It's All about Your Bottom, Flamingos

You might think that all those training miles that you are logging are about building your legs.  Not true.

Yes, you are building muscles that will help push you across the Iowan landscape but those are not the important part of your body that is being developed. 

The important part is your butt.

Coach David Ertl wrote about the importance of building your butt on the RAGBRAI blog (6/24/14)   I will highlight some of the main points here but you will get the most out of this if you actually read his post, RAGBRAI Training: Let's Get to the Bottom of the Issue.

While you may have legs of steel, you aren't going to make it to the finish line if your butt can't stay in the seat. (I must admit that there is a RAGBRAI-er who rides the whole route without a seat, but I wouldn't recommend it.)  You need to prepare for the 40 - 100 miles per day sitting in your saddle. 

Here are a few problems that might emerge if you don't train your butt properly:

• Your butt will hurt - You will feel "soreness under your seat bones."
• Your legs chaff - Rubbing between your seat and legs can cause some real discomfort.
• You develop saddle sores - Sincere problems are caused by saddle sores. They can be serious enough to end your RAGBRAI ride.

How to Avoid The Problems:

Shorts:

• Wear cycling shorts - These are padded and created without thickened seams the can rub. They are made of material that absorbs perspiration and cushions your derriere from chaffing and saddle sores.
• Do not wear underwear under your shorts - Lycra shorts are designed to be worn by themselves. You can get baggy shorts if you are too shy to wear these.
• Bring at least 2 pairs of shorts - There is a lot of sweat in those shorts so they need to be washed.  You don't want to wear wet shorts.  Give them a day to dry.

Preparation:

• Ride a lot in preparation.
• Begin with shorter rides and build up to distance.
• Ride year around and your toughened butt remains tough.

Avoid Chaffing:

Begin each day by applying a thin layer of chamois cream on your groin.  There are a number of commercial names; Chamois Butt'r, Eurostyle butter, Ride EZ Chamois Cream, and DZNUTS are some good ones to use. 

Keep It Clean:

Keep your groin area as clean and dry as possible. Saddle sore is caused by infections that are caused by bacteria in your skin. Bacteria love dirty and damp. Remember to wash your shorts every day.  Even if you don't have access to a washing machine, you can hand wash them with hand soap if you don't have any laundry soap. 

Take care of yourself.  REMEMBER: Even with all of your preparation and the steps you take to prevent problems, it is OK for you to finish your daily ride by yelling 

"My Butt Hurts!!!!"   Let's just hope that it isn't any worse than that.

Photo: http://www.cyclelicio.us

RAGBRAI Training: Save Your Knees Using the Right Gear

www.flickr.com/gcfairch

Using the proper gears when riding RAGBRAI can make a big difference in how your legs and knees will holdout on the road.

David Ertl on the RAGBRAI blog shared some insights about how important it is to use the right gears. He notes that too often we use the large gear in the front so that we can pedal slowly. The problem is that we are exerting too much force on our legs with each stroke and we use more muscle fibers with each stroke. This means that we get tired earlier.

The key is to keep your cadence at over 75 revolutions per minute.  You will use lower gears in the front ring, but you will not tire as quickly.

There is a great deal more that you need to know about this before your next ride. Read Ertl's article, Go for a Spin.  It is quite informative.

What kind of rider are you? Are you usually above or below 75 RPMs?

On with the Early Bird Ride

Another 55 miles of training.  Yes, we are gluttons for biking. Early Bird (Al Hays) invited us to join him in a special ride. We met at the Hays' house at 8:00 AM and we were on the road by 8:30.

Early Bird took us on an interesting journey that took us through Black Hawk Park; down 1st Street to Union; South on Union to 12th; South to and around the Prairie Lake; Hustle to Hudson; North to Waterloo; East to the Sandpits and then back west to the Hays' near Peiffer Park.

Once we returned to the Hays' house, there was a huge spread of hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, cheesecake and other delicacies.  Thank you, Early Bird and Mrs. Hays.

It was a good ride. The only problem was when Z-Bird committed Flamingo-cide in the early morn by backing his truck over the Hays' flamingo. Immediate first aid was administered and Fancy the Flamingo is re-adorning the Hays' front yard.

A second day of training for team flamingo

Training is Coming to an End

Yes, we only have 20 days left til we mount our bikes to ride our bikes 454 miles across Iowa. The challenge is to be ready for the day-after-day pedal-after-pedal progression up mountains and down hills.

Flamingos Prepare for the Saturday Ride

In preparation for our tour, we have been taking some wonderful rides. Saturday we rode 55 miles. This began at Cup o' Joe's and we rode the Great Loop through Hartman Reserve and around Green Hill. As always, we stopped for lunch at Toad's. In the afternoon, we did the Holy Trinity ride where we ride from downtown Cedar Falls to Waterloo, along the 63 highway to Hudson and down the 57 highway and Main Street to return to Cedar Falls.  It is a wonderful ride.

Sunday Crew Hops Towards Another Ride

Sunday's ride didn't have quite the turnout, but it was a quality group. You will notice that we have assumed the mono-pedal Flamingo stance as a display of unity and balance.

This trip was to be another 50-mile day ride. This time we began the Holy Trinity ride in the morning. Unfortunately, Z-Bird got a flat tire and he had to fall out of the procession until lunch. The whole gang met at Mulligan's for lunch.  Having had a productive morning, the team decided to return home and engage in their personal exercise programs.

The 4th of July will involve The Early Bird Special ride which begins at 8:00 AM at Al and Pam Hays' house. We will ride for 50 miles and then return to the Hays' for a Bar-B-Q.  Should be a "gas" and we will provide photos as they appear.

There IS a LOOOOONG Hill on RAGBRAI

RAGBRAI 2010 isn't all flat. There is a tough 1-mile hill on the last day of the ride at Potter's Hill. It averages about a 6% grade. Ride the hill above through the video.

The RAGBRAI blog provided 5 steps for making it up hills. Here is the list. You will want to go to the actual RAGBRAI posting for the descriptions.

1. Hills are Hard
2. Use Your Gears
3. Train on Hills Prior to RAGBRAI
4. Train Your Brain
5. Pace Yourself

Enjoy yourself Flamingos and Friends of Flamingos.

Z-Bird