Cycling Tips

CyclingTipsBlog.com

2009-04-19T06:24:00.000+10:00

Folks, just a quick reminder that I've transferred all content to CyclingTipsBlog.com. This is the site that I'll regularly update, put widgets on and continue to evolve. I'll keep updating this site for the next while, but if you haven't already please updates your bookmarks.

Thanks for reading...

Victory Salute Like A PRO

2009-04-17T18:44:00.000+10:00

Bike racing and cycling is filled with unwritten rules and etiquette. Above all, style is paramount. All else is of little importance. You're only as good as your last race. I regularly get ridiculed for all my unwitting blunders. However, I know full well that it's part of the Cyclists' Code to mock the ignorant.

For those of you who have been holding back on winning races because you just don't know what you would do when crossing the finish line, allow me to give a few pointers. After you master these important TIPS, it's off to the Pro Tour you go.

Victory Salute Like A PRO

The Solo Victory

1. Ensure one's jersey is fastened to the top and shall be perfectly aligned so all title sponsors are clearly visible.

2 One shall take a quick look behind prior to victory to gloat at the peloton's futile second place sprint.

3. One shall prepare far in advance (preferably in front of mirror) for thee victory salute that shall be unleashed. One shall look 100% confident that this has been done thousand times before.

4. One shall cloak all signs of fatigue at any cost. A war-cry of aggression is acceptable emotion to be displayed.

5. One shall hold the victory salute for minimum of 20 seconds and heed placing hands on bars until soigneur approaches with towel and waterbottle directly before post-race interview.

The Sprint Victory

1. In a sprint finish, one often does not know if the race has been won or lost until centimeters before the finish line. Even so, one's victory salute still requires to have been thought out and practiced. Preparation is key. Omit training sessions if necessary. Sprinters do not train. It is a sign of weakness.

2. It is preferable that one will cross the line with victory salute displayed well before or during the sprint to the finish.

3. Never will one go past the finish line without having a victory salute for the cameras. This is a sign of humbleness (and mistaken for arrogance) and is as good as coming in last.

4. Again, all signs of fatigue are forbidden.

Let me suggest the following salutes:

The Classic. Two hands thrown in the air over one's head

The Chin-up. Another classic

The Crucifix. One must use with care. Only for true champions.

The Single Fisted Punch. Notice the slight backward lean and superb posture.

The Handgun. One needs to be sufficiently gifted to pull this off. Reserved for decisive day of Grand Tour on epic mountain top finish.

The Understated Salute. For the truly humble competitor

Thank The Lord. To be used by one of Italian or Spanish decent. Ideally, kiss crucifix on gold chain, trace sign of the cross on chest, look to the heavens and thank God for the courage he's given on this epic day. Dedication of the victory to one's teammate who passed away last year is highly regarded.

The Unwritten Rules Now Written: Some simple rules regarding the various victory salutes that shall not be forgotten.

1. Arms are to be 180 degrees straight. If bending towards 200 degrees is possible, even better.

2. Palms are to be pointed outwards to the cameras to show sponsorhip on gloves

3. Always zip jersey to the collar when the cameras are on. No one needs to see this:

4. Again, expression of fatigue is absolutely forbidden. The exception to this rule is when on the junk, do not make it too obvious. A slight expression of pain may be necessary to cover up any suspicion. You see Cadel's face everytime he crosses the finish line? You know a guy with that much suffering on his face is clean as a whistle.

5. Tears of joy is permitted only if from Italian decent. Otherwise this is not acceptable.

6. Expression of surprise or shock of winning is absolutely forbidden. Multiple Tour stage victories is the only redemption for this.

7. Multiple race victories warrants this to be pointed out.

8. Expressions of childlike joy is largely frowned upon. Garro's cool though...

9. When you drag the 39yr old Statesman to the line and then pips you at the finish, it is acceptable to raise your arm and bow your head in honor and admiration. You are his subservient domestique and it is written in your contract to make him look good during his final days before Masters racing.

10. Leadout man to salute in celebrating your victory is permitted. Even though he got dropped at the final corner and you had to close his gap, he shall receive a piece of your glory for his feeble efforts.

11. Generally the rules state that you may only raise a single arm up as the leadout man. However, you may display the double arm salute if you let your teammate take the win. As one expert commented, this is the now banned "YMCA Salute"

12. Double points are awarded for the victory salute before the finish line in a bunch sprint

13. A clear indication of who your sponsors are always pleases them. Alternatively, it is permissible to let the world know who's the real boss if the win was inevitable with or without those pesky sponsors or teammates.

14. If by fluke some neo-pro pips you at the line and you've already begun your victory salute, ABORT. Retreat hands back on the bars as quickly as possible and make like it never happened. You let him win - that's the story and stick to it.

15. Under no circumstances will second place suffice. The only respectable response to finishing second after a 200km breakaway is to pound handlebars in frustration.

Now, go win some races.

images from Velonews (Graham Watson)

Glenvale Crit

2009-04-17T18:18:00.000+10:00

Glenvale Criterium from cycling tips on Vimeo.

SKCC Crit

2009-04-17T18:16:00.001+10:00

SKCC Criterium Club Championships from cycling tips on Vimeo.

Inside vs. Outside

2009-04-16T07:02:00.000+10:00

It's no secret to anyone who took high school geometry that the smaller the circle, the shorter the distance. Did you know that the difference between riding in a 250m velodrome on the black line versus the red "sprinters" line is 8m per lap? That's only over a distance of 250m! That means that if you're riding on the red line (outside) for the entire lap you'll need to be riding faster than the rider on the black line (inside) since he/she has not as far to go. (sorry, I have very limited internet access right now and can't remember the math of this to figure out "how fast" off the top of my head)

The same thing obviously applies to any course you're doing laps on. Why does this help me you ask? If you're in a break away move in a crit over a 1km course for example, take the inside part of the road as much as possible. This can save you approximately 20-30m per lap! (this is just a quick calculation based on the 250m velodrome example above. This can vary depending on the shape of the course you're riding on). Of course you'll need to account for the quickest line to get around those corners at high speed. Many times the large bunch who is trying to chase you down is not taking the optimal line around the course and not taking those corners as quick as your small group in the break can, so not only will your average speed be higher, but you'll also be travelling less distance. This will increase your chances on getting to the finish line before you're caught! Every little bit helps...

The Other Side....

2009-04-15T06:58:00.000+10:00

Seeing as Wade is away for a few days at one of his many races, I thought I would take this opportunity to provide some insight from the "other half". Coincidentally, I received the following text just as I sat down to write this post...

"Hey there. We're still out for dinner so I'll call you tomorrow. Sat on the beach all day and saw dolphins! Great relaxing day. Have a good night. Love Wade."

Is it just me or was there a glaring absence of cycling mentioned in his message?! I will admit that this isn't the norm. Quite the opposite in fact. Typically, here are a few signs that you might be married to a cyclist.

1) Its 5am and from the comfort of your bed you're awakened to the sound of air being pumped into tires. Good Morning!

2) You make a recipe for dinner that apparently "serves 4-6". Somehow it barely stretches to 2.

3) Speaking of eating, you find your partner needs food and/or drink every two hours all day long. Something about replenishing all those calories he's burning?

4) You go online to do some banking and notice mysterious charges on the account with names like "bikeparts4cheap"....This is cheap?!

5) Your weekend plans revolve around scheduling activities before, after or in between rides.

6) Your spare bedroom looks more like a bike shop than a guest room.

7) Your light switches, cupboard handles, doors, walls etc. are marked by black fingerprints and you don't have children....

8) Your nephews think your husband's job is a "bike racer". I can't seem to convince them that he has a real job too.

9) Your partner is so grumpy that you begin to worry there might be a serious problem....no, false alarm, he just hasn't been out for a ride in three days.

On the flip side, I have a happy, healthy husband and all of my "alone" time allows for plenty of my own leisure activities and coffees with friends and family etc., so I don't complain too much!

Most of you reading this probably can't relate but perhaps your significant other could use some consoling. They're not alone!

Weekday Madness

2009-04-10T20:53:00.000+10:00

First of all I want lay out the disclaimer that I commend each and every person who rides a bike on any occasion. However, you can't paint all cyclists with the same brush. The time and place where you can see nearly every species of cyclist is on the morning commute. This brings out the best of us and I've taken the liberty of putting them in their own little bucket.

The Weekday World Champ
Every roadie loves the Weekday World Champ. This keenly competitive species of commuter is doing his own race for the rainbow jersey every morning. Usually wearing a free jersey from last years charity ride, solid black shorts, $6 sunglasses, fenders, rear mirror, and any other optional safety features. He will follow your wheel while you're slowly rolling along the road or bike path and then attack you at the opportune time of his liking. Then his head will blow off and soon after you'll come rolling past at the same speed you were doing for the past 20mins. The World Champ botches a trackstand at red lights then punches it off the gun when it turns green. Again, you'll catch up to him shortly and pass him once again.

The Weekday Warrior
There's a bit of an overlap between the Early Morning World Champ and the Weekday Warrior. Here's a guy who rides a mishmash of a decent bike with many gadgets attached, defunct pro kit from 9yrs ago, etc.....but the extent of his riding is the morning commute. He's hit a brick wall somewhere that's all his riding has ever been. The Weekday Warrior usually has some crazy ideas of his own that he's implemented and has never really fit into the cycling world anywhere else. Therefore he's made up his own trends and is seen marching to his own drum. A true legend.

The Newbie
The newbie is trying to do the right thing by giving this commuting gig a shot. This rider usually comes to a half-assed stop with one foot out of the pedal ready at a light and decides to keep going if there's a small break in traffic. The Newbie will ride on sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, roads....whatever it takes to get the job done. The Newbie is scary to watch, swerving all over the road and through traffic and certain death is always in front of him. Luckily drivers take pity on him and he makes it home safe until next month when he tries again.

The Recumbent
This rider usually sports a beard, bright colored jersey or orange safety vest, sunglasses with the leather sides, helmet mirror, panniers, flag on the back...all the fixings. Also scary to watch in traffic. These guys will come rolling along at a respectable pace in a straight line and then come to a grinding halt when they have to turn a corner. This types of commuter cannot work out why anyone would want to ride a regular bike when the drag coefficient, center of gravity and geometry of a recumbent is far superior. Not to mention comfort? 90% of these riders are engineers and will be more than happy to explain to you at length the advantages of riding a recumbent.

Public Transport Commuter
This commuter will take the 30mins of overhead required to get ready for the morning ride to work, but only gets as far as the next train stop. Not certain why this is. 100km commute from work perhaps?

The Glamour Girl
This bird has no idea what she's gotten herself into. She thought it would be stylish to get out on her bike and didn't realize that the quiet streets don't last long before you hit the jungles of morning traffic. She is usually relegated to the sidewalk 5 mins into her ride when her cellphone rings.

The DUI Commuter
This guy doesn't choose to ride his bike for health, fitness, environment, etc. He's riding because he lost his license due to a blood alcohol limit of 2.5 on his last bender. He usually wears a baseball cap, no helmet, blue jeans, a stolen mountain bike, and a 5'oclock shadow at 7am. He also assumes drinking and riding is not illegal so he's is not complaining as he'll make the best of it.

The Courier
And how can I forget the bad boys of cycling...the bike courier.

I doubt that the bike courier would appreciate being called a "commuter", but I don't imagine that many couriers drive to work. Therefore they also fit into this category and are subject to ridicule like everyone else. Tattoos, street-wear, skateboard helmets, etc. It's all part of the lifestyle that you just can't fake (well, apparently the hipsters are fakin' it). The bike courier is the only faction of cyclist who makes us look half cool. The Hell's Angels of cycling, if you will. However, what do you guys say when a big Harley hog rumbles up next to you at a red light and gives it a couple revs? Not so bad-ass now, are we?

The PRO
That's right - YOU. You didn't think you were gonna get out of it so easily, did you? You're the only one who thinks you're the coolest kat in town. You're the guy who gets all kitted up, pins a number on, rides the Zipps, and has an espresso flavored powergel on your way to work. But I'm sure you have good reason to ride in like this...It could be because you have a race after work, you need to take your bike to the shop at lunch, or it could be because you like to show to all your coworkers how PRO you are. Sorry, but we're the only people on the planet that think spandex, shaved legs, and tiny arms look cool.

The Hardman
This is the guy who hasn't missed a day of commuting to work since 1993. This is a badge of honor to this steed and everyone at work talks about him around the lunch table like he could win the Tour de France. You pipe up every time and try to make them understand that he is not as PRO as you are and that you're in fact the much more dedicated cyclist.

Safety First
This commuter is taking no chances on the way to work. Notice the flashing LED's on panniers, reflectors and bright orange safety vest. Looks like a UFO on a bike. Two water bottles (you can never have enough fluids), panniers and kickstand is mandatory.

Bike Bum
Bums gotta get to work too and I think it's a safe assumption that a bike would be the choice of transport. The Bike Bum doesn't need fancy gadgets like a saddle, air in his tires, or even a rear tire. If this guy only knew about how many empty beer cans were on the side of the roads at Paris-Roubaix he'd have a 10min gap on the peloton for 280km.

UPDATE

The Motorhead

I was out for a walk at lunch and came by this other classic commuter specimen I nearly forgot about. This quirky fellow is usually an engineer of some sort and loves to tinker in his garage. Nothing like a modified bike with a lawnmower engine fit into it. Classic!

Thank God (i.e. the Apple iPhone) for picture phones and mobile blogging or I would have missed this one.

Training Partners

2008-12-19T05:29:00.000+11:00

I find having a regular training partner(s) with similar goals as myself extremely helpful. It provides everyone with motivation in our downtimes and pushes each other harder when needed. It also forces that accountability to be at your meeting place so you don't miss that 5am ride. It's also a bonus if your training partner has different strengths so you can push each other on your weaknesses. Everyone is different with what works for them with a training partner, but you need to have similar goals, time schedules, attitude, ability,etc. It's not something that you can force but when it works, it works. It'll help you ride more consistently and for longer. Plus you'll always have that mate to blame a flat tire on when you're partner asks you why you're home 2hrs late!

A great workout for training speed is for you and your training partner to take turns doing 5 x 2-minute pulls near lactate threshold. This is not only a hard effort for the person on the front but also makes for short recovery at a high pace for the person in the draft. The total work effort for each of you is 20 minutes. This speed-endurance workout should be done when you are relatively fresh in order to get maximum results. If you do this when fatigued you can't get the power high enough or maintain the heart rate needed to simulate a race effort. Try to do on Tuesday after having Monday as a rest day.

Clean Chain Makes Everything Better

2008-12-16T08:45:00.001+11:00

Thank you to Michal Krodkiewski for this tip on a good technique to clean your chain properly. I use a Wipperman link myself and it's the most convenient way to remove your chain when cleaning. Remember, a clean chain = 5 watts!

The best way I have found to maintain a clean chain and drivetrain is fitting a removable Wipperman link to the chain . I find removing the chain is much more effective than cleaning it on the bike, and it also gives you better access to the rear derailleur, jockey wheels etc to clean and lube. The best degreaser I've found (aside from the very expensive Pedro's stuff etc) is Citro Clean from Coles or Safeway; about $7 for a 700ml bottle.

Take off rear wheel and remove chain. Wipe down the chain with a rag (spray rag lightly with Citro Clean) to remove surface gunk and place in an old 1.25L soft drink bottle. Pour in degreaser (about + 100ml) and shake well . Remove chain (either cut bottle or use coathanger/old spoke to fish out) , rinse and wipe down and then inspect the links to make sure they're all clean etc. If required, give the chain another quick spray of Citro Clean. Put b ack on the bike. Put rear wheel back on. It's then best to allow the chain to dry for a bit, then lubricate each link while spinning crank by hand.

While the back wheel is off it is good to remove and clean the cassette if required. Babywipes do a really good job of this, or if really dirty a quick pre-spray with citro-clean helps.

Wipperman links are re-useable (ie you can demount and re-mount the chain as often as you like), whereas other similar products such as SRAM Powerlinks are single use (ie, once put on, you can't take them off without breaking. The link comes in 2 parts. Take care to put them in a safe place when removing from chain as they can be easy to lose. It is a good policy to install a new Wipperman link each time you install a new chain as these will stretch similarly to a conventional link. Also note that they are directional, and the 'arrow' should be pointing up when the link is at the bottom of the chainline. Available in both Campy and Shimano 10s compatibility.

Slight warning, the citro clean can fade some paints such as the decals on Ksyrium SL wheels, so limit its use to the drivetrain.

More on Crosswinds

2008-12-15T08:38:00.001+11:00

I recently wrote a post about crosswinds and I'm going to do it again today. It's seems like it's been a major theme of much of my past couple of races.

I did this race in rural Australia called Scotty's race. It's race for the Scott People's foundation where Scott was tragically killed while training a couple years ago. It brings out some of the best riders in Australia to pay their respects to the family and in memory of Scott.

As somber as the minute of silence was before the flag dropped, the race got off to a blistering 55km/hr pace as soon as the neutral vehicle pulled off. The crosswinds had 200 riders in the gutter for about a km back down the road. Once again, many people seemed to think that it would be easier riding single file and bridging gaps than it would be doing turns in the echelon up front. Easier said than done as it was a dog-fight just to get a place in the echelon that used only half the road!

