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PRESS RELEALSE - In response to the international relief effort following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, BE Innovations, creators of ZYM electrolyte drink tablets, is donating both product – ZYM Endurance tabs– plus 30 percent of its online profits to the agency, Direct Relief International, which distributes on-site Haitian survivor aid.

“In the wake of the crisis, it was the least we could do”, said BE Innovations President Brian Koff.  “The agency, Direct Relief International is on the ground in Haiti and is very grateful for what the ZYM formulas, with their vitamins and electrolytes, can do to help the survivors combat dehydration. In addition, 30 percent of our online profits will go to the same agency.” ZYM’s unique formulas were designed specifically for endurance athletes, blending electrolytes, B vitamins and other elements making them effective against fatigue and dehydration. ZYM can be purchased direct at www.gozym.com or at leading gear stores, like Sports Authority and Performance Bikes.

What’s an athlete to do without sugar?  Or, perhaps more to the point, why would an avid cyclist want to take sugar out of their diet?

Welcome to my (although Sweetie’s getting dragged into it) February experiment: One month with no added sugar.

The inspiration for this experiment came from many things, but oddly enough the concept popped into my head as one of my friends recounted what a visiting revival preacher recently said while he was in the big tent. Amidst the proselytizing, he asked the congregation if they knew the number one addiction in America. His answer: Sugar.  Then, I was reading Esquire Magazine’s monthly column with Dr. Oz, who’s answer to the question “if you had to tell America to give up one vice what would it be?”  His answer: Smoking?  Drugs?  Nope, Sugar.

I’m also reading two of Dr. Oz’s books, You: The Owners Manual and You: Staying Young, and the latter in particular suggests cutting out refined sugar (FWIW, I highly recommend these books). On top of this, we get Hammer Nutrition’s monthly (or more) newsletters which absolutely bash sugar.

Given that I’d like to live as long and healthily as possible, I figured it’d be interesting to see:

1. Would eliminating refined sugar make me feel better overall?
2. How hard would it be to eliminate refined sugar from my diet?
3. How would if affect athletic performance?

For clarification, sugar in its naturally occurring state (fruit, juice, etc.) is fine, at least for the purposes of this experiment.  For health reasons, too much of sugar in any form is bad, but the goal here is to eat and drink things that don’t have added sugar for the entire month of February.  If the ingredient list has Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Sucrose or the like, it’s out.

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Cafe:ine coffee sent us a bag of their Pinhoti “multi-purpose dark roast” whole bean roast courtesy of Mike at Niner.  Mike directs the Cafe:ine cycling grassroots team in the Atlanta, GA, area, and the team support is indicative of the brand’s overall efforts to support cycling.

They offer 24 roasts at present, many of which are co-branded with various teams, events or causes that support cycling in some manner, and part of the proceeds from those bags go to the group behind it.  And, you can get your own team or group private labeled on their coffee to use as a fund raiser.

If you’re headed to a major race in the Southeast, look for Floyd, their custom Airstream trailer that’s a rolling coffee shop.  Thor Hushovd apparently almost missed the start at one race because he was kickin’ it with a coffee there, and Cervelo Test Team has said it’s the best Espresso they’ve ever had in America.

How does it taste?  Read more…

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“Red Racer” by denali2001. A pale ale from Surrey, BC.

Our vote for the official beer of the SSWC.

To see more Pics of the Day, click here, and to submit your own photo to be shown to the world, go here.

POM Wonderful just shared that they’ll continue their sponsorship of the Garmin-Transitions pro cycling team for 2010 (and sent us a few delicious samples!). POM has conducted more than $30 million in research to prove the health benefits of their particular pomegranate juice and extracts, and now they’re turning their attention to endurance athletes through this sponsorship. In addition to the UCI’s testing, Team Garmin-Transitions has been tested by POM’s scientists to evaluate the potential health, recovery and performance benefits POM may offer.

Their team sponsorship started last Summer just after the Tour de France, where they were second overall with riders Bradley Wiggins and Christian Vande Velde finishing in the top ten, and at the start of the Vuelta, its third Grand Tour of the season.  At the time their press release said:

“POM Wonderful and Team Garmin-Slipstream will partner to pursue ground-breaking sports physiology research on the health benefits of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice as it pertains to recovery, combating oxidative stress and inflammation in an intense athletic context.”

We’ve got an inquiry into POM requesting some of the data they’ve pulled from their involvement with the team, and we’ll report back with anything we get.

SUMMARY: Authored by Joe Friel, the Cyclist’s Training Bible has been the staple of self-training cyclists for years.  Now in its 4th edition, it’s been updated to include power meter training, current recovery research and new strength training methods.  There are numerous charts and graphs to illustrate training times, intensities and totals, pictures showing the stretches and strength workouts, and sample plans shown as examples.

The content is broken down into Parts with lots of Chapters in each, and each delves into specific topics in great detail.  The upside is you’ll learn a lot and have all the information you need to put together a full training program for the year.  The downside is you’ll be flipping back and forth through the chapters quite a bit to piece it together.

SHOULD YOU READ IT? If you have A.D.D., skip it.  If, however, you’re able to form complex thoughts and make plans without *ooh look, a bunny!* and you don’t want to pay several multiples of the book’s price each month for a coach, then yes, The Cyclist’s Training Bible could be the right book for you.  Nothing else comes close to its comprehensive approach to planning out a season, creating a training schedule and incorporating diet and resistance training to an overall plan.  The upside is you’ll likely have much better results than trying to piece together a training plan from magazine excerpts, the downside is it’ll take a couple weeks of real effort to put together a full plan and absorb the lessons in the book.

