Bike Riding – Not The Motor Kind!

As you will have seen from the previous article about keeping fit, I cover cross training and weight lifting. The exercise I didnt cover is riding your bike.

Like working out on the cross trainer, riding a bike is also a very good and effective low impact movement. It works your legs, abs and glutes. Unlike the cross trainer, however, it will not give you a full body workout; rather a lower body workout.

I actually love riding my bike, it keeps me in shape and its just a fun activity (although still doesnt beat my dirt bike in having fun!).

Riding my bike actually has done wonders for toning my legs. I try to ride at least a few times a week.

When its raining, its not ideal riding the bike, well not outdoors anyway. This is why I have bought myself one of the best turbo trainers on the market, by TacX.

A turbo trainer is a very cool device that your bike sits on to allow you to ride your bike stationary indoors. Your rear wheel is fixed onto the trainer, your front wheel is stabilised using a bracket.

Magnetic cycle trainers allow the user to get a great bike workout in the comfort of their own home. Whether its raining, snowing or just plain windy, now you have no excuse to ride you bike.

Sure you could buy an exercise bike for around the same amount of money as a decent trainer but the downside is, now you have two different specifications of the bike to workout on. The exercise bike is, of course, very different in terms of resistance, seating and handle bar position and the stride length when compared to your outdoor bike. So to keep things inline, a turbo trainer is your best option.

 

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Why it is important to keep fit

I love keeping fit, I play football, baseball, and basketball and is keeping fit is not just a hobby of mine but it is also a way of life.

When I’m not working out playing the sports above I am always in the gym or outside on the circuit running or lifting weights. At the end of the day if we don’t have our health, our bodies what do we have?

I have also gotten into training with a cross trainer of late I love the cross trainer because it is a low impact exercise. While it is still a high intensity movement you are not impacting on your joints as much as if you were running. With a cross trainer you get a full body workout so is much more efficient than running.

Another sport which I love is swimming because, again, it is extremely low impact and a full body cardiovascular exercise. It works at every muscle in your body. Swimming is freakin’ awesome.

While I still run,I can feel the pain in my joints after a long run. Where when I am working on the cross trainer I can easily work out double the time that I do running and I feel no pain at all. this is the beauty of a low impact workout.

I also left weights. One of my favourite weight lifting exercises has to be the dead lift. The dead lift is an amazing upperbody and lower body lift.

The dead lift works out every muscle from your forearm to your shoulders to your biceps to your back and your glutes and it increases the strength in your back and stabilises your spine. And this is the reason why I love the dead lift.

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Winter Riding - Your Dirt Bike

As soon as the first major snowfall hit, I'd pack away my dirt bikes along the side of the garage wall and have to look at them daily as I waited for spring. Once I realized a few die-hard dirt bike riders were still at it in the winter, I started looking into it. Other than dressing warm -- which I mentioned in a previous article – your dirt bike is the biggest consideration. Those knobbies may be great in the dirt – but not as much help on ice or 3-foot drifts.

The prime tire for winter riding – if you can afford it – is one with the spikes permanently installed. If you can, get the carbide-tipped spikes – they'll last much longer, giving you more riding for your dirt bike buck. Speaking of price – it'll seem a little steep at first, but sit back and realize that they'll last for years, and then think about how much it's worth to get all that extra dirt bike time.

If you just can't afford the ready-made tires for riding in the snow, or on ice, you still have a homemade option. Visit your local hardware store or building centre and pick up a bag of hex-head metal screws. If you're okay with spending a little bit more, check your local dirt bike shop, or online, for ice riding screws or tire traction screws. As I mentioned, they're a little more expensive than the hardware store option, but tend to stay in the tire longer and grip a little better.

When you're making your own set of winter or ice tires for your dirt bike, it's going to feel a little strange screwing a sharp object into your tire on purpose. Ideally, you want to install as long a screw as possible so it stays put... but not so long that it punctures your inner tube. If you can, use newer or brand new tires since the knobs will be taller/thicker and try not to use screws shorter than half an inch.

If riding your dirt bike in the snow turns out to be a regular and frequent event, keep your eyes open for an extra set of rims for your machine. If you have your winter tires pre-mounted on rims, swapping tires can be done in less than an hour.

If you're going to ride your dirt bike in the snow for more than a few minutes, you'll want to install a shield or protector for the carburetor – otherwise your carb will ice up, and your dirt bike's performance will suffer. If you look around long enough, you can find commercially made shields for some bike models, but a homemade solution is fairly easy to come by. I've seen protectors made from cutting plastic bottles or milk jugs to shape... inner tube pieces zip-tied to the carburetor... and a modified hand guard complete with its own mounting screws. Avoid using any kind of tape to hold the shield in place – it'll often lose its grip in cold and/or wet conditions, and any fuel and oil drips will loosen up the adhesive. The carb area is also an awkward place to clean tape goop out of.

Also, depending on your bike and the day's conditions, keep an eye on your air box to make sure you're not sucking in snow and plugging it up.

Visit the full blog post here at  Winter Riding - Your Dirt Bike