I was fortunate to have my place up at the front, but what surprised me is that no other echelons formed directly behind us. This of course would require a little bit of communication between riders who wanted to do this which wasn't easily possible at 55km/hr in the mayhem behind. However, you can see the pros doing this here (in the front group):

Instead the peloton looked like this (without the hill and with a lot more riders in the gutter):

So, next time you caught in the gutter and you don't want to be in the back part of the race when it gets smashed to pieces, I suggest that you have a game plan together with your teammates or other riders you're close with and start your own echelon directly behind the front one that is causing all the trouble in the back. It's much easier and you get far more rest rolling turns in an echelon than being strung out in the gutter hanging on for dear life. If you're strong enough to be in the gutter and not dropping wheels, you're more than strong enough to be up at the front in an echelon.

I hope I don't feel the need to write another post that have the tags "crosswinds", "gutter" and "echelon" in it for a long long time...

Tubular Hint

2008-12-12T08:45:00.001+11:00

It constantly amazes me how many people out there will trust some kid at a bikeshop to glue their tubulars on for them (or Singles as they call them here in Aus). It's not that hard once you get your technique down. Given how important of a job this is, there's a lot of trust you're putting into whoever is doing this for you. Maybe I'm overly cautious, but I want to know 100% that it's done right and enough glue has been used. If you've never seen someone roll a tubular at 50k/hr, you should imagine it. There's lots of articles out there on how to glue on tubulars so I won't go through it now (maybe in the future).

One tip that most people won't tell you about tubular installation is about the valve extenders. When you put a metal valve extender onto a metal presta valve it won't be an airtight seal. This means that when you pump it up, you'll sometimes have to pump like mad to put more air in than is leaking out of the valve extender. The way to fix this is by wrapping a small piece of plumbers tape around the presta valve threads before screwing the extender on (before gluing the tire onto the rim). This will seal the air leak and make for easy pumping. Also make sure that the presta valve is screwed all the way out and tightened so that it doesn't slowly screw back in while it's inside the valve extender. If this happens, you'll have no choice but to take the tire off.

Now, I'm going out for a ride to enjoy the new Zipp 404's that I just bought!

Racing Sponsorship Wanted!

2008-12-11T13:51:00.001+11:00

This post is for all you young guns out there wanting to get sponsored by a big team or bike company. I’ve seen quite a few rider resumes come through in my day and 90% of them are all wrong . Many of these resumes contain a long list of race results, personal goals and photos. Most sponsors don’t really care about your results unless you’re Robbie McEwen or an upcoming superstar. Of course good results will tell your sponsors that you won’t embarrass them and make their product look completely pathetic, but what they’re looking for is you show that you’re in a position of influence to promote their brand and to be a good ambassador. Position your sponsorship resume on describing what you can do for them, not what you want from them. Talk about what you do to give back to the sport of cycling (i.e. involvement with your local club, if you do any coaching or mentoring, do you write any articles or race write-ups, etc). Definitely highlight your future goals and past results, but don’t place the emphasis of your content on them. Tell your potential sponsors how you can help them add value and image to their brand. Sponsorship money comes from the company’s marketing dollars and brand recognition is what’s all about. You need to market yourself as an actively involved person in the cycling/racing community and how you’ll be a good ambassador for the logo written on your jersey. Sure good results will get them recognized as a winning brand, but that’s not on the top of their list. Another good idea is to look at the team you’re sending your resume to and try to figure out where they’re lacking and how you would fit in. Do they lack climbers? Do they lack sprinters? Are these any of your strengths? If that’s the case, then put some emphasis on that point and tell them how you could help them as a team .

I’m sorry to say, many of these sponsors don’t really care much about you (from what I can tell, teams like Drapac-Porsche is one of the few philanthropists out there - and they do have excellent riders as well). You are just a vehicle for most sponsors to market their brand. That’s the whole business model that cycling is built upon. As long as you’re not embarrassing them, your results don’t matter all that much. There are a tonne of cyclist out there with good results. How will you separate yourself from the rest?

Last but not least, don’t expect a free ride. You might get some free kit, a bike, some costs covered, whatever. But, very rarely does that come with no strings attached. You’ll have to do promo events, bike shows, group rides with sponsors, etc. This is how the sponsors get their return on investment out of you. And why shouldn’t they?

Clean Chain = 5 watts!

2008-12-11T08:08:00.001+11:00

On this mornings ride Brett Phelan gave me this great tip. Have you seen this guy's chain? You could brush your teeth with it!

We all spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars trying to save precious watts. For example, when Zipp released their carbon wheels with golf balll dimples they claimed that it'll save you between 1 and 4 watts. I wanted to go out and spend $3k on a pair right away! We're such suckers for that cheap marketing ploy. It might seem small, but all these 5 watt increases can add up to 50 watts in a hurry. That's huge! Of course the law of diminishing gains comes into affect costing you thousands of dollars.

Here's a tip that won't cost you anything and will save you up to 5 watts. Clean your chain! A clean chain vs a filthy one can save you precious power through reducing the losses through the drivetrain with all that muck and grime sitting in there.

How Much Fitness Do You Loose When You Stop Training?

2008-12-10T08:31:00.001+11:00

I first want to thank David Heatly from Cycling-Inform for posting this. A couple recent events in my life makes this topic very fitting. First, I just went on an amazing 2 week vacation in New Zealand with my wife. There were no bikes to speak of and that was the whole point. This was part of my rest and transition period going into 2009. I spent a total of 3 weeks completely off the bike fully expecting to loose heaps of fitness. I was okay with that because I felt that I needed the rest before burnout occurred. I got back from NZ, had a week of light riding and went right into the Tour of Bright - a small 3 stage tour with some BIG hills involved. To make a long story short, I ended up winning my category. I had no expectations going into this race because I thought I'd have 50% less fitness than I did a month ago. Apparently I had "fresh form " instead of "real form " (along with a lot of help from my teammates and some luck).

The second thing that made me think of posting this topic was because in the same race on Stage 1, a fellow competitor (Shane Miller ) was riding behind me on a wild 70-80km/hr windy decent and crashed. He was seriously injured and I really feel for him. He was in great form (probably would have won the overall race) and now he's going to be relegated to the couch and eventually a wind trainer for the next few weeks - months.

So the question is, how much fitness do you loose when you stop training? Read on to find out...

I came across a great article by Pete Pfitzinger on the effect of detraining and thought I'd pass along on his insights. I have kept much of the content intact but have adapted it slightly for cyclists.

Please answer the following question: When you take a break from training, your body starts to turn to mush: a) after a few months; b) after a few weeks; c) after a few days; or d) almost immediately. Most cyclists apparently believe the correct answer is (d), and that the fitness gains of years of cycling are in danger of quickly vanishing into thin air. This behavior is manifested in phenomena such as double workouts, and a propensity to exercise through such potentially life-threatening conditions as blizzards, electrical storms, and bronchitis.

The good news is that the rate at which detraining occurs is slower than you may think. In fact, most elements of your fitness go down at about the same rate at which they go up. Let’s take a look at the evidence concerning how long it takes physiological improvements to be lost and performance to go down the tubes when you are forced to stay off the road due to illness or injury, or (now here’s a novel concept) when you take a planned break from training.

A surprisingly large number of scientific studies have been conducted on detraining, and although not all results are in agreement, the evidence is reasonably consistent. The journals Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise and Sports Medicine recently published reviews of over 60 detraining studies, which provide insight into how quickly you can expect to lose your hard-won adaptations to training.

The list below summarizes some of the physiological adaptations that occur during a 2 to 4 week break from training. Your VO2 max will decrease by up to 10%, primarily due to a reduction in your blood volume. One of the adaptations to endurance exercise is an increase in blood volume, and when you stop training this adaptation is lost relatively quickly. When your blood volume decreases, less blood returns to your heart to be pumped with each heart beat. This means that your stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped per heart beat) decreases. Your heart rate must increase, therefore, in order for you to exercise at the same pace as before.

Other effects of detraining include a loss of flexibility, a decrease in your lactate threshold pace, and large reductions in your muscle glycogen concentration and aerobic enzyme activity. Interestingly, the fitter you are, the greater these losses tend to be.

Physiological effects of 2-4 weeks of detraining

VO2 max: down 4-10%
Blood volume: down 5-10%
Heart rate: up 5-10%
Stroke volume: down 6-12%
Flexibility: Decreases
Lactate threshold: Decreases
Muscle glycogen levels: down 20-30%
Aerobic enzyme activity: Decreases
Economy: Unchanged

What happens to your cycling performance?

Endurance performance tends to remain the same or actually improve after a few days without training. This is not surprising because when you are in hard training you are perpetually fatigued, so a short break allows your body to recover and adapt to your previous training. Between 1 and 2 weeks off from training, however, the benefits of recovery start to become outweighed by a loss in fitness. Although not many studies have measured loss of performance after several weeks of detraining (would you volunteer?), performance is likely to decrease by about 3-5% after 3 to 4 weeks of detraining.

How about if you just reduce your training?
If you cut back the volume of your training (i.e. how often you train or long your exercise, you can maintain your fitness level for a surprisingly long time. Studies have found that when either the frequency or duration of training are reduced (while the intensity of training is maintained) that aerobic conditioning is maintained for up to 15 weeks. When the intensity of training is reduced (while the volume of training is maintained), however, then aerobic fitness declines more quickly. If you must reduce your training volume, therefore, maintaining your training intensity is the key to maintaining your cycling performance. Similarly, if you are injured, you can maintain a reasonably high level of aerobic conditioning by cross-training hard several times per week. The closer that your cross-training activity simulates cycling, the more slowly you will lose your cycling fitness.

On the road again
When you start cycling again, you can expect your fitness level to go back up at about the same rate at which it went down. Of course, if you have been injured, the increase in your training will be dictated by the recovery of your injury. If you haven’t exercised for two weeks or more, during your first session back you will likely feel as though you have never exercised before. It just takes a couple of sessions for your various body parts to become reacquainted, and by your third session you should feel almost normal. After a week or so back on the road your blood volume will be increasing, and you will be regaining all of the other fitness factors that will allow you to regain your previous level of performance.

Catching the Swarm

2008-12-09T18:14:00.002+11:00

Even though the the peloton is riding at a very steady speed, the distance between riders is constantly changing. There might not be much distance between riders from side to side, but slight changes in speed open up small gaps between riders. Through these gaps you can squeeze your way up through a tight bunch to make your way closer to the front.

Consistency and predictability are two keys to moving through a tight pack. You don’t want to make the riders around you nervous by manking any sudden or sketchy moves. Riding steadily and decisively also leaves no doubt about where you’re going. That means the riders around you can act accordingly. Many crashes in thepeloton happen because one rider moves and the rider behind him either didn’t expect it or didn’t know where that first rider was going.

Be careful not to move through a gap too aggressively. If you stomp on the pedals to move up one space you’ll end up hitting the brakes. This has a ripple effect behind you and makes it more difficult for those riders to stay at a consistent pace. It takes some practice to get it down, but once you figure out just how much power you need to move up without having to tap your brakes, you’ll be able to cruise up through the field without anyone even noticing it. Also see this post for a quick tip on how to let other riders know you're coming through.

Getting through a tight pack in the middle of a race is one thing but working your way to the front of a charging train of sprinters is another. Watch out for the "swarms " passing you on your left or right sides and jump in on them. Sprinters have great peripheral awareness and either see or sense riders coming up on their sides. This helps them decide whether to go left or right around the wheel ahead of them, but a lot is also up to a combination of luck and experience.

Throwing It In the Gutter

2008-12-08T09:17:00.002+11:00

Depending on the mood of the peloton, sometimes races can be extremely negative. What I mean by "negative" is that every time someone attacks and attempts to create a break-away it gets chased it down. Sometimes thiscan be a very intentional team strategy for those who want the race to come down to a field sprint. Or it can also be a result of too many people in the peloton being nervous and excited where every time a rider goes up the road, someone tries to go with him and ends up dragging the whole pack up to that rider. If you have some nasty crosswinds at your disposal, there is one way to split up the group so that you can get rid of those riders just sitting on. Throw it in the gutter!

When the direction of the race turns into the crosswinds it's time to ramp up the pace with a few other willing riders. It can start off with four or five of you rolling some hard and steady turns up at the front of the pack. No need to "attack" or make any aggressive moves - all that's needed is a few of you sharing the work-load riding a hard and steady pace in an echelon. At first you should only use about half of the lane available to you so that too many people cannot get into that echelon . If you look back after a couple of minutes you'll see the rest of the peloton strung out single file all the way to the back. You'll be working hard in that echelon up front, but I guarantee you that the riders behind riding single-file in "the gutter" are riding much much harder trying to hold that wheel in-front. Sooner or later someone in the gutter will drop a wheel and a split in the field will occur. Keep riding hard in your echelon until a nice gap in the field is established. Very rarely will the bunch who have been dropped get organized enough for a successful chase to happen. Now, instead of 100 riders to contend with at the finish line, you only have a small group.

The result...

Tip: Where the course changes directions (i.e. a corner in the road) is when the race will head into the crosswinds. That may sound obvious, but pay close attention to the wind direction and where to course will turn. If you're too far back in the peloton whenthe group decides to " put it in the gutter" you'll never get up to the front to be a part of it. You'll be one of the poor riders holding on for dear life!

Cold Feet?

2008-12-05T06:55:00.001+11:00

This post is more for my poor Canadian buddies who are trying to squeeze in that last bit of cycling before -30C hits. Here in Australia we're going through the opposite.

On those cold riding days there is a fine line between keeping warm and breaking a sweat. If you sweat and then stop, you get cold. I always had problems with getting cold and sweaty feet. I tried to solve this by buy simply wearing thicker socks and booties, but found that this did not work well. It just makes them sweat more.

A better alternative I found is using antiperspirant. Get some spray-on antiperspirant and put it on your bare feet, let dry, put socks on. Voila! No more foot sweat that causes the cold feet.

The best solution for stopping cold feet is of course moving to Australia!

The Joke

2008-12-04T07:23:00.003+11:00

If you ever want to win a major wheelrace, crit or even some roadraces where teams aren’t prevalent, you definitely need to be a good, strong cyclist. No doubt about that. However, there’s something else to it that you won’t find on any Google search or cycling rule book. You had better be in on "the Joke ". I’ll be gunned down if I talk anymore about it, but I’ll let you know that it happens at many major showcase events. Don’t know what "the joke " is? You might want to find out and get in on it.

The 10hr Training Week For Real People

2008-12-03T06:58:00.000+11:00

I generally advocate training principals around periodization, however I know many of you will feel that you don't have the time for it, don't know how to implement it, or will just never get around to doing it. Fair enough. This post is for those of you who want some structure behind your training but don't want to get too deep into it.

Ten hours of training per week is a magic number for most serious recreational riders. If you can train for 10 hours in a full week you will put to use much of your genetic potential. Who has the time for much else when you have a job, family, house, and real-life commitments anyway??? With 10 hours each week, you’ll have room in the training schedule for some quality work and also some easy riding for recovery and socializing.

What You Can Do: Assuming that you work a normal 9-5 job on weekdays and have some time to ride on weekends.

Monday: Rest day. Stay off the bike at least one day a week to help recovery. You might want to keep blood circulating with some light upper-body weight training or an easy walk.

Tuesday: Ride 90 minutes. After a warm up, do 5 to 10 sprints, or a short training time trial, or short intervals at a heart rate around 90% of your max. Get some intensity into this workout.

Wednesday: Ride 2 hours with the emphasis on endurance. Heart rate shouldn’t go above about 85% of max. TIP If you’re pressed for time, split 2 hours of training into a couple of rides. For instance, go hard for an hour in the morning, maybe on the trainer or on the commute to work. Then pedal easily after work or in the evening to promote recovery.

Thursday: Ride 90 minutes. Ideally this can be a group ride or training race in the evening. Get some intensity in.

Friday: One hour coffee ride with friends. Finish up with a short weight training session. Commuting to work is also a great way to get in this recovery ride.

Saturday: Two hours with some hills in it. This should be a good quality ride to build the strength in the legs. If you have a race tomorrow then make it an easier ride. A short two hour ride leaves time for chores and family responsibilities

Sunday: Ride 2-3 hours. Race, do an endurance ride, or go out with a spirited group. This is the day to reap the benefits of your improved fitness.

Tools On The Road

2008-12-02T10:14:00.003+11:00

On our weekend ride it was wet and miserable and nearly everyone had troubles with flat tyres. This lead to a debate between everyone on who had the best and smartest emergency tookit set. You ask 10 different cyclists what they carry for tools on the road and you'll get 10 different answers. A few different points of view is always good and here is mine along with some suggestions from others.

1. spare tube. Don't leave home without it.

2. multi-tool. Don't leave home without it either.

3. tyre lever. Best to carry 2 just in case one breaks. Doesn't take much more room to do this.

4. $5 bill. This can come in handy for 2 things. Buying food in case of emergency bonk, or to fix a major tear in your tyre. See this post.

5. Patch Kit. Where there is one puncture, there are usually mutliples. This doesn't take up much room and one day far from home you'll be glad you have it.

5. CO2 Cartridge. These are great, but you have one shot to make it work. If you screw it up you'll be stranded. See points 6 & 7

6. Valve converter. This comes in handy when you're near a service station and either don't want to use your CO2, or if you've messed up the first try with your CO2.

7. Crowie made a great point about carrying a hand pump. Many people mess up the fitting of the tyre/tube when fixing it when in a rush. They also don't check properly for peices of glass or debris and end up with another puncture moments after they fix it. Using a CO2 cartridge is quick and easy which enables you to be in a rush. Using a hand pump that requires a lot of elbow grease will make you damn sure that the tube is fitted properly and all the debris is out of the tyre before you take 5 minutes to pump that thing up to 100psi.

