I’m kind of an “every day is a gift, make it great” kind of a person. That said, this New Year came with a need to personally kick-start the year and make more time to ride…perhaps I could call it a resolution. Since I have a lot on my plate (and it’s cold and snowy) I cleared out my home office and made room for new riding equipment…the closer the equipment the better!
Lisa’s indoor cycling setup, with bike on a stationary stand in her office, and shelves of bike gear near at hand
Using my road bike as a trainer, I added a rear wheel power unit, downloaded and set up a Zwift cycling account, and used screen mirroring on my cell phone to project my rides onto my TV.
My riding gear had been stowed away since the weather turned frosty and I wanted easy access to all of my favorite gear and apparel, so I built a shelving unit, added bins, and loaded them with my favorite shorts, tops and accessories. Easy access, for a quick ride anytime!
While many spinner friends like minimal padding, I prefer a bit more, especially during the first few tender rides. My Holster Hi Rise Knickers are best for good knee warmth, a great chamois and a very comfy hi-rise waistband.
Since I am definitely feeling out of shape, I prefer riding in Terry relaxed fit jerseys and the colorful prints keep things fun. I usually grab a Soleil Flow top or Tech Flow Tee, both are easy wash and wear options!
Keeping it fun with spin towels to match the cycling gear.
For visual incentives, I bought a few fun spin towels, complete with pink flamingos, they are my favorite vibe of the season! Also along the incentive line, I’ve decided that a new spring kit will make the perfect reward for a winter of good personal care and fun!
To track my progress, I’ve downloaded a single page calendar, and to stay true to my goals of riding 6 days a week, I will note each ride with a red dot. At the end of May, I hope this page is a polka dot plastered page of joy!
I am committed to my plan and I know that every day I will get stronger and each ride will get better. Cheers to 2021 and doing what makes you happy and healthy!
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What is your plan? Have you been riding more than ever, are you a steady rider year round, or are you looking to get going again? Feel free to share your stories, we can all learn and motivate each other for a great year ahead…
We are so happy to have the new year upon us and hope you can see how busy we’ve been in developing the best new cycling collections for female cyclists. New prints, for sure, but also lots of new products that will be showing up at Terry over the next 2 months. For those who are new to Terry, we welcome you to the bike party and to all of you who’ve been riding with us for years, we thank you and invite you to continue to send us your thoughts.
ENJOY the view and here’s to roaring tailwinds in 2021.
Even the start of this year’s race is an almost unexpected triumph.
Questions have been hanging over the 2020 Tour ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the early abandonment of the regular professional cycling season, and the official postponement of the Tour de France in April. For a long time it wasn’t certain le Tour would be staged at all in 2020, and the race was still in doubt right up to the start.
Speculation and debate intensified as the region saw an alarming increase in new COVID cases in the last few days. Is it irresponsible and impractical to allow the race to proceed, or is it a reasonably well-controlled risk given the extraordinary precautions taken by the organizers?
Riders and politicians alike admit it could easily go either way – with luck, battling all the way to Paris, or without it, packing in after only a couple of days.
Neither outcome would be surprising, and that points to a most significant effect of the pandemic on the 2020 Tour de France: an enormous amount of uncertainty. Add Coronavirus outbreaks to the list of surprises that can unexpectedly change the fortunes of the race. Previous Tours already suffered cows on the road, terrorist attacks, mud slides, striking farmers, strong-arming gendarmes, interfering fans, and lots more.
How the 2020 Tour de France adapted to cope with Coronavirus
New rules and accommodations for the pandemic will change the experience for riders and fans alike. More people are expected to watch the race on television this year, with fewer along the route, so the stages include less time trialing and more locations for dramatic televised finishes.
The key tactics to deal with COVID are keeping the entire race in as tight a bubble as possible, and frequent fail-safe testing.
All hotels and transports along the way will be restricted to race personnel only.
If any 2 riders on a team are strongly symptomatic or a positive test result is confirmed, then the entire team is eliminated.
Routes that are normally lined with cheering fans will have restricted access, in villages, sprint zones and even mountains. No selfies and mingling before and after stages. Mandatory masks all round, though local authorities along the route are expected to have those requirements in place already.
