Summer Cycling Workouts - Pain & Gain

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As summer weather finally starts rolling in, the time for making eliminating excuses as to why you cannot get out on your bike has arrived. Even if cycling isn't your primary means of exercise or if your schedule is such that time is limited, there are some exercise routines that you can do that will get your heart pumping and legs burning.

To Go Our or Not to Go Out. That is the question!

It is February. We are gearing up for the race season, focusing on an upcoming century ride or tour, then BAM! I you live in the northeast, you wake up to a foot or more of snow. For those of us on the west coast, it is our rainy season and cold (ok, it is warm if you live in the northeast). Regardless, cold, inclement weather forces us to think about whether to venture outdoors or spend some time on the trainer.

One of my wife's favorite stories about me when I was on the National Team is when I tried to go out on my "beater" bike in a snow storm. I got about a mile down the road and, after falling multiple times, turned around. She said I was too stubborn to train indoors. Maybe so, but truth be told I really didn't like riding indoors.

Thinking of 2013 - What Are Your Goals?

As we get ready to put 2012 into the rear-view mirror, it's time to take a few minutes to review the goals you set at the beginning of the year. Did you achieve them? If not, do you know why and, more importantly, did you learn anything that will help you in 2013?

As you start making your 2013 goals, one of the keys to your success will be to establish short and long-term goals and write them down. If need be, chunk them down into weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly goals.

Winter Training and a Holiday Gift

Once again we are heading into the off-season with reduced daylight hours, weather changes, holidays, etc. On top of that, many of us work a 9-5 day making it difficult to get outdoors, regardless of whether you are in sunny Southern California or snowy New England. The challenge, now even as it was in the late 80's when I was on the National Team, was to to maintain fitness and prevent typical winter weight gain throughout the off-season when daylight hours are at a premium.

The Winter Months and Off-Season Training

It's that time of the year when colder weather (cold being relative to where you live!) and the time change makes it far less desirable to ride outdoors. And, with the holidays around the corner, our attentions begin to turn towards time with family and less about time with the bike.

However, weather, time and the holidays do not need to be inhibitors to staying on the bike. When I lived in the Northeast, the thought of riding indoors was painful. I hated it. What could be more boring than spending 45 minutes to an hour sweating and going nowhere?

3 Ways to Improve Your Cycling While Away From the Bike

Obviously, the best way to get better on the bike is to ride your bike under a training plan. However, the reality is that many of us spend more time in an airplane seat than on the bike seat. So, when you are on the road, what sort of exercise can you do that will also benefit you when you actually get on the road?

Here are three ways, even on a limited time schedule, to improve your cycling while traveling. A good workout session of 30 to 40 minutes, either in the weight room or your hotel room is a good start.

• Strength training - It is important during the season that you pay attention to overall muscle maintenance. Two sets of 10 to 15 reps will make a difference for you.
• Lower body lunges (and if you want to ratchet it up a little make these what I knew in high school were called mountain climbers).
• Push ups
• Chairs - I cannot think of what this exercise is called. What you do is place your back flat against a wall and then begin bending your knees until your knees are bent 90 degrees (like a chair). Keep you back flat against the wall and do this until fatigue. Take a three to five minute break and repeat. I would recommend doing no more than three or four of these since your quads will feel it in the morning!
• One or two core exercises - Your core muscles provide the key link between your upper and lower body. Your core muscles also provide a solid base of support to ensure an efficient delivery of power to the pedals. Two exercises that I recommend are planks and crunches. Focus on control and form.
• Flexibility - The muscles that cyclists typically need to stretch out are hamstrings, the lower back, calves, achilles, quadriceps, glutes, hip flexors, shoulders and neck.

In doing these exercises, you will find yourself riding stronger and reduce training-related injuries. Let me know if you have questions. Comments, thoughts, feedback is always welcome!

Also, I will be at Interbike next week. It is the largest cycling-industry event in North America. If you are going to be there, let me know. I'd love to meet up with you!

- Mark

You Can't Win the Race Without...

It has been an exciting three weeks of cycling with the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of California both taking place this month. After many days of hard racing, neither race was decided until the very end.

In the Tour of California, Robert Gesink won the Stage 7 finish atop Mt. Baldy as well as put himself in position to win the overall with only one day remaing. In the Giro d'Italia, it was settled on the last day, mano a mano between Ryder Hesjedal and Joaquim Rodriguez.

However, in both cases, neither Gesink nor Hesjedal would've been in the position to win the race if it weren't for teammates.

Often overlooked and under appreciated (unless you are the guy for whom they are working), the other six or seven guys on your team were there to get their team leader to the finish line. Whether it was Christian Van de Velde of Garmin pulling for kilometers up the Stelvio pass or someone dropping back into the caravan to get bottles from the team car, each rider had a role to play and a hand in their teammate's victory.

This same analogy can been seen in successful businesses. No one person can do it all. It takes a team, pulling together with a single purpose that delivers success. The sales rep may be the "team leader" but, if he is to be successful, he needs a strong supporting cast to aid him in his victory.

