If you watch a major bicycle race on TV, you have to be impressed by how the riders can eat enough to sustain them through races that require more than five hours of near maximum effort. If they do not get enough food during their ride, they can fall off their bikes, lie on the ground unconscious and start to shake all over in a in a massive convulsion. This is called bonking: passing out from low blood sugar.

Your brain gets almost all of its fuel from sugar in your bloodstream. When your blood sugar level drops, your brain cannot get enough fuel to function properly, you feel tired and confused and can pass out. There is only enough sugar in your bloodstream to last three minutes. To keep your blood sugar level from dropping, your liver must constantly release sugar from its cells into your bloodstream, but there is only enough sugar in your liver to last 12 hours at rest. During intense exercise, your muscles draw sugar from your bloodstream at a rapid rate. Your liver can run out of its stored sugar and your blood sugar level can drop, and you bonk.

Bonking is common in bicycle races if a rider does not eat frequently, but is rare in long distance running races. When you run, your leg muscles are damaged from the constant pounding on the roads and you must slow down. However, you pedal in a smooth rotary motion which does not damage your muscles, so you can continue to pedal at a rapid cadence for many hours.

To prevent your blood sugar from dropping too low during intense exercise lasting more than two hours, eat at least every 15 minutes. It doesn’t matter what you eat: salted peanuts, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chicken, an apple, a banana or anything else. Almost all fit people can take small amounts of food frequently during exercise without developing stomach cramps.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

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We’re often nagged by the need to “work out” more but so many things stop us. We see people packed into gymnasiums doing workouts, and consider : well, I have to travel to the gym, pay up my member’s fee, then lift some weights. It just seems like a lot of hassle, can’t I do something that’s not going to blow too much of my time - something that’s even practical?

So you might consider bicycling, as bicycling around is a superb way to get fit. You can ride to work or do some shopping, so it’s rather pragmatic. It’s also very cheap - there’s no petrol involved and the running costs are almost nothing. It’s also very “green”. Oh, and it improves your health too!

Still, lots of people are put off getting a bike since it’s just TOO much effort. As odd as it sounds, consider that they might be elderly, have a particular ailment, be elderly, or live in a hilly location that make bicycling too much effort for their abilities. Also for a few people, it’s not practical cycling to work simply because they sweat too much because of the efforts of cycling.

Now it’s time to introduce electric bikes. Electric bikes let your legs have a rest on the tricky slopes simply by turning your hand on the grip and allowing the electric motor take the strain - pedalling is no longer required then. Then when you’re ready to switch to manual, just pedal. You get moderate exercise and fresh air without breaking a sweat. Electric bikes are also very cheap to operate necessitating only a daily battery re-charge if you cycle about 30-40k a day, although most individuals need only a couple of recharges a week since they’re not doing this kind of distance. You can find a local supplier of ebikes by searching on the internet.

Nowadays the actual cost of buying an e-bike have come right down in price, so you can find yourself saving a lot of dosh on gym memberships, fuel, bus fares etc. by buying and on a regular basis using an e-bike.

Got a young toddler in your family? Well then perhaps you should consider buying a scooter. Tri scooters are fantastic for the general development of youngsters assisting them to get to grips with control and get them ready for their future experiences with a cycle when they are grow up.

Teaching a child to ride the greatest toy ever is simpler than most parents think. Each parent is proud to see there youngster ride their new toy. One of the easiest tactics when showing them how to ride is to start them out on a tri scooter. This is a scooter with a pair of wheels at one end and a single wheel at the other end. The great thing about a tri scooter is that the extra wheel gives it better stability so it makes it easier for very small children to learn to ride. Tri scooters come in a variety of styles as well, mostly based on common kids TV shows.

The entire concept of being nearer to the pavement and having one foot on the ground, gives them a much greater feeling of being in control. No need to stress over instructing them how to ride a scooter. A common technique is to let youngsters do what they do well. Just let them play. They will be riding that scooter in no time, usually within a week or so.

Tri scooter makers take utmost care to make the products appealable to the kids while still ensuring safety. And what is a better attraction to children than their loved TV characters?

Though themed differently, all of the tri scooters score high on safety and comfort. The body has been kept easy to handle and the scooter is extraordinarily transportable. The user comments for the scooters have been really positive with buyers loving their ability to engross the kids attention while still helping them learn some very important lessons.