This year there have been a number of early season training races. However, for the Virginia Beach Wheelmen, the Snowball #1 was our first of the season. John Gray, Tim Shockley and myself represented VBW, each with our own specific goals. For me, build confidence.
It has been a rough cycling year for me. Fighting my back injury meant inconsistent training. Whenever I thought I was good to go, I would have to take some time off. My off season pretty much consisted of high intensity cross training on the Concept 2 rower and Versa Climber. I rode as much as I could but limited most of my training to solo rides or team rides. My fitness level is good, I have been posting some decent power numbers. My weight is a little higher than what I wanted but that is because I didn't do much in the way of long base miles. Overall I really didn't know what to expect from today's race.
I decided that I needed to finish today's race in the pack. I wanted to get comfortable in the pack, in the turns and really work on shifting gears and accelerating out of the corners. This training race was just that, good training. I had not ridden in a pack since last racing season.
John Gray has really been training well and was using today's race to see how aggressive he could be and attempt to establish himself in a break. I kept an eye on his efforts and moved to the front to help cover or block when he made his moves. Some of the breaks he got in had some serious promise but unfortunately he missed the winning break.
Tim, much like myself, needed this race to establish a level of racing confidence that he has lost by not racing much in the past few years. He did well, moving around the pack and even putting in an effort or two at the front.
John ended up in 6th place and Tim and I rode in somewhere in the pack. Although it may not sound impressive, it was a victory for all of us. We know what we can do, now we need to show how far we can push ourselves.
I am already looking forward to my next event: Snowball Crit #2 A-race.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The Bike Fit
For those that have been following my posts, you know that I have been dealing with injuries for the past year. It has essentially been low back pain, though the origin of it is more complicated. I have come a long way, but not healed yet. One part of my recovery was to make sure that I was sized properly on my bike. I wanted to be sure that my bike was not adding to my problem.
In mid-December I went to East Coast Bikes in Ocean View to have Iesha Shipp size me. Iesha is a certified bike fitter, plus with her extensive knowledge of anatomy (yoga instructor), she was perfect to be able to get me set up properly. After an extensive interview she took notes and measurements on my body, including my flexibility ranges. Aaron assisted Iesha by taking all of my current measurements I had set up on my bike. After all of this I got on the bike for rest of the evaluation. With no changes to my set up at this point, this is what I looked like (take a minute and look at these photos before scrolling down, can you tell what needs to be changed? Leave your guess or opinions in the comments):
Seat height? GOOD
Plumb line? GOOD, slightly back but within a good range.
Stem height/angle? That needs to be discussed.
The best picture to see my problem is probably the first one. It is not an issue with my bike, but its an issue with how I ride my bike. You always hear that you should keep a flat back. Do you know what is meant by that? Where does the flatness of your back originate? What should have caught your eye is the angle in relation to my saddle that is made with my sacral. It is essentially straight up and down. The back bends at the lumbar, thus not creating a flat back. Not only is it non-aerodynamic, but it has put a lot of pressure on my back.
If everything on my bike is good, how then should we fix this problem? The answer is to learn how to ride differently. When I told my teammates about this issue, Tim Shockley told me that his former coach, Peter Teeuwen used to always tell them to roll their hips to put their sacral at a 45 degree angle. Its funny, been riding for decades, no one ever told me that before. Its hard to evaluate yourself so most of the time, things like this go unnoticed.
Ieasha thought that a different stem my make it easier for me to transition. Using the stem adjuster, we tried it out:
Better, but quite awkward. In reality, it was not going to be easy to change riding position, because any change would feel strange. I just had to bite the bullet though and make a conscious effort. We put back my original stem and I tried it out:
Here is a side by side:
I would like to report that prior to getting this fit done, my back would hurt and my left foot would go numb within 30 minutes of my ride. After consciously changing my riding position, I have not had any foot numbness on the bike. My back pain is not gone completely, but it actually feels like a tiredness not a pain. Because of the change in position, I need to strengthen and stretch certain muscles before this because really comfortable. It gives me a lot of hope that my issues are going away.
The bike fit that only dropped the nose of my saddle down a hair, seems like it could change me as a racer. Thank you Iesha, Aaron and East Coast Bikes.
Please feel free to leave opinions and comments, I would love to hear what you think.
