Avid Psyclist

I have a love for cycling. I would've discovered it sooner with blogs like this one. Please read on as I document my journey of bike purchases, cycling new trails, surviving street cycling, and bike maintenance!

[avidpsyclist]

My Cycling Gadgets

Music

JBL Wind (Gen1). I love this speaker! It’s durable, loud, and blue tooth compatible. I can clip the carabiner onto my backpack, shoelaces, shirt collar, or belt loop. When you unpack your speaker, you will see all of the attachments needed to enjoy music using the carabiner or the bike mount (seat post). The speaker is also waterproof and has an auxiliary cord and is microSD compatible. Almost forgot to mention you can scan radio stations as well. Unfortunately, the Gen 1 is no longer for sale, hopefully the other models are better! 

Saddle Water bottle holders

This contraption is a convenient way of carrying more water on your rides without having to wear a bladder or drill more holes into your bike frame. The assembly is easy, and you can remove it easily- nothing is permanent. The only thing you will need is a bottle cage!

Rei co-op commuter pack 

Backpack with the waterproof cover works great! The backpack is designed to allow air in between your back and the backpack. It also has numerous straps to hold it in place. The burnt orange color was discontinued. It has over 8 carabiner loops.

Seat post bag

This seat post bag is convenient. I store inner tubes, a tire pump, snacks, tire levers and Allen keys. Burn orange color discontinued. 

Headlight

My Bontrager Ion 120 Front Bike Light came with batteries and a mounting bracket. This light is bright, and I’ve never had to change the batteries. The light has 3 modes of operation: high, low, and flashing. It was also under $30!

Whistle (electronic- used as a bell)

I like the ease of use- I press a button and everyone hears the ringing even pedestrians who wear headphones. This is much better than me yelling or flinging a bell which I typically struggle to fit on my oblong with handlebars. I can also use this on the soccer field instead of waving and yelling until I’m out of breath.

Cell phone holder

I was nervous the first time I rode with my phone clamped down on this mount. I hate having a soggy phone that sits in my jersey pockets and leaving my phone in the cycling bag is inconvenient. This mount holds the phone tight and can be clamped on your handlebar as well as the stem (I’ve used it both ways). I agree the price I paid as well.  

Planet Bike waterproof saddle cover

This saddle cover protects my saddle from the elements while I transport my bike. I love that it is waterproof and has its own carrying case. The Velcro loop assists in folding the saddle cover.

Playlists

My favorite cycling playlists...

Pacific Radio

House music

Lofi Beats

Flamenco

My all-time favorite song...Planet Giza - Funky Kumpa. I have to play this through YouTube as I cannot find it on Spotify nor Pandora. 

[avidpsyclist]

My First Commuting Ride Using Metro!

My initial thoughts...

After my first cycling commute using Metrorail, I would have to say I’m pleasantly pleased. I don’t foresee WMATA continuing to impress me though, I’ve been in the area close to 9 years and there are always plenty of issues. Now, don’t get me wrong, WMATA has made a number of improvements but maybe I feel impending doom out of fear an issue will drastically impact me at the worst possible time. 

My Route going to station

This ride is pretty short, but the trips back and forth add up and obviously, my ride between the station and home are longer. The rides are VERY different. There are numerous bike lanes on the second leg of my commute as opposed to one partial bike lane on the first leg of my commute. I’m usually more cautious on the first leg due to the lack of a bike lane and random rideshare drivers randomly stopping in front of me.

My ride from the station to work

I have a few suggestions for WMATA in regard to Metrorail

I thought I was being cautious and brought my bike onto the first car and as soon as I carried my bike onto the train, the conductor opened the door and said not to block her door (which I wasn’t planning to do) and I immediately wished there were some hooks in the area so that I can stand the bike vertically.

I had a long first ride 

Since it was Friday and stopped by a Jazz Bar. On the ride back home, I noticed this area and thought It was such a waste of space- no seats in this area and I usually see individuals who use wheelchairs in the open areas near the doors.

Would I ride again?

I definitely would ride again and have already planned to commute this entire week. For years, I’ve been wanting to incorporate some kind of workout into my commute and walking hadn’t worked for me outside of adding steps, I wanted to do something that would assist with burning REAL calories. There are many hills, and my heartrate increased and stayed within a nice range during my climbs.

