Spoke and Sole

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Welcome to Spoke and Sole, a community built around two things that keep us moving, cycling and running. Whether you're chasing miles, hitting new routes, or just out there for the love of it, you have found your crew. We're here to share stories, tips, and anything that keeps us motivated. So lace up, clip in, and let's get moving with your hosts.

Welcome to Spoke and Sole, home of the essential athlete. I'm Terrance here with Anthony. And today we're gonna talk about preparation, but preparation in the sense of, you never know when the opportunity to train presents itself. So what I like to do is I like to keep a bag in the ride so when the opportunity presents itself, I'm ready. So I wanna first talk about how I came about getting this bag in the car.

And I distinctly remember it was one of those runs we all met up and I can't remember what the location was, but we met up and you know how we do, we always clowning. And you pulled out this giant bag

and you always

had this bag. You had Bazooka Joe's in this I mean, you had all kinds of stuff in this bag and we used to clown you for having this bag. But talk to me about your bag game and how all that came about. Almost started off with, If I don't do nothing on my ball I'm going all day like a clock on the wall

Go ahead little duffle bag boy. So I'm setting it up like that because, I think how the bags came about is that, for me anyway, was that listen bro, when we were training for like the marathon, anything could happen. Like we were doing like all varieties of different trainings. So like, and I think he joined us for a couple of months. There was a couple of them that we were running nine, ten midnight, eleven, 12:00 at night.

Sometimes we were running in the morning.

Yeah. Y'all was crazy for that. Midnight runs. I was crazy for that.

So we were out there and anything could happen. Just like that day when we were all out, me, you, court.

You're talking about Monique?

And Monique, and and the rain hit. So my thing was anything, you know, like anything can happen on race day, anything can happen on training day. You know, we always jump on the weather app to see what it's gonna be like, but sometimes the math, they math them with the, you know, with the weather. So for me, that's how it came about and how, like, different things will come up. You know, sometimes, you know, you get out there and, you know, the shoe might not feel the way that it was supposed to feel or, you know, it might be colder, it might be hotter.

Yeah, true. So for me, it was like, I never wanted to have a reason not to be ready. You know what I mean? So for me, that's why that bag came up where it was like, all right, I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed so I never had an excuse.

Yeah, and that brings up a point, particularly when, you know, we had talked about how from a scheduling perspective, sometimes it's not easy to fit in when you gotta actually train. But when the opportunity presents itself and you're prepared, that makes it much easier, So the try bag. The try bag. Now I said you had everything in that bag from Bazooka Joe's to Uncrustables. Talk to me about what goes into that bag to make sure that you're prepared for whatever it is you need to get or do when you're out there?

So my tri bag is like my super essentials. Like honestly, I could do, I could either, I could run, bike, or swim out of that bag.

Yep.

And it originated from once I started doing the triathlons where it was a race day bag. So like on the days of the triathlons, you gotta make sure you have all those things. So like the, believe it or not, the bag is like, it's a transformers bag. You can zip that joint out, It's waterproof. It has all the stuff you need.

So, in my bag, I have everything in that bag. Like I have, what? I got goos in there. I got hair ties. I got lotion.

I got extra sun glossy- The

lotion is crazy. The lotion is crazy.

I got Vaseline in there.

Now listen.

Vaseline is, listen Vaseline.

I'm not talking about the Vaseline. You better handle baby oil in there.

No, I got no Diddy oil in there. I got no Diddy Bob oil in there. No Diddy Bob oil, but I got Vaseline in there. I have, you know, I would keep gloves because you know my phalanges, you know about my glove legs. So I, listen, I got about four or five varieties of gloves in there.

I have, I got the stretch bands, for training. Like sometimes, actually if you feel like on the days if you're really tight, have that in there. I keep a pair of extra running shoes in there in case when we happen to run out, we happen to go and do whatever we're doing, if I feel like I'm good enough for a run, I pull the bags out of there, you know, I pull those out of there. I keep, my helmet in there, obviously. I keep extra socks.

I keep a lot of extra running socks cause I only wear the toe socks.

Listen, and the funny thing about that is hearing that you keep socks in there is when you're training for tries, you don't wear no socks.

Nope, I don't wear no socks. You know, and that's just because it's a timing thing because, you know, you got more time in, in a transition. So it adds a time onto it. And sometimes, depending upon the types of socks and how long that triathlon is, if you wear a sock, it's gonna, you know, you're gonna get chafing between your toes, which is why I wear the toe socks.

