I was just reading the latest Road Bike Rider ezine (which comes out every Thursday) and, to celebrate the first day of summer, they gave a warning about overtraining. I wish I would have paid attention to that last year!

If you want to learn more about overtraining, just check out their ebook, High-Intensity Training for Cyclists. If you want to read a bit more about a real world overtraining experience, read on…

I had to laugh when I read their last bit of advice…

Ignore recovery training and you may dig yourself a hole that not even a week or two off the bike can cure. Then you may really lose fitness!

You just don’t really get it unless you know (from personal experience) where they’re coming from! In my case, that week or two was more like a month or two! The worst part is, you don’t realize you are overtrained until it’s too late!

It wasn’t until my first mountain bike race this year that I realized I was suffering from severe overtraining. Just like being brainwashed by government propaganda, I got caught up in my training routine and kept subjecting my mind and body to overtraining without thinking!

I’ll keep filling you in on this fiasco over the next few days, but for now, here’s some advice: Go do a fun recovery ride. It won’t hurt, and might give you enough time to think about the big picture!

Getting prescription sunglasses is something I was looking at, especially after having a few problems with wearing contacts during rides.  Thing is, there are plenty of problems to be had while wearing sunglasses… What if they fog up?

Nevertheless, it might be nice to have the choice.  Now that you can get sunglasses with prescription lenses, not just the special inserts, it’s a lot more tempting.

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I had noticed this stuff a while ago, but like most supplements, I did not pay it much attention. Then I saw it in Bicycling Magazine and they said it could increase your performance noticeably…

At $50 for a 90-count bottle, it’s pretty expensive, but if you need a kick, this may help out. Now I’m not actually recommending it, I’m just pointing out that Bicycling said some nice things about it. It might be something to look into.

I may be reviewing it in the future, so stay tuned.

www.firstendurance.com

One of the main problems with nutrition supplements and the like is their hefty price tag. Most bars and gels are over $1 each even if you buy a 12 pack, and filling a bottle with sports drink tacks another dollar on there. Over the course of a week it’s not surprising to top $10 worth of this stuff! (Which comes out to over $500 a year!)

Plus, all the foil wrappers scattered in the woods and along the road (and in the landfills) don’t do much good for the environment. So what can you do?

You could make your own energy bars, which I do sometimes, but that can be a hassle, especially if you don’t cook much. But I’ll admit that my favorite thing about Powerbars is that nice foil wrapper that peels away nicely. Can’t really do that with your homemade bars.

Now there’s a happy-medium, though. You can buy a pack of energy bar ingredients and you just bake them at home, leaving the recipe to the experts.

$5 buys enough mix to make a dozen bars, saving you about 60%. More info: www.matisseandjacks.com

I haven’t tried these yet, but if you want, I’ll try to pick some up and review them later this season.