We love jewelry and have special weakness for jewelry with a bike theme or whimsically made with parts from a bike. It was great to talk to Jodey Hathaway, a mountain biker who makes jewelry and home décor items from bike parts, often using “Chainmaille” techniques to make very  intricate and unique pieces. Her work is featured here and you can see more at her website Bike Parts Jewelry.

Like it? Love it? You can win one of these beautiful bracelets with the flowers on them—a beautiful memento of summer bicycle rides… At Cycle & Style, we make it very simple to enter a contest: just make a comment here OR anywhere on the website starting today and ending on August 15^th.  That’s it—you’re automatically entered. (Yes, multiple comments do increase your chances!)

We had a few questions for Jodey, such as: Where does she get those “bike parts”?

“I get most of my chains and used bits from bike stores around my area; it’s nice to be able to do my little part to keep these items from going to the landfill. I do use some new/repurposed parts, as the used ones are either impossible to find or would be too scratched for use in my work. My goal, though, is to use as many recycled parts as I can.”

How did she start?

“I have a friend who made me an anklet from a bike chain. I wore it a few times and decided it was a tad too big for my comfort, so I sat down with my chain tool (I mountain bike, and at that time was just getting into learning about my bike) and decided I was going to figure out how to take a link out. I got the link out and put the anklet back together, but I now had an extra link from my special anklet, and I didn’t want to lose it. I went up to the bead store near my house and decided to make a bracelet out of it. I did it, looked at it and thought “hey…that’s pretty cool. I bet my biking friends would like something like this.” I bought some supplies, asked a few questions, and started making jewelry.”

 Did we mention she makes home décor pieces?

“The home décor items came about this past Valentine’s Day when I saw some candles with “jewelry” on them. I thought they were neat looking, so I decided to try my hand at making them. Since then, I’ve branched out into making ceiling fan pulls, bookmarks, and have plans to make some new candle jewelry and ornaments using Chainmaille. Within the past 8 or so months, I’ve really gotten into using Chainmaille techniques to make some very unique and beautiful pieces. I still do beaded work, but I really love the intricacy of and the challenge that weaving Chainmaille and using bike parts offers me.”

This necklace is made with repurposed black chain plates and bright aluminum rings woven into European chain maille.

This gold flower bracelet is made with repurrecycled silver colored chain plates. The petals are made w/ orange anodized aluminum scales.

Icebreaker, a New Zealand-based company with a conscience for sustainability, makes merino wool performance and travel clothing, has a line of technical sports clothing including cycling jerseys and high performance merino socks made for cyclists and runners.

What’s so great about merino wool? Merino wool is very different from traditional wool which though warm, was also heavy, bulky and itchy, and took forever to dry. Merino wool is much softer, lighter, breathable, odor-free, non-itchy and easy –care. Merino is very good at regulating body temperature, especially when worn against the skin. The wool provides some warmth, without overheating, and naturally wicks away moisture from the skin. Compared to synthetics and other wool, merino has an excellent warmth-to-weight ratio because the fibers trap dead air and keep in body heat like a good sleeping bag—even when wet. (Perfect for those late autumn rides.) It’s amazing how humans can spend so many years working on technical clothing, when a sheep with finely crimped, soft wool had the answer all along….

Icebreaker’s GT line is their most technical and is perfect for high performance aerobic activities. The merino wool is combined with a little touch of LYCRA for shape retention and fit and eyelet fabric for breathability. Icebreaker’s technical clothing comes in different weights from the “Ultralight” to keep you cool in the heat, to a “Lightweight” and finally, “Midweight,” which will keep you warm in colder weather. In addition, the natural characteristics of the merino wool make the clothing soft, odor-free, breathable and easy-care—all the aspects we want in the best technical clothing.

We had Katie Young, a road cyclist who lives in Park City, Utah, put Icebreaker’s “Ultralight” socks and jersey (SS Dash Zip) to the test over the course of several rides. (Thanks, Katie!)

Katie’s Review:

The Bike Ultralight Mini socks are amazing! They are so comfortable and so nice for the long bike rides and they don’t bunch up in the foot, which is usually one of my biggest complaints with socks. If they could change one thing about them it would probably be the height of the sock on the ankle for the women. Other than that they breathe well and are very, very soft! (Note: Icebreaker has a pair of socks that is 2 inches shorter: the Bike Ultralight Micro.)  