All I Want For Christmas...

2008-11-28T16:39:00.009+11:00

Well it’s December 1st now and ’tis the season. Cyclists are often accused of being a picky and a breed that’s difficult to shop for. So true. Here are the top 10 gift ideas under a couple hundred $$$ that you can be asking your partner for Christmas.

1. Bike Box/Bag. You’ve always wanted one but get no immediate gratification from it so you’ve always put it off.

2. Pro Tool Kit. Because your tools are from Home Depot and aren’t made of carbon fiber.

3. Gear Bag. You can’t live without a cycling specific one.

4. Road To Roubaix. Can’t wait to see this on. Buy it here.

5. Mini Pit Kit. Perfect for those road bikes that never want to see mud.

6. Carbon Hand Pump. An indulgence that we rarely buy for ourselves or always lose.

7. Mad Alchemy Embrocation : The thicker you go, the more the PRO

8. Crank Bros Multi-Tool. Never have to phone your partner again to come and get you.

9. Campy Cork Screw. You’d never buy one of these for yourself. Only justifiable as a gift.

10. fyxomatosis Tee . Coming soon …hopefully before Xmas.

(11) Shewee - If I were a woman I’d definitely want one of these.

Electronic Dura-Ace

2008-11-28T07:11:00.001+11:00

I’m sure you’re read all the reviews about the new Electronic Dura-Ace. I’m not going to repeat those reviews, but I was lucky enough the other week to get to take it for a test-drive. Let me tell you I was damn impressed. I had all the usual questions like "how long does the battery last", "what happens when the battery dies", "how do you adjust it", "how much more does it weigh", "what happens when it rains", etc. I’m sure they have had all these questions a hundred times before and had a logical and satisfactory answer for each. The true test was how it actually worked. Amazing is all I can say! The ergonomics of it were much improved over the old Dura-Ace, the shifting was spot on and quick, only 30g heavier than the traditional Dura-Ace and it was very modular from a maintenance point of view (and all cables were connectorized for easy replacement).

A couple cool features that they don’t advertise much. First, the front derailleur automatically trims slightly while the rear derailleur is shifted so that you’ll never get any chain rub. Second, there are some quick easy adjustments you can make if you put another rear wheel on and you need to fine tune the rear derailleur to that cassette.

From their answers regarding battery power, it seems that they’ve thought this through. They claim that the battery will last approx 1000hr of heavy use, but more than likely 3000km of regular use. You’ll be able to notice that the battery is running low by a slower response of the front derailleur. There is also an LED indicator showing approx 500kms left of battery life. If by chance the batter does get very low on power, the front derailleur functionality is the first thing that it drops. People seem to be worried about the battery dying all at once leaving them in their 53×11. This isn’t any more likely than it is now on your traditional cabled system.

Everyone I spoke with who tried the new groupset was extremely impressed with how it rode. My only concern is the price - ~$4000. Mind you, this is the typical outrageous Aussie price they were quoting, but it will be expensive nonetheless. I don’t imagine that busting a shifter/brake or a rear derailleur will be a cheap replacement exercise either. Most bike shop mechanics aren’t really going to know what to do to do if it is malfunctioning because of electrical problems. The obvious fix will be to replace. That could get ugly.
I would also suggest to Shimano to have a second release come out in about a year or two. Doesn’t have to be major overhaul. This would be more of a marketing strategy for them. Cyclists are not early adoptors of new techology (those would be the triathaletes). Cyclists are always cautious and skeptical about first releases. SRAM Force is a good example. Releasing RED a year later was very intentional from a product management perspective.

I hope this works out for Shimano and that SRAM and Campy follow suit. It’s time for some real innovation in this space instead of just throwing more carbon into the mix.

Sorry - not much of a Cycling Tip in there, but I just had to talk about it!

How to Win Bike Races Even if You Are Out Numbered!

2008-11-27T05:10:00.001+11:00

Thanks to David Heatley from Cycling-Inform for this excellent tip. At Cycling-Inform they can help you set out a training plan that can incorporate where you are at in your cycling career with specific attention to the style of riding and racing you intend to do. It can be done remotely and is specifically geared for a busy cyclist that has to fit their training around family and work commitments.

Cyclists frequently face situations where coming into the last closing kilometers of the race they are outnumbers by far better sprinters. It’s the scenario of a the little climber coming into the final lap of a criterium with a bunch of burly sprinters, or the big guy trying to figure out what to do a few kilometers out from an uphill finish. The best way to improve your chance of winning is to look for an opportunity to attack at a time that doesn’t suit the other riders around you. If you’re with sprinters, go early. They won’t want to waste their sprinting power chasing you so they’re likely to look around to see who else will go after you. If they wait too long, you win.

For the big guys trying to win uphill finishes, use your power advantage on flat ground before the climb to push the little climbers over their limits. Keep attacking them, because they know they’re only hope is to stay with you until the climb, where the advantage shifts to them. But if you break them before they even get to the hill, you’ll have a time gap to exploit and hopefully they’ll be so spent that being lighter isn’t enough to help them beat you.

What if you are not an extremely fast sprinter? The best plan get to get to the line with as fewer riders as possible. The least people to content with in sprint to the finish line the better. But it’s still almost as difficult as winning a bunch sprint as winning from a small breakaway group. Even though your competition is much reduced in number, you're still going to need a rapid jump and nerves of steel to play out the final few kilometers of the race. No sense in getting to the finish after managing a wicked breakaway only to not have a plan for the sprint and end up being beaten by the handful of riders you broke away with.

Whether you're part of a small breakaway or part of the bunch your ideal scenario is one where you get to contest the finish alone and that means dropping all the other riders that you are with. This will be hard if you're still in the bunch as it speeds to the finish because the pace will likely be extremely high! Winning a race like this can be done though. What you need to be able to do is to hold an extremely high speed for over a kilometre and then launch your winning attack.

Your goal of course when beginning your attack is to go like a bullet so that no one has the chance to hold your wheel and draft you. Make your move as smoothly as possible to disguise your speed as much as you can. You'll need a little luck on your side as well.

Dealing With Road Rash

2008-11-26T11:47:00.002+11:00

Stinging showers, rolling over in bed and nasty pussing aching hip sticking to the sheets and wakes you up in agony. I've been quite fortunate throughout my cycling career not to have had too many crashes. Therefore I'm happy to say that I'm no expert on dealing with road rash. I am familiar with the pain of it and have my own way of dealing with it that may or may not be medically sound. It does work though and here it is.

The first thing to do is take two to four 200mg ibuprofen with food 45 minutes prior to cleaning you wound. The maximum dose is 800mg every six hours and no more than 2400mg in 24 hours. It’s especially helpful right before bedtime so you can get some sleep. (I got this information on ibuprofen dosages through various internet searches. Once again, I'm not a doctor so you may want to confirm with your GP what your personal tolerance is.)

Clean the wound with mild antibacterial soap and a washcloth and plenty of water. Only scrub hard enough to get the gravel out to prevent it from tattooing your wound. Abrasive scrubbing is unnecessary because you risk damaging tissue and delaying the healing process. After the wound is clean, gently pat your road rash damp-dry.

In terms of covering the wound up, I use this second skin product called Opsite. It's breathable, quite resistant to showering, and heals wounds in about 1 week. You just need to place it over the wound without putting any ointment on it and let the wound heal inside. It will get disgustingly moist and smelly underneath, but it "retains wound contact with the natural wound exudate which contains vital nutrients for growing cells, and white blood cells to prevent infection". It's like like miracle skin. You never get a scab with this, so you can be out riding the same day, if you aren't too sore.

Check your wounds daily for increasing redness, swelling, pain, pus or foul smelling drainage. These are all signs of infection and you should seek medical attention. If it’s been 5 years since your last tetanus shot, go to the ER. There's no glory in dying of lockjaw.

There is also good article from a qualified emergency medicine physician here on how he likes to handle road rash. In the experience of qualified road rash victums that I've tried myself, the Opsite method above is the best for superficial wounds where just the top layers of skin are taken off as in most road crashes.

Getting It Past The Boss

2008-11-24T08:21:00.000+11:00

I'm sure that I'm not alone here when I state my conundrum. I go to a bikeshop and make a impulse purchase on a new set of wheels or whatever my cycling related need of the month is. The problem is getting that bike part that you got a such great deal on home and past the wife. Here are the following techniques I've come up with to help soften the blow:

- Buy online and get the goods shipped to work. This way you can ride to work and slowly, one by one, put those new parts on the bike and ride home like nothing ever happened. Then you can bring those old junky parts home one day and when your wife says "where did those come from?", you can say "ahh...just some old crappy stuff that John gave me".

- Say you successfully smuggle the new parts back home and camoflauge them in with the rest of all your bike junk in your spare bedroom. This may not be the end of it. What do you do when the credit card statement comes in and there's that damn www.cheapbikeparts.com $1000 purchase on there. Having a secret credit card for this has obvious advantages, but not worth the risk if you're caught. I sometimes try to get a friend to order the stuff for me to save on shipping costs and to avoid this problem all together. Alternatively, you can blame most of the charges on a riding mate saying to your wife "most of the purchase were Andy's. Just a couple tyres are mine and we went in together to save on shipping". Blaming a riding buddy can come in handy on many occasions, such as why you were home 3hrs later than you said you'd be.

- Plant the seed early. Tell your wife that the new set of wheels that you want are gonna be $5k, so let's start saving. This initially sets off an explosive reaction, but you've done nothing wrong, so you're not in the doghouse quite yet. At this point she's stressing about this extremely expensive set of wheels that you're going to whine about until you get. When you finally go and spend $2k on a set of wheels, this looks like an amazing deal. This technique can work magic sometimes. Use sparingly.

- Sometimes desparate measures need to be employed. This is when you buy the wife a gift that's just as expensive and lavish as the new Calnago frame that you just bought. This will now cost you $12k, but if you can find one of them at a really good bargain you might be a bit ahead of the game. A vacation to Cuba where you both can go and you can use your new purchase would be a good choice.

These are just a few of the ways I've come up with to get those stupidly expensive bike parts past the accountant of the house. I'd be interested hearing your strategies and tactics in the comments section. ;-)

Magnesium For Cycling - Part 2

2008-11-19T05:19:00.000+11:00

Magnesium, the promised elixir?

Last week I asked Dr. Sipser about what all the hype was about Magnesium in all these sports drinks. Will it make me faster? Is this the magic pill I’ve been searching for? Judging by its entertainment value it had in high school chemistry I just had to find out more about this. See part 1 here.

The benefits we’ve discovered with using magnesium for cycling are immense and science is uncovering more all the time about how magnesium in concert with calcium cause proper muscle contraction and just as importantly-relaxation or ‘de-contraction’. In Lance Armstrong’s last Tour ride, the team Chiropractor Dr Jeff Spencer in conjunction with their team nutritionist used a magnesium salt solution in their drink bottles to minimise lactic acid build-up. The water tasted foul so they needed to find an alternate source and that is why and what i now use in practice for my patients. The second instalment of this topic is below. Enjoy.

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of magnesium in humans

Another study looked at lung function and in particular whether dietary antioxidants might protect lung tissue against reactive oxygen species-induced injury, adverse respiratory effects and reduced pulmonary function. Healthy, non-smoking freshmen students who were lifetime residents in the Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay areas of California completed comprehensive residential history, health history and food frequency questionnaires. Blood samples were also collected and forced expiratory volume (lung power) measurements were obtained. Using a statistical technique called multivariable regression, the researchers showed that the higher the intake of dietary magnesium, the more positive the lung function (indicating healthier more elastic lung tissue).

A third study published just a few months ago examined the effect of magnesium supplementation on inflammatory markers in patients with chronic heart disease. The study, conducted by Israeli researchers, compared the levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein in patients given 300mg a day of magnesium citrate with a control group given no magnesium. The result showed unequivocally that the extra magnesium produced a significant drop in C-reactive protein levels, indicating reduced inflammation, so much so that the researchers commented that ‘targeting the inflammatory cascade by magnesium administration might prove a useful tool for improving the prognosis in heart failure.’

Optimising dietary magnesium intake

Magnesium is well supplied in unrefined whole grains, such as wholemeal bread and whole grain cereals, and also in green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, peas, beans and lentils. Fruit, meat and fish supply poor levels, as do refined/sugary foods. Contrary to popular belief, milk and dairy products are not particularly rich sources of magnesium. Magnesium is a fairly soluble mineral, which is why boiling vegetables can result in significant losses; in cereals and grains, it tends to be concentrated in the germ and bran, which explains why white refined grains contain relatively little magnesium by comparison with their unrefined counterparts.

Implications for ‘Budding Lance’s’

The latest research on magnesium and lactate adds further weight to the evidence indicating that a healthy magnesium intake is vital for both endurance and anaerobic performance. In the longer term (and perhaps more surprisingly), it appears that an optimal magnesium intake may also be essential for antioxidant protection and for the correct regulation of inflammation, both of which are desirable for athletes, young and old. In my recently released book, 7 things your Doctor Fogot To Tell You I cover more on this topic and how to fuel your body better.

For more information check out www.7things.com.au

Keep Churning.
Warm regards,
Dr Warren Sipser B.Sc.(App Sc.) B.App.Sc.(Chiro) MCAA MACC

Chiro4Life

Beginner Climbing Tips

2008-11-17T20:44:00.003+11:00

Some people hate climbing, some people love it. I used to hate it but have learned (and trained) to love it. Or some aspects of it anyway.

There are a few different types of climbs:

#1 The short "power climbs ": These can be fairly steep (10-12%) and suit strong and heavy guys.

#2 The long and gradual climbs : These are about 6% and don’t necessarily separate the pure climbers from the guys like me. They aren’t easy yet they aren’t hard enough to really spilt up a group. During these climbs you still go fast enough to benefit from drafting and the forces of gravity aren’t large enough to penalize the heavier riders.

#3 The long and steep climbs : Where the pure climbers tend to shine.

If you’re reading this and looking for tips on climbing, then you probably don’t fit into the category #3. I won’t even touch on how to keep up in these types of climbs. Let’s be clear - genetic ability, proper training, and optimum power to weight ratio (6-7 watts/kg) will determine if you are a true climber. For example, a guy like Lance Armstrong can generate almost 500 watts over a 40 minute period and he’s less than 70kg!

What you can do:

If you want to improve your climbing (#1&2), the easiest way to do it is by simply doing more hills. That’s it! Get off the flat stuff and choose hilly rides two or three times a week. Mediocre climbers often head for the flat roads.

Spin those legs at a higher cadence. Swallow your pride and get a 27 tooth cassette if your having problems pushing the 23 up those climbs at over 80rpm. You’re knees will thank you for it and you’ll climb faster than if you’re pushing big gears.

Mark off intermediate goals. It can be a long way to the top of a 10km climb. It can be mentally excrutiating. Break the climb off into smaller goals and tell yourself that you’ll maintain your pace until the next turn. Once you’re there, set another goal. Just as using a high cadence breaks the effort of pedaling into smaller chunks, mentally breaking down the climb makes it more manageable.

Weight - For example, if a 75kg rider loses 4kg while maintaining the same power output, then he/she will save 2 minutes on a 3km climb. Need I say more? If you want to be a better climber, reduce your weight as much as possible so that you’re not loosing power.

Position - This is very individual. On average, when you stand up during a climb you use much more energy as well as slow down (because you usually reduce your cadence). Smaller riders can often stand with less penalty because they have less weight to support. That’s why a guy like Armstrong will climb while standing more than a guy like Ulrich. Also, keep a relaxed upper body. You see most of the best climbers with their arms and shoulders relaxed while their hands are loosly gripped on the tops of their handle bars. Muscle tension in these areas expend energy that’s better spent on turning the pedals.

Breathing - You might say that I’m digging deep for things to say when I bring up breathing. But consider this analogy. If you’re doing 5 chin-ups where little effort is required, you won’t need to focus on technique. However, if you’re trying to do 20 then its a different story.You need focus and technique to minimize your energy and maximize your effort. When cycling and especially climbing, focus on breathing. Its the key to self monitoring your effort and developing your maximum potential. Breathing is so important that it deserves a write-up on its own.

Training - This also deserves a blog entery all of its own but good climbing obviously requires specific training for specific elements of fitness. The first and most important training advice is to get out and hit the hills!

Yearly Recovery Periods

2008-11-13T23:03:00.003+11:00

Here in Australia we're lucky enough to be able to cycle all year round. The winter here is road season and the summer is track and crit season. What more could you ask for???

The downside of this is that if you're motivated enough to jump from season to season of never ending cycling heaven, burnout can easily creep up on you. You can prevent this by setting some rest periods throughout the year before burnout occurs . The temptation is that sometimes you'll be riding really well and feeling fit and you won't want to stop. This is the trap and this is exactly what will happen.

There are three of different types of rest periods that I try to stick to:

1. Schedule a rest week after every 4 weeks of training. This rest week doesn't necessarily mean no riding. It means that your ride 2 or 3 times that week and don't kill yourself doing it. Your body needs this break even if you are feeling good.

2. Schedule a rest week after the second 4 week period of training (i.e. do a 4 week period, rest week as above, another 4 week period). At this stage I will usually take the week completely off the bike. I'll try to change things up a bit by doing a bit of surfing, running or swimming. Don't worry - you're not going to loose any fitness in this time. This rest week can come in handy to get caught up in work or personal things that you've been neglecting.

