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Muscle Pain? Try Biofreeze Pain Relieving Gel

Biofreeze Pain Relieving Gel

Biofreeze is a topical analgesic I use to help me deal with muscle aches and occasional problems like Achilles tendinitis and plantar fasciitis. A lot of people use Biofreeze for arthritis, but since I don’t have arthritis I really can’t tell you how well it works for that.

You have probably heard of cryotherapy before (the application of cold to temporarily relieve pain). Biofreeze is applied directly to the skin and works in a similar fashion to an ice pack, except that with an ice pack your movements are severely restricted. The active ingredient in Biofreeze is menthol (which is also responsible for its pleasant smell).

You can buy Biofreeze in different forms (gel, spray, wipes) and sizes. I purchased the gel in a 32-ounce bottle with a built-in pump. A few years ago I bought an ultrasound unit to help me deal with plantar fasciitis. The physical therapist who taught me how to use the machine suggested I apply Biofreeze just before I had ultrasound therapy. This combination really seemed to work well for me. If you read the reviews for this product that people leave on Amazon.com it seems like everyone is extremely happy with this product (it has a five-star rating which is something you don’t see very often in Amazon’s product reviews).

Biofreeze is available without a prescription, but you will probably have to visit a chiropractor or physical therapist to buy it locally since it is usually not available at pharmacies or regular retail outlets. However, Amazon.com has it in a variety of sizes. Here are the best prices I’ve found: A 4-ounce tube retails for $20, but they have it for $8, while a 32-ounce bottle retails for $90, but they have it for just $41. It is also available in individual packages—a box of 36 5-gram travel packs retails for $25, but they it for about half that price.

17 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on April 12, 2013 in Health And Hygiene, Product Reviews

Tags: bicycle, bike, cryotherapy, cycling, tendinitis, triathlete

My Two Favorite Bicycle Chain Lubricants

08 Apr

White Lightning Clean Ride

At this time of year many folks will be getting back on their bikes for the first time in months. First, welcome back—we’ve missed you out on the road all winter. Second, you probably need to lube your bike chain before you hit the road again. There are a lot of great chain lubricants on the market and today I’d like to tell you about the two I use.

Several years ago a local bike shop recommended White Lightning Clean Ride Self-Cleaning Bicycle Lubricant to me and this amazing product keeps my chains looking brand new even after 2,000 miles of use. White Lightning Clean Ride is a liquid wax that goes on wet and dries rather quickly. This lube is “self-cleaning” which means that once the chain dries the wax lube “sheds” off your chain as it gets dirty.

Before applying Clean Ride for the first time you need to start with a very clean chain since the wax will not mix well with the oil that might already be on your chain. I have found that White Lightning Clean Streak Degreaser works extremely well for this purpose. Once your chain is clean, just pour Clean Ride on the chain as you turn it, let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe off the excess. I use a small air compressor to blow the dirt off of my chain after every ride and I re-apply the Clean Ride about every 100 miles. If you don’t have an air compressor just use a small cotton cloth (an old T-shirt) to wipe off the dirt after each ride. You will find that dirt, sand and road grime does not stick to your chain once you start using Clean Ride. This means you are not going to have globs of oil flying off of your chain if you get caught out in the rain. Clean Ride retails for around $10.00 for a 4 ounce bottle. I think I have seen White Lightning Clean Ride at every bike shop I’ve ever been in, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding it.

Boeshield T-9

While White Lightning Clean Ride is fantastic for most purposes, I prefer to use Boeshield T-9 on my winter bikes and the ones I use for riding in the rain. The first time I saw a can of Boeshield T-9 in a bike shop I was a bit surprised because I already had several cans of it in my garage but had never even thought of using it on my bikes. I live between Chicago and Milwaukee and all of my woodworking tools are stored in an unheated garage, so to keep them from rusting I spray them with Boeshield T-9. I also use it on my snow-blower. My favorite use for it had always been on my table saw—not only did it keep the table from rusting, but it provided an extremely slick surface for the wood to slide over.

