For the 10,000th Time, Control Your Urges - By Charlie

I suspect I might be about the 10,000 person writing about how to stay fit over the winter holidays (perhaps there’s some sort of Pullitzer-type prize related to that?). Nevertheless, these sorts of articles appear year after year for good reason: these days, our attention spans have shortened while our mental retentive capabilities are a fraction of what they once were. Don’t believe me? Two words: Michael. Vick.


So here it is, the 10,000th article out there full of advice and tips on how to stay fit & healthy during these the most unhealthy weeks of the year.

Was it Georges Santayana, or Dick Van Patten, who said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it? (The interesting point of this quotation is that he was really making a statement about knowledge acquisition—we need to learn things via repetition—not an exhortation the importance of history; but I digress.) The easiest way to stay fit, is, of course, to not repeat the mistakes of the past, while repeatedly reminding ourselves not to make the mistakes of the past. Therefore, the first step to a healthier holiday is to analyze where you went wrong. Then, have a dedicated plan to stick to in order to avoid those same failings. Here’s a hint: The problem was probably either (or both) that you ate too much, particularly junk food, and that you exercised too little.

But ay, the rub is that the snacks are just too tempting, and the exercising too hard to find time and motivation to do. What is a reveler to do? For starters, if at all possible, have a hand in the holiday grocery shopping. It’s hard to eat crappy food if there’s none around, and it’s a lot easier to show restraint in the grocery aisle (on a full stomach, always!) than in front of this:

Bad food purchases also tend to be ones made on impulse. So when you go to the grocery store, bring cash only. When it comes to the difference between bringing home the toilet paper or the white-chocolate-covered peppermint Oreo’s, the craving for pepperminty goodness packs less of a punch.


Also, when it comes to eating, few things slow you down like carefully tracking just how many calories you consume. A simple mental tally works well, though the peril of snacking just is that you lose track rather easily while snacking. I recommend this (free!) app for android and this one for iPhones (which Lance probably uses in between tweets!). Know that your daily caloric expenditure is probably lower than you think (and wish). During the holidays, when you’re traveling in cars, sitting around the family room or dinner table reminiscing, and watching TV specials, your metabolism is slowing down. Follow these guidelines to estimate what you burn in one day around the holidays, assuming little to no exercise.

1.25 x

 Men: 66+1.3x(6.25 x Weight in pounds) + (2 x Height in inches) – (6.76 x Age in years)

 Women: 655+ (4.35 x W) + (0.73 x H) – (4.68 x A)

Whatever the product, eat that number of calories in a day, and then call it quits to avoid weight gain. Try to have accurate estimates of the calories in each of the snacks—and remember you can eat a lot more pieces of broccoli than you can slices of cheese.

One final tip regarding food consumption—if you go out, volunteer to DD. Designated drivers are wonderful on so many levels, but for purposes apropos this article, it prevents you from consuming one of the most common sources of excess calories around the holidays, alcohol. Alcohol is metabolized just like fat, and the “lightest” form of alcohol, pure grain alcohol, still contains 7 calories per oz. A 1-oz shot of most spirits contains 60-70 calories, and a beer or glass of wine typically have around 150 calories. 4 of those quite literally is a meal’s worth of calories. (More on calories in booze.)

In spite of all of this, we’re probably going to eat more than we should this holiday. Hell is paved with good intentions. Exercise can be a form of self-flagellation, a form of very painful penance. But it’s a lot easier to keep the pounds off preemptively than to try to eliminate them post-facto. It’s sort of like, rather than spilling oil all over the gulf then offering a really heartfelt apology, how about just not crapping all over the livelihoods of thousands to begin with? So try to keep your exercise routine.

One way to do this is to find a partner—someone to meet you at the gym, pool, or coffee shop to begin your bike ride extra early each morning, before you travel, or before the family shows up. When the alarm goes off and you feel like sleeping in, you’ll tell yourself, “no, my friend is waiting for me. I’ll let them down if I bail.” Also, tell others what workout you’re going to do—even brag about it publicly to your friends and family. Then have them ask you whether you did it equally publicly. At that point, if you don’t exercise, you’ll either have to lie to those you love the most, or catch tons of flak from those to whom you were so boastful before.

