Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

D Avoid low carbohydra te diets. A body deprived of carbo h ydra tes can't use it s protein intake properly for bas ic maintenance or muscl e buildin g. D Avoid h igh-protein diets. A significant percen tage of an y weight loss ca n be a tt ri bu ted to fluid lo ss as the body elim ina tes the excess protein . A h igh-proteinhigh -fat di et may also contribu te to calciu m loss, even if ca lciu m supplem entati on is used . D Avoid liquid p rotein , diet pills, starch blockers, and pa ssive exercise and muscle stimulants. o Avoid a high-fat di et low in carboh ydrates. This ca n aff ect en d ura nce and men tal awa reness . Athletic weight gaining Any weight-gain program should coord inate accelerated stren gth train ing with in crea sed ca lor ie inta ke. T his allows an a th lete to add pounds of useful muscle rath er than fat. The in creased ca lor ies sh ould co me from ca lo rie-plus food groups. Concentra te on nutritionall y va lu able carbohydrates th at help fuel pract ice and training. Avo id th e less nutritional, high calo rie food s that offer little benefit to an a th lete, The Am erican Dieteti cAssociati on recommends carbo hydrates from th e bread/ cereal and fruit/vegetable group plus moderate amounts of fats a nd suga rs. T arget a ga in in lean bod y weight (total weight m inus fat) rather than overall po u ndage. Lean body weight is what generates the motion and burns the ca lories . Adding fat sim p ly works th e heart harder. Un less bulk is a sport requirem ent , th e ligh ter ath lete with th e same or more lean bod y weigh t gen erally has th e adva ntage. And even wh en bu lk is necessary, muscular bulk ra ther th an fa t is preferable. T he best way for an at hlete to gain weight is to: D In crease exercise. T h is sti m ulates nutrition a l inta ke. D Avo id snacks. T hev red uce the appetit e for mea ls. . D Ea t com p lex carbo hyd ra tes. T h is sa tisfies in cr easing ene rgy req ui rements wh ile lim iting the additio n of fat to total weig ht. D Eat mor e sma ller mea ls if da ilv calories exceed 5000. Large meal~ burden th e di gestive syste m . D Avoid hi gh ca lorie, low nutritional value foods . D Limit bul ky food s which fill th e stomach quicker. D L im it drinking during mea ls. This allows more room for food. D Avoid a high protein d iet or protein supplem entation , Diet suggestions D Limit intake of saturated (an imalsource) fats. They raise serum cholesterol in the blood. D Reduce fat intake by switching to lo w-fa t or skim m ilk. (Approximate total-calorie/fat-cal orie values for an eight-ounce glass : whole milk - 170/90; low-fat milk - 140/50 ; skim milk 90/3 .) D Modify protein intake. Eat less red meat and more fish , poultry, a nd veget able protein . D L im it intake of refined su gar. (It is estimated that about 70 percent of refined sugar co ns um p tion is attributable to processed foods .) Sugar con ten t may be disguised by th e use o f terms lik e dextrose, lactose, fructose , glu cose, or syrup. Table sugar has no nutritional valu e. All it offers is ca lories. T here is some indication that high-sugar die ts arc hazardous to the health . Some studies suggest a relatio nshi p between sugar levels and fat levels in the blood. Resea rch al so sug- ges ts tha t red ucing sugar in the diet redu ces blood fat levels. Avoid su gar sn acks befor e bedtime. It is beli eved that the insulin rel eased in response to concentra ted sugar inta ke su p p resses h ormone and im m uni ty system ac tivity d uring the early hours o f sleep . D Limit salt intake. Be aw ar e o f th e salt conte nt o f packaged a nd processed foods. (O n ly ab ou t 25 percen t o f th e salt intake o f the aver age Ameri can di et co mes fro m the salt sha ker.) High salt intake is associa ted with hi gh blood pressure whi ch can lead to heart a ttac ks and stro kes. D In crea se intake of frui ts, vege ta bles , a nd gr a ins. D In crease fiber content. This p ro motes regularity. High fiber foods iriclude wh o le gra in s (especi a lly bran ), fruits, and lettuce. L ight, more-likely-to-float stool indica tes a high fib er content in the diet. D In crease intake of low -ca lorie foods with good nutritional value whil e reducing intake of highca lorie foods with lim ited or no nutritional value. D Monitor food a dd itives - th e flavorings, colorin gs, thickeners, em u lsi fiers and a n tio xida nts many food processers use. Be aware tha t additives considered safe today ma y be rated healt h hazards in the fu tu re. D Be conscious of food preparation, either in th e h o me or by food processors. Research by Dartmouth Medi cal Sch ool indicates that both can ned and frozen foods suffer a large nutriti onal loss. (So me studies , how ever, suggest no sign ificant loss.) It is estimat ed th a t coo king can dest ro y u p to one -half of nu tr iti onal value . Boiling appears to be th e most destructiv e coo ki ng medi urn ; steam ing a p pea rs to be th e most p reservative of n u trition al val ue. Nut riti on m yths a nd facts Fads . Super foods. Fallacies . Le t's ta ke a look at some of these mi sconcep tio ns by makin g positive sta tements. D T here are no er gogenic wonder food s th at in crease th e bodv 's a bility to work. . D Drink as much wa ter a s desired du ring work outs. The o ld foot ball att itude of wi thh olding liq uids can be harmful to a thl etes. Or fat al. Ath letes should be enco uraged to drink before, during, a nd a fter exert ion. A