Granny, Compact or Standard Chainring

If you're reading this you survived the climbing fest this week which included some brutal climbs i.e., Richtor Pass(Actual Pass on IM Canada bike course) amongst others. By the way, for those of you who asked the actual elevation change was 1500 ft over an 11km(6mile+) climb;see diagram second arrow. So, here we go: Granny, Compact or Standard?

First, lets define each and then tell to whom or when each is relevent. If you don't care...hell, go have a cold one...I don't blame you. Ok, lets get serious...


...Granny- that lil old lady in front of you at the checkout taking forever, right? No...no...no...Granny is the term used for a triple ring up front. It usually has, referring to the number of teeth on each ring of the three rings in front, 50+,40+,30+. The standard bike with this setup usually has a 12-2o something in the rear cassette. Take home, three rings up front with each having progressively less teeth than it's larger predecesor and a 12-20 something cassette in the rear. Kappesh! Hold that thought.


Compact- only two rings up front. Large has 50 teeth and smaller has 34 teeth usually coupled by a rear cassette with 12-25.


Standard- 53/39 with a 12-25 on the rear or for weaker riders 12-27...ahh haa!

Ok, so we have defined each and just mentioned weaker riders, that begs the question, "Am I a weak or a strong rider and which setup do I need already?" Ok...ok...patience.

If you are a novice cyclist and looking to just enjoy the experience of riding then go with the triple. It will give you many options for comfortability when undergoing hilly terrain, rolling terrain or if you are just plain fatiqued on the end of a longer ride. Why? Why...because I said so...why because think of this, If the "Jolly Green Giant"(7 ft tall) was walking with "Sprout"(3.5 feet) tall...Sprout would have to take double the amount of steps to keep up with the JGG. Thus, having to work harder to keep up to the Giant who would be just plotting along. This is how gearings work. The smaller the gear ratio the faster and the larger the slower, more spinning,more comfortable choice, but you do not progress as far with each pedal stroke or in the case of Sprout neither does he.

To explain further, find the ratio between the front and back rings i.e., 50/11 equals 4.5 revolutions and 34/11 equals 3 revolutions...what?...4.5 and 3 is the amount of times your back wheel will turn based upon a pedal stroke if you chose the respective gearings. Take home, you want that ratio as close to 1:1 so put a 53/39 front chainring on and a 53/11 rear cassette on your chariot and pick the 53/53pairing(you cant do that...hehe). But, you can choose the highest gearing possible to get up that hill without experiencing a 9 out of 10 effort. This takes experience and time in the saddle. So, read on...categorize yourself, if you haven't already for a "Granny" and pick your poison(compact or standard) that will get you as close to the 1:1 within your ability.


So, that leaves the question Compact or Standard. To help you choose try to answer these two questions what type of terrain and how aggresive/strong of a rider am I. If you ride mountain passes like Richtor, long hills and/or you are an intermediate to low end rider...hit the Compact. If you predominately ride smaller hills, rollers and/or are a stronger rider choose the standard(you can always change the rear cassette for appropriate conditions i.e., 11-23 Timetrialing/racing vs a 12-25 or 12-27 for climbing. If there are longer descents following the climbs and you are worried about spinningout and losing topend speed, pick yourself up an 11-2o something rear cassette.


Well, there you have it! You are now an expert...now go wow your friends or a "Granny" with this pneumonic device, The key to "G"reat "C"ycling "S"uccess is to know your gearings from low to high. Cheers!

Climbing Tips Anyone?

Welcome new riders and returning riders! I look forward to your cycling success over the next six week session. Ok, enough of the formalities...lets get down(or get up..thats, how to get up) to business. If you haven't guessed I'm going to pass on some tips for making your climbing sessions successful. Tip numero uno...head out to Home Depot and pick up a sturdy ladder. OK, ok seriously:

1. Up or down: Stay seated! Resist the temptation to stand. Standing utilizes more energy and causes HR to spike...save the matches. You will be more efficient utilizing the old saying, "Slow and Steady." However, if it is a long climb then stand, legs centered over the pedals, pedal approximately 20 pedal strokes to flush the legs then resume climb seated. You may also stand to crest a hill to get the legs ready for what is on the other side.

2. Hand position: keep the airway open! Keep hands, gripped loosely, shoulder width on the bars and not on the stemcap. Triathletes you do not need to be aerodynamic on the ascents...get out of the aerobars; I promise you will still look sleek and sexy!

