-Stuart the bike guy

Read the entire post at…

DrunkCyclist.com

Most people see winter as a time when they’ll pack on extra pounds. But Mike Nicholas thinks winter is the easiest time of the year to slim down. “Winter bike riding is about going long and slow, which means more fat burning,” says the 45-year-old CEO of Bond Dealers of America, a Washington, D.C., group representing securities dealers and banks.

Winter riding also means bundling up and braving dark, lonely morning workouts. “It is harder to get motivated this time of year but it’s satisfying being out in the freezing cold. You finish the ride and feel great the rest of the day.”

Eli Meir Kaplan for the Wall Street Journal

Mike Nicholas cycles year-round and finds cycling in the cold satisfying. He heads out for a ride from his Vienna, Va., home with son Drew, age 5, in the driveway.

Mr. Nicholas used to be an avid triathlete. But five years ago—busier at work and juggling fatherhood responsibilities—he needed to rethink his workouts. “Training for three sports had become too time consuming,” he says.

Now, Mr. Nicholas trains for four to six USA Cycling-sanctioned races per season, with the goal of placing in the top five to 10 in his 45-50-year-old age group. To stay competitive, he cycles year-round, using winter as his time to build an aerobic base, before he transitions to interval training in early spring to prepare for the races in late spring through early fall.

Mr. Nicholas plans his training schedule carefully so he can also accommodate his wife’s workout schedule. “She’s a competitive runner so she needs to get in her runs. We have a friendly competition going. The higher she places in her age group in races, the more it makes me want to improve,” he says.

Each Sunday, the couple sits down to discuss the week ahead and coordinate workout schedules. “We balance it by me riding my time trial bike on the indoor trainer in the early morning hours, and then she has time to run after the kids go to school,” says Mr. Nicholas.

On weekends Mr. Nicholas is the early bird, leaving between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. to get in a long ride so he can be home to watch the kids while his wife goes on her long run later in the day.

Mr. Nicholas lives in Vienna, Va. and commutes 30 minutes to his office in Washington, D.C. He is married with children ages 9, 7 and 5.

Eli Meir Kaplan for the Wall Street Journal

Mr. Nicholas plans his training schedule to accommodate the schedule of his wife, who is a runner.

The Workout

At least three mornings a week, Mr. Nicholas is in his basement by 5 a.m. riding on his trainer, a piece of equipment that makes it possible to ride a bike while it remains stationary. He rides for an hour while watching financial news. Two days a week, he takes an hourlong spin class at the gym during his lunch break. On Saturdays, he rides his mountain bike on the trails by his home for about two hours. On Sundays, he rides his road bike for three hours, covering between 50 to 60 miles. “Biking provides a tremendous aerobic workout. I’ll average 18 miles per hour and in three hours burn over 3,000 calories.”

Mr. Nicholas cross-trains twice a week. He has a weight bench, a set of dumbbells, and a stability ball in his basement. He focuses on stretching and low weight, high repetition strength training. “I don’t want bulk,” he says. “I want muscular endurance and flexibility.” In the winter he focuses on core and leg strength.

The Diet

During the winter, Mr. Nicholas, who is 5’11”, weighs about 184 pounds. By race season, he’s down to 174 pounds. “If you want to race you have to be light and lean,” says Mr. Nicholas. Mr. Nicholas eats half of an energy bar before a morning ride. Post ride, he has a whole energy bar and a yogurt parfait with coffee. He buys lunch, usually a grilled chicken salad and has Greek yogurt or an energy bar midafternoon. His wife cooks grilled fish or sautéed chicken with vegetables for dinner. To lose his winter pounds, Mr. Nicholas cuts calories from his diet, skipping post-dinner ice cream and swapping his yogurt parfait for plain Greek yogurt.

Cost & Gear

Mr. Nicholas owns three bikes, which he has augmented with add-ons like a Garmin 500 bike computer and racing wheels. Including the extras, his Scott Addict R3 road bike cost $6,000; the Cervélo P2C time trial bike cost $5,000; and his BMC mountain bike cost $3,000. His CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer cost about $300. Mr. Nicholas spent $250 on each of his two helmets—one is more aerodynamic for time trial racing. Road bike shoes cost $350 and mountain bike shoes $200. Jerseys run about $150 a piece, bib shorts are about $200 each and winter tights cost $250 each. Mr. Nicholas spent $300 on his winter biking jacket. Race fees are usually around $30.

Fitness Tip

“I read a great quote in a magazine: ‘Stop working out and start training.’ Don’t just go to the gym, start really training for a goal and working out takes on a new meaning.”

