I was setting up a new bicycle helmet earlier today, and after getting the pads in place, I just had to laugh at the included “my emergency information” sticker.

Unlike gift giving season, “it’s the thought that counts” doesn’t apply to saving one’s life after a nasty bike wreck.

Think about it… If you crash and you’re lying there unconscious with a broken neck, do you want someone fumbling around, taking your helmet off? Hell no!

[Note that EMTs will know what they're doing, but Joe Schmoe might remove your helmet solely to look for this sticker!]

Sure, if you break your leg, removing your helmet won’t hurt. But in that case, you should be conscious enough to remember your name and phone number.

With an older helmet I could almost position the sticker so it could be read through one of the air vents, but “almost” didn’t work out. That would seem like a good idea because it wouldn’t require moving the helmet, but…

Even if you did put the sticker inside the helmet, how long do you think the ink would last? Ever ride in the rain? Ever sweat when you ride?

Right. Nothing you write will be legible after a few rides, even if you had neat handwriting in the first place.

What other options are there… you could stick the sticker to the outside of the helmet! That would be quite stylish, but then the ink would fade in the sun or be washed off in the rain…

I wonder if anyone actually uses that sticker… I doubt it. Maybe that’s why Road ID was invented, since it places critical information at a more readable point, like your wrist or ankle, or around your neck.

Honestly I think this sticker idea is terrible. What if someone uses it and thinks they’re totally safe, but then they’re in an accident and guess what – all emergency crews find is a sticker with ink smeared around on it.

Maybe you could fill in the info, laminate the card, then hang it off the back of your helmet like a ski lift pass? Yeah, now there’s an idea!

(Disclaimer: Now remember, I’m not saying not to wear a helmet, but that the sticker inside them is totally useless! If you plan to carry ID, that sticker doesn’t cut it. P.S. Always wear your helmet.)

After discussing how to stop indigo jeans from fading, I must have developed quite a reputation! Perhaps I should give up on bicycling and chase my true calling in life of working for Levi’s Jeans?

I know that every body wants to know how to fade jeans. But I want to know how to put dye back in them. I have a pair of Levi’s that are faded in the butt and the front legs. I just want them the same blue jean color. Do you know of a dye I can use? Thank you.

As I’ve said before, I’m not exactly an expert on blue jean dye, but I have learned a few things about dying clothing and painting logo t-shirts, so I’ll give this a shot…

Let’s find a reputable dye company and see if they have anything for blue jeans. I’ve heard good things about RIT Dye for crafting and designing, so let’s check that out.

Browsing their site, I see they just happen to have quite a few dyes for fabric. Liquid is usually your best bet, and we’re in luck – a bottle of “denim blue” colored dye for $3.79 per bottle.

Then follow whatever instructions they give you; something like putting the jeans, dye, salt, and hot water in a bucket and letting them sit for a while.

Hopefully that helps! Oh, and if you need help with any special wool or polyester bicycling clothing, come on back!

One thing that’s happening with the healthy energy drink trend is companies are loading their drinks with potent antioxidants (see FRS and Fiva for good examples.)

Because of this, you might see something called the ORAC rating…

You review energy drinks – what does ORAC stand for?

Omar

Hi Omar,

Good question. ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, and in general terms, it’s a measure of the antioxidant power in a given product.

I’m not sure how the science works, but each food is assigned an ORAC value, and it’s basically ‘the higher the better.’ Higher ORAC values mean the food contains more antioxidant power, which in turn means it is very beneficial for fighting off the damaging oxygen radicals (i.e. free radicals.)

So if you’re buying an energy drink that you think is healthy, take a look at the ORAC value. Fiva has an ORAC value well over 3000, which is more than you need in a single day, so that’s plenty. But FRS goes further – it has an ORAC of 7000 to 10000! (Part of the reason why FRS gives you such a big energy boost.)

At the other end of the spectrum, you’ll find Gatorade with an ORAC value of just 19. (Gatorade tastes good, but it’s nothing more than sugar, electrolytes, and flavorings.)

Links for further research on ORAC and antioxidants:

• ORAC Page at Fiva
• ORAC Comparison Chart (from FRS)
• ORAC entry at Wikipedia

Related product reviews:

• Fiva Review
• FRS Reviews

As ORAC becomes a more popular term, I’m seeing it more often, even on packages of dark chocolate! Although fresh fruits and vegetables are probably still the best source of antioxidants!

