Re: [Randon] Food Poisoning

[John Hughes]

Two of the leading causes of food poisoning are:

Food that isn't kept cold enough. At a salad bar everything should be on ice, not just on a cold tray or cold water.  If you're not sure, pick up a container and look. If it's not on ice, any raw produce is probably okay, but avoid any prepared food such as dressings, pasta salad, etc.

Food that isn't kept hot enough.  At a hot food bar everything should be steaming, not just under a heat lamp.

When I was racing RAAM many of us would only eat food prepared by our crews for 48-hours before the race to avoid problems in restaurants.

The Mayo Clinic has an excellent page on food poisoning:

     http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-poisoning/DS00981

The Mayo Clinic is an excellent resource on all kinds of health issues of interest to cyclists (and others).

I included a section on preventing and dealing with digestive issues in my eBook Stop Cycling's Showstoppers, which is available from RoadBikeRider.com.

Finally, we're each an experiment of one.  I remember standing in line for breakfast with Bill Bryant and Lois Springsteen in PBP '99.  The French riders ahead of us were getting red wine!  Eat and drink whatever works for you ... as long as it follows the one way principle, which John Lee Ellis taught me:  it goes down and stays down.

Cheers,
John

On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 10:56 AM, <randon+...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

  Today's Topic Summary

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/randon/topics

• Wide Tire Testing [6 Updates]
• food and drink for cycling [6 Updates]
• Rear storage for PBP [3 Updates]
• BMB Data [1 Update]

 Topic: Wide Tire Testing

"russell...@yahoo.com" <russell...@yahoo.com> Feb 03 02:14PM -0800 ^

 
On Feb 3, 12:01 pm, "littlecirclesvt.com :: mike beganyi"
> apparently being tested in Finland:
 
> http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tech-feature-the-work-of-wheel-en...
 
> Wider is faster...
 
Not really. The text says:
 
" For an equivalent make and model of tyre, Wheel Energy claims the
25mm-wide size will measure five percent lower rolling resistance on
average – the supposed average limit of human detection – than the
more common 23mm-wide one."
 
Now some people might automatically assume that a 28mm tire will have
less rolling resistance than a 25mm tire. And a 32mm tire will have
less rolling resistance than a 28mm tire. And a 35mm tire will have
less rolling resistance than a 32mm tire. And a 40mm tire will have
less rolling resistance than a 35mm tire. And a 50mm tire will have
less rolling resistance than a 40mm tire. Etc., etc. These people
may be 100% wrong. Extrapolation works sometimes, but not always.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 

"littlecirclesvt.com :: mike beganyi" <mike.b...@gmail.com> Feb 03 03:04PM -0800 ^

 
I knew there was a reason my Pugsley feels so fast.
 
On Feb 3, 5:14 pm, "russellseat...@yahoo.com"


 

"William D. Volk" <willia...@gmail.com> Feb 03 04:07PM -0800 ^

 
Going from 559x32's at 100psi to 559x47's at 70psi didn't change my commute times, maybe it even improved them.
 
For nighttime riding it's great to ride fat. Tires that is.
 
Bill
 
On Feb 3, 2011, at 3:04 PM, littlecirclesvt.com :: mike beganyi wrote:
 


 

Jan Heine <hei...@earthlink.net> Feb 03 04:20PM -0800 ^

 
>25mm-wide size will measure five percent lower rolling resistance on
>average - the supposed average limit of human detection - than the
>more common 23mm-wide one."
 
It all depends on the road surface. The smoother the road surface,
the narrower a tire you can run without much of a performance penalty.
 
We found that on average roads, a 25 mm tire is _significantly_
faster than a 23 mm, which is much faster than a 20 mm.
 
On very rough roads, like cobblestones, a 38 mm tire is faster than a
25 mm tire.
 
From my experience, anything narrower than 25 mm will be slow on the
roads most randonneurs ride. There appears to be a plateau between 30
and 40 mm, where performance doesn't change much. We need more
testing to confirm this, and of course, it depends on the road
surface. If you ride on a wooden track, 40 mm tires are wider than
you need, and your wind resistance is a little higher than need be.
 
I prefer 40 mm tires, because they are as fast as 25 mm tires on
smooth roads, and faster and more comfortable on rough roads. Plus,
they allow me to venture on gravel roads...
 
We covered some of the science and testing behind this at
 
http://janheine.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/science-and-bicycles-1-tires-and-pressure/
 
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
2116 Western Ave.
Seattle WA 98121
http://www.bikequarterly.com
 
Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/
--


 

"Alan Walker" <wal...@netcon.net.au> Feb 04 09:34PM +1100 ^

 
What size tyres are used by top racing cyclists (e.g., in Tour de France) and why?