In mid-December I went to East Coast Bikes in Ocean View to have Iesha Shipp size me. Iesha is a certified bike fitter, plus with her extensive knowledge of anatomy (yoga instructor), she was perfect to be able to get me set up properly. After an extensive interview she took notes and measurements on my body, including my flexibility ranges. Aaron assisted Iesha by taking all of my current measurements I had set up on my bike. After all of this I got on the bike for rest of the evaluation. With no changes to my set up at this point, this is what I looked like (take a minute and look at these photos before scrolling down, can you tell what needs to be changed? Leave your guess or opinions in the comments):
Seat height? GOOD
Plumb line? GOOD, slightly back but within a good range.
Stem height/angle? That needs to be discussed.
The best picture to see my problem is probably the first one. It is not an issue with my bike, but its an issue with how I ride my bike. You always hear that you should keep a flat back. Do you know what is meant by that? Where does the flatness of your back originate? What should have caught your eye is the angle in relation to my saddle that is made with my sacral. It is essentially straight up and down. The back bends at the lumbar, thus not creating a flat back. Not only is it non-aerodynamic, but it has put a lot of pressure on my back.
If everything on my bike is good, how then should we fix this problem? The answer is to learn how to ride differently. When I told my teammates about this issue, Tim Shockley told me that his former coach, Peter Teeuwen used to always tell them to roll their hips to put their sacral at a 45 degree angle. Its funny, been riding for decades, no one ever told me that before. Its hard to evaluate yourself so most of the time, things like this go unnoticed.
Ieasha thought that a different stem my make it easier for me to transition. Using the stem adjuster, we tried it out:
Better, but quite awkward. In reality, it was not going to be easy to change riding position, because any change would feel strange. I just had to bite the bullet though and make a conscious effort. We put back my original stem and I tried it out:
Here is a side by side:
I would like to report that prior to getting this fit done, my back would hurt and my left foot would go numb within 30 minutes of my ride. After consciously changing my riding position, I have not had any foot numbness on the bike. My back pain is not gone completely, but it actually feels like a tiredness not a pain. Because of the change in position, I need to strengthen and stretch certain muscles before this because really comfortable. It gives me a lot of hope that my issues are going away.
The bike fit that only dropped the nose of my saddle down a hair, seems like it could change me as a racer. Thank you Iesha, Aaron and East Coast Bikes.
Please feel free to leave opinions and comments, I would love to hear what you think.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Recovering From Injury--The Good Side of Getting Hurt
I have thought about writing this post for a little while but I was hesitant for a couple of reasons. First, I didn't want to make it absolute public knowledge that I was still trying to recover from an injury. Secondly, I wanted to wait long enough to actually have results to share.
When I was first thinking of a title for this post I thought about "The Good Side of Being Hurt". I changed it from "Being" to "Getting" because being hurt sucks regardless how you look at it, however after you recover from an injury, many times you could look back and say that getting hurt was one of the best things that could have happened to you.
There are really two types in injuries in sports--traumatic and overuse. Traumatic injuries are the result of an acute stress that causes injury. These injuries are usually unpredictable and tough to prevent. The recovery form them tends to be quick (relatively speaking) and may even give the athlete a much needed break from the sport (no pun intended). Overuse injuries on the other hand are caused from a chronic stress that causes injuries. These are usually pretty simple to predict and can be prevented if caught in enough time. The recovery from these are long and many times extremely frustrating. These are the injuries that I want to talk about.
Overuse or chronic injuries are usually the result of a muscle imbalance or improper training (usually leading to a muscle imbalance). These imbalances are, in most cases, tough to recognize until they start to hurt. I am going to use my injury and time line as an example.
In February of last year, on my 35th birthday, I was doing a plyometric strength workout. I woke up that morning with a little ache in my lower back. I had the "I'm not old and this is not going to stop me" attitude. Near the end of that workout I was in a lot of pain. By the end of the day I couldn't stand up straight or move very well.
In the next couple of months, I stretched out a lot and felt like I was making progress. I also, at home, installed new flooring in my entire downstairs and built a deck in my backyard. Both of these projects seem to reset my pain.
Well into the racing season, I was not willing to take time off the bike to work this injury out. It seemed not to bother me much riding (so I thought). What it did do was flair up every couple of weeks and force a week off of training. My season was very inconsistent. I finally went to the doctor in which they said I had a bulging disc in L5/S1. This was diagnosed by a specialist but not confirmed by an MRI. I was given physical therapy which helped tremendously.