It’s really not clear what will happen if the race must be abandoned before reaching Paris, or if there aren’t enough competitors left for the race to be viable. Would the leaders be officially declared as winners, no matter how far the race actually ran? The rules don’t seem to specify what happens in cases which have rarely if ever cropped up before, but are a distinct possibility now.
The 2020 Tour de France Route – heading into the hills early, with very little let up before Paris
This year’s Tour began yesterday, Saturday August 29th, in Nice, the resort city on the Cote’d Azur, where cafes in the shade of palm trees overlook broad beaches and sparkling Mediterranean waters. Nice is just a few miles from the Italian border to the east, and the towering Alps to the north.
The Grand Départ showcased the sprinters along the beachfront after a hilly circuit near the city. An early breakaway made things interesting through the hills, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. Rain made the course tricky and the stage was filled with crashes, including some race favorites, with some riders sustaining injuries. The peloton cooperated to moderate speed later in the race, and finish times were taken at the 3km to go marker rather than risk more serious crashes in the inevitable mass sprint.
The finish itself was well worth the wait, with Alexander Kristoff turning in an impressive burst of speed to claim the win over Peter Sagan. Kristoff is the second Norwegian ever to wear the Yellow Jersey; Sagan claimed the Green Jersey.
Today the race heads into the mountains of Provence. The region is famed for its picturesque flower meadows and fresh cuisine, less so for its leg-bending ascents.
Those climbs offer the kind of punishment usually served out only after at least a week of racing. This means big strategic time gaps can open up very early in the race. Attacking and defending those gaps will be key to deciding the podium contenders over the remaining stages.
There are only a couple of stages in the Pyrenees, fewer than usual, followed by varied stages in the maritimes and lush valleys in the west, through lowland country up to central France, then back into the high Alps before a couple of days in equally challenging terrain toward the northeast. If all goes to plan, the Tour will finally wrap up in Paris with the usual display of racing against the backdrop of the capital’s iconic monuments – made for TV.
The route promises an exciting mix of mass sprint finishes, days made for puncheurs who can climb multiple smaller hills then smash out a strong sprint, and showcases for pure climbers who can leave rivals behind on grueling ascents.
This may be one of the toughest Tour de France routes yet, according to riders who have reconnoitered it. From the spectator’s perspective, this is a Tour where the possibilities for advantages to be won and lost emerge early, and do not let up until the peloton arrives in Paris. It could be anyone’s race, and will be a nail biter to watch.
Favorites to win the 2020 Tour de France and riders to watch
Setting aside the potential of COVID flare ups to throw everything to the wind, this years’ race features several riders with the strength and experience to prevail, at least on paper. It will be fascinating to see who can use the unusual staging of the route to their advantage.
The racing is expected to be faster and even more intense than usual, because of the very limited race calendar. In a typical year the teams would already have been battling it out for several months of stage races, one day classics, and the earlier grand tour, the Giro d’Italia. This year, legs are far fresher.
This also makes it harder to gauge who has timed their build up well, and who is hitting peak form for the Tour.
Two riders missing from the lineup this year are Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome. Neither showed enough form in the Critérium du Dauphiné (a stage race often used as final prep for Tour de France contenders) to be chosen for their TDF squad. They will focus instead on the Giro and Vuelta d’Espana respectively, giving them more time to regain full fitness. It seems odd to have neither of them in the Tour, since between them they have won 5 of the last 7 Tours.
That leaves last year’s winner, the young Columbian Egan Bernal, as a natural favorite.
Look out also for Primoz Roglich and team mate Tom Dumoulin – Dumoulin has great strength with superior time trial abilities, and was a serious contender last year. Roglich is tough, experienced and dominated the pro circuit late last year, though his withdrawal after a crash in the Dauphiné leaves a question mark. The same goes for Bernal actually: he withdrew earlier in the Dauphiné with back problems which apparently are still troubling him.
Pinot Thibeault – a perennial Tour de France presence who has been dogged by bad luck. Last year he looked ready to seize the race in the Alps when a thigh injury took him out. He certainly has the climbing ability and guts to reach the podium. He was banged up in the Stage 1 crashes, so it remains to be seen if he will be able to shine this year.
