Bike Shorts A Publication of Redlands Water Bottle Transit Company

November 2016 Happy Thanksgiving 1

Thank you, Sponsors! Don’t forget to thank all our sponsors when you Do business with them!

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Bike Shorts is a monthly publication of Redlands Water Bottle Transit Company, visit us at RWBTC.ORG. You can reach us at: President

Don Quering

[email protected]

Vice President

Jerry Green

[email protected]

Secretary

James Nichol

Treasurer

Valerie Laids

Ride Director

Mark Wingo

[email protected]

Programs Director Candace Tidwell

[email protected]

Webmaster

[email protected]

Don Garcia

Newsletter Editor Bruce Dowell

[email protected]

Equipment Director Bill Green

A special thank you to our members that contributed to this month’s newsletter: KEEP THOSE ARTICLES AND PHOTOS COMING. YOU CAN SUBMIT AT [email protected].

Don’t forget to sign up for the Christmas Party on the website. Besides making new friends we have great rides, events and parties coming this year. There is a form at the end of this newsletter to help you or go to the website and you can pay by bank card.

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Message from the

November…

Another year is ending. We began this year with our annual trek up Mt. Rubidoux. Our January meeting featured Joe President! Dittemore who spoke to us about bicycle insurance. The Redlands Bike Classic Committee joined us in February and spoke of 32 years of racing in Redlands. In March, nutritionist Candace Morgan spoke about the need to fuel properly and the need for a balance of carbs, protein and fat in our diets. The all new Trek Domane was unveiled at our April meeting by Michael White and Josh Kolbo of Trek. Our May speaker was Wayne Brown of the Community Outreach Team Redlands Passenger Rail Project. In June, Justin Neely of Specialized discussed Body Geometry® and all points of contact with the bicycle. We had a great annual picnic in July at Marc and Jerry Conway’s home. Monique “Pua” Mata was our August speaker with a presentation on Bianchi and mountain biking. We had our annual Pizza Party at Uncle Howie’s in September. Jon Ankenman of Cyclery USA presented the new Specialized Robaix at our October meeting. This month we have a very special meeting featuring your special dish at our Pot Luck Election meeting. We finish off the year with our Christmas Party at a new venue, The Pavilion at Chapman Ranch. Don’t forget to register! The items listed were only the meetings. We had many events to look back on: Karen’s Breakfast Ride, the SLO Remote Ride, the numerous beach rides. We added five new Centurions at the Tour de Palm Springs. We’ve expanded to include mountain bike rides. It has been a busy year!

Next page more of the Presidents message

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Presidents message…..

This next meeting is a very important one. It is time to elect a new Board for 2017. This year we opened nominations at the October meeting. Nominations are still open and will close at this meeting. As you may know, I have chosen not to run this year. I’ve been very fortunate to have had your support for the past seven years and the help of your current and past Board of Directors. 2010: VP Craig Westerlin, Secretary Robert Rentschler, Treasurer Dianna Alwerth, Ride Dir Mark Benson, Programs Dir Edwin Brooks, Webmaster Andrew Leason, Editor Colleen Friis, Past President Diana Morningstar 2011: VP Rick Conway, Secretary Jim Nichol, Treasurer Dianna Alwerth, Ride Dir Mark Friis, Programs Dir Laurie Gunn, Webmaster Andrew Leason, Editor Kath Behrens 2012: VP Marc Shaw, Secretary Jim Nichol, Treasurer Dianna Alwerth, Ride Dir Mark Friis, Programs Dir Autumn Cisneros, Webmaster Dan Meir, Editor Kathy Behrens 2013: VP Andrew Leason, Secretary Jim Nichol, Treasurer Rita Awender, Ride Dir Paul Ross, Programs Dir Laurie Gunn, Webmaster Don Garcia, Editor Vicky Maskiewicz 2014: VP Jerry Green, Secretary Lori (Thomas) Aceves, Treasurer Rita Awender, Ride Dir Jim Nichol, Programs Dir Laurie Gunn, Webmaster Don Garcia, Editor Dave Kehrlein 2015: VP Jerry Green, Secretary Gay Richards, Treasurer Dave Satre, Ride Dir Jim Nichol, Program Dir Laurie Gunn/Candy Tidwell, Webmaster Don Garcia, Editor Dave Kehrlein 2016: VP Jerry Green, Secretary Gay Richards/Jim Nichol, Treasurer Valerie Laida, Ride Dir Mark Wingo, Programs Dir Candy Tidwell, Webmaster Don Garcia, Editor Bruce Dowell Next page for more of The Presidents message…………….