Now, I’ve waited ‘til the end to mention these, because I don’t recommend being too reliant on certain “tricks” I like to use to monitor my weight. But there are a couple workouts that are especially well-suited toward keeping off excess fat this season. The first is to exercise before breakfast. Cyclists have known about this trick for years, and recently the NYT did a write-up about how exercising before breakfast burns a high ratio of fat. The danger of this exercising before breakfast is likely to leave you feeling extraordinarily hungry the rest of the day, causing you to overeat. I like to counter this urge by drinking & eating things that tend to swell and distend the belly. Consuming a LOT of water helps quash hunger. In fact, one sign of dehydration is an inability to feel sated despite eating a lot of food. Carbonated water like Perrier (unsweetened) will make you feel especially full, as the carbonation sits in your stomach. Likewise with diet sodas. Finally, coffee or tea—caffeinated beverages—speed up your metabolism and suppress appetite. I’ve found a cup of coffee and a whole grain bagel with some peanut butter—a combination of complex carbs, protein, and good unsaturated fats, to carry me from lunch all the way until a late dinner without resorting to snacks.

Overall, the most important thing is to be mindful about what you do. Have a plan: I will exercise for X minutes; I will only eat Y number of calories. And if you stumble one day, pick yourself up, brush the cookie crumbs from your stomach, and carry forth determined to do better.

Cross Training - By: Coach Todd

Winter is now truly upon us. Not in terms of large snow falls that our own California born head mechanic (Shawn Hurley) for some reason adores, but in terms of some genuinely cold temperatures. Riding outside this time of year is not for the faint of heart. The wind and cold can exact a great physical toll that may outweigh the cardiovascular gains. So, many athletes explore cross training options as both a way to both prevent getting sick and work on improving their training in other ways.


It is important to keep our daily training fun. Let's be honest, most of us will never make our livings riding or racing bicycles, running, or competing in triathlons. Most of us pursue these endeavors because we enjoy both the activity and challenging ourselves. So how can we mainatin our potentially waning motivation this time of year? Cross Training.

Variety is the spice of life and there are many ways to both maintain cardiovascular and neuromuscular fitness beyond solely partaking in our main sport. One way to maintain as well as develop neuromuscular as well as increase explosive power is through weight training. Beginning a structured weight training program will allow you to focus on the specific muscle groups you want to target. It can assist in enhancing your strengths as well as improving on your weaknesses. Additionally, it is an opportunity to push yourself in a way you normally may not. Focusing on making perfect lifts each time is far more important than poor form with higher weight. Push yourself, but do so safely.

Running is another way to maintain and increase your cardiovascular fitness. I ran for 28 years and 6 marathons as well as 6 stress fractures led me to bicycle racing. That being said, running is a fantastic way to gain fitness and provides excellent bang for your training buck. You don't have to go for 3 hour runs to derive the benefits. Besides, it's simple to do, you don't have to wear nearly as much winter gear to get out and run comfortably and the endurance gains are undeniable.

Yoga is another activity that can be crucial to maintaining health and increasing flexibility for your chosen sport. Many members of the QCW/Breakaway race team got an introduction to "Yoga for Cyclists" earlier in the fall instructed by Keri Smotrich. Everyone I spoke with regarding practicing yoga said how much they enjoyed it and found it beneficial. If you haven't given it a try yet, give it some serious consideration.

Once the snow hits, both cross country skiing and snow shoeing are great ways to make massive cardiovascular endurance gains. World Class cross country skiers regularly record the highest VO2 max values in the world. It is a great way to see and explore local parks in a way you may never have. Getting a great workout and enjoying some of the local beauty that is a part of our city; not a bad way to spend your time.

Finally for you "roadies" out there (me included), feel free to as Head Coach Joe Wentzell says frequently, mix it up. Meaning of course, both mountain biking and road riding...with a dash of cyclocross riding for good measure (If your looking for MTB rides in the area contact Joe so he can add you to his ride list or help find rides that are right for you). Exploring disciplines of cycling beyond your mainstay once again break up the monotony, as well as help to aid in skill acquisition which will help all riders in any discipline.

The goal for all of us should be to have fun with our training. When you are starting a new activity, or one you haven't done in a significant amount of time, then be prudent and cautious and DO NOT OVERDO IT! Consult a coach (we have several here) or another trusted expert and begin gradually. Make a plan that you are certain to enjoy, be consistent, and don't forget to have fun!

Why RPM? - By: Charlie

In the winter, this question is relatively easy to answer:

You can try riding in the snow, ice, and freezing temperatures—and surely we have—but from experience let me tell you that falling over every thirteen feet does not a workout make.

Of course, you could train at home on your rollers or trainer, but most of us don’t have the amenities of the Breakaway Training Center: a fun, competitive atmosphere with a dozen other riders to push you, industrial fans and A/C units to cool you (and you’re not paying the utilities), and computrainers to simulate real course conditions like drafting and hills both up and down, track your speed, distance, heartrate, and, importantly, your power, and even more importantly, a coach on hand to guide your workout and answer your training questions.