Toe socks. I'm a tell you something, you put me under those toe socks. Those toe socks, so there was a point in time where I started to get blisters from all the running. But when I switched to those toe socks, them blisters, they went right away. So I wanna talk about the bag that I keep in my car.

And I I mean, I started keeping the bag after I saw you in there and I started keeping it tucked away in the back. I got this little load out in the back and I was keeping it tucked away in there. And I'm a talk about some of the stuff that I keep from a cycling perspective in the bag. And from cycling, you know, there's two bags. There's one that I keep in the car, but then there's the saddle that goes onto the back of the bike.

But I'm gonna talk about what I keep in the actual car at all I keep my cycling shoes in the bag. And I'm gonna tell you why I keep cycling shoes in the bag, because I learned from Jose. Shout out to Jose. Jose and used to show up to the not only would Jose be late.

He'd forget his

shoes. He'd forget his shoes.

I do remember that.

And the challenge with that is if you're on a road bike with the pedals we use, you can't ride without your shoes.

Yeah, right.

So I make sure I keep a pair of shoes in there, you know, because you, and I used to rock the old man white joints, then I switched to the red And now I got the green ones.

Do we name those? I gotta name those. Those are the green goblins. That's what we're naming them joints.

I keep an extra kid in there. Always have extra clothes in there. And that's just because sometimes, depending on Here's what I found. I don't even I'm trying to remember the brand and I'm not even gonna say the brand because I ain't giving no free shots out. But anyway, I had a kit and I had the shirt and I put it on and it was tight, man.

The sizing between different brands is different. And it was the first time that I was wearing that. And I ended up saying, Hey Scott, you can take this because it was just squeezing the life out

of me. Know what I love baby. I love.

Keep that in there. Arm sleeves. Yep. Keep the arm sleeves in there because again, from a weather perspective, you don't know what you're gonna get. And it's funny because from a running perspective, you know, always say this, I'm undefeated against the elements, but cycling is a different breed.

All different. You do say that all the time and you're absolutely right. You're right.

Depending on the weather, I'm gonna say this, depends on how much or if I'm gonna actually cycle. I'll run-in the rain, I'll run-in the snow, all that stuff is doable. One, ain't And I think I mentioned this on one show. I remember after that storm that we had in January, the second one, where a whole bunch of stuff shut down. The next day I was driving to work, I saw two people, they were walking them, but they were in that snow with their bikes.

And it was like 06:30 in the morning.

I feel you on that. And I think the ride back is important, you know, like what you said, and I agree. And that drive back, I do have, some ride essentials as well. And I will, I actually, now that we're talking we're back into the season that's a good segue too because if you recall when I came out I had I had on one outfit and then you and I changed into another because of my bag I think I had and I

was about to call you Tyrese.

Yes. You see

that, did you see that, that versus Tyrese and Tech? Tyrese changed like 10 times.

He said Tyrese. But now it was because you had made a great point, you know, we, and again, the weather shifts. So initially, you know, it said it was going be this way. Once we got there, we knew we thought it was going to be a certain way. So, you know, it ended up where it was going to warm up faster.

Yeah.

So instead of weighing the tights or whatever, I had the arm sleeves. And, I also want to make a good point too, which we should talk about for other runners. I mean, for riders, I'm sorry. You need to have that stuff too sometimes for protection. I didn't mention it, but I actually, I was very glad that we ended up having that kit and switched out to the arm sleeves.

Because I actually, I don't know if you recall me slowing down for a little bit during the ride. I had a tick.

Oh, you did you?

Yeah, I had a tick. I had like two ticks on the arm sleeves. So it was actually good that we ended up using those because that ended up being for protection. So again, you know, keeping those safety things that go in and having it so that, you know, if the ride is going be warmer, or warmer or colder, you have that. And actually, even if you're going to end up going longer too.

You know, because like you said, you know, the ride and the run are totally different where, you know, and I'm like you, like you, you know me, like after it's a certain temperature, nope.

Yeah. But listen, the arm sleeves to me are the most versatile piece of cycling equipment you can actually have. I love them because we tend to ride earlier in the morning and it's cooler But in the as the day progresses, it starts to get warmer. Those arm sleeves are easy enough to pull off, roll up, put them in that back pocket and keep it moving. And from, you know, the difference between running and cycling.

So typically if I'm gonna run, I'm gonna dress like it's gonna be five to 10 degrees warmer. As opposed to cycling, I do the opposite. Right? Because you factor in that motion, the wind and all those things.

