Month: September 2012

It just might be my favorite bike photo ever, and I can’t say why!

But seriously, my seat (or saddle for bike snobs)… that just looks ridiculous.  Totally utterly a clown bike now… and I thought the 29″ wheels were bad!

I was a bit concerned when I headed out this morning.  I got on my bike in my kitchen, barefooted, and had several inches of air between my feet and floor.  Not good, not good, not good!  It’s not my road bike, I like to know that I can be able to touch the ground if needed on my mountain bike.  With a expression I packed up and headed out for the day.

With shoes on it was better and I could get on it.  Kinda.  At least when it was flat.  More

Then my chain came off going up Meadow Trail on an incline.  Stopped and fixed that, and then couldn’t figure out how to get back on my bike.  Just too high.  More

I was feeling comfortable, though.  My knee didn’t hurt and I just merrily pedaled along.  OK, I got to thinking… maybe this isn’t so bad.  When I had to stop I could put my foot down.  It seems that the struggle is when I’m on an incline and stop, and then have to get going again.  I had to bail off the bike once because I couldn’t reach the ground with my foot and starting leaning the wrong way. 

So I’m unsure of my BG FIT fitting on my mountain bike.  Knee feels great, I love the more aggressive arm positioning, and I love that my legs can fully extend.  I don’t love that I can’t get back in the saddle on an incline and the fact my bike just looks silly with that seat/saddle up there in the outer atmosphere.  It might have to come down an inch… I just don’t think I am experienced enough to ride that high up in the sky, especially if I got onto something super technical (coughCurtGowdycough).

Ran into an issue with my shoes as well.  The insoles and shims do add a lot of bulk, which caused my toes to squish up and rub on the end of my shoe.  I’ve been wanting new MTB shoes for awhile now, so I guess this is my chance!  Definitely bringing the insoles when I go try some on.  I wanted to wait until spring for when my REI dividends came back, but it was a big annoyance on the bike today.

It was beautiful riding weather today.  I just couldn’t find a rhythm in between my saddle and toes and chain coming off and my left grip getting all wonky and the big tear I experienced on my left palm.  Sigh.  And I struggled to lay down 8.2 miles, which I found strange.  I am not sure if it is the altitude or what.  Still a good ride, and I explored some new trails, but it pooped me out.

At least it was another 8 miles added to my goal of 1,000 for this year!  🙂  And I did get to test out my new fit.  And learned my shoes are dumb.

I think I’m going to be naughty tomorrow and head down to the Bicycle Station and look at Specialized MTB shoes.  No waiting for REI dividends for me!!  Retail therapy is good, anyway…

I’ve had the chance to ride my road bike two times since my BG FIT bike fitting last Wednesday.  In summary:

My right knee doesn’t hurt anymore!!!  (At least on the bike)

When I rode on Thursday I got a dull ache in my right knee around mile 8 which continued for my 13 mile ride.  I was a little discouraged, but the bike felt good.  My butt didn’t get achy like it sometimes does, and my new insoles felt comfy.  I managed to catch the only hour window with no rain, as well, so it was a nice overall afternoon ride.

This morning I decided to step up the mileage.  I originally was going to aim for 30-40 miles, but my wandering brain got the best of me and I only rode 21.8 miles.  Right around mile 9 I felt that dull ache in my right knee, but it disappeared.  I rode the rest of the time pain free.  I didn’t even realize my lack of knee pain until I got home.  Then I was giddy with the knowledge!

So, preliminarily, I would say my fitting was a success, at least with my road bike.  I haven’t ridden the mountain bike yet, but plan to tomorrow.  Only area of concern is some mild cramping I have been feeling in my calfs and thighs after I am off the bike.  I am not sure what it is really related to, but I suppose it could be related to the new positioning of my legs when I am on the bike.

Side news… I have ridden over 700 miles for the year (708 according to Strava).  I’ve decided I want to break 1,000 miles by December 31st.  Still got a ways to go, especially with the weather growing colder and sketchier, days shorter, and my work schedule interfering with life.  It is something I really want to accomplish, however!

