BLOG.CYCLINGFORMANDFITNESS.COM

August Overview

Jeff Melcher — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:43:00 GMT

"Races just don't go as planned sometimes, but we do our best anyhow"
Photos by Brittany Nigh & Danny Marchewka

Cyclocross: I'm looking for a few more clients here. Please let me know if you or somebody you know is looking for a CX coach. Otherwise, our practice sessions started this past week. Looking forward to adding a newbie or two next week. Fun stuff. Glad to be back doing the CX thing.

MTB/WORS Overall Standings as follows:
Citizen = 1 client that is 5th in age group, first year racing MTB, and progressing nicely
Comp = 4 clients all slotting in at 3rd place in their respective age groups
Elite = 1 client that is 1st in age group, and top 5 overall

Otherwise, Chicago Mike is ramping up his workload in preparation for a successful Cyclocross season. He's had a couple more podium finishes on the MTB and CX bikes during August.

Triathlon: looking to grow here in 2011 by adding tri specific training plans (balance run/swim/bike). Potentially going through the USAT certification process. Please stay tuned.

Road: most of the guys are currently on a break and/or preparing for Cyclocross.

Bike Fitting: business continues to be strong. After working with women on bike fits for the last few years, I have learned the importance of having a properly shaped/padded saddle that is positioned correctly. My female clients & friends that use Terry saddles are the ones that have the most positive comments about their cycling comfort. Therefore, becoming a dealer for Terry Saddles is a great advancement for Cycling Form & Fitness. I have the majority of their options in stock and ready to be fitted. Terry/CFF offers a 30-day comfort guarantee relative to the saddle.
Link to Terry Saddles: http://www.terrybicycles.com/saddles

Personal Results: Three races completed during August. Feeling good about the progressively better results going into the CX season:
1) WCA State 40k TT = 4th in age group out of 12, 15th overall out of 110, averaged 26.9 MPH (near perfect conditions)
2) ABR State 40k TT = 2nd in age group out of 14, 13th overall out of 130, averaged 26.8 MPH (more wind & heat)
3) WORS @ Reforestation = 2nd in age out of 15, 19th overall out of 50

Thanks for reading

New & Used TT/Tri Bike

Jeff Melcher — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:14:00 GMT

This is the first look (click on link below) of my new Trek Speed Concept TT bike (ordered today). I'll have the lower cost Ultegra based model, the 9.5, with Reynolds wheels & Power Tap. Took a fair amount of time/effort to figure out the proper configuration for a TT bike. Project one requires you to specify frame size, seat pole length/offset, and stem length/rise. Mark from Pedal Moraine sent me a fit guide issued to dealers specially for the Speed Concept. That made choosing the right size components & frame much easier based off of my current TT bike, after some careful measurements, and consideration of what I want the new bike to improve relative to the "aeroness" of my fit. Lead time = 20 days. Should be pretty awesome!

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/triathlon/speed_concept_9/speedconcept99/

And, this one is now for sale. Picture it with a new set of Bontrager Race Lite Aero wheels instead of the Reynolds. I recently upgraded the aero bars, shifters, and bottom bracket while keeping the rest of it pretty well maintained. Great bike for a person that wants to get into TT or Triathlon for a low cost. 2006 Equinox, 58 cm frame, $1,000 without pedals, bike fit negotiable. Also available without wheels.

Thanks for reading!

State TT Championships

Jeff Melcher — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 01:21:00 GMT

1st 12.3 mile lap had me 10 seconds off my "stretch" goal, and trying a bit harder than I should have (about 10 watts over target). I suffered a bit as a result during the 3rd quarter (about 10 watts under target), and was 25 seconds down with 4 miles left to go. Had a couple of rabbits to chase, turned the positive self-talk on, and dug deeper than I've ever dug (in a TT) to gain back 15 seconds on the final straightaway = finished 10 seconds off goal with an average speed of 26.9 MPH over the 24.5 mile course, and one place off the podium (the course was shorter than advertised). The competition was way deeper this time around. Last year in the rain I struggled to get 305 watts in the aero position @ 25.9 MPH. This year was 318 watts, and 2 min's faster. Now it's time to go shopping for that new bike; I think I finally deserve it: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/triathlon/speed_concept_7/speedconcept75/

July Overview

Jeff Melcher — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:49:00 GMT

Cyclocross: I'm looking for a few more clients here. Please let me know if you or somebody you know is looking for a CX coach.