fluid temperature of 40 degrees is recommended. D Salt tab lets shou ld be avo ided . .They co n tribu te to dehydration by slowi ng fl uid transference to tissue. Salt tablets may a lso upset the stomach. D ' H igh carbohydra te foods offer mo re energy th an steak. Meat is not energy food . Steak ca n tak e up to twelv e hours to diges t. For this reason, red meat should be a vo id ed for pre-competition breakfast or even th e night befor e. D Bread sho u ld be included on the training diet. It's a high ly nutritiona l food, h igh in ca rbo hydr ate s, vitamins, and minerals and lo w in calories . Calori eco u n ters sh ould delete or redu ce th e bread sp read, not the bread. Some authorities suggest th at natural or whole grain bread is superior to white bread. Others contend that properl y enriched white bread offers the sam e nutritional val ue. D Brea kfast is an important meal. Sk ipping breakfa st can affect athl etic training a n d performance. • Trelleborg's Friction Rubber is resilient at sub-zero temperatures. Optional st eel studs guarantee t raction on ice. Tr e lleb o r g Friction Tir e By Jim Wolcott Roll the throttle on.. the back end comes around... you 're fish tailing... sideways... and h igh-sided face firs t into a snowbank. Ever tr ied i t? O n e exper im en t is us ually all it takes to determine th at stock motorcycle tires don 't work in the sno w. The problem , of co urse, is traction ;and h ow to ma int ai n it with snow an d ice. There a re ot her types of mot or cycle tires desig ned 10 dea l with limited tracti on cond itions: street tires designed for the rai n , a nd off -road tires optimized for mud a nd sa nd . BUI making a tire work in th e snow is tri cky business. Actuall y, there a re two factors that consp ire to mak e motorcycle tires lose tracti on in th e snow. Needl ess to say, the stuff is slippery. H owever, winter conditio ns are a lso co ld . Cold rubber is stiff ru bber, and stiff rubber inherentl y has limited tract ion. For riders wh o a re sno wbo u nd for months a t a tim e, th e ravages of winter a re a very rea l rid in g obstacl e. Man y cyclis ts have expe ri ment ed wi th adap ting a u to moti ve tir e studs or sh eet metal screws to motorcycles wi th var ying degrees of su ccess. Most riders just packed their bikes awa y and tu rned to snowmobiles during the winter months. The days of makeshift experimentation are over. Trelleborg, the tire manufact urer cen tered in Sweden, ha s produced a dedi cated snow and ice end u ro- type motorcycle tire. At the heart o f thi s tire -is a new tread compound that T relle borg calls " Fr iction Rubber. " Essentially, this rubber co m poun d is formulated to retain adhesion a nd flexibility a t tem peratures down to -200 F. The tire's sid ewalls th erefore remain flex ib le, enabling the motorcycle to retain its handling cha rac teris tics. Since th e rubber rem ains flexible, it 's therefore less lik ely to be torn a nd sh eared by rocks a n d other trail obstacles. Mos t importantl y, overall tra cti on is im proved simply because th e new compound still behaves li ke rubber a t low temperatures. The tell in g ta le for th e improved traction is in braking tests conducted by Trelleborg. Tests on ice, at tem peratures just under freezing, showed an average 30% shorter braking distances tha n co m pa ra ble tir es o f sta ndard co mpou n d. For serious work in snow and ice, T relle borg offe rs optiona l steel studs to be inse rted into the tread kn obs. Studs have long been used in a u tomot ive a p plica tio ns , a nd Trelle borg has ad a p ted th is techn ol og y for motorcycle use. To facilita te the st uds, the new Fr iction tires are offe red with a tread pattern that's p re-dri lled a t th e stud locations. Stud insta lla tio n is a major project; abou t 300 studs are req u ired to wi nterize a motorcycle tire. T o mak e sure the st uds sta y p ut , th e job requires an ai r-driven "s tud g u n," as well as a special adhes ive 10 a nc hor the stud into the tread su rface. Once a tir e is studded , that 's it ; you ca n ' t yan k the studs o u t for summer riding . Mo to Race, importers a n d d istri butors for the T relleborg Friction tires, offer th e tires with or without studs, read y for installati on. Apparently they work well; word has sp read quick ly from the Northeas tern states to Alaska that the Trelleborg Fri ction tire s with studs a re a n effective way to maintain control in snow and ice. T hey're especially popular for woods riding or snowmobile trails. Reports from the field ind ica te that th e traction offered by th e Trelleborg Fri ction tires on ice a nd snow far exceeds th e tracti on a vaila ble with sheet metal screws, a nd th e studs don 't get yanked o u t of th e tire if th e rid er cros ses a bare piece of asphalt or rock or a bi t o f buried log. Currently, five tir e sizes a re available: 4.10-14 for $54.95, 2.75-17 for $48 .95, 4.75-17 for $78.45 ,4.50-18 for $76.87, and a 3.00-21 for $62.95. The studs cost JOlt eac h , and insta lla tion is free with th e purchase of a tir e. Prices for the read y-to-mount studded tire s are the4.JO-14 for $83.95,2.75-17 for $68.95,4.75-17 for $110.65, 4.50-18 for $109.07, and the3.00-21 for $89.95. Acco rd ing to Moto Race, other tir e sizes will soon be available, a nd a wi nter-dedica ted studded ATV tire is planned soon. For fu rther informa tion contact: Moto Ra ce, Box 861, Wilbraham, MA 01095,800/628-4040. ,.. 21

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