Bike fit.  Many people think this is just fiddling around with the saddle when you buy it, and calling it good.  Hell, I was one of those people.  I was thrown out the door with my mountain bike without any sort of sizing / fitting and took to Google to learn that my saddle should be above the handlebars.  My road bike was a different story, and I had a thorough sizing when I bought the bike, which I was impressed with.  But still, I have struggled with severe knee pain, especially in my right knee, that actually has left me hampered in my daily activities, especially the stooping and bending that being a nurse requires.  I knew my mountain bike was a mess and I knew Specialized had some sort of fitting service and that it cost a lot of money.  Finally fed up and knowing I should start with my equipment before running off to a doctor about my knee and knowing the fact that I seriously want to pursue cycling and racing hardcore, I had a BG FIT (Body Geometry Fit Integration Technology) session today at Peloton Cycles in Fort Collins, CO (which is where I purchased my road bike).

Here is my description of my fitting and my experience!  (There won’t be too many photos, so bear with all the text please)

First to get the boring details out of the way, a GOOD bike fitting does cost money.  Mine was $150 for the first bike (normally $200 but I received a discount since I recently purchased a bike at Peloton) and $50 for a second bike.  $200 may seem like a lot, but doctors, physical therapy, MRIs, etc, cost way more!  I was told my session would take about 2-3 hours, depending on how many adjustments would have to be made.  I was instructed to bring my bike shorts, a tight fitting top (such as a bike jersey), and my cycling shoes.

When I first arrived, I was greeted by Barry Schmidt, who is one of Peloton’s master certified BG FIT technicians.  He helped me get the bikes in the store and set up.  Right away I was instructed to sit on a memory foam cushion that would be used to measure the distance between my sit bones.  Barry told me that it was better to get this done before I had the padded bike shorts on.  I was then shown to a dressing room where I could change into my cycling clothing.

Barry started with my road bike, and got it hooked into a trainer and leveled up.  He took measurements of how the bike currently sat while I filled out a form with my details (name, address, phone, email, yadda yadda), riding style (I put competitive, my leisure is gone!), years of cycling (woo hoo, I got to put 6 months which made him laugh!), and goals (mine were improve racing skills and get faster and verbally I said stop falling so much as well).  Once measurements were taken Barry sat done and went through a list of body systems, starting at my head, asking about any issues with them, previous injuries, etc.  I informed him of my knee trouble, past history of a broken growth plate in my ankle which may or may not have shortened my left leg length, back pain I get on 50+ mile rides, history of compressed spine and knee injury stemming from gymnastics, and occasional numb hands on longer rides.  He was thorough and inquisitive, and did not shrug off any suggestions or thoughts I had about what my body was up to.  I greatly appreciated this!  It is always great to know you’re being listened to!

We then moved on the analysis of my body.  First, I stood in front of Barry and was told to rock back and forth until I was in my natural stance width.  Barry immediately noted that I have extreme varus on both of my feet, worse in the left.  Varus is inward angulation of a bone or joint.  I had never noticed this about myself, but when I looked down I could totally see how my ankles pretty much droop my feet inward.  This leaves me pretty flat footed while barefoot.  Barry noted that I actually have really high arches, but due to the varus it doesn’t appear that way.  The varus would pose a problem later in the 1/3 Knee Bend Test (and would explain why I was always falling off that damn balance beam back in the day!).

We continued on with my body analysis.  Barry had me lay/sit on an exam table and put me through different exercises and stretches to analyze my flexibility, strength, and body alignment.  He noted that my left hip does sit lower than my right, but however, my legs are completely equal in length!  (Out goes the shorter leg theory!).  He told me my spine is pretty darn straight, but I’m slightly swaybacked (yeah, my mom’s been on me about that for years…).  My core is pretty weak, so he suggested strengthening that, because core strength is oh so important in cycling.  He analyzed my gluteus medius muscles, and discovered that they are insanely weak, so once again suggested strengthening exercises.  Barry was very impressed with my flexibility everywhere in my body, and commented that I have nice and loose IT bands, which is a relief to me, but also bad, because I figured tight IT bands were the cause of my knee pain.  So good that they’re loose, bad that they’re ruled out for my knee issue.