Boeshield T-9 was developed by The Boeing Company (the folks who make those pretty planes). This product has a solvent and paraffin wax base and uses neither Silicone or Teflon. The solvent penetrates deep through other lubricants, but I would recommend you clean the surface first before you use Boeshield T-9 if for no other reason than it looks better that way. Boeshield T-9 dries quickly, but it is best to let it dry for a couple of hours before wiping off the excess. This will leave you with an incredible barrier against rain, mud, snow, ice, salt and road grime. The bike I reserve for riding in the rain is coated with this stuff! My winter bike is fed a steady diet of ice and road salt, but it still looks great because of the protection Boeshield T-9 provides. Boeshield T-9 is suitable for use on derailleurs, brake cables, pivot points and the chain.

Boeshield T-9 is available in different sizes, from one ounce bottles up to gallon containers, and in aerosol cans. Regardless of what form you buy it in, Boeshield T-9 has exactly the same formula. The 12-ounce aerosol can retails for $18.

18 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on April 8, 2013 in Bicycle Repair, Product Reviews

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, lube, lubricant, repair, triathlete

Serfas Speed Stem Bag Contest Winner

07 Apr

This past Monday we held contest to give away a Serfas Speed Stem Bag to some lucky reader. The winner was determined upon the basis of the comments they left at the bottom of the review—they had to tell me why they needed the bag and I would select the cyclist I thought most worthy of sporting this top tube bag on their bike. I had a very difficult time trying to decide who the winner was going to be, but I finally selected Laura, the Pennsylvania cyclist behind the Wife, Mother, Awesome Girl blog (“Just another girl who used to be cool”). In addition, I selected Aaron of the Chatter Gets Fit blog as the second-place winner.

Wife, Mother, Awesome Girl

Laura said she needed this bag because some of her friends have convinced her to go a Summer Solstice Ride which will be about 150 miles in a single day. She thought this bag would make her a “much more ‘hip’ and ‘with-it’ addition to the group by storing her snacks appropriately—instead of wearing a uber-dorky backpack of snacks and gear.” Laura used to ride a bike from Target, which means it probably weighed more than my Jeep Grand Cherokee. She has been “married forever” and has three kids, three dogs, and three bikes and is hoping to work her way up to five bikes (I hate to tell her this, but that won’t be enough). Among the groups who have helped shape Laura into a great cyclist are The Philly Bike Club, Sturdy Girl Cycling, and the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia/Women Bike PHL Initative.

While Laura was the winner I felt that Aaron (Chatter Gets Fit) was also deserving, but I only had one Serfas Speed Stem Bag to give away! Aaron was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes back in 2009 and is planning on riding in the Tour de Cure: Atlanta real soon. Since I couldn’t give Aaron a bag I decided to make another donation to his American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure effort. If you click on this link you can help him as well! My father has diabetes and the complications from the disease are enormous—one of the reasons I took up cycling was because I thought it would help keep me from getting this disease.

11 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on April 7, 2013 in Life On Two Wheels

Tags: bicycle, bike, contest, cycling

How To Stop Dogs From Chasing Cyclists

05 Apr

I like dogs—they are usually friendly, fiercely loyal and have more common sense than a lot of people I know. Unfortunately, they can be extremely territorial and, like some motorists, they think they own the road (or at least the road in front of where they live). When a dog chases a cyclist it is usually because the dog thinks he is doing his job, i.e., protecting his property.

Halt! Dog Repellent

I wish I could tell you that I am always able to outrun dogs, but the truth is that sometimes I can’t, and beyond that, some dogs seem to come out of nowhere and attack without warning. You will never really know how fast you can pedal your bike until you are being chased by an angry Rottweiler. From personal experience I can tell that having a dog chase you is a great bit of motivation.