3. After about 4-6 months of continuous training (along with those breaks mentioned) take 3-4 weeks off the bike. Missing this rest period is often where the fine line of progression and overtraining is crossed. Since we're not forced to get off the bike because of foul weather here in Australia, I have been guilty of continuing on through this time fearing that I'll loose all that I've worked so hard to gain. I've gotten caught into the trap of riding harder and longer because I feel like my performance is diminishing. This is classic overtraining. You probably will lose some fitness in this time off but you'll be better for it in the long run. Sometimes you need to take one step back in order to get two steps forward. This is a good time to take that yearly vacation with your wife and do something that she likes to do. Cycling can be a selfish sport and this is a great time to give back and show her how great of a guy you are!

Creating a training plan with these rest periods scheduled far in advance while you're thinking objectively is extremely important. When creating this plan you can see a macro view of your racing/training year and you'll know exactly when your important events are and when you should take a break. Overtraining is an easy trap to fall into and it's difficult to see for yourself if you don't have a coach.

On that note, I'm off for a two week vacation in New Zealand. I'll try posting tips while away but they may not be every day (and they may not be about cycling either!).

Using Magnesium to Peak Your Performance

2008-11-13T09:50:00.002+11:00

In the last couple of years there's been a number of sports drinks that have been marketing the benefits of Magnesium. I've understood the basics of the more common electrolytes found in these drinks, but wanted to know what this new Magnesium craze was all about. Well, I didn't have to go much further than asking my good friend and Chiropractor, Dr. Warren Sipser.

As a keen cyclist and performance enhancing Chiropractor, I am always searching for improved ways to better my own scores as well as those of the athletes who seek my care. Chiropractic offers athletes and 'weekend warriors' the opportunity to function at their genetic maximum by removing any interferences affecting their nerve systems. It is the only profession that focuses on the delicate relationship between the performance of the nerve system and how the spine can interfere with normal function.

In my next article I will cover some ground breaking scientific studies about heart rate variability and why it is the brain and not the heart that will actually cause you to ride stronger and faster as well as recover more quickly.

Today we are going to begin a 3 article odyssey on the amazing benefits of magnesium and why the secret is now out.

While not all magnesium is created equal, a highly soluble, good quality form can aid enormously in not only your power and stamina, but also your recovery time. For more information about which types, feel free to contact me.

A key nutrient that we often overlook is magnesium. It is the agonist and antagonist to the much publicised calcium and both are needed for active muscle contractions and relaxations.The mineral magnesium is something of a 'Cinderella' nutrient. Most sportsmen and women know that it's required for health, but few really appreciate its importance for sport performance.

Current studies show that we do not ingest enough magnesium in our diest and we have declined to less than a half of those recorded at the end of the 19th century and are still falling.

A study of male athletes supplemented with 390mg of magnesium per day for 25 days, which resulted in an increased peak oxygen uptake and total work output during work capacity tests

A sub-maximal work study, which showed that magnesium supplementation reduced heart rate, ventilation rate, oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide production for a given workload

A study on physically active students, which showed that supplementing with 8mg of magnesium per kilo of body weight per day produced significant increases in endurance performance and decreased oxygen consumption during sub-maximal exercise.

A magnesium shortfall also appears to reduce the efficiency of muscle relaxation, which accounts for an important fraction of total energy needs during exercise.
Very recent research has indicated that magnesium supplementation could enhance performance in a hitherto unrecognised way – by reducing the accumulation of fatiguing lactic acid during intense exercise.

The researchers concluded that 'magnesium supplement may positively affect performance of sportsmen by decreasing their lactate levels'.

All of this sounds really important and the studies that I have summarised below from a great article on magnesium lends credence to it's importance in overall physical, mental and emotional well-being.

What is magnesium and why does it matter?

Pure magnesium is the second most abundant mineral in cells after potassium, but the 2oz or so found in the typical human body is present not as metal but as magnesium ions (positively charged magnesium atoms found either in solution or complexed with other tissues such as bone). Roughly one-quarter of this magnesium is found in muscle tissue and three-fifths in bone; but less than 1% of it is found in blood serum, although blood magnesium is used as the commonest indicator of magnesium status. This blood serum magnesium can further be subdivided into free ionic, complex-bound and protein-bound portions, but it's the ionic portion that's considered most important in measuring magnesium status, because it is physiologically active.

The researchers concluded that not only did supplemental magnesium help suppress lactate production, but that it also somehow increased glucose availability and metabolism in the brain during exercise. This is important because scientists now believe that the brain and central nervous system play a large role in determining the degree of muscular fatigue we feel; higher brain glucose availability could in theory translate into lower levels of perceived fatigue.

OK, so now that we have covered the first step about it, keep posted for the 2nd and 3rd installments which will cover when to use it, how to use it and why it boosts recovery time.

For more information check out www.7things.com.au

Keep Churning.
Warm regards,
Dr Warren Sipser B.Sc.(App Sc.) B.App.Sc.(Chiro) MCAA MACC

Chiro4Life

Rubber Gloves - All Sorts of Uses

2008-11-12T04:12:00.004+11:00

Another good tip from Jeff Bolstad.

For the past couple of years, I’ve kept a stock of nitrile gloves in my race bag and I keep thinking of new uses for them, mostly related to the hideous climate that I live and ride in. For instance, I love hot balm on the legs on chilly days and in the rain, but the stuff is murder to get off your hands (assuming that you have a sink and soap to try, which you often won’t at race venues). Rather than risk rubbing it in my eyes, I’ll use a pair of gloves to put it on. The same argument applies to chamois cream and greasing your chain for the rain.

On those same wet days, which are often also cold days, a pair of rubber gloves worn over long-fingered gloves will keep your hands warm. Buy them in a color to match your kit and a size larger than you would usually use so you can fit them over gloves. I prefer black. Something like this: http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/product_index.asp?cls=43174

Our Friend Lactic Acid

2008-11-11T01:29:00.000+11:00

Lactic acid has gotten a bad rap. We're always cursing it when we put in too big of an effort and then blame all our pain and suffering on it. You know what? It is actually our friend. Lactic acid is a fuel, not a caustic waste product. It’s responsible for helping create more ATP (ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism) and is more efficient at traveling between muscle tissue than glucose (the sugar ATP is made from.)

Every time you move lactic acid is produced. It is constantly produced in and reabsorbed into our muscles all day long. However, when we engage in very intense exercise, also known as anaerobic activity, lactate is produced faster than the ability of the tissues to remove it and the concentration begins to rise.

During the process of our bodies breaking down glucose as fuel for our muscles, the glucose gets broken down to lactate and hydrogen ions are released. You know what though? It’s actually the hydrogen that causes problems! The hydrogen ions causes pH to fall and creates a state of acidosis, which then leads to the pain and discomfort you always blame on the "lactic acid". BUT, the lactic acid then tirelessly works in our favor again by helping to carry the hydrogen ions away where it gets removed in the liver which then converts the lactic acid back to glucose. A thankless job...

I've missed quite a few important details in the whole process in the intrest of keeping it short and sweet. You can find those details here

The best thing you can do to raise your tolerence is train yourself to increase your lactate threshold. By performing regularly at levels with the increased amount of lactic acid, your body will adapt and be able to handle the load. This is best done through interval training, and maintaining sub-threshold intensities for extended periods of time (8-20 minutes) and typically 85-90% of your maximum heart rate. As an example, maintaining 80-85% of your max. HR for 8 minutes helps to gently and efficiently ‘push’ your lactate threshold up to higher levels.

I'll write about an easy method to test your lactate threshold HR or power output in a future post.

Your Chain in the Rain

2008-11-10T07:28:00.001+11:00

Most of us won't even think of going out riding when you know that you're gonna get drenched. However we've all driven hours to an event and it starts pouring cats and dogs as soon as you arrive. I have to admit, I've DNS'd some of those races before, but there's many more that I've reluctantly started. Lubing your chain properly in these conditions to have your drivetrain running smoothly will give you one less thing to worry about.

There's two common types of lube - wet and dry. Dry lube tends to suit most conditions. Compounds that reduce friction, such as Teflon, is suspended in a carrier fluid that penetrates in-between the links. Once it's applied to the chain, you should wipe off the excess on the chain and the Teflon will be left inside the links. Wet lube is more like a traditional oil. It will last longer in wet conditions but will attract more dirt and road grime.

On the days where you know you'll be riding in the wet, greasing your chain will keep your drivetrain working smoothly in the worst downpour, even if it is a pain to clean afterwards. Oil your chain as normal (with WET lube), but instead of wiping off the excess, seal it in with a layer of grease. This is a job better done with a rubber glove than your hand. This will keep your drivetrain running and shifting smoothly in the worst of wet conditions.

ICE

2008-11-07T07:45:00.001+11:00

A couple years back when a fellow cyclist in Melbourne got hit by a car there was this campaign to have an "ICE" number programmed into your mobile phone. ICE means "In Case Of Emergency". This is the number for emergency response workers to call from your mobile if you've been seriously injured in an accident. The paramedic can look through your mobile phone address book, if it's not locked with a password, and notify your nominated contact (spouse, parent, etc).

As usual, these campaigns die off until another tragedy occurs. I haven't heard anything about ICE in a long while, but this may serve as a good reminder. Paramedics are trained to look for this number if a mobile phone is found so you should definitely have one.

We never go out in the morning expecting we'll get in an accident. They just happen. We all know someone who's been hit by a car. I've only been hit once by a car and it was horrifying. I hope my ICE number never needs to be used, but it is there just in case.

Happy Friday :-)

New Site

2008-11-06T10:11:00.003+11:00

I've created a new domain name and a new site for this blog. I'm extremely happy with the feedback I've received and the number of hits in recent weeks. fyxomatosis put a tiny link buried in one of their posts and I've seen a massive spike in traffic ever since. If you haven't visited fyxomatosis yet I highly recommend that you do. I aspire to have the creativity and design ideas like Andy has one day.

I'll keep posting on this site for the next couple of weeks, but soon I'll be directing all traffic to www.CyclingTipsBlog.com. This new space will give me more flexibility to do what I want, how I want. It's also more search-engine friendly.

Thanks for reading.

Building A Training Plan

2008-11-06T10:00:00.005+11:00

You can train haphazardly and hope to have top form on race day or you can follow an organized training plan building up to your peak event. With a proper training plan your probability of success is far greater. The difference between these two training methods is not motivation or amount of work. It's all about hitting your peak form on the week of your big event. Without a coach, designing your own training plan for the entire season can be a little overwhelming. To simplify the process Linda Wallenfals has broken it down into a few easy steps (I've changed this slightly to make it shorter).

Set Goals: What do you want to accomplish this season? Be specific with the race date and distance. "Get strong" or "Do well at all crits this season" is not a concrete, time-specific goal. "Win club champs on April 20th" is a perfect example of a goal. Your goal should be both challenging and realistic. The goal must be one you have passion to achieve. Once you have your goals, you have a focus for your training. Spend time and thought on this step as it establishes the foundation for everything else.

Evaluate Race Demands: Race demands largely dictate the nature your training should take. The majority of your training plan should reflect the specific demands of your chosen goal event. Endurance events will emphasize aerobic fitness and tactical preparation. Short, fast events will require a larger volume of short, fast training.

Establish Calendar: Using a calendar, mark down your A-priority event. Count back from that date to figure out how many weeks you have available to train. 8-12 weeks is a reasonable amount of time. Mark on the calendar all other information you have about your schedule between now and race day such as days or weeks you cannot train and lower priority events.

Periodize: Divide the weeks you have available to train into focused periods. The best way to do this is to work backwards from your A-priority race day. Label the week of your A-priority race "race week." Label the one to two weeks prior to that "peak week." Continue working backwards on the calendar and divide the rest of your time up into blocks of 3 or 4 week periods. Ideally you will end up with about 4 3-4 week periods, a couple of peak weeks and a race week. Now you have a basic overview of your season.

Recovery Weeks: Every 3-4 week period should end with a rest and recovery week. The workouts should be light and short in your recovery week. Training volume should be about half of regular training weeks.

Daily Workouts: Now you're getting down to the important details about the training you will be doing on a daily basis. Start designing your training week by scheduling two to three key workouts for the week and then fill in the less important sessions as time allows. This is the most complicated part of the program where paying for some good coaching advice will pay big dividends. See Crowie's training pyramid

Follow the Plan: The best coach in the world won't be successful unless his/her advice is followed. Stick to your plan and you'll get the results you desire. Be patient. You don't need to be flying when everyone else is. Chances are that they'll burn out by the time you start to peak.

Keep A Training Diary: Check back on it to make sure you are actually following your plan. Be accountable to it. It will make you realize how many workouts you actually miss, and how far off the mark they are to the original plan. Keep watching the data to make sure it is heading in the direction you planned.

Training randomly and doing what you are in the mood for every day can be enjoyable. There should be times of the year that are set aside for this. If daily enjoyment is your goal then riding based on your mood may be the right plan for you. If you are goal focused and would rather strive to do well during a few parts of the season, then I highly recommend you create a training plan.

Race Conservatively, Train Aggressively

2008-11-05T07:23:00.002+11:00

Success in road racing is all about being ready for brief explosive efforts lasting only a few minutes or seconds. Break-aways, cross winds, sprints, gaps and climbs will determine the race outcome. You have to be ready for these moments by having enough energy left to initiate or respond to the best of your ability. By the time a key move goes up the road you won't be able to respond if you're pulling everyone around the course and you are completely spent.

This is exactly why you need to race conservatively. In order to be successful with the moves that you either follow or create, you need all of your energy. You have a limited bucket of energy and you have no idea if the guy next you you has the same size of bucket.

The opposite holds true for training. Train aggressively! When you're doing your intervals or group rides (when appropriate), you need to try to spend most of your energy doing the types of things that will lead to success in races. Give it all you got! There is no consequence in burning all your matches during a training ride. It will only help your body adapt to those short bursts of effort that will be required during the winning moves of a race.

How To Look PRO

2008-11-04T07:59:00.008+11:00

For a while now I thought it would be fitting and humorous to write a column on all the intricate details that need to be taken care of in order to look "PRO". Let me warn you, this isn’t a pick or choose kind of thing. It’s all or nothing. You either live by these rules or you don’t. For example, if your legs are cleanly shaven, your bar tape is sparkling white, your bike is free of trinkets… BUT you’re wearing a replica Tour de France yellow jersey with the sleeves cut off, you might as well be wearing underwear under your shorts and have a number sticker pasted to your helmet from a triathlon you did six months ago.

I didn't write this but I thought it was definitely worth posting. I got this from PezCyclingNews. Below are the 13 most important rules to remember. Some will actually improve your riding, others will simply make you look good and the rest are just down- right snobby and elitist.

Helmets. Face it, helmets just aren’t cool. Nothing looks more pro than the tour rider cruising down the boulevard wearing nothing but a broken-in cycling cap. However, concussions and drooling out the side of your mouth are really lame, so wear your helmet. But for heaven’s sake, take it off when you walk into the coffee shop! Are you afraid of slipping and hitting your head on the counter? When worn, the helmet should be tilted as far forward on your head as possible and never at an angle. Cockeyed helmets are a sure sign of an amateur.

To look cool, take off the helmet and slip on your cycling cap the moment you arrive at your destination. To look Euro-cool, make sure to always wear your sunglasses on the outside of your helmet straps so the television cameras can see the brand logo on the ear pieces. And please, no neon colored helmets! White is the only acceptable helmet color.

Legs. We’ve all been asked a million times, why do cyclists shave their legs? Our answers range from aerodynamics to massage to wound care. But we all know the real reason. It makes us look smooth (in more way than one)! So whip out the shaving cream and the Bic and mow the lawn.

For the ultimate in cool, roll up the cuffs of your shorts for that extra 1/4 inch of tanning space. To look Euro-cool, always wear a pair of the ultra-cool Pez cycling socks. And please, no gym socks!

The Kit. Your jersey must match your shorts, which must match your arm warmers, which must match your socks. But under no circumstances should a replica pro team kit or a national/world champion kit be worn unless you’ve earned it. The only acceptable team kit is your own club kit. Retro wool kits are sometimes acceptable, but even that is iffy.

To look cool if you don’t belong to a club or a team, wear a stock Castelli or Assos kit but don’t mix and match. To be Euro-cool, wear the kit of an obscure European amateur team, but only if you have a story about how you spent the winter riding with them in Majorca to go along with it. Please, no century jerseys (I’m going to take some heat on that one), nothing with cartoon characters on it and never, under any circumstances, go jersey-less. Especially if you are wearing bibs.

* And a special note for women. As much as the guys on the group ride might like it, a jog-bra is not an acceptable substitute for a jersey. Wear the bra, but please throw a jersey on over it. It’s hot. You’re hot. But shorts and a jog-bra is just not.

iPods. I should say MP3 players, but let’s face it, an iPod is the only cool on-board music system. Of course legally, I have to recommend against wearing headphones out on the road, but since you’re going to do it anyway, here are a few guidelines. Never wear headphones on a group ride. Headphones on a group ride say two things. 1) You people are good enough to ride with, but not good enough to talk to or even listen to and 2) I’m not concerned with my own safety and I’m even less concerned with YOUR safety. There’s no faster way to become disliked by a group of cyclist than by showing up on a group ride with headphones, even if the music is off.

