Self Improvement

Save Your Legs, Not Your Gears!

September 22, 2008

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 […]

933

Postings

September 20, 2008

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 […]

933

Power vs Weight

September 19, 2008

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 […]

Echelon the Crosswinds

September 15, 2008

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 […]

Pick A Goal

September 13, 2008

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 […]

916

Training Triangles

September 13, 2008

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 […]

Excel At One Thing

September 12, 2008

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 […]

Ride From the Core

September 11, 2008

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 […]

Taking a Day Off

September 10, 2008

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 […]

Baby Wipes - What Can’t They Do?

September 9, 2008

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 […]