Cycle Across America – For cyclists on a weekend adventure or an epic journey

April 17, 2025April 17, 2025

6 Things You Should Know Before Starting Zwift

Zwift is Hard – Cycling outdoors is easier than doing a comparable ride on Zwift. When cycling outdoors there are stop signs, intersections, red lights, etc. that force you to ease up. However, on Zwift you’re pedaling from the start to the finish.

Zwift is Fast – Your speed on Zwift is about 30-50% faster than it is on the road. At first, I thought Zwift was simply overstating my speed. However, the reasons that Zwift is harder, also make it a faster ride. Never needing to slow or stop and restart like you would on the road, greatly increases your speed.

You vs You – It is easy to feel disappointed about your performance on Zwift compared to other riders. There will always be riders faster than you whether they are cheating or not. Forget about them and focus on yourself and why you are on Zwift

Zwift is a Learning Experience – I’ve learned more about how to improve my cycling performance on Zwift than I have in decades of riding. Zwift inundates you with data. There are distance, elevation, grade, speed, cadence, heart rate and power data on the screen continuously. While the data can be overwhelming at first, it soon becomes easy to see how it all fits together, helping me quantify what is working for me.

Zwift is Addictive – While at its heart Zwift is still an indoor trainer similar to indoor trainers I used in the past and hated, now I love indoor training. So, what makes Zwift different?

Video Game – Perhaps the most obvious difference is the video gaming aspect. You create your avatar and ride to earn points to level up, win unlocks and prizes as you play
.Realistic Ride – With a smart trainer like the Wahoo Kickr, set in ERG mode, the pedaling resistance is adjusted automatically based on the rider and elevations, giving a very realistic feel to the routes. Combined with a Wahoo Kickr Climb, the bike also raises and lowers to match ascents and descents on the route as well, giving realistic physical ques about the route.
Immersive Gameplay. If realistic ride characteristics aren’t enough, with Zwift Play controllers you can steer and brake your bike from your handlebars, making it possible to position your bike in the pack for the best possible draft or breakaway.
Social Media – Like other social media, you can join clubs and follow other riders in Zwift that enjoy similar riding styles and performance levels as you. During rides you can give fellow riders a thumbs up, or even share a little banter or some dad jokes.

My Bike – It is extremely important to me to train indoors on the same bike that I ride outdoors. That is possible using my bike on a Wahoo Kickr on Zwift.

Ken Whittaker

April 5, 2025April 5, 2025

Frivolous or Essential?

Picture of a ROCKBROS AS1 PRO rechargeable bicycle tire pump. — ROCKBROS AS1 PRO

Cyclists are increasingly focused on very precise tire pressures to enhance both performance and comfort. In addition, many hookless wheel and tire systems have inflation limits that if exceeded can damage the wheel and put a rider’s safety at risk. This can leave traditional CO2 inflators and pumps, without a tire pressure gauge, less than adequate for roadside repairs.

However, rather than adding a gauge to the things I’m already carrying, I decided to try ROCKBROS AS1 PRO rechargeable pump. Its weight and size are nearly the same as the two CO2 cartridges and inflator that I was already carrying. So, I switched out the cartridges and inflator for the pump without a weight penalty, while gaining the benefit of a programmable tire pressure gauge that automatically turns off the pump when the tire reaches the desired pressure.

Although I don’t like having one more bicycle device that needs to be charged, I do like the convenience and programmability of the pump. For example, in my case, my Zipp wheelset should never be inflated to more than 5 bar (73 psi). In addition, I am running much lower tire pressures than ever before (see SILCA Professional Tire Pressure Calculator). While I wouldn’t say this type of device is essential, I wouldn’t call it frivolous either.

Ken Whittaker

March 24, 2025March 24, 2025

Two Biggest Mistakes Touring Cyclists Can Make When Setting Up a Tubeless Tire System.

I’ve been touring with tubeless bicycle tires for years and I LOVE them and you will too if you avoid these two simple mistakes.

#1 Drilled Rims

If your tubeless rims have holes drilled in them to accommodate spokes, and need tubeless rim tape to seal those holes, then you have the wrong rims for a tubeless touring system. Touring rims should be much more robust. Use UST (Universal Standard Tubeless) rims and not drilled-rims. UST rims have no holes in the rim except for the valve hole, so they are airtight.

Picture of UST-rim-compare-to-drilled-rim bicycle rims

The rim on the left is a drilled rim with holes that will need rim tape to seal the holes.

The rim on the right is an airtight UST rim with no spoke holes to seal.

#2 Tires Without Butyl Coating Inside

If your tubeless tires aren’t coated with butyl on the inside, you have the wrong tires for a tubeless touring system. Tubeless tires are coated with butyl on the inside and so they are airtight. The tires and rims are so airtight that they will seal without sealant. However, you will want to add sealant so it can repair a puncture.

The tire on the left is a tubeless ready tire coated with latex and is porous.

The tire on the right is a tubeless tire coated with butyl on the inside and is airtight.

The challenge for touring cyclists is that the best setup for a touring bicycle will not be the same as on a mountain or light weight road bike. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of good information available to help in setting up a tubeless touring system right. Touring cyclists need a higher level of reliability with a good high-quality tubeless tire system. Avoid these two simple mistakes and you will also love your tubeless system.