[avidpsyclist]

Memorial Day Weekend Part 2

May 30, 2022

Oooh Wee The HEAT! 

Monday’s heat gave us the blues! The UV was HIGH for what seemed like most of the day. Yesterday was bright, but there was enough cloud coverage to keep it cool- especially while riding under the shade of the foliage at Rock Creek Park. 

Riding from Bladensburg Waterfront Park does leave you exposed for a good portion of the ride. The heat just sat on you and hitched a ride, all without saying Thank You. The heat was draining but luckily there were some areas where we caught nice breezes. 

People Were Out

The Anacostia area was packed especially near the pool and skate pavilion.  The trail wasn’t crowded with pedestrians even though there were a lot of cars in the parking lot. I’d never seen so many cars in the area before today. 

I Made It Back to The Car

While I was able to feel yesterday’s ride still, I was able to come out of the saddle on each incline in addition to maintain a nice pace. My heart rate was up, and we incorporated three breaks into the ride to make sure we were hydrated due to the heat and UV. Again, due to the layout of this trail, my speed was higher, and I felt no fatigue. 

All in all, today was a great ride... we made it back to the car with only a few mosquito bites. 

[avidpsyclist]

Memorial Day Weekend Part 1

May 29, 2022

Weather

Sunday was NICE! The morning started off in the 80s but stepping outside didn’t feel like a chore. The air was cool even though the sun was shining. 

Rolling around the DMV

The festivities were beginning in my neighborhood and people were doing the right thing by loading up their ATVs to ride on trails. I495 / I95 were a mess! There was high volume, and I was under the impression most people had already arrived at their destination, but I was wrong. 

Destination Rock Creek Park

Alas, we arrived! As soon as we mounted our bikes and went down the first hill, a car was behind me and my visor flew off as I was trying to keep speed (yes, I know I should’ve worn a helmet, but rigid headgear isn’t a part of my wardrobe given my current hairstyle. For now, I’m wearing cycling caps and a visor. So, my visor flies off and I hit the first left which is an even steeper decline, hit a U-turn and come out of the saddle quickly to return to my crisp white visor that probably has tire tracks at this point. I’m only out of the saddle for about 20 seconds and my legs are tired when I land back on the saddle...

Revelation

I’ve been thinking about the differences in the areas where I cycle, and I think I’ve figured out why I cannot ride at least 15 miles at Rock Creek. This area, compared to my Bladensburg route (heading to the Douglas Bridge and Audi Field) contains more hills. I can ride and come out of the saddle on the hills and as soon as I sit back on the saddle my legs feel fatigued. I may be able to attribute this “fatigue” to back-to-back cycling days. 

The odd thing is that while the fatigue is noticeable, it doesn’t prevent me from coming out of the saddle later on during the ride. 

Overall, I’m glad it’s riding weather again.

[avidpsyclist]

Rock Creek ride...only 11 miles

May 22, 2022

The weather today was awful! First hot and humid, then the thunderstorms rolled in- luckily, we timed it just right to make sure I stayed dry. I’m not sure what others in the District were doing today, but the roads were empty! 

Based on the grinding and squeaking I heard, I believe it’s time for a tune-up. The bike sat all winter until I aired the tires and put it back on the road. I’m serious- literally pulled it from the rack and started riding.

We’d planned on being out and about for a while and brought plenty of insulated water bottles along with ice and two slices of my whipped cream pound cake I made last night. I drank most of my water on the ride back to the house and he ate one slice of cake in the car as well.

[avidpsyclist]

Bike to Work Day 2022

My First Bike to Work Day!

This past Friday was Bike to Work Day! I cycled in and was surprised at the number of cyclists on the trails and at the pit stops with me. I enjoyed the experience and plan to add National Bike to Work day to my calendar moving forward. I’d never been on this trail so early in the morning. All of the flowers were so fragrant, I saw 3 turtles, and saw 4 cardinals (2 heading out and the other 2 on my way back). 

a.m. ride

p.m. ride 

My Experience

I laughed at myself because I ride that route weekly and didn’t know where the River Terrace area was located. I know where Benning Rd station is and thought the River Terrace area was actually the H street portion of the commute near RFK stadium. My pit stop was actually closer than I thought and after checking my Maps app, I decided to just go ahead and continue riding seeing how I ride the route often I had no choice but to run into the pit stop.

