Bicycling perfect way for hunters, anglers to keep fit

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Ken Allen

I want to share a little secret with you, and I say "secret" because it is almost sacrilegious for an angler-hunter to admit the following. Many years ago, when snowy winds soughed under the eaves, my thoughts drifted to spring afternoons on a river, casting dry flies to rising trout. These days, though, my winter day dreams often include images of bicycling down a country road with overhanging trees and shadowed splotches on pavement

Yes, bicycling in Maine has everything to recommend it -- wonderful exercise, great scenery, low traffic (by New England standards), camaraderie and rugged hills that arguably change this aerobic workout to anaerobic, which needs a brief explanation. Bicycling up a long, gently sloping incline can feel as aerobic as dancing, but a steep ridge can make bikers think that they are on a leg-lifting machine, trying to move 200 pounds.

Why should anglers and hunters pick up another sport such as bicycling? One perfect reason is conditioning. Bikes offer us a cardiovascular regimen that makes it a snap to walk hardwood ridges in the fall or wade deep currents in the spring. In short, besides bicycling being just plain fun, the sport makes hunting and fishing just that more enjoyable. After deer hunting or fishing hard since dawn, it just feels great to have spring in your legs late in the day.

Another reason for getting into bicycling is this: 1) Bikers pedaling along a road can silently approach a small patch of deer woods for an evening vigil, or better yet, easily traverse north-country roads behind gates, where landowners prohibit motorized access but allow bikes. The latter opens up opportunities for superb angling away from crowds.

In 1988, I started bicycling with a Huffy 3-speed bought in a lawn sale. Seventeen years and three bikes later, the sport has definitely hooked me good. I urge young and old alike to get into this fun exercise.

In my humble opinion, April 2005 has been much warmer biking than last April, which seemed unusually cold. This spring, I've been at it since March 31 and have biked every day since -- except when it has rained or been really freezing like last Tuesday.

Jolie, my constant biking companion, and I begin each spring slowly by doing seven to 10 miles a day, which brings up an important point about bicycling. To walkers or joggers, 10 miles sounds like a long distance, but on a bike, this is indeed a short pedal. By May, Jolie and I get up to 25 miles per day, which might look impressive until talking with those hard chargers on road bikes, who routinely do 50 miles per day and may do a 100-miler on a Saturday.

The varied length of day trips is the beauty of biking. Newcomers and veterans alike can go at their own speed. By late June when fishing slows, I pedal 125 to 150 miles per week and Jolie does a little less, about 80 to 100 miles. Our output may sound puny compared to guys doing 100 miles and more per day, but the weight drops off anyway. By hunting season, walking all day is no problem.

When people talk to me about getting into bicycling, they often tell me that hilly terrain around their home stops them from taking the leap.

Once a newbie gets biking legs, though, hills are a non-issue. I have never talked to a serious biker, who has told me that he or she disliked climbing. It is superb exercise, and hills often mean great scenery and cool breezes.

Occasionally, people talk about bad knees, stopping them from bicycling.ÊBikes are good for strengthening knees, and in fact, I have a friend who severely injured his knee during a tennis match and needed surgery. The doctor encouraged him to start a biking program to strengthen the knee after the operation.

Some folks complain to me that biking bothers their knees, which tells me one of two of things: they are climbing hills in too high of a gear, or their seat is too high, which hyper-extends the knee too much while pedaling.Ê

Folks at bike shops can tell you how to decide on the proper climbing gears and also suggest the right seat height. Once you have the seat adjusted properly, mark the post with a waterproof marker or scribe. Seat posts sometimes slide ever so slowly down into the frame over a period of weeks, explaining the marker suggestion. When the seat is too low, it strains the tendons on the inside top of the legs.

The Maine Department of Transportation put out a wonderful, free booklet for bicyclists -- "Explore Maine by Bike," which includes foldout maps of 25 bicycle loops around the state.Ê

Information on how to get this booklet is available from the Maine Department of Transportation, #16 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0016; www.exploremaine.org/bike, 624-3252.

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This year, the Rapid River in the Rangeley Region has a barb-less hook regulation, which has generated questions galore from fly rodders who trek to this fly-fishing-only water.

Recently, Col. Thomas Santaguida, of the Maine Warden Service, answered two common concerns for me.

First, it is legal to make a barbed hook barb-less by squashing the barb down, and two, it is legal to carry barbed hooks -- say in boxes in a vest -- while fishing the Rapid as long as folks do not use them on this river.

Col. Santaguida made it a point to say that the Warden Service did not want to inconvenience anglers with this new regulation.

Most fly rodders own hundreds of barbed flies, which can easily be made barb-less with pliers. After squashing the barb, I often file the point a little to get rid of excess metal.

If it were illegal to squash barbs, Maine anglers statewide would lose millions of dollars worth of flies. (I personally own about $2,800 worth of barbed flies -- current market value.) I squash the barb with needle-nosed pliers and file the barb as I use them.

Ken Allen, of Belgrade Lakes, is a writer, editor and photographer. To reach him, send e-mail to KAllyn800@aol.com