Better Biking

After a FANTASTIC (almost) four mile run with Daisy this morning, I went out and biked TEN miles!!  It was the best biking yet! 

The biggest reason it was so good?  Gearing!  Yes, learning how to properly use the gears of the bike significantly improved my time on the bike.   I think it's like anything else, learning the proper way to do things increases our enjoyment of the activity.  (At least for me it does.)

I don't think anyone here really cares about gear ratios or WHY bike gears are set up the way they are...but maybe you'll like knowing the "proper" way to arrange your chain?  If not, it won't hurt my feelings if you stop reading!

Basically, in a nutshell, if you want POWER and speed, like on a straight-away or going down a hill, you'll want to have the chain on the largest sprocket thingy (yes, there's a name for it, but I don't know what that is and I'm too lazy to look it up) in the front, and the smallest in the back.  If you are going up a hill, you'll move the chain to a smaller sprocket thingy in the front and bigger in the back.  Now...here's the thing, going up a hill you'll be spinning like crazy and won't be going far for your rotations, but it will be incredibly easy to peddle!  However, when you're on the flat path, you'll be getting major bang for your buck because with every rotation of your feet, the wheels will be turning quite a bit.  (Does that make sense?)

Anyway...regardless...it was a  super fantastic ride.  I wish I lived somewhere that was more biker friendly because I would really like to feel safer riding on the road.  There are people who do it, but I'm not one of them yet.  I'll stick to the greenways and mostly untraveled back roads for a while (at least until it drives me crazy!).

After I get the next two big races out of the way (Huntsville Half on Saturday, and then the NEW ORLEANS ROCK AND ROLL HALF (!!!!!!) on February 13th) I'm going to find a "heel and crank" to sign up for.  I'll have to work on not drowning some more before I sign up for the sprint tri.  I've already pretty much decided to sign up for the group that trains for that event (Tri 101)....but, like I said, I really have to work on my swimming.  I guess it's really a matter of learning how to do it better, right?

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!
:D