Julian Alaphilippe – held the yellow jersey for a long stretch last year, and showed he has what it takes. He’s downplaying his hopes this year. Don’t be fooled!
Adam Yates – still has youth on his side, finished 4th in 2016, has several stage wins to his credit, and could well have the strength and experience to prevail at last.
Richie Porte has supported Chris Froome in several previous Tours, and showed the ability and tenacity that could place him on the podium in his own right. His support will not match the big teams, but if the breaks go his way, he could be a contender.
Don’t count out Roman Bardet either. He’s a popular French rider whose best days in previous Tours show that he could rightfully claim a top G.C. placing.
Do count on Peter Sagan to take the Green Jersey in the points classification once again. No one else in the lineup has matched his ability to win sprints on both the flats and the hills in many past Tours, though there are a couple of riders who might get close this year – keep an eye on Wout van Aert and Sam Bennett. As of midway through stage 2, Sagan is fighting hard to pick up points behind yesterday’s stage winner, Kristoff.
All that said, it will be especially hard to predict who will finish on the podium this year, even as the race unfolds – not only because of the contests of strength and determination, and potential disasters of crashes and mechanicals, but because of the more random risk of infection.
It would be truly painful to see a leader eliminated from the Tour because of the virus reaching his team mates, after all the effort and skill it takes to get to the front of the race.
We will have to look on whatever happens philosophically, as just one more of the uncertainties hanging over our lives during the pandemic. It’s one more addition to the daily dramas, battles and pitfalls that make pro stage races like the Tour de France so compelling to watch.
La Course 2020 – The Women’s Tour de France Event – Gives an Early Highlight
The women’s race was staged as a one day event over some of the same route used for the men’s stage 1. Originally conceived to run in Paris at the end of the Tour, La Course was moved to Nice as another concession to the pandemic.
The route was a great setting for a competitive race. An early breakaway was reeled in by the peloton, but another attack on the main climb let a small group of the strongest riders get away. The race came down to a close sprint on the beachfront finish, where Britain’s Lizzie Deignan edged out Marianne Vos, a previous La Course champion, with a perfectly timed bike throw. Deignan is based in nearby Monaco, and felt she almost had a home advantage. It doesn’t hurt that she is having a great season, and after this and a big win just 5 days before she is now the UCI’s top ranked woman cyclist.
As a footnote to this year’s Tour: word is that a Women’s Tour de France is planned for 2022, to run after the men’s Tour is finished, and featuring multiple stages. Stay tuned…
We’re grateful to our manufacturing partners in the US and around the world who have helped us pull together the new fall season while facing the challenges of keeping workforces safe and healthy over the past few months. We have some delays but lots of products already in stock. Several new things we’re really excited to share this season:
New Polartec® Powerstretch Padded Tight designed to be a fully integrated, thermal wonder
New Polartec® WindPro Padded Tight designed to be our warmest, fully windproof cycling tight
New Tulip Jersey that gives you warmth and width
And a new partner that will add some Italian panache – Castelli
Enjoy the ride and the tailwinds of a new season ahead.
We’re thrilled @MoMADesignStore has included our Liberator X Gel saddle at the Design Innovations for Women Pop-Up in their Soho NYC Store. A celebration of good design for female reproduction, sexuality and activity, the Pop-Up is filled with products that have been uniquely designed largely for women by women. It explores the evolution of everyday products conceived to improve and enrich the lives of women through good design. Visit the MoMA Design Store in Soho at 81 Spring Street in NYC or store.moma.org. The Pop-Up runs through September 27, 2020.
In addition to the Pop-Up, there are several virtual events in their Design Disruptor series that you can audit during the August/September timeframe:
Summer’s coming on fast, time for cyclists to think about sun protection.
Don’t grab the lotion just yet though – there are even better options for cyclists to protect themselves from the sun…
I shudder to think of the sunburns I collected over long days of summer cycling, well before the link between UV exposure and skin cancer became common knowledge. Yikes!