I always carry Halt! Dog Repellent with me on nighttime rides, off-road trails, and when I am checking out a new route for the first time. I started carrying Halt! Dog Repellent several years ago after two small dogs refused to allow me to get past them on a bike trail. It finally took a well-placed rock the size of a softball for the mutts to back off and let me pass.

Halt! Dog Repellent contains capsaicin (chili-peppers) and shoots out a pressurized spray that has an effective range of about 10 feet. This product has been used by the U.S. Postal Service for 35 years and works well. A couple of years ago I was on a bike trail when a dog came out of nowhere and was very intent on sinking his teeth into my right ankle. I pulled out the Halt! Dog Repellent and just as I was about to spray it the dog apparently recognized the can and ran away. I can only imagine that somewhere along the way that dog had a postal worker introduce him to Halt! Dog Repellent and he decided not to try it again.

Last spring a little ankle-biter chased after me and I could have outrun him, but it was on a very busy road and I was worried that some other cyclist might get hit by a car while trying to avoid this little creature. I stopped my bike by the side of the road and was about to spray the dog when a little boy came running out of the house calling for his dog. When the boy got close to me I told him that I like dogs, but I don’t like being chased. I then said, “Son, if your dog chases me again I am going to spray him with this can of pepper spray—he won’t like it, but it won’t kill him. Now go inside your house and tell your parents what I told you.” A few days later I was back on that same road and the little ankle-biter came running after me again, so I stopped and gave him a face full of pepper spray—he took off running towards the house yipping like you wouldn’t believe. Before any of you dog-lovers get upset I want you to know that I probably saved his life—he had to dart into traffic just to chase me and it would only be a matter of time before he got hit by a car. The good news is that the rest of the year the dog decided to stay on the front porch of the house every time I went by.

On off-road night rides I run into a lot of varmints (both four-legged and two-legged) and I always feel safer knowing I have a can of Halt! Dog Repellent in my jersey. You can find Halt! Dog Repellent at many bike shops—if the shop you use doesn’t carry it you can easily find it on Amazon.com.

51 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on April 5, 2013 in Bicycle Safety

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, dogs, pepper spray

Serfas Speed Stem Bag (Product Review and Giveaway)

01 Apr

On the back of nearly every cycling jersey you will find three pockets and they are usually sufficient to carry a few carbohydrate gels and your cell phone. However, on longer rides you are going need more room to store extra gels, bars and drink mixes (unless you are one of those folks who stops at every convenience store they pass). My favorite way to add a little carrying space on my bike is with a top tube bag. Most of these bags attach to the bike with a couple of Velcro straps—one strap goes around the top tube and the other around the stem tube. I own several different styles of top tube bags and recently the folks at Serfas sent me a Serfas Speed Stem Bag to review and it quickly became one of my favorites!

Serfas Speed Stem Bag

The Serfas Speed Stem Bag is made of 100% polyester and only weighs 4.2 ounces (119 grams). The medium-sized bag (the one in the photo above) measures 8.75″X3.5″X2″ and has 61 cubic inches of storage space—enough space to hold a dozen packages of carbohydrate gels. If you don’t need this bag to carry your carbohydrate gels or bars, you could always use it to keep cell phone close at hand. The inside of this bag is lined with a soft Microfiber fabric and the top of the bag (the lid) is made of mesh so you can see inside the bag as you are riding. However, if you are going to be riding on a rainy day I would strongly suggest you keep your phone in a Ziplok bag to keep it dry.

Serfas Speed Stem Bag with Mesh Top

The most unique feature of this bag is the way it closes. This bag has a magnetic strip along the top and when you flip the lid to the closed position it automatically catches and seals itself shut—you could do it blindfolded! I’ve not had any trouble with this bag accidentally opening, but I would not recommend it to those of you who enjoy jumping your bike off of the roof of your house—I don’t imagine the magnetic strip could handle a jolt like that.

