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“the idea that muscle cramps are caused by dehydration and electrolyte depletion has a long history but very little evidence behind it.”
https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a20802164/a-cure-for-muscle-cramps/
Also by Alex – http://sweatscience.com/cramping-in-ironman-triathlons-not-dehydration-or-electrolytes/
Both of those articles mention pickle juice as a cure and link it to the acetic acid triggering TRP receptors in your mouth, throat and stomach. Wasabi would work on those receptors as well, so just take a hit of wasabi every few miles.
You can think of cramp as a kind of overuse syndrome.Really? Have you got a link to that research please? I would like to see how overuse causes cramp while laying in bed.
After a quick internetting, I couldn’t find anything definitive.
This article gives a brief explanation, but doesn’t address the night-time cramp issue: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-causes-leg-cramps/
I used to get a lot of cramps a while after cycling (e.g. nighttime cramps) and they were mainly in calves or feet. They seem to be related to how tired my legs are afterwards and very rarely happened when I was actually cycling.
What works for me is stretching the related muscle when a cramp hits – typically straighten your leg and try to pull your foot upwards so your toes are pointing up towards your knee. This usually stops the cramp immediately, though it can return if I don’t hold the stretch until the muscles fully relax.
I’ve just seen that pickle juice can help reduce cramps, so you could try taking a few glugs of that as you cycle: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/phys-ed-can-pickle-juice-stop-muscle-cramps/
That sounds dangerous. Get a
That sounds dangerous. Get a bike shop to have a quick look at it.
The main difference between cycling in Germany/Netherlands and the UK is the quality of cycling infrastructure. That’s really all it boils down to.Seconded.
This last crash was the one that convinced me to NOT wear a helmet for my daily commute. Not because it failed to protect my head, not because I got a neck strain, but because it happened while I was taking risks. After the crash I got checked out by the paramedics and continued. I slowed right down partly because my chance of qualifying was out the window, partly because I had lost a fair bit of skin elsewhere but mostly because I did not want to risk crashing again with a damaged lid. I realised that wearing a helmet causes me to ride in a more aggressive manner, however sub-conscious that may be. Each of my helmet destroying crashes have been self inflicted whilst partaking in risky behaviour.For many years I rode a motorbike and I too shared your view that that when I felt ‘safe’ in my leathers and boots I rode more wrecklessly that when I felt vulnerable in Jeans & trainers.
However I eventually realised that my safety wasn’t one directional and I couldn’t control others behavour. As such I realised that I could just as easily have an accident even when I drove less wrecklessly.
As such it was preferable to wear safety gear.
Seeing that helmets obviously reduce head injuries on impact I’d say it is foolish not to wear one.
I’m assuming you didn’t bother watching the video about helmets (maybe you watched it and were too stupid to understand it).
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700c wrote:
Chainstay length also affects. The longer, the more tolerant it is of a wider gear range / small capacity RD. Calculators be dammed, i think you just have to use trial and error!I can see how chainstay length might affect the length of the chain, but I don’t see how it affects the drivetrain capacity.
Why wouldn’t a calculator work? The derailleur has to cope with the different slack in the chain between different gears which is exactly what the drivetrain calculator works out and what the manufacturer specifies that the specific derailleur can cope with.
Well I’ve always said buy a helmet based on how much you think your head is worth, if you think your brains are worth nothing then don’t bother spending money on a helmet. I also use to hear the excuse that a helmet weighed too much to be worn, to which I replied that they’re too weak to ride a bike if they can’t hold a helmet on their head.I can’t see the video link for some reason, but I disagree with the assumption you ride safer with your helmet off, most people where I live who ride their bikes like complete idiots and disregard for safety or for any laws on the street with cars aren’t wearing helmets! Not saying that I’ve never seen helmet riders ride like that, but mostly is the bareheaded boneheads riding like that. This has been my observation with over 40 years of watching cyclists ride.
You should stop saying that.
