Order your Cow logo jerseys and shorts before May 10 to ensure your size is available. New this year are non-logo socks, arm and leg warmers, jackets, and more at really good prices. https://www.peak1bikestore.com/central-oregon-wheelers/ 

Logo orders to arrive around June 25.

Here is a COWs-only special from Sunnyside Sports! Their $75 Signature Tune-up is only $55 now through May 30. Get that bike in pristine shape for 2019! More on what the Signature Tune-Up entails at 

https://www.sunnysidesports.com/bike-services-new/. 

Anyone interested in how to make roadways better for everyone, should download a copy of this guide. The University of Oregon has published a new design guide to “make it easier for cities to design complete streets that accommodate efficient, sustainable, everyday forms of micromobility like bicycles.”  It's free and the Bike Myth section alone is worth the price!

The document can be downloaded here:

https://sci.uoregon.edu/just-published-rethinking-streets-bikes

Wish you could get a quick email for just the ride pace you are interested in? And do you further wish you could register for that event from the email? Well now you can!

We still publish the newsletter and there is always the calendar, but now if there is a D-Ride posted,  you will immediately get an email by checking the "D-Rides" group participation in your profile.  We have an option that allows you to get an an email for winter activities, social activities, gravel, mountain bike, and board meetings too. Getting too many? -  You can remove yourself from these emails just as easy!

Here is the how. Make sure you are logged, then click on your name in the upper right, then click on Edit profile button, and start checking those little radio buttons under "Group participation".  Finally click Save, located near the top.

Here are some photos from the event! Feel free to post yours on the Photo page.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jin36PfMbo1QX6sD6

The Wheelers contributed $99 to assist with The Cascade Cycling Classic Youth Foundation’s CXMas Party, a fundraising effort geared toward sending local kids to the Cyclocross National Championships, held this year in Louisville, Kentucky, December 11-16, 2018.

Hosted by Bowen Sports Performance since 2012, the CXMas Party recipients have won the U-23 National Championships, and raced professionally on the global cyclocross circuit. Also Bend Endurance Academy has created one of the top junior development team's in the nation.

Thank you, Wheelers, for helping kids with their bike dreams this Holiday season!

Guest Column, Susan Conners, Owner Sunnyside Sports

At Sunnyside we spend a lot of time talking to people about comfort on road bikes. Trek and other manufacturers have made huge strides in frame compliance and comfort, but your first line of suspension was, is, and will remain, your bike’s tires. Here’s the skinny:

Lower pressures/wider tires= faster and more comfortable

The days of maxing-out your pressure on 700x23c tires are over. It’s not as comfortable, and it’s not faster, either. Because our paved surfaces aren’t perfectly smooth, a rock-hard tire doesn’t stay engaged with the surface—Rather, it micro-bounces, and those bounces absorb energy and speed. A wider tire at lower pressure will roll faster in real-world circumstances—Don’t be afraid to go wider—700x25-28c is recommended on most road bikes. Your legs and your back will thank you.

Pressure-wise, don’t lock into the “Max PSI” number or your tire sidewall. Because the sidewall will hold that pressure doesn’t mean that it is optimal. Your optimal tire pressure is a function of your weight, the road surface, tire width, and whether you’re running it front or rear. Most riders should be using 80-100 PSI , more if you’re heavier, less if you’re lighter. Because the rear tire supports most of your weight, you may want to run a little higher pressure—maybe 5 lbs-- there than on the front.

Tubes or tubeless?

If your bike’s wheels are tubeless-ready, you have the option of adding a tubeless tire, rim strip, sealant, and valve. While you still need to run pressures of around 80 PSI, you will get a smoother ride-feel, and no risk of pinch-flats when you run tubeless. But be warned: the tight fit on a tubeless road tire makes it very difficult for most riders to fix flats on the road, and for that reason, we don’t consider them a default. Manufacturers are working hard to address this issue—Watch for friendlier road tubeless options in the near future.

For more information:

The internet is packed with tire width/pressure science. Google-up Lennard Zinn tire pressure if you’re looking to spend some screen-time learning more. Or go the old-fashioned way and stop by the shop and talk to Don.

5 Steps to Becoming a Faster Rider

Caveat: I am not a PT, coach, MD, or a personal trainer. I speak from personal experience, articles & books I have read, and discussions with more knowledgeable people than myself. This is free advice, take it for what it is worth.

It is fun to ride faster. You don’t need to worry about being last. Hard things become a little easier. You can cover the same distance with less time on your butt. You will likely become healthier and feel better. All worthy goals.

