Posts Tagged ‘biking’

Water Is The Most Important Item To Take On A Long Trek Bicycle Tour

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

If you are taking a long ride on your bicycle this weekend with friends go for a relaxing tour of back roads and enjoy the scenery. You have to take an ample supply of fresh water in order to keep up your strength and stay focused. Water will be the most important item to carry with you. Don’t forget that the human body needs to be replenished with water to stay saturated at about 85%.

Research shows that a 50 to 60 mile bike run burns an average of 4000 calories depending on how fit you are and how hot the day is. There is more energy spent on hot days than mild or cools days. If you are traveling on hills or mountain trails, you will burn more energy than biking over level,even ground. Either way, you will require to pack enough water to take care of your needs.

A minimum of 2 one quart bottles are recommended by experts for a simple 60 mile run to slake your thirst. This does not take into account your own preferences and it is a good idea to take along more bicycle water bottles to make sure you stay hydrated for a longer trek. Long distance bicyclists sometimes equip themselves with water systems in back packs. Solo endurance, long distance bikers will often carry their own back pack water system and also sport water bottles to make sure they have an ample supply.

Back pack water storage systems come in different sizes to accommodate larger amounts of liquid. You can find 60, 72 and 100 liter packs. The 100 liter system needs extra support to stabilize the weight of the water. The better back packs come with a waist strap to help with this problem. You will never regret bringing extra water on your next bike trip. But, how much is enough water?

Often, if you are thirsty, or experiencing cotton mouth, you are probably in a mild state of dehydration. You can determine your water saturation point simply by noting the color of your urine. Is it clear? If it is, you are probably drinking enough water. If your urine is dark or cloudy, you should step up your water intake.

Dehydration can happen to you faster than ten minutes and can be the cause of muscle cramps. Cramping in turn may lead to unnecessary fatigue leading to irrational fear. The resulting diminished strength and can affect you to lose much of your complex motor skills.

When taking to the back roads for your next long ride, research your route, prepare your tool kit and remember to bring along lots of fresh, clean water in your bicycle water bottle.

Larry Wildems has been cycling for almost all of his 26 years. He has trekked and led many long ride bicycle treks across the United States and Europe. He has traveled through most of the countries of Central America and is planning a long trek across parts of China. You can find out more about sports water bottles and water delivery systems, bicycles and cycling accessories at his website: http://www.bicyclewaterbottle.net

Bicycles For Free - Where You Can Find Free Bicycles

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Bikes are a great way to get around cheaply and effectively. They also are great for exercise and weight loss. When used often, you can get where you need to go and lose weight. Instead of getting into your car and lazily driving everywhere while not burning any calories, you can enjoy the weather and burn off calories on a bike. While you may not have one because you can’t afford one, this article will show you a couple of places to go where you can sometimes find free bikes being given away in your area.

Every year, people give away their bikes because they don’t need or want them anymore. This year you can be the person that benefits from someone else giving away their used bike.

If you want a free bike, the Internet has made it even easier to find one. These two web sites are my favorite to go to for finding free things. Even if you don’t want a free bike, check them out, as you may be surprised at what some people will give away for free!

The first web site is called Freecycle.org. There you can join the group for your area and see what is being given away for free. Depending on where you live, you can often find someone giving away a bicycle they no longer want. Everything on this site is being given away for free. This site is a good place to get rid of some stuff you don’t want also. If you have a bunch of stuff lying around that you want off of your hands, you can give it away on Freecycle.org.

Craigslist.com is used for lots more than just for finding things being given away. When you are on the web site, look for the “Free” section under the “For Sale” area. Pick the state and area that you live in to see all the free stuff being given away near you. This is where you may find someone giving away a free bike.

Those are two great sites that you can often find a free bicycle on. If you can’t find one right away, check back later, as you never know when someone will decide to give away their bicycle!