MTB/WORS Overall Standings as follows:
Citizen = 1 client that is 5th in age group, first year racing MTB, and progressing nicely
Comp = 4 clients slotting in at 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, and 4th in their respective age groups
Elite = 1 client that is 1st in age group, and top 5 overall

Otherwise, Chicago Mike is ramping up his workload in preparation for a successful Cyclocross season. He's had a few podium finishes on both the MTB and Road Bike during July.

Triathlon: 2 clients, both with great finishes in their respective 1/2 Ironmans. Nice to have been part of their success, from both a coaching and bike fit perspective.

Road: most of the guys are currently on a break and/or preparing for Cyclocross.

Bike Fitting: business continues to be strong. The Cobb saddles have been a great fit for Time Trialists and Triathletes. Cobb Cycling provided me with demo saddles making it easier to fit clients properly. I personally like their V-Flow Plus & HC170, and am really looking forward to the SHC170 coming in September.
Link to Cobb Cycling: http://www.cobbcycling.com/cart/Seats_C1.cfm

Personal Results: Only one race for me during July since the WORS @ Crystal Ridge was canceled. I finished 1st in Masters Cat 3 at the Chiropractic Partners Time Trial, 10th overall out of 100 competitors. Averaged 26.1 MPH over the hilly course. Goal accomplished along with gaining more confidence for one of my 2010 goals: > 27 MPH at a 40k TT. The State Championship will be a great opportunity for this in that the course is relatively flat, and that I typically can go about 1 MPH faster there than any other course. Thanks for reading

June Overview

Jeff Melcher — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:55:00 GMT

It's been a full month since the last blog post. I know that blogs are more of a 2008 thing. From a business perspective, I still think it's valuable to highlight my accomplishments, lessons learned, and the accomplishments of my clients. So if you're reading, thanks for coming along for the ride!

MTB Race Results: continue to have mixed results here with more good than bad. The Road and MTB summaries have a common theme = what Robbie Ventura referred to as the X-factor to bicycle racing. See below for more on this. In any case, the guys are fit enough. It's just getting all the other factors optimized to finally get the results they desire. I do have a few standout performers though in the form of WORS Elite and Comp age group leaders = nice!

Road Results: Here's one reply I had to a client that "retired". It falls heavily into the "lessons learned" bucket: Yes, you were my GREATEST failure in that our relationship was solid, your work ethic was superb, and I really enjoyed working with you; but the X-factor is what ultimately did US in. And, I'm really just getting to understand how to apply my motocross and MTB racing background to road racing, and how to improve the X-factor from a technique/tactical/mental standpoint. It all applies. I needed a ToAD experience, along with the TE clinic, to put it all together. But, in the final analysis, road racing is a high risk/high reward sport. That is why I have a hard time saying "Just Do It".

X-factor: again, I have to thank Robbie Venture for making this distinction clear in my mind as part of his involvement in the Team Extreme Road Racing Clinic. The X-factor is everything else other than fitness. You can lump equipment, technique, tactics and strategy into this category, along with the mental aspects of racing. WOW! That's > 50% of the equation that I've been shying away from because of liabiity, and because clients haven't grabbed on to "paying to learn". So, for my long standing coaching clients I'm working to ride with each one of them, to point out areas of improvement, and to show them how to improve these X-factor limiters.

Bike Fitting: business is picking up here. Always great to help clients be more comfortable & powerful on their bikes = pretty awesome!

