then leave the building and use the outdoor faucet at the BBQ area to wash my face, hands and fill my water-bottles. In summer I like to fill up inside at the water cooler, but not worth the added risk in winter, so I just go back outside in the warm sunshine and breeze. 

 

Only if you have a death wish...

By contrast, what NOT to do is ride a spin-cycle in an indoor spin class. Breathing hard around others in an enclosed space is just begging for COVID-19. In short, here's what not to do...

One of those instructors taught a 60-minute high-intensity indoor cycling class just four hours before his symptoms started later that evening. The instructor and students were all stationed at least six feet apart, but none wore masks while working out, per the facility's protocol, and the windows and doors were closed. The instructor was facing the class, “shouting instructions and encouragement,” the report says, and, presumably, spreading infectious respiratory droplets containing the virus. Over the next week, all 10 people who attended the class tested positive for COVID-19.

BTW, I can't think of any good reasons why more building owners up here in the high desert, where humidity is in the 5-15% range most of the time, haven't been installing swamp coolers and ripping  out their AC units. Swamp coolers (evaporation coolers) work by exchanging all the air in the cooled space every 3-5 minutes, so MUCH, MUCH safer than AC units which recirculate all of the air they move. They also take 40-60% of the power to operate.

Perfect Muscle Milk

For most of the last 15 yrs, after hard rides, my legs, especially the two quad heads at my knees, really hurt, ached and burned a little, despite massage and Advil and nutrition, this would last for 2-3 days, sometimes bad enough to keep me awake at night. 

I found a cure for that last summer when riding some 150+ mile weeks, and I found it because I remember one of the riders I used to ride with in Sacramento told me it helped him a LOT. I should have listened to him then, but when it comes to getting smart, better late than never. The solution is Muscle Milk. 

32oz Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, & Batman

 I also tried WallyWorld's Equate stuff, but it doesn't have the same effect as MM, and I suspect that's because Equate has fewer carbs, which in MM are probably fast carbs, used to arrest catabolic muscle destruction. No, Hammer Nutrition, there's no such thing as "canniballistic" muscle destruction. Catabolic is the flip-side of Anabolic, which means to break down, and build up, respectively. Catabolic muscle destruction can only be arrested by ingesting carbs very high on the glycemic index, which will create an insulin spike in your blood. There's more to the process, but this is the short story of that process.)

From a very short Google Safari...

Catabolic reactions break down larger molecules, such as carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins from ingested food, into their constituent smaller parts. ... Anabolic reactions, or biosynthetic reactions, synthesize larger molecules from smaller constituent parts, using ATP as the energy source for these reactions.

 

... and this... 

 

The Anabolic Phase: The 45-Minute Optimal Window

The anabolic phase is a critical phase occurring within 45 minutes post-exercise. It is during this time that muscle cells are particularly sensitive to insulin, making it necessary to ingest the proper nutrients in order to make gains in muscle endurance and strength. If the proper nutrients are ingested 2 - 4 hours post-exercise they will not have the same effect. It is also during this time in which the anabolic hormones begin working to repair the muscle and decrease its inflammation.

 Immediate ingestion of carbohydrate is important because insulin sensitivity causes the muscle cell membranes to be more permeable to glucose within 45 minutes post-exercise. This results in faster rates of glycogen storage and provides the body with enough glucose to initiate the recovery process (Burke et al., 2003). Muscle glycogen stores are replenished the fastest within the first hour after exercise. Consuming carbohydrate within an hour after exercise also helps to increase protein synthesis (Gibala, 2000).

 Quoted from here, because there's just so much nonsense about the need for protein after hard exercise and it's patently FALSE. Carbs, carbs high on the Mendosa Glycemic Index, and only those carbs, prevent catabolic muscle destruction, NOT protein. If you think your body breaking down muscle tissue to create glucose is idiotic and contra-intuitive, imagine your tribe just ran a large game animal to ground (how humans on 2 legs did it - with greater biomechanical efficiency on 2 legs) and now the tigers are threatening. Best run into that cave and hide, because those other tribes that had bigger muscles but no energy left to run? Yeah, they aren't around anymore!

 

While Muscle Milk is a minor miracle, mixing it with milk (they RX water, but ick!) makes a lumpy mess at the top of whatever giant tumbler you mix it in. You can also use an infuser/mixer stick, but that just makes even more mess. I was stirring with a knife to keep the mess to a minimum, and so I could scrape the knife on the edge of the glass, but I still ended up with lumps of dry powder in the back of my throat when I tried to drink it. Just FYI, I cover the ball +1" with Organic Grass-Fed milk (lots of Omega-3 fatty acids in anything grass-fed) and top up with skim milk. YMMV. 

45oz, for those really L-O-N-G rides!