Wind and that's tricky.

So the arm sleeves are incredible. The other part that, the other thing that I keep in there is I also keep, I'm gonna call it a cyclin scully, because it's not a cap, but it's basically moisture wicking, for lack of a better term, wrap that goes on, does two things. One, it does wick the sweat and it keeps it off my head, but at the same time, the sun coming through the top of the helmet, it gives me a little protection because you know, you know what I mean? I got the dome up the top, I gotta make sure I protect the dome. So I keep those in there.

And I'm making a conscious effort to stop saying so much. But additionally, sunglasses. I always keep an extra And the funny thing is last week, I didn't realize it, I had the wrong sunglasses on because I was using the ones that were

in the

bag as opposed to the ones, because I switched it up. I think I showed you.

You said that too. I ended up putting the

shelf over there where I keep my cycling stuff next to the trainer. I had the wrong sunglasses on and I realized it too late, but I mean, they worked out.

Absolutely about that. And I think the, you know, when we talk about, you know, things and essentials, the sunglasses are very important, you know, because, you know-

They serve two purposes.

Yes, serve, I mean, fashion, of course.

That wasn't one of them.

Functionality is the second one, but you know, listen, I'm not gonna front, you know, like if out there, you know, and I, and it was all black, we gotta go with the black, you know, if it has some hints of color, you know, and we wanted the pop, we throw the white ones with the black.

Truth be told, whether it's cycling or running, there's always a bit of fashion or a bit of swag with the fit. There's always something, there's always thought that goes

into Of Of course. And I think that, you know, it's just how we do. You know, I always tell people, you know, like, mean, if I'm gonna be out there, I I gotta look good. You know I mean? I gotta stay photograph ready.

And I think, you know, one of the other things that we should talk a little bit about is the cycling cups, you know, as far as our

Oh, yeah, yeah.

But those, the water bottles that we use are important too, you know? And shout out to court with those those metal bangers. Those metal. They both killed us. Piece of advice.

If you're just getting into cycling and you get you go and you get your water bottles. Don't get the metal ones. I don't know. I had never seen

Yeah. Never saw those either.

Metal water bottles. First off, I think they weighed, five pounds each.

You hear them hit the bank on? Bang. Yeah. And and and when

they fell out of the the the, you know, the rack and it hit the concrete

You can hear them.

I'm like, man, I thought corpse felon hit his head.

It was, like, ringing a bell.

The and so here's a here's a good reason to keep the water bottles in a bag in the car. Because, well, it's a double edged sword. I like keeping them in the car. I typically put them in there or in the bag the night before. Because what that does is it forces me to make sure that I'm not forgetting whatever I'm using from a hydration perspective.

Right? I've actually been in situations where the night before, rather than have the bottles in the car and keeping the hydration in the fridge, I put the hydration, whether it be what is it? Baby. Tailwind, Whether it's the tail wind or water, I made the mistake of putting the tailwind into the actual water bottle and putting it in the refrigerator in the garage and then getting in the car and taking off. Yeah.

Because-

That's what I was about, yeah. I forgot about it. You know what

I mean? And so I ended up having to come back. But you wanna be careful, wanna keep If you're putting the water bottles in the car, make sure that you put something in them before you get out there. But if you do get out there and you don't have nothing, I always keep that's the other thing. I don't keep it in the bag.

I'm gonna talk about what I keep in the saddle in a second, but there's one thing that I wanna get to before I get to the saddle bag, and that's the gloves. Oh yeah, man.

Yeah, Listen. The gloves. And I keep Tukon. Oh, okay.

See. I keep the cutoffs. Yeah. You know what I mean? And then I keep the light full finger ones because again, if there's a chance that might rain, I like having those to cover the full tips of actual fingers until I can get out of the rain as quick as possible.

Listen, you know you ain't gotta even ask me. I'm, you know I'm endorsing that because you know I'm all about the gloves, man. I am all about the gloves, but I agree. And I think, I know some riders don't ride with gloves. I actually, I like them because at least I can grip.

Grip, Yeah.

I got, can get a good grip, especially for me, especially because I'm not, you know, I struggle on the climb. So like the, you know, on the straightaways, don't really have a problem with that, but I tend to like really try to grip when I'm pulling to try to climb up whatever that climb is. So for me, the gloves really help at that particular point. And I hate when my if my hands or my feet get cold on the ride, it's a wrap for me. It's a wrap.