After physical therapy, many of my symptoms were gone, but not all of them. I decided to take the CX season off and really work on recovery. This is when I was able to really take a look at myself and find out what was wrong. My body was not properly aligned. I decided to try a chiropractor just to see what that was about. It was not bad. He definitely had an understanding of the body and was able to really point out my imbalances. I went for a couple of weeks but really did not feel much different. My problem was really due to a muscle imbalance, and I felt that until I corrected that, the chiropractic adjustments wouldn't hold.
I had a colleague of mine at the gym help me evaluate myself (its tough to find imbalances on yourself). We determined that I had a forward rotation of my pelvis probably a result of weak hamstring muscles in compared with my quads. The numbness that I feel is probably the result of a pinched nerve (sciatic) due to piriformis syndrome.
Over the past few weeks I have really focused on posture. Changing your posture is tough and could feel a little goofy at times. I told my wife her job was to evaluate me and remind me to tilt my pelvis back and have everything aligned. Then for my training, I have pretty much stayed off the bike because it bothers me a little. Since I am aware of my weaknesses I can fix them. My strength training this year has included a large variety of work that I have not done in the past few years. Most of the things that I dislike (which is probably why I was weak in them).
Currently I still have my good and bad days, but there are starting to be more good days than bad ones. I think I will be ready for the racing season. Without this injury, my weaknesses would have gone unnoticed. The strength training and cross training that I have done has put me remarkable shape. The only thing I am missing is miles on the bike. I will get those. Just remember that out of injuries comes a better more rounded athlete. Stay positive and stay motivated. Fighting through these issues have made me a better athlete, a better coach and has really improved my mental toughness. That is the good part of getting hurt.
When I was first thinking of a title for this post I thought about "The Good Side of Being Hurt". I changed it from "Being" to "Getting" because being hurt sucks regardless how you look at it, however after you recover from an injury, many times you could look back and say that getting hurt was one of the best things that could have happened to you.
There are really two types in injuries in sports--traumatic and overuse. Traumatic injuries are the result of an acute stress that causes injury. These injuries are usually unpredictable and tough to prevent. The recovery form them tends to be quick (relatively speaking) and may even give the athlete a much needed break from the sport (no pun intended). Overuse injuries on the other hand are caused from a chronic stress that causes injuries. These are usually pretty simple to predict and can be prevented if caught in enough time. The recovery from these are long and many times extremely frustrating. These are the injuries that I want to talk about.
Overuse or chronic injuries are usually the result of a muscle imbalance or improper training (usually leading to a muscle imbalance). These imbalances are, in most cases, tough to recognize until they start to hurt. I am going to use my injury and time line as an example.
In February of last year, on my 35th birthday, I was doing a plyometric strength workout. I woke up that morning with a little ache in my lower back. I had the "I'm not old and this is not going to stop me" attitude. Near the end of that workout I was in a lot of pain. By the end of the day I couldn't stand up straight or move very well.
In the next couple of months, I stretched out a lot and felt like I was making progress. I also, at home, installed new flooring in my entire downstairs and built a deck in my backyard. Both of these projects seem to reset my pain.
Well into the racing season, I was not willing to take time off the bike to work this injury out. It seemed not to bother me much riding (so I thought). What it did do was flair up every couple of weeks and force a week off of training. My season was very inconsistent. I finally went to the doctor in which they said I had a bulging disc in L5/S1. This was diagnosed by a specialist but not confirmed by an MRI. I was given physical therapy which helped tremendously.
After physical therapy, many of my symptoms were gone, but not all of them. I decided to take the CX season off and really work on recovery. This is when I was able to really take a look at myself and find out what was wrong. My body was not properly aligned. I decided to try a chiropractor just to see what that was about. It was not bad. He definitely had an understanding of the body and was able to really point out my imbalances. I went for a couple of weeks but really did not feel much different. My problem was really due to a muscle imbalance, and I felt that until I corrected that, the chiropractic adjustments wouldn't hold.
I had a colleague of mine at the gym help me evaluate myself (its tough to find imbalances on yourself). We determined that I had a forward rotation of my pelvis probably a result of weak hamstring muscles in compared with my quads. The numbness that I feel is probably the result of a pinched nerve (sciatic) due to piriformis syndrome.
Over the past few weeks I have really focused on posture. Changing your posture is tough and could feel a little goofy at times. I told my wife her job was to evaluate me and remind me to tilt my pelvis back and have everything aligned. Then for my training, I have pretty much stayed off the bike because it bothers me a little. Since I am aware of my weaknesses I can fix them. My strength training this year has included a large variety of work that I have not done in the past few years. Most of the things that I dislike (which is probably why I was weak in them).