Now, a good sunblock is an essential for every summer ride, of course. It does a great job of protecting you from the sun’s harmful rays, and lets you choose to forego coverage for arms and legs, which can feel more comfortable and freeing. Even so, it might not always be your best first line of defense against the sun.
Here’s why sunblock might not be top of the list: the protection is not total, and decreases as the lotion wears off or is removed by sweating. It becomes less effective over time and needs to be reapplied periodically, so you have to be on top of that or risk getting burned anyway. This is a bigger problem on a longer ride, when you spend several hours in the sun. Good sunblock is not so cheap either, so if you ride a lot in a sunny place, and reapply as you should, you have an extra expense as well as some inconvenience to deal with.
Thanks to newer developments in fabric technology, there are some great new options for protecting your skin from harmful UV rays, and staying cooler and happier as you ride…
Sun Protection Clothing For Cycling
It’s counterintuitive – you might think adding a layer of fabric would make you hotter in a hot climate, but in fact the right kind of fabric actually prevents the sun’s harmful rays from reaching your skin and so your skin remains cooler. It feels cooler too, without the heating/burning sensation of strong sun.
Good moisture transport is a factor also. Naturally, activities with movement cause extra perspiration on a hot day. That’s how the body cools itself, of course, maintaining a lower core temperature. The right fabrics wick that sweat allowing it to evaporate, so you get the cooling benefit while reducing skin temperature. When you get overexposed to UV rays, your skin burns, and not only feels uncomfortably hot but your skin loses the ability to cool from sweating, so you feel even hotter and can eventually risk heat exhaustion.
There are a couple of approaches to building sun protection into a fabric. Some fabrics use an engineered fiber that reflects or absorbs UV radiation effectively, and others use a standard fiber with added coatings that do the UV reflection or absorption.
Our Actif Jersey uses a fabric with MYNX® protection added, while our Soleil fabric was engineered with sun protection properties in the fabric itself. Both give an outstanding UPF 50+ level of protection.
What does UPF mean?
UPF stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF), which indicates what fraction of the sun’s ultraviolet rays can penetrate the fabric (50 = 1/50th of the sun’s rays). The higher a garment’s UPF, the greater the amount of protection.
The right approach to sun protection for cycling is an individual thing
Everyone’s preferences are a little different, so some cyclists may find uncovered arms comfortable and freeing, and so opt for plenty of sunblock to protect their exposed skin. Others may prefer to avoid the exposure and cover up with long sleeves.
Our best recommendation: choose the combination of clothing and exposure reducing methods that you find most comfortable and convenient, and that you will stick to every ride. The best sun protection methods for cycling are the ones that you will actually use consistently.
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Recommended clothing choices for sun protection, for cycling and beyond
The Soleil line is the most versatile and adaptable for sun protection
Our Soleil tops have become best-sellers for good reason. It starts with the fabric, which blocks harmful UV very effectively (UPF 50+) and has a lovely, luxurious next to skin feel. It’s great to wear in high heat, and hundreds of reviews from happy customers tell the story.
There’s also a way to Soleil for just about every activity. We offer a variety of styles, fits and feature sets, ranging from athletic and cycling specific to truly relaxed and multi-purpose.
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Maximum cover up – long sleeve tops and tights for complete sun protection
Our best options for the highest level of sun protection while cycling and beyond, Soleil Long Sleeves are available in a variety of fits and configurations to suit your preferred riding or activities.
Soleil Long Sleeve Top – UPF50+, minimal styling, cycling friendly pockets, athletic fit
Short sleeves are a great compromise, keeping shoulders covered for protection or modesty, but allowing plenty of air movement and freedom. Pair with arm sleeves for versatility. They are easy to stow in a pocket and slip on when needed, either to keep the chill off early in the day, or to cover up when the sun gets stronger. Bella Arm Sleeves are available in prints matching our Bella Short Sleeve Jerseys, or opt for the neutral Arm Sleeves pictured below to pair with any top.
Minimal cover up – sleeveless options for maximum wind on skin
If this is your preference, we have lots of choices for you. Sleeveless tops, racerbacks and tanks tops all work wonderfully for indoor cycling too – there are no sun exposure problems in a spin studio, but the lack of cooling wind brings another set of challenges. (Read about our recommendations for indoor cycling clothing here.)
