Bicycle Training Indianapolis

Did you see our ad in the Indianapolis Star?  It features our 2010 Resolution Sale, and Phil Campbell's Sprint 8 program.  We have a busy week ahead!

Check out this clip* of Tim Bush, (aka Treeboy) from WTHR-TV, Channel 13 with our Toby Holsman talking about CycleOps trainers, Vision Fitness Treadmills and Sprint 8 fitness programs.

 

*(depending on your browser, you may need to refresh the window for the video to start) 

Did you buy your bike with the intention of using it for exploring Indianapolis bicycle trails or to try bicycle commuting in Indianapolis, or riding for recreation and fitness. But then you got stopped from experiencing the joy of bicycling because you didn't feel comfortable riding on the roads or couldn't find a good commuting route?

One of the best ways to get around Indianapolis can be by bike, but it helps to be "street wise" in your journeys by bike.

You have a great bike - BGI wants you to enjoy riding it! Your comfort level riding on the streets is a combination of knowledge, skill and experience. We can help with the knowledge and skill portion and help provide you with additional resources to increase your experience level.

Increasing your personal comfort level riding your bike on streets will not only increase your joy of bicycling and expand the areas you can explore by bike, you'll also be a safer bicyclist.

Launched in June 2009, BGI One-on-One StreetWise is personalized One-on-One bicycle instruction. You tell us what you need or want to learn to enjoy bicycling more and we will give you one-on one personalized bicycle training in Indianapolis. Your needs, your schedule!

One-on-One StreetWise is based on skills and topics in the League of American Bicyclists' SmartCycling Traffic Skills 101 curriculum. If you want to feel more comfortable riding on the streets and develop the knowledge and skills to handle most situations, sign up for a one-on-one session, customized for your riding style and experience. 

Connie Szabo Schmucker
Advocacy Director
Bicycle Garage Indy
cschmucker@bgindy.com

OK, if you have read my earlier posts, you know I bought a Power Tap SL+ this spring. It is without a doubt my favorite bicycle training tool!

With the SL+ you get the totally cool carbon shell. Any cyclist would be proud to be seen at the local Indianapolis training rides with this on their bike!

What I enjoy the most about the Power Tap is the peace of mind I get....Let me explain. I use to obsess about my training rides. After the ride I would second guess my self, did I try as hard as I could on that last interval? Maybe I should have done a set of 5 instead of 4...We have all been there. Using the Power Tap as a bicycle racing training tool takes the guess work out. I either hit my goal numbers or not. If I start to fade on interval 5, I know what I need to focus on for the next work out.
 

The computer mount is just as cool as the hub. I get all the information I need...Power Speed, Heart Rate and even Cadence.

I prefer the stem mount!

After the training ride down loading the data is simple. the Power Agent software that comes with the Power Tap System is efficient and easy to use. 


My home office looks like a real coach's corner!

Safety Second.

This title can lead to so many thoughts... but for now, it's because I'm thinking about helmets.  Over the past few days I've been riding on the Monon Trail, the first of Indianapolis' bike paths, and was simply stunned at the low percentage of riders wearing bicycle helmets. 

It doesn't take much to "ring your bell," and the downside risks are enormous.  All  you have to do is catch your wheel in a rut, slip in some gravel, or have a moment of inattention, and...  Oops!

Why not wear a bike helmet, Indianapolis? 

• Too fashion conscious to be seen in one?
• Can't find it?
• Just going around the block?
• None of the cool kids wear helmets?
• It's too hot?
• It doesn't fit right?

The responses to these objections are sooooo simple that they don't even bear repetition...  --You already know them. Please please please, don't slack on this!  Do you wear a seatbelt in the car? Then by all means wear a helmet when you ride a bike!  Ridership is increasing, and incidence of bike accidents will inevitably increase, too. Please don't become a statistic!

Drop by Bicycle Garage Indy and take a look at our wide variety of helmets.  From infants to triathletes, we have helmets to fit the head AND the budget.  My favorite is the Bell Influx.  It's a mid-priced helmet that offers the versatility I need to use it for mountain bike riding, road bike training, and neighborhood jaunts.  Let us help you find the perfect helmet for your uses!

It just takes a second to be safe.

Off we go on the one mile-ish loop, and the pace was hot from the beginning.  According to my friend Adam, we did 25.1 mph for the 70 minute race, which is pretty brisk for a weekend warrior like me.   

Then I heard it--SQUEAK SQUEAK CLANG KA-BLAM!  Brakes locking up, bikes hitting each other, and someone's tire exploding.  About 15 guys were either in it or caught behind it, including me.  Luckily I wasn't close enough to hit the deck, but I did have to take an off-road detour to avoid the pile. 

The race director allowed us all to wait one lap as the pack caught up, and then it was back to the action.  Unfortunately, I got forced off the road about 90 seconds later!  At this point I was frustrated, freaked out, and nervous about staying in the race.  I knew I could catch back up, but had a moment of doubt about whether it would be wiser to just call it a day.  But testosterone prevailed, and I caught up after a couple of minutes.  That's me in the back.

So there we were.  I wasn't doing such a great job of helping out my team, but the pace was fast enough that no breakaways were able to get more than a small advantage.  They would form, stay off the front for a few minutes, and get swallowed up.  My teammate Rob did a great job of staying aggressive and chasing things down.

