Helen's Fitting

Just about 2 weeks ago Helen came down to the Skirack with her trusty Cannondale Caad5 road bike (named Brendon) and did some fitting with with Sean. Helen has had some feet and saddle issues that were similar but different from my troubles. She had saddle pressure - but it affected her by not allowing her hips to rotate forward. This would force her to point the nose of her saddle down and cause her to try and strain to sit upright to keep the pressure off of sensitive areas. Because the nose of her saddle was pointed down though, she had a lot of pressure on her hands and arms.

Helen has a pretty stable foot, unlike mine, so she doesn't need a lot of arch support. She has occasionally gotten numb toes though from riding. It hasn't been a major issue for her, but a regular minor annoyance.

The first thing Sean and Helen looked at was the saddle choice and positioning. Helen had her eye of a Specialized women's saddle called the Jett. Sean agreed it would be a good choice and helped her pick out the right width (saddle comes in 130mm, 143mm, 155mm widths). Helen went with the 143mm. She had been using a Selle Italia Flite Gel, with the nose angled way down. When they put the Jett saddle on, they put it flat and Helen's hips nicely rotated with no pressure or discomfort. Sean helped set the height and fore/aft positioning just right. Helen also got immediate improvement in her hands and arms because they were no longer having to support so much of her weight. She was actually able to rotate her handlebars down and have better positioning in all three handlebar positions (tops, flats, drops). Successes!

Sean then looked at Helen's knee tracking and asked her about the foot comfort. Upon looking at her feet and arches - he had her try the Specialized BG footbeds. Not the highly supportive green ones like I've been using, but the slightly lower arched blue ones. They still have metatarsal support though, which helped even out the pressure in Helen's shoes. Helen's knees naturally track pretty well, but the footbeds did actually help make them just perfect. Successes again.

Given that it is November, Helen is mostly running and strength training, but don't be surprised if you see a cute little girl on a green Cannondale saying hi and waving at you as she flies past you up a climb next summer.

Hot Tracks on the Trainer

So, its getting cold out and the time-change has happened - meaning its cold and dark - meaning its the time of the year where I start getting on the trainer. Unlike many, I don't mind the trainer that much. I've even been known to enjoy it. That's right, I used the "e" word in reference to the trainer - Enjoy.

This is all assuming one hugely important factor - some good tunes bumping. I am without Ipod myself - being a 90's guy and all - so, I'm at the mercy of Helen's Ipod. Thankfully, as I've explored it I've found mercy, some hot tracks, and some steady beats. Here are some I've been pedaling to lately:

Sam Sparro - Black and Gold

Beyonce - Crazy in Love

Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Coming

The Natural - The Natural

Shakira - Whenever, Wherever

Moby - In This World

What are you jamming out to?

Snow's ah comin'!

2 Unsolicited Endorsements

So, this past season I struggled with my position/comfort on the bike. I was sitting twisted and never pedaling quite with 100% efficiency or muscle use. Granted, I've been racing for a couple years now, and ought to be able to not have those sort of stupid problems. I had switched a lot of equipment though in moving to the Empire Cycling team - new pedals, new shoes, new frame, etc.

Well, now that the season is over I went into full tinkering mode. Late in the summer I saw two products that caught my attention that I wanted to try. Both of them would not have been products I would have sought out unless I randomly happened upon them. The first was the Specialized BG footbeds. These are the aftermarket footbeds that Specialized makes specific for cycling. I'd seen them before but had disregarded them because honestly at first sight they didn't look much different than a cheap stock insole. Compared to a Superfeet or Aline insole, which have a plastic body, the foam construction of the Specialized BG and its minimal heel looked cheap to me. Boy was I wrong.

Well, I started working at the Skirack again part time in mid-August and got a chance to put my foot on one of the Specialized Green insoles (most support) and was really surprised. The low heel and substantial metatarsal support has really helped my foot. Believe it or not, I'm pedaling without any cant shims for the first time in 4 years - I've found a footbed that supports my foot on its own. Also, my Northwave shoes - which I've liked all year (stiff soles/nice materials), but have battled with fit a little bit - they fit perfectly now. Couldn't be happier.

A couple weeks after seeing the footbeds I happened upon the WTB saddle. There was a Giant mt. bike that was in the service shopped getting worked on. The saddle on the bike caught my eye as an interesting shape. Later in the day, after the bike had gotten serviced, I went over and hopped on the bike to check out the seat. I was wearing jeans, and even so the saddle felt amazingly good. Certainly worlds better than my Arione even with my nice Northwave shorts. I didn't feel pressure anywhere undesirable and I didn't have to twist my hips to get myself stable on the seat.