3M Scotchlite Reflective Material On The Sides

On the sides and back of this bag is a strip of 3M Scotchlite Reflective Material. When the headlights from a car hit this reflective material it bounces the light back and makes you extremely visible. I ride a lot in low-light situations and wish that all of my gear had a piece of reflective material like this!

The medium-sized Serfas Speed Stem Bag retails for $33 and is available from the Serfas Website, as well as most bike shops and Amazon.com. They also have a smaller bag (6.25″X3.5″X2″) with 42 cubic inches of space at it retails for $30. Both sizes of this bag are available in three different colors (Red, Black, or Grey). The only drawback of top tube bags is that it is possible they could get in the way when you stop if you have an extremely short-frame bike (I had no trouble at all).

The folks at Serfas gave this bag to me for review and I told them I would be having a contest to give it away when the review was finished. I now truly regret telling them that because I really like this bag. So, I am keeping the one they sent me, but I purchased (at full retail price) another one so I give it away to one of my readers.

If you would like a chance to win a brand-new medium-sized Serfas Speed Stem Bag then leave a comment below telling me why you need this bag. The contest ends at midnight (CST) on Friday, April 5, 2013. After the contest closes I will read through the comments and choose a winner based solely on my incredibly subjective mood at the time—however, humor in your entry is highly encouraged (just keep it clean). The last time I ran a contest like this several readers “donated” their entry to other contestants (something I had not planned on). So, if you don’t need this bag yourself you are free to comment on other entries. So I can remain impartial until the contest is over I will not be responding the comments. This contest is for U.S. residents only and only one entry per household allowed. I will send this product to the winner via U.S. Mail at my expense. Good luck!

30 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on April 1, 2013 in Bicycle Bags & Panniers, Product Reviews

Tags: bag, bicycle, bike, contest, cycling

Favorite Embrocation Cream: DZ Nuts InHeat

29 Mar

DZ Nuts InHeat

According to the calendar the first day of spring arrived last week—but it is hard to tell because of all the snow and ice on the ground where I live. On cool mornings cyclists in my area of the country have to decide whether to put on knickers, leg warmers or knee warmers for our morning rides. A few years ago I started applying DZ Nuts InHeat Low Heat Embrocation Cream to my legs before riding in cool weather and have been very happy with the results.

If you are not familiar with embrocation creams here is the Reader’s Digest version: they are creams that contain vasodilators and when rubbed onto your body they warm up the skin and underlying muscles. These creams also create a weather-proof barrier that protects your skin from the elements, like rain and sleet. The DZ-Nuts Website says their cream was “developed and tested on the European roads by Garmin Transitions and Columbia HTC professional cycling teams to be an essential training and racing tool.” For many male cyclists embrocation creams are the main reason we shave our legs. Warning: Never shave your legs on the same day you use an embrocation cream!

If you have never used an embrocation cream before you are probably wondering how this product works. About 15 minutes before you go out for a ride on brisk day you massage this cream into the exposed areas of your legs. It will take several minutes for you to feel the cream working, but once it does you will feel the warmth and be able to ride for several hours in cool weather without having your legs cramp up from the cold.

When your ride is finished you will be pleasantry surprised that the cream did not pick up road grime as you might have expected. I’ve used this cream on long off-road rides on dusty trails and haven’t had much dust stick to my legs.

It has been my experience that the greatest amount of heat is felt once your ride is finished. While you are riding in cool weather you don’t really feel the cream working, but then again, you aren’t feeling the cool air on your legs either. Once you put your bike up and go inside you can feel your legs getting warmer and this will keep your muscles from getting tight after a ride. The DZ Nuts InHeat Embrocation Cream washes off easily with just soap and water, but you can still feel it a bit even after you are out of the shower. My advice: When you get into the shower try to wash off the cream with soap and cool water—hot water opens up the pores of your skin and makes this cream heat up again.