A bolero works with sleeveless jerseys especially well, and closer fitting short and long sleeves too. Use one to add extra warmth in lower temperatures, or for complete sun protection on arms and shoulders when needed. It’s very easy to pack in a pocket.
It’s easy to forget that the top of your head can take a UV beating, even through the ventilation holes in your helmet. These caps are a great way to get a good level of sun protection under your helmet.
Whichever clothing options you choose, don’t skimp on the sunblock for any remaining exposed skin. Let us know in the comments if you have any favorite sun protection strategies for cycling.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new boom in cycling in the U.S., the third time this many people have taken to two wheels since the bicycle was invented.
The original fascination with cycling took off in the late nineteenth century. It launched an entire bicycle manufacturing industry, velodrome racing and women’s specific cycling gear, and helped fuel the women’s movement, amongst other things. It faded fast, once the automobile caught on as the fashionable way to get around.
The second boom took off in the 1970s, when gas prices, the fitness phenomenon and ecological awareness combined to focus on the bicycle as the answer to many problems, large and small. For a few years, bikes sold so fast manufacturers couldn’t keep up with demand, and millions of new cyclists took to the roads. Cities planned bike-first infrastructure projects, and it seemed the automobile age might be over. Unfortunately, once gas was abundant and affordable again it was all over.
Now cycling is booming again, with a new set of circumstances that make cycling an obvious great answer to urgent problems, and a fun, wholly beneficial thing to do.
This time people are pulling neglected bikes out for the first time in years, even decades, and emptying the racks in bike shops, all because of COVID-19. Cycling is a great alternative to crowded public transportation, gives people more space than busy sidewalks, and lets cabin-fevered people escape from isolation to get healthful exercise.
It seems more people are cycling now than ever before, and we at Terry are delighted that many of them have discovered us on their journey as new cyclists.
If that’s you, welcome! We’re glad you’re here, and we’re happy to help if you have any questions, especially about cycling clothing and saddles.
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Here are some resources to help you find your way as a newcomer to cycling.
A lot of the most important information for new cyclists is about how to ride comfortably, and avoid pain. You’ll find some great tips and resources here on our blog, especially in the Cycling Savvy category.
Here’s a selection of favorite posts, organized by the kinds of issues that cause problems for newcomers to cycling and experienced riders alike: bike fit, riding position, saddle choice, and clothing choices. These all work together to make cycling either a joy, or a literal pain in several areas of the anatomy.
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Good bike fit and comfortable riding position for new cyclists
Enjoyment of cycling starts with a bike equipped for the surfaces and terrain you will ride on, adjusted to give you a range comfortable riding positions. A properly fitted bike lets you pedal efficiently, with no straining to reach bars or pedals, and no awkward movements sapping your energy.
Eliminating pain at points of contact is a constant quest for cyclists. Maybe it’s a measure of how rewarding cycling can be that so many of us put up with so much discomfort before finally finding the right saddle and bike shorts. We love when customers let us know they are riding pain free now, and wish they’d found us years ago… it happens quite a bit!
You’re lucky – as a new cyclist who already found Terry, you get to skip years of discomfort and get right to the good parts: these posts will help you find the ideal saddle for your unique shape and the kind of riding you do.
The Terry Saddle Selector – answer 6 easy questions about how you ride, and get a personalized recommendation for your ideal bike saddle.
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Choosing the best bike gear for new cyclists
Choosing the right clothing for the job can also make or break the ride. The right cycling gear helps you feel comfortable in a variety of conditions, supports your movements, enhances your performance, and has features to make your rides more enjoyable.
These posts will guide you through the many options around the fabric, format, and fit of dedicated cycling clothing. You can decide which features matter to you, and see how the different choices translate to comfort and performance. You will be an expert cycling gear shopper in no time.
HOW TO CHOOSE CYCLING TOPS. Sleeves or not? Athletic or Relaxed? This fabric or that? This post will help you prioritize and choose the bike jerseys you’ll love the best.
Are you cycling again for the first time in years? Or for the first time ever? Let us know in the comments how it’s going, and what kind of information you would find helpful.