The Ice Breaker Ultralight jersey is one of my favorites to wear on a bike ride early in the morning and after 6:00 p.m. It wears very well and breathes nicely. It is too hot to wear in the peak hours of the day. Another nice feature on the jersey is the long front zipper on the chest and the handy dandy pocket on the right side of the shirt! It holds treats very well for a fast shot of energy! I also love the long length of the jersey! 

Carve Designs put their Southern California touch in the design of the clothes. Their line is perfect for your summer sojourn at the lake or seaside: sun-kissed, soft to the touch clothes, which are well made and will stand up to hard play. Carve Designs’ dresses softly drape and can be dressed up for dinner at the restaurant on the pier, yet are comfortable enough to be worn for a sunset stroll. At Cycle & Style, we think the clothes pair nicely with a fun beach cruiser  for summer fun where ever your bike takes you!  

Taylor wears the Paris Dress (in aqua) from Carve Designs. (Bike: Nirve Rio)

Where to Get Them:  

Whether you like to surf or water-ski, play an intense game of beach volley-ball or take a relaxing ride on your beach cruiser to get an nice cold shaved ice treat, you can comfortably do it with the clothes from Carve Designs. They are available at REI and many other locations and have a great online store (which is having a summer sale now).  

Go to these links for more information on each of the clothes shown here, including the Turtle Bay Reversible Short and Peasant Roller Tee, and  Paris Dress worn by Taylor; the Avalon T worn by Jillian, and the Paddler short worn by both Jillian (in Sage Dots) and Lauren (in Zig-Zag). Lauren also wears the Sunblocker Rash Guard.  Susy wore the Hawaii Dress while Ashley wore the Peasant Roller Tee with the Oakalani skirt; Natalie wears the Irago Dress. 

Cycle & Style’s fashion show in May featured Carve Designs. Check out scenes from the show and a video as well.

Jillian rides Trek’s Zara 13 LL . She is wearing Carve Designs' Paddler Shorts (sage dots) & Avalon T.

 Photo by Elizabeth V. Macias 

Tara’s Review: I bought several pieces of the spring/summer 2010 line and took them all for my vacation 2 weeks ago. They packed well and wore well for a lake-side vacation. A Carve Designs skirt was the perfect thing to wear for a ride in a boat that ended with an evening dinner at a floating restaurant (considered by my youngest daughter to be her ‘first fancy restaurant.’) I have always thought that Carve Designs does spring/summer clothing very well, but last year they debuted a fall/winter line. I had a sneak-peak at their upcoming fall/winter line and can hardly wait to get a few pieces from that line! You’ll want to check it out!  

Bike Details: We really love Nirve’s beach cruisers–a perfect summer-weather bike. From the sassy, leopard print design of the Nirve Minx to the pink-and-white tropical look of the the Nirve Island Flower to the classic design of the coffee-colored Nirve Rio, we love how Nirve has put so many fun touches into each of the designs for their cruisers. 

Trek’s Wasabi is another fun summer beach cruiser and the girls loved its paint design. The Trek Zara 13 LL is a special bike–it is perfect for young teen girls who have outgrown the bikes they had as little girls but who have not yet grown tall enough to fit on an adult woman’s bike. There aren’t many bikes out there made for young teen girls so I am glad to see Trek jumping in to feel that need. 

 Photo by Elizabeth V. Macias 

Natalie enjoys a sunset ride wearing Carve Designs' Irago Dress. (Bike: Nirve Minx)

Avoiding the Marilyn-Monroe-Skirt-Effect

A tighter skirt does have its own advantages in that it doesn’t move with every little breeze and if it is stiff enough and reaches the knees, you shouldn’t have any trouble. The flowy skirts may need a little extra help staying in place. An old-fashioned method works quite well for skirts such as these: a garter to pin one side of the skirt to. 

You can fashion a garter out of an inexpensive headband. Some basic sewing skills may be needed to make it fit around your thigh without slipping down. You can then discreetly pin your skirt to your garter. Awhile ago, my 13-year old daughter made a garter that had a bit of (non-stainless) steel  sewn into it and then had a small but strong magnet (that my husband got from Edmund Scientific) that she placed on the outside of her skirt which held it in place without a pin. 

The pairing of a lacy white skirt with short tights and Converse shoes is a great look and enables her to ride in a skirt worry-free

Nothing to See Here, Folks

The easiest way to deal with a short or fly-away skirt is to wear shorts or leggings underneath. So what if it flips up now and then? You’ve got it covered! Make a fashion statement with leggings or tights. Or wear a pair of lightly padded bike shorts that you can remove in the restroom at your destination. No worries!
 

