Bad Breath is better than No breath at all!

OK So I bet that title got your attention - What on earth could Bill be writing about this time. 

Well, today's topic is addressing what anyone who calls themselves a "Cyclist" knows as "the Winter ten", or is that "the Summer ten" for those cyclists in the southern hemisphere. 

As  the days get shorter, and the cycling weather gets less attractive (cold, snow, wet and or icy road conditions) the tendency is to ride less, as there are more excuses not to go out.  Spinning classes and cross-training provide an alternative, but a lot of folks go out on their first ride of the next cycling season "a little shorter for their weight" - or put otherwise, ten pounds heavier.  Some of the more entrepreneurial among us have built businesses around the phenomenon of putting on weight in the winter season  - there used to be a custom bike jersey "Old guys who drink beer and get fat in the winter.

This winter I am trying something new - whenever the roads are dry, and there is enough sunlight - I will go out and get at least 10 miles of riding in.  On days I would normally ride, I will try and toughen up the ride (read more hill work).  The important thing is to have a goal, and try and stick to achieving it.  

To this end, this morning I took a different route than my usual Saturday AM "Shop ride" and added in some hill work - loads of fun, and it kept me warm despite the chilly temperatures.

We'll see how things evolve over the winter.

Happy Holidays!

Another fun day of cycling in NYC

One of the really great benefits of living in Northern New Jersey is the easy access that we have to cycling in one of the great cities of the world.  A 30 minute drive to free parking on the western side of the George Washington Bridge. and then off on the bikes to explore. 

Getting ready for the day ahead.

No matter how many times I have done it, the ride across the bridge is always exciting - if it isn't the hustle and bustle of the cars streaming across the span just feet away on your left, it is the amazing view of the city and the Hudson river sprawling out to the south.  The loop to get off the bridge on the Manhattan side is always exciting - narrow for one bike, but when you get an oncoming cyclist leaving the city, you really have to focus on keeping right so your handlebars don't lock up.

The "Little Red Lighthouse" from the GWB

Once in the city, it is a quick descent down to the Hudson River Greenway, which you can ride all the way downtown.  It is remarkable how calm it is on the bike path, but how stressful it is on the parkway when traveling by car.

Tranquility on wheels

Over the past several years, thanks to the cycling advocacy of groups like Transportation Alternatives, and a very progressive Janette Sadik-Khan, the Commissioner for the Department of Transportation for the past 4 years, NYC has undergone an amazing transformation - it seems that everywhere you look there are new dedicated bike paths and/or lanes.  You can get a feel for their popularity any weekend.  

One really neat aspect of cycling in the city is the continuity you get in going from site to site - no getting in and out of cars or taxis, finding parking spots, or pulling out your wallet to pay for the ride - you just hop on your bike, and go!

'Tis the season (better at night)

This time we managed to do the customary loop around Central Park, check out the tree at the Rockefeller Center, check out the High Line, cross through the Village and over the Williamsburg bridge, before descending into Dumbo for the great croissants, and views of downtown framed by the Brooklyn Bridge.  

Manhattan in the background - another great cycling day!

I continue to be amazed at how a bridge, built before the automobile (1883) has kept up with the times - multiple lanes of traffic, and a great pedestrian/cyclist boardwalk in the middle. I do wonder if the cables holding the decks up have ever been replaced (apparently not!).

Fritz Koenig's "The Sphere". salvaged from Ground Zero

Rebuilding - A new addition to the Manhattan skyline.

Returning to Manhattan we toured the World Trade Center site, Zucotti Park (now empty), and points south before heading back up the west side for pizza and a beer at Machiavelli's on the Upper West Side.   

"Bike Parking" on the upper West Side.

Pizzas & Beer!!!

The day ended as it usually does with the ride back up and over the GWB to get home before 3PM.

One last view of the bridge before the climb ahead.

All in all just shy of 50 miles on the bike and a great day in Manhattan.  Thanks to Ed for coordinating a great day of riding, and being our guide.

I'm back!!!

The Start of Gran Fondo NJ 2011
Photo Courtesy Warren Westura, Morristown.Patch.com

NOTE: There are 2 video links in this post - make sure to select the full HD viewing option for the best user experience.