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Finally, the person who has lasted through my seven terms; put up with my rants and raves; a person who has been a sounding board and has given sound wisdom and advise; your only Board member who is appointed but has no vote; a member whom I personally look to as my Domestique, Bill Green. There have been many others, behind the scenes as it were, who have helped. The largest single group that has been responsible for the success of the Club is you, the membership. Without your participation, we would not have had the ability to do what we have done. I thank you for your support, your trust and your friendship. So, this Monday is very important. Whether you are running, nominating or voting, you have a role to play. Our Bylaws are straightforward about elections: The Officers shall be elected by members at the annual November meeting. The Officers elected shall be: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Ride Director, Programs Director, Webmaster, & Newsletter Editor. Nominations will be submitted from the floor. Voting will be by secret ballot as requested by a member. One person can hold more than one office if needed. As I mentioned earlier, this meeting is a Pot Luck. Bring your favorite dish, be it dessert, entrée, or appetizer. Plates, napkins, utensils and drinks will be provided…oh, and bring your appetite! Thank you for another great year. Ride safe, Don

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Please Welcome our New members

Elmer Balceta Tina Carranza Tim H Danson Carol Dyer Aaron Fields Jennifer G Grant Michelle Harryman James D King Jessenia N Montejo

Don’t forget to sign up for the Christmas Party.

See you on a ride.

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A Note from your Newsletter Editor:::::::::

This coming Monday November 7, 2016 at The Smiley Library 6:30PM we will hold the annual Board of Director Elections. All positions are available and voting will be by secret ballot. It will be pot luck so bring your favorite dish. I have enjoyed the position of Newsletter Editor. It has brought out a creative side of me that I don’t use often and I feel that I am giving something back to our great organization. With a few simple changes in the delivery system for the newsletter the number of downloads has increased four to five-fold. I assume that means people are reading it. As I am one of the candidates running for the position of President the Newsletter position is open. Whether elected or not I want to encourage another member to take over. I assure you that if I can do it anyone can. You don’t have to be good with computers (I’m not), you do not have to be a literature/writer type either. You don’t need MS Publisher or the most advanced version of MS Word. Just a little time and patience is all that is needed. I’ll even be happy to help and show you the ropes. In closing I would encourage you to consider any of the positions on the Board of Directors. It is actually fun; you have some say in the Clubs direction and activities and you’ll feel good about giving back to our great organization.

Happy Holidays, Bruce Dowell Newsletter Editor

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A Commuter Rides a Century: 4 Quick Tips for Shifting Gears 

By Brian Kendall

Follow Active.com Editor Brian Kendall as he trains for his first century ride. Check out his last entry here. For a long time, I pretended my 9-speed road bike was a fixie. I’m sure this type of inefficiency enrages experienced cyclists, but I used to avoid shifting gears like Mark Cavendish avoids hills. A steep incline or sudden decline would remind me that such a luxury exists, and I would shift once or twice to reliev e my struggles, but I typically stayed firmly within a small gear range. As for the front chainring? Well, I hardly even knew my left shifter existed.. However, once I started riding more frequently—and for longer stretches—my Darwinian need for survival necessitated a change. But to save you from suffering through the same exhausting and painful lessons I did, I ’ve compiled a few tips you can employ on your next ride.

1. Find Your Cadence and Try to Stick With It Unless it’s on a dare, it would be torturous to attempt 100 miles using merely three or four gears. The wind, terrain and general exhaustion are all obstacles that shifting helps alleviate. But when should you switch gears? The easy answer is to change gears whenever pedaling is becoming either too hard or too easy a task. You need to discover that middle ground.