Cycling While Chic

Once upon a time, a bike with step-through frame was called a “girl’s bike” because it allowed clearance room for full-bodied skirts and dresses. A chain guard was another nice touch to stop the chain from nipping a long skirt or wide legged pant. Some of the bikes even featured a “skirt guard” which protected the skirt from being torn by the movement of the back wheel.  Audrey Hepburn could ride her bike with a freshly-pressed dress and not worry about a thing. 

In central European countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark, such bikes never went out of style and men dressed in business wear, rode bikes equipped with such amenities as coat guards, a.k.a. skirt guard. The popularity of the bikes “jumped the pond.” Americans are buying European-made bikes and a few American bike companies are making European-inspired bicycles for city commuters who want to be able to ride dressed as fashionably as they like. The “Chic Cyclist” movement popular in Copenhagen is being seen in Manhattan and other American cities. 

In Europe it’s possible to buy accessories such as a skirt guard from local bike shops. Although guards aren’t easily found here, do-it-yourself cyclists are learning to make them for the bike they already own. (Check out the instructions here.)  Score one for the ingenuity of American girls.  Ride on! 

Here’s another article about commuting by bike—wearing a skirt or not.

Giving an American-touch to a Dutch-style bike....(Electra Amsterdam)

Road Biking above Lake Tahoe. Photo credit: Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

Rocky Mountain High

Summer is a great time to visit the mountain towns of the west where you’ll find cooler temperatures, beautiful wildflowers and lots of mountain bike trails, and often, great road biking routes as well. Aspen, Park City, Sun Valley, Lake Tahoe, and Jackson Hole are all popular vacation towns with lots to do and they have one thing in common: they are all fairly high in elevation—at least 6000 feet! 

These high altitude towns are popular with the outdoor adventure lover and are great places to bring your bike. If packing your bike along isn’t an option, cycling is so popular that many of the bike shops in these towns offer bike rentals for mountain bikes and often road bikes as well. (See the links below.) Many of the bike shops in those towns offer local trail maps or are happy to point out the best places to ride. Some are more ready for the bike-loving tourists than others: Park City adds so many new mountain biking trails that they update their trail maps yearly and like Aspen, is becoming criss-crossed with paved bike/ped trails. Even if they don’t have the latest maps, just ask. While on my travels,  I once stopped in at a local bike shop where the guys cheerfully took a red pencil to my map of to show me the top 3 must-do road biking routes. 

Another option is to download a bike route from Google maps. While I have found that is not fool-proof, it is getting better. (But with the links below you will find what you need for trail and route info. for Tahoe, Aspen, Park City, Jackson & Sun Valley.) 

Aspen has some beautiful routes for cycling. (Photo credit: Aspen Visitor's Bureau)

Getting High Without Getting Dehydrated

At 6000 feet above sea level you exhale and perspire twice as much as you do at sea level. The water loss doesn’t come from merely breathing and sweating, but the lower air pressure also leads to a more rapid evaporation of moisture from the skin’s surface. If you are drinking the way you might at sea level, that won’t be enough to make up for an extra liter of water loss or more from your body. 

If you are enjoying your first day or two of vacation in a mountain community and are not used to the elevation yet, make sure you stay well hydrated while enjoying mountain biking, cycling, or other activities. Visitors who develop headaches, dizziness or fatigue may think they have altitude sickness, when actually, they may merely be suffering from dehydration. If this sounds like you or one of your friends, the remedy is simple: sit down and sip some water and take it easy for a little bit. (More on hydration while cycling.) 

 Altitude sickness is more likely to be a problem at altitudes of over 8000 feet.  If you will be taking your mountain bike up to much higher elevations for the day and have recently come from lower elevations, take the advice of my brother-in-law, who completed the Leadville Trail 100 MTB Race, and don’t stop for long on the mountain top. Get to a lower elevation on the trail before you take a break. That may help you to avoid altitude sickness. 

Aspen, Colorado

Aspen is an idyllic mountain town on the western slope of the Rockies. In summertime, it becomes a Mecca to many world-class athletes who get their workouts on the local trails and rivers. (Lance Armstrong is a part-time resident.) If you like to climb with your road bike, you’ll find lots of winding mountain roads with incredible scenery. Mountain bikers of all skill levels will love the endless mountain trails. You can also rent a cruiser and ride the paved bike trails to go into town for lunch or shopping. Aspen is so whole-heartedly taking to cycling that they celebrated with their first annual Aspen Cycling Festival in May (2010.) (The elevation of Aspen is 7,890 ft above sea level.) 