In other months though, the choice might be less obvious: why ride indoors when the thermometer starts creeping up out of the nether regions? The answer is that an RPM class is all about efficiency. RPM is for people who value their time, because they don’t have a lot of it to spare. Few of us are professionals (though you are apt to meet a few from time to time if you train at breakaway), but most of us have lives—jobs to work, errands to run, families to support, people to meet other than those wearing spandex. Yet, just like other aspects of our lives, we want to be good at what we do, and that means approaching our training in a serious manner. That is where RPM comes in.

Weekday RPM classes are 1 hour long, and those on weekends last 2 hours. When you sign up for RPM, you’re getting 2 hours worth of class per week. As an instructor, I do not allow that any of that hour is wasted .Classes start on time, and you are working hard right away. (You’re welcome to come 15 minutes early to get in a warm-up.) I have written in the past about what sort of riding “counts” as training, where power zones 2 or above are breaking your muscles down in order for them to rebuild—thus making you stronger after recovering from those rides, while zone 1 is for recovery or “garbage miles.” There are no garbage miles in RPM. Contrast this to a typical workout outside, one even done solo:

This is from a ride I did while preparing for my peak race last year, about three weeks out. This chart shows the amount of time I spent in zones 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5-5b on a typical endurance ride—one where I was continuously conscious of my power effort. It was a 3.5 hour ride. If you consider what I said about zone 1 not being training, then you can see I spent nearly half the ride wasting time; I did in 3.5 hours what I could have accomplished in 2 hours inside. This is not atypical for a ride outside, and group rides are usually much worse.

This is from an actual weekend RPM class:

See how little time is wasted in zone 1? That’s because you can’t coast on a trainer. You don’t wait at stoplights. You don’t have to regroup. You don’t have to stop to refill bottles. You don’t have to slow down to see your cue sheet. You get on your bike, and start training.

Of course, you can do indoor training workouts on your own. But do you have the will to constantly push yourself? Remember, riding in z2 is essentially going just hard enough to be pretty uncomfortable, and then staying there. The coaches and the competition in the training center will keep you there. Plus without a power meter, you don’t know for certain what zone you’re in; our computrainers tell you your power.

Simply put, there is no better way to get a good workout in with as much time to spare as possible. And RPM classes are structured so that you can do your interval workouts during the week, then maybe go outside for your long ride. Or do your interval workouts at home, and come in on the weekend for your endurance ride, particularly if the weather is lousy. Or maybe—why not just sign up for both?

All I Want for Christmas is a Comfortable Crotch - By Sarah

Sometimes, it feels like days since I’ve seen my legs. With the frost coming on fast, there are fewer situations where taking my pants off is a good idea. It’s only December and already I ride every day wearing a layer of spandex under my jeans.
Then again, it’s like this every year: come Thanksgiving there’s a temperature drop, and soon enough we’ll have regular snow and ice.

So layering up is a good idea. It’s hard to keep your legs going when they’re a blistery red, and it’s not easy to shift with stiff fingers. Most of you are probably familiar with the routine of pulling on one article of clothing after another just to go on a Sunday ride through Fairmount Park.

For some of you, though, this might be your first winter of cycling. Maybe you have some concerns about enjoying your bike despite inclement conditions. And rightly so. Even if you’re a seasoned cyclist who has had her fair share of nose-sicles, there still might be some questions you’ve always wanted to ask but never did.

Especially about the infamous down there. After all, more layers and less breathability often implies added discomfort between the legs. I’m sure this is something that many, if not all, women on a bike have experienced; but it’s not something we often discuss openly.

Not only is it difficult for a woman to muster the courage to walk into a shop and ask which saddle won’t feel like a vice grip, but it’s also a touchy subject for many guys who work at the shops, many of whom aren’t sure how to answer your questions.

I’d like to use this blog post then as a resource for Breakaway customers and employees, both male and female, who might be hesitant to say anything out loud. Perhaps if we open up the issue, it will become less intimidating.

First, I think it’s important that we establish a word for down there. Personally, I like the word crotch because it describes the entire area. That way, we don’t really have to know all that much about anatomy, just location. For certain issues, it might serve to be more specific. But for the purposes of this blog post, I’m going to stick with crotch.

Tip #1: Skip the panties

In case no one told you, padded cycling shorts/pants are made to function without underwear. The seam in your underwear can cause chafing in the creases between your legs, while a good padded chamois eliminates these seams. If you haven’t already, invest in a pair of padded cycling shorts. It’ll make your bottom feel great. Otherwise, breathable underwear and loose-fitting clothing work best to prevent crotch discomfort.

Tip #2: Cut out crotch cram

Women-specific saddles are more than just flower and butterfly decorations, they also support female anatomy in a way that other saddles cannot. For example, many women-specific saddles are broader towards the back to accommodate wider hips. Women’s sit bones, those that should carry your weight when you’re cycling, are usually set farther apart. Consequently, a stock saddle might feel less comfortable because it puts our weight on softer tissue. In addition, women-specific saddles will often have a cut out in the middle to relieve any pressure on this soft tissue. Finally, if you’re still not satisfied, ask a shop employee to help you out with saddle positioning, which can have a significant impact on your riding comfort.