Well, I found the perfect cure for Muscle Milk's goopy lumps. It's called a Blender Bottle, and Walmart sells that too. It's so ingenious I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. Think Cocktail Shaker meets Shake-Weight. The wire ball works like the BB in the bottom of a can of spray paint and blends Muscle Milk perfectly with zero mess left on anything. Beyond that, you get a wonderful (chocolate in my case) milk shake that's delicious and smooth - a nice reward after a hard ride. I'd still stick with left over Gatorade and a baked potato for immediate recovery, hot from the microwave, or freeze-dried from an Odahoan Baby Reds pouch, but after 30-40 minutes sit back and enjoy your MM milkshake!

440 very fast carbs, some from maltodextrin

RX for Saddle Sores

If this post looks familiar it's because it's a massive update of an old post. I tried to update it one too many times, and it just got confusing and had become obsolete when Triclosan was banned, Lysol Laundry Sanitizer became available again, and  Dial came out with a new foaming soap I love because it is full of glycerine, which is a moisturizer that is oil, so it will never dry and works wonderfully to keep your chamois interface well maintained. So, without further adieu...

The emergence of saddle sores is often met with macho bravado, and this is a HUGE mistake. Often times, and this was certainly true in my case during MIBM, these are not sores at all, but crushing and tearing wounds that create permanent scars and injury which never fully heal. Such wounds will forever limit your saddle time, and deserve an all-out, maximum remedial effort.

There are distinctions to be made between tearing/crushing wounds, sores/boils attendant with infected pimples, or hair follicles, and chaffing or pressure soreness.You may well need the help of a really GOOD friend to address pimples and in-grown hairs (a surprisingly common problem btw, and look like pimples). Huggies wet-wipe bum wipes for babies are a great idea in general, and will help keep the area very clean and sanitized. You'll be shocked at how much you've been leaving behind after using Huggies, or any other wet bum wipe.

Impossible to find, now back in force killing COVID-19

Of course, the best injury is one that never happens, and to that end here are some good ways to prevent saddle sores.

1. Clean and Sterilize your shorts, chamois and seat. Never use bleach on your shorts, or anything else with Lycra for compression. Bleach kills Lycra! Your shorts will end up ruined. Jerseys, headsweats, etc are much more tolerant of mild bleaching, but much better to use Lysol Laundry Sanitizer.  Yes, it kills COVID-19.
   
2. Wash you bottom side with a good antibacterial soap, like Dial Complete, which contains glycerin (same stuff they put in hand sanitizers like Purell) to moisturize, or for problem areas, use  chlorhexidine gluconate soap like Hibiclens to sterilize your skin for 6-8 hours. Use this RX for road rash as a general guideline. Wallgreen's soap is cheaper and smells better than Hibiclens, but both are excellent. Yes, it too kills COVID-19. The Chinese bought a million gallons of it from Canada to combat COVID-19.
   
3. Keep skin in tear-prone areas elastic by using petroleum jelly based Neosporin, brand name or otherwise. Lotion dries out and doesn't kill bacteria.
   
4. Keep your bottom side dry and ventilated for boils or infections. Save Neosporin for time in the saddle as it will suffocate the wound and retard healing. Apply Hibiclens every 6 hours.
5. Use an alternative short with a different kind of chamois, different shaped seat, or some combination of these to change the pressure points on your bottom.
6. Try a seat with a center channel void to increase ventilation to promote drying and cooling, although at 185lbs, I find a full-contact area seat to be better. 
7. Buy better shorts, and BIB shorts with high compression so they stay put and protect you. The best I have found to date are the Pearl Izumi PRO bib shorts. I can do 2-3 metric centuries in a week with these and rides of 70-85 miles with no problems.
   

Once the sore spot develops significantly, you either need to avoid putting further stress on it, or get off the bike. For boils, use max sterilization protocols, and turn everything up louder than everything else. I caught my boil very early, and stayed off the bike for 5 days, as I also was dealing with a tearing wound.

Dial Complete antibacterial foaming soap

I have not tried talc, cornstarch, or Baby Powder, but have it on good authority that these often work better than chamois butter, lotion, or Utter Butter. I used Utter Butter, and wasn't impressed. Palmer's coco butter lotion was still there and still slick at the end of a bunch of 60 mile rides.

If boils blister, you can pierce with a sterile needle. Using a hemostat and needle, dip the needle and end of hemostat in a small tray/dish of 99% alcohol, and then light on fire with a butane lighter. Let cool and you have a very sterile instrument. Everything that comes out of the boil is infected and full of bacteria, so use Hibiclens to persistently sterilized the surrounding area, and rewash the boil and area after popping it with a sterile needle.

Personally, in a MIBM situation, where you want to minimize the time off the bike, I'd find a good doctor as soon as there is any blistering. Women should be careful not to get Hibiclens on their girl part/s as it has been known to cause numbness. Betadine is a good alternative here, but doesn't have the persistence that Hibiclens does.