I researched preparation for BTWD and packed my backpack early. I have a few STAX containers in Medium, Large, and x-large and they were helpful in storing my salad, dressing, trail mix, and salad toppings. 

Pit Stops

So the Pit Stops were nice! Did you run out in a hurry and miss your coffee? Cycling hard to make it to work on time? Need a snack to fuel the rest of your ride? They had everything you needed, granola bars, Dunkin Donuts Coffee as well as Munchkins donuts. The first pit stop was at Bladensburg water park and their pit stop was the best. 

Swag

Each pit stop had two tables with the forementioned snacks. The Benning Rd pit stop is where I collected my T-shirt. This pit stop also had a table for the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). They offered numerous packets and maps of the area trails. 

 The Bladensburg Waterfront Park pit stop offered safety belts (made with reflective material), and bells. The belt took me back to safety patrol days in the 5th grade lol. I was also able to get my hands on a card for a free rowing lesson June 1st and a brochure sharing the concert series that is returning (it had been discontinued due to the events that have unfolded over the past 2 years). 

Tips for Next Year

Ride with a group- I did reach out to a friend and my boyfriend to tag along. Next year, I will try to coordinate better to see if we could all commute. I work with two friends who cycle so we would have the same commute for the most part.

Time Trial- I knew I could move through Bladensburg all the way down to the Douglas Bridge within 40 minutes. Beyond that, I hadn’t done the ride in full to gauge the maximum amount of time I’d need to make it to work on time. I did share that I was cycling in and it wasn’t an issue. 

Register Early- there was a supply hiccup with T-shirts and due to the number of registrants and available shirts, there was a time cutoff for T-shirt collection based on how early you registered and how soon you could make it to your pit stop. Oddly enough, we received an email the night before with the update. Since I got “lost” I was able to text when I thought I may miss the cutoff for the T-shirt.  

Gear up- So, out of all the cycling gear I have purchased, I’ve never had a pair of cycling goggles. I have contacts and regular shades in addition to prescription shades, but I can’t find cycling goggles that allow you to add prescription to the lenses that I actually like aesthetically. This will be my next purchase.  

[avidpsyclist]

Winter training...indoors

This winter was BRUTAL! 

This winter, I made the most of my Nordictrack Grand Tour Pro. The iFit subscription became my best friend and I moved from cycling twice a week to cycling almost every day. I even enrolled in some new challenges and felt comfortable enough to move myself from a beginner stage to intermediate stage (even though I’ve been on a few 30-mile rides from MD to D.C.). I’ve completed two rides in one day but have now officially moved from the 30- minute rides to 60-minute rides, or when I complete a ride that’s less than an hour-I complete numerous workouts. I’ve ridden the Grand Tour so much that I now have a small tear in a crease of the seat BUT it’s still very comfortable! 

Do you have an iFit cycling subscription? If so, check out these challenges and specific rides I have favorited.

White Rim Cycle Series- I enjoyed this series even though I ride a road bike the workouts are mountain bike-based. The views and land features of the national parks are nice.

Carolina Blue Ridge Adventure Series- Being a Souther girl, this makes me miss home. I get lost in all of the scenic views in this series. 

Tahoe Endurance Cycle Series- these workouts had nice views and also gave a lot of information about Lake Tahoe.

Train Like a Pro: George Hincapie-If you enjoy watching Tour de France, George has some great stories about his career as a rookie and emerging cyclist in the peloton.

Oddly enough I completed the D.C. tour miniseries. Some of the tours are at night while others are during the day. I want to ride the tour in real life one day especially since I already cycle in the DMV area.

Don’t forget to include less strenuous rides on your recovery days. On these days I like to enjoy the TED Talks and Mindfulness. There is something for everyone on the too hot, wet, and indoor days when you still need to get in a workout. Did I mention, you can ride trails from all over the world without ever leaving your home?

Stay tuned for my post about the first ride of the Spring.

[avidpsyclist]

Wishing and searching... how I came to find my R.E.I. road bike.

Know your measurements!