Tip #3 Women are like yogurt

We produce natural bacteria that help to keep our crotches healthy. This also involves a delicate balance, however, that can be disrupted. In order to prevent bacterial infections, it’s important to practice good hygiene. For example, wash your panty-free padded shorts after each ride and never ride in dirty shorts. Ultimately, if you have a concern about a possible infection, please forego the bike shop and visit a doctor.

Of course, I couldn’t cover everything about crotches because they are so very complicated. But I do implore customers and employees alike to start asking more questions about issues like these because they often have significant health implications. Plus, our mission is to make your bike ride enjoyable. And if your crotch doesn’t enjoy it, chances are you won’t either.

How Training with Power Can Benefit Your Riding - By Charlie

During our October 2010 Product Party with Cycleops, I gave a brief talk on how training with power can benefit your riding. For those that were unable to make it, I’ll try to touch on the highlights of the talk and Q&A in this post.

I began by explaining what power is. If you want a really scientific explanation, look up the Wikipedia article on power—but make sure you use the German version. Seriously—the German version is a much more reputable source than the English version of the popular online, user-edited encyclopedia (probably the result of stricter encyclopedic guidelines). But here’s my definition provided by my memories of 9th grade honors physical science: Power=the ratio of work done over time. And you get work by multiplying force (on an object) and displacement (how far the object moves). And force is mass times acceleration. Basically what this boils down to is this: The harder you press into the pedals (accelerating those pedals faster or pushing with more muscle mass into tem) or the faster you spin those pedals (more displacement in a given amount of time, plus faster acceleration), the more power you produce. Power is measured in watts, or if you’re my boss Joe or his comparably-sized teammate Brett (see at 5:06), horsepower (735.5 watts—or so says de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pferdestärke).

What all that sciencey amounts to is that power is an absolute measurement of how hard or strong you’re going. 300 watts is always 300 watts, whether your speed is 10 or 60kph, whether your heart rate is 120 or 180, whether your perceived exertion is a 2 or a 10, and so on. Every other training tool you can use—speed, cadence, heart rate, exertion—is a mere physiological response to one thing: the work being done—symptoms, not the source.

There are several devices for measuring power, called powermeters, amongst them the Computrainer, the Powertap, SRM, Quarq, and the iBike. At RPM workouts in the breakaway training center, we use the Computrainer. We also rent out a Powertap. In 2010 I trained and raced with a Powertap. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, and I leave it to you to sort through what’s out there with regard to those. I will only note that I suspect prices of these powermeters to go down, as the market is quite likely going to be flooded with a number of new powermeters currently in various stages of development and testing, including cleat- and pedal-based systems, along with something called a LaserSpoke.

Once you start training with power, there are two “tests” you need to do to get maximal benefit from owning the power meter: a functional threshold power test & a power profile test. The FTP test will establish your training zones, and it is the first and most crucial step in tracking your fitness and evaluating your training. The power profile test helps you discover what sort of rider you are. By sort, I mean what your relative strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to utilizing different respiratory processes and recruiting different muscle fiber types. Without getting too sciencey again, suffice to say that some people are natural born sprinters, built for speed, at the expense of their stamina, and others end up like me, a rather compact, efficient animal built for endurance. These are the first workouts we have any of our RPM students and coached athletes do.

In the lecture, I went on to show how I track data from ride to ride, month to month, season to season, and so on. By using a powermeter along with TrainingPeaks and WKO+ software, we can get an objective Training Stress Score for every ride. We can track that score to plan peaks and tapers, see when you’re most fit, when you tend to overreach, how much you’re improving season to season, what sorts of training rides best suit you, and all sorts of other useful information. A powermeter can help you pace a time trial or bike-leg in a triathlon perfectly. It will calculate your caloric requirements during and after a ride. I’ve used one to determine optimum cadence. Really, the only limits to what you can do with a powermeter are the creative ones of you and your coach.

Talking with Jackie Baker from Giant for Women - By Sarah

As mentioned in October’s post, Breakaway Bikes will be hosting the Giant For Women’s Tour this month. Last week, I had the pleasure of corresponding with Jackie Baker from Giant Bicycles; she seemed very enthusiastic and had a lot of good things to say.

Me: How many women are buying bikes?