 

Jan Heine <hei...@earthlink.net> Feb 04 08:54AM -0800 ^

 
>What size tyres are used by top racing cyclists (e.g., in Tour de
>France) and why?
 
From the 1970s onward, it used to be 21.5 mm tubulars. About 5 years
ago, most pros went to 23 mm. Now some are riding 25 mm.
 
Why are they going to wider tires? It's not that the roads in France
are getting worse...
 
Some of the reasons are stated here:
 
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/cervelo-testteam-get-testing-in-belgium
 
Interestingly, Cervelo believes that 25 mm is best. Coincidentally,
25 mm is the widest that fits their frames. So they cannot test wider
tires without making new frames.
 
As a side note, narrower tires, run at higher pressures, _feel_
faster to most riders, myself included. I believe this is because
higher tire pressures make the bike vibrate at higher frequencies.
 
All things being equal, higher vibration frequencies mean higher
speed - you are hitting the road irregularities in faster succession
the faster you go.
 
So pumping up your tires harder fools your body into thinking that
you go faster, even though your speed is the same.
 
It appears that professional racers, as well as many others (myself
included), used to ride very narrow tires because they felt faster,
even though they actually were slower.
 
With all this discussion of tire width, it's important to remember
that width is only a secondary factor in determining tire
performance. Much more important is the casing construction. Our tire
tests have shown - once again - that supple casings roll fastest.
 
Not coincidentally, top racing cyclists have been using hand-made
tires with extra-supple casings for at least the last 70 years. That
is one piece of cycling equipment that has not changed at all since
the days when PBP was a professional race.
 
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
2116 Western Ave.
Seattle WA 98121
http://www.bikequarterly.com
 
Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/


 

 Topic: food and drink for cycling

"William D. Volk" <willia...@gmail.com> Feb 03 10:23AM -0800 ^

 
Yep. Total agreement.
 
Personally my choice of diet has everything to do with my physiology ... it's not ideological in the least.
 
Courtesy and gratitude are good things. That chicken soup at the Rainbow 200 event was VERY tempting. The smell was intoxicating.
 
William Volk
 
On Feb 3, 2011, at 10:09 AM, Veronica Tunucci wrote:
 


 

"Veronica Tunucci" <vero...@comcast.net> Feb 03 10:48AM -0800 ^

 
Personally my choice of diet is more gustatory, however I do read labels,
follow the latest food fads, etc. And I can't resist those bakery stops.
White flour, butter and sugar....great cycling food.
 
I waited for the homemade chicken soup at the Grand Tour Double more than a
few years ago and it was worth the wait. How special was that, the
volunteers made homemade chicken soup and were cutting up the chicken to add
to the broth as we waited.
 
V
 
-----Original Message-----
From: William D. Volk [mailto:willia...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 10:24 AM
To: Veronica Tunucci; randon subscribers
Subject: Re: [Randon] food and drink for cycling
 
Yep. Total agreement.
 
Personally my choice of diet has everything to do with my physiology ...
it's not ideological in the least.
 
Courtesy and gratitude are good things. That chicken soup at the Rainbow
200 event was VERY tempting. The smell was intoxicating.
 
William Volk
 
On Feb 3, 2011, at 10:09 AM, Veronica Tunucci wrote:
 
> When someone offers me "provided" food, I typically just say "thank you"
or
 
> V
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ran...@googlegroups.com [mailto:ran...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf
Of
 
> I'll add that if you have been Vegan for some time, cheese and meat can
> throw your digestive system into a real state of upset.
 
> I do eat fish on occasion, but I don't think I could do even that on a
long
> ride.
 
> I keep it simple ... diluted electrolytes to drink, a Cliff Bar every
hour,
> and honey/almond butter (raw)/banana sandwiches as a 'main' meal
(breakfast
 
>>> I think my favorite "provided" food is the soon-to-be world-famous
> tortilla
>>> wraps provided by Susan Plonsky (RBA, Ariz.). Those are worth the
10-hour
>>> drive to Arizona! (Ham and/or turkey, cheese and a little potato salad
in
>>> them along with other secret ingredients that she is always changing so
I


 

Bob the Wheelbuilder <bob...@gmail.com> Feb 03 06:38PM -0800 ^

 
Disclaimer: I'm quite new to radonneuring. Last year was my first
full series, but I've done double centuries and other long rides for a
decade or so.
 