In business and in sport, it is proven time and again that you cannot win the race without the help of others to put you in the position to utilize your strengths when it is most important. Surround yourself with a strong team and you most certainly will taste success.

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Fluid Replacement During Cycling

 

This was my ride for today. I joined my buddy, Les Murray, to do the L'Etape preview ride today. It turned out to be a beautiful day for a bike ride. It was a sunny day, light winds, with the temperature at the start about 60, rising to 87 degrees at the finish. The first half of the ride was challenging with the first 33 miles being uphill topping out at Mt. Baldy (considered an hors category climb).

Throughout the ride, I had to keep reminding myself to drink fluids. The combination my rising body temperature and sweating due to the climbing combined with the increasing air temperature made it critical that I replace fluids. Additionally, Southern California is a dry climate and, with the low humidity, it was easy to forget that I was sweating. The wind can also play a factor in sweat evaporation, making it easy to forget that you are sweating.

I drank six large waterbottles of Gatorade and water. I finished strong and hydrated. However, I can say that wasn't the case with other riders. I heard guys say they were toast and we still had 10 to 15 miles left to ride. Others had leg cramps, symptomatic of low sodium due to excess sweating and not enough electolyte replacement.

Folks, summer is coming and, along with it, warm weather. Today's post is a reminder to not make a mistake and forget to drink, else you run the risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion or worse. Drink every 10 to 15 minutes and don't be afraid to stop and refill on your ride. Nobody will think lesser of you!

Be safe and keep the rubberside down!

Positioning

Last Saturday morning, as the group I was riding with was heading uphill, I came up behind a rider on his time trial bike. This isn't unusual in Southern California as there are a number of triathletes and cyclists who ride these aero steeds. I caught a quick glance as I passed him, made a mental note about his poor position and moved on. The note didn't come to mind again until today when I watched Cadel Evans in the final time trial stage of the 2012 Tirreno Adriatico stage race in Italy.
Now, Cadel is an awesome rider but what I saw today was surprising. Here is a seasoned professional who pays close attention to detail with what appeared to be poor positioning on his time trail bike. If you look at the photo, you will see that he is sitting more upright and his front area is wide open and creating a lot of wind resistance. When these aero bars were introduced in 1988 by Scott, they were designed to mirror the position of a downhill skier, arms out front with a narrow frontal area for aerodynamic purpose.
Which brings me back to Saturday's ride. Because many riders have a road bike and an aero bike, they will often set both bikes up with the same position. However, in doing so, your aero position becomes extremely inefficient. It was clear that this rider had tried to set up his position to match his road bike position, something that I was able to see easily when riding from behind.
My message - there is no one size fits all. In business, we cannot expect that a sales strategy that has led to a successful sale is going to work time and again. What worked last year that led to record revenues may not work this year due to economic changes, customer buying cycles, etc.
If you want to be the most efficient, it is important to have the proper situation or setup. Whether it is in business, sport or life, we need to be adaptable yet attentive to making minor changes that will lead to our success.

Word of the day - Crap!!

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This wasn't exactly what I wanted to write about for my first blog post. But, sometimes you have to take what you are given and go with it. I'll have to save the topic of my first post for another day.

Since it was a sunny but cool day (by Southern California standards) I decided to ride up to the Top of the World in Laguna Beach. The climb itself from the Pacific Coast Highway is just over one mile long but oh what a mile! The hill has an average grade in excess of 10% with the last part of the climb jumping to over 20%! This is a ride I've done numerous times so I knew what to expect. What I didn't expect was the unexpected.

As I turned onto Thalia Street to start the climb, I got out of the saddle and stepped on the pedals. Suddenly, I heard a snap and the sound of my chain hitting the spokes of my real wheel. My first thought was "What the h***??" followed by CRAP!

After frantically popping my feet out of my pedals before I fell over, I looked down to see my chain wrapped around the front chainrings. My first thought was a broken chain, something that is not unheard of.

Upon further inspection, what I saw was that the metal arm on rear derailleur had literally snapped in half with the only thing keeping it together being the internal spring. My day was done before it had hardly begun! Who would've thought that a Shimano derailleur would snap off? Not me but it did. I even took pictures to prove it!

What is the lesson you ask? Preventative maintenance checks cannot be overlooked. For the past week, I had noticed a clicking noise that I attributed to a worn chain being used on a new cassette. During each ride I would remind myself to check it out only to leave it for another day.

Could I have predicted this? Probably not but had I taken a closer look, I might have realized that in fact the chain was ok so perhaps there was a derailleur problem. Here is my advice:

• Listen for any unusual noises coming from your bike. If properly maintained, the only noise you should be hearing, other than the wind past your ears, is the occasional light noise from hub when you are free wheeling.
• After each ride, take a couple of minutes to look your bike over. If you did hear some odd noises, try to isolate the area from where you think it is originating.
• When all else fails, take your bike to a qualified mechanic and explain to them what you are hearing. Your safety isn't worth not doing it.

Happy cycling!