To look cool, remember that the smaller the headphone, the better. No 1985 walkman ear muff headphones please. Ear buds are the only acceptable iPod accessory. To look Euro-cool, make sure you are listening to an obscure independent British punk rocker or electronic group. And please, no Kraftwerk!

Clipping out. Hard to believe, but this one actually deserves its own paragraph. One of the easiest ways to determine the experience level of a cyclist is to see how early they clip out before coming to a stop. A novice rider will clip out as much as a block before a stop sign or red light. A real beginner will clip out a block before a green light, just on the off chance that it might turn red by the time they get to it.

To look cool, let the bike come to a full stop before clipping out. To look Eurocool, never clip out. Track stands are the only acceptable way to wait at a red light. And please, no basket-clips and no mountain bike shoes on the road bike! Wearing sneakers or mountain bike shoes on the road indicates that you intend to spend more time with your feet on the ground than in the pedals. You’re a cyclist, darn it, not a pedestrian!

The Friday Ride Hero. Although getting dropped on the hard Saturday group ride isn’t cool, there are actually more ways to look un-cool on the easy Friday recovery ride. The best way to look un-cool is by pushing the pace over 19 mph or by doing your intervals off the front of the ride. Friday rides are for recovery and socializing. You’re not going to impress anyone by ramping up the pace. Unfortunately, messing up the pace is just as easy to do on the hard group ride and this is where things get really complicated. Sprinting at the wrong moment, setting the wrong pace up a climb or pushing the tempo at the wrong time can draw just as much scorn as pushing the pace on a recovery ride. Get to know the etiquette of a group ride by doing it at least two or three times before even thinking about getting to the front.

To look cool, show up to the Friday ride with a cup of coffee from an independent bohemian coffee shop and sip on it throughout the ride. To look Euro-cool, skip the coffee and blueberry muffin after the ride in favor of an espresso and a croissant. And please, never order any drink that has whip cream spilling out over the top of the cup. You didn’t ride hard enough to burn off 20 grams of fat and 600 calories.

Group Ride Etiquette. Have you ever seen a pro team on a training ride? Side by side, shoulder to shoulder, quietly zipping along. Then, there is the club ride. You actually hear it before you see it. Slowing! Right Side! Stopping! Rolling! Hole! Then you see it. 25 riders spread out over an entire city block, three, sometimes four, wide. Weaving, swarming cars, running stop signs. Keep your group ride cool with the following four rules of thumb. 1) Never ride more than two abreast. 2) Never allow more than six inches distance between your front wheel to the rear wheel of the rider in front of you. 3) Maintain a distance, no more than 12 inches from your shoulder to the shoulder of the rider next to you. 4) It only takes one person to call things out. This should be the person at the front of the pack. Ideally, a little point of the hand is all it takes to indicate obstructions or turns. It shouldn’t take two dozen people yelling at the top of their lungs to make a ride run smoothly.

To look cool, keep the group tight, wheel to wheel and shoulder to shoulder. To look Euro-cool, only ride with other cyclist wearing the exact same kit. If this is not possible, make sure there are no more than three different kits in the pack and that there are at least three riders wearing each kit. And please, never swarm cars at stop lights or steer a large group of riders through a red light. It’s just not cool.

Carbon Wheels. Carbon wheels are for racing! Never under any circumstances should they be brought out on a training ride. Training wheels should be strong and heavy with lots and lots of spokes. Carbon wheels say to the group, I’m not strong enough to do this ride without my $2,000 feather weight wheels. If you have the money to tear up a carbon wheel set on the road, then you’d be better off spending it on a coach who will get you fit enough to keep up with the group ride on regular training wheels.

To be cool, ride with Bontrager flat proof tubes. They’re about four-times as heavy as regular tubes and they just about double your rolling resistance. To be Euro-cool, don’t tell anyone you’re riding with them. It’s enough to know for yourself that you can keep up with those weenies even on a 22-pound bike. And please, no deep dish carbon clinchers. Carbon wheels are race wheels and clinchers are for training. Tubulars are the only way to go on your carbons.

Ornaments and Accessories. This one is simple. No stuffed animals or figurines mounted to your handlebars no matter what it signifies to you. No mirrors on your helmet or your glasses. No reflector strips taped to your bike. No giant flashing lights (LEDs are ok).

To look cool, ride without a saddle bag. Put one small tube, a tiny pump and a tire lever in your middle back pocket. To look Euro-cool, ride without a saddle bag and with nothing in your pockets. This is cool because it means you must have a team car following you with all your supplies. And please, don’t plaster the stickers that came with your shoes or your glasses all over your bike unless your sponsorship contract with those companies specifically dictates that you must.

Cat 4 Marks. Otherwise known as a chain tattoo, this is what we called them back in the day before Category 5 existed. Nothing gives away a rookie faster than a black streak of grease on their calf. The experienced rider can actually get through an entire ride without rubbing up and down on their dirty chain.

To look cool, CLEAN YOUR CHAIN! To look Euro-cool, take your chain off once a week and soak it in degreaser along with the bearings from your bottom bracket and your headset (you old timers know what I’m talking about). And please, it’s one thing to get grease on your leg. It’s another thing to get it on your hands, your jersey, your face!

Shorts. MEN: there are many rules regarding shorts. First of all, they don’t exist. Forget about them. The only acceptable garments to wear are bibs, no exceptions. But please, throw out your bibs when they start to wear out. Enough anatomy is revealed by the skin tight Lycra, we don’t need to see a transparent butt panel. And this may seem obvious, but the jersey goes over the bibs!

To look cool, wear bibs, enough said. To look Euro cool, wear bib knickers or even bib tights. And please, don’t wear underwear under your shorts!

How to Dress for Weather. If the temperature is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, you must wear knees or better yet, full leg warmers. If you go out of the house in 50 degree weather with bare legs, it doesn’t mean you’re tough, it just means you’re an idiot. In the summer, no matter how hot it gets, you must never wear a sleeveless jersey. Tan lines are the proud mark of a real cyclist. If you must get some additional ventilation, cut a vertical line along the inside seam of your sleeve with a pair of scissors. Not only will this help you stay cool, but it says, “my sponsors give me so many jerseys, I don’t mind wrecking one.”

To look cool, if you need to keep the sweat out of your eyes, wear a cycling cap, not a sweat band or a bandana. To look Euro-cool, just don’t sweat. And please, no arm warmers with a sleeveless jersey!

When to Dress. Believe it or not there are a whole bunch of rules regarding when to get dressed for a race or a ride. In general, the less time you spend in your chamois, the cooler. If you are riding to the start, you should get dressed just before you leave the house. Don’t eat breakfast or walk the dog in the morning in your full kit! The neighbours think you’re goofy enough for cycling as it is! If you are driving to the start and it is less than a 45 minute trip, it is ok to wear your bibs under a pair of regular shorts, but not your jersey or your gloves and especially not your helmet. Also, make sure the suspenders on your bibs are hanging down, (preferably on the outside of your street shorts) and not over your shoulders. If it is longer than a 45 minute drive to the start, you must bring all your cycling gear in a cycling specific duffle bag such as a Specialized or Rudy Project bag. Brown paper bags or shopping bags are never acceptable.

To look cool, wrap a towel around your waist when you change. Changing skirts are practical, but not very cool. To look Euro-cool, make sure it’s a white, thread bare towel taken from the cheap motel room that you and five teammates crammed into at your last stage race. And please, no bare butts in the parking lot. Once again, we see enough through the skin tight Lycra.

Flying With Your Bike

2008-11-03T15:53:00.010+11:00

It's been a great weekend. My cycling team just got back from a race in sunny Noosa. Getting there and back entailed packing our bikes properly for air travel. There were 5 of us and we each packed our bikes in a different way. Of course, everyone thought their way was the best. Here's my perspective on the various methods:

Cardboard Bike Box: This is the way I packed my bike. I went to the local bikeshop where they are always happy to give me a free bike box. I took off my pedals, handlebars, both wheels and derailleur to store the bike safely and securely. You should always put your wheels in wheelbags to make sure they are protected and don't scratch the frame. The pros: the cardboard box method is cheap, disposable and lightweight (some airlines can charge up to $15/kg of extra baggage weight). There's also heaps of room to put extra gear in the pockets of space. The cons: the box can get quite beat up in transit and sometimes even emerge with holes in it. I was once on a flight where it was raining heavily upon arrival and the box got drenched while sitting outside on the tarmac. My gear was delivered on the luggage carrosel piece by piece since the box had been reduced to mush while sitting out in the rain.

Hardshell Case: The pros: this method is definitely the most protective way to pack your bike. However, my fear is that the better the box, the more wreckless the luggage handlers will treat it. Most of these cases also have wheels and handles that make it easy to manuver around the airport. The cons: the hardshell case can be very expensive to purchase ($500-$1200) and are usually extremely heavy, making your excess baggage fees more costly than your airline ticket itself. They also usually require quite a bit of disassembly of your bike, and there's not much room left over for the rest of your gear (helmet, shoes, pump, etc).

Softshell Case: A couple of the guys had softshell cases that worked quite well. The good softshell cases hold their structure through the thickness of the padding so that they can stand upright by themselves. Pros: They often have a set of wheels on them so you can lift up one side with a handle and easily drag them through the airport. There was very little disassembly of the bike to fit them into these cases. Just put your wheels in some padded wheelbags, put the bike into the bag, and you're ready to go. The softshell case is also very light so you can easliy meet your weight restrictions. Cons: Again, the fear that some blantantly wreckless handling of the bikes could lead to serious damage. I've seen how baggage handlers chuck pieces of luggage around and I'm not so sure I'd trust all my carbon bits to that type of abuse. I think the derailleur and chainrings should be removed or very well padded if using one of these cases. However, asking for a Fragile sticker at check-in along with the appearance of a softshell case looking much more delicate may curb the desire for the baggage handlers to treat it too badly. Wishful thinking perhaps...

Softshell Case with Cage: One of the guys on our team had a great softshell bag with 4 wheels. Inside the case was a metal frame to attache the front and rear dropouts (when the wheels were removed). The Pros: The case is very light-weight, has lots of padding and protection, and holds the bike easily with next to no disassembly. This particular case also had a comforable shoulder strap. You can get these bags for less than $300. The Cons: The fact that the walls of the case are basically a softshell, there's still the possibility that the bike could get damaged if the baggage handler is having a bad day.

Verdict: In my opinion the Softshell Case with Cage wins the best travelling bike case award. It's relatively cheap, carries the bike with minimal diassembly, is reasonaly well protected with the cage inside, is easy to roll around, and light weight. I know quite a few people who have used these types of cases for years without a single problem.

How To Pace Your Time Trial

2008-10-29T05:42:00.005+11:00

Okay, I'm the last person on earth who should be giving tips on how to ride an individual time trial. However I can still pass on the "theory" behind a successful time trial. I don't claim to be very good at them (in fact, I HATE them). It's more that I don't train for them rather than not knowing the strategy behind them. "Strategy behind them" you ask? There's slightly more to a ITT than going as hard as you can.

Next time you go out and practice your TT over a set distance, try dividing it into four parts. This is advice from Dirk Friel - former professional cyclist and coach at trainingpeaks.com

The first quarter. Ride at less than what you are capable of doing. You'll need to hold yourself back here. The tendency is to go out too fast in this quarter and struggle at the end due to a build-up of lactate that can't be eliminated without slowing down considerably.

The second quarter. Ride at the effort that you want to average for the entire race. You'll begin to feel the strain in this quarter. If you find yourself struggling, back off. It's still too early to go hard.

The third quarter. This quarter is the hardest and most important to get right. If you went out too fast in the first quarter, you'll begin to slow down now. If you controlled quarter 1, stay focused now as it will make or break your race results. Check to make sure that you're still aero. Ride hard. It will start to hurt. Try shifting to a harder gear to see if you can maintain cadence. If not, shift back.

The fourth quarter. This is where the very painful portion of the TT comes in. The finish line beckons and there are only a few minutes to go. Work on maintaining cadence, effort and breathing. Don't allow any slowing. Are you still aero? Are you riding with the hardest effort you can maintain?

When you see the finish line, try to accelerate. If you can, you held back too much. The perfect pacing leaves you completely exhausted and unable to continue when you cross the line.

TIP: Going harder up hills and resting on descents will save you a lot more time than going hard on the descents and wasting the energy you could be using to go up hills.

Cycling Shorts

2008-10-28T08:10:00.005+11:00

There's a few cycling items that you should never cheap-out on. The one thing that will enhance the enjoyment of riding more than anything else is a good set of cycling shorts.

There are a few premium brands out there. The ones that I particularly like are Assos. These shorts are unbelievable.Your jaw may drop when you first see the price but let the folks at Assos tell you a bit about them and you'll immediately see how well thought out they are. It's a thankless job being a good set of shorts. If you don't notice the discomfort of sitting on your ass for hours on end, then they're doing their job perfectly. I just did a 299km ride in my Assos shorts and I didn't come out with one saddle soar or any of the usual discomforts.

I'd recommend that you first buy what fits, then determine their "value" taking into consideration the expected longevity of the shorts. An awesome pair of $250 shorts over five years has much more value than a less comfortable pair of $50 that lasts one year.

A few things to consider when buying a good set of shorts:

Panels. The more the better. Usually, 8-panel shorts conform to your body better than those made from fewer pieces. Better manufacturers (like Assos) use flat-seam stitching so additional panels won't result in abrasion or other discomforts.

Leg grippers. Nothing is more frustrating than shorts that ride up and let material bunch in the crotch. Check the leg grippers to be sure they're wide, made of silicon or rubber and securely sewn in. The legs should feel comfortably snug, not tight.

Bibs. Bib shorts can't sag. They keep the chamois snug against the crotch to limit movement and irritation. They should feel a bit tight around the shoulders when standing straight up, but bend over into a riding position and they'll loosen up. I think that buying bib shorts goes without saying for any self-respecting cyclist.

Cheap out on your cycling shorts and I guarantee you'll end up regretting it!

If You're Not Moving Forwards, You're Moving Backwards!

2008-10-27T11:03:00.005+11:00

Since my last post was on a more personal level, here's a real tip for the day:

You've probably been in a situation where some shifty bugger keeps stealing the wheel you were sitting comfortably behind. As this happens again and again the next thing you know you're at the back of the bunch. If you're not the guy moving up wheel by wheel then you're not going to keep a decent position in the pack. Since there's always people moving up in the pack, you're position is never static. Even if you keep the wheel you're sitting on, you're still moving backwards in the peloton. It takes some confidence and skill but once you master how to move up in the pack, it'll save you a lot of energy and allow you to be in a better position.

One thing that works well is moving up on the inside of the road (watch far ahead for changes in the road or obstructions!). Carefully move up until there's no more room to continue. Gently put the back of your hand on the hip of the guy in front of you who is blocking your path to let him know you're there and coming through. Usually the guy will move over and let you keep rolling up through the pack. Don't do this aggressively (or TOO GENTLY - he may get the wrong idea! ).

This is only one of many maneuvers you can use to move up through the pack. Its one of the easiest and most polite strategies. I'll write more tips on this subject in future posts.

Disappointment

2008-10-26T17:51:00.006+11:00

Perhaps the reason we love cycling so much is because of the extreme ups and downs that it provides us in this self-contained world of ours. The great thing about sports is that it's basically a sandbox - they have their own unique set of rules that wouldn't be tolerated in normal society. You play by those rules, you can get very emotional, and then you can immediately step back into real life and there are few consequences or rewards based on how you did.

If you're like me and set some concrete goals within the season, then you'll undoubtedly have some expectations that go along with it. If it doesn't pan out the way you want it can sometimes be disappointing. I personally experienced this on the weekend in the Melbourne-Warrnambool race. I trained relatively hard for the Warny, sacrificed a fair amount of mornings and weekends to do some very long, hard rides and spent a lot of mental energy thinking and talking about it. Whatever the reason or excuse, I didn't meet my expectations and wound up a bit disappointed. I'm not the only one. Many others had punctures, crashes, got caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, bonked, etc. SO here's my Cycing Tip for today....

Its important to keep in mind that no one else cares as much as you do when you don't meet your expectations. Keep in mind they're YOUR expectations (well, Cadel may see this differently - but that's pro sports). Most of the fun in building up for your goals is the preparation period - the planning, the training, the sacrifice involved. Without that, cycling would not be nearly as satisfying as it is.

Win or lose, you're only as good as your last race. There will be many more!

Foods NOT To Eat On the Bike

2008-10-24T07:47:00.005+11:00

Last week I wrote about The Ultimate Cycling Snack. I experimented with a few of these foods while on a big ride last weekend. I was most interested to try the Boiled potatoes which according to pro-team Garmin Chipotle's nutrition tips, are supposed to be a cyclists wonderfood.

Let me tell you the problem I found with these "natural" foods. Foods like the potato crumbled very easily and pieces got lodged in my throat while breathing heavily. The other food I tried (from Garmin Chipotle again) was rice cakes. These were made from sushi rice, scrambled egg, and a bit of ham all mashed together into nice little cakes. Again, chewing these while trying to breath at 45km/hr was not an easy task. I happened to share these with my mates and we all ended up coughing up a lung trying to get these things down our throats.

Both of these snacks were excellent while riding slowly or taking a break but not in a hard riding situation. The thing I learned from this experiment is the best things to eat while on the bike are easily chewed foods that don't flake or break apart. Stick to gels, powerbars or a ziplock bag of creamed rice (particularly good) when riding hard.

Okay, enough with the stupid experiments.

