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No Time Like Springtime To Get Your Bike On!
April 3, 2009
by Ken Johnson and Greg Madison
The sun shines brightly through the windows, blue skies beckon, and temperatures are rising. It’s hard to find a better time to get out of the house after a long cold winter and enjoy biking in the Heartland.
As spring lures us outside, wheels are spinning all over the region to bring Kansas City up to speed for cyclists. Our local governments are finally finding money to enhance both paved-trail systems and on-street routes with dedicated bike lanes, add road signage and bike racks, and other efforts to encourage biking. Plans for paved trails are being announced to connect Kansas City with areas as far away as St Louis and Omaha. New mountain biking trails are opening up. It’s an exciting time for the biking community.
Before you pull a bike out of the garage and start pedaling, though, get your bike and your body ready for riding. Just a few simple steps can make the difference between enjoyment and injury.
Prep your body
First, take an honest inventory of what you’re working with. If it has been years since you were on a bike and you’ve let things go a bit, make sure your body can handle it. Biking can be an excellent way to help you get in shape again, but check with your doctor before beginning any rigorous exercise program.
A good strength-training program can help. Biking uses all major muscle groups, including your heart, back and core muscles. If it has been awhile, start slow. Spend a couple of days a week focusing on your major muscle groups, with an emphasis on abdominal and back muscles. A strong core supports proper posture and protects your back from injury. Stretching is also essential to prevent injury and improve muscle performance and recovery after the ride. Stretch after every workout – on the bike or not.
Water is essential to any training program. Drink plenty of water before, during and after every workout or ride. Always carry water on bike rides.
Begin with shorter rides to give your body a chance to get used to the saddle again. Training correctly will help to ensure that you can enjoy the rest of your day after a bike ride and not just hit the pillow. But rest is also an important element to any training. Give your body a chance to recover and repair itself.
Check your bike
Before your first ride of the season, make sure your bicycle is as ready as you are. Check your tires for cracks or splits, signs of wear or old age, then inflate to proper pressure with a floor pump. Fully inflated tires will help you go faster with less effort and help discourage flats.
Inspect your chain. Use a rag and perhaps a soft-bristle brush to wipe as much grit and dirt off the chain as possible. Relubricate with a chain lube from your local bike shop. Turn your pedals backward, adding a small amount of lube along the length of the chain, spin around several times, then wipe off excess with the rag. A clean and well-lubricated chain makes pedaling easier and more efficient.
Give your bike an overall visual inspection. Look for any cracks in the frame. Check the brake pads for wear and correct alignment to the wheel rim when brakes are applied. Lift each wheel off the ground, spin it and check for wheel alignment or truing. Test-ride your bike before a long outing to see that it shifts, brakes and handles correctly. A general tune-up from your bike shop mechanic may be needed if everything is not working just right.
Outspokin’ KC will join Family Bicycles, 7140 Wornall Rd., at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 11, for a bicycle-maintenance workshop. RSVP is required.
Now what?
Whether you are an avid cyclist or just starting to get back on a bike again, there’s something out there for you. The area has a number of active bicycling clubs, from the Kansas City Bicycle Club to the Johnson County Bicycle Club to Earthriders Mountain Bike Club.
OutSpokin’ KC is our local gay and lesbian bicycling club and it has been active since 2000. OutSpokin’ KC offers rides throughout the year, weekends as well as week nights, and riders participate in other biking events across the region. Rides range from beginner to advanced, city streets to single-track mountain biking, and from the metro area to other states.
Email us at outspokinkc@yahoo.com. Visit our website at www.outspokinkc.org or our Yahoo group at http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/OutSpokinKC for more ride information and to sign up for email updates.
Outspokin’ Rides & More
Urban Revival Tour, April 5: Check out new and recently completed construction projects as part of Kansas City’s $4 billion dollar investment in the urban core. This will be our first official club ride of the season and will include our annual meeting.
AIDS Walk Kansas City, April 25: Outspokin’ members will volunteer on foot along the route to help direct walkers.
Trail to a Cure. May 2. Rocheport, Missouri Katy Trail head, by the Trailside Cafe and Bicycle Shop. Great bicycle ride on the beautiful Katy Trail to benefit the HIV/AIDS Services of RAIN and Amfar. After ride party and buffet at the Les Bourgeois Winery "A Frame." Trails to a Cure will also have an informational or registration table at the April 25 Kansas City AIDS Walk. For more information: www.aidstrailtoacure.org.
Bottoms Up Ride, May 9: West Bottoms to Cliff Drive and back.
Mountain bike ride, June 7: We will carpool up to Smithville Lake for some great single-track dirt. This is one of the easier trails in our area, but previous off-road experience is a good idea.
Second annual Brew to Brew Tour, June 20: Visit Kansas City’s popular microbreweries. We have 16 slots for a fun, informational noon tour of Kansas City’s own Boulevard Brewery. We’ll end up in the tasting room for samples, then hop on our bikes on the way to Gordon Biersch in the Power & Light District, down to 75th Street Brewery and a final stop at McCoy’s in Westport before coasting downhill back to Southwest Boulevard.
Ken’s Famous Fountain Tour, June 21: Visit some of Kansas City’s best fountains.
Lenexa Midnight Ride, July 11: We’ll join this annual midnight ride.
AIDS Bicycle Challenge, Sept. 12: Elizabeth Bejan and Patti Abshier are the co-chairs of this annual fundraising ride. The ABC route will begin and end in the Power & Light District, and riders will travel through downtown Kansas City and the historic Northeast.
Battle of Westport Ride: A cycling tour of several area Civil War battle sites.
Reg’s KCK Tour: The ride you love to hate.
Impromptu Rides: Last-minute group rides.
Adventure Rides: Some of our members travel to other locations, often joining cyclists in other states. This year some of our serious mountain bikers will travel to the mountain-biking meccas of Moab, Utah, in April and Crested Butte, Colo., over the Fourth of July, where they will join Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Bicycle Boys.
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