 

Jackie: The general concept is that about 1/3 of bikes sold in the US are women's-specific models. However, any given inline bike can also be ideal for any number of women, so the number of women actually buying bikes would be higher than 1/3 in the US. My question would be, of those girls who bought bikes, how many are still avidly riding them, and how can we make sure that every girl who buys or owns a bike gets excited about riding it as often as possible? The key is building a relationship at the shop to ensure she's on the correct bike size and on the bike that best fits her style and the terrain she'll be riding. With the shop's help, she'll be confident that every time she gets on her bike, she's going to have an enjoyable ride.

 

Me: What are you planning to show or teach our customers that they might not have known before?

 

Jackie: That's a tough question. Every group tends to have different levels of knowledge. But what I try to do is cater each clinic to the specific girls I have in attendance, so I make sure everyone gets something from the clinic. Often what I talk about are more simplified ways to take care of problems like a flat tire or skipping chain so that they're easy to do and easy to remember how to do. Also, I encourage everyone to practice everything we discuss on their bikes at home on their own time. That way there's no pressure, if you can do a task at your home by yourself, you'll know you can do it out on the road or trail when you are under a bit more pressure.

 

Me: What about our employees?

 

Jackie: With employee training, I try to work a lot on making sure we're getting girls on bikes that not only fit them size-wise, but also fit their riding goals and functionality. We want to get girls excited to get out on their bikes, and there are a few things we can do as bike shops to make sure that happens.

 

Me: How have you seen the cycling industry change, as far as the women-friendliness factor?

 

Jackie: Again, tough question. I started riding and racing in ‘97 with an awesome group of people. I started out as a collegiate rider, and there were a lot of guys and girls involved in cycling. It wasn't until I got involved with the gravity side of the sport that I really saw how male-centric the industry is. It's definitely still rough for pro women in all aspects of riding to get the recognition, pay, and respect they deserve. But I do feel like there are a lot of aspects where the industry is doing better – offering more fit and functionality options through women's-specific geometries and equivalent parts groupings for the same price as inline bikes, for instance.

 

Me: What are some aspects you find still need change?

 

Jackie: I think that the real catalyst for change comes from the bike shops. If shops are active in their communities and working to get more girls on bikes, and get them on bikes that are right for them, there will be even more demand for increased product selection and equal treatment from the beginning levels through the pro ranks. I think a lot of shops are doing a great job of offering resources to educate their female customers and make them feel like the industry values them. And I think that more and more, the industry is recognizing how valuable women are to its growth.

 

Whether you’ve already got a bike or don’t know where to start, please join us at Breakaway Bikes on November 10th and 11th. Jackie’s programs are sure to provide a lot of insight into how we can get more ladies on two wheels.

 

Wednesday, NOV. 10, 2010*

 

5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Women’s Night at Breakaway Bikes

• Learn: How to pick out the perfect bike for you;
• What makes women’s bikes different;
• How a properly sized-bike should fit.
• Refreshments will be served.

Thursday, NOV. 11, 2010*

 

12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunchtime Fix-a-Flat and Basic Repair Clinic

• Spend your lunch break with us!
• Refreshments will be served.
• 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm Giant for Women Bike Demo
• Try a Giant for Women mountain, road, or cyclocross bike!

*All Events are FREE

It Doesn’t Take Balls to Ride a Bike - By Sarah

It seems as though the cycling industry is slowly waking up. It took nearly a century, but I think we are finally beginning to realize the wants and needs of women on bicycles. Admittedly, this sort of realization could not have come to light until certain structural changes in society were achieved. Nonetheless, the purchasing power of mobile females has created an incentive for shops and manufacturers to alter their own entrepreneurial missions.

And yet smaller frames or lavender jerseys aren’t quite making the cut. As always, there is room for improvement. At this point, I’d like to introduce myself as Sarah, the only current female employee at Breakaway. This blog post, as well as those to come, represents just another step toward opening up the world of cycling to women.

Breakaway has a reputation of exceptional customer service. As cycling advocates, we realize that condescending to the customer or ignoring her particular needs is not a great way to run a business. Following this mission, the shop has made strides to accommodate female riders: women-specific frames, saddles, shoes, clothing, etc.

But our shop, like many others, has hit a wall for two reasons:

1) We can only sell the products that the manufacturers produce. Thus, we are limited to certain size ranges, colors, or product designs.
2) Women may account for half of the global population, but they don’t account for half of our customer-base. This is probably due to our limited supply of women-friendly products. However, this supply remains limited because of the lack of demand from female customers.

As a retailer and not a manufacturer, we have little control over innovations from the cycling industry that benefit women riders. But we do have some influence over who comes in our shop. If we assume too much about our female clientele, we can’t adequately address their needs. Hopefully, as a woman’s voice on the inside, I can shed some light on our “issues.”

For many women, the threat of entering a man’s world starts right at the front door. Whether she is a novice or an elite cyclist, she walks in the shop with a thought at the back of her mind: these guys (think they) know better than me. And whether the thought is proven true or not, it is enough to inhibit questions that could potentially lead to furthered knowledge of her bike or herself as a rider.