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Derailleur Magic

Sunday, May 24th, 2009

Your bicycle may have a clamp that is built-in and contains the gear changer. The gear changer is responsible for getting the gears changed, as and when required. These gear changers are also termed as derailleurs. If you desire then you can also purchase another clamp that is different in size so that you can fix the gear changers or the derailleurs.

Many of the bikers may want to change the clamp that is already present on the frame of the bicycle. It is best to buy a clamp that is made of an alloy. Some of the clamps that are available in the market are a bit flexible and then do not enable the bike to obtain a proper change in the gears. Some of the clamps available are a look alike of carbon.

This you should keep doing while the rear derailleur is maintaining a low gear. The biker has to check out all the various combinations of both the rear as well as the front gear systems. Necessary adjustments can help the gears to shift easily. Keep pedaling at different speeds to arrive at the right adjustments of the gears.

Tighten the high gear screws of the front derailleur, so that the biker cannot move on to another high gear when the rear derailleur is high. Keep turning the pedals and work on the shifter so that you get a proper shift of the gear every time you try. Keep repeating the processes until you are able shift down to the smallest front sprocket.

The bicycle gear changers or the front derailleurs are also quite affordable and a biker can easily afford to change one. While fixing the front derailleur adjustments are required accordingly.

While fixing the front derailleur first check out and see whether it is in line with the front sprocket. Then fix it a little higher by maybe just three millimeters above the front sprocket.

Your bicycle may have a clamp that is built-in and contains the gear changer. The gear changer is responsible for getting the gears changed, as and when required. These gear changers are also termed as derailleurs. If you desire then you can also purchase another clamp that is different in size so that you can fix the gear changers or the derailleurs.

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Discover the Many Attributes of the Garmin Handheld GPS 72 Receiver

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

The Garmin GPS 72 Navigator is an outdoorsman’s dream come true. It is so marine user friendly that any one can operate it. No matter whether you are on land or on the water it will meet your navigation needs. It is waterproof and it has a feature that many of the other Garmin Handheld GPS systems do not, it floats.

Being WAAS enabled allows the Garmin Handheld GPS 72 accuracy within 3 meters anywhere you choose to venture. WAAS is a system developed for the FAA to enable gps accuracy for airplane navigation.

With the Garmin GPS 72 Navigator’s preloaded world wide maps you can view all of a cities navigation aids, such as cities, streets, points of interest, or local terrain. It’s maps also include an area’s marine navigation aids, which include buoys, beacons, and other navigational aids, including tide information, sunrise and sunset times, as well as a calendar.

The Garmin Handheld GPS 72 unit is 2.7 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches (6.9 x 15.7 x 3.0 cm). The light weight of the Garmin GPS 72 Navigator makes it easy to carry as it only weights 7.7 oz. (218 g), and that includes the weight of the two AA batteries, which by the way are not included, however the batteries last for 16 hours. The displays size is 1.6 x 2.2 inches (4.1 x 5.6 cm) WxH, which uses 120 x 160 pixels, that uses a level 4 gray LCD light.

The Garmin GPS 72 is able to be programed with data you want to use such as points of interest and tracks. You can input as many as 500 waypoints and or 10 tracks of your choosing. You can input the location of your vehicle and camping spot on your adventure as well as saving fishing spots, hunting locations etc.

There are numerous accessories available for the Garmin GPS 72. Lanyards, holsters, straps and clips are all avaiable for you unique situation and use. If you want accessories for the GPS 72 for your car, antennas, cables and adapters are available also.

Included with the purchase of the Garmin Handheld GPS 72 is a quick start guide detailing all the seperate functions of the GPS 72 receiver. You will also appreciate the wrist strap included with the GPS 72. Also included is a Marine database of the Americas for use with your GPS 72.

If you want a gps receiver you can depend on while on the water as well as on land then look no further than the Garmin Handheld GPS 72 navigator. It will serve you well on either and provide the data you need when you need it. It is dependable and you can expect a long service life for a modest price. Hunters as well as fisherman will love it as well as other outdoor adventurers.

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