Where to rent a bike in in Aspen:

• Aspen Bike Tours and Rentals
• Ajax Bike and Sport
• Aspen Velo
• Hub of Aspen

For finding your way around Aspen’s great bike trails and routes go here. 

Aspen Cycling Events & Organzations

Weekly Women’s Group Ride in Aspen: This summer it’s every Tuesday at 6pm, meeting at The Hub of Aspen (315 East Hyman) 

Aspen/Snowmass Ride for the Cure – August 21, 2010 

Annual 12 Hours of Snowmass – Sept. 11 An exciting endurance race with competitive mountain bikers alike, this 12 hour race on Snowmass mountain raises awareness and funds for the Aspen Youth Center; a local non-profit program which provides after school and outreach programs for local kids. A nationally renowned competition, this course proves to be both fun and challenging. Registration is free! 

The Aspen Cycling Club sponsors weekly races, road and off-road, and welcomes everyone from experienced racers to complete beginners, with different levels of competition, as well as age and gender divisions. 

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Enjoy mountain biking in the Tetons.

Jackson (a.k.a. Jackson Hole), Wyoming is a major gateway town for both Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.  It’s “Cowboy Country” where cyclists will feel at home. Mountain bike trails for all skill levels abound in the Greater Teton-Yellowstone area and trails wind all through Jackson Hole Valley, cruising right by sites such as the Antelope Flats Cabin. On a road bike you can pedal mountain passes and push your endurance level. Cyclists can enjoy the Grand Teton National Park Inner Road during the month of April before cars are given access and enjoy the magnificent views! If you wish to take your bike out for a leisurely ride, try the 28-miles of paved bike paths or go “local” and bike into Jackson. Many residents give their cars a break and use their bikes for the summer. (Jackson’s altitude is 6,237 feet.) 

Where to rent a bike in Jackson (check out these links):

• Fitzgeralds Bicycles
• Grand Targhee
• Hoback Sports
• Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
• Teton Mountain Bike Tours
• Teton Village Sports

Antelope Flats Cabin

Need a link for Jackson Hole area bike trail information? Go here.

Annual Biking Events in Jackson

Bike In Movies – August 10-31, 2010: Fitzgeralds Bicycles presents great movies outside on the lawn at Jackson Hole Center for the Arts. See more information from Fitzgeralds’ calendar. 

Wydaho Biking Redezvous: A beautiful trail race in the Big Hole Mountains of Teton Valley, Idaho. Both the 10K and the 20K courses take you through coniferous forests. July 23-25, 2010 

Lake Tahoe

Mountain Biking in Lake Tahoe (Photo credit: Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority)

Beautiful, blue Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America and is nestled in the Sierras on the California-Nevada border.  There are hundreds of mountain biking trails all around the lake which take advantage of the gorgeous lake and mountain scenery. There are several mountain biking parks to enjoy and plenty of trails which will offer a way to get away from the crowds even on the weekends. A must-do mountain biking trail is the famous 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail which circumnavigates the lake. Tahoe also boasts several paved off-road bicycle paths making it easy to get around by bike. (Lake Tahoe’s surface elevation is 6,225 ft above sea level.) 

Where to rent a bike and find trail information in Lake Tahoe:

At Lake Tahoe’s website you can get a complete listing of trails and information on bike shops where you can rent bikes from cruisers to road bikes to full-suspension mountain bikes. 

Tahoe Bike Races

America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride – Participants will circumnavigate the Lake, Sunday, June 6, while soaking in one of the most scenic and awe-inspiring rides for the 19th annual America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride. This competition promotes Lake Tahoe Bikeway, the plan to build and interconnect bike lanes/trails around Lake Tahoe, and is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s National Team In Training spring fundraiser. 

Tour de Tahoe Bike Big Blue Race – Another chance to circle Tahoe’s 72-mile shoreline is during the 8th annual Tour de Tahoe Bike Big Blue Race, Sunday, Sept. 12, celebrating the end of summer on the roadways with spectacular scenery. 

Triathlon in Tahoe Aflac Iron Girl Triathlon – For ladies only, work all you got. The Aflac Iron Girl Triathlon, Sunday, Sept.19, includes an 800 meter swim, a 24 kilometer bike to Cave Rock with return to the casino corridor and a 5 kilometer run through the streets of Nevada and California toward the state line. (This is also listed  on our page of Women’s Only Triathlons.) 

