Looking forwardto Saturday

I'm 75% there... I set the goal of 4-5 hours of time on the rollers each week. This week, I've been on them for 3 hours. Each night gets a little better as far as fluidity. I'm able to pay more attention to the TV and less to my riding position.

I'm looking forward to Saturday. Last time I trained on the rollers consistently during the week, I had a great Saturday. The efficiency carries forward to the road. I was able to ride with a "smoothness" that hasn't been present in the past.

There's something about riding at pace yet the body is quiet. No extraneous movements, just the synchronous pattern of pedaling.

The foundation is being laid for a great season next year.

The pain is finally subsiding

As I mentioned yesterday, I've included body weight exercises as the core of my strengthening program for the off season. Don't underestimate the intensity or benefit of these exercises. They may seem simple for the first few repititions but the effect in cumulative. Today is the first day that the pain in my quads has started to go away.

Here's something for cyclists to remember! Cycling is a concentric only activity. That means that the muscle contractions that we use to pedal the bike always shorten the muscle. There are two other types of muscle contractions, isometric and eccentric. Isometric contractions are done while keeping the muscle length the same. In eccentric contractions, the muscle is getting longer as the contraction is held. The vast majority of exercises are a combination of concentric and eccentric muscular contractions. Swimming and cycling are two examples of concentric only activities(for the most part).

Most muscle soreness is created by eccentric loads. So, if you are considering a strengthening program...take care to transition to eccentric loads very carefully. Start with light loads and fewer repititions than you think you can complete. If your muscles respond with minimal soreness, progress the load and repititions next time. Don't over do it starting out.

Pain

It's been a long time since I've done strength training. I've forgotten about the muscle pain that follows. Maybe that's what attracts me to cycling. Typically, there's very little in the way of muscle pain.

But, strength training is an element of this year's off season training plan. So, I'm committed to a regular strength training regimen.

I've done quite a bit of research on different strength training exercises. I don't have the time to go to a gym and lift weights. I've never enjoyed being in a gym anyway. All of my strength training exercise are body weight related. Body weight exercises typically incorporate higher repititions, balance skills and a certain amount of flexibility. I've incorporated four exercises at this point. Hindu squats, plyometric pushups(on an incline), Hindu pushups, and chin ups. The Hindu squats and pushups come from a guy named Matt Furey(www.mattfurey.com). Ross Enamait is another guy with a ton of great body weight exercises(www.rossboxing.com). Take a look at both sights. Ross' sight has more video to give you ideas of how you can incorporate strength training into your winter program.

I believe that you should research everything. Then eat the meat and spit out the bones. If you are going to include strength training into your cycling program, be sure to know why you are doing it. Just adding exercises without purpose is a waste of time and energy.

Size-o-matic

My Baptist and Methodist heritage almost prevents me from saying "Size-o-matic" in fear that it might be some porn toy! But, fear not, I've gone non-denominational. I'm free from the religious dogma.

Salsa cycles invented the Size-o-matic several years ago. It's a bike stem that is adjustable for length and angle. It eliminates the guess work of proper handle bar placement. However, in recent years, handlebar clamp diameters changed and the Size-o-matic didn't have the ability to clamp to a 31.8mm handlebar. Salsa decided to take a step back and rework the tool and refine it. It was suppose to be released at Interbike last year. But, one problem after another caused delays. Well, it's finally here and I have one on the way. I'll let you know when it arrives.

Roller time

I was able to ride the rollers for a total of two hours last week. I continue to be impressed with the pedaling efficiency that comes from rollers. It's not like rollers were invented yesterday. They've been around almost as long as bikes themselves. But rollers do something that other training can't offer. They provide a level of sensitivity that is different that other trainers. Each poor turn of the pedals causes a weight shift in the saddle. Each subtle change in weight shift in the saddle is reflected in your position on the rollers. If you are riding a straight line on the rollers, you are not shifting your weight around on the saddle. You must be turning the pedals effectively.

Cycling is a sport of skill. It's about generating force in a manner that most closely matches the mechanical pattern of the bike. The rollers give you the sensitivity you need to develop the skills to become efficient.

