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< face="verdana, geneva, arial, sans-serif" color="#282828">As the bicycle and its rider move along the road, the air exerts a force that increases sharply with speed. The force is due to friction between the air and the exposed surfaces of the rider and bicycle. At high speed, this drag force can be the most importance source of resistance, and with a wind blowing, it can also lead to significant side forces.

One of the most common practices to improve athletic performance is through nutrition for mountain biking.
Athletes who participate in endurance riding know about getting nutrition for mountain biking by storing extra energy in the muscle tissue for endurance riding.
The right nutrition for mountain biking is essential for endurance riding and is commonly referred to as "carb loading."

By Chris Carmichael
Mar 24, 2007 - 5:56:28 AM

This is a frequently asked question among people who exercise regularly, partially due to the warnings written in bold print telling you to refrain from intense activity immediately following donation.   By donating you are giving up both blood plasma and red blood cells.    Losing blood plasma decreases hydration status and giving up red blood cells decreases the overall oxygen-carrying capability of body, both of which are vital for physical activity.

When donating blood, 450 mL of whole blood is removed.   According to clinical studies, plasma levels can fall 7% to 13%, but recover to normal levels within 24 hours.   Hemoglobin on the other hand, requires 3-4 weeks to fully recover. Although recovery after donation is relatively fast, there is still a noticeable decrease in performance capabilities within the first couple of weeks.   

By Phil Astrachan - CTS Senior Coach
Apr 27, 2006, 10:47

For most people, riding a century is a landmark endeavor that takes consistent training and thoughtful preparation. However, your attention to training detail doesn’t stop once your ride is over; efficient recovery from a century requires planning equal to that needed to complete the ride in the first place. The arduous nature of repeating any physical action for over five hours is sure to cause some post-exercise fatigue and muscle soreness. In addition, there are likely to be nutritional repercussions such as depleted carbohydrate stores and dehydration. Taking time to address these issues will speed your recovery and get you feeling strong and energetic again sooner.

Many people enjoy their own homemade versions of commercial sports drinks. The basic recipe is not complicated and homemade sports drinks can provide all of the same benefits when mixed properly. Gatorade (tm) is formulated to give the following per 8oz serving:

WH Sanner and WD O'Halloran
Department of Podiatry, Ochsner Clinic of Baton Rouge, LA 70809, USA.

The authors review the biomechanics of cycling and discuss the ideal cyclist's morphology. Examination of the cyclist when resting and when cycling is described. A variety of overuse injuries commonly sustained by cyclists are reviewed, and strategies for altering the cyclist's mechanics to relieve the pain are described. Because the bicycle and the cyclist must be considered as a unit, this article offers instruction for adjusting the bicycle as well as the cyclist.

Influence of a Pre-Exercise Glycerol Hydration Beverage on Performance and Physiologic Function During Mountain-Bike Races in the Heat.

To determine if pre-exercise hydration with and without glycerol differentially affects physiologic and performance responses during mountain-bike races in the heat.

Did you know that just 3 hours of bicycling per week can reduce a person’s risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%? (according to the League of American Bicyclists) Plus, moderate bicycling can burn about 600 calories per hour for a person weighing 150 pounds. A person who is out of shape and weighs more will burn even more calories per hour.

Been away from bicycle riding for a while? No problem; your proficiency comes back quickly. Why do you think they say “it’s just like riding a bike!” This is one of the reasons there are more bicyclists in the US than skiers, golfers and tennis players combined (National Sporting Goods Association).

Here are some of the best ways to incorporate bicycling into your lifestyle:

Water is incredibly healthy for you. It is the ‘oil’ that lubricates our body. The National Institute of Health (NIH) reports that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. And for many, our thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

According to the NIH, drinking a quart of water daily reduces the risk of colon cancer by 45%, reduces the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and reduces the risk of bladder cancer by 50%. Additional research also indicates drinking half a gallon of water a day would significantly ease back and joint pain for 80% of sufferers.

Here are three easy ways to add more water to your diet:

Whosa what now?

A fixed gear bicycle (fixer, fixie, fix) is a bicycle that does not have a freewheel mechanism. A freewheel is a ratcheting device that allows the rear wheel to roll forward without moving the cranks. Without this component, if the wheel is moving, the pedals are moving, and vice versa. You cannot coast, and you cannot rotate the pedals without rotating the wheel in the same direction. The pedals are literally chained to the wheel. They usually only have one gear.

Most people have busy life styles. So the main question is; how often should one ride to stay in shape?

For the average rider, riding twice a week for an hour will keep whatever physical shape your in stable. With stable I mean no improvements or loses. Anything more will result in some gains, and anything less will lose whatever progress you have made previously. Of course this is assuming that your in somewhat physical shape to begin with; if you are just starting in this sport, hoping on the bike twice a week will show great improvements.

Training help from the pro.

This article will discuss trouble shooting noisy drive trains.

Creaking and squeaking noises are annoying, and can be a sign of more serious problems. Damage to component parts may result if they are left unattended. Creaking is usually caused by two things rubbing together, such as a crankarm rubbing on a spindle. Many of the solutions below rely on adequate torque on the parts. See also an article on Bicycle Torque Specifications. Thread preparation is also critical, see also Basic Fastener Concepts.

Correctly diagnosing the source of the noise can be difficult. It may help to have a friend assist you. Have them flex the parts while you listen and feel for noise. Creaking will often resonate enough to be felt as well as heard.

If during a ride you hear a creak or squeak once per revolution, it is probably located in the crankset and pedal area. If the noise is once every 2 - 3 revolutions, it may be in the chain. There can be several causes of creaking. You may need to proceed through the drive train step by step, part by part to eliminate potential problems. Here are some of the possible sources and remedies for drive train creaking.

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• Repair & maintenance: Rear derailleur overhaul
• Maintenance & repair: Freehubs
• Maintenance & repair: Fitting & removing cogs
• Fixing creaks: Troubleshooting a creaking drive train
• Adjusting dual pivot caliper brakes: How to keep them working perfectly
• Replacing & adjusting a threadless headset: fix those wobbly-steering blues
• Washing your bike: Get that pro-wash gleaming bike feeling
• Headset standards and nomenclature: a primer on steering bearings
• Front derailleur adjustment: more gear tuning tips
• Adjusting your rear derailleur: how to get your gears shifting sweetly
• Wheel truing and spoke tensioning: everything you need to know about wheels
• Brake and gear cables: How to cut and fit them
• Tyres & wheels: Care and feeding
• Fitting & removing cogs: How to change your ratios
• Mounting tubular tires: The professional approach to this tricky task
• Hub Bearings: Overhaul and adjustment
• Freehubs: Servicing and replacing a freehub
• Chains: Three methods of setting your chain length
• Fitting a chain: How to secure your main drive component
• Splined-axle cranks: Removing and fitting this increasingly common design.
• A torque primer: Everything you need to know about fasteners, threads and torque wrenches
• Frame alignment: How to check and fix a misaligned frame.
• Recording MTB position: Grabbing all the data for training reference or future rebuild
• Recording road bike position: As above, for the road
• External bearing crankset systems: Installation and removal of the new-generation cranks
• SPD pedal service: Greasing and adjusting Shimano pedals
• Spoke tension balance with the TM-I tension meter