I then did the 1/3 Knee Bend Test, which is hard due to knee pain and also instability caused by the varus in my feet.  Seriously, totally explains my horrible barefooted balance!!!

Finally, it was time to hop on the trainer!  First to note, my saddle is the perfect width for my sit bones, so no need to replace that!  Which I knew, because it is as comfortable as I feel a saddle can get 🙂  I got on the trainer, clipped in, and began pedaling while Barry examined me from every angle.  Immediately he noticed how my right thigh rubs on my top tube while pedaling, and that my left thigh does the same occasionally.  I already noticed this (mostly from photos taken of me while racing), but Barry pointed out that my left foot likes to point down as a pedal.  He didn’t say this was a problem to fix, just something unique that I do and that we would work with.  He stopped me and took measurements on each leg at the bottom of the pedal stroke, and also neutral.

First adjustment was to move the saddle back ever so much, from 6.2 to 6.4.  Then he placed Specialized High Performance BG Footbeds in size +++ (the green ones, the most extreme they offer for arch support) in both of my shoes and it was back on the bike and more pedaling.  He noted better knee alignment but I still was rubbing on the top tube so Barry decided to try some shims, first one, then two.  Two shims put my left leg/knee/foot in great alignment.  He was worried that two shims in my right shoe put my knee too far outwards, which could cause new problems.  With one shim, we noticed that the rubbing on the top tube was way less frequent and my knee was in good alignment.  Barry got the idea to move my cleat outwards on my right shoe about 1/16th of an inch, and that seemed to make a ton of difference!  Seriously, so nice to ride without rubbing on my pretty carbon fiber the whole time!

Barry also looked at my reach, shoulder width, and back.  We agreed that my normal position of comfort on the hoods was not quite right, and Barry looked at my shoulder width and alignment, and recommended that when I am ready I should change to 40 bars (I currently have 42) to bring things closer to what my body is trying to do.  I think that this is a great birthday gift idea (HINT HINT) and a great chance to maybe get some carbon bars!  My stem length was good, which is a big thanks to Lindsey at Peloton who size fitted me when I purchased the bike.

I pedaled some more on the new set up and agreed that it felt very nice!  The bike didn’t not need a ton of adjustments, as it is mostly all in my feet/ankles and therefore, shoes.

Shoe changes:

• Green BG Footbeds on both shoes
• 1.5 varus shim on the right shoe
• 3.0 varus shims in the left shoe.
• Cleat on right shoe moved slightly outboard

Road bike changes:

• Saddle height – 77.0 to 76.8
• Saddle (fore-aft) – 6.2 to 6.4
• Reach – 48.6 to 48.7
• Drop – stayed the same at 5.9
• Knee Angle – Left: Same at 27, Right: 33 to 32

Now it was on to my mountain bike.  Once getting the big 29er on the trainer, Barry once again took initial measurements and did some adjusting based on my numbers from my road bike, like raising the saddle about an inch.  Then the fun begin.

Oh goodness, if I didn’t have a women’s drop tube, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to pedal the mountain bike due to my right thigh!  It was even rubbing my seat post!!  My left thigh was also very inward.  It was pretty clear I was sitting far too forward, far too low, and needed my new fancy cycling foot orthotics.  Barry transferred over the footbeds and shims from my road shoes, and raised the saddle and moved it back.  Immediately the bike felt better!  He also moved my cleats on my shoes back towards the heels, which made it harder to clip in because I wasn’t use to the position, but helped align my legs better.

Bar width and reach/stem length seemed good, but Barry suggesting flipping my stem so it would put my body into a lower, more aggressive position.  I commented on how I often get low and lean over the bars to increase my power, and wished the mountain bike was more like the road bike in that position.  So Barry flipped my stem, so I went from +8 degrees to -8 degrees, and also aligned my handlebars so when they are straight so is my wheel, instead of pointing somewhere off the left (LOL,whoops).  Immediately the bike just felt more natural!