The depth and breadth of information is almost overwhelming, so it’s best to take it a bit at a time in the offseason…trying to rush through this book would be beyond frustrating.

INTERESTING FACT: As you age, you lose your ability to take in nitrogen, which causes you to literally pee away muscle mass.  Eating more alkaline foods (as opposed to acidic) slows this effect and helps you maintain muscle mass.

WHERE TO FIND IT: On Amazon for $16.47 (versus $24.95 MSRP)

This video has almost 900,000 views on YouTube, so there’s a chance you’ve seen it, but I just found it.  Bicycle tie-in?  It’s for a recovery product…you’ll see.

PRESS RELEASE: Fuel-starved endurance athletes are notorious convenience eaters, scarfing pre-packaged products and expensive prepared foods that offer a quick fix for their ravenous appetites. But these food products and supplements leave athletes under-nourished, delaying recovery and preventing their highest performance.

For endurance athletes, there is no substitute for real food. The Athlete’s Plate: Real Food for High Performance debunks the myth that busy athletes lack the time to fuel with real food. Professional chef and endurance athlete Adam Kelinson guides athletes from grocery store to kitchen, offering time-saving shopping and cooking strategies that make preparing delicious, nutritious meals a pleasure. The Athlete’s Plate is now available in bookstores, endurance sports shops, and online.

Kelinson demonstrates how buying local, seasonal foods will save time and money. He explains how organic whole foods provide more nutrients than conventionally grown food and how a minimalist approach to cooking is more convenient and nutritious than laborious gourmet recipes.

The Athlete’s Plate provides 85 delicious, quick-prep recipes to fuel the active lifestyle. Kelinson’s worry-free dishes include smoothies and juices; power snacks; appetizing soups, salads and dressings; carb-filled pastas, polenta, and noodle bowls; lean protein dishes featuring seafoods, poultry, pork, and savory vegetarian preparations; and satisfying desserts.

The Athlete’s Plate is 300 pages and retails for $24.95 (or $16.47 on Amazon.com).

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We know it’s snowy in some areas now, making skiing, running and other various cross-training activities a necessity.  Cheers.

A bite size post with a bite sized photo.  Gu has a new flavor coming out, the double-caffeinated Jet Blackberry, due any day now.  It’s so fresh, it’s not even on their website yet!

If there hasn’t been enough monkeyin’ around on your rides, never fear.  GU just re-released its Banana Blitz flavor.

It’s only available online only through their own store, $32.40 for a 24 pack.  It’s caffeine free and only available while supplies last.  Orders over $100 are shipped free and come a bonus barrel of fun.

Racing Weight Is the First Weight-Loss Book for Endurance Athletes

Officially titled Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance, it’s penned by certified sports nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald and offers the first comprehensive and science-based approach to weight management for runners, cyclists, triathletes, swimmers, rowers, and cross-country skiers.

A 2009 study found that three out of four endurance athletes are concerned about their weight and half are dissatisfied with how much they weigh. Yet these same athletes ranked weight loss dead last when asked about their motivations for participating in endurance sports. Endurance athletes pursue weight loss as a means to better workouts and faster racing. Fitzgerald’s own efforts to reach his racing weight for distance running led him to discover that there were no comprehensive weight-management resources designed for endurance athletes.

Using Racing Weight, endurance athletes can find and attain their fastest body weight and composition. The Racing Weight program offers 5 strategies based on the latest advances in the science of weight management. After finding their ideal off-season and racing weights, athletes will learn how to improve their diet quality; balance their intake of carbohydrate, protein, and fat; time meals and snacks; manage appetite; and train for lean body composition.

It’s a 296 page paperback, MSRP is $18.95, or get it for $12.89 on Amazon.com.  More details after the break…

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Aaaahh wine.  On our recent guy’s night beer ‘n’ bikes ride, we detoured by Zeto’s for a $5 wine tasting before slumming our cultural bona fides with Quesadilla Grandes and Dos Equis.  These pics above are from the ride between the two and are shaky because they’re taken with a phone cam whilst riding, not because we were inebriated.  Surely we’re too high brow for such shenanigans.  While there, I spotted the bottle on the left and commented on the label. Leah, the local wine rep, said we should try Tandem, of which, sadly, they did not have samples.

Here’s the description for Tandem:

In 2006 we turn to our deep Pinot roots with this blend. Fragrant raspberry and wisps of cola first greet the nose, followed by just a kiss of smoked apple wood bacon, morels, vanilla and maybe even mocha. This level of complexity deepens on the palate, with all of the aromas echoing the flavors, along with late hints of cocoa powder and a finely balanced acidity framing tannins that carry late and softly into a long, raspberry and Rainier Cherry finish.

Not being a huge fan of whites, I will not offer my opinion of it because a) I can’t remember it and b) you should not value my opinion on white wines.

Camelbak video on how to beat the heat with hydration, featuring Team Garmin-Slipstream and Dr. Allen Lin.

OK, actually, you won’t see it ALL here, yet.  We’ve still got a number of posts to do, but we think we have the biggest collection of bicycle, component, clothing and gear coverage anywhere.  See that big Interbike button up on the top right of our site?  Click on it (or just click here) and you’ll get the full list.  We’re adding more and will update the list again when we’re done, but there’s plenty to see!