Park City, Utah

Mountain Biking in Park City (Photo Credit: Park City Visitor's Bureau)

Park City is up in the cooler air of the Wasatch Mountains above Salt Lake City.  Park City was named by Forbes Traveler Magazine among one of the 20 ‘prettiest towns’ in the United States but it is also proud of its designation as a “Bicycle Friendly Community” and does what it can to encourage cycling.  Visitors and residents can take advantage of the free public transportation that will accommodate their bicycles to get them into town or to a resort trail. With 400 miles of trails including a “rail trail” and about 20 miles of paved bicycle paths, it is easy to get around. In town there are marked bike lanes and accessible bike parking. If you aren’t up on your mountain biking skills, nearby Deer Valley Resort offers visitors biking lessons so you’ll soon be comfortable on the trails. Most bike shops offer trail maps which are updated every spring. (Park City elevation is about 7,000 feet above sea level.) 

Where to rent a bike in Park City:

• Cole Sport
• 19 Sports
• Jans
• White Pine Touring
• Ski-N-See

During the summer try Women’s-Only  Guided Mountain Bike Rides on Tuesday Nights (Free) at White Pine Touring. (It goes from 6-8pm.–but come at least 30 minutes early.) 

For more information on cycling in and around Park City, check out their Link on Biking and Hiking. 

Park City offers a premier cycling event with multiple distance rides for two weekends in July with its Tour de Park City. 

Mountain Biking in Sun Valley (photo credit: Scott USA)

Sun Valley, Idaho

The resort city of Sun Valley is right next to Ketchum, Idaho.   It is a popular year-round playground for many of the rich and famous over the years. Ketchum is also the hometown of world-champion mountain bike endurance racer, Rebecca Rusch and for good reason; the same conditions that created world-class skiing have also made for world class mountain and road biking. In June, Sun Valley celebrated their bicycling culture with Rhythmn and Ride which included music, rides, kids’ rides and crits.  Sun Valley offers cyclists 435 miles of single-track, 32 miles of multi-use paved bike paths, miles of scenic road biking and “state of the art pump parks.” The elevation of Sun Valley (at the Lodge) is 5920 feet. 

Where to rent a bike in Sun Valley: 

Main Website for Bike Information and Rental Shop Listings
Bike Ranch Website 

Sun Valley’s Main Website and Lodging Listings 

You can go to this link to download a Summer 2010 Trail Guide to use.

Local Bike Groups:

Wood River Bike Coalition

Mud Honey Cycling

South Valley Cycling

The team that hauled me over the finish line: (from left) Jim, Allison, Butch, my sister-on-law Sandy, my husband Leif, me & my brother Joel.

By Sasha Aslanian

I’ve had a few days to savor the sore muscles I earned on the ride. I wanted to do a wrap-up of sights and sounds of the Seattle to Portland Ride (STP), and leave future rookie riders with some advice. (See how Sasha’s ride went on Day One and Day Two.)

Sounds: The clicking of tens of riders snapping cleats into pedals when the light turns green. Mini-bike concerts: I noticed a bunch of teen or 20-something riders who’d strap little sound systems to their bikes. I’d hear a little snippet of something as they’d pedal by. One guy had some experimental music screeching as he passed, and his dad came up beside me and said, “Something wrong with his bike.” Overheard conversations from passing riders (my brother thought a woman was calling him a f^@*a$$*% and looked up in surprise.  “Oh sorry, I was talking to my husband,” she said.) , whirring gears on the long coasts, mist from sprinklers at water stops. I should have stopped for the kid playing guitar at the lemonade stand 5 miles before the end of day 1. Sorry kid.

Sights: Pointy Mount Hood against a blue sky as we pulled into Portland, ponies, horses and llamas on farms along the way, lumber trucks, the guys wearing the ridiculous matching orange rain booties who bounced up and down like jesters and made me laugh during a particularly dark patch of my ride, the woman who flipped off the red pick-up for passing too close and almost blowing three of us off the road, the mom and son passing me on a tandem at mile 94, his red sneakers pumping the pedals, crossing over the steel bridge in downtown Portland,  feeling the bubbles blown in my face at the finish line.

Here are my closing thoughts for Rookie Riders:

1) Train. The training schedule called for back-to-back rides on weekends. It was tough for me to steal more than a whole Saturday from my family, but it would have increased my endurance. It was crazy the number of people we met who had not trained AT ALL for the ride. One woman admitted her seat was so sore she felt like she had just given birth and she had welts “bigger than the padding on my bike shorts.” Yikes. Don’t do this to yourself.