Hammer Head Syndrome

2008-10-22T07:58:00.006+11:00

The best way to train is by going as hard as you can on every ride you do, right? Even though we're in the age of HR, power monitoring and training periodization, it remains difficult for many to understand what smart training really means. People think that periodization is great for people who have time to burn, but for those under time restraints the way to get the best bang for your buck is by going hard every chance they get. This type of training results in a sickness called “Hammer Head Syndrome”

• Are you exceedingly proud of the average speeds of your rides and do you gauge your training progress by the improvement of your average speed from one ride to another?

• Do you find group rides fairly easy, but in a race you can’t seem to bridge to the winning move, keep with the final acceleration or stay with the group over the steepest part of the climb?

• Do you pride yourself on the fact that no rider has ever passed you on a training ride, even on your recovery days?

• Do you find it impossible to imagine that riding at 130 bpm could possibly be anything other than a waste of time?

• Do you have a maximum heart rate of 185, yet you haven’t seen it go above 170 since the season began?

If you answered yes some of these questions, you might be suffering from Hammer Head Syndrome.

Intensity on every ride with no recovery can result in a endless plateau of middle of the road fitness. Although there is a time and a place for zone 3 (over 85% HR), generally it is not considered hard enough to cause a desired physical adaptation. At the same time, it is too hard to allow for proper recovery. Therefore, you don’t want to be spending the majority of your time there. There's an old adage that says when you go fast, you should be going REALLY FAST. When you’re going slow, you should be going REALLY SLOW.

Simply put - learn how to ride harder on the hard days, and take time to ride slow and steady on the recovery days.

Damage Control

2008-10-21T06:16:00.006+11:00

This past weekend proved to be a goldmine for cycling tips. Both introspectively and by observing others.

We can all ride like a pro with our friends on good days but it's how you handle those inevitable bad days that shows your true character. Haven't had any bad days? Well either you aren't human or haven't been in this sport long enough!

I had a BAD day on the bike this past Sunday. 250km of BAD. I didn't eat or drink enough, my legs were heavy, and I wasn't feeling well (on the verge of a cold). On top of that, my riding mates were all on fire. Not a great day to be riding poorly...

How do you handle those bad days? Here's what I keep in mind and try to do:

1. FORCE yourself to eat and drink. One probable reason for the poor form on the day is because you aren't properly fueled. It's amazing what a can of Coke can do in the short term.

2. Don't be too proud to sit in and do as little work as possible. Save your energy for getting you home. Let your riding partners know what's going on and that you'll be sitting in. They just may have mercy on you.

3. If you're feeling horrible then listen to your body and don't fight it. It's just one bad day. Accept it and keep a positive attitude. This will make the ride easier on you and your riding mates.

4. There can be a massive difference between how you feel when you're heart rate is at 165bpm vs 160bpm (for example). Ask your mates to slow it up a bit until you're more comfortable and hopefully you'll find a pace that will get you home while everyone else still has a good ride.

5. Save your legs, not your gears! Spin, spin, spin. Spinning does a lot less damage to the muscles than big gear riding. Also, every chance you get, stop pedaling, duck down into the slipstream and go for the free ride. Conserve every ounce of energy you have.

6. Break the ride into 30min pieces and don't think about the rest. Set yourself small goals to reach. The daunting task of dragging yourself 3 more hours can be overwhelming if you're feeling really bad.

Remember: A bad day's riding beats a good day's work.....

Commuter Challenge

2008-10-20T11:06:00.016+11:00

Four commuters, four types of transport, one destination: The winner is ...

The Gist of it:

Bike vs. Car vs. Train vs. Motorcycle over 17km into the city center during rush hour.

1. Bike: 32 minutes
2. Motorcycle: 38 minutes
3. Car: 41 minutes
4. Train: 57 minutes

Thanks for doing your fellow cyclists proud Marlon! On a 46x18 beauty of a singlespeed I might add. See below for pics of "The Houffa". Supple steel hand crafted by Kev Wigham of Paconi.

Top 10 Around The Bay Tips

2008-10-19T18:25:00.005+11:00

Yesterday was the annual Around the Bay in a Day ride in Melbourne. It's a spectacular thing to see over 30,000 cyclists take part in a ride that goes either 210km or 250km. There are few places in the world with this much enthusiasm and participation in cycling.

An event like this inevitably brings out all the "weekend warriors" and "once a yearers". The day provided heaps of cycling tips to share but here are the top 10 Around the Bay tips from yesterday's ride.

10. The Fan - one cyclist pulled up to us while we had an echelon going and told us we should be riding one directly behind the other in a cross-headwind, to do "the fan". I have no idea what he was talking about and I don't think he did either. This is when we get our once a year ego boost and put the pace up to 50km/hr showing him our version of "the fan".

9. To the above point, when riding in an echelon pull off into the wind! People seem to get this wrong more often than not.

8. Shoulder check before blindly swerving into the middle of the road. Unbelievable how many potential accidents were caused by lack of shoulder checking.

7. Don't get too excited and pull too hard through your turns. This really ruins a good pace line. Again, see Echelon in the Crosswinds.

6. Don't come to a dead stop in the middle of the road for a rest. Yes, people actually do this!

5. When passing slower riders, don't dodge them like it's a slalom ski event (especially when there's a group of 200 on your wheel!)

Not only punters make mistakes. Here are some of the rookie mistakes that myself and my fellow riders made yesterday:

4. Only one bottle of water in 150km. Bad idea....especially the first 150km.

3. Not checking the weather forecast and not bringing extra clothing. Weather conditions are generally pretty mild here in Melbourne but 13 degrees and rain gets cold no matter where you are. If in any doubt, always bring arm warmers and a vest.

2. Don't eat food that crumbs easily (rice cakes, potatoes, banana bread, etc). The crumbs and bits get stuck in the throat easily, making it difficult to eat. The more uncomfortable it is to eat, the less you will eat. I'll write more about this one later...

1. 250km is a long way. No need to have your heart up at 180bpm in the first 20km. A wise coach once told me, "start a ride slow, finish fast". I have yet to learn this...

'Faux Form' and Big Bunch Rides

2008-10-17T08:00:00.003+11:00

We're fortunate that here in Melbourne there's a selection of bunch rides to choose from every day of the week. These rides are great as they are motivating, safer when riding in traffic, and they can really push your limits if you're up for it. However, bunch rides can be a real waste of time if you are content getting pulled along in the middle of the pack. Riding in a bunch will never improve your form! Here's a couple good tips from Danny Cohen on how to help maximize your time spent on these rides. Thanks Danny...

note: Once again, there is no substitute for a well planned out, "periodized" training plan.

Next time you're in a large super fast bunch, move all the way to the back and let a gap of 5m open between you and the last rider. Now observe the back half of the pack closely. Notice how most riders are hardly turning the pedals? They seem to just get sucked along most of the time, pedalling intermittently for a few seconds just to maintain/increase speed, then backing off as the pace settles.

It's only when the bunch hits a hill or when it gets really strung out at 50+km/h, that everyone's heart rate rises. But how much time out of the total ride does this intensity account for? If you still enjoy your local fast bunch ride but want to ensure you get the most out of the time you have set aside to train and want to avoid "faux form" , try the following:(you might even preserve those brake pads a bit longer!)

(1) Ride a low gear at high cadence and hang 5 meters off the last rider. Be sure to concentrate as some of the backmarkers will drop wheels due to exertion, opening up gaps...not necessarily a bad thing as this will force you to ride harder for a few seconds to get back on while you're already nearing the red zone! If you feel you're going to pop, get closer and take a bit more shelter till you recover. The overall amount of time your legs won't be pedalling will be negligible. This is good simulation for for motorpacing and your overall speed.

(3) Put it in a massive gear like the 53x11 or 12 and work on your strength endurance in the back of the bunch. Try doing this for 2x10 minute intervals with 5 mins rest in-between. Careful...the accelerations will be difficult to keep up with using this big gear.

(2) Ride in the top 10 wheels and get as much time at the pointy front end as possible! Obviously get into the rotation if there are turns being rolled up front. This is great for your tempo and lactate threshold work (great race simulation)

Enjoy the increased form!

Ultimate Cycling Snack?

2008-10-15T22:13:00.008+11:00

I haven't tried this snack yet but I keep hearing about it so I thought I'd pass it on. Apparently this is pro Team Garmin-Chipotle's secret on-bike snack that they put in their musettes. If it's good enough for them, it's probably good enough for me. I'll try it out this weekend on a 250km ride that I have coming up and let you know. One of my goals for the Warny this year is to eat whole foods made from scratch. No pre-packaged energy bars or gels. I think this will help with my sustained energy and keep stomach problems to a minimum.

What is the ultimate cycling snack you ask? Potatoes - which are a great source of complex carbohydrates, potassium, sodium, and they break down into a sugar that you body can use extremely quickly. Potatoes have an extremely high GI for quick energy absorption. They are easy to digest and are pretty convenient to carry in a jersey. Here's how Team Garmin-Chipotle has them prepared:

- Boil a handful of "new potatoes" for 10-15 minutes ("new potatoes" are a small type of potato).

- Let potatoes cool (while they are still hot you can skin them with your bare hands quite easily if you wish. The skin is high in fiber which is difficult to digest)

- Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil and add a pinch of salt.

- Grate Parmesan cheese onto the potatoes to taste.

- Wrap in foil. Packs of 2 potatoes work well.

To wrap your potatoes for easy eating, use Team Garmin-Chipotle's folding technique, which gives easy access while keeping hands and jersey pockets clean.

- Cut a 20cm-wide strip of aluminum foil and place 2 of the potatoes in the center.

- Fold one long edge over, and then back again halfway.

- Repeat with other long edge, creating a seam.

- Tightly wrap the outer edges around the back, leaving the seam exposed.

- Store in a jersey pocket. When hunger strikes, you can easily rip half the foil off at the seam and take a bite.

Ride To Work Day

2008-10-15T08:13:00.002+11:00

It's National Ride To Work Day here in Australia. With over 100,000 participants expected, I'm sure there's someone out there with some good tips on how to get my dress clothes from home to work in a backpack without wrinkling them looking like they just came out of the washing machine.

I usually keep a pair of pants hanging up at work as well as a pair of shoes. I've found a great brand of dress shirts that are "wrinkle free". Not entirely true, but they do hold up better than any others I've seen. They're called G2000. Unfortunatey they can only be found in Asia, so next time you're in Bangkok, Beijing, KL, etc you should easily stumble across one of their stores. I think any 55% cotton / 45% polyester shirt should do though.

The way that I attempt to keep my clothes from wrinkling is to neatly roll them - not fold them. Lay the shirt face down, fold back the sleeves and then roll from the bottom up. Keeping a plastic dry cleaning bag on your clothes while rolling them also does wonders. The compression in your bag is what causes the creases on your clothes. The looser the things are in your bag, the better they'll come out.

If you have any good commuting tips please leave them in the comments section under this post. I'd like to hear them!

Now get out there and kick some ass on the Wed morning World Championships!

Pre-Race Warm-up

2008-10-14T07:55:00.009+11:00

Sometimes the intensity of a race can start out extremely high. I find this sudden fast pace particularly difficult as I get older. Crits and time trials can be the most painful. A good warm-up before the race is essential. It'll get the leg muscles full of blood, get the body warm, and make the start of the race much more tolerable. You can change your position from being in the hurt-box to putting everyone else in the hurt-box.

Here's the warm-up routine that I've been using for years. It's best done on a trainer so you can achieve the proper intensity and times. My max heart rate is 189bpm so I've used the percentages in the 3rd column to calculate my HR zones.

Don't worry about tiring yourself out with this before the race. This isn't long enough or intense enough to do much damage to your muscles. Just make sure you eat and drink the appropriate amounts and you'll be fired up and ready to go!

Attack!!!!!

2008-10-13T07:24:00.003+11:00

Another great Cycling Tip from Jeff Bolstad. There's good reason why he wins 1/3 of the races he enters....or was that Merckx? Either way...pay attention folks. You'll learn something from this guy.

At it’s most basic, an attack is an attempt to distance one’s self from other riders, but an attack can have a more subtle purpose. Here are a few examples:

1. Kicking the hornet’s nest

Radios didn’t ruin cycling, but they did take some of the hilarity out of it. Back before radios, and when races were less formal affairs, one of the racers (his name escapes me) was infamous for attacking, getting out of sight, and then hiding in the bushes. When the peloton came by, he would jump out and tag onto the back, while his rivals chased away on the front.

You can’t do this anymore, but a well-timed attack can set up a miniature version. Say, for instance, that a break that you don’t like the looks of has a gap and any moment now the guys driving the chase are going to look to you to work. It would be much better if these other chuckleheads would chase the move down for you. Attack, but don’t give it all that much. This will leave you fresh enough to slide back in near the front of the pack as you’re caught, and give you a good view of the flury of counter-attacks it provokes. This will often put an end to the breakaway, at little cost to your self.

Two beautiful things about this move are that the more heavily marked you are, the better it works, and that it works as well with 2 laps to go as with 20. Timed properly, it can set up a teammate-less version of the Poor Man’s Leadout.

2. The Poor Man’s Leadout

Speaking of which, the Poor Man’s Leadout is one of the most basic and effective of team tactics. It only requires one teammate. Of the two teammates, the weaker sprinter puts in a late attack, while the sprinter sits on. Like all great cycling tactics it gives your opponents two choices, neither of which has much appeal. Namely, they can either chase the rabbit down and lead the sprinter out, or they can not chase, and let the rabbit win.

This can work in field sprints when you don’t have enough people to do a proper leadout, but is most effective out of breakaways. Because the sprints are slower and there are fewer people to keep track of, normal leadouts are fairly pointless in breakaways. The Poor Man’s Leadout, however, is incredibly effective, since everyone is probably tired and therefore more likely to hesitate. The rabbit wins more often in this situation.

3. Attacking as blocking

The time honored method of blocking is to sit on or near the front and refuse to help set the pace. This is fine, but once a chase gets organized, it’s bordering on bad manners to get in the rotation and mess it up. That’s not to say that people don’t do it, or that it’s not effective – they do and it is, but push your luck and you can get all kinds of hate coming your way, some of it physical. Instead of making enemies or getting put in the ditch, try attacking the chase. Experienced riders may ignore you, realizing that you won’t ride away from a paceline on your own. On the other hand, they may respond to your attack. When you’re already working hard in a paceline, making an anaerobic effort hurts, bad. Some of the chasers may start thinking about getting some shelter; those that remain will have some of the wind taken out of their sails; the chase will take some time to get organized again.

Getting More Out Of Your Calories

2008-10-10T08:08:00.003+11:00

The amount of food you should aim to consume each hour of a really long ride should be determined by your carbohydrate choices. Of course more carbs equals more fuel, however this equation only works if your absorption can keep up with your intake. As I've said before, this fuel should come from a combination of energy drinks and some form of solid food.

Studies show that the maximum rate at which glucose can be absorbed, or oxidized, into your bloodstream is 1 gram per minute, which equals 60g per hour. However, other studies indicate that if you consume a 2:1 ratio of glucose and fructose, your body increases the oxidization rate to 1.5g per hour. This is a 50% increase! It's speculated that because the different sugars follow different pathways of absorption, your body is tricked into converting more than it normally would.

All of this is explained in greater detail by a qualified dietitian in the following article from bicycling magazine.

Why does this matter? If it's not already obvious, the more energy your body can absorb, the more energy you will have for riding. This is particularly useful in long races. In the Warny for instance, you'll burn about 6500 calories (which equals ~1600g of carbs). Replenishing these calories is not an easy thing to do while racing at 40-50km/hr (remember, some of those are stored from your pre-race carb loading ). Pay very close attention to the TYPES of sugars you're ingesting (2:1 glucose to fructose) as this will play a massive part in getting you to the end of the race feeling fresh and strong. Most people are running on EMPTY at the end of big races. Not you, because you've read this and now know better!

I will soon post a spreadsheet that tells you what my nutrition and eating strategy is before the Warny. It takes into account where the feed stations are, how long it will take to get to each of them, what will be in my feed bag, and the mix of carbs in each of the choices. I'm not saying it's necessarily right for you, but it'll give you an idea of the job ahead and you'll see that drinking water and gels alone isn't going to cut it for a long ride like the Warny.

The Trackstand

2008-10-09T13:25:00.005+11:00

This post comes from my good buddy Hayden. You'll see him pull a mono on anything with more than one wheel and can make the best coffee on earth while doing so. He wrote this tip on a napkin at a traffic light while in a trackstand on beach road this morning. That's a fact. Thanks Hayden...

Even though a friend once said to me that if he "...sees another skinny leg black jean wearing yuppie on a fixie taking a photo while typing on his mac..." he would walk over an knock him off, it is a skill.

Whether it be on the track it self, the bunch in the morning, at the traffic lights commuting to work, or starting a mountain bike race, a track stand is one of those major skills in your quiver that everyone should learn. It helps your handling skills, by way of BALANCE. Simply taught, a track stand doesn't even use brakes.

It is easier to learn with trainers on, because you will be dabbing your feet for a while to get the real hang of it. and be sure to practice in an easy gearing, so that you can ride out of the stand. The way I learned was on a grassy knoll with a slight uphill rise. Grass is soft and green, but also adds some more resistance for balance.

1. While standing up on the pedals, ride up to the slight rise on the grass, and position the bike so that it is pointing at either 10 o'clock or 2 o'clock, depending on what side you prefer first.

