Here is a cool picture, courtesy of Ryan Lange. Thanks Ryan!
The more I read about cycling, the more I realize how much I still have to learn about riding. So, riding a bicycle is a lot more complicated than I anticipated even at the end of last season, which was my most successful yet...despite a few set backs.
As I read more about proper riding, I want to implement them into training more than simply thinking, "hey, that's a good idea".
Today I rode 50 miles on the Orbea. Starting at the house for an 8 mile warm up to the bike shop next to Target(great discount prices). The weather was beautiful in the 50's and just warm enough to not wear any extra gear. (I don't like jackets...period)
The bike shop had a low turn-out due to the REALLY fast guys traveling to South Texas for a road race. We're hoping bike shop hero, Joey Spragins, will come back with a win or at least an awesome story of thrashing to the finish line. There were about 6 guys that showed up.
Two aspects that I wanted to concentrate on from my reading...Better Form and a Full Cycle.
The better form has to do with my upper body and head position. On the aerobars with a time trial bike, the more aerodynamic position is to simply push the chin forward and lower. Which doesn't happen unless you think about it. It is not uncomfortable to do this, but a touch awkward. It was surprising, and perhaps 100% mental, but I actually felt more powerful and faster when doing this... I could feel my entire back become less of a wind blocking son of a wall.
The full cycle, as I call it, is particularly important on a time trial bike(as I've read). The basic idea is to "cycle" the full revolution of the crank and apply power. My entire cycling career(not very long) has consisted of simply "pushing down" on the pedal/crank and hoping for the best. I had not been pulling up at all. Well, if I had, I was not pushing down on the same cycle revolution as well. The idea is to do both....Equally. And surprisingly, it takes A LOT of practice. One drill that was suggested was to do 6 revolutions concentrating on the right leg, then 6 with the left...finishing with 6 on both at the same time (repeat for...well, do that over and over again).
It was a great ride today of about 34 miles with the bike shop gang and then a pleasant cool down (spinning) ride back to the house in Fate.
1 comment:
Wow Billy - that was really techie! Me and Frank went for a ride sometime during your bike shop haul ... we're going to focus on some technique as well.
For example:
- Frank needs to stop rubbing his front brakes against the wheel.
- Frank should not scare Jerry when hitting rocks while going fast.
- Frank should raise his handle bars so Jerry doesn't have too tough of a work out.
- Stretching my ass cheeks for the first few weeks of post-ride routine (ouch.)
Different but the same. No?
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