2010 April | Stronger Cyclist

Keeping Momentum in Turns

posted on April 27th, 2010 in Cycling, Cycling Tips, Strength Training by Stephen

Lots of people will tell you to move up in a race, often if you need to move up, it is easier said than done. And if you find yourself at the back of the pack in a tight or very fast crit, then it can seem nearly impossible. But with a few techniques you can save more momentum in the turns which can save more energy and will make moving up easier.

Momentum As you ride towards the turn the back of the pack is going to slow down going into the turn, make the turn, then accelerate hard to get back up to the speed of the leaders. 3 things here:

A) if you are maxed out, you may need a break from the accelerations. If you are at the back or close to it, you can often ride at a much steadier pace if you are slightly off the back of the other riders before the turns. By being solo off the back you will not be subjected to as much slowing and accelerating of the pack and thus you maybe able to maintain a much steadier pace along the course. It is best to have a gap going into the turn, then gain the ground back up while coming out of the turn. Of course, it is important to maintain contact with the group on the long straights, but you can sit-up sooner before everyone else and not brake as much (if at all) before the turn. Your average speed will be similar to the groups, but you will not have the fatigue causing changes of pace that the back of the group has.

B) you know that the group is accelerating back up to the leaders then will slow down again. If you don’t accelerate as much, you may loose spaces if other cyclist can get around you, but you have better chance to stay with the group. You don’t always have to put out an intense effort to stay with the pack, but you must be strong and talented to move up through the field later in the race.

C) if you don’t slow down as much going into the turn, you will not have to accelerate back up to speed as much. Trick? Yes, and I love to use it! Just before everyone is setting up to go into a turn, I will start coasting a little sooner than the others, I time it so that just before I start to lean the bike, I will pedal 2-4 times, then turn – the result is I started my acceleration before going into the turn, I carry the speed through the turn. Now when I am coming out of the turn I do not have to accelerate as hard as the person ahead of me.

Want some beginner pointers on crit racing, see my post on riding a crit

CAUTION:
Some cyclists going into a turn, will take the chance of going up the inside of the corner, attempt to find a spot to make the turn with the group to gain spots. I do not like nor recommend this approach. Yes, it works for some riders sometimes, but when it goes wrong, it is very bad, and people with road rash get very angry.

Focus on your Motor

posted on April 22nd, 2010 in Cycling, Cycling Tips, Strength Training by Stephen

One of my favorite things about cycling and racing is that the most important part of the sport is the motor. No matter how much someone can/does spend on parts, or fancy equipment – it truly comes down to the motor that is pushing those cranks. What some people don’t see is other peoples love for the sport, their love of cycling. Some folks are into cycling only to be competitive, and attempt to purchase their way to the top.

Take a look at this question for example, “would a compact crank make my bike faster?” The simple answer is no. The compact crank will allow you to spin more on a climb, but is that really a good thing? Check out “Why compact cranks can make your legs weaker” . I did a group road ride recently where a guy was spinning himself off the back of the pack, as I was pulling up beside him, I was going to suggest him to shift & mash – luckily he did just before I suggested it.

Your heart and lungs are the Carburetor, and your legs are the pistons. If you spin the easiest gear all the time it would be like red-lining a sports car in 1st gear on the interstate. For optimal cycling you have to adjust the gears based on A) the terrain and B) on your abilities. Sometimes it is better to spin an easier gear, but sometimes it is better to mash a gear. The thing to remember is that if you always spin an easier gear, then your legs do not get any stronger!

If you were training to ride up a 12 mile climb of 12% in France, would you do all your climbing in the easiest gear? I wouldn’t! I would mash 1 gear harder than I would normally – therefore making my legs stronger. Then when I got to France my legs should be used to mashing a larger gear, which would make spinning up the climb easier. So train harder to make your big event easier.

On the flip side of the coin: A friend of mine wanted me to do a 90 mile ride with him, that was going to include three, 7 mile climbs…. a week before he was going to race Twilight a 1K criterium in Athens, GA. My advise, go for a 2 hour spin with very little climbing. ‘spin’ is the key word. For racing a criterium next week your legs are as strong as you can get them before such an event – the key is to do something similar to the upcoming race – which he did – Sunny King Criterium. 1 group ride this week and a couple easy high cadence spins is all that can be done the week before the race. Doing any climbing causes the legs to become accustomed to a lower cadence, not the high cadence required for a crit!

The best way to set-up a training plan is to find out what your target goal is, then plan backwards. That is why it is so important to look at the overall season as early as possible each year. The more time you have for planning, the more you can do the proper training to bring you into optimum form! This is often where a coach will look at your overall schedule and time for training and place the proper workouts in your training plan to bring you to peak form.

Mt biking Stanley Gap

posted on April 19th, 2010 in Cycling, Mt biking Dogs, Ride Reports, Strength Training by Stephen

A friend of mine had to take a trip up to North Georgia and it gave us the perfect opportunity to ride on some Awesome trails that are only 90 minutes North West of Atlanta in BlueRidge, GA. After a relaxing morning we had the car loaded up w/ 4 dogs and 2 Mt. bikes, and cruised up 575, onto 515 past Ellijay into BlueRidge.

After settling the dogs down, they were taken on a guided hike w/ a lake visit. We hopped on the Mt bikes and off we rode onto the lake Blue-ridge connector trail out onto Aska Rd. headed for a long beautiful sunny day in the saddle. The views of the landscape, pastures, and Mountains are incredible in this part of Georgia. The temperature was amazing. I felt warm while climbing, but chilled from the breeze as soon as we would stop.

Soon we were climbing back country trails heading to the trail head of Stanley Gap. There has been quite a bit of great trail work in this area, and although it is still back country riding, most of it is quite ride-able. Many sections reminded me of the riding in Pisgah National Forest. There are several climbs that are challenging and make the Granny gear a necessity for most riders. The downhills are wicked fast, and there were a couple of sections that I was lucky to stay upright getting through them. It is easy to carry so much speed that you get into a technical section a little too fast!

A video (with Music) from the ride there last year:

Next up we started part of the Flat Creek loop. Coming down the rocky descent along a stream just adds to the amazing scenery that you will miss b/c you are too focused on the next upcoming water barrier that you can jump!

We carried the Flat Creek trail all the way to Aska road. Luckily I had a guided tour of the area, but I still can’t help but feel that there is so much more in this area of Blueridge to explore, yet unfortunately we had to head back to the Atl, so after a well earned steak and potato dinner, we picked up the lake weary dogs and back onto 515 we cruised, sore, exhausted and thoroughly content after a day of lung and heart pumping Mt biking.

Georgia has some great Mt biking, but if you want some steep, some steady climbs and some sick downhills with a true feel of the Mountains, Flat Creek and Stanley Gap will not disappoint you. This is part of the reason that both trails are rated 4.5+ on MTBR.com trail review section. Enjoy!