Shoe changes:

• Green BG Footbeds on both shoes
• 1.5 varus shim on the right shoe
• 3.0 varus shims in the left shoe.
• Cleats moved 0.7 aft

Mountain bike changes:

• Saddle height – 75.0 to 76.3
• Saddle (fore-aft) – 7.6 to 8.0
• Reach – 54.2 to 55
• Drop – +0.5 to -2.0
• Knee angle – Left 40 to 34, Right 42 to 32

Overall, I am very satisfied!  I haven’t had a chance to go out riding, but plan on putting down some miles on the road bike tomorrow, and then the mountain bike this weekend.  Barry said he would follow up in about two weeks and see how I feel, and told me definitely to get in touch if I run into any problems, pain, etc.  I will update this as well with how things feel.

So I need to work on core strength and also on my gluteus medius muscles.  Definitely something I should consider working on over this winter!!  Barry asked why I wasn’t cyclocrossing, and I had to explain my disdain of running while carrying a heavy ass mountain bike.  Haha.  Justification for buying a cross bike, right?

I did some retail therapy as well.  Picked up some winter gloves by Specialized, and Wedgie bags in black/pink (for me) and black/blue (for Matt).  Special ordered in another pink one so both bikes can have one.  Then I stopped by REI and picked up tire changing stuff like CO2 cartridges, levers, multitools.  I don’t know how to change a tire or tube but at least I’ll have the supplies to do so, LOL.  Got me some Big City Burrito before heading back to Cheyenne, where I stopped by the Bicycle Station.  They had Specialized arm, leg, and knee warmers which I gathered up!  (I wore Matt’s Spec arm warmers the other day and loved them, so I wanted my own!)  Can you tell I’m getting ready for winter?!

My friend just gave me her old exercise ball and told me it works great on your core so I think Ima start sitting on that while watching TV… hmm..

Anywho, that was my day and BG FIT experience!  I know I’m missing some details, so forgive me.  It took about 2 hours to do my session.  I didn’t have a lot of body issues and the road bike was already nicely set up so it went pretty fast.  Now I’m just looking forward to riding and seeing how the changes work out for me!

3 months can make!

Today I headed up to Curt Gowdy State Park with one of Matt’s friends from high school.  My chance to show a Kansas flatlander what real mountain bike trails are like!  I hadn’t been to CG since June, so I was excited to see how the trails seemed now.

Well, let’s just say this.  On Stone Temple Circuit, it took me over 1 hour 30 minutes to ride it in June.

Fast forward to September 16…

A little over 29 minutes!!!

Sure, I still had to get off the bike a fair amount to clear stuff.  But wow, the trail didn’t even seem the same!  I had the biggest smile, I couldn’t believe how much has changed in the past few months and how much my skills/endurance have grown.  I was so happy that after we rode Shoreline out and back (Stone Temple proved to be a bit too much for flatlander friend, who is not use to real mountain trails or the altitude – he still had a blast, however!), I rode Stone Temple AGAIN, except I exited off to Ignoramus to Rock ‘N Roller (and proceeded to get lost… thank goodness for 3G cell service and being able to bring up a trail map).  Ended the day with 14.68 miles, the most I’ve ridden my mountain bike on real trails (I don’t count the rails-to-trails George S. Mickelson Trail I rode in May as a “real” trail).

My knee is killing me and I’m dead tired.  And I’m going to do it all over again tomorrow.

Why?  Strava, freakin’ Strava.  I had about 14 minutes of paused time while my friend was struggling with the starting climb on Stone Temple before he turned around.  And freakin’ Strava included that in my overall time.  29 minutes became 43 minutes for the leaderboard.  Le sigh.  I wasn’t even pushing all out trying to “Strava” the trail, but I want the true time to show.  GRRRR.

And well, I’m still giddy over the fact Stone Temple is no longer a “big deal” to ride. 

Ended the week just sigh of 70 miles on the bikes.  Which might be a little bit of over doing it, as my knee is telling me right now.  I went from about 6-8 miles a week the past few weeks (due to a busy life), to 70   But it feels good to be back out cycling a lot.  I’ve found some good road routes from my house, and am learning how to navigate through Cheyenne’s crazy drivers.  What gets me is the wind here.  Don’t get me wrong, Laramie is plenty windy… but nothing like Cheyenne is!  If I see those windmills on Happy Jack spinnin’ away, I know it’s going to be a tough ride.