Bicycle Roadside Assistance

Even the best prepared cyclist armed with a multi tool can have a breakdown beyond what they can handle themselves. In those cases, outside help may be needed. However, if you’re on an epic adventure far from home who do you call for help?

It nice to know that assistance is available from the American Automobile Association (AAA) in the USA. All AAA Roadside Assistance plans include bicycle coverage at no additional charge. So, help is only a phone call away at 800-AAA-HELP (800-222-4357). However, to get roadside service, you’ll need to go through membership validation with your AAA Membership card and a photo ID.

While AAA will not repair your disabled bike and they don’t cover transportation due to rider fatigue, their bicycle services does include transporting your bicycle back home, to a bike repair shop, etc. withing the limits of your plan due to a breakdown.

Emergency Bicycle Toolkit

How to prepare for a bicycle breakdown

Have you ever been cycling in a remote area and had a bicycle breakdown? While you can’t be prepared for every eventuality, you can carry 25 of the most common bicycle tools needed for bike repairs with you in your jersey pocket or mini saddle bag.

The Topeak Alien III Multi-Tool includes:

Hex wrenches – 2-L / 2.5 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 10 mm
Torx® wrench – T25
Open wrench – 8 / 10 mm
Box wrench – 9 mm
Spoke wrench – 14G / 15G / Mavic® 7 / Shimano® compatible
Tire lever
#2 Phillips screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver
Chain tool, Chain hook
Serrated knife / saw
Bottle opener
Disc brake spacer

While the Alien III Multi-Tool might seem a bit pricy with a retail price of about $75, when you consider that is only about $3 per tool, the price seems very reasonable. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve relied on the Alien to get me out of a bind. If I could have only one tool, this would be the one.

Note: I rarely write product reviews. When I do, it is always of a product that I use and paid for myself. I do not benefit in any way by my product reviews. I share my opinion of a product with the visitors to this website so they might benefit from my experience with that product.

Ken Whittaker

March 2, 2024October 28, 2025

Best Bicycle Touring Pedals

Bicycle touring generally means long hours on the bike where a rider may become acutely aware of every point that their body comes in contact with the bike. Since I’ve already posted about avoiding a sore butt and numb hands, it’s time to address the third contact point, your feet. It is not uncommon for cyclists to experience hot spots or soreness in their feet while touring. However, with the proper pedals these problems can be completely eliminated.

Shimano XT Touring PD-T8000 SPD Trekking Clipless Pedal

Five Features to Look for in a Touring Pedal

Reliability – First and foremost, look for a good quality, reliable and serviceable pedal. Many of my bicycle adventures take me off road or in areas where bicycle shops may not be readily available. While quality and reliability are important, serviceability is just as important in the rare case that there is a problem.
Comfort – Look for pedals that allow you to change position on the pedal. Being able to change your foot position will increase comfort by reducing the pressure on the same point on your foot and will help to eliminate soreness and hotspots.
Versatility – Look for pedals that can be used with more than just cycling shoes. While I prefer cycling with clipless SPD pedals, there are times when I want to be able get out of my cycling shoes. Who wants to put on their bike shoes to cycle, just to ride over to the restroom on the other side of the campground?
Stability – Look for a pedal that you will feel safe cycling on all terrain and at all speeds. While I like to be clipped into my SPD pedals on a good surface, on difficult terrain or at slow speeds I prefer a wide cleated platform for stability and that I can also easily put a foot down on if necessary.
Visibility – Look for a pedal that will make you more visible to vehicles on the road. I like to make myself as visible as possible on the road, especially at night. I prefer a pedal with reflectors as part of their design.

The best bicycle pedal that meets all my touring requirements is the Shimano XT Touring PD-T8000 SPD Trekking Clipless Pedal. If you know of a better pedal for bicycle touring, please share why in the comments below.

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Ken Whittaker

February 24, 2024February 24, 2024

How to Tell if You’re Ready for an Epic Cycling Adventure

Ken Whittaker with a flute of champaign celebrating his epic adventure cycling coast to coast across the United States — Day 52 – Ken Whittaker

When I originally posted Coast 2 Coast – Cycle Across America, I didn’t include any details about my physical training for cycling across the United States. Even though I was not a young man, I had just signed up for Social Security a few days before leaving on my journey, I didn’t follow a training plan for the epic 3,000 mile cycling adventure.

There was never any doubt in my mind that I could complete the journey. I knew I was ready. Even though I was working a 10 hour-a-day job with a long commute prior to starting my cycling adventure, I still found the time to ride at least 4-5 times a week, every week, week after week. I would ride about 10 miles a day after work on a relatively flat course, riding my single speed bike. On my days off I would ride longer more difficult routes riding my multispeed bike. That’s it. That as my training.

When you look at the numbers, 3,000 miles over 52 days, I averaged 60 miles a day cycling across the United States. But I rarely rode 60 miles while training. I found that distance wasn’t as important to my preparation as consistently riding.

The key to my success was that I rode almost every day. I could feel the improvement every time I got on my bike.

