You have to be comfortable in the saddle

Can you let your entire body weight rest on your bike saddle? I mean, feet out of the pedals and legs hanging down. If you can't do this, then you have to accomodate to somehow to be comfortable.

There are only a few ways to make these accomodations... From the feet, hands or shifting on the saddle.

If your accomodation comes from the feet, that means that you are taking power from your legs and using it to unload yourself from your saddle instead of using that power to turn the pedals.

If you are unloading yourself by using your hands, you will fatigue smaller muscle groups quickly and cause shoulder, neck and back pain. That's no fun.

Shifting in the saddle causes more shear of soft tissues. That causes more saddle discomfort.

Here's the solution. Saddles come in various shapes and sizes. If you are not comfortable, get fit to make sure that you are on the bike properly. If you are still having problems, it's time to shop different saddles.

Personally, I like the body geometry saddles but they aren't for everyone.

What's going to make the difference for you this year?

Are you fated to be pack filler? Do you have a chance to move up in the cycling hierarchy? Or, have you found your group of riders where you are comfortable and competative? What is your rationalization for status quo? How are you going to perform better this next year?

Here are the variables. There may be more but these are the ones that I can think of.

1) Body weight
2) Training time
3) Training intensity
4) Technique
5) Nutrition(different that body weight)
6) Better equipment

What things are you willing to change that will make a difference? All but one require discipline. It's always easy to make a new purchase.

I contend that all of them are important but some have greater priority that others. For example, if you train for 15 hours a week and you ride hard but you have poor technique, the time and effort is wasted in part. If you develop technique first, you will get a greater return for your effort.

That's where I come in. Let me help you develop better technique and you will see a difference next year.

Here are the questions that you want to hear other people ask...Your riding very well, what have you been doing to make a difference?

Okay, it's been a while

Life is often complex, sometimes sticky. I'm ready to start taking the time to write again. It's been difficult to get the time to even think about writing. I just doesn't seem like there are as many hours in the day as in the past.

I'm really excited about some opportunities that are coming up in the new year. Let's just say that it's going to be really cool. The information that I'm going to be able to gather will really help propel my understanding of bike fit and power production on the bike. But, it won't come without a cost. More on that later.

Training has been sparse but that can change. It's just a matter of priorities.

More to come later.