I went home that night and hit the internet to get more info on this mystery seat. Its the WTB Silverado - a new model just a couple years ago. WTB is obviously focused as a mt. bike company, but it amazed me that I'd never seen this seat on any road bikes. Obviously some people have used it on their road bikes, but I'd never seen or heard of it myself, and I consider myself to be somewhat in the loop. So, WTB - MARKET THIS SADDLE BETTER!

I made a before and after trip to the ever enjoyable Eric and Andy up at Green Mt. Rehab to see what the Computrainer had to say about the equipment changes. For the same heart rate, 135bpm, I was up about 45-50 watts immediately. I love technology...but not as much as you, you see.

On a side note, I've gotten out roller skiing 3 days so far with Eli, and I've been using the BG footbeds in my nordic boots as well, and very happy using them there as well.

Quote of the Week

"I know its an unreasonable request - but Dad, my passion for skiing is unreasonable!"

-Overheard at the Skirack

Getting up to Speed

So the cycling season was starting off pretty good...I was riding well, for myself, in the early season. I'm usually slow compared to my contemporaries for a month or two - the skiing fitness translates, but not immediately. I was racing well though; got 2nd to Adam Myserson at a training series race, and then 11th at the Marblehead Circuit race the next day.

The next weekend I was down in Northampton, MA for some family Easter festivities and I decided to head down on Saturday morning to a crit at Ninigret Park in RI. Long story short, it was raining and in the low-40's and just over halfway in someone crashed hard right in front of me - so I fell off my bike as well. I really try to avoid falling off my bike, because I don't like it. I'm not sure if its possible for me to like it any less than anyone else...but I really really don't like it. I got some good scrapes and some bruising on my right knee.

The reason I was racing was because the Tour of the Battenkill was the weekend following (this past weekend) and I wanted to get one more race in before hand. Well, that turned out to be a bad idea. I ended up limping around all week and riding just a little bit. I hoped for the best and headed down to the race on Sunday morning. 124 miles on a pretty hard course with a pretty competitive field.

Empire had a crack-squad of aces for this race. Margarita, Geronimo, Big-Show, DZ, Mathis, E-Rock, MJ, Minturn, and myself. DZ ended up being the best rider for the team on the day, and in retrospect we should have been doing more to help him. For me the race went into survival mode pretty quick - as guys were getting flats, crashing, and getting dropped right from the gun. With my right knee being a little funny, I could tell I wasn't pedaling quite right, but it was ok enough to get through some tough spots and even engage in some race aggression as we entered the race's 2nd of 2 laps.

In the end, the team road well, loosing just 2 riders (to flats, not getting dropped or pulling out) so we finished 7 out of 9 riders, in a field of about 160, that only saw 61 finish. That said, our top rider was only 25th of so. It is a start, and we will continue to do better, until we're winning these things. Personally, I came apart at about 100 miles and started to cramp - and I think the Advil I'd taken before the race started to wear off, because I could feel the "funniness" in my right knee. I road it in, and finished about 26 minutes down on the winner. I must say, Scott Nydam, who won the race, was off the front the entire day...with one other rider, and then by himself. That's some riding.

Also, a wild jackalope stole all of my race food out of my jersey pockets, my brakes were rubbing the whole time, I'd only gotten 45 minutes of sleep the night before, I was accidentally riding Will Dugan's cyclocross bike, and I was carrying a big photographers camera around my neck because I was shooting a photo special for Men's Journal.

Here's a picture from the race. The picture's full descipition should read "Tom Zirbel (Team Bissell) had a flat at the worse possible time - while in the middle of an Empire sandwich." I know what you're thinking; technically it'd be a Zirbel sandwich on Empire bread...but just go with it.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2009/apr09/battenkill09/battenkill092/17

For those who missed it.

Here is the ad run in the Seven Days "sex issue" by the Skirack a little while back. Will, the Skirack marketing guy, sent the ad in as a black and white...the folks at Seven Days saw it, and decided it was worthy of a free upgrade to color. I will merely take credit for having the mustache and tan lines...Will was the creative genious behind the ad.

This weeks Seven-days

Hey, pick up a copy of this weeks Seven-Days when it comes out tomorrow. Its the annual "sex" issue...and I heard there might be an interested ad running in there. Just check it out...and let me know if you see anything...