My apologies to all my followers for the long pause in adding to the blog. It has been a very busy year with lots of cycling related news.

The bulk of my 2012 "Summer Behind Bars" was spent as the Event Director for Gran Fondo NJ. This was not only the first Gran Fondo NJ, but also the first time I have ever put into practice all the things I have learned from riding in other events of this nature.

I continue to be astonished by all the "behind the scenes" activities needed to deliver an event of this scale (three routes of 100, 60 and 40 miles; 5 rest stops, 3 "mini" rest stops; 1,000 participants to keep entertained; 120 miles of route to mark; 9,000 gallons of water to distribute along the route; etc.; etc.; etc.). The most fun was riding and scouting the planned routes - I managed to ride the 103 mile "Gran" route twice, the 63 mile "Medio" Route about 6 times, and the 40 mile "Piccolo" route more than 10 times - by the end of August, I could name every road and turn on all 3 routes by heart.

I spent the summer working many long days with the event promoter (Marty of Marty's Reliable Cycle - you will recognize him from the bike jerseys that appeared in my photos of 2010). As you can see in this video, we managed to pull everything off without a hitch - well one minor hitch...

The original event date was August 28th. Five days before the event we were thrown a "curve ball" by the weather gods - Hurricane Irene was predicted to make landfall with a direct hit in the area on the day of the event. With just 4 days to go, we were faced with a major decision and an even more major (if that is possible) logistical challenge - cancel the event, delay the event, or "damn the torpedoes" go forward with the event anyway. We approached this decision with the same guiding principle that we used for all other decisions regarding the Gran Fondo. As a cyclist participating in the event what would we like to experience. Riding in the rain is no fun, hurricanes can be extremely dangerous, and canceling the event would be a major letdown - so we decided to postpone.

Four days before the event we notified our 1,000 participants of the decision, as well as a new date just 3 weeks later.

Everyone (well about 99% of everyone) loved the decision - they weren't looking forward to the hurricane and its implications - on August 29th, judging from the damage inflicted upon the route, it was clear we had made the right choice.

Another three weeks of monitoring the clean-up operations to make sure we had passable, and safe routes, repainting the directions (all that running water and gravel "sanded off" many of the markings), rerouting one section of the course and getting the municipal approvals (a bridge was closed for repairs) and re-coordinating all our 200+ volunteers and support staff, and we pulled off an amazing experience. Thanks to all for their support and help, and to our riders who trained hard all summer, and were very accommodating to our date change.

If you have never ridden a Gran Fondo, I highly recommend it. It is a great blend of touring and competition - you can relax and enjoy the route along the way, and then on the timed hill climbs, test your climbing capabilities.

If you want, come down to New Jersey for next year's event - I have once again taken on the role of Event Director.

Cheers, and have a great winter training regimen.

Bill

Riding Safely on Narrow Roads

As this year's crop of riders narrow in on their 10 week adventure across Canada, it is interesting to see on the bulletin board, that they share all the anxieties that we had last year in the weeks and days approaching the start.  The most reassuring thing to keep in mind is that others have done it, and we all shared your anxieties before the start!

One thing that I thought I'd share with the 2011 crew before they depart, are the thoughts that I had formed, mostly going through the busy roads in the Rockies, and along the north shore of Lake Superior, on how to minimize the risks of cycling on 2 lane highways, with sometimes very narrow shoulders.  For my American friends, the trans Canada, along the north shore of Lake Superior, is the main artery across the country (think of I-10, I-40, and I-80 all bunched up into a 2-lane highway...).

1) Ride in as straight a line, and as predictable a line as possible.
2) If there is a shoulder, ride on the right of the white line, as far to the right as possible.
    Sometimes highway debris does not make this practical.
3) Never pull out, or veer left to pass another cyclist, unless you have checked that there are no cars, 18 wheeled semis, etc coming from behind.
4) If there is a vehicle approaching in the opposite direction, do not pass or veer out for any reason.
5) If there is a semi, or other large vehicle approaching in the opposite direction, stay as far to the right as possible.
6) Try to avoid riding two abreast (i.e. not in single file) unless you do so to the right on a wide shoulder - if you are riding abreast, it is always a good idea to get back into single file if vehicles are approaching.
7) If you have a mechanical, or flat, get off the road and get off the shoulder to fix it.
8) Use your ears, as well as your eyes, to listen for oncoming traffic.
9) When approaching the crest of a hill, make sure you are well to the right and riding single-file, just in case a semi comes speeding up over the top in the opposite direction - you want to make sure that drivers on your side have room.

