Bikeridr is the Blog of the Month!

Many thanks to the folks at the Transrockies who chose to feature Bikeridr to kick of their newsletters ‘Blog of the Month’ campaign.

Since the newsletter is obviously committed to only the highest calibre of content both Sheldon and I highly recommend you subscribe – And hey while you’re at it, you should probably subscribe to the Bikeridr newsletter (in the sidebar to the right) to be sure you don’t miss out on anything ;-)

We’ve got a number of great articles in the works, in addition to product reviews and much more. Stick around and let us know what you think!

Thanks Transrockies!

Reach for a Cure

Who hasn’t been affected by cancer? That’s a scary question when you already know the answer.

The word comes up more and more in conversation with an epidemic-like frequency because this is a disease that has exploded. I read recently that each year cancer kills more people than HIV/AIDS and Malaria combined. When you look at it that way, it’s not that hard to see why everyone we know has been affected by cancer in one way or another. We’ve all lost friends, family or know someone dear to us who has.

When Ken and I first talked about doing the Transrockies, that was the extent of our goal; to train and race in an event so far beyond our abilities and fitness levels seemed like enough to take on. But as we got to talking about it, one of us tossed out the idea of doing some fundraising. Now, there are a lot of very worthy causes and charities out there to support, but immediately, cancer came to mind for us. We knew if we were to try and raise money for something, it would be for that.

Surprisingly though, we quickly dismissed the idea altogether…

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6 Beginner Tips For Better Riding

I don’t care if you’re 8 years old or 58 years old, any day you buy a new bike is an exciting day. A good friend of mine had the pleasure of picking up his new ride last weekend. I came over to help him get the bike mounted on the trainer and we started talking about riding in general, and through our conversation I realized how much of my accumulated biking knowledge I generally take for granted. There’s a multitude of really simple techniques that can improve your riding that many riders aren’t aware of.

None of these techniques are by any sense revolutionary, but the difference they’ll make might surprise you:

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iBike Power Measurement

For the uninitiated, power meters have become increasingly popular by serious cyclist for effectively and efficiently tracking performance. They usually take the form of a swappable hub or crankset installed on your bike which transmits information to an on-bike computer. Though I’ve only used them in a very limited capacity, they’re a ridiculously great way to track your performance. The only real downside to this type of solution is that they can cost an arm and a leg (~$800 – $2,000) and are therefore a little inaccessible to average blokes like me.

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Strength Training for Endurance

Strength Training for the 2009 Transrockies from Sheldon Smart on Vimeo.

Watching riders you don’t know power up a hill ahead of you isn’t what I call fun, but watching your buddies crank up hills ahead of you is sheer agony.

Last summer I watched Ken spin away on every single climb we came up on, whether that was in the Edmonton river valley, or a grind up Cox Hill in Kananaskis country. He’d be up at the top catching his breath, mixing a Piña Colada while I continued to grit my teeth and slog it out. By the time I got to the top, he’d be smiling and taking in the views, fully recovered, while I’d be seeing spots and sucking wind. Now, despite the fact that Ken is a better climber than me, he’s still a pretty good guy; he’ll always give me time to get my wind back, take some water or whatever. But as the rides went on, it became demoralizing to always be the last one to the top, and, to consistently get the least amount of recovery time. This really works against you; if you’re the slowest climber in your group, even if you get 2-3 minutes rest at the top, the guys who beat you to the top are always getting more. I decided that during this off-season, I had to do whatever I could to close that gap between us, mostly for my own sanity, or ego more like…

I started reading more books on training, and through talking to other riders, I had a few gems recommended to me. Now, training theories conflict depending on your sources, especially when it comes to endurance cycling and strength training. Some coaches recommend it, some don’t. Some riders do it (Armstrong being one) and some shy away from it. Concerning the conundrum, strength vs. endurance, there seemed to be a vague consensus though that strength training inhibits optimal endurance training – strength comes at the expense of endurance.

As a novice to training, this made little sense because it was pretty clear to me that where I failed on those long, grueling climbs last summer was not just in the realm of cardio, but also in sheer power. My legs just didn’t have the oomph to keep the crank turning over the rocks, roots, loose dirt, or mud on those steep up-hills.

So the question I was left with was, as a rider do I have to sacrifice endurance to be a better climber?

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Transparent Duct Tape!

How could I not blog this? Transparent Duct Tape?! Does it get any awesomer? Is awesomer a word? Who cares! Transparent Duct Tape deserves a word unto itself, just like it deserves title case capitalization!

In all seriousness though, it looks to be some pretty rockin’ stuff. With this in our pack, quick jerry-rigs will be a little less obvious and this stuff is UV resistant and lasts up to 6 times longer than it’s tired grey brethren.

Broken seats, frames, and bones are no longer a concern to me ;-)

Diversity – The Spice of Life

I’m sure that I can state with relative accuracy that both Sheldon and I love cycling. For myself, I’m not really too concerned with where I’m going, I just like being on the bike. That’s not to say that halfway through some races I haven’t wanted to throw my bike of the side of a cliff, but generally speaking I just like getting in the saddle and taking off. Happily, it would seem that more and more people are joining our ranks. 

One of the main things I attribute the increasing interest to (in addition to environmental-consciousness) is the breadth of bikes available to people these days… There is truly a bike for everybody. Looking at the consumer landscape, it seems that there are endless options for most things, electronics, breakfast cereal, vehicles, etc. – but only recently have I noticed a real broadening of products when it comes to cycling.

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December Training Diary – Sheldon

Since Ken and I started off on this wicked-fun craziness, I’ve been looking at December as a landmark month. I wanted to have achieved a ‘solid’ level of fitness going into 2009, and I’m relieved that I think I’ve managed to do it. Of course, this is a vague assessment that I’m making, because never having trained for the Transrockies, I have no way of really knowing if I’m on track or not. But, the best way for me to describe my goal for December is to say I hoped to be in good enough shape to ‘start’ my training.

We all know what it’s like to be away from the gym for a while; there’s lots of pain, soreness and fatigue you have to fight through when you get back into it. I’ll never forget overdoing something like Bench Press, then making the mistake of telling one of your buddies that you were sore… They’d immediately poke your chest, and you’d recoil in agony. I don’t really get sore from the gym anymore – I power out first. I’m now recovering quickly from my high tempo, and long training rides as well. So from here out, I can confidently step it up going into January, increasing the intensity and duration, but also the frequency of my training. 

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December Training Diary – Ken

With all things considered, I think I can chalk December up as a grand success (at least as far as Decembers go). Through Christmas, a stacked work schedule and many friend/family commitments I managed to stay pretty much right on track.

As luck would have it December decided to bring some sincerely cold weather (between -28° & -38°C) and more snow than I’ve seen in a really long time. Either of these elements on their own, and I think I would have managed to stay on the bike and keep commuting to work, but instead both came at once and I decided to resign this battle to mother nature.

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