With my renewed interest in running thanks to ChiRunning, plus the fact that gasoline topped $4.00 a gallon even here in the boondocks, a triathlon on my home turf sounded like a great idea.

The race in question was the Upper West Branch Triathlon that starts and ends at Curwensville Lake in Curwensville, PA, and shares a similar course to the Tour de Susquehanna bike race. It’s close by, has a familiar course, and best of all… there is no swimming involved! This is a run/canoe/bike triathlon! (Canoes were for teams while individuals could use a kayak, but we’ll get to that later…)

My first thought was “who can I team up with that can canoe?” I quickly realized, though, that the only people I know who fit this criteria think of canoeing as floating down the river with a beer in hand. Not exactly on par with my “I must win this!” idea.

So next I thought “who will let me borrow their canoe?” I quickly realized, though, that paddling a touring canoe down the river on my own was even further from my race winning plan…

But then, by pure luck, I found out that my riding buddy and Tour de Susquehanna race director Mike Butler happened to have a kayak I could borrow! I had never seen a kayak in real life, let alone paddled one, but I figured what the heck!

After three short kayak trips, I figured I had a good shot at this thing. After all, I could paddle as fast as the recreational canoers with their big, heavy boats!

But as little kayak experience as I had, I could definitely make up a lot of time on the bike and probably hold my own on the run. Plus I practiced my transitions so I was ready to save precious seconds (the 2007 winner won by just one second, so I knew what was at stake.)

Fast forward to Saturday, May 17, 2008 – race day! I packed everything in my Jeep and took off at about 7:40 AM on a cool, cloudy, and damp morning to drop my bike at the kayak/bike transition. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as this is just a little local race that is lucky enough to have a resident letting us use their private yard as the transition area!

While the grass plot for our bikes was very nice, there was a mud pit between the grass and the paved road… so much for a fast transition! Last time I checked, road bikes and mud pits don’t mix!

But I laid my bike down in the grass, simplified my transition plan to “don’t get too muddy,” and got back in the car for a trip to the run/kayak transition.

At the run/kayak transition, I was greeted by a fleet of $2000-5000 carbon fiber racing kayaks that must have been 15′ long and 18″ wide. I gazed in awe as I walked by toting my stable yet very slow, 8′ long, 30″ wide Dagger and dropped it at a nice entry spot.

Hoping that none of those kayaks’ owners knew how to run or bike, I hopped in my Jeep and headed up to the start line… but made one more pit stop. Since the race website only mentioned a water stop at the run/kayak transition, I decided to hide a water bottle along the run route to keep myself hydrated.

With my water bottle stashed by a neat looking tree, I made my way down to the Curwensville Lake beach and picked up my race number and goodie bag.

After disappointments at both transition areas, the weather decided to make things worse – instead of switching to a decently warm and partly sunny day, it decided to stay dark and cloudy and even started to rain. So much for my sleeveless jersey!

Well after walking around trying to stay warm, the clock struck 9:30 and we made our way to the start line for the 9:45 pre-race meeting. It was still chilly, but we got through our meeting where we discussed safety requirements, the aforementioned mud pit, and other tidbits to have a good race.

Finally at 10:00 when we lined up for the start, the sun decided to come out and warm things up. It would have been nice had I not switched to my cold weather gear!

But alas, I lined up behind Todd Winters and John Jacobs, a couple local runners, figuring if I could keep them in sight I’d be off to a great start.

The gun fired and a few seconds later I said to myself, “so much for that idea.” At least half the pack passed me in the first 1/4 mile! I didn’t expect the pace to be so fast, but I settled into my own pace and kept moving, knowing I could make up the lost time later on.

Halfway into the run, I started to look for my water bottle, only to realize that I had spaced out and already passed it! I was probably trying to think of an excuse for my slow running…

No problem though, around the next turn they had a surprise water stop! I grabbed some water and that got me through the rest of the run, although a few more people passed me.

I hit the first transition area at around 32 minutes in. Despite that being a personal best time for 4.4 miles, I was 5-6 minutes behind the leader!

I ran down to the river bank, put on my PFD and grabbed my paddle, and watched as someone decided to put their kayak in the water right in front of me… but luckily there were great volunteers who helped me move to another spot, put in, and gave me a strong push out into the current. Thanks guys!

The first thing I noticed was the water level – it was much higher than expected for mid-May! The week of rain before the race was awesome for filling up the river; too bad we paid the price with the mud pit at the next transition.

