some random thoughts on bike fit

A good fit is as much about body angles on the bike as it is about body displacement. How your weight gets displaced along the wheelbase and where your center of mass lies in relation to the bottom bracket is every bit as important as what your hip and knee angles are. In fact, I could easily argue that weight displacement is more important as it this factor that determines how the bike is going to handle out on the road.

Size Matters, or It's All About the Inches

So I’ve been meaning to write this one for awhile. It’s all about the importance of something many tend to overlook, especially when buying a new bike. That something is your gearing set up and corresponding gear ratios.

Sometimes, shorter is better

If you’ve been following equipment trends in triathlon over the last few months you’ll have noticed a movement towards shorter crank lengths. I’ve been a fan of this for a long time simply from the standpoint that a shorter crank promotes a faster spin with less torque/muscular force being applied to create your power. I’ve written here previously about the benefits to triathletes of generating your power through cadence vs force. Feel free to go check that out before continuing here.

A Supplemental

Good day and thanks for checking in. I know my next topic is supposed to be a continuation of my discussion of breaking in training and racing but I wanted to divert for a moment and talk quickly about supplements.
I get asked fairly frequently what my views are on supplements and nutritional products. These questions tend to come from two camps. My athletes, and sales reps trying to sell me on their version of the latest and greatest product to hit the market. Mostly due to an increase in queries from the second camp, I feel it's time I put my thoughts on record.

The Break

One of my favourite cycling films is a documentary called Overcoming. It follows Team CSC as they prepare for the 2004 Tour de France. It's a great behind the scenes look at what goes on in the world of professional cycling. One part that really stuck with me was a brief commentary from the team director Bjarne Riis. He was talking about maintaining the bicycles, how one of his favourite things as a racer was to tinker with his bike, making sure all the bolts were tightened just so. He talked about how you screw them in just right, but sometimes you go a quarter turn too far and the bolt snaps. But, he says...how do you know how far you can tighten a bolt if you never break one in the process?

It's an interesting question, and I think you all know he's not really talking about breaking bolts. No, what he's really talking about is breaking cyclists. Which is exactly what I want to talk about today. The Break...

on the white stuff...

Hello everybody! Welcome to 2012, and welcome to my first new post of the new year. I hope everyone had a great holiday season full of friends, family, good food and of course excellent training.

Mine was full of all those things save the last one. And decidedly a little too full of the good food part judging by the scale this week! And that is what I would like to talk to you about today. The effects that certain foods had on my body and more importantly my emotional well being over the last couple of weeks.

A little IMFIT Kitchen recipe

Roasted Chicken with Quinoa stuffing and goat cheese mashed potatoes...
Ok, this one is so good it requires the full recipe. It's pretty simple but does require some prep and the instructions are a little too detailed to post on my FB page.