Personal Results: I met a 2010 goal in my average speed of 27.1 MPH at the the Bong 30K TT. The same day I failed miserably at the WORS Sunburst MTB race by "hitting the wall from a physical perspective", and pulling out of the race after 3 of 5 laps. Additionally, my frame broke during this race, (not because of hitting the wall), and was just recently rebuilt.
Because of the MTB failure, I moved on to the ToAD road racing series. ToAD is a 10 race/10 day Wisconsin based road racing series. It has separate awards for each day, and series awards for the overall. The highs were 2 wins and 1 second place finish; and 3rd overall in the series (Cat 3). The lows were my crash in the finishline sprint at Greenbush along with sitting out 2 days/races afterwards to recuperate. That experience was awesome from an overall perspective; I learned so much. Thanks to all that made it possible!

Race Report from WORS at Wausau

Jeff Melcher — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:51:00 GMT

Overall, a continuation of good results for CFF clients at WORS #3. Seems that a few were negatively affected by the course markings being knocked down in one area = there will be those days. I decided to write this one up from a personal perspective since it was a relatively new experience for me in many ways. I've been racing WORS for 15 years, and still having new experiences that lead to personal growth = pretty cool!

I facilitated the CFF Time Trial on Saturday. It was the typical 10 mile all-out affair. With only 4 in attendance, and 3 racing WORS the next day, we did an easy recovery spin to the local coffee shop afterwards = thanks to Michael, Dan, and Ben S. Going backwards in time I'd say that Thursday was relevant to this post. I rode the new Reynolds wheels on my road bike for the first time and was totally stoked on how they performed. I was equally stoked to decide that racing my MTB on Sunday was something that would truly light my fire; the passion for racing. Odd how that was determined on a long/great road ride. Must have been the 3.5 hours in the saddle, and the contemplation that goes along with it.

photo courtesy of Brittany Nigh

So I'll keep the WORS race review short since most won't read this long. Start was horrible because of me not clipping in well, and being almost last over the line. Oh well, onward through the thick cloud of dust I went. From 60th place, I knew that the moves had to come early. The course was very road like but many passes had to happen on the grassy edges versus main lines. With the temp's in the 90's, the matches seemed to burn with more intensity with every surge. I settled down to ride with Scott Cole for awhile, then up to Ronsta, and finally with age group contender Michael Naughton. I do love the fact that you can make allies in a MTB race by working together with a common purpose of moving up through the field. It was a very cool vibe with some excellent riding partners. I lastly settled with Kevin McConnell (IA) as most everybody else had dropped off his pace. We were polar opposites in that he'd drop me on the climbs and I pull him on the straights. But, it kept the pace high so that was good enough to bring it home in 9th place overall, and 1st in age group. I was so fatigued on the last lap that I had to let Kevin go. It was all good though. The 9th place finish was more than I had hoped for due to the 60th place start, lack of MTB training... 2:15 of a good mixture between learning how to ride single-track again (sorry guys), learning long race pacing/drinking strategy, and fine tuning the race tactics. I'm stronger because of this experience = pretty awesome!