I am sure there are other pointers that I may be missing here, but these are the ones that stuck in my mind as I rode on some ery narrow shoulders of some fairly busy roads.

Safe cycling to all -  and on that note I am heading into NYC for the afternoon, cycling to various bike shops to promote my touring business...

Bike to Work - the Commuter Challenge

Last week I answered one of life's great mysteries: How do you participate in "Bike to Work" week when you work from home?
For the answer see this YouTube Video...


This morning I was the only "solely human powered" entrant in a "Bike to Work Commuter Challenge" which pitted 3 modes of transport against each other in an early morning commute from Madison NJ to Morristown.
A cyclist with a folding bike traveling on the NJ Transit train, an all electric Chevy Volt (first time I had seen this car 0 really neat!) and me riding my bicycle the 5.2 mile distance.
The clear winner, as predicted by me earlier in the week, was the train/cyclist as the challenge began from the train station, when the train stopped at the station platform.  He finished his journey in 12 minutes.
Second was the Chevy Volt (which passed me about 2 miles into the ride) finishing in just over 15 minutes.
Despite being held up behind a school bus and hitting a bunch of red lights, I finished in 19 minutes - per the timer on my GPS.  I was very pleased with my performance and didn't really break a sweat in the ride.
Here is what the paper reported...

A perfect day for cycling - sunny skies, low 80°s... I ended up going down to Califon mid-day to help capture video footage of the route for this August's Gran Fondo NJ., and distributed a bunch of flyers for my new bike touring company...

Tomorrow we are off to cycle around Manhattan in New York City visiting 11 major bike shops to market both the Gran FOndo and my NYC to Montreal Bike Tours...

The weather once again looks perfect.

The Montauk Century (and 3 rules of cycling)

This weekend was the fourth year in a row that I rode the Montauk Century. A group of 13 of us left Morristown on Saturday afternoon for the drive to Long Island where the ride would start the next morning.  The weather forecast for the past week made it rather ominous - thunderstorms starting on Sunday morning and going pretty much through the week.

After eating a mountain of food at Ciao Baby (I think Frank Sinatra is buried under one of the tables) we walked back to the hotel for a fitful night's rest (sleep would be a misnomer as I don't think I got a wink!).  The alarm went off at 5:00 AM and we packed up and looked outside to promising dry pavement.  Things changed on our way down to breakfast - torrential rains with the weather channel only committing to at best light rain along the route. 

A bunch of the group were veterans of the torrential rains and crash plagued 2009 ride, so they opted to bail out rather than face the prospect of 7 hours in the rain - I, on the other hand had a mission to guerrilla market my NYC to Montreal ride to finishers on the 2 hour train ride back from the end of the ride.

The gang, in rain gear, at the first rest stop

The die was cast - 4 of us would ride (me and three of the others who had never done the ride) and the rest returned back to Morristown looking for better weather.  We set out under a light drizzle to occasional heavy rain heading east to Montauk.  The route was fairly easy to follow as it seemed that every quarter-mile there were a group of cyclists on the side of the road fixing a flat.  Paul and I set a pretty strong pace at the front for the 20 miles to the first rest stop, and again for the next 30 to the second one.

Drier weather at rest stop 2 (some of us shed the rain gear)

We then went "off route" and followed the 2010 route which took us for about 8 miles on a barrier island.  It was here that I got some closure from my tour du Canada ride last year, where on the East Coast, at the end, I neglected to do the customary "wheel dip" in the Atlantic Ocean - luckily for me, the "Atlantic Ocean" had flooded sections of the road so I "wheel dipped" by riding through the salt water puddles.

Road Flooded

We then headed over one of the major "cols" of the day, the massive 50' "Col de Hampton Bay Bridge"  It was fun to finally get a change in altitude.