2) Be part of a team, and ideally, be the worst one. We sort of stumbled into a team because this group of my brother’s friends was doing the ride together. We didn’t really know how long we’d hang together. Each of these people helped pull me through. They let me draft off them, they distracted me with interesting conversations so I kept pedaling, and I just didn’t know them well enough to be my real self. I kept a good attitude on the ride because I thought, “you can’t be the worst rider AND have a bad attitude.” Cheerfulness counts.

Over margaritas with my team at the finish line, I toasted to the riders who stuck with me even though I knew it killed them to be passed by far weaker riders. Thanks Joel, Sandy, Leif, Butch, Jim & Allison.

We have a lot of unanswered questions: What happened to the two Russian guys who tried to sleep overnight in a space blanket (those crinkly tinfoil wrappers) wearing bike shorts and shoes? Did the woman who told us she hadn’t been on her bike since last year’s STP actually make it over the finish line? How did that unicyclist do the ride in one day? There were many triumphant finishes ahead of us I’m sure, and stories about each of the riders whose bikes were piled on cars miles from the finish line. 10,000 stories from 10,000 riders. Thanks for reading mine.

After many years of pushing my body, I have learned to listen to what it needs and try to treat it better. I remember after one hard work-out about 10 years ago when I came home quite dehydrated and while drinking a glass of water I passed out—bam!—right on the floor. I since learned that part of my problem was my low blood pressure became even lower with dehydration. I also learned the hard way that race performance was also negatively affected by dehydration. In the heat, dehydration can lead to heat exhaustion and worse.  (While hyponatremia or water-intoxication can be a problem with marathon runners—especially women—it has not been found to be a nearly the problem with cyclists, so I won’t be discussing it here.)

For cyclists, the question of how much water to bring, how much to drink and whether we ought to add powders or tablets to our water is a question many of us struggle with. Beth and I have been winging it for years but we wanted to get expert advice so we met with Kristi Spence, a sports nutritionist with an Olympic-level athletic background. Although I have sought information from other sources, much of this is from her.

According to Kristi, hydration is important because a loss of as little as 2-3% of body weight from water can result in decreased performance. How much fluid a cyclist needs is influenced by gender, age, body mass, outside temperature, sweat rate, climate, altitude, etc. You get the picture. I have included Kristi’s method for figuring out sweat rate, which is the most accurate way to figure out how much YOU need to be drinking on your next long ride. (Here’s a follow-up article specifically about hydration and altitude.)

IF your bike can't accomodate 2 water bottles, you'll want to buy another water bottle and cage or invest in a back-pack hydration system such as a CamelBak.

Hydration for the Long Ride: the Ideal

Pre- ride and especially before a long ride or competition: At minimum, drink about 16 oz. (+/-) about 90 minutes before ride. For an intense training session or competition such as a longer triathlon, you should start hydrating about 4 hours prior.

During your ride: This is very individual and can vary with weather conditions, but a general rule of thumb has been to drink a 20 oz. bottle of water each hour. You can use that as a starting point and adjust according to your sweat rate (see below). If you are adapting to a new environment with heat, humidity or elevation, you should drink more.

Après-Ride: Quench your thirst! In the hour following your ride, drink another 10-20 oz. If you know your sweat rate, aim to replenish 150% of lost fluid afterwards. (And it is a good idea to monitor your urine color—pale yellow is the ideal—and frequency.) Being well-hydrated helps in nutrient transportation and can help your body recover from intense training.

Day to Day: Kristi advises the young athletes she works with to get into habit of drinking a full 16 oz. glass of water (or milk or juice) at every meal.  If you do that at minimum, you will at least have that to fall back on. Eating soups and fruits can also help add to body’s hydration. Get into the habit of carrying a water bottle around with you so you can drink as needed.

When to Use Sports Drinks

Basically, sports drinks are composed of water, sugar and electrolytes. When you sweat you lose sodium, potassium and magnesium and these drinks should replenish them. The sugar in sports drinks is to help keep your energy levels up. You can use sports drinks before, during and after an intense or long ride (over 1½ hours.)

• 1. Hydration
• 2. Provide fuel for muscles (carbohydrate)
• 3. Provide electrolytes
• 4. Some sport drinks offer protein. This is not essential during exercise, but is important for recovery.