3. Hips back: slide back slightly on the saddle. You will be able to produce greater power and you will be utilizing greater endurance muscles vs sitting up on the nose of the saddle where quads dominate the pedal stroke; hammies & glutes good/quads no so good for climbing.

4. Shifting: take home message...NO MASHING! Approach hill in gear you were carrying for the flat, if you can power over the hill do so. If not, drop approxmately two gears on the rear cassette for each section of the hill. For example, if you break a hill into thirds you will shift down 6 gearings(two rt clicks for each section)...if you run out of gears and you are riding the "Big Ring" i.e., a 53 shift down to the "small ring"i.e., 39 and reestablish your rear cassette gearing as necessary to keep efficient cadence(not less than 60rpms) within your HR and watts zones.

Well, thats all I have for climbing today. I gotta run out to Lowes because Home Depot was out of ladders. See you on the other side of the moutain.

Training Zones, Fuel and Effect on Physical Appearance

I'm fat...no you're not... yes I am...Ok, you are...now what? Sound familiar? I am asked time and time again, why am I not losing body fat although I am riding better or why am I not riding faster but my jersey is fitting looser. Stay tuned on the next Dr Oz for all your questions and answers to these problems and many more.

What you need to overcome these problems is an understanding of your training zones, the fuels burned in each zone and patience/discipline to stay in or go out of each zone based upon the nature of your daily planned ride or physical goals.

First, lets utilize Joe Friels Training Bible Zone Classification System with the addition of the last column, created by me Outcome; pertaining to what happens to the size of your fat cells due to the zone you choose to ride in:

Zone /Perceived Effort/ % Max HR/ Metblc sys/ Fuel/ Outcome
Z1 /Easy /50-65% /Easy Aerobic/ Fat/ Leaner*
Z2 /Moderate/ 65-80%/ Aerobic/ Fat/ Leaner*
Z3 /Moderate-hard/ 75- 85%/ Aerobic-ana Fat&Carbs/ Lean*/no change
Z4 /Hard/ 80-90%/ Anaerobic/ Carbs/ no change
Z5a/ Threshold/ 85-92%/ Anaerobic/ Carbs/ no change
Z5b /Very hard/ 85-95%/Anaerobic/ Carbs/ no change
Z5c /All out/ 95-100%/ Muscular/ Carbs/ no change
*fat cell reduction

There you have it! If you want to stay a "FB" from Austin Powers ride hard all the time or if you are tuning up for a race and have no desire for physical change ride 80% or Zone 3 on. Of course, only on your Tempo/Speed days, but we'll save that for another discussion.

However, if your desire is to see physical change and build efficiency for a stronger season ahead...ride Zone1 to Zone 2. Do not get caught up with the Hammerheads! Groooovy Baby...now go shag yourself a nice ride.

The Heartrate Monitor Question

Should I use my heartrate monitor exclusively in determining how I ride for the night? Answer...drumroll please...NO!

But, you said go out and buy one and we used it to determine our Threshold. True...however, the heartrate monitor comes with its limitations. Bottomline is you need to incorporate your heart rate, resting perceived exertion and other factors to determine what intensity you will train for on the ride.

Here are some examples with two other factors Resting Heart Rate;RHR & Cycling Power;CP in addition to Training Heartrate;TH to consider when determining what intensity to train at or to answer...what the H$*# is going on here with my legs(Bill B. and Deb W.):

RHR Up: overtrained...rest!

RHR Up/CP Nrml/TH Nrml; Mental Stress/Anxiety...take a yoga class...Relax!

All Normal; Training is going well ;)

RHR Nrml/CP Low/TH Nrml; common during Base Bldng(like now...pushing too hard too soon..Chill!).

RHR Nrml/CP & TH cannot be obtained; you my friend have "dead legs." Take it EZ or take the day off.

RHR Nrml/ CP goes way down and TH is dropping or hard to keep at prescribed zone; most likely dehydrated.

There you have it...as you can see its NOT all about the heartrate monitor. Determination of training intensity is multifaceted. Therefore, become a "smart" rider and listen to your body while at the same time assessing what is coming back from the computer gadgets around you. All of this input will help dictate how you approach your training plan for the night. Ride smart... Cheers!

