a bunch questions from the worlds...

[spokes]

...mostly about stuff i would know the answer to if i wasn't a newbie...
i was watching the worlds last week. it made my newbie head spin! how do all the people in the peleton (spelling? sorry) manage to avoid knocking each other over? they said the average spped was 38 km/h, and their tires are like inches apart! why does it seem like their handlebars are really low compared to their seat, which is 3 or 4 inches higher? my bike doesn't look like that (mind you i don't win races either
). and how the hell do they *climb* like that, over and over again, at such speed?!?! my face right now--that's what envy looks like...

[pedalfaster]

Short answer:
1. practice
2. aerodynamics
3. training

Longer versions:
1. At that level, everyone has pretty much the same skill set when it comes to bike-handling. In other words you don't have to worry tooooo much about the guy next to you doing a bone-head move. Everyone is stable on the bike, can hold a line, and doesn't freak out if there is some bumping.

2. As you ride more, your back and abs become stronger. You might find yourslef wishing for a more "stretched out" position over time. "Nice flat back" is the desired position for racing.

3. Best way to become a better climber? Climb more hills. Then go out and climb some more. Sad but true!

[rosie]

Spokes, since you're from Toronto, did you actually get to go see the race? I hear you had good TV coverage <green w. envy>

The only network in the states showing anything was OLN, who advertised highlights on their Sportszone show. So I tuned in this past Thursday, and they said they couldn't show Worlds coverage due to 'contractual problems' (or something like that ), bummer!

rosie the semi-lurker

[spokes]

yes, we had live, awesome coverage (not to rub it in or anything... but in addition to enjoying *french* fries without cowering from lack of patirotism, canadians also had the benefit of excellent coverage of the worlds. )
i only watched a little bit, unfortunately. the subtlety of it was lost on me, being a newbie. i was simple admiring their ability not to crash and go down like a bunch of dominos!!
yeah, those 'contractual problems' are a PITA (pain in the butt --no offense to pita fans everywhere). we frequently have shows blacked out on the american 'specialty' channels because of 'rights issues' with canadian broadcasters. it sucks, to say the least.

[missliz]

Of course your newbie head is spinning- us oldies heads spin watching that caliber of athlete too. The best of the best go to Worlds- it's the Olympics of the years that aren't quadrennial.
You can go out and learn a lot of that stuff spokes, and though you may not make it to Worlds having a lot of that swell technique will raise your fun factor a lot! Ride hard and regularly and you too can zoom over hills. Go look at the racing club training rides, those guys live in your town and have high seats and low bars. It's not as distant as you think.
The novice period in most sports averages two years if you play a few times a week. You grow muscle and aerobic capacity, learn technique, accumulate better gear and an understanding of what it does. Think of it as an adventure; you'll get better and will start to argue over race highlights like a middle aged European guy. But look MUCH better in short skirts. And this is even if you toodle around.
Just wait 'till you watch Le Tour next summer! Almost a month of same.

Lizzy

[ChainsOflove]

Regarding the worlds, I didn't get to watch and seems like even the web coverage was weak.

what the hell happened to the US team? the pictures make it look like everyone fell apart except the Italians.

[spokes]

okay, what i really liked about the worlds was that when one person got behind, someone from their team would go back and help them catch up. that was *awesome*.

[vinnysmom]

Ok, so I'll bite on this one.
I too am floundering as I make the transition from outside to inside.
I have figured out a way to do a quick stint at the gym for an hour in the morning - I race-walk at lunchtime.
It's dark when I leave work for the day so the weekends are when I can cycle for any length of time or distance.

Any advice on how to keep my hard-earned century legs over the wintertime is much appreciated.

[Veronica]

You can gets lights and warm clothes and bike some after work. That's our plan for this year. We're lucky though in that we don't get snow and it's rarely below freezing. Those are days I'll do Spin at the gym or a session on the trainer at home.

I always figure it's a good time to try to do some cross training too - try some of the other classes at the gym, maybe actually hit the pool.

Veronica

[vinnysmom]

Yep, I'm going to run into freezing rain and snow here in KS pretty darn soon.
It's too dark to cycle safely around here even though you wear lights etc.

I think this may be the opportunity to start some swim lessons and maybe toy with working toward a tri in the springtime.

My gym is very small and doesn't offer spinning classes or a pool so I am doing treadmill and weight stuff in the mornings.

I could try the recumbant cycle trainers in the gym though.
(got frustrated with these last year and that was before I was in fiarly decent shape though.)

Just going to work to keep the weight off over this wintertime so the hills don't hurt..

[missliz]

This is the time to do some serious weight training- it'll really show up in the spring! And a trainer has some benefits, Spin is very structured and all but it trains you to ride for is 50 minutes and you need two and a half hours to force that metabolic change that outside makes. Grinding that out in front of West Wing, Law and Order, then the news is a pain but if you can pick two nights to do tv or double movies you can go into the spring strong.
Racers, especially pro's do this. Leigh Donovan used to ride rollers with a stack of video. I never had to do this much, but our good weather is just starting- I'll think of y'all when I'm in short sleeves in January.
We do pay for it in August though. That's the off season here.

Lizzy

[MightyMitre]

Short sleeves in January! That's so unfair. January is the cold and damp season here and its quite hard to know what to wear. The temperature can actually be quite warm sometimes ,so you don't always need your super warm kit, but the damp makes is feel that much colder so you end up wearing it and get too hot.

Er..that could just be me...

Only lightly touched on weights before with the static machines. I understand free weights are probably better because you have to use your whole body to keep your balance etc rather than working on isolated muscles, but any suggestions for where a beginner should start?


PS MissLiz - loved your story about your Granny and ladies that like to play hard, from the now notorious Saddle Sores thread. Nearly fell off my seat with laughter at the thought of Princess Anne clearing her airways and letting a big grolly fly.

[vinnysmom]

While we're on the thread of what to do in the "off-season" Do any of you have tips for "winterizing" a road bike? (meaning ready to put into temporary storage mode.)
I'm going to spiff up my older "clunker" bike to ride while the weather is so temperamental and hang up the nicer wheels until better weather season breaks.

Also going to find a good trainer and not the local high school off-season athlete, to work on a weights program.

Thanks for the tip!

Now for a tip on how to reduce the number of calories I'm eating while not bike riding since my time in the saddle is becoming very limited these days.

[Veronica]

I use the Healthy Eating Index every now and then just to make sure I'm keeping my food intake on the right track. I'll religiously weigh or measure everything for a few days to stay in touch with what portions look like. I try to keep my calorie intake between 1800 - 2000, that seems to be enough to fuel my engine w/o causing any gain. But I eat whatever I like. Some days those calories come from chocolate and ice cream.

Here's the link.

http://147.208.9.133/Default.asp

Veronica