During the Santa Cruz 600k, the first 1/3 was pretty hot, and I must
have gotten behind on calories and sodium. I began obsessing about
eating at Taco Bell. I'd never eaten as many calories or fat while
riding as the meal I was dreaming of, so I was a little apprehensive
about what might happen, but anything healthy or "performance-y" was
unappealing. I ended up getting 2 crunchy tacos and a 32 ounce
Mountain Dew as I was riding out of Santa Cruz... it was food of the
gods, I tell you.
 
I ended up eating the same again in Marina on the way out to King City
and on the way back I stopped at the Marina Taco Bell once more for a
crunchy taco and a bean burrito. I never would have thought I could
eat that much and ride, but since I wasn't going at a killer pace, it
worked out great for me. Since, I've eaten a hot dog on several
permanents and, amazingly each went (and stayed) down fine. The
lesson, for me at least, seems to be I can eat what I crave and turn
it into energy as long as I'm not riding too hard. I wouldn't want a
gut bomb like this just before a long climb or other big effort, and
such junk food isn't good for me in the long run, but after many
straight hours of gel blocks and energy drinks, I do better with some
variety, sometimes even if it's greasy junk food.
 
Other things that have worked great for me at one time or another are
chocolate milk, salted nut rolls, cup o noodles, peach rings, V-8
juice and Pringle's potato chips.
 
YMMV


 

Kevin Foust <kdf...@gmail.com> Feb 03 07:53PM -0800 ^

 
It all depends upon the pace for me. If I'm cruising at less than 88%
lactate threshold I can eat just about anything at any time. Literally,
anything. Brawurst! Love 'em. Steak and eggs, bring it on! Taquitos,
Carnitas Torta, whatever, it all converts to energy at that easy pace. When
I start hitting 95% of lactate threshold what I eat and when I eat starts
becoming REALLY important. I normally switch to an engineered food of some
sort like Perpetuem and eat and drink at 10-15 minute intervals.
 
Under any conditions at controls I have a chocolate milk, orange juice (NOT
from concentrate) and V-8 juice. I don't necessarily have all these at
every control but at least the milk. I use Gatorade as a general rule for
my hydration choice and supplement with Succeed Scaps for sodium
replenishment in hot conditions. I am pretty durable in terms of my food
tolerances but have a strong preference for fresh fruit during the ride and
at controls. I also like Fig Newtons for road food and find them a nice
alternative to energy bars although they aren't quite as durable as Cliff
bars.
 
I almost always carry a couple of gels, Hammer Gel is my current favorite,
and a couple of pieces of cardboard, I mean energy bars, in case I miss my
estimate on my eating requirements. For example wet and cold weather seems
to increase my energy, and therefore eating, requirements to a noticeable
degree. You can't always predict the weather.
 
My worst eating mistake was to get poisoned at a restaurant in Gaudelupe CA
on a tour with some buddies. 2/3 of us were poisoned. It took a couple of
days of riding to shake that one off. Lesson learned: don't be quite so
daring with food out on the bike.
 
I never fight a craving when I'm on the road. If I "need" lima bean soup, I
try to find it. I once spent the last two hours of a tour thinking about
chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes at a Cajun restaurant near my home.
I had that steak for dinner.
 
Later,
Kevin
 
 
 
 
 
--
 
My randonneuring blog. <http://randonneurswnd.blogspot.com/>
Goal: Texas Rando Stampede 1200k in May then PBP 2011 1200k in
August.<http://randonneurswnd.blogspot.com/>


 

Donald Perley <donp...@gmail.com> Feb 04 06:29AM -0500 ^

 
> on a tour with some buddies.  2/3 of us were poisoned.  It took a couple of
> days of riding to shake that one off.  Lesson learned: don't be quite so
> daring with food out on the bike.
 
How was it daring to eat at a restaurant?
 
My experience with food poisoning on a 600K was most likely from food
at the overnight control. Given the timing of symptoms and when I
arrived at the station, the food probably just sat way too long at
inappropriate temperatures.


 

Kevin Foust <kdf...@gmail.com> Feb 04 07:56AM -0800 ^

 
It wasn't really daring. It was more poor judgment. The restaurant looked
a marginal in terms of cleanliness when we went in. Instead of leaving we
ate there anyway.
 
 
--
 
My randonneuring blog. <http://randonneurswnd.blogspot.com/>
Goal: Texas Rando Stampede 1200k in May then PBP 2011 1200k in
August.<http://randonneurswnd.blogspot.com/>


 

 Topic: Rear storage for PBP

SoCalRando <jswa...@yahoo.com> Feb 03 11:05AM -0800 ^

 
Thank you all very much for your responses. After reading them I
actually tried a number of various bags and as much as I'd like to
like them, I find that I have a problem with the back of my thighs
brushing them, and that the sway is indeed annoying when they've got
some weight in them (I get out of the saddle fairly often when
climbing and accelerating, and throw/swing the bike a fair amount). I
have not tried the Bagman support, but have my seat pretty far forward
on the rails and don't know if there would even be sufficient room to
attach it.
 