A view from the bottom of one of the major climbs of the day!

Back on the mainland, on dry roads, we proceeded east towards Montauk.  Everyone agreed, at least silently, that my suggestion that Paul join us on the ride was a wise one.  He led the pack for almost the whole of the last 50 miles - I referred to him as our own "plutonium powered T-2000 Terminator" whose sole mission in life seemed to be to ride at the front of our group allowing us to draft behind him, until his nuclear core was spent.

As we rode through the Hamptons, we stopped at one of the beaches for a group photo in the sunlight mainly to rub in to the riders who bailed, how great a ride they ended up missing.

Check out the shadows on the asphalt.
(l-r Paul, me, Chris, Simon and Eric)

At the 3rd rest stop I mentioned that after riding the first 75 miles at a pretty good pace (I think only one rider had passed us while riding, since we started) we should tone things down and be careful since we were probably a little tired and our reaction times might be off.  Within the next six miles, I demonstrated my profound mastery of two of the three most important rules of cycling:
1) Always wear a good, well fitting helmet.
2) Don't crash.
3) If for some reason you fail to observe Rule 2, see and observe Rule 1.

It was at around mile 80 that, riding at the head of the pack, I made a late left hand turn and my front wheel came out from under me in a large patch of gravel.  Paul, reacting to my demise, kept going straight, and the others as well. I hit the pavement, first with my left thigh, followed by my left shoulder and then my helmet.  As I was collecting my thoughts, and  regrouping, my fellow riders looked after my bike - thank you Eric for readjusting my right brake lever.  The net result was pretty good road rash on my left thigh (I still can't figure out how you can tear your skin up but your bike shorts come out unscathed - I guess that is why my Pearl Izumi shorts are my hands-down favorite), a bruised left shoulder, and a pretty good dent in my helmet which did a magnificent job of protecting my left frontal lobe. 

I then mentioned to my fellow riders that after any crash you should ask the rider 3 questions to determine their level of alertness and orientation, and if they fail any of the three, call an ambulance, as they may have sustained a significant head trauma - they are:
1) What is your name? (I answered correctly)
2) Where are you? (again I passed with flying colors), and
3) What day (or date) is it?  (I aced that one too!)
Having demonstrated that I was normal (well, normal for me!) we got back on our bikes and kept on pedaling, as I did not want my injuries to stiffen up. 

At about the 90 mile mark, I think everyone in the group was silently thinking that despite seeing hundreds of riders with flat tires alongside the road, we would complete our journey without incident.  Chris then spoiled things with a loud call-out "Flat!"  We stopped to help, but I said that I should probably keep on pedaling so I wouldn't stiffen up, so I headed out east at a pretty good clip.

Little did I know that after about a minute head-start, the group sent Simon out to catch and ride with me so I would not ride alone after hitting my head. 

The End is Near!!!

 He almost caught me before the end of the ride. 

One of the great things about this ride is the warm showers at the end.  Before cleaning off, I thought I'd capture my "grit line"- just to show that it was not all fun and games.

Guess where my socks end.

After the shower, I bandaged up my wounds, and joined everyone for a well deserved beer before the customary "End of the Line" Photo, and the train ride home.

Two engines in this photo (LIRR and Paul)

After putting one of my marketing cards on the windshield of every car in the Babylon Train station, we headed back to Morristown with another great ride under our belts.

Thanks to all for a great weekend.

Ride summary and stats can be found here...

Give a Bike

Today is the first "Double-header" for my blog... Two entries in one day!!!

Tonight, I attended a presentation by Adam and Christy Coppola at Marty's in Morristown.

They are two kids who have decided to spend their honeymoon riding their bicycles through all 50 states (a 12,000 mile journey in total) to raise money promoting cycling through Give a Bike.

The two charities they are supporting are: 

World Bicycle Relief providing bikes for people in developing countries, and

Achillies International  providing hand cycles to veterans who have lost a limb, allowing them to race.

Both charities have a personal connection to Adam and Christy, Adam's brother was a combat surgeon who serves two tours of duty in Iraq, and Christy's brother works in Uganda for World Bicycle Relief.

If you want to contribute to their cause you can do so here.

