Stop by your newsstand and grab the October issue of Bicycling Magazine and to learn how to train smarter and be on your way to completing a century ride, or 100 miles in the same day. It’s like a marathon for cyclists!

In each issue you’ll receive the information that dedicated or beginner cyclists need to know. In October, that includes how to avoid a crash, a timely piece for riding on windy days, and how beer might just make you faster. Plus, there’s a bike that’s trying to save the world. The question is, are you a cyslist trying to do the same?

Get your copy of Bicycling at your newsstand, or subscribe to Bicycling Magazine and never miss an issue.

By Rob Cohn

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, unpredictable disease of the central nervous system. MS is an autoimmune disease and the body attacks the healthy tissue in the brain. MS may cause blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred speech or even bad memory. Some people lose their ability to walk let alone ride a bike. The unpredictability of the disease can present many challenges, including the possibility of facing increasing limitations. Anyone may develop MS but there are some patterns. Two to three times more women than men have been diagnosed with MS.

I am participating in the 2011 MS Coastal Challenge in Ventura, CA because my husband Randy has MS. Every week he has to take an injection of medicine that will hopefully slow down the progression. The side effects that he deals with every week are having symptoms of having the flu, headaches and chills. He has to take over the counter medicine to help counteract the side effects. My wish is that a CURE is found so that people like Randy can live a life without the need for these horrible side effects.

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Take that old Schwinn out of the garage and wipe off the dust. In addition to walking and driving directions, Google maps also has biking directions.

Many people prefer biking to work or school to help the environment, save money, or just enjoy nature. So due to popular demand, Google maps introduced biking directions in March 2010 so that cyclists could more efficiently map out bike trips. The bike directions allow a user to personalize their trips, find bike lanes, and avoid big hills and major traffic zones. Google maps provides a useful tool for those who want to stake out the best routes and get reacquainted with a heart healthy childhood pastime.

In order to find bike trails in your town, type in the city on Google maps. Once you have found the correct city and zoomed in, click “more” on the options at the top of the map. The drag down list includes a “bicycling” option. Once you have selected the bicycling feature, the city map will now include dark green lines which indicate a bike-only trail, light green lines which indicate a bike lane on a road, and dashed green lines which indicate a road is designated as preferred for cyclists but without the specific bike lane.

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July 2, 2011 brought about another first for the infamous cycling event, the Tour de France. In its 107-year history, cyclists have experimented with a multitude of options to better their chances at taking on the steep mountains and rigorous course. From diets full of red meat and carbs to even using cigarettes as a tactic, nearly everything has been attempted by the athletes. However, American cyclist David Zabriskie tried something no one else ever had. Zabriskie showed up to the starting line, planning on his vegan diet to carry him to victory.

While so many people practice a vegetarian or vegan diet, why was Zabriskie’s diet news? His no meat, dairy, or egg diet seems so radical due to the demands his sport puts on his body. Most cyclists eat plenty of meat and diary to help muscle recovery. The iron in red meat helps the body produce hemoglobin which helps transport oxygen to the muscles.

So why would any athlete of Zabriskie’s caliber do such a thing? Zabriskie has a medical reason, stating that blood tests showed some food sensitivities that meant while most athletes would benefit from red meat, that meat would take too much energy for Zabriskie to digest.

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Athletes may be caught juicing with a new performance enhancing product soon. But this product is legal and it really is juice. Recent studies have been conducted with competitive cyclists and a somewhat foreign ingredient called beetroot juice.

Athletes in these tests were given the beetroot juice before a time trial. Multiple distances were timed and the cyclists who drank the complete beetroot formula were found to be over 2.5% faster than they were without the juice.

Beetroot juice is a natural source of nitrate. The nitrate ingredient is what is believed to be causing the enhanced performance. Nitrate widens blood vessels which lowers blood pressure and allows for more blood flow. Nitrate also reduces the amount of oxygen needed by muscles during activity. These two effects combined are the source for the improved performance of the cyclists in the research.

The cycling tests have surely sparked the interest of other athletes as well. If this natural and legal product can improve performance in one physical area, it seems plausible that it can help improve the performance of other activities as well. When dealing with sports, where seconds can mean the difference between second place or champion, beetroot juice may soon needs its own sports agent.

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