So I start paddling, expecting to stay within range of the front group, and things keep going wrong… I couldn’t grip the paddle! Somehow my hands were extremely slippery. Then I remembered – the portapotties at the lake had hand sanitizer dispensers, but they didn’t come with a “this will make your hands slimy” warning! I had to rinse my hands in the river water for a while to clean them off!

I finally got into a rhythm, but I couldn’t quite catch anyone, and quite a few people passed me. By the time I hit Hogback Bridge (the halfway point, pictured above) I had all but given up. I was paddling with all my strength and the best form I could muster, while people glided past me effortlessly!

Well, judging by the picture above, at least I was holding the paddle in the right direction!

And in the picture below, at least I’m still in contact with some other racers. (That’s me in the middle, pausing to get a sip of Gatorade Tiger.)

Unfortunately, at that point things started to go downhill. Over the next couple miles, I lost contact with most of those people and I even had a little girl pass me!

But eventually I made it to the second transition! Again, the volunteers were great and they helped me out and took care of the kayak for me, so I was free to sprint up to my bike and get going. I put my helmet on, switched shoes, and ran my bike through the mud pit up to the road.

Putting my bike down and saddling up, I had to employ a mountain bike racing trick to knock the mud out of my cleats so I could clip in! It was kind of hard to get going, thanks to my legs cramping up from sitting in a kayak for the past hour, but I put the hammer down anyway!

I was flying and passed 5-10 people on the twisty and narrow Carbon Mine Road where this picture of me was taken. Then I passed a few more people on the climb, and a few more in the next few miles. (Good thing, because after the kayak I was about 25 minutes behind the leaders!!)

Overall the bike leg was pretty simple – I was riding all out hoping to make up as much time as possible. The leg cramping was a bit of an issue, but I kept going at full speed. (It was definitely gratifying, because these people had probably laughed at how slow I was in the kayak!)

So I made it to the last monster climb and passed a few more people as I big-ringed almost the whole thing. Turning onto Lake Drive, I was exhausted, but I saw one guy up ahead and went after him. I gained some time on a little hill and almost caught him on the final climb (which was pretty steep, but not too long.)

I followed him down the twisty road toward the finish, keeping pace but not going crazy on the wet and twisty descent. As the road leveled off, already in my biggest gear, I sprinted past him and spun out, but had just enough of a gap to hold him off in the final meters to the line!

While that was nowhere near a race winning performance, I was happy to be biking at full speed!

In the end I finished in about 2:10, while the overall winner did about 1:54. Considering I lost 5+ minutes in the run and 20+ in the kayak, finishing just 16 minutes off the leader wasn’t too bad. (Taking back a 10 minute chunk over a 45 minute bike ride isn’t too shabby.) I must have had the fastest bike leg out of anyone!

My lousy performance in the water was what got me. But in the end, I was 11th overall, 4th out of the Ironmen, and 1st in the 20-29 Ironmen age group.

Full results and more info can be found at www.clfdccd.com/Triathlon.htm (and at the Smiley Miles website.)

And of course, check out McDole Photography if you are looking for more great pictures from the race.

Healthy energy drinks aren’t going away anytime soon! The latest healthy drink I have found amongst the thousands of terrible drinks is called Fiva. It’s pronounced “five-ah” which originates from the phrase “five a day.”

That’s because you’re supposed to get “five a day” when it comes to servings of fruits and vegetables, but the majority of people don’t get enough. It’s just not convenient to make sure we get all our recommended servings when we have other things on our plates (pun intended.)

So we turn to energy drinks and energy bars, hoping that they provide us with valuable vitamins, minerals, and all the essential nutrients. Some people may think they are getting real food, but really, there is no comparison between an energy bar and a real plate of vegetables.

However, some drink manufacturers are catching on, and giving us healthy energy drinks – like Fiva! A glass of Fiva gives you the antioxidant equivalent of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, and it is a good source of fiber.

It’s convenient and healthy. Let’s look at the details…

Fiva Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

You may be wondering, “how can Fiva give you 5 servings of fruit and vegetables in one little packet?” The answer is in the ingredients:

Ingredients: apple powder, strawberry powder, pomegranate extract, raspberry powder, blackberry powder extract, blueberry powder, cranberry, broccoli powder, carrot powder, cauliflower powder, grape extract, bilberry fruit extract, and acerola cherry powder.