Even as a worker in the cycling industry, not just a consumer, I encounter this kind of intimidation. I don’t mean to say that I don’t enjoy where I work, or to generalize that all male cyclists are chauvinistic. But all it takes is one bad experience at a shop and you can’t help but be apprehensive.

Ultimately, Breakaway would like to make some changes. We’ve already established a friendly and helpful customer rapport; now we just need to make the shop space a little more women-friendly. For example, in addition to posts about performance and bike maintenance, we’ll be publishing posts concerning women in cycling.

Furthermore, the phrase women in cycling doesn’t just include the ladies training and competing in races, but any woman who rides a bike. Just like the guys, there are women who commute to work, women who ride only on the weekends and women who tear up the trails. The bottom line is, however, that we’re all taking part in an activity that was once considered to be just for boys. And that’s changing.

On November 10th and 11th be sure to stop by for some of the many activities we will have as the Giant For Women's Tour makes a stop at Breakaway.

Pleasures of the Pre-base Phase - By Tyler

There is nothing easy about training correctly this time of the year. Most racers battle fatigue and the sensations of burn out, while recreational riders begin to face inclement weather. Motivation to ride during the first part of fall can be at best, decrescent. I have always viewed this as Mother Nature's request to stop battering your body, to take a step back, and rediscover why you do that to yourself in the first place. For most of my athletes and even myself, late October and early November can be just that, a time of renewal for the body and spirit. But as the old adage goes, all good things must come to an end. At some point you will need to start to focus your training again, right!? What is the best thing to do when you have so many forces pulling you in so many directions? Do you try cyclcross, mountain biking, running,et cetera?

Every magazine you pick up or cycling related website you read will give their two cents, which will always makes it sound like there is a linear solution for everyone. Everyone undoubtedly has read at least one of them over their cycling careers. My favorite, Crush your first century next summer by trying cyclocross! What does that even mean? Sure there can be benefits derived from riding off road, but the likelihood of dramatic gains they insinuate will not be as obvious.

Personally, I have never found that going from discipline to discipline in the winter has lead to many gains physically, but I certainly have athletes who are the complete opposite and thrive off the cross training. It has always rekindled my drive to be better on the road, however (if you have seen me flail on and off a cross bike you would agree). The ability to sort of do whatever you feel like doing is what makes this time of year the most enjoyable, in my humble opinion.You can experiment all you want to find something new or unique, without ruining your season or having a pressure to quantitatively improve your FTP.

Those that are strictly roadies such as myself can take solace in knowing that staying on the road is OK. What is more enjoyable than riding a road bike in 20 degree weather, anyone agree (slightly facetious here)? After all, isn't the best way to be able to crush your first century come from riding your bike in general? If you do it properly (tutelage from these men help), you will be able make it through the winter without all of the cycling fads or trends, while rediscovering your passion for a simple bike ride. Having a little structure and knowing your desired ends helps, but taking a step back also goes a long way. You can go ahead start this process by going for a bike ride! Remove all pressures to go fast or to produce xyz wattage for xyz time. This time of year and the lack of pressure accompanying it does not last long enough, so enjoy autumn while it is here.

Power - Riding Within Yourself - By Charlie

            In every race I’ve done, and just about every spirited group ride I’ve ever attended, there is always some guy, that guy, who makes the more experienced racers chuckle. From the opening gun or from before the ride even hits the open country roads, he (or she) is up at the front, taking Herculean pulls, charging up the hills, launching attack after attack after attack. Twenty minutes in he’s thinking, “man, I am really rocking their ride today. I bet they’re really impressed with how strong I’m riding.” And yeah, from my perspective, 20 riders back, almost totally shielded from the wind by the quartet of 6-footers I’ve surrounded myself-- I am the central Illinois tennis court, and they are my Wind-B-Gone screens.—I am sort of impressed. I guess. That guy is usually a pretty strong guy. Stronger than me, probably. But here’s the thing. Most bike races I’ve done, save for the upcoming Tour de Breakaway, the upcoming 3-day computrainer stage race benefitting the QCW junior membership initiative, are not won by the guy with the highest average wattage—especially after only 20 minutes.