Currently I still have my good and bad days, but there are starting to be more good days than bad ones. I think I will be ready for the racing season. Without this injury, my weaknesses would have gone unnoticed. The strength training and cross training that I have done has put me remarkable shape. The only thing I am missing is miles on the bike. I will get those. Just remember that out of injuries comes a better more rounded athlete. Stay positive and stay motivated. Fighting through these issues have made me a better athlete, a better coach and has really improved my mental toughness. That is the good part of getting hurt.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The Hunt: Redemption
Went hunting again. After my first experience with hunting I had to go out and redeem myself. Last year I didn't get a shot. This year was my first attempt with a crossbow. Here was the result:
Saturday, September 17, 2011
It is Either on the Trainer or in the Rain
My plan this morning was a group ride but the chilly wet roads deterred me from that. Then I thought how about the trainer? Final decision was Mike and I on CX at First Landing.
Now Mike just showed up and said he forgot his shoes. Intentional? Maybe but we are going back for them.
Now Mike just showed up and said he forgot his shoes. Intentional? Maybe but we are going back for them.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Thank You East Coast Bikes
Monday, May 16, 2011
Monday Morning Coach: American Pride Crit and Sprint into Spring Crit
Its been a little while since I have blogged. I could point to many excuses but I think the item to blame most is my new iPhone. The iPhone has kept me off my computer a lot and thus less chance to write on my blog.
A lot has occurred since the Richmond Raceway Crit. I got hurt and so have been fighting a nagging injury. This injury has reduced the amount of time I can train and at the level I can train at. It seems to have zapped a fair amount of my power. I didn't want to give up racing and relied on just experience to get me through some of these races. Competing at the Roanoke Twilight race and Meadows Farm race required power and speed, neither of which I was able to produce.
After two consecutive drops, I needed a mental win. My injury is improving and my training was getting better. I was still very nervous entering into this weekends racing. If I didn't do well, it could effect me the rest of the season.
American Pride Crit on Saturday, May 14th at Todd Stadium
I have always liked this course and it always brings good racing. The forecast of rain may have kept people away, but the rain held out and the Cat 3 race had 20 or more participants.
Myself, Mike Tamayo and Jon Gray lined up representing the Virginia Beach Wheelmen. The race played out pretty predictable, a few attacks that were chased down followed by a few more attacks. Two back to back primes prompted a break of two riders, Byran Hoy and Kevin Horvath. The Virginia Beach Wheelmen gave an effort to pull them in. Kevin dropped from the break and as he was caught, I pulled off the front to find no one willing or able to pull through. The pack sat up and Bryan road away with the victory and left everyone else fighting for second place.
There was a little confusion. Two of Bryan's teammates had dropped from the pack and had been lapped. At one point most of us in the field thought that one of those riders was Byran being pulled back in. There was even rumors going on that the riders had dropped from the pack to help Bryan in the break. I did not see any of that and I even asked my wife who was watching the race if she had seen it and she did not (of course she also said after the race "oh, was that the last lap"). The officials didn't see it, so I assume the rumors were just that, rumors.
Fast forward to the final lap. I feel my strength lies in lead outs. My team has racers that can sprint well but since Jon Nisbet, our primary sprinter is a Cat 2, sometimes my leadouts results in simply high placing for our team and not necessarily a win. My top finishes have been from leading the pack out whether or not one of my teammates come around. I guess that has been my "safe" finish. The bell lap I was on the wheel of Mike Tamayo when I saw on opening. I rode past him and told him to get on my wheel. I made a shot for hole through the gate in turn number one and found myself on Terry Turners wheel in second position. My thought was that I didn't know if my teammates were on my wheel or not but me being in the front would give the best shot a high finish. If I stayed on Terry's wheel, I felt he would slow down the pace because he can sprint and someone else would attack. So I got on the front and led out the sprint for the last lap. I was first out of the final turn but didn't have it in my to finish my sprint. My teammates were not on my wheel. We finished with me in 5th place and John and Mike in 9 and 10th place.
Here comes the Monday Coach. Since I didn't here from my teammate that he was on my wheel, I should have assumed he was not. Instead of just leading out the pack, I should have attacked and tried to get some separation. If it didn't work, I would have been in no worse position than I was, right? Also, I hate the fact that we let a rider just ride away from the pack, we should have organized and brought him back. These are all things I say sitting at the computer, but my legs and lungs dictated my decision on race day.
