When you really get into cycling and long endurance rides, picking out a good sports drink can be a long process…

What sports drink do you use when racing/training over 3 hours on the bike. I got some fruit punch Accelerade for Christmas, didn’t like the flavor and it gave me a headache. Cytomax is okay, but I am looking for something that tastes pretty good and has lots of carbs/energy, but not fattening.

-Endurance Ed

While not quite as difficult as choosing the right saddle, finding the right sports drink can be an arduous process.

Personally I like Powerbar Endurance the most. All the flavors are good whether you mix it strong or weak, it has a good amount of carbs, it’s fairly easy to mix, and it’s relatively inexpensive (especially if it is on sale at PerformanceBike.com.)

I typically use that as my only source of calories for rides up to 2 or maybe 2.5 hours. For rides longer than that, I’ll add in a Powerbar or a couple GU gels. (Carrying food on every ride is a good idea, just in case.)

If Accelerade gives you a headache, you could try Hammer Heed or Hammer Perpetuem. A lot of athletes who don’t like the typical sports drinks end up liking the products from Hammer Nutrition. It’s good stuff, but it is one of the more expensive brands, and I don’t like it enough to justify the price.

There are a lot of other brands though – Enervit, First Endurance EFS, GU2O, Carb-BOOM, Clif Shot, Gatorade Endurance, etc. One of them could be perfect for you.

*Sports Drink Tip* Like I always say – try to get together with a group of friends and have everyone purchase a canister of a different drink, and then split them up. It’s a good way to sample various drinks without shelling out hundreds of dollars on stuff you don’t like.

Finally, all sports drinks are fattening if you drink too much. For example, if you do no exercise at all yet consume a gallon of sports drink each day, you’ll probably get fat.

But for us cyclists, it’s not really a big deal. When choosing a sports drink, I’d be more concerned with taste, calories, electrolyte content, and price than wondering if it will make me fat!

Whenever Pizza Hut first launched the Pizza Mia, I thought it was a great idea. It looked fairly healthy, pretty tasty, and cheap.

At $5 per pizza, that’s comparable to the cost of a frozen pizza, and you have to cook those yourself! So I got a few and had a great time doing a Pizza Mia taste test.

But despite my friends, family, and I all enjoying the Pizza Mia, nearly every other review of this pizza was negative. No one else on the Interwebs liked it!

I didn’t understand it at first, but I think I may have it partly figured out. See, one commentator on my first Pizza Mia review claimed that my picture was not actually a Pizza Mia. Once I finished laughing at the thought of not knowing what pizza I was photographing, I got to thinking….

Maybe other Pizza Hut restaurants don’t prepare the pizza properly?

That’s entirely possible. A lot of the pizza’s quality depends on who prepares it. I’ve seen various pizza place employees that either don’t know or don’t care about what they’re doing.

But I have friends that work in Pizza Hut, and every time a new pizza comes out, all the employees get together for a special meeting where they learn how to prepare the new pizza properly. So around here, I get delicious Pizza Mias!

That’s why I ordered some more the other day. And I took more pictures to showcase the beauty:

Pizza Mia with onions:

Pizza Mia with broccoli:

Pizza Mia with pineapple:

I don’t know about you, but I think those look fine for $5 each.

If you aren’t getting pizzas that look like that, you’re missing out. Maybe you should call the Pizza Hut corporate headquarters and complain.

(Although some people just don’t like the crust or the sauce or the low amount of cheese. In that case you probably want to stick with a regular Pizza Hut pan pizza.)

Pizza Mia tip:

Order cheap toppings. I love the onions from Pizza Hut, and onions are cheap, so that’s my favorite choice. Pineapple is a pretty good choice, too.

Broccoli, on the other hand, is pretty expensive. As you can see, the broccoli pizza is pretty sparse with the topping.

(Broccoli is a healthy pizza topping though.)

My final verdict is…

Whatever the case is, I still like the Pizza Mia, and I would recommend it for enjoyment on special occasions, like Super Bowl Sunday.

Official Website: www.PizzaHut.com

Need to get aerodynamic on your mountain bike?

If you happen to be doing a road race in the mountain bike category, or you are flying solo along a smooth stretch of dirt or pavement during an XC race, you typically want to be as aerodynamic as possible without compromising control or power.

You rarely see any “aero tucks” during a mountain bike race, but at an uphill time trial on the road, you never know what you’ll see…

I prefer to keep my hands on the handlebar (as my mountain bike position is just as low and stretched out as my road position,) but I picked up a very intriguing aero tuck position from Zak Dieringer (of TeamSpin.com) that I wanted to share:

(You can click the pics to see larger versions.)

Yes, his hands are on the fork crown! I tried this on my bike, and it was not stable whatsoever, but it must work for Zak.

[Note: Zak is typically on or near the overall podium in this King of the Mountain race. Your results may vary!]

Tip from Zak Dieringer: This was at an up hill time trial, so speeds were low and aerodynamics were not terribly important. What was important, however, was power output. This position, as weird as it looks, put me very close to my position on my road bike, and at least I felt like I was pedaling harder. The handlebars are about level with the saddle on this bike, which works great in the woods, but I felt like my mom on her hybrid pedaling up this hill. I would also not recommend this position if there is another rider in within a mile of you, you have to brake or turn, or, most importantly, there is someone with a camera nearby.

Back to the topic of aerodynamics on a mountain bike…

What I tend to do if I need to get aero on my mountain bike is move my hands close together, but keep them on the handlebar. That puts my hands close to the stem; then I flatten my back as much as possible, giving me a flat back and forearms, which present a smaller profile to the wind. (If I don’t need to pedal, I can stand up and get my butt in the air to really flatten my back.)