            You see, cycling is an endurance sport. You gotta be stronger for longer, but strength saved now can be cashed out for strength later. You know who wins the race? First one across the line. It’s also a team sport. And teams also team up in the peloton. At a pro race, you’ll see 9 out of ten teams working together, while the 10^th team has a lone guy off the front. Guess how many times that lone wolf is successful? To ride away, single-handedly, from an entire peloton, When drafting you save 30% of your energy. When tucked away in a group with people all around you, it can be as much as 50% less energy to go the same speed. Essentially, to ride away from a group, you have to be able to ride 30% stronger than everyone else. That’s how much drafting matters. What’s 30% like? Well, Lance Armstrong at his peak (*ahem*) was doing about 6.5-7 watts per kilogram (the best measure of a cyclist’s strength) at his threshold. So he’s about 30% stronger than me. He has won 7 Tours de France. I once finished 3^rd in a 3-day, 56-person cat 4/5 stage race up in Jersey called the Giro del Cielo. In the battle between Lance and a peloton of me and my clones, he wins. That guy is usually not Lance.

            And so back to that guy. You know what happens to that guy taking monster pulls and throwing down vicious attack after vicious attack? Well, unless he’s on a different level altogether than the rest of the riders, he starts with a flurry and ends with a whimper. More often than not, he’s gone really fast while things are just warming up, and by the time things really start to happen, he’s blown up catastrophically. I see that and I feel bad for that guy. I hope for his sake that isn’t also how he makes love.

            But here’s the thing, folks. You’ve probably been that guy. I know have. Maybe not to the dramatic degree I just sketched, but certainly most inexperienced racers have ridden brilliantly at the start of the race. Maybe in your head as you ride, you imagine Phil and Paul talking about how you really animated the race. In the post race interview you’ve got your orange jersey on, and others are talking about how much of a workhorse you were, really powering the break today. But as the race drags on and the adrenaline stops and the fatigue creeps in. Your legs start to ache, heart rate rises, your breathing becomes more labored. Each pack surge or attack becomes harder to handle. Participating in the upcoming sprint is an impossibility. You just don’t want to suffer anymore. Just get me to the line! There’s always beer at the line (at least for my team there is). What’s happened is you did not ride within yourself.

            ‘Riding within oneself’ is a pretty vague term. What it means, in a nutshell, is that you rode only as hard as you need to go. A personal example: last year, at a race in Jersey, this guy, Dom Rollin of Cervelo Test Team (part of 2009 Tour Green Jersey winner Thor Hushovd’s and 2008 Tour champ Carlos Sastre’s team) shows up on something of a lark. As luck would have it, I found myself being pulled along in his slipstream (remember the 30% thing? Well, he’s about 29% stronger, so I was just barely able to stay on his wheel as he opened a gap between himself and most of the rest of the peloton). A break of 9 guys formed. For the first 3 laps we were away, everyone was just laying down the hammer, going all out, making everyone’s legs scream. But at a certain point, breaks become established. That’s when things settle down and the chance of being caught decreases dramatically. At that point, about 5 or 6 of us began a rotating paceline, while the teams with 2 guys in the move left one each at the back to sit on. I wasn’t the strongest guy there, obviously, or even close. But, foolishly, I wanted to “prove” myself to the other riders. Wanted to show I belonged with this pro tour guy and a couple of U-23 domestic neopros. Looking back, I think, what the hell was I thinking? In terms of strength, I don’t belong with those guys. But bike racing isn’t about raw strength. Remember? First one across the line. Therefore, I had no business trying to win the race through raw strength. What I should have done was rode as conservatively as possible, so I spent so much less strength during the first 59 minutes of the race than everyone else, that for that final minute, I could have enough strength to be just a bit faster. What’s silly is that even at one point, Dom touches me on the shoulder and says, “you don’t have to work so hard.” He’s right. I really, really didn’t. That break didn’t need me pulling through with all my mini-might. On a flat crit course and a 130 lb cat-3, Fabian Cancellara I am not. But I spent myself working so hard that late in the race, when attacks came and our group of 9 split, I didn’t have enough left to follow the lead group of four, settling for 5^th.

            So what’s the lesson? You need to know how to ride hard without going too hard to avoid being that guy. When you find yourself in the wind, relax. If it’s your turn to pull, don’t suddenly get excited or antsy accelerate like a newb. Don’t take 3 minutes pulls when everyone else is taking 30 second ones. Don’t start half-wheeling your two-line paceline partner. Just ride steady.

            The best way to do this is to always ride with power. Or, if you lack the funds for a power meter, try a heart rate monitor, as it tracks physiological responses to power (unfortunately, HR also responds to several external factors, whereas power is absolute). By keeping track of the power files of every ride, you start to learn just what you can do. The numbers never lie. Ever. If you’ve never topped 300 watts for 20 minutes, then don’t start taking 350 watt pulls in your group of four for more than a handful of seconds, or two hours later you’re going to be spat out the back. By using power, you’ll also learn how many and what sort of “matches” you have in your matchbook. A match is any hard effort. Make a hard effort, burn a match. Some matches burn hot and fast, others longer and cooler. A 500 watt, 15 second effort probably burns a match. So too does a 5 minute, 280 watt effort. By charting your power, you’ll know about how many times you burn various matches, or how much recovery time you need before your matchbook is restocked.

