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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2018)
Wednesday, August 15, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Health & Fitness 17 Keeping cycling safe and healthy By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief Casey Meudt of Blazin Saddles admits to a bias against e-bikes — until he discovered how fun they can be. PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS E-bikes add a new dimension to cycling By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief Casey Meudt admits that, as a lifelong cyclist, he ini- tially looked askance at elec- tric bikes, commonly known as e-bikes. E-bikes don’t have a throttle — you have to pedal — but an electric motor gives the rider an assist. To Casey and a lot of other cyclists, that assist just seemed like “cheating.” But Meudt got over it. For one thing, when you’re the owner of a bike shop, it’s hard to kick at what’s selling, and “e-bikes are selling like crazy,” Meudt says. But it’s not just com- mercial considerations that changed Meudt’s outlook. He recognized that e-bikes really help people. For some cyclists, it has extended their riding life, allowing them to continue to enjoy a passion that was, perhaps, taking a bit too much of a toll on the body. “You’re not killing your- self getting up that hill that kind of took the fun out it when you had to pedal by yourself,” he said. They also allow riders who have different speed and endurance capabilities — say a husband and wife — to ride together comfortably. The e-bike is, in fact, not “cheating,” Meudt says, because “you get as much exercise as you want.” He also notes that e-bikes are useful for such appli- cations as scouting routes, where you need to cover some miles and don’t want to wear yourself out. Brad Boyd, owner of Eurosports in Sisters, also sells a lot of e-bikes, and for him the appeal is simple: “E-bikes are fun… They’ll put a smile on your face and remind you of the joy of being on a bike when you were a kid.” Meudt notes that e-bikes are not currently allowed on local mountain bike-trails. He thinks that may change, See E-BIKES on page 20 Riding a bicycle is inher- ently a healthy activity. Getting the body moving and the heart and lungs pumping builds fitness, and the joy of being on the road or trail on two wheels promotes the well-being of the recreation- loving spirit. But there are a few things it pays to pay attention to, in order to keep the activity safe and healthy. Some are obvi- ous: Wear a helmet and obey the rules of the road to avoid conflicts with motor vehicles. Others are more subtle. If you’re a casual, ride- around-town cyclist, the fit of your bike probably doesn’t matter too much. But as soon as you get serious — even as a weekend warrior — you need to start paying attention to fit. “When you start to add mileage… those things become more important and more key the more miles you’re putting in,” said Brad Boyd, owner of Eurosports in Sisters. “If you’re not ergo- nomically positioned, you’re going to potentially have problems.” He says that if you’re clip- ping into your pedals or doing six hours or more of riding in a week, it’s a good idea to get a fitting. Casey Meudt, owner of Blazin Saddles bike shop in Sisters, says that when you’re putting in 10,000 pedal revo- lutions, “you’re going to start wearing things in the wrong way if you’re not in the right position.” The right position involves a lot more than seat height. You need to make sure your handlebars are in the right position and configuration, too, and that your knees aren’t forward of your pedal spindles. Meudt says that discom- fort should not be ignored or pushed through. “If you’re going out and have pain and it gets worse, that’s a pretty good sign that something is not right,” he said. The type of riding you do may also play into how much work you need to put into fit- ting your bike. “The more fixed your position, the more impor- tant your fit is going to be,” said Seth Wilkie, a physical therapist with Step & Spine Physical Therapy in Sisters. For example, for a triath- lete who is down on her bike trying to maintain an aero- dynamic position hour after hour, proper fit is critical. A mountain-bike rider who is constantly changing his posi- tion on the bike has a little more “fudge room” on fit, Wilkie says. Flexibility and mobility are important, Wilkie noted, and often a place to start when confronting pain and discomfort. “If you’ve got knee pain, make sure your hips are mobile and your calves are mobile,” he said. While your legs are doing the work in cycling, cyclists must also pay attention to their neck and back position. “Just because you have hand numbness, it doesn’t mean it’s coming from your wrists,” Wilkie noted. You may be feeling impingement because your neck position is incorrect. That can be addressed by moving or reconfiguring the handlebars — and for some it can mean moving to a recum- bent bike, Wilkie said. Boyd notes that, while there are online guides to See CYCLING on page 20 ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/IKICK If your a serious rider — even as a weekend warrior — you need to pay attention to fit.