So far, in their 3 1/2 months of cycling they have been in 23 states and logged just over 4,800 miles.

Here is their progress to date...

It was fun to share with them my experiences of last summer, and learn of theirs.  Adam was grateful for my discussion on "False Flats" as they have yet to experience them, but now know what to expect.

If you have the time, go to their site, and read their blog (brought back fond memories of my TdC), and follow their adventure on Facebook.   If they are coming near you, invite them for a night indoors and a home cooked meal - their accommodations for the next seven months is a two-man tent (I found it cramped with just me in a 3-man tent for only 10 weeks.)

Great to see the spirit of adventure in these two young cyclists - their longest ride prior to this adventure was just 17 miles!!! 

Adam and Christy - best of luck on the rest of your adventure, may all your hills be down and the wind at your back!!!

Hills and Headwinds

Yesterday was the fourth year in a row that I rode in the Hills of Attrition (click on the link to get all the gory details of the ride from my Garmin Edge 800) - our first demanding event of the season, and for each of the four years, the time that I find out my maximum heart rate for the year.

The ride is around 55 miles long with seven big (from a New Jersey perspective) climbs.  This year, to add insult to injury, we had 20 - 30 mph headwinds to content with on 6 of the climbs and one big descent!!!  It was like adding two or three more climbs to the route.

We started at 8:30 AM on wet roads, and chilly temperatures, but it is amazing how things tend to warm up along with the increase in elevation gain.  After our first climb of the day, no one was complaining anymore about the temperature. 

The Gang of Four (and Dave's admirer) at the rest stop!

We settled into a good pace and one-by-one knocked off each of the hills, hoping we had enough left in out legs for the toughest of the climbs at about mile 42 - one of those where you look at the grade and are not sure if you are still on the road, or in an oxygen-starved state of mind, have accidentally turned into some one's sick joke of a driveway.  I have said it before, and I'll repeat it here "Last year's adventure seems to have physically transformed me, and the muscles in my legs - difficult but do-able is the frame of mind for these challenges now."  The climb topped out at a 22% grade, and my heart rate topped out at 200 bpm.  When doing the climb, I tried to catch brief glimpses of my GPS display to see just how steep it was, and how fast my heart was beating - the highest I observed were 18% and 180 bpm.  Apparently, as I suspected, the maximums occurred while my head was well over the handlebars to get maximum leverage on my pedals.

Now onto "You can teach an Old Dog new tricks!!"

A few posts ago I wrote about Triathlon training, and how based on the feedback from the speakers, it was apparent  that after 56 years on earth, I didn't know how to either swim or run (efficiently).  Up until yesterday, I thought I had cycling pretty well nailed down though.

This past Tuesday I attended a meeting in NYC of the New York Cycling Club - I was there to promote my bike touring business.  An interesting club with some 2,000 members that has been promoting cycling for 75 years.  I had a fun time talking about last year's tour with some of the riders, comparing memories and experiences along Lake Superior and Cape Breton Island.  One thing that the club does is hold 10 week long  "Special Interest Group" sessions for their members to hone up on their cycling skills, with a compulsory 40 - 100 mile ride every Saturday for the 10-week duration, starting in early March.  Being the curious type, I browsed their web site and found the "SIG-B" manual that describes the whole process.  It was there that I found that I didn't know how to ride (or at least ride as well as I can...)

In the book they describe the three ways you can turn your bike:

Steer – At speeds of less than 10 MPH or when roads are slick:

• Steer the bike (move the front wheel).

• Bike stays upright, body leans slightly in direction of turn.

• An upright bike will be hard to turn at higher speeds

Lean – The standard turn at speeds over 10 MPH:

• This is done without steering the bike (not turning front wheel)

• Follow natural line (visualize water moving down curvy mountain stream)

• Lean your body into direction of turn – moving your nose in line with your inside brake lever. Your bike leans with you.

• Exiting the turn, re-center your body over your bike.

Counter Steering – Nirvana – making you and your bike one

• Do everything from lean (above), but:

• Straighten your inside arm and continually push down on the handlebars.

• Push more for a tighter turn, less for a wider turn.

