Half Moon Bay Coastside Trail - 9/9/2011

"Half Moon Bay State Park's Coastside Trail runs parallel to the Pacific Coast along what used to bethe Ocean Shore Railroad. The railroad itself was in operation for just14 years before it was driven out of business in the early 1920s by theautomobile. However, the railroad had a tremendous impact on the Northern California coastline. It opened the area to agriculture,
created new communities along the shoreline, and made the coastal
beaches prime tourist destinations.

The Coastside Trail is truly a destination trail. It offers users sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, access to several beaches, and excellent nature viewing. Bird watching is quite good and a popular activity here. Red-tailed hawks, blue herons and red-winged blackbirds are spotted frequently, and large hawks can
often be seen perched on benches and the trail's split-rail fence. Half
Moon Bay State Beach is also home of the world-famous Mavericks, a
surfing spot near Pillar Point that's visible from the trail. In winter,
surfers can ride waves up to 80 feet high here.

You can park at the Half Moon Bay State Beach Visitor Center for a $6 day-use fee and pick up the trail here. Heading north you follow the paved trail for about 2 miles in total. On your left is the coastline, and on your right, the
equestrian trail. Beyond this trail are views of gorgeous beachfront
properties. A mile into your walk, you reach another parking lot with


access to Venice Beach. The rail-trail continues for about another mile from this point, then merges into Mirada Road. If you continue walking on Mirada Road for a few minutes, you will end up at the Miramar Beach Restaurant, a bar and restaurant that overlooks the ocean. This is a great place to watch the sunset-the Miramar even posts a daily sunset schedule on its website.

Heading south from the visitor center, the Pacific Ocean is on your right and the equestrian trail on your left. Beyond this horse trail are open, green fields. The trail hugs the bluff's edge here. As you head south you see a landscape of
wind-sculpted trees. It is typically windy along the bluff, so be sure
to bring a jacket for this leg of the trail. The rail-trail officially ends about 1 mile in, and the surface changes to dirt. However, you can continue walking south along the cliff's edge, as there is still a path to follow. This path, which the Coastside Trail is also a part of, is a segment of the much longer California Coastal Trail. The Coastal Trail is currently about halfway completed and will eventually run along the entire coast of California." From TrailLink.com"



I only rode about 3.3 miles of it. Donna rode the whole thing. the map and video are of her ride.

Purchase of Trikes and Accessories

FINALLY!

Trikes ordered. We pick them up on Thurs. 8/4/11. Yahhhh!

All the accessories have been ordered also. I bought the GoPro locally so I can document the arrival of the trikes and accessories.

Changes:

Rover will have NuVinci Hubs.

Clipless Pedals for me

      Help keep knee and feet inline and stop "leg suck",  and knee issues.

Sling for Donna

      Stop "leg suck"

Sunlite Alloy Single Speed Crankset - 152mm x 32T

     Shorter crank arm with same chainring, need this for knee issues.

Big Apple Tire for me.

      Cushion the ride for big girls

Our customized flags arrive on either 8/1/11 or 8/2/11.

While I wait..

Tapping foot, checking date, researching accessories, and reading about the pros and cons of short cranks and smaller sprockets.

I have bad knees, so relieving that is my main focus. Three things can help or likewise not help; crank arm length, sprocket diameter, and pedals. There are others but not for the Rover. Also, strengthening your calves and quads with leg exercises generally reduce the stress on your knee (think of it as stronger support muscles around the knee joint).

And that brings us to the subject of this fill-in blog, short crank sets. Imagine the crank arm as fulcrum. The longer, the more capability for powerful action. Therefore you always want a longer crank arm, Yes? No. Because how your body deals with that longer crank is also a factor. Shorter or less flexible legs will NOT be able the take advantage of longer length. Knees will hurt more because you have to push harder and excessive knee flex. You may be more efficient with less length. Besides efficiency, there's is just plain old comfort. Sure shorter cranks means more RPM's, which means more aerobic exercise, and that may be just what you want and/or need.

So question to self, what can I do, harder pump with less RPM's or less pump with more RPM's? The answer is totally subjective and a product of your strength, leg length and knee pain or lack thereof. Also keep in mind that the above question becomes pertinent when you consider hills. If you have bad knees, obviously hills are going to kill you, if you don't choose wisely. If you don't have bad knees, hills will just hurt, so again,choose wisely.

The impact of shorter cranks is much bigger for recumbent riders than for diamond frame riders. Recumbent trike riders need that lower stress spin a lot more because their bikes are usually heavier and  they don’t have the leverage advantage that getting out of the seat provides.


Now the second part of this equation is the size of the sprocket. By the way, the cranks and sprockets are called crank sets. Since the Rover uses an internal hub on the rear wheel for gear shifts, we'll only work with the front gear, of one.

Which do you think is easiest to pedal? The smaller diameter one (22T) sprocket. Mind you, there is a LOT more to all of this, but what's here are the high points. So far, we will get shorter cranks and smaller sprockets.