Measuring Sweat Rate… Since everyone sweats differently

• Step 1: Weigh yourself with your cycling clothing on (no shoes) just before your long ride.
• Step 2: Keep track of all fluids you drank during the ride.
• Step 3: Weight yourself after the ride with the same clothing
• Step 4: Find the difference and convert it to ounces (1 lb. =16 oz. or 2 cups of fluid)
• Step 5: Add ounces you consumed during training.
• Step 6: Determine your hourly sweat rate: divide total ounces lost by hours of training.

Example: Jane rides for 2 hours and drinks 20 oz.

• Pre-Ride Weight: 145 lb.
• Fluid on Ride: 20 oz.
• Post-Ride Weight: 142 lb.
• Difference: -3 lbs. (in ounces 48 oz.)
• Add Ride Fluids: 48 oz. + 20 oz. = 68 oz. (8.5 cups)
• Sweat Rate: 68 oz./2 hrs = 34 oz/hr or just less than 4 cups an hour

Next time Jane goes out for a 2-hour ride in similar conditions, she ought to aim to drink about 3/4 of what she might lose while on her ride, so at least 3 cups an hour. She can replace the rest post-ride.

Keep the water in your hydration pack palatable enough to drink on a hot day by adding plenty of ice.

A Few More Questions

Does the Temperature of the Water Matter? That lukewarm water in your water bottle is less palatable and you are less likely to drink what you need to stay hydrated. There is one other advantage with a nice cool drink: cool fluids (45-55 degrees F) actually empty quicker from the stomach and reduce body temperature. To keep your liquids nice and cool, freeze the bottles partially or use insulated bottles. For backpack hydration containers, fill them with plenty of ice cubes. Still, the ideal is cool liquids, they should not be icy-cold when you will be drinking them.

Why Do I Need Sodium? If you are riding in hot and humid conditions or you sweat heavily and you can actually see the dried salt on your skin after a workout, you’ll want to replace that sodium.  A pound of sweat contains between 400-700 mg. of sodium. As always, how much sodium you lose is different than another and as you become acclimated to the heat, your body will become more sweat-efficient and you will lose less sodium. What is the danger? As you become sodium depleted, you will not absorb fluids as efficiently in the stomach and the result will be muscle cramps and fatigue.

What is the Best Use for Nuun, and Other Electrolyte Replacement Tablets? They work best for long endurance exercise or workouts in heat. You can throw them into a jersey pocket and add to water you get along the way to replace electrolytes.

By Sasha  Aslanian

Tent City

Pulling up the stakes this morning in our tent city. Felt like college when we rolled in last night: beer garden, pizza, dorm showers. Found a great old pool hall in town with a special carbo-loaded menu for STP riders.  

The nice part about such a long-standing ride (STP began in1979) is they’ve really worked out all the kinks with bike storage and the care  & feeding of 10,000 cyclists. We’re a little short on cash though after all the 5 bucks here & there for showers, bike storage, etc.  

Yesterday the best riding by far came in the second half of the day  once we hit the bike trail in Yelm. Today it’s the opposite- nice in  the beginning and less serene as we get to Portland.  

The great old pool hall with a special carbo-loaded menu for STP riders.

The Great Chamois Butt’r Debate

Forgot to fill you in on a very earnest pre-trip discussion the team had about Chamois Butt’r. A female member of the team asked, ‘Where  exactly do you put it?’ The guys got all embarrassed and thought she was kidding. What she meant was do you use it like a bandaid and put it where it hurts? Or apply like sunscreen ahead of time? If you’ve never used/needed it, is game day the time to start?

A little sample pack came with our registration packets. I busted mine out at mile 70 on day 1. As the ride went along the little packets were piling up in the corners of the Biffies. Since this is not a litterbug crew (I think Seattlites compost their dental floss) I was surprised to see all the little used packets lying around. Could it have been a courtesy to fellow travelers in need? Then one of my teammates–who shall remain unnamed–admitted to using a bit from a discarded tube. I can only imagine the hairy guy who used it first.

20 Miles to Breakfast & the Paper Army Keeps Flying By‏

Late-ish start this morning (7:30) and the bike rack was nearly empty when we got there. So where do these bikers keep coming  from that are passing me? I call them the Paper Army because they’re all wearing the paper STP windbreakers that came with our registrations.
Enjoying a fine breakfast at the American Legion in Winlock. The dust up here is that the Lion’s Club is stealing customers with a rival feed.  

Knee-Deep in Pain

Mile 43 and we’re a sorry lot. The one-day riders are looping back passing us on their climb back to Seattle. More bikes passing–lashed to the back of support vehicles. My batteries are low…literally & figuratively. 

Crossing Into Oregon

The good news is we made it to Oregon. The bad news is that we’re riding on a highway shoulder all the way in to Portland. 