I start my new job later this week on Wednesday, so miles on the bike will get dramatically cut again.  So will a lot of free time, too.  I’m nervous but excited, and happy to get a paycheck coming in.  I NEED a cyclocross bike, and I’m only going to get one if I get some money, right?

 

WOW… have the last few weeks been crazy, or what?  I’ve lost track of the days, and everything seems like a blur!  I moved to Cheyenne last week, so everything in my life has revolved around unpacking and moving, leaving little time for anything else.  Now that it’s down to the odds ‘n ends, I find myself spawled out on the Lovesac more, catching up on my 2 online nursing classes and general internet activities.

Time to catch up!

#1 – Medicine Bow Peak hike August 27th
Yay, we found time to accomplish one of my summer goals!  I didn’t think the hike was going to happen because when I tried on my hiking boots I found that they had shrunk about 2 shoe sizes and there was a hard plastic thing in the toe that now squished my pinky toe on my left foot.  Ummm WTF?!  I hadn’t worn my boots since July, and I have no idea what happened to them.  (Off to Sierra Trading Post they went for a full refund…)  Finally I settled on hiking up the mountain in my trusty Pumas.  I knew I could get away with this because I climbed it 4 times as a kid in sneakers.

The hike is not bad at all, a smidge over 2 miles each way if you leave from the Lewis Lake Trailhead.  We made it to the summit in no time, where we had the pleasure of singing “Happy Birthday” to a gentleman turning 62.  He climbs it every year with a group of his friends.  Pretty cool moment!  Clouds started rolling in, so we didn’t stay long on the summit.

Matt hiked his first 12er!  And I summited for my 5th time, and first over the age of 11.  Not a bad way to spend the day!  Now I need to look for new hiking boots…

#2 – Fall is in the air!
September 2nd I rode a bit up in Happy Jack to squeeze in some mountain biking before my favorite trails are farther away.  The leaves are starting to turn yellow at 8600 feet!  Pretty darn exciting!  I loved the crisp feel to the air, making the 70 degree weather feel so much better.  I love the fall smells.  Just makes me want to spend as much time on a mountain bike up there while I can (aka before the snow flies).  I rode my standard stretch of Headquarters, basking in the sun and fresh air and yellow leaves.

I think I got too caught up in the moment, as I wrecked pretty hard.  First big wreck since my first race in June, actually.  I slid out on a corner, went sliding chest first.  Pretty graceful if you ask me!  So happy I wear gloves, as my hands would’ve been trashed!  My right upper arm lost a patch of skin, and my right leg ended up all sorts of bruised.  Worse of all my left leg got tweaked somehow, and the muscle is still sore   Lesson learned:  enjoy the moment but not too much!

#3 – Wind sucks
Last Monday I went out on the road bike for the first time moving to Cheyenne.  25mph headwinds and road bikes don’t play well together… that’s really all I have to say.  Rode about 4 miles of Happy Jack Road, and turned around and headed home (at a great average of about 30 mph, thanks to tailwind, haha).  I was discouraged.  Ugh.

#4 – Weight loss rocks!!!
I’m proud to say that I have lost 10 pounds since May.  That in itself isn’t what I am really proud of.  What makes me proud is that I did it without fad/extreme/starvation/whatever diets and without crazy death work outs in a gym.  I did it by getting off my butt, and onto a bike a few times a week and trying to pay attention to portion size.  That’s all.  Now yes, my friend did point out that my “bike rides” aren’t normal people’s bike rides, but I still think it’s something that is do-able for a lot of people.  I don’t ride 50 miles a day Georgia Gould style (her Strava always makes me feel like a lazy ass when I ride 7 miles).  I was completely sedentary and out of shape when I started.  And I’m still alive!  I like this new weight loss, too, as I’m toned as well.  I have a goal to lose another 10 pounds, and hopefully turn into a lean, mean pedaling machine.  I’m sure that’ll mean lots of time on the trainer this winter and bundling up on the road bike on dry days…

Now that I have internet again, I hope I can settle back down into normal life, and slowly get the rest of the odds ‘n ends unpacked!