2. Turn the wheel slightly so that it faces back towards the 12 o'clock.

3. Now BALANCE. You don't want to use the brakes - use the gears to keep you in place. Gravity will force your front wheel back down, but your gearing will force you back up. So when you feel the bike go back down the hill slightly, apply some pressure to the pedals and go up a foot or so, then relieve the pressure and roll back, and so on and so on.

4. With the front wheel going slightly across the front of your body (at 10 or 2 o'clock) allows you to spread the base of the bike, so that it can be moved to balance you.

5. As with all balance techniques, focus on one spot on the ground. If you follow something moving, you are going to move with it. Remember to breathe.

Once you get this on grass with trainers, then use your clipless pedals, then try it all on the road.

You will notice that a lot of roads are not flat, and allow you to practice this technique a bit easier on the road. Try not the first few times in busy traffic... it can be embarrassing.

Soon enough, you will be able to do this on the flat, by forcing the bike backwards, but pedaling forward at the same time.

When you are in the city next time, watch a courier at the lights. They rock. They do it all day and are my personal local hero's. Weaving through the traffic like a sword through the air, but when they stop at the lights (sometimes.....) they don't unclip, they just be.

Keeping Your Whites White

2008-10-07T16:38:00.004+11:00

Handlebar tape wears out every 8 - 12 months. Besides the fact that it can get really dirty, there's no reason to replace it any sooner. If you want to look Euro, white handlebar tape will definitely be your flavor of choice. No to mention white shoes, white knicks, white leg warmers, etc.

To keep it perfectly clean, supermarkets sell Woolmix brand product with a eucalyptus base ( Green bottle ) which is for delicate fabrics. Drop some into a small dish add a squirt of water . Take a nail brush dip it into the fluid and scrub away. Dry off with a clean towel ...all done...pearly white again! For the stubborn stuff do the same with concentrated Preen solution first then the Woolmix.

Make You Own Powerbars

2008-10-07T07:23:00.001+11:00

I wanted to wait until I tried these myself before I posted this recipe. This post comes from Jamie "Backcountry" Roberts and I can promise you won't be disappointed. They're nice and chewy and the crumbs won't get caught in your throat while you're eating and gasping for air at the same time. Each of these bars are about 200-300 calories (depending on how big you slice them). Perfect for the hungry cyclist. Thanks Jamie!

Round One: Cream together in a bowl or you can mix these in a pot on the stovetop too, a bit easier than mashing butter chunks, but you need to let the mixture cool before you add it to round 2 or else your chocolate chips will melt!

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup honey

Round Two: Mix these together in a separate bowl and add round 1, mix together.

6 cups large flake oats
1 cup toasted coconut
1 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup toasted flax seeds
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup raisins
1 tsp sea salt

- press mixture into a greased cookie sheet
- bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top
- allow to cool a bit, but cut into bars while they are still warm
- let cool completely before removing form pan
- wrap in aluminum foil or plastic wrap for easy access while riding

Cornering

2008-10-05T21:33:00.008+11:00

Ahh...summer is finally here in Australia and the first of the Sunday crits signal the start of it! Crit season also means getting accustomed to some high paced, tight cornering again.

Good cornering technique can save a LOT of energy and put you in the proper winning position in the final straight of a race. Many people have difficulty cornering so here are a few simple tips to help you along the way;

1. Always look where you want to go , not where you want to avoid or down at your front wheel .

2. Anticipate the speed for the corner and brake before the corner if necessary. DON’T brake in the turn!

3. Approach the corner wide, cut to the apex, and finish wide. A common mistake is cutting to the apex of the turn too early.

4. Watch the 2 or 3 riders ahead of you who have already entered the corner. Note if they are pedaling safely through it and judge whether you should do the same. If it happens that your inside pedal hits the pavement, don't panic and over correct. Over compensation is how most crashes happen.

5. If you need to coast through a corner then once you have passed the apex of the corner begin to pedal again as soon as possible.

COUNTERSTEERING

You may not realize that you intuitively countersteer every time you enter a corner. However, once you are aware of this concept it's much easier to control and perfect. Let me explain:

To initiate countersteering, momentarily turn away from the direction you're turning. This increases the lean of the bicycle into the turn. This method allows for greater steering control and makes it easy to affect a change in direction during the turn.

If you have 5 minutes, the following video does a great job explaining countersteering.

Periodization

2008-10-03T08:55:00.008+10:00

Crowie is the King. He could write this entire blog with both hands and legs tied behind his back. He's competed and won races that we only read about in cyclingnews. Here's a glimpse of his very own training strategy that's worked for him and other elite athletes over the years. The thing that I love about it is that he's adapted it to make it realistic for guys like myself to achieve who have a job and real life commitments.

There's lots involved with creating a periodized training program that's right for you. It depends on your strengths, weaknesses and what your goals are. The key is to work on different fitness elements in phases throughout the season. Each fitness element has different types of workouts that help build on that area. For example, the strength phase requires some big gear, low cadence work on steady gradual climbs. The speed phase requires some shorter, steady, and more intense intervals after your strength work has been done. Power requires things like bursts of speed up short hills and then recovering. When you put it all together your form will be well rounded and you will be flying. This progression towards a focus is the single most important aspect of periodization. I know we all want to be fit 100% of the time, but the reality is that you'll probably be operating at 70-80% on your best days if you just ride day after day doing the same old stuff. You can either be at your best for a month in the season, or mediocre for the whole year.

Thanks for your contribution Rob. To find out more please visit Ridewiser.

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Here’s a sneak view of my own current program for summer racing build-up with a mixture of different intensities by color code. This is a high level view of the progression towards peak fitness.

Light Blue = Endurance intensity

Green = Strength work

Yellow = Speed/cadence training

Orange = Power training

Red = Competition Focus

There also is a nice spread of the colors throughout the week as you can see in the sample program below. However, the correct emphasis should be on one particular aspect most of the time throughout training periods. This example shows the strength phase of the training plan. The reality is you can only really contribute properly twice per week into the STRENGTH development phase (or whatever aspect you’re working on). You can see from the color codes below that Tuesday is green (which is a pure strength workout) and Thursday is torque (which is necessary to build strength). These two days in the week place the emphasis on building up STRENGTH and the rest of the days are getting the body ready for the next phases. There is not a perfect formula for the arrangements, because normal human timetables are so multifaceted, but there is a preferable order to things. First some GREEN (STRENTH), then some THRESHOLD ORANGE (TORQUE), then place YELLOW (SPEED) before RED (COMPETITION).

Let me reiterate that this is not a static weekly training program. To be done properly, this will change from month to month (possibly week to week) as your body adapts to some areas of fitness more quickly or slowly than others. After one area of fitness is trained, then you move up the pyramid to the next area.

Back from Behind

2008-10-01T10:46:00.009+10:00

I hear this all too often: "Once I get in shape I'll start riding the big rides with you guys". It's like saying "I'm not going to the gym until I have biceps like Arnold". Let me tell you, it's not going to happen. If you're not at the level that you want to be then the best way to get there is to start riding with people who are fitter and more motivated than yourself. They will push your limits and help you ride for longer, more difficult periods of time. You'll learn from them and they'll motivate you to continue to push yourself to be a better rider. Warning: You will hurt like hell for the first couple of months BUT little by little you'll start keeping up with these guys and possibly riding away from them at some point. The process will include much winging, useless legs, remaining on the sofa all afternoon, and possibly not even be able to string a sentence together. But I assure you the end result is worth it with an overall improved quality and enjoyment of riding.

The only caveat I have to this suggestion is to pick these rides carefully. This isn't necessarily long term, sound training advice. Instead, it will help get you on the right track with your riding habits and motivation. It'll make you realize how much work you have to do and how hard you need to train to become a more fit rider.

I'll comment on "sound training advice" and "periodization" with the help of an expert next blog entry.

Load Up

2008-09-30T21:11:00.010+10:00

After all the hard work you've put into training, the last thing you want to do is sabotage it by making poor food choices leading up to race day. The most important part of your final preparation before a big race is making sure you're properly fueled in the days and hours before the race start.

The average male athlete can store about 1,500 to 1,900 calories of carbs in the blood, liver and muscles combined. Two hours of exercise can deplete glycogen levels. When you train hard on a regular basis your body never gets a chance to fully replenish its glycogen stores before they are reduced again in your next workout.

Carb-loading should start two days before the race. At rest during these two days your muscles will build up plenty of glycogen stores while you consume the proper amount of carbs. What is the proper amount of carbs for the purpose of carb-loading? You should eat about 10 grams of carbs per kg of body weight daily in the two days leading up to race day.
For example, I'm 85kg. Typically I would eat my regular diet and reduce my training load in the week before a big race. Then two days before the event I would eat about 850grams of pasta or rice per day along with some protein. (One gram of carbohydrate equals 4 calories, so that would be 3400 calories of pasta per day!). Don't go an eat a massive bowl of pasta the night before a race and expect a miracle to happen. This will just upset your stomach and shock your body. Also, you won't need as much protein at this time because you won't be breaking down your muscles.

I will also do my pre-race warmup routine (3x1min + 3x30sec) the day before the race. This coincidentally agrees with a popular method discovered by the University of Western Australia . Follow this routine along with eating properly on the bike and I can promise you will never bonk again!

Reasons vs Excuses

2008-09-30T05:35:00.003+10:00

It is important to distinguish between a "reason" and an "excuse." The difference is easy to recognize:

Excuses are justification for giving in. Perhaps you didn't explore all your options, ignored or denied your options, didn't plan ahead, etc. On the other hand reasons are a legitimate cause, explanation or justification of an action or event. The key work here being legitimate. Don't be dishonest with yourself by using excuses.

If you didn't train today because your boss made you stay late at work, then you have a good "reason". However, if you didn't do your training today because it was raining out, you probably didn't want to train all that much anyway. You could have used the trainer in front of the TV, gone for a run, taken a spin class, or even rode in the rain!

My point? Quit making excuses!

Perceived Exertion - Rate Your Workout

2008-09-29T05:45:00.007+10:00

Power Meters: I am fortunate to own one and I find it is one of the most useful training tools imaginable. A power meter shows you exactly how much power you're generating. This tangible measurement is similar to a bench press; you know without question exactly how many plates you have loaded on the bar.

If you don't have access to a power meter or heart rate monitor, you may want to keep a measure of your perceived exertion in a training diary labeled "Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)." Perceived exertion is how hard you feel that your body is working. It is based on the physical sensations you experience during physical activity, including heart rate, breathing, muscle fatigue, etc.

Even though I have a power meter, I still use this gauge in my training log.

1 No exertion at all - Watching the TdF
2 Extremely light ride with Grandma
3 Very light coffee ride
4 Light ride to work
5 Somewhat hard
6 Hard (heavy) - sitting in a fast bunch ride
7 Very hard - rolling turns in a fast bunch ride
8 Extremely hard - off the front from a fast bunch ride in the crosswinds
9 Maximum exertion - add some hills into #8
10 Off the charts! - Melbourne to Warnambool

All people have the ability to sense how hard they are pushing themselves, despite having different individual outputs. Monitoring how your body feels will become easier with experience. In turn, you will be able to better adjust your intensity. Make note of your various RPE numbers in your training diary. How many days in a row has your workout day rated as 7 or above? In order to allow for sufficient recovery you should generally not exceed three consecutive days of RPE greater than 7.

Don't Panic

2008-09-26T12:38:00.003+10:00

This post comes from one of the smartest and best bike racers I know. My hope is that he contributes regularly to this blog. We'll all be better off with his advice. Thanks Jeff

DON'T PANIC

I wrote that in big, friendly red letters because Douglas Adams died too young, the world will forever be a darker shade of grey as a result, and I’m in no particular hurry to get over it.

But it’s also good advice for bike racers.

There are often phases in bike races in which the attacks are both frequent and futile. This can happen when a break is up the road and the teams not represented are trying to bridge instead of chase and are forever being chased down by the breakaways’ teammates, at the beginning of a race when the fools that will chase anything aren’t yet too tired to do so, and in several other situations. Regardless, the pattern is the same: someone attacks and a wave of acceleration ripples backwards through the pack as everyone jumps to maintain contact. The attack is caught and everyone stops working – 50km/hr, 30, 50, 30, 50 over and over again. These jumps can take a lot of energy that you’d rather use sowing your own mayhem and confusion.

One trick I’ve learned is to not jump. Anticipate the wave and quicken your cadence, perhaps shifting down a gear. You’ll likely get passed by a few people for doing this – make sure they pass you on the windward side. By maintaining your cadence a second or two once the attack is caught and the pack compresses, you can slingshot back up to your original position or even further. Alternatively, if a split does develop, you’ll not only have saved your jump, but have a few unwitting teammates leading out your bridge. More often than not, nothing will come of the attack and you’ll quite appropriately have expended next to no energy.

Race Tune-Up

2008-09-26T05:05:00.002+10:00

The day before a race should be a rest day. However, by "rest day" I'm not implying that you should take it off. I just mean that you shouldn't be tearing yourself down so much that you need serious recovery afterwards. It should be called a "tune-up day" rather than a "rest day".

My favorite "tune-up" routine the day before a race is the following:

About 1.5hours total with 3 x 1 minutes hard, with at least 5 minutes of easy riding between each. Also do 3 x 30 seconds hard sprints, with 5 minutes between. Easy cruising home.

This will wake up and recruit the different muscle fibers needed for tomorrow. This will make you feel much better the next day than if you took the day off.

Optimal Cadence

2008-09-25T10:14:00.002+10:00

I have a good mate who was complaining the other day about not being able to go very fast and feeling sluggish. Someone noticed how low his cadence was and asked him what his computer was averaging it at. He said 71 rpm. What!? 71 rpm!? "Well, what should my cadence be then?", he asked.

Let's first assume that "optimal" means "most efficient aerobically". Many different studies have been able to determine how much oxygen is used at different cadences with a resulting efficiency figure - the less oxygen used, the more efficient that pedal cadence is. Nearly all of the results for these studies, when plotted graphically, showed an ‘inverted U’ shape, with the extremely low and high pedal cadences being less efficient and an optimum figuring somewhere around the middle. There was a general consensus from these studies show the optimum was around 90 rpm.

The lower gear provided by a high cadence means that acceleration is relatively easy, so higher cadence is important in road races when you have to be ready at all times to follow the accelerations.

Also, remember a few posts ago where I talked about the glycogen stored in fast and slow twitch muscle fibers? Another reason why a high cadence is more economical.

Enough Protein?

2008-09-24T14:35:00.004+10:00

I don't stress too much about my day to day nutrition. I like a pizza and beer as much as anyone else. However, there are some key times when you should be very aware of your nutrition when in training. The 30 minute window after a good hard ride is when your body will appreciate it most. This is an important time to replace the glycogen in the muscles and repair the damage to the muscles by eating protein.

Protein is used to repair muscle cell injuries from the trauma that occurs during training. It is not a good energy source. So how much protein does a cyclist need? It depends on what type of training you're doing. If you're doing a lot of long slow distance riding, you'll generally need about 1.3 grams of protein per Kg of body weight. If you're doing intense riding, you'll need to increase your protein intake to approximately 1.6 grams per kg of body weight.

For example, if you weigh 80kg and are training with intensity, you will need about 128 grams of protein per day. You can easily achieve this by eating a regular diet (non vegetarian) without supplements. However, the best time to eat protein (about 30g) is in the half hour directly after training. Your body can absorb approximately 30g of protein in a sitting, so eating more isn't necessarily better. A good protein choice is good ol' fashioned chocolate milk. A 750ml bottle of iced coffee or chocolate milk has 20-30 grams of protein and only costs $3.00. It is not necessary to spend $80 on a massive pale of bodybuilding protein powder. Milk has an ideal amount of protein/carbs/fat, making it an excellent recovery drink.

DO NOT eat much protein in the hour before an intense ride. No more than the peanut butter on your toast! Protein is difficult for the body to digest and slows down the glycogen absorption to the muscles. You don't want that unless you plan to get dropped like a bag of bricks in the first kilometer.

On Ya Bike!

2008-09-23T16:11:00.001+10:00

From the Economist

FAT-BUSTING but not wallet-busting, the humble bicycle is an increasingly popular choice of transport. Around 130m bikes rolled off production lines in 2007 and even more are set to be made this year. Bicycle and car production grew pretty much in tandem in the two decades beginning in 1950. But since 1970 bike production has nearly quadrupled while car production has roughly doubled. Much of the recent growth has been driven by electric bikes; production has doubled since 2004, to 21m.

Make Your Own PowerGel

2008-09-22T20:27:00.006+10:00

Sometimes spending $3 a pop on gels can get a little expensive. I've been making my own gels for a number of years and I've found there's really not much to it. I can make 10 times the amount for about $10 and it only takes 5 minutes. Here's my favorite recipe:

Ingredients:
- 1 cup plain or brown rice syrup (brown is sweeter and has a lower GI - which is not the point here). Many of the gels that you buy from your local bike shop list rice syrup as the main ingredient.
- handful of raspberries/strawberries/blueberries/etc . Eating the rice syrup unflavored is pretty disgusting.
- 1/8 tsp table salt

Method:
Puree the fruit in a food processor. Combine fruit puree, salt and rice syrup in a small pot on the stove and stir continuously on low heat until heated (should not come to a simmer or boil). Liquid should be hot, well mixed and easy to pour when ready. Fill 2 GU flasks with the gel. You can buy a GU flask for $5 which will hold up to 8 tbsp of gel. This will allow you to carry 480 calories of complex carbs, the equivalent of 4 gel packets.