Happy Mother’s Day to all our Terry Moms – even on lockdown!
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped our lives in so many ways, but Mother’s Day 2020 brings a poignant new twist – this is the first time there’s no possibility of booking a table for Mother’s Day brunch, and for many of us, no opportunity to give our Moms a hug, or even to get together in person at all.
On the other hand, some of us are lucky enough to have Mom be part of our “pod”, the circle of people we’re isolating with. Even so, options for gift giving and celebrating are definitely restricted this year.
Whatever the difficulties, gratitude and love for Moms abounds, and we’ll be celebrating. This calls for some creativity, but maybe the best approach is to get back to basics – as Natalie P. puts it: flowers, food, family – even if some of that has to be virtual now. And as always at Terry – bike rides.
Here’s what the team at Terry has in mind to make the day a special one for the Moms in our lives.
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We hope to get out on a bike ride and have a picnic if the weather is permitting. Here we are on our first family bike ride together from one month ago. Otherwise, Dani is hoping for a relaxing soak in the tub.
Nik H. – operations director
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I’ve been fortunate to be able to spend the last 10 years living near my mom and having her help me with Terry. She’s been the source of all kinds of assistance and my favorite motivating phrase, “Buck up!” Most recently, she provided some inspiration from her Basque roots for our newest summer prints. Although she’ll probably want to work on Mother’s Day, we are going to celebrate with a proper toast to her.
Paula D. – marketing v.p.
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My mom lives in Rhode Island, but frequently treks up the coast to come see me here in Vermont. Normally, we would likely spend Mother’s Day hiking, dipping our toes in the lake for the first time this year, vegging out on an epic charcuterie, and of course watching tearjerkers or 80s comedies together. In lieu of being able to be together this Mother’s Day, I cultivated a gift basket to send her with some of her Vermont favorites like: bagels from her favorite shop, crystallized maple sprinkles, small batch homemade marshmallows, a nice bubble bath from a local natural soap shop, and a gift certificate to our go-to wine bar. My mom is an incredibly giving and selfless person so it feels wonderful to spoil her with goodies, and it’s great to be able to support local businesses and the friends who operate them!
Camarin M. – customer care
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I couldn’t quite find any pictures of my mom on a bicycle, but if I could fit her in a tow behind buggy I would tow her around for a fun Mother’s Day treat. I anticipate heading to my parents’ house on Sunday to see my mom. My siblings and I will be outside occupying six sections of her rectangle lawn with a small fire pit in the middle, visiting but still social distancing. It’s as much for me as it is for her.
For me as a mom, I will also get to spend the day with my daughter and pup, as well as facetime with my older boys who are grown and out of the house. My granddaughter, Aria, almost three years old, will of course also be on the phone, a highlight of any day!
Danielle L. – controller
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If the weather cooperates, we’ll give Kathy the choice of a hike in a nearby state park where there’s enough space for good distancing, or the first family bike ride of the season. She treats us to gourmet meals all year long, but on Mother’s Day we’ll turn the tables and treat her to our best meal prep for brunch and dinner. Prosciutto wrapped scallops will be on the menu, along with strawberry shortcake. We’ll also give her plenty of time in the garden with some plants and maybe a new tree to commemorate – from a favorite nursery where shopping is by appointment now to keep staff and shoppers safe.
Colin D. – marketing
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We will be celebrating Mom’s birthday and Mother’s Day this weekend, and we have something new to celebrate… we have transported our spin bike to her living room and we have added a nice Terry Cite X Gel saddle.
For Mother’s Day and Mom’s birthday, my mom is planning to climb in the saddle for the first time in years, and celebrate another great year.
Lisa W. – customer care lead
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Since my Mum is pretty much at home these days, we’ll prepare a special dinner for her and support a favorite local restaurant – the Blue Paddle in South Hero. Fingers crossed for her first choice on their menu – lamb!
Colin S. – warehouse manager
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I plan on celebrating my Mom this year with some fresh picked spring blooms from the garden, homemade brunch, and a Zoom game night with the whole fam. Sticking to some Mother’s Day basics – flowers, food, and family!
