Comments about Cycling | Steve Tilford

Since it a rest day at the Tour, we should get back to important stuff, one which is getting Jimmy Mac into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. I nominated Jimmy for the MTBHOF a couple months ago. Now he is a nominee under the journalism category. Here is a link to my nomination.

Jimmy Mac has been a total supporter of mountain biking for decades. He accompanied Roy Knickman and myself to the first MTB Nationals Championships back in 1983. Since then he has been fully immersed. He has been a bigger supporter of the sport, not just the racing, but the pure enjoyment of riding a bicycle off-road, than anyone I’m met.

Mac became editor of MTB Action years ago. The equipment changed and Mac went with it. He once told me that he thought the main reason that racing MTB isn’t so popular now is because the bikes that are fun to ride, the big movement front and rear, aren’t the bikes that you race. It made total sense.

Last week, Mac put in his resignation to MTB Action. I saw this on Facebook – End of an era for me. I’m leaving Mountain Bike Action. The publisher is expanding the magazine’s coverage to motorized mountain bikes and I just can’t go along with his logic. Mountain biking is a human-powered activity. No hard feelings. It has been a great ride. I’m going out on good terms. Gail and I are going to load up Big Red and hit the road in August. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, watch out!

So the guy goes and quits a job, he loves, for principles. And Mac is a motorcycle guy. But he doesn’t think that motorized mountain bikes belong in a bicycle magazine. He deserves to be in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame just for that!!! He has 165 comments under his post, which goes to show how much he means to many of us.

Like I’ve said above, Jimmy Mac has been a part of the MTB scene nearly since it started. He has supported the sport, through his writing, and his lifestyle for over 30 years. He deserves to be in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame more than nearly anyone I know. So, if you are a voting member, click here to vote. If you’re not and just like Mac so much, join the MTB Hall of Fame and cast a vote. They moved it to Marin County and could use some support.

Anyway, Mac is one of the good guys. He has supported MTB riding and racing through thick and thin. Voting for him is a no-brainer.

Jimmy Mac

Yesterday was the normal Monday night group ride from our house. I think there were about 10 people. It was the first real group ride I’ve went on since breaking my hip. I am not good at changing pace. I don’t have any ability to do it, for one, and it hurts to make the transition from sitting to standing. And in reality, every hill is a change of pace if the speed stays constant.

Anyway, this isn’t about me and my very slow road to recovery. It is about riding in the heat. I’ve written about how I don’t like heat. I’ve been having some luck dealing with it the last couple years, but going out and mid-day and riding super slow in it for hours. But, when the needle is above 95 or so, I need to pay special attention to it for sure.

Catherine (Walberg) came back to Topeka over the weekend, so she was on the ride. She is living on Bainbridge Island, in Washington, where the high temperatures, until just very recently, are in the mid 60’s, at best. So, yesterday, when it was nearly 100 degrees, she was worried about it. And rightfully so. It was 40 degrees, or more, than any temperature she has trained in this year.

We started out and she took just a couple pulls and then sat on. She said that her legs and lungs felt fine, she was just super hot and her heart rate was really high. She wore a heart rate monitor and her heart rate was off the charts for how hard we were going. I really couldn’t believe it until she downloaded her Garmin to Strava. She spent 66% of the ride at thershold or above. And 92% at tempo or above. I don’t wear a heart rate strap, but those numbers are off the charts, considering how hard we were going.

I think I’m going to try to dig up my heart rate strap for my Garmin and wear it the next few days and see if mine is as high proportionally as her’s is. I know that dissipating heat takes a lot of energy. It surprised me it takes that much.

I think aging has something to do with it too. Older athletes tend to complain and have a harder time dealing with heat than younger ones. I’m not sure the reason for that? I wonder what a human “looses” as it ages to make it have a harder time compensating for big temperature swings? I’m interested in that.

Anyway, it is going to be over 100 today. I guess I should go out and ride mid-afternoon. The only problem with that is, I only have a couple hours in me before I’m done nowadays. I don’t think that is enough time to reap the benefits or start the acclimation process. Maybe I’m wrong, I’ve been known to be occasionally.