As you can see, Fiva is chock full of real fruits and vegetables! Even better is what it does NOT contain – artificial sweeteners, caffeine, etc. Fiva is all natural and something I don’t hesitate to put in my body.

The nutrition facts are nice too… Just 25 calories per serving, and 5g carbohydrates, 3g of which are fiber! The small amount of sugar is naturally occurring and Fiva is sweetened with stevia extract, which is a natural low-calorie sweetener (and way better than aspartame and sucralose!)

The Fiva Taste Test

Let’s open up some packets and get started with the taste test and complete review…

Smell. Fiva smells amazing! As soon as I opened it I could smell the powder, which reminded me of Sweet Tarts candy. Oh the childhood memories!

Taste and Texture. Fiva tastes good, but it didn’t match the scent. It’s kind of hard to describe, but the flavor is called “tart berry” and that is probably the most accurate word for it. It’s not sweet and powerful like Gatorade, and it’s not juicy like FRS.

The texture is real light and has that slight tartness to it. It’s definitely not thick, and it’s not chalky or powdery. The texture is fine (similar to a water-based drink like Gatorade) but I kind of like stronger flavors so I mixed mine to be a little more powerful than recommended.

I also tried other mixes, as the packet suggests mixing in water, yogurt, juice, or smoothies. First I mixed it in some plain yogurt and it turned out pretty good – Fiva neutralized the sour flavor of the yogurt and added the light berry flavor.

Next I mixed it in orange juice and that was an eye-opener! It was odd for the first sip but then I really got to liking it. Afterwards I added it to an orange julius (oj + milk) and it was good in that, too. So I’m sure it would go great in other juices and smoothies.

Mixing Fiva + Welch’s white grape peach juice (a combo of apple, white grape, and peach juice concentrates) was simply out of this world. All I can say is WOW! Juice like that is super high in sugar and calories though, so although it’s from natural sugar, it might not be the best ‘everyday mix’ especially if you are on a diet.

Who knows, you could even skip the ‘Red Bull and vodka’ and make a “Fiva and vodka” if you are a fan of those mixed drinks (and are 21 or older.) I’ll stick with Fiva and yogurt though, that was my all-around favorite.

Packaging. The Fiva packets are extremely easy to open, which is great news. Sometimes even “easy open” or “on the go” packets require scissors! (Or worse, some packages rip down the side and spill powder everywhere!)

My only complaint here is that the opening for the powder is tiny, so it takes a while to get all the powder dumped out. (Although if you are pouring Fiva into a water bottle with a small opening, this is actually a blessing.)

Ease of Mixing. Fiva is a very fine powder and mixes easily, but not perfectly. It will form a few clumps when mixed with a spoon in cold water.

But at least the instructions say “stir or shake until well mixed” – anyone who has used powdered drink mixes know it takes some effort to get them mixed well, and all the drinks that say “pour powder into water and it will dissolve easily” are a little too optimistic.

(If you want to get it real well mixed, try mixing it in warm water and letting it sit until it dissolves, then refrigerate until it is chilled. That will let you experience the full flavor of Fiva.)

Color. As you can see, it’s a dark purple or maroon color.

Energy Boost. This isn’t a typical energy drink, but there’s a possibility you’ll get an energy boost from it, especially if your body isn’t used to getting so many healthy antioxidants. With something like this, the less healthy your diet is currently, the bigger the boost you’ll notice when you drink Fiva.

I felt pretty good and slightly uplifted after drinking Fiva, although I wouldn’t call it an energy boost. (I’d rather drink it for its health benefits anyway, so that’s no biggie.)

REMEMBER: Just remember, this is a healthy drink, and it’s great to use it in place of unhealthy drinks like diet soda. But don’t use it to replace your fruits and vegetables! You should still at least try to get your five a day!

My final verdict is…

Fiva smells good, tastes pretty good, is healthy, and is easy to use. Overall it’s a good drink and one of the few I can recommend.

It gets a very high recommendation based on its health benefits, and the price (around $1 per serving) isn’t too steep, at least in comparison to other healthy energy drinks. I’m not falling head over heels for the taste, but the taste is neat, different and not too strong, so chances are you will enjoy it.

But no matter what you think of it alone, you can mix it in some juice or a smoothie and it will taste great, and you still get all the health benefits. And you have to give Fiva credit, because I never imagined a plate of vegetables tasting this good!

Official website: www.fivaday.com

P.S. Don’t forget to see what may be in the future for Fiva!