Natalie P. – product development
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How are you celebrating with the Moms in your life this year? Let us know in the comments.
Contributed by Kelly Kessler, Terry Marketing Communications Manager
An essential component of any cycling kit, gloves can play a key role in your comfort and therefore enjoyment of the ride. As Spring begins to bloom and the wheels are ready to roll once again (yes, I admit, I am a fine weather cyclist and let the skis navigate the snow), my go-to glove is the Full Finger WINDSTOPPER® Glove. It provides enough warmth and keeps the wind out, just as the name says, while the gel padding works to diffuse road shock. However, I recently learned something new about my go-to gloves – they make great lawn and garden gloves, too!
After a recent wind storm pushed yard clean up to the top of the list, I went searching for my garden gloves, and none to be found (kind of like that missing sock that you know is lurking somewhere). So instead I geared up with my trusty Full Finger cycling gloves to rake and prep the spring beds and clear away the fallen branches.
Holy cow! For the first time, my hands managed to stay unscathed from blisters and callouses, thanks to those magical little gel pads in the palms of my hands and a comfortable streamlined fit. Talk about relief after an afternoon of heavy yard work! From this year forward, forget the garden gloves – it’s cycling gloves for me… and now, I don’t have to worry about a myriad of missing and mismatched garden gloves. Talk about handy.
Anyone else discover surprising uses for their Terry cycling gear?
The last few weeks in lock-down mode have been filled with troubling news, inconvenience, or much worse.
Our hearts go out to those families affected by the loss of loved ones, or the distress of sudden hardship. Our hearts go out to those who work on the front lines in this pandemic – the people who care for us, feed us, and keep our society running.
In spite of everything, we feel there’s a lot to be grateful for. We cyclists have the additional gift of a favorite activity that lets us enjoy newly empty roads as we restore our balance.
Even so, we are dealing with extraordinary times with a lot of uncertainty. It’s a time for extra TLC, for those around you and especially for yourself. Here are some resources and tips we have gathered as we have worked on getting ourselves and our families through the Coronavirus crisis in good health.
Practical ways to take care of yourself
It’s important to maintain physical and mental health to help cope with stressful circumstances. Cycling certainly helps with that, along with other physical activities that get the heart racing and endorphins flowing. In fact, an innovative program was started recently in the UK, where doctors are actually prescribing cycling as a cost-effective, medication free treatment for some patients.
That said, it’s possible for too much of a good thing to take a toll. If you are cycling a lot more all of a sudden, outdoors or stationary, it’s a good time to pay more attention to rest and recovery.
Foam rolling – your new favorite post-ride activity.
Foam rolling is a key technique for physical therapists, and the secret behind the performance edge of many athletes who push their limits.
For the rest of us, foam rolling can loosen up the muscles and tissues that tense and tighten after strenuous workouts. Breaking up tight spots and clearing lactic acid from sore muscles can fix those creaky limbs and get you ready for the next ride much sooner.
Foam rollers are available in different grades of hardness, from soft to seriously ouch. The color indicates the grade – white is a good starting place. Try a cheap one to begin with, and upgrade if you find your technique or sore spots demand it.
Here in Vermont we are now required to wear face coverings whenever we are in public places. This follows CDC recommendations, and some other areas are setting it as a mandate too. That raises questions for those who are outside getting some strenuous exercise. Should I wear a mask while cycling or running? Should I wear a mask the whole time like some authorities are saying, or just when I’m around people? Does wearing a mask actually help at all?
The last question is easiest to answer – masks definitely do reduce transmission of micro-droplets in the breath. Since it’s pretty certain that around 25% of people who contract COVID-19 don’t show symptoms, and almost everyone who gets it is asymptomatic for the first few days but can still infect others, wearing masks will slow the spread.
One thing to keep in mind is that wearing a mask is not really about protecting yourself from infection, but about making sure you don’t pass it to others if you already have the virus and don’t know it. It’s a gesture of consideration for the people around you.
