Static Stretching

The reality: "Stretching cold muscles, tendons and ligaments can actually harm them since they are relatively stiff to begin with," Olson says. "Instead, warm up your muscles at the beginning of a workout by doing dynamic movements, such as walking briskly for five minutes, performing half-squats with just your body weight, and marching with high knees. These activities will increase circulation of oxygen-rich blood to your muscles and literally warm them -- increase their metabolism, which produces heat. Save static stretching for the cooldown part of your workout, when your muscles are very warm and extensible."

Source: HuffPost Living Canada/ Photo from workout-planet.com

Bradley Wiggins wins 2012 Tour de France

Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour de France as compatriot Mark Cavendish claimed a fourth consecutive final-stage victory.

Wiggins, 32, finished in the chasing peloton in Sunday's final stage around the streets of Paris with a winning margin of three minutes and 21 seconds.

Fellow Brit and Team Sky team-mate Chris Froome consolidated second place with Italy's Vincenzo Nibali third.

Source: BBC Sports

Coconut Water

Basically, coconut water is like natural Gatorade. Like Gatorade, it contains water, simple carbohydrates (or, sugar), and electrolytes (or, minerals). Compared to a sports drink made with refined sugars,  artificial flavoring,  and blue food coloring, I’d say coconut water represents a solid upgrade. However, the benefits of sports drinks—whether natural or artificial—tend to be somewhat oversold.


Most sports drinks are consumed by people who aren’t exercising hard enough to need electrolyte replacement or benefit from additional carbohydrates. They end up consuming more calories than they’re burning.  Here are my general guidelines for sports drinks: If you’re exercising very hard for more than 60 minutes, or in extremely hot conditions, a drink containing sugar and minerals can enhance your performance. Otherwise, plain water works just as well—and saves you some calories.

Source: Nutrition Diva

Good luck, Lance

Not that I condone the use of drugs in professional cycling but you have to give it to Lance. Every top cycling during his time- Pantani, Basso, Ullrich, Landis, Hamilton, Zabel, Cantador and others were doing it, and they still can't beat the guy. So whether he cheats or not, (I would say NO because it's fair and square), he still a fantastic cyclist. The fact that the race is so tough and they all need to have superhuman effort to just finish the race so much so to win it! So good luck Lance, I am still a fan.
Photo from Wikipedia.

Cycling

Source: Reddit.com

Dual Platform Pedal

Shimano PD-A530 pedal is my favourite pedal mainly because it is a Road Touring Pedal. It has dual platform which one is the SPD pedal and the other is flat platform. I love to ride wearing my Touring Shoes with SPD cleat because I love the secure grip on the pedal especially when spinning or pushing/pulling pedaling during climbing. I also feel safe when standing on the bike with the SPD pedal as it grips the cleat and prevent slipping. But sometimes for short rides to the shop, i prefer wearing sandals. So, the flat platform will be suitable for it.

Kick Stand

Bike Kick Stand is another accessories that is under-rated by most cyclist. For the roadies, they like to rest they bikes on the wall or using the pedal to rest it on the kerbs. For them, it will do just fine for their lightweight bikes. Furthermore, kickstand will only add more weight to their bikes, But for touring cyclist, additional weight and aerodynamics are not their main concern. They want everything to be practical. Since their bikes are too heavy with loads at the rear, So it is very important to ensure that the bicycle is stable when standing. And this can be done by having a kick stand fixed onto your frame. Greenfield Kickstand like in the picture is fixed onto both seat & chain stays.

Source: vwvagabonds.com

During ride food

Snickers Bar is one of the favourite food to eat during riding because it is chocolate and very convenient to carry due to its bar form. It also has good amount of carbohydrates, protein & fat that are important for fueling during rides.

Personally, I like Snickers because of it taste i.e.  its combination of chocolates, nougat, caramel & peanuts which give better taste satisfaction that other chocolate bars.

Fenders

Fenders are probably the most underated bicycle accessories. Not many cyclist consider this gadget as important as others. Maybe some cyclist are trying to reduce the weight of their bike by minimizing its accesories.

Nevertheless, as a touring cyclist, fenders are meant to protect our bike & our clothing from dirt when riding on wet roads. It is so convenient to simply riding throught puddle of water rather than avoiding it especially when riding at fast speed or in the rain.

Photo from eHow.com

Butterfly Handlebars

Butterfly Handlebar is popular among the commuters & touring cyclist in Europe than their counterparts in the North America. Recently, there were quite a demand for it in Malaysia by budding touring cyclist.
What I like about the handlebar is its flexibility to raise its level to be higher so that I can be more upright during riding and also it has more space to hold on. These are importants as we touring cyclist will spent more time on the bike when on tour. It can be purchased via online from overseas bicycle stores or from local seller e.g. mudah.com.my.

Photos from flickr/ twospokes.com

Protein improves your post ride recovery

Prolonged and intense endurance training like cycling increases your protein requirements for two reasons. Firstly, you need more to compensate for the increased breakdown of protein during training. When muscle glycogen stores become low (around 60-90 minutes of endurance training) certain amino acids known as branched chain amino acids which make up a substantial proportion of muscle protein (see box below) can be used for energy.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly for cyclists, protein is vital for the repair and recovery of muscle tissue after a ride. It’s in this post-recovery phase that you may need to rethink what you’re eating. Not only should you be rebuilding your fuel stores immediately after a ride, but you also need to repair damaged muscle fibres as soon as possible.

Eat the wrong foods after training and you’ll end up exhausted with sore, aching legs. If you eat right then your body will get stronger, fitter and recover faster.

Protein-rich foods have additional benefits too – they are involved in producing neurotransmitters, chemical messengers in the brain keeping you alert, focused and energised. They also slow down the release rate of glucose into the bloodstream, helping stabilise blood sugar between rides, and containing energising nutrients such as B vitamins, iron and zinc.

Source: Bike Radar