Category Archives: Tips

Short Track Mountain Bike: Training for Cyclocross

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I’ve been riding Short Track Mountain Bike the last several weeks to train for ‘cross. I figured it’d be a good way to squeeze the competitive gland, get in a hard workout, and improve my bike handling. It has been all that.

The first race was awful. The course has a lot of loose dirt on it, much like the CCX course at Sherwood that I disliked so much. And my balance was crazy — not left and right balance, but fore and aft. I’ve discovered recently how important it is to think as much about weighting yourself front and back in the corners. Also, the course was super rutted, and I stupidly ran my tires with too much pressure. I didn’t rattle my teeth out, but I did get 58th out of 70. Ouch.

Since then, it’s gotten a little better each week. My placings have gone:

  • 58
  • 50
  • 42
  • 34

I’ve learned to push as hard as I dare early on, because my bike handling gets more confident as the race goes on. And also, the first lap is impossible to make up any time. I’ve learned to trust the bike a little more, and that running my tires at 50 PSI won’t cause an instant pinch flat (but will reduce the fatigue in my arms and jaw). Next year I might invest in either a mountain bike, or maybe at least some fatter tires. Ha!

Anyway, tonight is the last night. I’m sure it’ll be competitive, and I don’t know if I’ll improve this last night because I’m still sore from a workout I did last week. But it’s been a blast, and I feel totally ready for ‘cross season to start.

Dryland Shoulder Stability Exercises

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I found these really cool dryland exercise videos on the site my friend runs, Coach Vern Gambetta. I’m sure he wouldn’t approve of me just sending these videos out there without context. You need to:

  • Know how to fit them into your overall training plan.
  • Have a coach watch you for proper form
  • Decide if these exercises are even  right for your situation

This video is my favorite, because it mimics some of what I’ve been doing in physical therapy.

High-Y-Fly from Vern Gambetta on Vimeo.

Yeah, that’s right. I said physical therapy. See, I’ve been swimming again for the last few weeks! I wrote to my friend, Coach Vern Gambetta.

I finally sucked it up and went to a doctor about my shoulder. Impingement. Not a shocker. Went through PT, and am SLOOOOWLY building back up to swimming (I swam 1,000 yards today, and it was really nice to do it mostly without pain).

The PT teased me repeatedly that I am terribly out of balance in my chest and back from having grown up swimming. I have LOADS of flexibility, but almost no scapular strength — working on scapular strength and my rotator cuff was mostly what the PT had me do.

Anyway. Go check out the rest of those dryland videos, and talk with a good coach to see if they’re a good fit for you.

Managing Exhaustion

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I’m not exhausted yet, but am definitely feeling more tired. I still plan to hit the gym today, however, because we’re doing a whole lotta nothing this weekend other than camping and drinkng.

Oh sure, there might be a little hiking too. But generally speaking, I expect rest. And naps.

And I think that’s the trick to staying motivated and energetic when re-starting a workout program: keep your eye on the rest periods. When you start to run out of energy, determine if you can push through to the rest period.

And then really rest. Do nothing. Put your feet up. Crash. Get intimate with your couch.

That’s one thing I’ll do wrong this weekend — in all likelihood, it will not be that restful. So I may need to take off the early part of next week to recharge. We’ll see.

Finding a Cycling Team: Location, Location, Location

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Rode with my cycling coach Mike Manning yesterday at lunch from downtown Portland. At one point, he asked if I’d gone to any of the Meet the Team rides through OBRA. Being unattached or without a team in cycling is fine if you’re Lance. I’m clearly not, so Mike’s been gently pushing to get me with some people.

The “Meet the Team” rides start mostly downtown. But none of the regular team rides start remotely near our house in deep SE. And with just one car, I can’t monopolize it on the weekends to drive to Hillsboro or Beavertron or whereever. And unless I want to add 20 miles to every group ride I go on (I don’t), I’m out of luck.

A while back, I shot an email to the OBRA list. I got one semi-legit reply, which was for a vegan, organic triathlon team. Which is somewhat ironic because I’ve been considering getting back into the pool and focusing on triathlon to help strip off some upper-body weight.

Finding a team in cycling has been one of the most frustrating aspects of the sport. In swimming, which is my native sport, teams fall all over themselves to make new swimmers welcome. They encourage them to come out, try to be social, organize car pools, the whole shebang.

In cycling, the indifference to new members is shocking to me. You ask, and you get shrugs. You volunteer, and you get blown-off.

I had one outstanding experience when I first started with Veloshop, in that the Calver brothers (now with GSC United way the hell out in Beaverton) were some of the most welcoming, nice, encouraging people I’d ever met. They have a passion for the sport that completely infects new riders. But then, a few months later, the damn team kicked them off. I couldn’t even tell you why, because it was so bizarre.

Anyway, Mike off-handedly mentioned that he might put together a CycleOne kit to promote his cycling coach biz around the Portland area. I told him I’d wear it. And though it might not be a “team” in the strictest sense, I would certainly use it as an excuse to organize rides out here in SE.