I tried out the "counter steering" on some of the faster descents of the Hills of Attrition and it was amazing how much more stable it seemed, and how much faster you could go through the turns…

The caveat here is "do not try this at home" unless you are very proficient in your cycling skills, as it does take some commitment and an act of faith that it works...  I suspect that the down side is that the transition between "being stable" and "losing it" may be a lot narrower than steering and or leaning.  I will proceed with caution in experimenting as I have had more than enough contact with the pavement to date.

Cheers to all, and I hope the cycling season is in full gear wherever you are!

The Bike Fitting

When I studied ergonomics as a part of my Systems Engineering Degree in the early '70s, I was fascinated by one of our text books titled "Fitting the Task to the Man."  The theory behind the text was to modify tasks which humans perform to better integrate with their physiology and limitations.

This week, on Thursday, I had an extensive bike fitting at Marty's bike shop.  My fitter was Jesse Epstein (Marty's son) who is one of only 30 bike fitters in the US to have been recognized as a Certified Master's BG Fit Technician  from Specialized Bicycle Components University and Andy Pruitt from the Boulder Center of Sports Medicine.

The fitting, which took over 2 hours, involved a full body survey and range of motion calculations, as well as what proved to be a rather humorous inventory of "prior injuries" - going through this part for me was probably the longest section of the fitting (apparently given the extent of my injuries over the years from skiing and cycling, I am lucky to be alive), and finished off, after all the data was gathered, with tweaking the setup of my bike.

Some of the range of motion assessments were rather funny, with Jesse bending me in half and telling me to let him know before it begins to hurt - to which I responded "Should we agree on a 'safe' word before hand?"  Apparently despite my lack of stretching, I am reasonable flexible (I can touch my palms to the floor in front of my toes with straight legs) but my hip flexors are pretty tight.  This is common for people who cycle long distances, and was noted by my massage therapist when I got a massage the week after my 5,300 trek last summer.

I was not surprised, given my lack of pain over the past summer, that my bike needed very little tweaking.  I had Jesse do a less extensive fit in the spring of last year and he pretty much nailed it.  The only modifications made this time were a slight tweaking of the seat to make it more level, and raising the position of the handle bars to open up my hip flexors by about 8° so I am riding in a slightly more upright position.  This will increase my efficiency in generating power to the pedals - should be fun because I thought before hand that I could generate a fair bit of power already.

Yesterday, I put the fitting to the test with a very hilly ride of the Piccolo Fondo Route of New Jersey's Gran Fondo this August (3,400+' of climbing in 40 miles - we will be using this route as a training route to prepare for the upcoming Hills of Attrition in mid-April).

The temperature was hovering in the low 30°s (Fahrenheit for my Canadian readers) so it was a good test.  I finished the ride without any pain or issues, and felt able to really put out the power on the flats.  It should be a fun summer with these adjustments to my fit.

As a follow-up I need to get back to Jesse with my comments and observations in about a month's time - so far it can be summed up with "Great!".

To those readers signed up for this year's Trans Canada ride, and are following this blog for tips on how to make it more do-able, I highly recommend a professional bit fitting before you start your training in earnest, it will be money well spent, and should help you avoid any injuries associated with your bike fit over your arduous voyage - it should also make it a lot more fun!!!.

Thanks again Jesse for the fit last year, and for this year's tweaking.  They have allowed me over 8,000 miles of pain free cycling.

.

The Shiv

shiv:  (noun) - knife

Early this month I attended a triathlon "expo" at Marty's shop in Randolph, NJ - the focus of the expo was to educate current and prospective triathletes of all abilities on the sport. There were three speakers - one discussing compression socks, one discussing the various aspects of training for the three disciplines in a triathlon (swimming, riding and running) and one discussing equipment. 

All three were fascinating and I learned a lot.