I wish I’d known that I needed to purchase my bike based on my height. I grew up riding my mother’s vintage German bike with the ram horns ( she’s a veteran and brought it back to the states). She’s taller than me and could ride the bike just fine. I always rode the bike out of the saddle except when I’d cruise down the street we lived on which had a HUGE slope. I grew up thinking bikes were bikes. Fast forward to my late 20s, I purchased a Schwinn  700c Women’s DSB from Wal-Mart. It was a 21-speed aluminum cruiser bike. I overlooked the size, purchased the bike and was elated when it arrived. My boyfriend assisted me in assembling the bike. The next day we went for a ride through Silver Spring and I loved feeling the wind blowing through my hair (going down the hill). I soon noticed it was a struggle riding the bike due to the discomfort. We’d ride and I would fall behind because my bottom ( which I later found was termed sit bones) were sore to the point it was uncomfortable to sit or sleep on my back. It would take me years and hundreds of dollars in purchases to become fed up and research only to discover the bike frame was too large for my height.

I immediately told myself, “ I’m shorter and have a shorter stride when walking so it makes sense that my boyfriend cycles faster than me”. I also assumed he experienced some discomfort, but he could tough it out better than I could. I started shopping around town for new gel cushions and when those failed I purchased an entirely new seat. Shortly afterwards I purchased a seat that didn’t have a duck bill (Schwinn comfort bike seat) thinking that would make the ride more enjoyable, only to find that wasn’t the case. Imagine, moving to a new state and working super long hours, having a boyfriend and a pet Pomeranian and not being able to enjoy the outdoors in an area that’s actually enjoyable!! It was pure torture!!

The seat without the duck bill, gel cover, nor new regular adjustable seat made the ride more comfortable!! I did some research and made a new note…I needed to grab these things called chamois. I first heard of them from a cycling store located on Baltimore avenue in MD (it’s recently moved around the corner from there). The bike shop was unlike any other I’d visited up until that point. I grabbed a large size and would later discover they were unisex and give them away. For now, they seemed to be a solution until I completed my first ride. While there, we checked out a few bikes and I made note of some frames I liked- I will come back to this later.

At this point, I’d still been riding my bike, but my boyfriend noticed how much I’d struggle and purchased me a trainer and a front wheel rider block. I’d come home and train on the bike indoors if I didn’t want to walk to the complex gym. Since we couldn’t ride outdoors this helped me manage weight somewhat (I was watching Netflix while I cycled which may have been a distraction)  I had the bike gears up to the highest ratio along with the trainer setting at its highest. Now my apartment was on the second floor and I had all wood floors and they were real wood. I tried to make sure I trained early to prevent the loud rattling noise transferring below to my neighbor ( I’d later find out I should’ve had a rear tire specifically for training).

I found that I couldn’t stay on the trainer for longer than about 40 minutes but that this type of riding wasn’t as painful as riding on the bike in the city. I kept the bike for the next few years and trained on it while running outdoors (injured my foot training for a marathon and extending my distance too soon) and began doing cardio within the building gym.

It turns out that while my boyfriend’s bike suited him, he wanted to look for something more aggressive. A friend of mine and her husband were always purchasing items from Craigslist. Just the mention of the name frightened me as I’d heard so many crazy stories on the news years ago. Anyway, since he wanted a different type of bike, I watched the specifics of his search on Craigslist.

On a trip to our local sporting goods store we realized I could comfortably sit on very small bikes- like a bike an adolescent/teen girl could ride. There was a display that listed bike frames sizes along with the corresponding rider height. I snapped a photo of this to save and research.

Fast forward to the current pandemic and my indoor Grand Tour Nordictrack bike is broken (I’d ridden it everyday since assembly) and because bikes were so popular due to the lockdown, it took forever to receive parts and an appointment (I will save you the specifics of that nightmare). While I waited on the bike to be repaired, I watched my boyfriend purchase two vintage road bikes and I thought I could do the same. One seller had a sticker on their bike detailing the height of the rider and I started researching the bikes that would best fit me. It turns out I should’ve had an extra small frame bike!

