Video Blog | Stronger Cyclist

How to ride in Cross Winds

posted on February 11th, 2012 in Cycling, Cycling Tips, Reviews, Strength Training, Video Blog by Stephen

I love riding in cross winds. It is a time when power to weight ratio of the sprinters can really put the hurt onto the climbers.

It is a time when how the break works together can be the difference between survival and getting shelled.
Work too little and you may win, or the break may get caught, Work too hard, and you get shelled.

It is a time when knowing where the draft is can be crucial.
Just watch these professional riders have a tough time staying in contact with the rider in front of them due to the cross wind and the speed of the race.

Notice in this video of the 2012 Tour of Qatar – when Cancellara makes the move, the wind is coming from his right side & so he is on the Left side of the road – this is so that anyone behind him gets as little draft as possible. He is doing this in hopes that they will not be able to hold his pace and he can ride away.

Conversely once Cancellara realizes he isn’t going to be solo and wants some help, he edges to the right, so that the person drafting him has room to find the best draft on Cancellara’s back left.

Also, notice how when there are more people in the break they move to the right – so that the other riders can get a draft and they can all work together to hold the gap.

Quick Tip: Mash a larger gear in a crosswind. This is a great strength builder and when you spin (I generally) feel the need to always change to an easier gear and spin even more. If it is a training ride, try mashing that gear! You may feel tired after the ride, but you will get stronger!

Video Mt biking at FATS

posted on February 7th, 2012 in Cycling, Ride Reports, Video Blog by Stephen

I got out last month and met up with some friends for a ride at FATS Mt bike trail. If you have never been there, let me tell you, it is like going to a pump track! I remember saying to the group, ‘you just can’t jump each one, you have to select which one’s your going to jump, because there are so many”.

I tried to time some of the music to the events in the video, whether each person jumping a jump in line, or a crash.

It still amazes me how much footage I end up cutting out before getting what can be put into a video with out it being over 5 minutes long. And I think this video is a bit too long, but I tried to warrant the length with crashes, passes, jumps, and whoops.

This video is actually the 2nd video from the day (here is the First). It is amazing how different people can change the dynamics of a ride. I was glad I wasn’t wearing a Heart Rate monitor!

Mt biking video from FATS

posted on January 11th, 2012 in Cycling, Ride Reports, Video Blog by Stephen

A group of friends got together once again, this time for a Fun ride near Augusta, GA. A local trail system called FATS.
All I can say is WOW!! This has got to be one of the most Fun trail systems that I have ever ridden!

While I was editing the footage for this video I kept thinking 2 things – 1) I wanted to show how rolling this terrain was, which lead to the 2nd thing: this trail system is like a Mt bike roller coaster, thus the music. Now, this isn’t to say that every part of FATS has a slightly down-hill angle and a whoop to jump every 5 feet. There is definitely some climbing involved on a couple trails. But for this day in January we chose to stay more on the flatter trails of Brown Wave and Skinny.

Unfortunately, as always, footage from an event rarely ever does the course justice. But I hope you enjoy the video & that it will encourage you to get out and ride!