Here are some roller questions:
Can you ride rollers while pedaling with a single leg, Left and right?
Can you ride in aerobars?
Can you ride no hands?

I've seen a guy ride rollers single leg, no hands. No that tough! It might resemble a circus trick but it means one thing. He knows how to pedal a bike.

Let the 2007 season begin!

It's September. It's time to look back at the accomplishments of the 2006 season and evaluate what whet well and what went wrong. From this retrospect, I'll build the foundation of my 2007 season.

#1. (Negative) Weight was too high the entire season. I had a great 2005 holiday season that lingered into early 2006. Unfortunately, I carried that weight through the summer. I'm only talking 5-10 lbs. but every pound makes a difference when the road turns up.

#2. (Negative/Positive)I started training too late. I don't think I rode over 2 times/week until March. I felt like I was a couple months behind on form for the entire year. On the other hand, much of my time was spent doing research in bicycle fit, neuomuscular effects of pedaling, balance, training, periodization etc. Also, I took time out to pass the USA cycling Level 1 coaching exam. Yes, I know it's a take home test but it takes time to get through the material.

#3. (Positive) I took time to really ingrain my pedaling skills. I still feel like I have a long way to go before I'm really efficient. However, I had very poor mechanics when I got started.

Those are the high points.

Looking forward, here are the goals.
#1. I plan to loose 10 lbs before the end of the year. This will be accomplished by riding regularly at intensities that promote fat for fuel.

#2. I plan to ride most every Saturday as long as I can get it in before family functions. I may ride one early ride a week but most of my training will be at home on the rollers or on the computrainer for the next several months. Once the weight goal is achieved, I'll included more road rides for fitness.

#3. I plan to integrate a stretching, strengthening and neuromuscular control programs into my fall and winter training. This will be new. In the past, I have focused on riding only.

#4. I plan to integrate mountain biking for a bit of crosstraining. I thought about ballet......no.

It's not a big plan but it's a starting point. During these next few weeks, I anticipate that I will be on the rollers 4-5 hours per week and have a 3 hour ride on the weekends. That should be enough to accomplish the early goals and enjoy my fall. The exercise program will probably be another 2 hours per week in 30 minute sessions.

I'll keep you posted.

ibike final

After several months of frustration and concerns about reliability, I'm finally convinced that the product WORKS!

Ok, let's recap. Early on, I had problems with the coast down calibration. That problem was solved by selecting a different location to perform the test.

Then I had problems with power readings while I was on the flats or going downhill. Soon after, I began to have problems with temperature readings. It was at this point that I thought the product was wacked despite online reviews that reported otherwise. Somewhere in there, I had problems with corrupted data files too.

In my last bout of frustration, I emailed John Hamman at ibike sports seeking a refund if the problems weren't resolved. As I've mentioned before, John has confidence in the product and really wants to see this thing succeed so that all cyclists ride stronger. He took his time to help me go through my calibration process and reviewed my ibike ride data. He narrowed the problem down to the battery.

As it turns out, the ibike is acutely sensitive to battery voltage. Once the battery power gets below a certain level (270-275), all bets are off. If you own an ibike, check the battery power before each ride by going into the setup menu. Future firmware versions will have a battery warning so that the data remains reliable.

(The current firmware is version 1.07. I highly recommend that you go to www.ibikesports.com to download it. It adds some message screens and takes care of some processes in the background. )

I installed the new battery and updated the firmware before my Saturday ride. The ibike worked like a dream. I've ridden the computrainer enough to know my wattage ranges and the ibike readings were definitely within an acceptable range.

Here's another plus. Cyclingpeaks 2.1 accepts ibike files. Now I can download my ibike power files directly into Cyclingpeaks for analysis. That's a huge improvement.

Here's my final thought: Yes, the ibike is worth the money. Just like the other power meters, it has it quirks. Just make sure that you get a good calibration and you keep the battery power within acceptable limits. Also, keep you firmware up to date. Just as with an new product, the updates provide critical improvements that make the product work better.