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Start by trying to find a comfortable cadence and stick with it. If it’s too difficult to keep a strong cadence, switch your rear cassette down a couple gears and see if it helps. If it’s suddenly becoming too easy and you find your legs spinning at far too many revolutions per minute, shift up a gear or two. As you find your cadence, you’ll ultimately get in a groove and find yourself switching to higher gears (physicists call this phenomenon momentum). Think of it like a standard transmission car (for those who can still drive a stick). Once you get those four wheels rolling, you pop it into higher and higher gears until coasting at greater speeds becomes far more efficient. You can put the pedal to the metal in a low gear and get nowhere fast, but the engine is still working just as hard. You need to switch gears to take advantage of the engine’s full power. Your legs are essentially the engine that make the bike go, and once they get going, using higher gears increases your effici ency.

2. Don’t Fear the Front Derailleur 10

Unlike a Cadillac, which has four or five gears, most road bikes come equipped with well over 20 different gearing combinatio ns. This is because of the front chainrings, which include two or three gears that make for more extreme shifts; your gears are essent ially multiplied by however many chainrings your bike has. The point of the front two or three chainrings are not to advertise how badass a cyclist is if he or she happens to have thei r chain in the big ring (which means a higher gear), but to make shifting easier on extreme changes in terrain.

Like many chamois-less cyclists with cage pedals, I always avoided shifting the front chainring. However, these drastic shifts c ome in handy.

I learned this the hard way. When I was getting used to using my full rear cassette (but wouldn’t dare venture into chainring territory), I would shift four, five, even six times to reach a gear that satisfied my cadence. All the while staying in the middle chainring up front. I could hav e saved myself the trouble of all this shifting—not to mention the wear it puts on the derailleur—if I had just shifted into the smaller chainring. Likewise, if you reach the summit and begin a massive descent, you can shift to the big chainring to continue your pedaling d own the hill (Peter Sagan style!).

3. Shift Early on Hills (Plan Ahead and Shift up Before You Shift Down) When it comes to shifting gears, timing is everything. Though you shouldn’t fear the big chainring, a significant drop in gear can cause you to lose momentum on a climb (getting nowhere fast). The key is, before the climb, to shift your cassette up a couple of gears before you shift the front derailleur down. When you see a hill in the not-too-distant future, it’s important to get your chain in just the right place on the rear cassette in anticipation of the larger jump that comes when you shift your front derailleur. While it might make pedaling a little harder when you go into a higher gear on the cassette, this brief moment of hardship wo n’t cause you to lose momentum, which would create an even bigger burden.

4. Take It Easy When Shifting (But Not Too Easy) Shifting smoothly is another skill that comes with practice. My bike used to jerk and make a not-so-appealing, metal-on-metal sound anytime I moved between my preferred couple of gears. I’m happy to say that, while still imperfect, this has improved. To change gears, you must pedal. However, you don’t want to pedal too hard. Think of it as a clutch (yes, back to the car analogy). When you’re driving a stick shift, you want to relieve a little bit of pressure off the accelerator before pressing the clutch and shifting gears, but you still want to rev the engine a little bit. Without the engine (in this case, your legs) working, there’s no tension for the gears to shift. So, you need tension, but not too much. You want to turn the pedals without necessarily stressing them. If you’re pedaling too hard, or give a big push into a gear, the chain could skip or fall off. Learning how to shift will come instinctually as you accumulate more miles in the saddle. Just keep your bike and your enthus iasm in one piece.

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The after ride meal with great friends, nothing better!

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Death to the Superfood! Listen to some nutritionists vent about the superfood concept, and why you should avoid the hype BY MOLLY HURFORD October 31, 2016

Nutritionists really, truly hate the term 'superfood.’ It bounces around from trend to trend: first it was chia seeds, then it was dark chocolate, sometimes it’s wine. What nutritionists want you to know, though, is that no one food is super: they all have value, and the danger of believing in a superfood is that you’re missing a whole lot of other equally heroic options.

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“There is a danger in calling any one food ‘super,’” says Nicci Schock, nutritionist at Elevate by Nicci. "Giving those designations to foods leads the general public to discount the greater picture of what healthy is for them, and often creates an idea that one food can be a short cut to health or weight loss.” She adds that what might work well for one person may not work as well for another. “Expecting to find a magic solution in any one food takes away from the long term and other simple things that people should do every day to ensure an optimized life!"

Matt Fitzgerald, author of Racing Weight, also has some serious feelings about superfoods. "It’s not that the superfoods that get hyped up aren’t super, it’s that the ones that aren’t hyped are also super,” he says. "Unpack the label. There are usually similar versions, but the superfoods are just exotic enough to be more interesting."