Once I made a note of that, I located an extra small REI 1.1 ARD road bike being sold in Virginia. I reached out to the seller and she’d only ridden the bike twice before having a nasty fall leaving her injured and unable to touch her toes. We reviewed the bike and made the purchase and I couldn’t wait to ride. R.E.I. looked over the bike and everything was in great condition. We packed up our new bikes and went for rides and discovered some trails! The only thing left to do was to purchase some clip in shoes (the pedals were doubled-sided and I’d been cycling in running shoes up until that point), grab some bike accessories, and get a cruiser bike.

SN: I did find a good home with a taller rider for the Schwinn  🤓

The Schwinn

My REI ARD 1.1

[avidpsyclist]

How I fell for cycling 🚲

At the beginning of the pandemic I noticed my body changing due to the lack of activity. I’d walk my dog, climb flights of stairs at work, stand all day moving around to assist students, jog, and cycle occasionally. Being home all day and teaching from behind the computer screen was only convenient for 3 reasons 

1. Ease of restroom breaks

2. Goals for water consumption

3. Commuting and wasted hours of work travel eliminated

I knew that I couldn’t continue in this manner so I set out to build my home gym- which up until that point, contained a DB method machine and my mini stepper which I brought home from work, weights, a stability ball and a 6 lb medicine ball. Years prior I had a treadmill, elliptical, and weights but my home was much larger before relocating to the northeast.  I began my search for rowing machines, ellipticals, and bikes- all things that are great on joints. I used to run a lot but ended up with a foot injury training for a half marathon and running has never been the same- not to mention I didn’t miss having to sleep with my shins wrapped in homemade ice packs ( alcohol and ice cubes).

As an educator who stresses the importance of research to my students, I didn’t shy away from all of the research necessary to rank the machines by the lowest barrier to entry, price point, efficiency of the machines, company reviews, subscriptions vs one-time purchases and warranties.

Finding a machine from a reliable company proved to be challenging. In the past, all of my machines were life fitness. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get these due to inventory and supply issues due to all of the unknowns of the pandemic at that time. Seems like I’d waited too long to grab a machine and that I wasn’t the only one with this bright idea.

I ended up purchasing a Pro Form  hybrid trainer( which I’d never heard of until this purchase). The machine was an elliptical/recumbent bike. I loved the idea of having cardio options in my own personal gym without having to go outdoors. I purchased the machine and my boyfriend assisted me with putting the machine together.

For the first few weeks it was great! I couldn’t stay off of it. Shortly afterwards it began making a scrubbing noise and I could feel grinding. We took the machine back apart and couldn’t locate the issue. Hoping something shifted back into place. We reassembled the machine.  Needless to say, I began using his recumbent Schwinn bike and returned my hybrid machine back to Dicks. The best thing about the purchase was me actually deciding to return it instead of continuing to waste time tinkering with it and when I made up my mind, it just so happened to be the 90th day (you have 90 days to make returns on those items).

So now I was back to square 1…I no longer saw the benefit to a hybrid machine as one repair, faulty or broken part means the entire machine is rendered useless. I began to look for spin bikes. Again, inventory was low so I expanded my search to bikes in general. I didn’t want to pay a subscription so I ruled out numerous bikes there. I also didn’t need a large fancy monitor, but instead, focused on the bike features and settled on a NordicTrack Grand Tour indoor bike.  

NordicTrack is a well-known company, I remember seeing infomercials and ads for their machines, I could purchase the machines outright, avoid subscriptions, and still have a screen on the machine with the option of using a 180 tablet/cell phone holder/laptop desk.

In my opinion, the best feature of this bike is the active incline. A years worth of iFIT recorded workouts, and live classes came with the purchase of the machine. While taking the live class, a pre-recorded trail or city ride my bike’s resistance and incline automatically adjust based on the setting from the instructor (in the live/pre-recorded classes) or simulating the terrain on the pre-recorded city or trail rides.

What I love about the NordicTrack is that it helped me with my endurance for my REI A.R.D. 1.1 road bike. More to come on that later.

My home gym: stationary bike, mini stepper, resistance bands, balance ball, squat machine, and weekly planner.

The Nordictrack Grand Tour with active incline and ifit

DB method- I like it a lot and was surprised to find a youtube channel where they modeled whole body reps for workouts! It currently holds the balance ball when not in use 😬