Don’t get me wrong. I love cycling to a near irrational extent. I’ve been known to ride my mountain bike to an adjacent city and back, my legs logging in 80 km or more a day for up to five days a week until I’m seriously overtrained. Whee! So why dump on cycling, when gasoline prices have never been higher and city smog never more caustic?
I can only explain it as ironic. All my wheel-spinning and soaking up sunshine has manifested a dark side to hardcore riding, and I’ve learned some hard truths. They are:
- In an afternoon of summertime riding, you will likely discharge upwards of 12 grams of sodium in your perspiration, resulting in vicious muscle cramps and extreme fatigue. So here’s a test: Check your dirty laundry. If your workout threads have white salt stain streaks on them, congratulations - you’re a salty sweater. Be sure to nosh on some salty snacks before an afternoon of hammering on the pedals.
- Insufficient fluid intake will force your heart to work harder in delivering precious oxygen to toiling muscles. The reason for this is because the water for perspiration (to cool down the skin and prevent you from baking like an apple turnover) will have to come from somewhere, so it’s drawn from the bloodstream, thereby lowering your blood volume and raising your heart rate. Insufficient is defined as anything less than eight fluid ounces per hour.
- Your bike seat could be causing you more damage than you can imagine. The first and most feared problem is numbness in the nether regions, which ultimately can cause the erectile dysfunction/infertility duo of self-demoralization. Then there is the knee pain and maximum soreness of the gluteus maximus combo of uncomfortableness. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, see a doctor and either try moving your seat up, or invest in an anatomic relief
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- You will not get “cut” or “buff” by bicycling alone. While all that leg pumping and cardiovascular exercise will do you a world (and the world) good, it’s not the ultimate answer to getting in shape. The reason for this is because you’re body is so very smart, and it can acclimatize itself to specific exercises when done over and over. For example, the first week of hard cycling will shed flab fast, but with every subsequent week, you’ll derive less and less benefits. It’s because your body is getting wise to the workload and will make physiological adjustments accordingly. The fix is to mix it up with resistance training one day, cycling the next, while running intermittently as well.
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