Second Warning: Make sure you put this cream on your legs after you put your cycling shorts on! If you put the cream on your legs first and then pull your cycling shorts up some of the cream will stick to your chamois. This cream has capsicum in it (think red-hot chili peppers and police pepper spray). If the capsicum comes in contact with your nether regions you are going to experience a level of pain that the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay never even dreamed about (I speak from experience—and a very painful one at that).

DZ Nuts InHeat Embrocation Cream comes in three strengths (low, medium and high). The low heat cream is good for rides down to around 50 degrees (Fahrenheit). I’ve not used the other creams because when temperature gets down in the 40′s I really prefer tights. A six-ounce tube of DZ Nuts InHeat retails for around $22 and you should be able to get 15 or 20 rides out of a single tube.

In case you were wondering, the “DZ” in DZNuts is for cycling legend David Zabriskie.

20 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 29, 2013 in Cycling In The Rain, Product Reviews, Spring And Fall Cycling

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, sports, triathlete, triathlon

Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey

25 Mar

I own more pieces of Pearl Izumi cycling gear than any other brand because they consistently offer high quality clothing that shows evidence of meticulous attention to detail. Between shorts, tights, jackets, jerseys, vests, gloves and base layers I probably own 60 to 70 pieces of their gear. A lot of their clothing carries a small tag to tell you when the clothing was manufactured. When you look at almost any piece of their clothing you can see small changes that take place from year to year—and always for the better. One of the finest pieces of cycling wear I have ever purchased is the Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey—and if spend a lot of time cycling in cool weather this thermal jersey will make your rides a lot more enjoyable (and you’ll look better too).

Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey

The Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey is made from a fabric composed of 63% polyester, 27% Minerale polyester, and 10% elastane. I don’t know exactly how they form the polyester into this thermal fabric, but it is extremely comfortable, highly breathable and incredibly warm—and yet it is very lightweight. This jersey also dries quickly after washing and is odor resistant.

Full-length zipper with draft flap

This jersey has a full-length front zipper with an internal draft flap with a zipper garage to seal in the heat. There is a drawstring around the neck that adjusts in the back—you can open it up a bit if you start to overheat.

Zippered front pocket with reflective piping

The front pocket on this jersey is large enough to easily hold an iPhone or other cell phone, and there is an opening in the back of the pocket that allows you to pass a headphone cable through. Around the zipper is a piece of highly reflective material (and this jersey has several other pieces of reflective piping as well).

Three rear pockets plus a zippered sweat-proof pocket

On the back of this jersey you will find three full-length pockets along with a small sweat-proof zippered pocket. In addition, there is a piece of elasticized gripper material on back of the jersey to keep the hem in place. You will also notice that the back of this jersey is cut longer than the front to keep your backside warm (and to keep you from offending anyone riding behind you). The Pearl Izumi Website says the recommended temperature range for this jersey is between 45˚F and 55˚F and I think these numbers are correct. You could also use it in slightly cooler weather if you wear a thin thermal base layer under it.

The Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey is not cheap! The men’s version retails for $160 and is available in three colors (Red, Black, and White). The women’s version is $10 cheaper and comes in four colors (Red, Black, White, and Hi-Vis Yellow). Prices for this jersey on Amazon.com range from $110 to $150. If you just can’t justify spending that much money on a thermal jersey you might want to consider the Pearl Izumi Select Thermal Jersey—it is missing a few of the nice finishing touches the P.R.O. jersey has, but will certainly keep you warm (and save you about $50).

18 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on March 25, 2013 in Bicycle Clothing, Product Reviews, Spring And Fall Cycling, Winter Cycling

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, jersey, winter

All Seasons Cyclist

Muscle Pain? Try Biofreeze Pain Relieving Gel

My Two Favorite Bicycle Chain Lubricants

Serfas Speed Stem Bag Contest Winner

How To Stop Dogs From Chasing Cyclists

Serfas Speed Stem Bag (Product Review and Giveaway)

Favorite Embrocation Cream: DZ Nuts InHeat

Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey

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