            And so, always remember: Bike racing is much more than a test to see who’s the strongest. It is a battle of wits and tactics, designed such that nothing matters but coming across the line first. Learning to understand yourself as a rider, either through power, heart rate, or even perceived effort, is the key to doing so. And even if it doesn’t get you to the line first every time, certainly it will keep you from being that guy.

Tour De Breakaway - Stage 2

Tour De Breakaway - Stage 2

Day 2 of the indoor stage race was run on a 60k mostly flat course.  We had 16 riders on two banks of 8 Computrainers.  The banks were split evenly between the riders based on the previous days TT.  The women were given a 10 minute head start on the men.  With it Kacey Wander was able to hold off the men, with the help of the other women, until the final Kilometers and was able to come in 3rd place for the stage and snagged a 5 second time bonus as a result.  She remains the GC leader after day 2.


Tour De Breakaway

Results Stage 2

1st Brett Kielick 1:40.03:41 (15sec Bonus)
2nd Ross Marklein 1:40.03:58 (10sec Bonus)
3rd Kacy Wander 1:40.04:31 (5sec Bonus)
4th Sean Whiteman 1:40.44:69
5th Charlie Zamastil 1:40.45.20
6th Todd Lippin 1:40.45:34
7th Matt Furlow 1:40.45:77
8th Mike Mclaughlin 1:41.19:16
9th Darren Linkin 1:41.19.58
10th Mel Glenn 1:43.11:33
11th Aliza Karetnick 1:43.11.33
12th Tom Waltz 1:47.05:75
13th John Miller 1:53.02.00
14th Harper Watters 1:53.02.00
15th Ryan Shank 1:56:21.56
16th Kevin Greene 1:59:45.33

General Classification Stage 2:

1st Kacy Wander 1:53:37.82
2nd Brett Kielick 1:54:27.72
3rd Ross Marklein 1:54:58.32
4th Sean Whiteman 1:55:09.00
5th Charlie Zamastil 1:55:38.17
6th Todd Lippin 1:56:01.18
7th Matt Furlow 1:56:24.77
8th Mike McGaughlin 1:57:07.30
9th Darren Linkin 1:57:34.12
10th Mel Glenn 1:58:03.14
11th Aliza Karetnick 1:58:17.05
12th Tom Waltz 2:03:53.45
13th Harper Watters 2:09:46.08
14th John Miller 2:10:16.47
15th Ryan Shank 2:11:53.45
16th Kevin Greene 2:15:05.16

Tour De Breakaway - Stage 1

Te Tour De Breakaway is an indoor stage race run on Computrainers.  The Title sponsor Breakaway uses the proceeds of this event to help fund QCW Cycling's Junior Mentorship Initiative to help inner city youth race their bikes.

Tour De Breakaway - Stage 1

The opening stage of the Tour De Breakaway is a 10k Time Trial. The course is actually the same course used to determine starting positions of the Athens Twilight Crit. The cool thing about this is that one can compare times to riders from across the country who have done this indoor TT (Computrainer Ranking Site).

The women were given a 3 minute time bonus for the stage, with it Kacey Wander took the GC after Day 1.



Tour De Breakaway 2010

Results Stage 1:

1st: Kacey Wander 13:34.41
2nd: Sean Whiteman 14:24.31
3rd: Brett Kalick 14:31.33
4th: Melanie Glenn 14:51.81
5th: Charlie Zamistil 14:52.97
6th: Ross Marklien 14:54.74
7th: Aliza Karetnick 15:05.72
8th: Todd Lippin 15:15.41
9th: Ryan Shank 15:31.89
10th: Matt Furlow 15:39.00
11th: Mike Mclaughlin 15:48.14
12th: Kevin Green 15:59.83
13th: Darren Linkin 16:14.54
14th: Harper Watters 16:24.52
15th: Tom Waltz: 16:47.70
16th: John Miller: 17:14.47

General Classification:

1st: Kacey Wander 13:34.41
2nd: Sean Whiteman 14:24.31
3rd: Brett Kalick 14:31.33
4th: Melanie Glenn 14:51.81
5th: Charlie Zamistil 14:52.97
6th: Ross Marklien 14:54.74
7th: Aliza Karetnick 15:05.72
8th: Todd Lippin 15:15.41
9th: Ryan Shank 15:31.89
10th: Matt Furlow 15:39.00
11th: Mike Mclaughlin 15:48.14
12th: Kevin Green 15:59.83
13th: Darren Linkin 16:14.54
14th: Harper Watters 16:24.52
15th: Tom Waltz: 16:47.70
16th: John Miller: 17:14.47

January News Letter

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