Racing too seriously
posted on October 3rd, 2012 in Adventures, Cycling, Cycling Tips by Stephen
Today I was thinking back over my several years of racing and I was thinking about one of the years I raced the US100K just outside Atlanta, GA.
Here we were rolling along on a fairly hilly course, most of us running a 54 up front ‘Just in case’ we got near the frantic downhill sprint – all the while because the real Pro’s were in town we were going around this course that we didn’t need the 39 up front. Rollin’ it!
I was thinking back to a year that the whole Saturn team was there, they were laughing it up. Talking to each other across the whole pack, even though they were fairly spread out in the group.
I remember one year when I was laughing it up with a buddy of mine. Asking him “does this group do this ride very often?”, “want some of my banana?”. I mean here we were, tucked into the draft doing about 30, and I’m making jokes.
I got thinking about how years before then, how focused I would be on rides. I wouldn’t even talk to anyone because “I was training”. I wasn’t worried about getting dropped, I was worried about who was ‘up the road’, I was worried about where I should attack!
Yet, years later, I guess I started to realize that even if I got dropped, or even if I didn’t ‘make that break’, it wasn’t the end of my cycling. Maybe I even started to realize that I was near the top of my fitness level – unless someone was going to suddenly start paying me or I started to dope – neither of which was going to happen!
One of the things that always stuck out in my mind was how you could do 1 group ride a week, and chat with one person each time – and pick up the conversation, right where you left off last time. Bumping into friends (literally) from out of state that you haven’t seen all Winter.
I guess that realization started to lower the stress and the pressure that I had been putting on myself. I started to enjoy my fitness level, and enjoying my friends in the field. Those were some of the best years of racing that I had. It wasn’t the races, it wasn’t the miles and miles of training, it was the people that were around you while you are doing those things that in the end impact your memories the most.
A win is great, but mutual cycling friends is greater.
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2012 Winter weather forecast
posted on December 12th, 2011 in Cycling by Stephen
The Farmers Almanac has finally released their predictions for the U.S. 2012 Winter weather conditions. As always, this is just predictions fluctuations will occur.
As usual, it looks like the South-West U.S. has some of the best winter training weather.
The Northeast is predicted to have average temps, but be very stormy.
For here in the Southeast the forecast calls for a mild winter, Cold and dry initially, then scattered showers. This doesn’t mean that it will not be cold this winter, just that it should not be as severe as what it was last year. This will allow for an uptick in the pace of the early season packs as many cyclists will be able to train outside together, increasing their speed in the early season races.
Florida looks to have the best winter weather in the Southeast – dryer than normal and mild winter temperatures.
“If the weather is a common reason for missing workouts then achieving high goals is unlikely.” ~Joe Friel
Farmer’s Almanac 2012 Winter Weather forecast.
Here is a more detailed Southeastern forecast
Scattered showers in the Spring will still have cyclists inside on the trainer. Let’s face it being below 40 degrees and wet makes riding the trainer seem like a good idea! Here are 2x a week for 12 weeks worth of Wind-trainer workouts that will get you through those rainy days indoors. These workouts can be done on the Windtrainer or outside!
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-Heart rate based intervals of varying length and time each week.
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-Individual Leg Training (ILT) for forming perfect pedaling circles
-Spin-Ups to increase leg speed
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How guys pee while cycling
posted on May 18th, 2011 in Cycling, Cycling Tips, Ride Reports by Stephen
When you hydrate, at some point, you have to take a nature break. And if you are a racing cyclist, sometimes you can’t stop to take a nature break.
I have found the ability to pee while riding has come in handy in a couple of races. I remember 1 race in Augusta that is on a Army Base, I didn’t realize that our vehicles were going to be inspected before we were allowed past the gates. I was topping off the hydration on the way there & basically had to go when I pulled up to the base – once my vehicle was allowed onto base – I REALLY had to go….. but, now I was cramped on time and had to go straight to race parking.
I quickly dressed & hopped on the bike thinking I could find a porta-potty – what I found was the whole Pro1,2 field lined up and the referee giving pre-race announcements. I got inline with the other riders and a moment later we started the race.
So, there I was feeling like my bladder was about to burst before we even started the race….I basically had the choice to stop and have to chase back and probably be out of the race or pee while cycling. I choose to pee while cycling.
- This is best done on a slight downhill grade. Stability can be tricky while doing this, so a consistent and long, gradual down-hill grade is ideal. Make sure that the road ahead is clear of obstacles, potholes, etc. this maybe the worst moment to have a crash.
Also, it is best done at the BACK of the pack, with no one behind you.
There are 2 common options for this
1) Stand, put most of your weight on your right leg, rotate the hips to the right side, ideally you will be holding the saddle with your legs as extra stability, use the left hand to hold the H-bars straight, pull down bibs/shorts pull out hose, and ‘make water’.
2) roll up right leg of shorts using right hand, shift the hips slightly to the right, stick out right knee, pull out hose, try to relax, make water allowing the flow to go between the knee and the bike frame. This allows the wind to take away the stream.
Here is a PG description from 1 of my favorite interviewed cyclists, Dave Zabriski:
It is best done on a long gradual downhill, however, if a downhill isn’t available or not long enough, maybe you can enlist the help of friends or a team-mate to assist you. NOW this can be tricky!
The key is to maintain a consistent push, because otherwise there is no telling who will get sprayed, or potentially fall and get road rash.
It isn’t very difficult, but it will take a little practice. Just make sure that you are not somewhere it maybe illegal.
And if you are a woman - I have heard that standing and peeing has been done successfully, but I can not confirm that fact.
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StrongerCyclist.com is the site of Stephen Carhart, personal trainer, author, and cyclist.