Compression Socks/Clothing:
The first presenter from CEP Socks discussed the mechanics, technology and benefits compression socks/clothing. From what I took away, they provide assistance in returning blood back to the heart/lungs from the lower extremities for re-oxygenation.  The socks are engineered to provide precise variable compression up from the ankle to the top of the calf (higher compression at the bottom/ lower at the top).  I think the theory is that gravity assists in the blood flow down to your calves/feet, but must be overcome on the return trip, and with compression socks you get better circulation and more efficient performance.
Note: Maybe this explains how "one sock" Bob on our trans continental trip rode with such strength and stamina - I can't imagine how he would have performed with two socks!!! 
During the presentation two thoughts kept popping into my mind...
1) Have these guys thought of marketing their product to executives who spend half their lives on planes and are at risk because of blood pooling in their lower extremities due to the reduced air pressure in aircraft cabins.
2) How long will it be before "assists" like this which are used for performance enhancement as opposed to a medical reason (e.g. varicose veins) are considered a form of "mechanical doping", and how would WADA or anyone else test for it.

Technique:
The second speaker talked about technique for swimming, cycling and running, and was fascinating.  His key points were that while you may know how to do all three, do you know how to do them efficiently?  I thought I did, but with the exception of cycling, was sadly mistaken.  Apparently a key point is to do nothing in your technique which either impedes forward progress or does not assist it. For example, in running you should not land on your heel, or plant your foot forward of your hips, as it in effect created a force pushing you backwards. In swimming,  you should strive to keep your body parallel with the surface (less drag) and perpendicular to the surface as much as possible (again less drag).  In cycling, drag is key, but you also want to avoid unnecessary motion (rocking of hips, upper body bounce, etc.).  As well you want to have your bike fitted to maximize the transfer of power to your pedals.

There was a rather interesting discussion on the challenges that triathletes face - particularly associated with the transitions from swimming (horizontal) to cycling (semi-vertical) and finally to running (fully vertical) and how thier muscles need to adjust, and how the at the start of the running they are hunched over because their hip flexors are tight from cycling. 
  
Aerodynamics:
The final speaker for the evening was Mark Cote, Specialized's Product Manager for Road Bikes.  His "prop" for the talk was the Shiv, Specialized's top of the line time trial bike. 

The Shiv

He was there to talk about equipment, and how aerodynamics can affect performance.  He graduated from MIT with a degree in Aerodynamics, and has spent his career in and out of wind tunnels testing his designs for Specialized.  Apparently the best efficiency gains for cyclists, especially time trialists or triathletes, are realized in order of importance, through:
1) Bike fit
2) Aero Bars
3) Time Trial "tear drop" helmet
4) Wheels
5) Bike (e.g. a time trial frame)

The way he described things made perfect sense, and it was great to hear someone so passionate about their work.  It was also neat to see someone with an extremely high degree of technical expertise able to communicate with people who just want to ride, but ride efficiently.

My next posting will cover the extensive bike fitting I just went through this week as a subject to a SPecialized research project for Roubaix.

Adventures and Steel Wheels

Big news on the cycling front - I have launched a small boutique touring company Backyard Bike Tours specializing in a series of easy, family-oriented day tours in the New York/New Jersey area, and multi-day adventures that start locally and go - targeted at cyclists who want to tour (as opposed to tourists who want to cycle).

Bill "2.0"

As a networking initiative, last week went to an open house of a local start-up custom bike builder, Ryan Reedell, in Newark New Jersey - his company is called Folk Engineered.

Ryan with his frame jig

It was literally an "open house" as the owner who lives on the 4th floor of a warehouse, has his machine shop and tools set up in what could be called an extended living room.  It was a really neat experience, despite being on the 4th floor of a massive old building, Ryan and his significant other, Marie, managed to recreate the feel of a country kitchen and farm house - well except for all the massive machinery and bike frames on display.

The "Marsupial" hanging in the kitchen.

They work in steel, and build all their frames from scratch - lots of interesting tubing lying around.  During the open house he demonstrated to all (about 30 of us) how to machine a top tube to fit onto the seat tube, and how to drill the water bottle inserts on to the seat tube.

Machining the Top Tube in the living room.

Lots of precision jigs.  Being new to the business he purchased most of his machinery on e-bay - some pretty serious (heavy cast iron - 50 years old) stuff, so heavy that the shipping costs were greater than the purchase price.

It was fun and refreshing to see a business in its infancy, and the group who attended the open house were quite eclectic, and interesting.  One of the attendees rode his bike last summer from Newark to Montreal, closely following my planned route for the  Hudson - Champlain Tour of new touring company Backyard Bike Tours - spectacular scenery, great roads and lots of fun!!!   I may have found a new tour guide for when the business expands.

