No Pain, No Gain: Injury Prevention & The Foam Roller

To this point in the season, I’ve managed to keep myself pretty much injury free. By absolutely no means do I feel that this is an accident. Pro-active body maintenance plays a pivotal role in lowering my chance of injury.

In a previous article I mentioned the importance of warming up, stretching, recovery, massage and Active Release Therapy (A.R.T.) as methods to combat injury, but there is another element that I neglected to mention (or wasn’t aware of at the time). It combines the benefits of stretching, massage and active release in to one magical device of both torture and relief.

It is the foam roller. (insert dramatic music here…)

Bearing in mind that nothing can really replace what a trained professional brings to the table, the foam roller acts as a very close second and is a fantastic way to maintain and extend the benefits of a great massage or active release therapist.

Now, I’m not going to lie to you – using a foam roller (especially on tight areas) hurts like a *$%&#^@, but just like a really deep massage, it’s a good pain that pays dividends after the fact ;-)

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Cross is calling!

Sadly, as August makes way for September, the mountain bike race season comes to a close and many racers will be hanging up their team kits until the spring. But, with the cooler temperatures rolling in, if you’re one of the race-addicted and you listen closely, you can already hear the foreboding call of Cross! Ahh… Yes! Cyclocross, the demented sport of racing rigid framed bikes, with skinny tires and cantilever breaks over loamy, grassy knolls, through sand pits, up stairs, and over wood plank barriers… How could you turn that down?!

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2010 Transrockies: TR3

This August marked another chapter in the Bikeridr saga… A chapter where paths diverge, where each man is forced to make his own way, to etch his own destiny. You read correctly… This August brought the TR3 to the Bikeridr boys.

We knew it was going to be an entirely new grab bag of pain, suffering and epic awesomeness (yes, I just said that) compared to last years Transrockies. But before we get started – A quick shout out to all our readers who came up and said hi:

Thanks so much! We really appreciate it!!

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Le Tour de Femme?

A friend of mine sent me a message the other day wondering if there was a women’s Tour de France. As with most sporting events, I assumed that there was – just that it received little media coverage, a seemingly unfortunate fact of women’s racing.

After a little digging I found that, in fact, no women’s Tour de France exists; though there is one race in their season considered of equal importance to the Tour. The Giro Donne (aka Giro D’Italia Femminile) – A 921.9km, 10 stage race that traverses through Italy in much the same way the Tour covers France.

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Versus 2010 Tour Tracker

As the 2010 Tour de France spins up and the speculations, predictions and intrigue start to weave their tangled webs, many of us are trying to figure out the best way to absorb this years Tour.

Do we set our PVR each day – consciously blocking out internet race coverage and forewarning coworkers to keep details to themselves? Do we desperately scour to keep up on coverage through RSS readers and Twitter? Do we suddenly come down with an illness that only allows us to come to work in the afternoon?

Thankfully, Versus is ensuring that these difficult decisions aren’t necessary with their 2010 Tour Tracker.

Last year I detailed what you could expect in the 2009 Versus Tour Tracker and it appears as though the fine crew has been hard at work behind the scenes to offer, not only better coverage, but some sincerely cool ‘add-ons’ to your experience.

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Disc Brakes in Cyclocross

Ahhh yes… Some good spills here, but this serves to only set the stage for the latest modifications to the rules taking effect at the beginning of the 2010-2011 cyclocross season.

The biggest thing (in my mind anyway) is DISC BRAKES!!

In my mind, this is huge – I know that especially in mountain biking the modulation that disc brakes brings to the table is a huge advantage. Not to mention for non-pros like me disc brakes are waaaayyy less maintenance, and they don’t squeal like little bitches on long descents ;-)

Here’s a full rundown of the changes:

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Cycle Speedway

Cycle Speedway – Euro Club Champs Final 2010 from Cycle Oxford on Vimeo.

Short-track speed skating, meets roller derby on no break, single-speed bikes – this is awesome! Born out of the post WW1 rubble-strewn streets of Britain, this dirt track motorcycle speedway influenced style of racing takes velodrome sprint speed power and bike handling skills, plus the ability to shoulder check your fellow racer into the rails. I can see this catching on here. If anyone around Edmonton is doing this, drop us a line. This looks like seriously good fun. I’m in!

Lance – LOL

Don’t get off the bike Lance… Stay on the bike… Stay on the bike…

(via Prolly)

Deadgoat Giver 8er Enduro

Deadgoat Giver 8er from Sheldon Smart on Vimeo.

8 hours of pain and suffering didn’t exactly pan out for me, or Ken, this weekend. Ken needs to learn how to ride a mountain bike again, while I pulled the plug early to save some energy for the dull drive back to Edmonton. Really though, I just need to lay off on the ‘suck’ – I admit it.  The day started out cold with snow, drizzle and a ton of mud but there was still a great turn out – those mountain bikers sure are a hearty bunch, hahah… Deadgoat put on a great event for sure  - Good times… Good times! I actually found it pretty amazing that racers kept hammering laps out given how slow and soft the course was. I mean it was slooow going and you were working for everything out there. I seriously gotta hand it to those that powered through for any longer than I did.

Bacon Buffet + TransStoney Race Report

There was to be no surprise, the May long weekend greeted us as it always does. Higher gas prices, substandard weather and of course the killer double header of the Bacon Buffet and Trans Stoney Enduro.

Since fortune favors the bold, the snow and sleet we encountered driving east from Edmonton gradually subsided, leaving only slightly cooler temperatures and a brisk wind… Nothing men like Sheldon and I couldn’t handle ;-)

Fern & Harvey were kind enough to once again loan out their MTB farm just outside of Stoney Plain, and once again, it served up lap after lap of pain. It seemed however, that I once again needed to be reminded of the important lessons I had learned the year prior:

• Don’t race hungover
• I should really get on my mountain bike prior to the first race of the season
• I’m slow

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