Spring and we kick off the official bike season. I've made a few bike-related discoveries that I've found valuable, and I'd like to share them.

Woe is Me

We live in an age where the average person can measure an astonishing amount of data about their body: power, heart rate, REM sleep, speed, elevation gain, and much more. With that wealth of information I watched myself degrade. I expected my maximum heart rate to decrease by a beat a year, but I was hoping the other stats would decrease imperceptibly, if inevitably.  Ah, not so. I got weak fast: FTP slumped, free weights decreased, I got slow. I did not feel bad, just weaker. I assumed that was the payback for lots (and lots) of good years.

Based on the elegant foreshadowing of the last paragraph you are correct to assume I counted myself out too soon. The culprit was likely a lack of protein in my diet. I learned that as we age we metabolize protein less efficiently. After 65, an active person needs at least 1.2 grams of protein per kilo of weight. I weigh about 70 kilos and therefore need about 84 grams of protein a day. That’s a lot! After a week of increasing my protein intake, I skate skied further and faster than I had all season. 

Here is how I changed my diet. I used an app called My Fitness Pal to help me catalog my daily nutrients and calories. I used it for 2 months until I found the process of cataloging my foods too tedious. I started adding whey protein to my breakfast cereal for an extra 20g of protein. I also added salmon, turkey, or chicken to my typical lunch salad. It takes some forethought, but I feel better and that makes the hassle worthwhile.

Physics

I always find it easy to spend money to make cycling more fun. After some research and experimenting on a friend’s bike, I decided to install shorter cranks on my gravel bike. As we age, we lose flexibility. A longer crank is akin to performing a deeper squat with each pedal stroke. Cranks typically are sized 170mm for a small bike, 172mm for a medium sized bike, and 175 for a large bike. I went to 160mm on my gravel bike and liked it so much that I got shorter cranks for my mountain bike and road bike, too. If you Google “short cranks for a bike” you will see studies showing that shorter cranks typically help in riding comfort without a loss of power. And if you ride off-road you get the benefit of fewer rock hits. If you have a small gravel bike, short cranks can also help with tire/toe overlap. 

Accessorizing

By now everyone should have a GPS head unit attached to their handlebars. Whether it is a Garmin, Wahoo, Hammerhead, or other they help you not get lost. They also can provide an indication of a car behind you. That’s right, with the magic of a radar unit blinking on the rear of your bike, it can inform you that there are 1 or more (up to 5) cars rapidly catching you. I have the Garmin Varia RTL515. If I am on a road where there might be a vehicle, I wouldn’t ride without one. 

Those are my tips for riders of a certain age. Feel free to let me know of your ageless finds while remaining active.