Now for the unfortunate part. It takes time and effort. Lots of effort.

I am going to arrange these items in reverse order of difficulty, the easiest adjustment is first, the most difficult is last.

#1: Strength. Biking uses more than quadriceps.  You need a strong core, back, triceps, glutes, hamstrings.  While cycling uses these muscles, it doesn’t strengthen them.  You need to occasionally go to the gym and lift weights. The best type of gym workout uses free weights (not machines) and isometrics (which help with balance). Try to go twice a week, and accept once a week. Do this year round. if you are riding a lot, ease off the leg exercises. Getting a trainer will make your gym time more efficient.

#2: Yoga. I cannot tell you how many times a person (usually a guy) will say they will not do yoga. Maybe it is because males typically suck at flexibility. If you don’t stretch and become more flexible, you will injure yourself. Your body is highly interrelated. Doing only hamstring stretches will not adequately stretch your hamstrings.  In the end everything is connected to everything. Yoga is the best form of stretching to get at this. Not only does stretching help minimize injury, it helps you put your power into the pedals. Somewhat like torque vs horsepower in a car. Flexibility adds torque by allowing you to position your body for maximum efficiency. Here are two great videos you can watch and use from home. They are specifically for cyclists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhF5_Ds21TI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guTJ53FDnQs

Sandy LeBlanc is a great instructor.

#3: Hard Days. Your body is great at being lazy.  You have evolved to be efficient. Given an easy way out, your body will take it. In order to go fast, your body has to be shaken up and relearn what biking is. There is nothing wrong with long and slow, but this will not make you faster. Instead, do something unusual and more difficult in a short amount of time. Climb Summit Drive as hard as you can, go on a ride with faster companions, go on a mountain bike ride and climb fast.  Shake your cycling up, make your legs hurt. Interval training is another great method for accomplishing this.

#4: Easy Days. Yes I marked this as harder than hard days. Once you start getting faster, once you’ve gone to the weight room, become more flexible, you will WANT to ride more. If you ride every day, you will not improve. The older we get the longer we need to rest between rides. It sucks. If I ride the BTBS ride on Tuesday evening, I might not be able to ride effectively until Saturday. It sucks. Hard rides require time for your muscles to heal. I usually walk, lift upper body weights, and do yoga on these off days. Sometime I just veg and watch the Tour de France.  Once you are in shape, the best thing you can do is rest between major efforts.

#5. Lose Weight.  I said it. Losing weight is the hardest thing to do, excluding keeping the lost weight off.  If you want to ride faster, especially on the hills, you need to lose body fat. I suggest trying to lose no more than 1 pound a week for women, and a 1 ½ for men.  Set realistic goals but set goals. I needed to write down everything I ate. I use myfitnesspal.com. I drastically reduced: beer, processed foods (including bread), and anything with added sugar. That means I ate fruits, vegetables, chicken, eggs, yogurt in meaningful amounts. No more handfuls of peanuts, chunks of cheese, or thirst-quenching Bend beers.  This is the hardest thing to do, but probably the most important change. You can ride faster if you aren’t carrying around a daypack worth of fat. Society, cheap food, parents messaging, commercials, friends - all conspire to thwart your efforts, but you can do it. It is a test in mental strength and willpower.

Five efforts to ensure you become a faster ride. Can you skip one. Not really. They are all you, you need them all. Also this is a good time to consider giving Strava a shot. Whether you use it on your phone, or better yet, a Garmin device, Strava will measure your success. Don’t compete against others, compete against yourself. Find out whether living a good life allows you to ride up the Shevlin Park hill faster. I am betting it will.

Good luck.

Here are the Board Meeting minutes.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j3K97ZUh-Qa0kU2scMyypCUU2XjC1JF_Tnh917ZcHQk/edit?usp=sharing

Speaking of volunteering, Jim Moore, a COWs member, is the new Director for Bicycle Rides NW. You can crew for Bicycle Rides NW. As a crew member you can be paid (positions start at $600 per tour), or you can trade working one tour for riding the other for free. They have several openings for our Oregon tour July 21-28, and possibly one or two for our California tour Aug. 4-11. The positions are with our Camp Central (hospitality) team and our Tent & Porter (tent rental) teams. There’s light-to-medium physical work involved, more so in the Tent & Porter position. They have a max of 300 riders, and they want their crew to work hard and then have as much fun as possible. If you’re available and interested, contact Executive Director Jim Moore by email or call 503-281-1526.