Levi Leipheimer Descending Pine Flat Road from Roger Bartels on Vimeo.
">http://vimeo.com/8939902
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Monday, 25 January 2010
Changing contact points
Reading Cyclingnews I saw this about LA.:
Armstrong’s position on the bike has been also been adjusted by the team since the conclusion of last year’s Tour de France. Bruyneel said they had to start from scratch as Armstrong hadn’t saved the data from his previous term as a professional cyclist. "His position looks good right now. He’s currently looking very, very differently on the bike and he feels a lot better," said Bruyneel. "There’s quite a bit of difference. Last year his seat height was a lot lower and we don’t really know why, he’d kind of lost all the references of earlier on [in his career]. Since the 2009 Tour de France finished we have started to work on his position and it’s a bit different but I think the biggest difference people see is he’s a lot smaller. His upper body is very different."
www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-feeling-stronger-than-12-months-ago
I still cannot understand how you can forget your saddle height as a pro cyclist?
On the other hand it does emphasize the point about your body, and your bike position, not existing in a vacuum. As your body changes (weight gain or loss, increase/decrease in mileage/intensity, increase/decrease in core strength/flexibility) then your contact points must change to accommodate this. So a Retul fitting is in effect a photograph in time, and we need to re-evaluate this on an ongoing basis
Armstrong’s position on the bike has been also been adjusted by the team since the conclusion of last year’s Tour de France. Bruyneel said they had to start from scratch as Armstrong hadn’t saved the data from his previous term as a professional cyclist. "His position looks good right now. He’s currently looking very, very differently on the bike and he feels a lot better," said Bruyneel. "There’s quite a bit of difference. Last year his seat height was a lot lower and we don’t really know why, he’d kind of lost all the references of earlier on [in his career]. Since the 2009 Tour de France finished we have started to work on his position and it’s a bit different but I think the biggest difference people see is he’s a lot smaller. His upper body is very different."
www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-feeling-stronger-than-12-months-ago
I still cannot understand how you can forget your saddle height as a pro cyclist?
On the other hand it does emphasize the point about your body, and your bike position, not existing in a vacuum. As your body changes (weight gain or loss, increase/decrease in mileage/intensity, increase/decrease in core strength/flexibility) then your contact points must change to accommodate this. So a Retul fitting is in effect a photograph in time, and we need to re-evaluate this on an ongoing basis
Sunday base ride (again)
Rode with 'Dangerous' Dave Arthur and Brett this Sunday
The aim was to do a Reliability ride near Otford. As we all had Garmins we though it would be easier to just download the route and do it ourselves - especially useful as the other two had to get up very early as they had 90 mins of riding before they even got to the start
The ride was great - lots of early season banter and false (and short lived) attacks up some ramps
Looking down at the Garmin was dismayed to see my average HR was 115 - I know its a base ride but that is getting silly !
Coming home and the pace got a bit better, mainly as the sun had gone for the day and it was getting cold again
All in all a 4 hour ride, and looking forward to next weeks Hell of the Ashdown
Link to the ride here (from Brett who came in from London)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23252590
The aim was to do a Reliability ride near Otford. As we all had Garmins we though it would be easier to just download the route and do it ourselves - especially useful as the other two had to get up very early as they had 90 mins of riding before they even got to the start
The ride was great - lots of early season banter and false (and short lived) attacks up some ramps
Looking down at the Garmin was dismayed to see my average HR was 115 - I know its a base ride but that is getting silly !
Coming home and the pace got a bit better, mainly as the sun had gone for the day and it was getting cold again
All in all a 4 hour ride, and looking forward to next weeks Hell of the Ashdown
Link to the ride here (from Brett who came in from London)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23252590
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Bob Parlee article
This is a really good article on Bob Parlee and his background in carbon composites
http://nshoremag.com/breaking/
http://nshoremag.com/breaking/
Friday, 8 January 2010
UK from above
Someone sent me this photo taken of the UK last night
Pretty cool - but stuck on the rollers for a little while longer I think...
Monday, 4 January 2010
My bike (one of...)
When I am chatting to a client about the spec of their new bike, I often get asked what sort of bike I ride
I have to sheepishly admit I have more than a few, so thought I would show some photos of the fleet
Please note all these bikes are in the studio and are part of the demo fleet
They are not display bikes, and are expected to work for a living, so please let me know if you wish to borrow them for an extended test ride
The first bike I have is my biggest indulgence - a Parlee Z1 custom
Its based of a stock 57 Z1, but I just shortened the TT to 570mm and we added a very subtle TT slope of 2 degrees
Those of you who have had a bike fit from me will be pleased to see I practice what I preach. I love shallow compact bars and find they allow a far smoother transition and much greater versatility of hand positions. I much prefer a long stem for climbing (in this case a 130) and with short bars this is easy to achieve whilst not forcing you to over reach in the hoods
When I can, I will always run on tubs
These were built on Reflex rims by master Wheelbuilder Rob Pennell (he is the chap who does all the Edge wheebuilds)
An 11-23 cassette is very PRO, unfortunately I often need much more help than this!
As you can see, the bikes are clearly not for display only !
New years resolutions
In no particular order
1) Get into race weight in May - not in Feb and then put it all back on again !
2) Less commuting and more focused turbo sessions instead
3) Embrace as much racing as possible in as much disciplines as possible
4) Do one, or ideally two, training camps early in the year
5) Make the first year of the Bespoke Cycling Team a resounding success
6) Keep enjoying cycling - the best release I have ever known !
1) Get into race weight in May - not in Feb and then put it all back on again !
2) Less commuting and more focused turbo sessions instead
3) Embrace as much racing as possible in as much disciplines as possible
4) Do one, or ideally two, training camps early in the year
5) Make the first year of the Bespoke Cycling Team a resounding success
6) Keep enjoying cycling - the best release I have ever known !
Holiday riding
As some of you may know, my parents live in the Dordogne region in France and I never pass up an opportunity to take my bike over and do an informal training camp.....
Alas my high hopes of 5 hour base rides were dashed by constant rain and gloomy conditions - 2hrs was all my fingers and toes could handle on any given day !
Happy new year
Dear All
Just a quick note to wish you all a very happy new year
I hope 2010 is all you wish it to be....
Just a quick note to wish you all a very happy new year
I hope 2010 is all you wish it to be....
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