With those techniques I’m still pretty aerodynamic but maintain control of the handlebar, which comes in very handy on dirt road downhills, the likely place where you could use such a position.

Caution: Riding in any position like this in any situation is very dangerous as you could easily lose control and hurt yourself or others!

Photo credits: Levi Bloom

Today’s question is about painful heel spurs and related conditions such as Plantar Fasciitis.

i have bad…bad….heel spurs NOW and ouchhhhhh….its been 5 months now. and have found NO CURE. then i read about BLACK CHERRY JUICE and the very informative things i read in your site made me think again.

Thanks,
Heeling Helen

Hi Helen,

I have never had this exact problem, but I’ve had quite a few similar foot injuries from running (back before I found Chi Running,) so I’ve come across Plantar Fasciitis and related conditions in my research. I still don’t know the exact medical differences between heel spurs and Plantar Fasciitis, but their causes and treatments can be similar, so there are a few things I will recommend you check out.

But first – the #1 priority right now is to figure out what caused the heel spurs in the first place. Typically it has something to do with your foot mechanics, which could include the shape of your arch, your form when walking or running, and what type of footwear you use.

This is where it really helps to get the diagnosis from a qualified professional, perhaps a podiatrist who specializes in sports medicine. (A sit down meeting is best.) Determining the cause of the injury is usually the best way to determine the cure, so that’s a good way to get started!

But a few things you can try on your own or discuss with your doctor are:

First, the black cherry juice is a good start. This juice is relatively inexpensive, all natural, and it tastes good, so it’s worth a shot. Unless you’re allergic to cherries, I can’t see a problem with it.

Second, you could try stretching, yoga, and/or massage. Different foot stretches and exercises, even things like the Downward Dog pose from yoga, could help alleviate pain and strengthen your feet, while increasing hamstring and calf flexibility. Exercises such as calf raises can also strengthen your arches.

It’s possible that your foot problems can be traced back to strength and flexibility issues that have manifested over time. But even if not, the extra exercise provides other worthwhile health benefits.

A third thing to consider is checking with a podiatrist or sports therapist who can analyze your feet and your walking/running style. They may have some more detailed suggestions for exercises, movements, or perhaps some special insoles that help ease the pain.

Maybe you could even try the Vibram FiveFingers shoes. They look funky, but people like them.

For more information about this topic, you could also try the Plantar Fasciitis page at SportsInjuryClinic. There is quite a bit of information on there.

Today’s question is about buying the right type of bike for a mountain biker that’s getting hooked on road biking.

I am 29 years old and pretty new to cycling, have been riding MTB for about 3 years. I even got into a few mountain bike races this year and found them to be a ton of fun. I just started road cycling this summer and need some advice if you don’t mind…

I was given a 20 year old Raleigh road bike this summer. I put about 4-5 hundred miles on the old girl, and discovered I really like riding on the road. I am up to riding about 50 miles at a time, and would really like to work my way up to a century ride next season. I want to get a new bike. But I have a question…

I have been considering buying a cyclocross bike and putting skinny tires on it. Would this be a bad idea? I know that most come with a compact crankset, but I think I would be OK with that. Are there any reasons I’m missing why I should not do this? I am not overly concerned about weight because I could stand to lose a few pounds myself. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank You,
Cyclo-confused

Hi Confused,

I think cyclocross (CX) bikes are great… if you’ll make use of its potential.

For example, if you’ll be riding on dirt roads or through lots of mud as part of your normal schedule, it’s great. Racing cyclocross? Even better.

But for long road rides or road races, well, a CX bike is not so great. Here are my reasons you might NOT want a cyclo-cross bike:

• If you’re on normal roads all the time, a CX bike is overkill. There’s no need for cx geometry since you won’t be hopping barriers or navigating technical sections. The bigger tires are unnecessary outside of mud and sand pits. And the mud clearance from the cantilever brakes won’t be utilized.
• Cyclocross bikes are expensive. Even the base models are $1200-1500, because beginning riders aren’t really attracted to cx racing. Outside of CX racing, a typical road bike is better suited to most riders.
• Compact cranks can be deceiving. The compact cranks are for CX; they’re not the typical compact cranks you’d see on a road bike. A normal road bike might be 53×39, a compact 50×34, and a cx compact 46/38. A cx crank will limit your top speed on smooth flats and downhills, and it really won’t help climbing since the small ring isn’t so small.
• Thirsty? Since CX races are short and intense, some dedicated CX frames omit water bottle cage mounts. A water bottle would either fall out of the cage or get in the way when carrying the bike, so they’re typically not used.
• A little heavy. A good CX bike won’t be too heavy, but why get a heavier bike unless you need its strength for CX racing?.

So if you want to ride dirt roads and minor trails or even jump into a CX race, yeah, a CX bike would be great. But I just don’t see much reason to get one otherwise – the deck is stacked against them.

I rode a CX bike for a while and thoroughly enjoyed being able to ride the dirt roads in comfort while still being fast on pavement (compared to my mountain bike.) It wasn’t race-winning fast on the road, but it was plenty fast for training rides.

But it’s not really applicable to racing unless you are doing CX races. The bike will be too fragile or illegal for cross-country mountain bike races, and not perfect for road races (especially with the gearing.) So the cyclocross bike always seems like a great idea for a well-rounded, fun bike, but it really isn’t as great as you’d think.

So unless you absolutely need a CX bike, you might as well stick with a regular road bike.

Photo credit: johnthescone