Properties of various antimicrobials

 Note that the compound in Dial, and most other antibacterial soaps is now Benzalkonium Chloride, as Tricolsan is no longer legal in the US. These soaps get the big chunks off, so the Hibiclens can soak in and get the deep stuff, and keep on killing pathogens for 6+ hours.

Also note that many of these compounds are partially neutralized by organic material, including the cotton in a cotton washcloth Use a synthetic microfiber washcloth for washing. They are commonly available as microtex dish cloths in the grocery store kitchen cleaning supplies area. Mine is labeled Mr Clean. I bought it at Safeway.

These can be sterilized by washing in bleach(kills almost everything known to man), which insures your washcloth stays part of the solution, and doesn't become part of the problem. Just be very sure you rinse all the bleach out, as it will destroy the action of Hibiclens.

Continental GP5000 TL Sealant Refresh

This is an update to my 6 month review of the CP5kTL, and maybe an important one. 

With any, or at least, most other tires, this would not be news, but the GP5kTL will absolutely let go of the bead when the air-pressure drops below ~ 10lbs psi, so adding sealant is a bit problematic, as the old, dried sealant tends to get between the bead and rim in an irregular way, but alas, I had no choice. 

While out riding a couple of months ago I ducked behind a shuttered restaurant, rolled through the parking lot to a discrete little nook, and relieved myself of some used Gatorade, not realizing that the shrub affording me privacy was a puncture vine, which I didn't realize until rolling across the parking lot to reenter the road from the other side. 

I stopped as soon as I noticed, and was able to pull most of the needles out of the front tire before they penetrated, but they and a couple of patches of broken glass left me with a tire whose leak became something more than "slow".

 

As a remedy I decided to try adding 30 ml of Stan's Sealant to see if that would slow the leak so I could rely on a constant pressure throughout my rides. I have to say, to my surprise it worked quite well, but there are a few caveats if trying this. 

First, is the tire worth saving? Mine was ~ 1/2 worn by the wear dimples depth, so in my case, yes. Second, I did everything I could to NOT disturb the bead while releasing the little remaining air, by turning the bike upside down so the wheel wasn't bearing any weight. Third, I used a CO2 cartridge to air up the tire as quickly as possible. Fourth, I used an injector that didn't seal the valve stem with the core removed.

I did lose a small amount of sealant, but slightly less than the normal amount, and put the full 110lbs or so of pressure in the tire to press the new sealant past the old. After sitting overnight I released most of the somewhat diminished pressure to purge the CO2, and aired up the tire with my floor pump. 

I've ridden it a few times now and it's holding air much better, so I am pleasantly surprised this prodecure can, in fact, be done with the GP5kTL. The tire still has wet spots where the water from the original sealant seeps out, but it holds pressure well during my 2-3hr rides now. I really didn't think this would go well at all, so a very pleasant surprise.

Meeting the Challenge in 2020

Strava put up a nice piece on how athletes adapted to the constraints of COVID-19 in 2020, and it's an interesting read. The thing is, somewhere in my early 30s (I'm in my mid-60s now) it hit me that it's no one else's job to keep you fit and healthy. If you want that for yourself you better learn to be selfish and make that time, because nobody else is going to make it for you. 

I upped my game a LOT in 2020, setting a ton of new PBs since retiring in SoCal, more than doubling my mileage in 2020. A big part of that was being able to do much longer rides after buying new wheels and finding the truly wonderful Conti GP5K TL tubeless tires, which do an excellent job of shaking off all the cactus needles and goat-heads here in the high desert that used to ruin my rides all the time. 

Part of it was buying better bib shorts, and now tights, so I can ride those miles, and part of it was going back to a solid seat from one with the center cut out (YMMV, but for me the extra surface area combined with better chamois did the trick). 

I also found new, remote routes, found ways and places to relieve my bladder without going into enclosed places, minimizing the time inside closed places, carrying a mask with me for when I was inside a bathroom or stopped getting water inside, and finally, just finding hydration that didn't require going into enclosed spaces. 

The political horror show that was POTUS Trump and the gut-wrenching, grim toll of COVID were also motivation to get out there and burn off some angst. Finally, as friends and loved ones were slowed due to age and disease my gratitude for being  healthy enough to do lots of long rides got me out the door on days I might have otherwise stayed home. 

For 2021 I think I'm going to up my climbing a bit, and maybe even ride fewer miles. I'd like to spend more time with my wife and our dogs, one of which is a working dog and needs a LOT of exercise to stay happy and healthy. At a certain age you stop taking loved ones for granted, because in a 55+ community people keep disappearing every week, and it drives home the point that tomorrow is promised to no one. 

Get Some!