Refrigerate overnight to thicken for your ride the next day.

YOUR TIPS

2008-09-22T11:06:00.005+10:00

This is Web2.0 and I want YOU to be the main contributor to this site. I have thousands of things to say but that would only offer MY perspective on this sport. Each and every one of you have hints and tips that the rest of us haven't thought of. My vision is to make this a community that shares our knowledge to give back to the new and old people of this sport. Why hide all these treasures of information that you've picked up over the years? Submitting your tips will also make you more cognizant of your own knowledge and will make you watch out for the things others are doing (right or wrong). The more you submit, the more others will do the same and we will all benefit in the end.

In a few paragraphs (a couple hundred words), submit your tips to CyclingTips. Cover any topic that's cycling related - Motivation, Perspecitve, Maintenance, Nutrition, Training, etc. Feel free to give me a cool cycling picture of you along with your tip and I'll give you full credit in the post. You can also submit anonymously if you wish to remain low key.

Thanks for reading.

Save Your Legs, Not Your Gears

2008-09-22T07:40:00.002+10:00

I just did a race on the weekend that involved steep hills and treacherous winds. Unfortunately, I made one mistake early on that pretty much ruined my chance of placing well in the race. I kept it in big ring from the start, grunted away in those big gears, and then didn't have what it took when things really mattered. I should have spun away comfortably in my 23 up those big hills instead of worrying about those futile attacks that went nowhere in the beginning.

Glycogen is stored in fast and slow twitch muscle fibers, with the vast majority in the slow twitch fibers. In other words, fast twitch power is extremely limited. It makes strategic sense to use the slow twitch fibers as much as possible by spinning quickly up those hills and save that fast twitch muscle glycogen for when it's really needed (i.e. when the winning move goes up the road).

Greater torque and muscle tension may be useful in training to increase strength, but not for racing as the added stress to the muscles cause damage and fatigue. Hence the old saying, "save the legs, not your gears!"

Postings

2008-09-20T18:16:00.003+10:00

I've decided that I'm going to post everyday from Monday to Friday. Weekends are when I get my best material so I'll be busy riding my bike, not sitting in front of the computer. I trust that you'll be doing the same.

I've only told a few of my close friends about this since it began a couple weeks ago and I'm already up to 600 hits a day. How things spread! Please feel free to send your cycling hints & tips in to this address so I can post them. I'll give you full credit for your ideas.

Power vs Weight

2008-09-19T07:07:00.005+10:00

When there's hills involved there's two ways to increase your speed to the top. Increase your power, or decrease your weight. Increasing your power will require specific intervals, an increased training load, and a lot of pain. Decreasing your weight involves a whole lot of sacrifice and discipline. Neither are easy. Depending on your current abilities, one may be easier to tackle than the other.

For example, I don't have a problem generating power. But I'm also 85kg and would likely work to lose 5kg if I wanted to increase my climbing speed. It would take a LOT more work (90% more work for an extra 5% gain) to increase my power with my current training load. My current power to weight ratio at threshold is approximately 5.2. If I were to keep my power the same and loose 5kg I would increase that ratio to 5.6. That would be relatively easy given the alternative. I would need to increase my power by almost 50 watts (a significant figure) in order to get the same results.

If you are already very lean then there's only one way to go. Increase power output. Assess where you're at and decide which strategy is more achievable.

Cash In Your Tyres

2008-09-18T10:52:00.006+10:00

Cold hard cash can be good for all sorts of things. Usually for the things that you can buy with it but in some cases it's good for what you can use it for. Let me explain...

On my way home from my ride this morning I got a flat tyre. Not only was the tube flat, but as I was changing it I noticed there was a slice through my sidewall. Under normal circumstances the best fix would be to pick up the phone and call my wife to come and get me. The other alternative: an old trick I learned using a $5 bill.

I always carry a $5 bill in my toolkit. First, to buy some food if I go hunger flat and second, to help fix a slashed tyre. HOW TO: After you've replaced the tube, fold the $5 bill in half and put it inside the sidewall of the tyre. Then put the tyre back on the rim as you'd normally do but this time with the $5 bill in between the tyre and tube. This will prevent the tube from ballooning out of the tyre at the site of the slice. At this point you can continue your ride problem-free.

Just remember to take the $5 out of your tyre when you get home, replace the tyre, and go buy yourself a cappuccino with your cold hard cash.

Tough Bike Tyres

2008-09-16T18:11:00.002+10:00

Last night I put a new set of tyres on my wheels.

Have you ever tried to put on new tyres and thought they will never fit? Sometimes it feels like the tyres are 2/3 the size of the wheel and you'll nearly break your fingers trying to make it work.

What NOT to do:

DO NOT use tyre levers to help pry the tyre onto the rim. This will only pinch the tube and you'll have to start again.

My Technique:

Fit one side of the tyre bead around the rim. Then put the tube in the tyre, slightly inflated to give it a bit of shape. Start working on the tyre as you normally would starting from the valve side. When it becomes tough to get the rest of the bead onto the rim, spray some WD-40 onto the troubled section of the rim. No need to use a lot, just enough to lube it up. Using a rag over the tyre for grip, start working the tyre with both hands from either side. It should easily slide onto the rim. Finally, check that the tube is not being pinched anywhere by the tyre. To do this, squeeze the tyre on both sides all the way around the rim. There should be no tube popping out anywhere.

Now that was easy!

Echelon the Crosswinds

2008-09-16T07:15:00.001+10:00

With the recent weather, the theme of today’s post is CROSSWINDS. Even A-Grade riders can get confused about how to ride in a group in the crosswinds. In my last race there were several direction changes in the road and the pack had to adjust its position on every corner. Not always an easy task when your heart is pounding at 180bpm and you can't think clearly. Many guys made mistakes by either not understanding the concept, or not paying attention to the direction of the wind.

PULL OFF INTO THE WIND is the thing to remember. Geese do this exact same thing when flying in groups. This is the most efficient way of using the groups energy to cut through the wind and maintain a high average speed.

What to do in an echelon:

The riders in the echelon will rotate through from the sheltered side to the front and then pull off back on the windward side. When riding in an echelon you want to keep things smooth and together. You should NEVER take a big long pull on the front. You will always rotate through taking short 1-2 min pulls. When you get to the front of the echelon you will ride to just in front of the lead rider, gently pull in front of him and maintain his speed. DO NOT pull through hard and continue going faster than him. If you do this then the poor guy will have to punch it to get onto your wheel after just doing his pull. When riding with experienced riders, you'll find yourself a few bike lengths in front of the echelon hanging out there by yourself.

What NOT to do in an echelon:

The echelon can only be as wide as the road so in a large pack there will be a number of riders in single file behind the echelon. This is the absolute WORST place to be. It's easy to get tricked into thinking that by being in the "gutter" as it's called, you're not doing any work by avoiding rotating through. Trust me, it's much easier being in the echelon doing a hard pull once every minute than being in the gutter hanging on for dear life. Note: This wouldn't be the case in a headwind but a crosswind is completely different. Once one person in the gutter drops the wheel in front, its very difficult to get back on and close that gap. And if you're the one to drop that wheel, you'll have a lot of pissed off riders behind you!

On the other hand, there are a number of effective strategies to intentionally drop other riders in an echelon. This will be addressed in a future post.

Headwinds

2008-09-14T21:41:00.001+10:00

Sure is nice cruising down your favorite road at 50km/hr with the wind at your back and barely breaking a sweat. This is what I did this morning with a gusty northerly. After an easy hour of riding, I realized that I was 50km away! I still had to turn around...

Its Times like these when you're pushing into a 35 knott headwind that make you contemplate your choice in sports. What to do? Change your perception. Pushing against the wind is great for the strength, but unfortunately the harder you push, the harder it gets. It's easy to get frustrated while pushing as hard as you can and feeling like you're getting nowhere. What I do is give up all expectations of 50km/hr speeds and try to work on a different aspect of cycling. You will never be satisfied at the end of a headwind ride if your only focus is pushing harder. I usually concentrate on my pedal stroke efficiency, making sure that it's completely smooth with a fairly high cadence of 100rpm.

Headwinds also provide a good opportunity to play around with your body position. Watch your computer and notice how small positional changes affect your speed. Get aero and tweak your riding position and see what is optimal. A power meter is particularly effective for this purpose. You can look at your speed (when the road is flat and wind constant) vs power and check when your speed increases while power remains constant.

You can't do anything about the wind until the road turns, so welcome the wind as an aid to becoming a better rider.

Pick a Goal

2008-09-12T08:03:00.000+10:00

Most of us put a lot of effort into this sport. It's just the nature of it. Unfortunately natural talent in cycling doesn't tend to shine until you have your bases covered on fitness.

If you're going to put this much time into being out on the road, you may as well try to do well at it. I see many people doing the same training regime every week without really knowing what they're preparing for. That's fine for some people, but if you want to start having some results or PB's you need to have some concrete goals to shoot for. "Get strong" is not a concrete goal. It needs to be tangible, realistic, have a timeline, and very specific. "Win the club champs in March" is a good example. Make yourself accountable to that goal. With a goal it will help motivate you to get out there every morning and do the best training ride that you can.

Pick an event that suits your abilities about 3 months in advance. There's your goal. Now how are you going to accomplish that goal? You need a path to that goal. Is it going to be accomplished by doing the same old training rides that you've done before and never brought you results? Or maybe it is the right formula?! Pick some races along the way that you rate as low priority that suits as good preparation. Put no expectations on those races but have some small goals within those races that are helping you achieve your end goal. Maybe it's getting in a breakaway, getting a good position in the bunch sprint, riding near the front the whole race, practicing cornering, etc.

I could go on forever about the training needed to bring you to your end goal, but there's lots of good qualified coaches out there that can individualize a training program for you. I'm just here to perhaps make you realize that if you want some success in cycling, you need to start making goals and a pathway to achieving them. The same old training routine that you've always done may not be the right path if it hasn't worked for you before.

Training Triangles

2008-09-11T12:27:00.000+10:00

When you work on one aspect of fitness, others will suffer. No doubt about it.

Here is a good representation of what is happening. The corners of the triangle represent speed, endurance and power. The area of the triangle represents the total amount of fitness

The distance from a corner to the center represents the relative amount of fitness

Work on speed - endurance and power will suffer. Work on endurance and power, speed will suffer. Alternatively, the triangles might represent hill climbing, sprinting, and TT'ing. Work on hills, sprinting and TT'ing worsens. Work on TT'ing, hill climbing and sprinting diminishes. You get the point. Training specific aspects of fitness decreases other aspects of fitness.

So how do you get good at everything? Well, there are two training concepts - general fitness and specific fitness. Fitter riders have bigger triangles. However, even the best riders will still experience the same triangle effect. Pull on one side of the triangle to make it bigger and the other side gets smaller. The best sprinters at the TdF are not good time trialists or hill climbers (this is all relative to the best bike riders in the world of course).

You can see how this ties in with my last post. Pick one thing, excel at it, and work to make those other parts of the triangle as good as you can without sacrificing the stuff you're good at. Picking out your strengths and weaknesses is the first step.

Excel at One Thing

2008-09-11T11:58:00.000+10:00

If you're going to do something, why try to be good at everything? For most of us, all that will happen is that we'll end up being mediocre a wide range of things which will put us in the middle of the pack nearly all the time.

If you see some promise in one area of your cycling, I say focus on it, fine tune it and make it the best you possibly can. Then move on to working on the parts of cycling that you're weaker on so that you can create the opportunities that let you use your strengths.

For example, a big and heavy like me is never going to win a race that has big steep climbs and hilltop finishes. The beautiful thing about cycling though is that there are equalizers that make it possible for most body types and varied abilities to excel at one thing or another. There aren't too many true all-rounders out there. Even an all-rounder like Cadel only got second place at the TdF. He was beaten by a guy who was good at one thing and one thing only - climbing!

If you're a good sprinter, work on your bunch sprint positioning, practice your sprint intervals, do some time on the track, and pick races that will end up in group sprints! I guarantee you that you'll start winning.

If you have a high lactate threshold, then get in breakaways. Learn when breaks happen on a certain course, know who to follow and who to let sink out there, know when to go (you can tell when something is going to stick or not).

If you're not good at anything in particular, then figure out what body type you have, what terrain suits your natural abilities, and concentrate on getting good at what you enjoy. If you're 60kg and enjoy climbing then you know what you should be practicing and enter those types of events. However, if you're 80kg, hate the thought of getting in a breakaway or don't have the guts to play in a group sprint, you have to assess your goals and adjust your expectations. That may mean switching grades, or giving it your all out effort in order to support someone on your team. There's a lot of satisfaction helping out a teammate achieve his goals.

Train your weaknesses, make stuff that you're good at razor sharp, pick races that suit your strengths, and you will be successful in the sport of bike racing.

Ride From the Core

2008-09-10T11:41:00.000+10:00

At the beginning of the winter I joined pilates. I haven't got the ripped washboard stomach that I was hoping for, but I can definitely tell you that the core strengthening I've done for the past 6 months has helped immensely. A mate's wife owns a pilates studio andhere's what he has to say about riding from the core:

Core is a very general term. There are several muscle/body groups that need to be 'awakened' in order to develop a strong core. This takes time and is a gradual process. A stronger core has helped change my set up on the bike allowing me to sit in a more 'active' position. My hips are now in a neutral position instead of 'sinking' into the saddle.

When I say "active" position, here's what I mean. Imagine a string going through your body when you're sitting on the bike from the arch of your foot coming through the top of your head. Now think of someone pulling that string so that you're sitting tall and core engaged. This will set you up in this "active" position.

This position has many benefits including taking pressure off my hip flexors, reducing workload on my front thighs and flatning my lower back reducing stiffness on long rides. I have also noticed better acceleration on hills when I engage my core.

You don't necessarily have to do pilates to get a strong core. Here's a routine and some exercises that you can do in 10mins a day to help improve your core strength.

Taking a Day Off

2008-09-09T09:07:00.001+10:00

Don't be afraid to take a day off. If you're motivated but just tired, listen to your body and take a break. It's telling you something. One day off is better than seven days off being sick. Fitness takes place when you rest and recover, not when you're out riding. There's a balancing act between recovery and training that needs to take place, but you get my point.

If being tired isn't a problem for you at the moment then plan which days you'll take off at the beginning of the week. Look at the weather forecast on Sunday evening and see what the trend is. If the end of the week is looking miserable then try to get in all you can at the beginning.

Baby Wipes - What Can't They Do?

2008-09-08T15:52:00.002+10:00

After our big day out in the rain yesterday we all have to deal with a mess on our hands - filthy bikes! How to clean it? Well if you're like me and don't have access to a firehose you have a bit of work to do. What I find easiest to do is to let the bike dry overnight and give it a wipedown with a dry rag. The key is to keep it dry so that all the gunk on the frame just flakes off. Now, go an buy yourself some babywipes. Some of you new moms or dads out there may already have an ample supply. I find Curash to be the best. Now, take a couple of those babywipes and clean your chain off. Then use some more babywipes and clean the rest of your drivetrain. Then use a few more babywipes and clean your frame, tires, handlebars, wheels etc. Take one last babywipe and clean your hands, and voila. In 10mins time you'll have a bike that looks brand new again.

After every ride, no matter how clean it is, I'll take a babywipe and wipe my frame down and my chain. Takes about 1 minute and the bike is always spotless and never really needs a big clean job. It adds thousands of km's to your drivetrain as well since it's always clean and won't wear nearly as quickly.

I don't know what they put in these things, but they'll clean everything from a baby's bottom to the worst bike grease known to man. I even shine my dress shoes with these things.

The Long Ride

2008-09-08T14:50:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was Crowie's Inverloch 280 ride. It went from Melbourne to Inverloch and back on some of the most sensational roads I've ever seen. Just when you think you've seen all the good rides in the area it pays to go out with an old pro like Crowie to show you a thing or two that you've been missing.

A 280km ride at say 33km/hr (which is a reasonable average speed) will be about 8hrs. If I burn 700 calories per hour (being a moderate pace), that works out to 5600 calories that'll need to be replaced during that ride. Use 1000 calories per hr if it's race pace. Seeing as the body can only really absorb about 500 calories per hour, target that for the duration of the ride. Should suffice for me including the stored calories I had in my belly from the large pizza i ate on Friday night and the healthy brown rice and salmon I had Sat night.

Every hour I drank a 750ml bottle of energy drink (about 200 calories), and some sort of easily digestible food (I like using 1/2can of creamed rice - 250 calories) along with a jell or some snakes. Energy bars have about 300 calories, so that's another good option if you have the money and patience to eat them. That gives a good 500 calories per hour to keep me topped up. Usually when you least want to eat is a good sign that you really need to eat. About 30km into our ride home it started pouring cats and dogs on us and became very miserable out. When we get cold and wet is usually the time when we don't feel like we need to eat and it's very inconvenient to mess around with food. It doesn't take much to go without food or water for an hour when it's raining and cold out, so this is the time to be very cognizant of this.

By the end of the ride 8hrs later I was still full of energy. This has everything to do with the nutrition throughout the ride and not nearly as much as the fitness level. Without the nutrition you can't use the fitness on these longer rides - I don't care who you are, you won't overcome a few thousand calorie deficit!

The 30min to 120min after the workout is the best window of opportunity to get some carbs and protein into the body for it to rebuild.

It's not complicated and I wish that I had taken the time to learn a bit about nutrition in my younger days. It's no different than a gas tank in a car. You won't go anywhere if it's not kept topped up.