HITTING THE ROAD> FAQS> FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS "Ask The Fitness Chick" by Selene Yeager, Bicycling Magazine "I know I need to eat after a ride, but I don't have the patience to cook. What are some quick--but good--post-ride meals?" One rule: Aim for a high-carb meal that includes some protein. This restores muscle glycogen as quickly and efficiently as possible. You want 0.5 grams of carbo per pound of body weight, and about a quarter as much protein, within an hour post-ride. If you're a 175-pound cyclist, that's about 87 grams of carbo and 44 grams of protein. If you're doing something intense, like racing, bump up to about 1 gram of carbo per pound of body weight. "Once a week, I do a 22-mile ride to the bike park, ride, and then come back. I'm 15 years old. Is this too much?" Ride on, brother. If you've been riding regularly for a good year or so--you didn't just leap off your couch after 10 years of playing Nintendo--and you keep yourself properly hydrated by drinking at least a bottle of water an hour along the way, you've got nothing to worry about. "I wouldn't want to see a 15-year-old pushing hard for much longer distances, like 60-plus miles, because he's still growing and developing," says exercise physiologist Charles T. Kuntzleman, Ed.D., who runs the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Fitness for Youth program. My wife wants a comfy town bike. She's looking for something that she can use to run errands and ride on the road. Any suggestions? Pat, before you two go bike shopping, you should understand the difference between a comfort bike and a hybrid bike. Comfort bikes generally are super-comfy mountain bike-type bicycles with very upright positioning, massive saddles and some suspension-they're best used for cruising the boardwalk. "Hybrids" are more utilitarian--thinner 700c wheels for speed, and positioning that's slightly more upright than a road bike. A recent trend is costlier hybrids with high-end components for more-serious riders who aren't willing to commit to drop bars and that stretched-out aero position. For the very best of all worlds, your wife should consider a quality hybrid. If she plans on doing some serious riding eventually, expand your search to cyclocross bikes--they're relatively light, built for speed, but more comfortable than a true roadie. The brake levers on my daughter's mountain bike are too far away for her to grab safely. How do I get the levers closer to the bar? If the levers have reach adjustment-most levers today do-just dial it in. Most require a 2mm hex wrench. Dial the little bolt clockwise to move the lever closer to the bar. If the levers don't have the adjustment, go buy new levers for 15 bucks. The brake lever should be close enough to the bar so your daughter can wrap her index finger around it and still have a firm grip on the bar. She shouldn't have to twist her wrists up to reach the lever. The guy at the bike shop told me to replace my 3-year-old, never-crashed helmet. Is he worried about my brain or my cash? Three years is about middle age. Most manufacturers recommend replacement after seven years, but that's a generalization. It depends how much you used it, how roughly you transported it and how much it was exposed to sun and heat. Fading color, delamination and distorted internal foam (not to mention cracks) indicate time for replacement. One rule: Always replace your helmet after a crash. (Some manufacturers even offer special replacement warranties on crashes.)