Archive for the ‘Training, Health, Fitness’ Category
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
I don’t sit straight on the bike. I haven’t for a long time. Blue line is the center of the saddle, red line is my center and the distance between is WTFH!?!?!?
I used to try and compensate for it by rotating my entire pelvis to the left. The result of this was that my left knee stuck way out and everyone would point and laugh. Plus it was not super aero, and I am all about being super aero. So I visited a chiropractor a few years ago and got the knee pulled back in, but generally I still don’t sit straight.
Apparently I have a leg strength discrepancy as well. Despite what is shown in the photos above, where I am sitting farther to the right side of the saddle, my left leg is actually the stronger of the two.
The result of not sitting straight and the leg strength discrepancy, aside from simple inefficiency, is a generous amount of saddle pain including sometimes debilitating saddle sores. So I am going to get this fixed and sit straight on the saddle for 2010.
Larry and Sophie at The Fix are going to help me get straightened out and I am going to CRUSH Super Rookie in the Category 3 Keirin State Championships next year.
Posted by Smithers at 10:46 pm in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 13 Comments »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
(left, Hudson CX 2008 – right, Baker Orchard CX 2009)
I am happy so far with my second season back racing cyclocross. With the results that I have had in the last two races I would be happy with the season right there. Luckily there are even more races yet to come before I call it a year on November 15.
Improvements from the 2008 season? Not my bike handling, that’s for sure. I think I really need to spend some more time riding single track on the cross bike next year in order to improve the way I drive the bike. When things get fast in the technical stuff I am either blowing off the course or going too slow. So I will work on that for next season.
So here is what I think is making this season on the cross bike better.
- Vermarc Super Roubaix Double Zip Warmup Tights. Awesome. One of my best purchases ever. You owe it to yourself to pick up a pair of these.
- Tubular wheels/tires. I swore after the state champ race last year that I was not going to let another rolled clincher tire blow a race this year. So far so good on the tubulars. They were a snap to glue up and, aside from a slight value issue at Wirth, I have had no problems with them at all. The quality of the ride is so much better than clinchers that it’s hard to believe. To paraphrase Adam Myerson, the cheapest set of tubular cross wheels will do more to improve your game than the most expensive whatever else. If you are serious about cyclocross then you should be riding tubulars.
- Training. I started training for this cyclocross season at the end of last cyclocross season. I made it no secret that cross was my focus this year and the cross specific training that I have been doing all year seems to be paying off.
- The 25 pounds I lost since last season can’t have hurt.
We will see how the rest of the season goes. I am having a lot of fun, which is the most important thing. I doubt that I will be able to make the same level of improvement for next year that I made this year, but the plan is to keep having fun with it.
I decided over the weekend that I want to race at least one cyclocross race in Belgium in 2011. That will be 20 years after I last raced in the old country. Who’s in?
Posted by Smithers at 10:59 am in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
I was working with my physical therapist on my shoulder this morning. (some of you know who I am talking about but this individual does not always want extra publicity so I’ll keep it on the QT) Actually, both shoulders have been really bothering me and I have been working on both of them, but the left shoulder is the one with the dislocation problem.
So there I was working with my PT on my exercises and things were going really well. Seems like I have been gaining some strength in the joint and making some progress. So we start on a new exercise where I lay on my chest, have my arms out and lift them off the ground. I make the first attempt and my left shoulder dislocates…
Pardon my french but…FUCK! The combination of pain and shock almost paralyzes me. After a few seconds it goes back into joint and I at this point I am almost totally overwhelmed with frustration and sadness that things have apparently not really gotten any better at all. My PT seemed pretty upset about it as well. I felt bad about that.
It’s kind of funny but when I have this dislocation occur all I want to do it get it back into joint as quickly as possible but I am so stressed out about it that I can’t even think straight regarding what to do to get it back into joint. Then, once it’s back in, I am so upset that all I want to do is sit and cry for about 6 hours. Maybe it’s not so funny after all…
So now I need to schedule another appointment with the orthopedic surgeon and see what the hell is going on in there. I am really really hoping that I can rehab this thing without the need for surgery because I can not afford to be laid up for even a week much less months. Sure, it would suck to miss the training but more importantly my wife and kids need my help everyday and I can’t afford to just lay around on the couch while things need to get done around me. This situation kind of totally blows.
Amazingly, I can still ride the bike without any problem. As a matter of fact I am planning on riding the group ride tonight just seven hours after dislocation. It really does not bother me much so long as it stays in joint and, with the exception of the Madison, I have never had a problem with dislocation while on the bike.
That’s my pity party for today…
Don’t feel sorry for me though. No one died from a bad shoulder, except maybe a rock climber.
Posted by Smithers at 3:15 pm in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 7 Comments »
Friday, July 10th, 2009
It did not get rained out.
Only six guys showed last night, which made for perfect rotation work. Everyone put their head down and got to work. Even in the savage cross winds there was no screwing around. It was one of the best rides of the season so far.
I was so happy to get my bike issues figured out. I have been getting a loud “clacking” noise over the past few weeks. I changed out the crankset but I don’t think it was really a crank or BB issue. More likely the bolts that hold the rear dropouts together were loose. I took the bolts out, greased the interface between the dropout pieces and red locktite bonded the bolts back in…no more noise!
TuffRide returns next Tuesday. Look forward to it.
Posted by Smithers at 7:13 am in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 3 Comments »
Monday, March 9th, 2009
I was riding the trainer tonight and I heard a “ping”!
I did not notice anything wrong so I finished the ride. 55 minutes on a broken bolt.
It says a lot for the structural integrity of the Tacx trainers when you break a bolt holding the leg to the base and ride almost an hour without noticing. Any other brand trainer and I would have probably been on my ass.
Plus this bolt looks like something I can pick up at the hardware store for $0.50.
Spend the money, buy good stuff.
Posted by Smithers at 5:01 pm in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
Lance Armstrong will help me keep from being a total fatass.
Posted by Smithers at 9:49 pm in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 10 Comments »
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
I usually spend it either taking weight off or keeping weight off. If the weight seems to be going the right direction then I will do some AT workouts to try and raise my threshold, and some power work to be able to increase my average watt output.
The goal is to try and keep up with B2B, P-Max and Cam on the Tuff Ride this year. If I can hang with them then I’ll have no worries.
So what do you work on?
Posted by Smithers at 8:18 am in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 10 Comments »
Sunday, January 18th, 2009
First ride in the new home trainer spot.
Posted by Smithers at 12:17 pm in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
The future home of my sad and pathetic indoor training! Coming this week. It’s very exciting.
Posted by Smithers at 5:36 pm in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 9th, 2009
I really need to get over this virus and get back to training.
Posted by Smithers at 4:00 pm in Training, Health, Fitness | Permalink | 2 Comments »