"Personally, I am not big fan of 'the super food' or 'battle of the foods’ narrative,” says vegan nutritionist Kyle Pfaffenbach. "For me, athletes should develop a basic approach of exploring, balancing, and enjoying a wide variety of nutrient dense, whole, non-processed foods as the basis of day to day nutrition. That approach can then be individually tailored based on preference and need. Once healthy habits have taken root, athletes need to be aware and mindful of what they are eating and how they feel so that they can find out what works specifically for them. If an athlete is taking is following this outline and and they prefer spinach over kale, or rice farina over pancakes, then so be it." A few "superfoods" you might want to consider switching for cheaper, tastier, or simply more nutritious options:

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Goji Berries You've probably found these small, tart berries sprinkled on a salad at some point in the last few years. Some claim the berries make them feel calmer, and even aid in athletic performance, but the hard truth is, “goji berries are very expensive and not proven to be any healthier then other berries,” says dietician Nanci Guest. "Variety is key, so get a variety of cheaper berries!"

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2/4 SHUTTERSTOCK

Quinoa Quinoa is always touted to be high in protein as a superfood, but Guest says that’s simply not accurate. "It just has more protein than rice,” she explains. Rather than sticking to just quinoa, Guest says you should mix it up whole rye, bulgur, spelt, brown rice or farro. “None are really superior, each just provides a different profile of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients."

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3/4 SHUTTERSTOCK

Kale Kale is great, especially in smoothies or baked into chips— and it packs some serious vitamins and minerals. But if you always reach for this leafy green, it might be time to mix up your nutrients. “Maybe kale’s day has already passed, but I’m assuming it’s still being called a superfood,” says Fitzgerald, adding that it's not the only superstar green. "What about spinach? It’s actually more nutritious than kale!" Athletes love that spinach is a great source of iron, a critical mineral in producing hemoglobin, which helps deliver oxygen to working muscles. It's also packed with folate, which helps keep your cells healthy.

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4/4 SHUTTERSTOCK

Dark Chocolate and Wine It’s dangerous to believe any kind of overly indulgent food is actually a superfood, and wine and dark chocolate are two of the worst offenders. Touted as heart-healthy and antioxidant-rich, the two are also packed with calories (and alcohol in wine’s case). If you enjoy them as indulgences, that’s great, but don’t count them as your healthy eating for the day, or add either into your diet for health reasons.

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One crazy looking bike

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Nothing like being a kid

Ok, I’ll order vegetarian

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Who rides all those bikes?

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EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! Have a picture to show? A story to tell about a ride? Any bike related info you want to share? The RWBTC Bike Shorts wants to hear from you! Please email all contributions to Bruce Dowell at [email protected].

November Ride Calendar—All weekend rides begin at 8:00 AM from Stell’s Coffee located at Brookside and Alabama, Redlands, unless otherwise noted. ALL rides and their start times are posted on our web site, on the Calendar Standing rides are held each weekend on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Other rides head out on Tuesday and Thursday evening, and (seasonally) Wednesday evening. Introductory rides are offered by the club and “Ride Yourself Fit.” See website for details.

Ride Classification Level D

C

Description For novice or recreational riders. Expect to ride at a pace of 10 – 14 mph with re-groups as needed. Expect the ride leader or another club member to stay with the slowest rider and to offer assistance for flats and other minor mechanical problems. For competent riders with basic safety and bike handling skills. These rides combine social riding with improving fitness and riding ability. Expect that most riders will ride in groups at a pace of about 14 – 16 mph. There may be re-groups on the route, but they will be limited. Riders are comfortable navigating by map if separated from the group and can handle their own mechanical repairs.

B

For strong, experienced riders with considerable group riding experience. Expect the emphasis to be on improving individual stamina and riding skills. Most riders will maintain a pace of 16 – 18 mph and will not feel obligated to wait for slower riders. Pace lines are common. Riders are able to handle their own mechanical repairs and are comfortable navigating by map if separated from the group.

A

For extremely strong and competitive riders with expert bike handling skills. Expect riders to be self-sufficient and to maintain speeds of 19+ mph for extended distances using pace lines.

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