Here’s a very useful page wih
Here’s a very useful page wih info about drivetrain capacity:
https://guides.wiggle.co.uk/rear-derailleurs-buying-guide
[difference between tooth numbers on smallest and largest chainring] + [difference between tooth numbers on smallest and largest sprocket on cassette] = drivetrain capacity
I think I’ve seen that
I think I’ve seen that document before – the image of the house with the different pollutants looks familiar. It’s telling that they admit that no single department is responsible for indoor pollutants and that the issue doesn’t receive enough attention. I’d guess that it’s still true now (report from 2010).
That is interesting. I’m
That is interesting. I’m sceptical, though until they can produce frames at that price point – talk is cheap (and valuable when you’re looking for investment).
I’m puzzled about the frame they show as it’s quite a different design and I’m wondering if they’ve had to change the design to accomodate their 3d printing technique. Other bikes enclose the steerer tube, whereas they seem to go to some effort to not enclose it. Maybe it’s easier for them to drill a hole through the frame rather than have fancy 3d shapes, but that raises questions in my head.
I’m also wondering how they 3d-print carbon fibres – usually 3d-printing uses a homogeneous material.
@Don – I do agree with you
@Don – I do agree with you and I personally try to not do any polishing, painting or laying (of carpets). Although that might be more to do with my laziness than anything else.
I’m definitely biased against traffic fumes as I find them to be more intrusive/smelly than the smell of VOCs, but as far as I know, I don’t get exposed to extreme levels of VOCs. Although I work in an office, I don’t share it with a printer/photocopier. However, elsewhere in the same building we have some nasty furniture treatment products which do require proper ventilation.
Out of interest, do you have any stats/figures on VOCs and health problems?
I couldn’t agree more with those who have written in supporting the use of helmets. I watched the video, which tries to give a balanced view. I feel some things are so self-evident that they do not require evidence! In any type of impact to the head, the better protected the head the less severe or absent the head injury. Accidents do not occur only in road traffic situations. A fall can occur while swerving, sneezing or failing to see an obstruction. In such a situation I know I’d rather be with than without a helmet!Many years ago I watched on a children’s programme a watermerlon being dropped on the floor from a height and spattering all over the place. Another melon was dropped from the same height inside a cycle helmet. It came out intact!
Do you wear one whilst walking?
a watermelon?
No one cared who I was, until I put on the mask.
Fair enough, there’s no danger there then, as you were.I’m not sure that there’s no danger; high levels are associated with “sick building syndrome” and “building related illness”.
.https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/volatile-organic-compounds-impact-indoor-air-quality
Thanks for the link, but I’m aware of that, which is why I work in an area that goes someway forward in offering a solution and improving IAQ while reducing energy consumption.
The point being that we’re happy to pick on the headline bad boys, often from a perceived position of superiority (“I don’t own a dirty diesel”) while all along we are all guilty of killing the planet to some degree or other. Some just don’t make the headlines, or are fashionable enough, or indeed, distanced from me enough.
I get your point and I do agree that as a society we do cherry pick which things are the current badboy of the month.
With VOCs, they seem to be extremely variable/localised e.g. freshly painted houses will be incredibly high for a period of time. Presumably, this makes it more difficult to get a sensible figure for our typical exposure to them. With general air pollution, we can easily set up static monitoring, but that’s not going to be relevant with VOCs as most of them will be inside buildings.
I’d imagine that reducing exposure to VOCs could be achieved by leaving buildings to “breathe” after being painted etc. whereas there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to limit exposure to traffic fumes apart from moving away from population centres.
I couldn’t agree more with those who have written in supporting the use of helmets. I watched the video, which tries to give a balanced view. I feel some things are so self-evident that they do not require evidence! In any type of impact to the head, the better protected the head the less severe or absent the head injury. Accidents do not occur only in road traffic situations. A fall can occur while swerving, sneezing or failing to see an obstruction. In such a situation I know I’d rather be with than without a helmet!Many years ago I watched on a children’s programme a watermerlon being dropped on the floor from a height and spattering all over the place. Another melon was dropped from the same height inside a cycle helmet. It came out intact!
Do you wear one whilst walking?