Roubaix | Stronger Cyclist

Hell of the South ride

posted on April 14th, 2010 in Cycling, Cycling Tips, Ride Reports by Stephen

Sunday afternoon before watching Paris-Roubaix Eric organized a gathering of cyclists to ride out on our road bikes and onto several sections of dirt roads in honor of this great 1 day classic.

Pave Climb

This ride was going to be a no drop, regroup ride open to all riders. So, we got a group of mainly experienced riders with a few people that were uneasy riding a road bike in the gravel, and someone that had never done 70 miles before…. heck of a way to get in your 2 firsts – 1st 70 mile ride and 1st time riding a road bike over gravel. But because the group knew it was going to be low key, regrouping it turned out superb! Heck, we even had a follow car that re-fueled us with water when we came to any stops!!

Re-fueling

On the sections of gravel, with out a word being said, several riders alternated making sure everyone was ok, flat tires got fixed, and kept moving forward. Because of the experienced riders up front on the road sections, the group mainly road 2 abreast (unless there was any traffic). The riders upfront were able to maintain a steady tempo that was suitable for everyone, and allowed us to tick off the road mileage.

Some of the most fun was going down the gravel sections and causing shenanigans amongst each other. At 1 point, just before a gravel climb, I was slapping Tim’s rear wheel – he immediately said ‘Uh Oh, I think I got a flat’ – it happened so fast I thought he knew someone was messing with him – he slowed and kept looking down at the rear wheel as we passed, now standing to get up this climb…. laughing. He finally got to the top where we were soft pedaling still checking out the tire when we told what had happened.

After about 6 sections of gravel road and 2 store stops the day was getting long, and the peeps were anxious to head back in time to watch the true Paris-Roubaix. The Captain started to lay down the power, and the group split as they headed back home. Now the fella’s that still had energy were torquing the cranks & sucking into the draft of those at the front – race pace. We hammered it all the way back to the cars & the waiting drafts of Ale.

What a fabulous ride in so many ways – new riders got much improved handling skills, gained instruction on technique, got over their fears of riding over gravel. Introductions were made over friendly conversations as people meet other people they didn’t know. Riders were able to push the pace over the gravel when they wanted, yet everyone made sure we stayed together at the end of each section. Once we made it to the Pub, more laughter and tales of the days miles were talked about as we watched in awe of the cyclist that race Paris-Roubaix.

Ride Organizer & Photo taker Eric

The how and why of plyometrics

posted on March 16th, 2010 in Cycling, Cycling Tips, Strength Training by Stephen

This month is plyometric re-introduction for my clients. I say re-introduction b/c my regular clients have done them before, however they have not done them for some time now. The reason for this is in the overall picture of the training plan, plyometrics are like the tip of the pyramid. My clients have been doing isometric and strength training all through the winter, and now that we are getting into the Spring events it is the perfect time for the plyometric workouts that will create the needed power for these events.

But, before we get into plyometrics let me explain some things.

For a strength training plan for a cyclist – just like Long Slow Distance is the base, isometric and strength building exercises are at the foundation of the pyramid. These are the base upon which strength is built. Then finally topped off with plyometrics. Caution should be used because rips can possibly occur when overworked or worked too soon. A solid base of 4-8 weeks of Isometric and strength training should be done before attempting any plyometrics. Learn the moves carefully. Plyometric moves range from simple side-to-side ankle hops to more advanced depth jumps.

Plyometric movements, are movements in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence. Plyometrics are used to increase the speed or force of muscular contractions, providing explosiveness for a variety of sport-specific activities.

Plyometrics occur anytime that the body is landing, stopping, and immediately taking off again. However, just like an airplane, the landing is the most important part of the movement. Many people do not land properly when doing box jumps and plyometrics. Injuries that may occur with landing to hard are: jammed knees, torn ACL’s, and muscle tears.

Plyometric exercises involve an increased risk of injury due to the large forces generated during training and performance, and should only be performed by well-conditioned individuals who are under supervision. Good levels of physical strength, proprioception (the bodies awareness of where it is) should be achieved before commencement of plyometric training. Proprioception aids the important components of balance, coordination and agility.

The landings should ideally be soft, but the shock of the landing should be absorbed through several joints of the body. So, with jumps, the leg muscles that control the ankle, knee, and hips all act as shock absorbers for the body to smooth out and soften the landing.

Plyometric exercises use explosive movements to develop muscular power. The ability to convert strength to speed in a very short time allows for athletic movements beyond what raw strength will allow. If the muscle is lengthened while loaded just prior to the contraction, it will produce greater force through the storage of elastic energy. This effect requires that the transition time between eccentric contraction and concentric contraction be very short.

Caution should be used because rips can possibly occur when overworked or worked too soon. A solid base of 4-8 weeks of strength training should be done before attempting plyometrics. Basic plyometrics should be introduced about a month before a competitive season, and continued for 4 weeks, along with strength training maintenance. After a good warm-up, clients will do 3 rounds of varied plyometric exercises, then 3 rounds of strength training exercises. So we do plyometrics while the client is still fresh, then work on strength and stability after.

However, when done properly the effects of plyometrics are great explosive power! Tim has been doing plyometrics for about a month now and just won the Pro1,2 Perry-Roubaix GA cup Road Race (a course that goes over packed dirt as well as pavement) March 2010 – Awesome job Tim!!!

What mistake do you notice in this exercise?