Here's why I like the gloves so much. You crash, you fall, your hand's going down.

You're absolutely right about that.

That protection for the palm is crucial because if you rip that up, it's gonna be very difficult to hold on to those bars to continue that ride.

Yeah. And running too. I mean, you know, a funny story is about a couple weeks ago, Court and I were running and he was climbing. He's like, Oh, why are wearing those gloves? And I was like, Oh, man, it's kinda cool.

And I have my gloves on I fell

I know why he said

that though Yeah I know and I you know I fell and the gloves like you said I mean it braced to fall you and know again I think also from just a standpoint of where you know, certain parts of your body, if they warm up, it helps to warm the rest of the body up. For me, like, I never, you know, I never really have a problem with my legs or my, or my core staying warm. It's like my hands and my feet are like the hardest thing for me to regulate. That's why, like, I'm a big fan of the gloves.

All right. So let's talk about the saddlebag. The saddlebag is that little bag that actually goes on the back. And, excuse me, from equipment perspective, there are some things that I would normally keep in the bag, but I take them out from time to time from a cycling perspective because they need juice. And they don't go in a saddle bag, and I'm talking about bike computer, lights, things like that.

But in the saddle bag, very important, I'm gonna tell you what I keep in there. First and foremost, a multi tool. So stuff pops off, I got whatever tool I need to try to fix whatever the situation is. Although from a tire perspective, typically my tires actually have the little tool that's built into it that you can pull out and turn the spool. But the multi tool is very important.

I run tubeless. So I keep I'm gonna get to what you're thinking about, but I keep a patch, right, in there. I have this little kit that has, for lack of a better term, they're called bacon strips, right? So you get a puncture, there's a tool that you can use to plug that up until you can get to a point where the tire can get repaired. That's if the sealant doesn't actually seal itself.

But, well, not but, I also keep two c o twos along with the dispenser in the saddlebag. Now, as of the end of last season, maybe the middle of last season, I also started carrying an inner tube, not just in the saddlebag, but in the back of my actual shirt. And the reason for that is, as you know, that one particular ride, again, I'm running tubeless, I got not just one, but two And the CO2 was the tires.

And at that time, I don't know why it did make the bike feel so much faster, but I was running racing tires on the bike at that And that road was horrible.

And I hit one pothole with both tires.

Remember that, yep.

With both tires. And if Chicken, I'm gonna give a shout out to Chicken and John Gambino, if they were not there with those inner tubes, I would have to call an actual Uber because the inner tubes actually help me out. And so now I keep those inner tubes. And if you remember, we were doing this ride and we came across Nico.

Nico, yeah.

And Nico was running tubeless.

We went through, I remember that day too, we went through at least four CO2s. Yeah. Like we were going through those. Yeah. It was amazing that we got through it.

Nico was running tubeless. He caught a flat. It didn't seal. And fortunately I ended up having a inner tube.

Inner tube, yeah.

And I used that inner tube to fix his flat. So that's what I keep in the saddlebag. And I think it's important for me at least to mention that that bag, or being a bag boy, It does a lot for my mental health. And when I say mental health, what I mean is from a prepared perspective is something that I don't have to think about because if I keep that bag stocked, if an opportunity presents itself, I know

I'm Absolutely right. It's a peace of mind. And I, and, you know, I think there's some honorable mentions that we, that we should have put on that list. Oh yeah. Specifically, you know, we, we, we keep, we keep, we keep about some, we keep like $20.25 bill in that bag too.

So we keep that because in case we gotta roll off and we gotta hit the store and get that Doctor Pepper or Coke hit.

Yeah, but you, so here's what I started doing. I used to keep that in the saddle bag, but I moved it to the zipper pocket. And I'll tell you why. I opened the saddle bag once and that money came out.

Oh, okay.

Because the one that I have two. Some of the saddle bags have a little slot at the top.

Yes, that's exactly what I was

thinking. I don't believe mine has that slot at the top.

That's where I put I put a $25 bill right there. Well, you

put $25 If you got a $25 bill, listen, you got a counterfeit ring running. I ain't trying to incriminate you in that.