Watts...whats...and how to become a better climber using them

Watts...whats...aren't they whats... watts... found in a lightbulb. Ok, enough of the highjinx. Watts are a unit of energy. Yes, found in a lightbulb, but more importantly in the cycling world a measure of power output used to gauge your efficiency and overall cycling performance reletive to certain terrain i.e., hills or a course riden. Which when understood can dramatically improve your performance.

So, tell me...tell me...how can they help and what do I have to do to improve them...can I buy some carbon fiber or light weight watts? No definitely not, but heres an idea of what you can do.

Consider your body weight, sustainable watts and outside conditions. All three variables must be taken in consideration to fully benefit or understand how to generate greater wattage. First, if you drop weight you will produce greater watts per kg. Is that good? Yes. Consider this example, Elizabeth is 130 lbs and Sean is 190 lbs and they are both climbing a 20 min hill in St. Geogre, Utah and Sean produces 425 watts for 20 min giving him a power to weight ratio of 5 watts/kg...what does Elizabeth need to produce to be more efficient up that same hill? The answer is a sustained effort of only 360 watts thus giving a power to weight ratio of 6 watts/kg and ultimately allowing her to climb the hill faster and more easily because of the effects of gravity(power per unit of wt is important when climbing; the higher the percent the faster the climb on a hill). If you drop weight you can essentially climb faster because your power to weight ratio is more efficient. FYI: top climbers have a 6-7g/kg power to wt ratio...thats why the average profle of a Tour de France rider is close to 5'10 150# and the top climbers are under that weight tipping the scales at around 140#; all in an effort to be more efficient.

However, if you consider the same two riders on different terrain, say a flat 20 min course ,Sean would be more efficient because now gravity is not working against him and he is producing 65 greater watts than Elizabeth's 360 thus moving him faster. He would finish first.

In conclusion, drop some weight if you are going to be riding a hilly course for a race or local ride/s, train harder and longer at steady state watts with a powermeter, computrainer or other device that allows you to accurately assess your wattage output or do both. If you are not going to drop weight or train sustainable watts ride the flats if you are "phat" and ride the hills if you are "all that."

Cheers!

The "Iron Lady" Takes It Away From the 'boys and Mechanicals

Congratulations to Michelle K. for taking it to a male dominated Saturday Indoor Computrainer 2hr Endurance session... IM Louisville competitors watch out!

Aside from Michelle rock'n the doejoe, there were many mechanicals. Therefore, I want to focus on passing some tips/tricks for your upcoming spring/summer rides to avoid "hitch'n a ride."

1. I hear a noise coming from my back tire...Stop! It's most likely a bubble in the tube or in today's case(if your on a trainer) your tire is "going" from friction...make an investment in a trainer tire. If on the road, take a few minutes to change your tube to avoid a blowout.

2. My chain will not move from the 53 to 39(BIG to small ring)...what do I do?...keep riding and see if you can play with the L shifter to obtain a shift...if no glory utilize the available gears until you can get support if in a race(Bill K.) or work a higher cadence in the smaller gears until home(grab some lemonade out the lemons dealt).

3. My tire keeps slipping in the trainer...increase the rolling resistance if you have a standalone by slightly turning the knob...for Computrainers general guidelines read for "flats" 2.0lbs/press on force and add .5 lbs for every 2.5% increase in grade after a 2.5% grade which=2.5 roll n resist, 5.0%grade=3.0 roll n resist, 7.5%grade=3.5 rolln resist., etc.(If confused just give a slight turn to stop slippage!)...Larry we will hunker you down next time ;)

That's all folks...I need some rest 5 hr+ ride/run brick manana! Hope you enjoy your long one if you're hitt'n one! If your not motivated...rumors are there may be some long rides starting up during our first Spring Session at PCK on Sundays 3, 4 5, 6...7hr rides...hmmm...makes me tired & excited at the same time just thin'k about it! Cheers!

Mastering the Pedal Stroke

Ok, so I said your pedaling reminds me of seeing a ballerina on point. You say to yourself...what does that mean?...is he kidding?...huh? What I am implying is you need to drop your heel at the bottom of your pedal stroke.

Check out this link from Bicycling magazing to help master your pedal stroke. http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-4-41-15647-1-P,00.html



See you next week...pedaling right round... right round baby circles. Cheers!