Did you keep riding through this cold, dark June we’ve had? Well done. You’ve souped up your fitness, saved money and saved greenhouse gases. But I bet you did it because it makes you feel good to ride!
At the beginning of this month we gave an answer to the question Will I feel good? It focused on heart rate as a measure of feeling good, for a good reason. Many long-term scientific studies have shown, with amazing consistency, that resting heart rate, and how the heart recovers after exercise, is an incredibly accurate predictor of mortality; and not just from heart-related conditions, but from all causes.
As scary as that might sound, it is a valuable insight, because it allows you to focus on a simple strategy to attain and maintain robust health throughout your life; understand and respect your heart, get it fit and strong, and keep it in great shape. We covered this in more detail in our Hale and hearty article.
So let’s do another heart rate check. Did you test it earlier in the month as well? If so, is there any change? Here’s a guide to normal resting heart rates.
Check out the full article on heart health in the August-September issue of Ride On – on sale nationally 1 August or available by subscription.
A month well ridden
This post wraps up Ride On‘s June riding challenge. Please tell us the lessons you’ve learned from riding this month. We’ll collect your contributions to make a page of tips for the rest of winter. We’ve got a prize for the most valuable contributor. You can:
- leave comment at the bottom of this page
- comment on our Facebook page
- Tweet a micro-comment or link to a photo, blog or website using the #rideinJune tag, or
- email us.
Fancy a Twitter chat? We’ll be on hand Friday 1 July from 3–4.30pm (AEST) to tweet with you. Use the #rideinJune tag to identify your comments.
Ride On content is editorially independent, but is supported financially by members of Bicycle Network. If you enjoy our articles and want to support the future publication of high-quality content, please consider helping out by becoming a member.
I use a ladies elastic head band. The type that would hold their hair back out of their face. I use it around my neck. It has a scarfe affect without the obvious bulk of the scarfe. Its light weight and keeps the wind out and if you get a bit hot it’s easy to take off and fits easily into the back pocket of your jersey.
Minimal bulk is good. It’s also useful that your solution can’t unravel or fall off, as a scarf could. Thanks for the suggestion Chris.
Tip for riding on winter mornings — layers. -5.5 when I left home this morning. Kept snug and warm. Dressed appropriately and in layers. I might look like the Michelin man at the start, but I am comfortable the whole ride. Just have to carry all the extra layers when I go home this afternoon and (hopefully) the weather is warmer! Also one pair of extra warm gloves for this morning, normal for the return trip this afternoon.
Spot on Elizabeth. These were our essential winter clothes. Generous carrying capacity for your discarded layers is a good point too.
What have I learned this month? A good pair of cycling gloves is a must, some tissues in the back pocket are useful for the runny nose, and lip balm in the back pocket is essential (the morning dry/cold air is not great for skin). I also learned that snapping a bolt when attempting to attach a drink cage is bad – now the bolt is stuck in there and the cage is only held on by one effective bolt… grrr.
Many people don’t realise that full-fingered bike gloves are available. They are such a boost to your comfort.
BTW a good bike shop can remove that snapped bolt for you. A cable tie is a short term fix.
I’ve really enjoyed riding so far this winter.
I have a short ride to & from work each day which I do at a leisurely upright pace in office attire & have a pair of sheepskin gloves to stop my fingers from freezing off & a carefully wrapped scarf – over the head, criss-crossed under my chin & over my shoulders & back again underneath my wind-proof (the key bit for cycling in winter) jacket which keeps me toasty.
After work I head off on a flat-out road ride – long fingered fitted gloves under my normal bike gloves, & long woolly footy socks over leggings which are over long bike shorts, keep the fingers, toes & calf muscles warm. I also have a headlight & a flashing front light & 2 flashing rear lights – they make me feel a bit like a christmas tree on wheels (I sometimes have the urge to sing along as I ride…) but they seem to have made me safer from the b-double trucks who now give me a slightly wider berth as they hoon past…it’s the first year I’ve used the flashing front light – love it!