Ain't trying to incriminate you. We'll take that offline, but keep that there. You know, a couple other things, I may keep, you know, sometimes I'll keep my key depending upon like how, you know, if what kind of kid I have I'll put that there depending on that too but again you covered all those things and it is a peace of mind and on top of the saddlebag like you said a couple of things that I carry and you know experience is the best teacher yes You know like what and I'm still mad I didn't get my hundredth you know when I think we were at that was at the the the it was the hundredth the honorary ride for Jose and

Yeah the flat it was the flattest the

The flattest And I caught that. And even now for me, like you said, like for preparation, for peace of mind, you know, not only did I catch a flat, but the tire blew too. So couldn't even repair it. So for me, it depends on the rides as well. Like if we go anything over 50, I got the extra tire.

You know, you'll see me with that little black bag that's strapped around. Listen, I got two, I got two tires in there just because like, I don't ever wanna get caught out there again.

No, I remember you started carrying the tire. I'm like, The tire man? I don't like a tire?

Listen, listen, I mean, you know, on those long rides and especially because we go everywhere, you know? So to me, I never wanna get caught out there or I have to put, again, it's a convenience for everyone because if the riders gotta come back, you came back to get me, you had to go, come back. And I had to see all these people that were harassing me in between then.

That day was crazy, man, because you have to keep this in mind. So I have exercise induced anaphylaxis. That means I can't eat anything during a ride or a run. And so I rode that century on nothing but fluids. I was starving.

And I was like, I gotta go get ant, I gotta If you remember,

I went and I grabbed some honey buns.

Honey buns, yeah. I do remember. I was

like, yo, listen.

The honey buns are I gotta

get something to eat. I ain't got no fuel. They grabbed me some honey buns.

Those honey buns was knocking.

Yeah. I to keep my key in a saddlebag too. But then again, like I said, once And I think part of it is the way some of them actually open. And I think the saddlebags that I use, I tend to use the smaller ones because I have the VarioLite on the back that has the actual video recording on it. Depending on which bike it is, the RedJoint for one reason or another,

I'm forgetting the actual name of

it. The frame is more aggressive from, it's not rounded, right? So from an aero perspective, it's more aggressive. So the way that that bag attaches, I have to use a smaller bag and I just didn't wanna worry about the stuff falling out. So now I make sure that every kit that I'm actually rocking with has a zipper and I keep the cash and the key in there.

And I think too, you know, the point we should make is some of the bikes, some of the new bikes are off the chain in terms of they have Yeah, you're the back. The three times black has-

Has the compartment.

Has a little compartment on it.

Which I think is phenomenal, man.

It is, it is, which frees up some things in there. So, you know, it has like the whole little multi tool kit, you know, with CO2 and all that, like built it, built right in, which is cool.

Yeah, can't believe I forgot the Madone.

Madone, yeah. I forgot the name of the Madone.

Yeah, so the Madone has that arrow design and so I can't keep well, the bag the way that the bag attaches, actually, in the way that the Varia, attaches is is is a little different. Whereas the Amanda, it's very easy to actually attach that to it. So

And the Amanda is my favorite bike, by the way. I love I I I love that.

I'm a tell you this.

I love that. That's my favorite bike.

When I put the when I put the racing tires on that Armada, I felt that that Armada with those racing tires was much faster than the Madone.

You know, I definitely agree because

And I will say this, it definitely was the tires because when those tires blew and I put regular tires on it, it was not faster than the Madone, which is more aero for What I should do is I should put some racing tires on the Madone and then see how that actually feels.

I like to I like to see that. That that'd be nice to see what the comparison would be. Yeah. You know?

But in short, and in closing, at the end of the day, having those bags provide you with two things. One, it's gonna provide you with a peace of mind. Second, again, when you're trying to balance work, family, and training, being prepared only makes all that a little easier for you.

Much easier.

So by having that bag, it provides you the opportunity to have a little bit less stress and allows you to be prepared for almost any situation, assuming if you're gonna be cycling, you got the bike in the back, but from a running perspective, you can pop off and do a run. And in your case with those bands, you can be out there in the park doing whatever it is you need to do with those bands at any point in time.

And less excuses too. Think a lot of times, you know, from people who wanna exercise always an excuse, you know, I've got this, I've got that, you know. If it's all there, like you really, you don't have an excuse not to, becomes a will thing, you know, and not really, I'm not prepared. It's like, you got everything there, you know, so you have no reason not to. You know, like you said, unless it's the elements.

I mean, now if it's the rain, you know, I don't ride in the rain, if it's raining, So it's a

from a preparedness perspective, from the ability to have less stress from a mental perspective, get yourself a bag, keep that bag in your trunk and make sure you got all the essentials that you need in there. Till next time, keep those wheels turning, those feet moving. We'll see you on the road.