Sprint into Spring. Sunday, May 15th at Fort Lee
On Sunday John Gray and myself represented the Virginia Beach Wheelmen at Fort Lee in the Cat 3-4 Race. We were both pretty active. I had it in my mind to try and get in a break for this race. John rode very well on the front of the race the whole time and covered a lot of attacks. Nothing worked although I thought I was in a few that had potential. So I will fast forward to the final few laps. Once again a double prime with just 5 and 4 to go sparked a little activity. A Richmond Velo rider took off and everyone just watched. Since Richmond Velo had the majority of the racers, I knew they were not going to chase. Then Terry Turner attacked. Still everyone watched. Terry caught and dropped the Richmond rider. With two laps to go I decided I needed to bring him back. I chased him down and caught him before the bell lap. However, I fried my legs so I told John he was on his own. The sprint didn't play out for us and John finished in the pack as I rolled in at the back of the pack. We raced well but didn't finish well.
The Monday Coach in me is pissed about this one. I absolutely should have attacked and bridged up to Terry. I obviously had the fire power to catch him. I kicked it a little out of the turn but I didn't attack. Would I we have been caught, or would the pack had reacted? I don't know, and if they had, the results would have been no different. It boiled down to again doing the "safe" finish. I chased a flier down to give my teammate the best chance of a win. It seems though that maybe I am using sacrifices for the team to get away from putting myself on the line. I have to get into my head that I want the win more than I fear the loss.
A lot has occurred since the Richmond Raceway Crit. I got hurt and so have been fighting a nagging injury. This injury has reduced the amount of time I can train and at the level I can train at. It seems to have zapped a fair amount of my power. I didn't want to give up racing and relied on just experience to get me through some of these races. Competing at the Roanoke Twilight race and Meadows Farm race required power and speed, neither of which I was able to produce.
After two consecutive drops, I needed a mental win. My injury is improving and my training was getting better. I was still very nervous entering into this weekends racing. If I didn't do well, it could effect me the rest of the season.
American Pride Crit on Saturday, May 14th at Todd Stadium
I have always liked this course and it always brings good racing. The forecast of rain may have kept people away, but the rain held out and the Cat 3 race had 20 or more participants.
 |
| Photo by Dan Gibson |
There was a little confusion. Two of Bryan's teammates had dropped from the pack and had been lapped. At one point most of us in the field thought that one of those riders was Byran being pulled back in. There was even rumors going on that the riders had dropped from the pack to help Bryan in the break. I did not see any of that and I even asked my wife who was watching the race if she had seen it and she did not (of course she also said after the race "oh, was that the last lap"). The officials didn't see it, so I assume the rumors were just that, rumors.
 | |
| Photo by Dan Gibson |
Here comes the Monday Coach. Since I didn't here from my teammate that he was on my wheel, I should have assumed he was not. Instead of just leading out the pack, I should have attacked and tried to get some separation. If it didn't work, I would have been in no worse position than I was, right? Also, I hate the fact that we let a rider just ride away from the pack, we should have organized and brought him back. These are all things I say sitting at the computer, but my legs and lungs dictated my decision on race day.
Sprint into Spring. Sunday, May 15th at Fort Lee
On Sunday John Gray and myself represented the Virginia Beach Wheelmen at Fort Lee in the Cat 3-4 Race. We were both pretty active. I had it in my mind to try and get in a break for this race. John rode very well on the front of the race the whole time and covered a lot of attacks. Nothing worked although I thought I was in a few that had potential. So I will fast forward to the final few laps. Once again a double prime with just 5 and 4 to go sparked a little activity. A Richmond Velo rider took off and everyone just watched. Since Richmond Velo had the majority of the racers, I knew they were not going to chase. Then Terry Turner attacked. Still everyone watched. Terry caught and dropped the Richmond rider. With two laps to go I decided I needed to bring him back. I chased him down and caught him before the bell lap. However, I fried my legs so I told John he was on his own. The sprint didn't play out for us and John finished in the pack as I rolled in at the back of the pack. We raced well but didn't finish well.
The Monday Coach in me is pissed about this one. I absolutely should have attacked and bridged up to Terry. I obviously had the fire power to catch him. I kicked it a little out of the turn but I didn't attack. Would I we have been caught, or would the pack had reacted? I don't know, and if they had, the results would have been no different. It boiled down to again doing the "safe" finish. I chased a flier down to give my teammate the best chance of a win. It seems though that maybe I am using sacrifices for the team to get away from putting myself on the line. I have to get into my head that I want the win more than I fear the loss.
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