As the race time started to run down, the pack decided that no break was going to stay away (or so we thought), and the pace died down for a few laps, while everyone prepared for the dash to the line.  Then the final break formed, the sprinters waited too long to start driving the pace, and one of the escapees managed to stay away all the way to the finish line.  Another year, another high school student throwing up his hands in triumph.  You can just see me peeking out from behind his right hip.  My teammate Dave Anderson got 2nd, and looks comically angry in this picture--like he's going to go beat up the winner (it would be no contest; Dave is twice his size).

I managed to sneak up through the pack and get 7th--my best finish in a cat 3 race.  I didn't ride particularly well during most of the race; could have been in a lot better position to help my teammates.  But I felt strong and finished strong, so hopefully I'll start handling the pack better as I get some more races under my belt. 

There are few enough bike races on my calendar that each one is a significant learning experience.  So what can we take away from this lesson?

1) The bike training I'm doing this year is working better than last year.
2) I need to work on my "race face."
3) When you're dead last in every photo from the race, you're probably not going to finish first.
4) The fellow who caused the crash also fell over in the parking lot when he couldn't get out of his pedals.  Okay, that's not really a lesson, more of a humorous coda.

Stay tuned for part 3, where I talk about how awesome my bike and other gear was.

All photos by John Bennett.  Thanks a million!

"I'd like a nice bike, but I'm not going to race."  Sure you are!  Everybody who gets on a bike races.  It's just that not everybody pays an entry fee or pins on a number.  But when you see that person way up the road--don't you try to catch them?  Sure you do.  Everybody races.

I do pin on a number from time to time.  I got a new racing bike this year, and it's a little more. . . um. . . conspicuous than some of my other bikes have been.  Within 5 minutes of taking it off the car rack, three different people had commented on my flashy new bike.  So I was feeling a little pressure to deliver a decent performance.  My bike training has been going a lot better this year, so I had high hopes of racing well.

This race was at Ceraland Park outside Columbus, Indiana.  Neat place, and great race venue.  Fast turns, smooth pavement, just enough rolling terrain to keep things interesting. 

See if you can spot me in this picture--I'm the only one with a beard.  That was lesson one from this race:  trim your beard beforehand, or you'll wind up looking even more dorky than usual.

Stay tuned for the action.  You'll hear about how I went offroad twice, smelled burning brake pads, and heard a tire explode.

Bicycle racing can cause stress. Some of the biggest stress comes from getting to the race. There is packing all your bicycle gear and bicycle clothing. Want to make sure you have your bicycle helmet and cycling shoes.

One stress you can get out of your mind is bicycle racks. Getting a good, trustworthy bike rack for your car will ease some of your pre race stress. Get a secure bike car rack and even mount the bike the night before. This will help you sleep.

Like training for the riding on the bike, training for the departure will help too. Plan well in advance what you need to bring. create check lists on your computer to help you stay focused.

Remember, the less energy you expend running around the morning of the race searching for your cycling shoes or other clothing, the more energy you will have to burn out on the course.

I've been wanting a Powertap for a while.  It's a hub-based power meter that measures (amongst other things) wattage, which tells you about the work you're doing at any given moment, independent of the conditions.

Let's say you do a ride where you're going 15mph into the wind, and then you turn around and go 25mph with the wind.  Pretty hard to tell when you were actually working harder, right?  Wattage is the answer.  A 200 watt effort is a 200 watt effort, whether it's hot, cold, uphill, downhill, whether you're fresh or tired, whatever.

When you use the Powertap, you download the data and can analyze what happened.  There are a bunch of different ways to use this, but it's most useful for doing tests and comparing different rides.

This is a step test I do every so often.  It's pretty similar to this test, but not exactly the same.  I'm gradually increasing the power (that's the step up every 3 minutes), and continuing to exhaustion (that's where all the lines plummet on the right side).  The result looking at is the last plateau on the right--what the average power was, and how long I could hold it. 

If that level is increasing, I'm getting fitter, and the training is working.  That's the most basic use of the Powertap to improve your bike training.  It really helps you understand whether you're making progress. 

The Powertap is accurate, reliable, easy to use.  The only drawback is the price, but there is a wide range of options to help make it affordable for more riders.  If you're like me, you have a limited amount of time, a strong desire to improve, and need all the tools you can get to maximize the efficiency of your time investment.

Also, since I bought a tip-top Madone road bike this year, I'm now more of a target than in the past, and really need to keep from being laughed at.

Bicycle Clothing is an important part of bicycle gear. Experienced riders collect quality gear over the years. they have learned that quality is more important than price. Bicycle training in Indianapolis can be a mix bag of weather. Start a ride in the low 40s and end in the mid 60s.

Some of my favorite gear is the bib-knickers and wind vest. These two help keep you just warm enough in the cool of the early morning and won't over heat you as the tempature climbs through the morning.

If you need a little more on the legs in the morning, don't forget every pro's favorite, embrocation.

On Saturday, I had the chance to do some riding in southern Indiana, including my favorite climb, Bear Wallow Hill.  Felt great to get some elevation change.  Indianapolis is a great place to ride a road bike, but there's nothing like climbing and descending hills to make the most of your bike training. 

On Sunday, they held the worst and greatest bike race in the world.
 

This coming Saturday, I'm headed down to Columbus to do a little bike racing of my own.  We'll see how the training strategy of "ride less, but harder" is working for me.

Stay tuned for a product review of my favorite new toy, the Powertap.