Motivation

“There are bike clubs in every city for all different fitness levels. Some are fun and fitness oriented and some are more technical and competitive. Most go on group rides twice a week so it’s easy to get involved and it becomes a social commitment.”

Write to Jen Murphy at workout@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared Mar. 6, 2012, on page D4 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: One Family, Three Kids, Two Workouts.

This weekend I was able to ride over 50 miles on the road bike. Tomorrow and Wednesday I plan to put more miles than that on my single speed 29er!

On my SS 29er I recently added a new SRAM SS chain and Surly Tuggnut with bottle opener!

More upgrades coming soon!

February has been filled with 12 hour work days, and rainy weekends. Despite all of that I was able to get into the gym for some off the bike training.

Road Bike

Road Bike Needed: 208 miles

Road Bike Ridden: 14 miles

Mountain Bike

Mountain Bike Needed: 83 miles

Mountain Bike Ridden: 0 miles

Off the bike:

Due to the rain I did get to go to the gym 4-5 times per week. I focused on gaining muscle to help give me a good base for spring cycling.

How about we see how far behind I am on my mileage for this year…

Road Bike

I should have ridden 1,248 miles

I have ridden 1,001 miles

Mountain Bike

I should have ridden 498 miles

I have ridden 346 miles

For road bike and mountain bike combined I am 399 miles behind schedule. I hope this trend does not continue to happen. I plan to start doubling the amount of miles I need to ride here in the next few months so I can catch up and blow my needed miles out of the water.

Marchand, who turned 100 a few months ago, completed 24.251km around the velodrome at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland. “But I’m not playing at being a champion,” he said. “I just wanted to do something for my 100th birthday.”

He rode a standard track bike with no aero equipment for his attempt, his biggest problem being his familiarity with velodrome riding. “I haven’t cycled on a track for 80 years,” he said. “You have to get used to the fixed gear! I prefer cycling outside but that is impossible at the moment. I don’t want to catch the flu. So I am short on training.”

During his preparation, Marchand was warned not to get his heart rate above 110, a rule that for the most part he obeyed. “I did climb a steep hill not long ago and went up to 134 but it’s best to avoid that,” he said. “But I would be very surprised if I had heart attack.

“For the last five years I have decided not to go for rides of more than 100km. There is no point going overboard. I want to keep cycling for some time yet.”

He claimed his ‘secret’ was none other than looking after himself. “I’ve never abused anything. I don’t smoke, I never drank much. The only thing I did in excess was work. I retired at 89 years old!

“But basically, I am like everybody. I am lucky that I haven’t had any major health problems. My advice to anyone, young or old, is to keep moving. I do ‘physical culture’ every day. It works out my whole body and keeps me supple. Some people when they reach 80 years old, start playing cards and they stay immobile. Not me. I’ve never been able to keep still.”

You can follow BikeRadar on Twitter at twitter.com/bikeradar and on Facebook at facebook.com/BikeRadar.

Mountain Bike Miles Ridden: 98 miles

Group Mountain Bike Ride!

Road Bike Miles Needed: 208 miles

Road Bike Miles Ridden: 140 miles

Very Cold Road Ride!

I inherited the love of bicycling from my dad. There are so many memoires of him, all geared up in his cycling clothes, going out for a ride. Us kids were included in everything my dad did, so a tandem bike soon made an appearance in our driveway. Every sunny Sunday afternoon, Dad and I would put on our bright yellow reflective vests and pedal off around town. A tandem bike was the greatest thing on earth to little 8 year old me. I’d pedal when it was fun to (i.e. going down hills and being on flat roads) and then when the hard part would kick in, I’d cross my skinny little legs and prop them up on my handlebars. Oh, the life. I remember dad looking back at me and chuckling to see my feet propped up. He would always say “No wonder it was getting so hard to pedal!”, and I’d giggle.

We’d always stop for a treat at the gas station halfway through our ride, which was the highlight for me.  Unlike mom, who liked healthy treats for her kids, dad would let me get anything- even brightly artificially colored juice. It didn’t get better than that.

Not too many years would pass before “Dad” became a two-syllable word in my pre-teen vocabulary and I insisted on my own bike. Funny to look back now and think the tandem bike was embarrassing, when I’m sure my pink cargo shorts, frizzy permed hair and scrunchie did little to help my cause.

My own bike soon turned into my own car, and Sunday afternoon bike riding became a thing of the past.

Meeting Matt and rediscovering that love of biking buried inside my grown up 27 year old heart is a pretty neat gift. There are days on rides when I just want to put my legs up on the handlebars and let someone else do all the work, but now I know the joy of not just the easy parts, but the thrill of conquering the hard parts too, (Although, I still wouldn’t mind some brightly colored juice halfway through).