Some guidelines suggest wearing face coverings at all times outside. This might seem pointless when the real danger is from being close enough to others where droplets could be exchanged – within the 6 foot radius and in enclosed spaces. Common sense might suggest wearing the mask only when close to others and not for the rest of your ride or other time outside. However, I think the guidance to wear a face mask at all times out of the house is given for a couple of reasons:
First, it removes any ambiguity about when to take the mask on or off. When your mask is on all the time there’s no need to decide if it should go on or come off to suit the circumstances. It removes the risk of getting it wrong.
Second, once worn, the mask should be considered to be a contaminated surface, and taking it on and off repeatedly means more possibility of moving microbes to your face, and undoing any benefit the mask gives you and those around you.
With those thoughts in mind, it makes sense for each of us to balance the benefits of wearing masks in proximity with others with the need to breathe while riding. On the down side, masks can get waterlogged from hard breathing, and a soggy mask is ineffective. People who wear glasses have an especially hard time with their masks fogging up.
Some cyclists find wearing a buff that can be pulled up quickly when needed is a good compromise. The material in most buffs is less than optimum for virus-trapping protection, but is certainly better than nothing.
Keeping a mask handy on a ride where you will only encounter others occasionally is probably fine. If you ride bike paths or trails where there are lots of others, or you won’t have time to anticipate and adjust, you might want to keep your mask on.
If you wear one, keep a keen awareness of where you touch the mask, and avoid touching your face with potentially contaminated fingers. If possible, touch only the tapes or elastic and not the mask itself.
Beyond the physical – taking care of your state of mind
This article in Bicycling magazine offers some good ideas about self-care for cyclists, particularly around easing off from racing and training to take some respite from the daily grind. The shut down may bring disappointments and inconveniences, but also presents opportunities to strip away the unnecessary and refocus on what’s really important in your life’s journey.
If you’re lucky you may actually be riding more now, and getting the benefits for both physical and mental health that cycling brings. On the other hand, many of us are juggling the competing demands of work, kids, and running a household with fewer resources. It may be possible to work in some sanity-time on a stationary bike, or with a core workout here and there, but in these times it might well not be enough to really overcome the underlying sense of uncertainty that many of us are feeling now.
Those feelings are distressing of course, so it can be tempting to avoid feeling them at all. That rarely helps in the long run.
Feel what you feel.
It’s important to allow yourself to feel what you feel – fully, but then to separate yourself from the feeling and let go of it. You are the feeler, not the feeling itself. The feeling will pass. First experience it, then consciously let go of it.
If that seems easy to say, hard to do, mindfulness exercises can help you get toward it.
Mindfulness is very helpful for achieving calmness, dealing with uncomfortable feelings, and regaining a sense of solidity in the present. It brings you back to what is, rather than what may be. My wife Kathy works with groups to encourage self-care, and has tons of great resources. She passed this one along: a link to an introductory mindfulness course she recommends.
“Anxiety is basically holding space for too many What Ifs. Come back to What Is.” – Rachel Meisels
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Another key to self calming is truly simple – breathe.
Remembering to breathe fully is tough when the pressure is on, but paying attention to how you inhale and exhale has great benefits.
First, it is truly calming. Navy Seals use these same techniques to maintain clear, calm thinking in the middle of a firefight.
Second, the techniques for filling your lungs transfer to cycling. Better breathing can make a real difference, especially on those long hard climbs where getting extra oxygen to your muscles really counts.
We tender hearted cyclists can learn a lesson from this battle tested Navy Seal’s video, shared with me by a friend. If you prefer a different guide, try searching on box breathing technique, or yoga breathing.
Key points to take away:
Breathing with attention lets you fill your lungs more completely, and exchange more air.
Deep breathing supplies more oxygen to the body, and takes the body out of stress mode, right down to the cellular level.
Breathing through the nose rather than the mouth makes more oxygen available in that breath, and activates parts of the nervous system that reduce stress response.
Five minutes of deep breathing with attention can make a real difference to your state of mind for much of your day.
I hope these self-care nuggets help you cope in these strange times. Working together, we’ll get through it, and eventually we’ll be stronger for it. There’s a lot to look forward to, especially the time when we can celebrate our collective resilience and endurance in person, with races and group rides, cook outs and dinner parties, without Zwift and Zoom.
In the meantime, take care, and be kind to yourself.