Finish Line

7:05 p.m. we crossed the finish line. My sister-in-law, team leader Sandy, rode in behind me and caught the rear view of my ‘photo finish.’ I think you can imagine my grin on the other side. Next post will be ‘Rookie Rider’s Lessons Learned.’

By Sasha Aslanian

The Night Before:

There will be 7 of doing the ride together–3 women and 4 men all in our 40s. One of the guys, Jim, did the ride last year. I take it as a good sign that he’s returning.

Over a dinner of fish tacos on by brother and sister-in-law’s deck in Seattle, the team agreed to a few things:
1) We’ll stick together the first 25 miles or so. It will be crowded, so faster riders won’t be able to zoom ahead anyway, and the slower ones will be powered by adrenalin.
2) We debated circumventing the chaos of the opening line and joining a half-mile in but a bunch of us felt we had to do the true start to feel good about it.
3) We went over pace line etiquette–no overlapping wheels, signal danger to the person behind you, i.e. point out potholes and be extremely careful swerving or stopping.

We are still unsure if my sister-in-law Sandy who’s had a low-grade fever for 4 days will join us but she packed her gear and wants to try.

Hitting the road at 6:00 a.m.

The photo is of my teammate Allison's Rollergirl biking outfit and the little bunny she's carrying for her daughter Kate.

Over the Hump

The legendary mile-long climb comes at mile 43 so you have that hanging over you as the ride winds out of Seattle. Fortunately the route planners somehow managed to craft a path with relatively few climbs. ‘The Big Hill’ is pretty hyped, but it actually has a few level patches to break the climb. We’re at mile 53 in Spanaway and our team is still together. Keeps usbusy keeping track of each other. Polite riders, cheering children and amplesnacks. Long biffy line gives me a chance to write this post.

The photo is of my teammate Allison’s Rollergirl biking outfit and the little bunny she’s carrying for her daughter Kate.

Onward to Centralia!

The Parrot Team who have ridden in the STP for five years

Blood on the Road

The ride got very quiet outside Roy as we were asked to dismount our bikes and walk by the scene if the accident. I stepped over fresh blood on the pavement. Does anyone know if the guy hurt in Roy is OK?

On a brighter note, we are finally off the shoulder of the road and riding a beautiful trail from Yelm to Tenino.

We’re 3/4 of the way there. Our team split so the ’sprinters’ could reserve tent space in Centralia. It tooke 20 miles to realize the ‘advance team’ includes everyone but me. It’s OK, the day has turned stunning.

The attached photo is of the Parrot Team, a family from Seattle that’s done STP for 5 years. It makes it easier to find each other, they say. I like how when they pass me the parrots wave their wings at me.

Mile 95

Check out how Sasha did on Day Two and the lessons she learned as a “rookie rider.”

The 202 miles are a raincheck. Two years ago, my little brother missed our ride across Norway so he invited me to ride Seattle to Portland this year. Together with our spouses, we’ll ride 202 miles in 2 days. I should explain: I’m not a stellar cyclist. I’m a 42-year-old public radio producer and a mom. I signed up for STP because I believe setting impossible goals is the only way to get things done.

I’ve been training on the Paul Bunyan Trail  in Minnesota where I live. July 3rd I made it 85 miles to Bemidji  in 89 degree heat. I’m hoping that means I’ll be ready for 100 miles in lower temps, with a vehicle carrying my camping gear.

I have visions of the other 9,000 riders on STP being hollow-cheeked, balloon-calved Seattle bike messengers. 74% of the riders are men. Some riders do it one day because 100 miles a day is “”too boring.”" The party begins in Portland at 3:00 p.m. on day 1 for the speediest riders. I’m hoping I beat the street sweepers cleaning up Portland on day 2.

I want to keep this blog to spur me on. The shame of failure in public is a powerful motivator. I kept going across Norway because I had given family members commemorative magnets of the trip. Quitting wasn’t an option.

My top fears on this ride:

–Tingling and numbness in my hands becoming unbearable
–Annoying my riding mates by going too slowly
–Getting bored inside my own head

What do you think about on long rides? I met a woman yesterday who’s planning to do STP in 1 day. She’s a scientist and she works out scientific problems in her head, and turns numbers she sees on signs into math problems. She also sings songs to set the tempo for her legs.

How do you get into the zone? What keeps you going?

Seattle to Portland Route

Check out how Sasha did on Day One and Day Two and the lessons she learned as a rookie rider.