Another attendee owns and runs The Bike Church in Asbury Park NJ - a really interesting group who brings a second life to bicycles - "getting more people (especially youth) on bikes, more often, while encouraging people to re-purpose old bikes and bike parts, rather than discard them."

All in all a great evening meeting all types of folks with a common interest, cycling...

The Bike Vacation

Over the past several years, I have had lots of time (and experience) to think about what makes a multi-day vacation, or even an afternoon ride on a bicycle so great and memorable.

Over the last 10 years, I have taken multiple week-long bike trips, and countless day-long rides:
2000 - 6 days in August from Fairbanks Alaska to Anchorage
2001 - 6 days from Montreal Canada to Portland Maine
2003 - 6 days with my 14-year old son, from Toronto, Ontario to Montreal Quebec
2004 - cycling in Provence, including climbing the fabled, and brutal Mont Ventoux
2010 - 10 weeks across the continent
1994 - 2011 countless day trips of anywhere from 40 to 120 miles...

In all of these, the formula for creating lasting memories appears to be the same:

The People
You may know one or two people before doing the ride, but for the most part, at the start of the tour the rest are total strangers.  In the space of a week, you will connect with like-minded individuals who share your spirit of adventure.  Over the ride, you will probably forge bonds of friendship and memories that last a lifetime.

The Outdoors:
There is no getting around it - cycling is an outdoor sport.  Each day of your vacation you will be engaged in hours of aerobic exercise in the fresh air exploring uncharted (at least for you) new terrain, and experiencing nature at its finest, and sometimes (hopefully not a lot) at its fiercest - that clears your mind. Of all my rides, it seems that the most memorable days include some of the most challenging weather-wise (e.g. a 90 mile day of riding in snow, rain and temperatures between 25°F and 35°F in Alaska).

The Pace:
There is a great deal to be said about watching the world go by at 10 - 20 miles per hour on a bicycle compared to 60 - 75 mph in the cocoon of an automobile.  On a bike,  you have time to look around you and absorb what you are passing by - at that slower pace,  if you see something interesting, you can slow down, stop and explore.  In a car, you may not see the interesting "side shows" as you are too busy (rightly so) focused on the road ahead which is coming at you at great speed. If you do notice something of interest, you are probably a mile past it by the time you might think of turning back to have a look. As well, on a bike you can stop on the shoulder of the road to take in the scenery.  I can't count the number of times I have stopped on the shoulder of a bridge to stop for a minute or so to take in the beauty of a roaring river or waterfall to the side of the road - try that in a car.

The Physical Challenge:
In all my years of cycling, it has been a rare occasion when I returned from a ride not feeling better about myself than before the ride.   At the end of the ride, your lungs are clear, your head is clear and you have a wonderful build-up of "endorphins" which seem to last for a day or so after the ride.

The Unexpected:
One fun aspect of biking is the spontaneity of the sport. You may know the route, but you never really know what you are going to see along the way.  Be it a Nun in full habit weed-whacking her path, an elderly Indian woman in full sari putting seal coat on her driveway in 90°F heat in full sun, a fox darting across the road, or spectacular autumn leaves, there is usually always something memorable from the ride.

The Bike:
even after all these years of cycling, I continue to be amazed at how efficient a means of transportation the bicycle is - what other mechanical, human-powered device enables one to travel such great distances over such a long period of time.  If you have bikes sitting in your garage collecting dust, you may want to consider re-cycling (couldn't resist the pun) them through programs like Pedals for Progress.  This organization collects un- or under-used bikes in North America, gets them in good mechanical order, and ships them to people in underdeveloped countries in need of an efficient means to get around.  The bikes essentially offer freedom in removing or reducing the massive time constraints of traveling by foot.  In addition to providing the bikes, they also train locals as mechanics to maintain them and keep them in good working order. 
If there isn't a like-minded organization in your area, you may want to consider starting one up.


That's it for today, we continue to have one of the best winters (from a skier's perspective) in New Jersey of the past several years - basically a snowstorm a week!!!
It may make for a delayed start to the cycling season however.