Although I didn’t realize it at the time, riding everyday not only prepared me for the physical challenge but it prepared me for the mental challenge as well. Although it is seldomly talked about, the mental challenge can be more difficult than the physical challenge. During my journey across the country, I realized that having the determination to get up and ride again day after day was a real challenge for me. It was especially challenging for me on cold, windy or rainy days. So, if you are preparing for an epic cycling adventure, the key to success is consistently riding every day beforehand. It is just that simple!

Map of the coast-to-coast route across the United States — Coast-to-coast bicycle route across the United States

Coast 2 Coast – Cycle Across America

Preparation – Cycle Across America

Ken Whittaker

February 17, 2024February 17, 2024

How to Train for an Epic Bicycle Adventure

Topographical map of route through India.

A few of my friends are planning an epic 62 day cycling adventure from the Great Himalayan corridor to the southern tip of India, and they’ve asked me if I would like to join them. Since a good portion of the route will be in the mountains, I’m not sure if I can manage the more difficult climbs, even though my friend has assured me that I have nothing to worry about because cycling from the Himalayan mountains to the southern tip of India is all downhill.

Since the investment in time and money for a cycling adventure of this magnitude is enormous, I want to be sure that I will be successful. One way to prepare for this epic adventure would be to ride the actual route on my indoor trainer before I even set foot in India. Fortunately, with my Garmin Edge 1030, Wahoo Kickr and the course files for the route, I can ride all or select sections of the route virtually. My Garmin Edge has the ability to control the resistance of my trainer to match the actual route’s elevation changes for the route in India. While it may not prepare me for every difficulty that I might encounter, like altitude, weather and road conditions, it will give me a realistic feel for the route and my ability to meet the challenge.

Topographical map of route through the Great Himalayan Mountains. — Sample of the route through the Great Himalayan Mountains.

Using a Garmin Edge to control an ANT+ enabled Smart Trainer in three easy steps.

Pair
- Select Training > Indoor Trainer > Pair ANT+ Bike Trainer.
- Next select indoor trainer check box.
- Then select Add. Once my trainer was paired with my Garmin, the trainer icon appears as a connected sensor.
Send Course to Garmin Device
- Find the desired route from the Garmin Connect website.
- Select Send Course to Device.
Ride Course
- On the Edge, select INDOOR so that the GPS on the device is turned off.
- Next, select Navigation > Courses > Saved Courses.
- Select the course.
- Then select Ride.

That is all there is to it. Now I can test my abilities to handle the climbs in the Great Himalayan corridor from home. I could even ride the whole route beforehand.

Zwift Play Beta Test

Zwift Play is a new innovative product currently in beta test. While the controllers are designed to accompany a new Beta Zwift Play Game Experience, I found them to be a valuable addition to my indoor training setup, simply because they eliminated the need to use the Zwift Companion app while riding indoors.

Prior to Zwift Play, I used to attach my mobile phone to my handlebars to use the Zwift Companion app to access Zwift features. Now I can do everything I used to do on the Zwift Companion app with the Zwift Play controllers. If I never use Zwift Play to steer or brake while riding a Zwift Play Game Experience, I will continue to use the controllers. I think the controllers are a big improvement over using the Zwift Companion app.

However, let’s not forget that the Zwift Play are also game controllers. While I only see Repack Rush featuring the Beta Zwift Play Game Experience, I can’t wait to see what the innovators at Zwift have in store for in the future. I hope the Zwift Play Game experiment succeeds in a cycling world that isn’t known to readily embrace innovation.

If you find it hard to keep a riding streak going week after week or just want to get on your bike on for an easy activity on a rest day, then the Zwift Play Game Experience might be just what you need. Ride on!

Ken Whittaker

February 7, 2024February 7, 2024

Unnecessary Zwift Embellishment?

I’ve always viewed the Wahoo Kickr Climb as an expensive and unnecessary Zwift accessory. While the Kickr Climb may add real time grade changes on Zwift, I viewed it as a $699.99 luxury that I didn’t need. Let’s face it, indoor training is a boring task, and I wasn’t eager to spend more money on an activity I dreaded doing.

However, when I paired the Kickr Climb with my Wahoo Kickr on Zwift, it changed my whole indoor training experience. The boring task of indoor training became fun and exciting. I was absorbed into a very realistic cycling experience. As I traveled the Zwift landscape, I could feel a corresponding change in elevation and pedaling resistance that matched the terrain I was seeing on the screen.

I especially enjoy the rolling routes. I started to factor in the Zwift terrain into my cycling strategy as if I were cycling outside. I would take every advantage of my downhill momentum to take me as far uphill as possible with the least amount of effort. And I was riding faster, farther and enjoying it more because I didn’t have to constantly watch the screen and map elevations. My bike gave me all the necessary queues needed.

3D map of Zwift - R.G.V. in France — Zwift R.G.V. in France

While I still think the Wahoo Kickr Climb is a $699.99 luxury, it may be a good investment if it keeps you motivated with your indoor training. However, if you are riding flat circuits, it is completely unnecessary, and it would be wiser to spend your money elsewhere.

Ken Whittaker