Last but not least are pedals. Clipless pedals help knees in several ways; they help you keep your feet an knees in the correct alignment, they keep your feet in the position for maximum force, the ball of your foot.Toes should point relatively straight ahead to equalize the forces generated on knees when pedaling. For trike, your foot slipping off the pedal ("leg suck"), can cause very serious injury.

IT Bands and tendinitis bands help with pain by preventing the offending tendon from snapping back and forth across the bone.

Make An Orthopedic Wedge

Using rubber, make wedges which fit into your shoes and raise the outer front portion of your foot, correcting pronation and causing you to ride somewhat knock-kneed (but not too much; experiment with the height of the wedge). For a while I tried riding knock-kneed without the wedges, but actually putting them in resulted in a surprising increase in power (more than 1 mph average speed) not to mention reduced IT band pain.

Summary:

Lasco 152mm Short Triple Crank Set
   Shorter cranks - 152mm
   Smaller sprocket - 22T

Clipless pedals, cleats and shoes
    Shimano PD-M520L MTB Sport Pedals
    Shimano SH56 SPD Cleat Set
    Nashbar Ragster II Cycling Sandals
   
IT Bands and tendinitis bands - Pro-Tec Athletics Knee Patellar Tendon Strap and IT Band Compression Wrap
   2 on right
   1 on left

Trike Workout Plan

First Few Weeks:

    For the first week or so, pedal on the trike at, medium to high gears on flat ground. Interval training, or short periods of intense speed or resistance, push you beyond your comfort zone, increasing your endurance and strength thresholds.Begin by doing interval training for 30 minutes at a time, at least three times a week. Work up to highest gear until that gets easy, go to "little hill".

Little Hill:

    Find a hill (hill workout on Iron horse Trail). 

Ideally, it will take you 4 to 6 minutes to ride up it. Doubleback and do 1 to 2 hill repeats as able. Again, at least three times a week. Continue to add repeats until riding up this hill is like riding on flat ground. Increase resistance and  increase times a week until a 20mi ride is a walk in the park.

Yes I'm getting very impatient, I have to wait a month. I want my trike!!!

 

In Answer to your Question, Phil

"The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine." ~John Howard

Yes, we can get to Monterey by bike from your house.

Goals and Reasons

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. " ~H.G. Wells 


Portion Control

How long can you "diet" and gain back you weight before you begin wonder if you can do it at all? How long will you lose and gain, lose and gain before your body takes exception? How can an industry that has only a 3% success rate tell you anything about how to lose weight and more importantly, keep it off? Why do diets fail time and time again? Clearly diets don't work for the long term. You must do something that you can 'live' with.

It started with Weight Watchers. I was on their points system and doing well, than one day I become obsessed with eating a "Twinkie". First you must understand, I don't like Twinkies. The last time I tasted one I was 11 years old and I have never thought about them until that day. Of course, I wanted to know why I was obsessed with a Twinkie. So I started  thinking about this obsession.

First question was why? I figured that I was feeling deprived. Solution: don't get deprived. Next question: What can I do? This took longer to answer because I had to figure out, what changes did I know I could do. I finally realized that I could reduce my potions without feeling deprived. This I know I can do. Not try to do, but I knew absolutely that I can do.


I leave a little on my plate, once I get use to that size potion, I reduce it some more. It takes a while before you actually start to lose weight, but it comes and you hardly feel it. But more importantly YOU DON'T FEEL DEPRIVED. 

1 Hour Around the House
I have been sedately and cocooning. Not wanting to go anywhere or do anything. I have to change this behavior. I want to FEEL like going out to ride, I FEEL like going out. I want to do things. This starts with moving around the house and not putting things off. 

Walk Hill 5 to 6 Times a Week
I have a schedule for walking the hill. Right now I'm on 2 to 3 times a week. This "hill walking" strengthens my legs faster than a flat walk and I feel a difference in my knees the next day.

 

Test Ride

"Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling." ~James E. Starrs 


Today Donna and I did a test ride. I just love it, so comfy and fun. I couldn't be happier.
After my ride, Donna says, "That looks like fun." I thought to myself, 'Oh Oh'. So she takes a spin, and fell in love. Now Donna wants a Rover, too. LOL! And she will have it. I am deliriously happy she will be joining me for rides. 

 I think I need shorter cranks. I think I'm going to ride the trike for awhile and see.

Doesn't she look like she's lounging on the patio?

There it is! "The recumbent trike smile"

We couldn't stop talking about the trikes on the way home, we are so excited. Now we can do wonderful trails together. Like Coastside Trail at Half moon Bay, Iron horse Trail (right around the corner), The Monterey Bay Coastal Bike Trail, The San Francisco Bay Trail, The Contra Costa Canal Trail, etc..

We were there yesterday and Donna walked the trail and loved it. I looked at the trail and wished I had the Rover.



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