I also re-tried an old Topeak seatpost-attached trunk (with the 1/4"
or so solid frame, not the stem-sized tubular one), and found as I
remembered that it tends to oscillate (tail wagging the dog) when
swinging the bike out of the saddle, not to mention that there's a
weight limit. I do like the Topeak rack that has the matching trunk
with fold-out panniers that slides and snaps on to the rack, but have
interference issues with attaching it to the Ritchey Breakaway Cross
frame (which has a significantly protruding semi-circular ridge that
surrounds the top and back of the dropout, and is right next to the
lower rack attachment point). The interference wasn't as bad with the
Avenir rack I've used when we've gone touring since it has a thinner
leg which I was able to file down and shim out of the way.
 
When we've gone loaded touring, I've used large panniers in the back
with as much as 45 pounds in the panniers and attached to the top of
the rack. Once you get used to it, it's not a problem. Using the
DayTrekkers for PBP, I'd probably never carry more than 15 pounds for
both of us.
 
So I think it does come down to riding style, position on the bike,
and frame geometry as to what will work best. We're going to do a
couple 400's and 600's this year, one each for time, and one each for
enjoyment, and I'm going to run the prospective PBP setup on the
"slow" ones to see how it works. I am going to see if there is a
convenient way to attach some kind of front bag, because as one of you
mentioned, it will be much more convenient for getting to the things
you need often. I've got interrupter brake levers on the bar tops,
and also mount my lights there so I'm not sure how that might work.
Maybe I'll let Nicole deal with that since I'll be carrying everything
else.
 
Hopefully the input given in this thread has been valuable to others
in addition to me who are still working out PBP storage/carrying
issues.
 
Thanks again.
 
Jim
 


 

Bill Gobie <bi...@billandlorene.com> Feb 03 12:00PM -0800 ^

 
On Feb 3, 2011, at 11:05 AM, SoCalRando wrote:
 
> have not tried the Bagman support, but have my seat pretty far forward
> on the rails and don't know if there would even be sufficient room to
> attach it.
 
Sorry for not chiming in earlier. It's easy and cheap to hold a bag
away from the seatpost with a short piece of PVC pipe, as illustrated
here:
 
http://thenewpracticality.blogspot.com/2009/09/two-tickets-to-carradice.html
 
As for reducing sway, pull the straps as snug as possible. You could
even punch some new holes in the straps.
 
> and also mount my lights there so I'm not sure how that might work.
> Maybe I'll let Nicole deal with that since I'll be carrying everything
> else.
 
A front bag is very convenient. I think it is worth some compromises,
in your case re-inventing the front of your bike. I think you've no
choice but to ditch the interruptor levers. Moving the lights to the
fork crown or blades is not hard.
 
Beware the temptation to hang a bag far enough away from the bars to
clear the interruptor levers. Weight far in front of the steering axis
has a much more deleterious effect on handling than the same weight
close to the axis.
 
As an experiment before you spend a lot of money, lash a crossbar onto
your brake hoods and tie a brick or two (about 5-10 lbs) to it. See
how it affects handling. Move the brick to the bar tops and compare.
 
If your bike is happy with the brick far from the bars, you are
probably ok to use any front bag. If your bike is sensitive to the
weight, you should use a small bag that hangs right on the bars. I
like the Brand V Boxy Bar Bag Rivendell sells:
 
http://www.rivbike.com/products/show/brand-v-boxybar-bag/20-198
 
Bill Gobie


 

Steve Rice <sri...@gmail.com> Feb 03 03:56PM -0500 ^

 
Bill wrote:
 
> As for reducing sway, pull the straps as snug as possible. You could even
> punch some new holes in the straps.
 
I went one step further. I replaced the pull straps with 2 large zip ties
on each side. I used 2 in case one broke it wouldn't fall. Instead of
attaching the bag to my saddle, I attached the bag to a SQR uplift.
 
Steve


 

 Topic: BMB Data

"littlecirclesvt.com :: mike beganyi" <mike.b...@gmail.com> Feb 03 12:30PM -0800 ^

 
If anyone has BMB split data points from previous rides, actual or
projected or planned - I'd love to have a peek so I could start to
layout a plan for the BMB Perm this August.
 
Looking for times to controls, sleep, average speeds, etc. etc.


 

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Cheers,
John Hughes
www.coach-hughes.com
PO Box 18028
Boulder, CO 80308-1028