Race Report for LaRue-Denzer-LaRue Road Race

Jeff Melcher — Sun, 23 May 2010 02:27:16 GMT

Masters 3: The race started off poorly for me = lesson learned = check your equipment when you arrive at the race. I did much better to get to the race early enough; about 2 hours before start time. Unfortunately, watching the finish line instead of checking my equipment left me to find that I was missing my Power Tap CPU, and now had a wheel that I didn't want on my bike. The wheel was changed along with a cassette for the climbs = ugh. Without data, but with a bike that was fully functional, I rolled out for my 8 minutes of warm-up. Downright laughable! Anyhow, it was warm enough that I didn't think a long warm-up was in my best interest. Race began at a reasonable pace as we started the 1st of four 15 minutes climbs (with sections of false flat in each). Due to a few attacks and chases, I think a split happened up the 2nd climb (Denzer Rd). About 10 of us worked together to increase the gap. After 30 minutes of pace-lining the gap was formed, and the pace slowed considerably. Dwight (Ace Hardware) from Marquette came up to me and said that we should wait until the last climb up Denzer to sort things out. I agreed, and the pack easily rolled on. Sure enough, Dwight ramped it up on Denzer creating a 10 second gap. I rolled up the front to tell my compatriot from the Circuit of Sauk (Doug Braun) that we should make this a 3-man race. I didn't think he'd bite on that, but he did. I followed, half the gap was closed by Doug, so I came around to finish it off ,and we then became an 8-man pack with another ¼ mile of climbing left to go. Shortly thereafer, Dwight's team mate jumped around the front of the pack and we all gave chase. This time there were 6 that made it across. We took this pack down the final descent towards the finish line. They left me on the front so I carefully braked on the descent. We should have been going 45 mph on this descent, but had slowed to 20 mph. Finally somebody jumped and we all gave chase with me on the back. One by one I let these guys draft me towards the front and passed them as they faded. At about 100m, I was getting really excited to go from about the 3rd wheel, but waited, and with 50 m to go I jumped out of the Dwight's slip stream to take him by a wheel. So much fun! Rick came across in 7th and Brian won the field sprint = success for Team Extreme!

And then there were 6

Jeff Melcher — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:45:00 GMT

picture courtesy of Brittany Nigh

In the last post I forgot to include my newest client on the MTB scene. It's not all about Comp & Elite. Sorry Mike. His first WORS race ended up with a 47th place finish out of 140 starters. Pretty awesome way to kick start a new hobby. I think the road bike is now taking a back seat to the MTB

CFF clients are making some noise in WORS

Jeff Melcher — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:12:00 GMT

photos courtesy of Brittany Nigh

I have 5 coaching clients racing the Wisconsin Off Road Series for 2010. Interestingly enough, 3 of them have moved up from Sport to the Comp (Cat 2) class this year, one is back in Comp, and the last is flying solo in Elite (Cat 1). Although I don’t provide names unless given permission, here’s how the season has went so far for this group of 5:

Elite Male = 2 races completed, 2 finishes in the top 10, currently top 8 overall

Comp 1 = 2 races, 2 solid finishes, 2^nd in age group

Comp 2 = 2 races, 2 wins in his division, 1^st in that group

Comp 3 = 2 races, solid improvement trend, 8^th in a stacked age group

Comp 4 = 1 race, OK finish with the best yet to come

Off to a great start for 2010. I can’t say enough about how much Comp #2 has improved from last year. His commitment to training smart, along with some equipment upgrades, has made for a huge improvement. Although, the same could be said for all of these guys. It also takes time to put the pieces together after moving up to a higher category. Pretty awesome start to the season!

Utilizing Power Meter Data - Fatigue Profiling

Jeff Melcher — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:34:00 GMT

With the recent releases of the 2nd edition of Training & Racing with a Power Meter (text) and version 3.0 of WKO+ (software) there also comes the added complexity of some new tools. These tools are designed to better utilize power data for prescribing future training based on strengths, weaknesses, and limiters; to improve future racing fitness & results. They include Multi-file Analysis, Quadrant Analysis, Scatter Diagrams, and Fatigue Profiling. I have been working diligently to get my head wrapped around these new tools in order to better assist my coaching clients. Daily progress is being made

The "Tool of the Day" is Fatigue Profiling. This one currently has my full attention. I always thought there was something lacking in Power Profiling because it seemed to not address fatigue resistance unless 60 minute time trials were added (not many clients wanted to do this one). Coupling Fatigue Profiling with the Power Profiling provides me with a tool that allows for better determination of Strengths/Weaknesses/Limiters; better than only using peak power over the chosen durations (5 sec, 1 min, 5 min, 20 min) via. Power Profiling. In all reality, it dissects the Mean Maximal Power Curve to make it more meaningful.

My coaching services are set up ala carte. Basic coaching provides a client with a monthly plan along with weekly interaction based on necessary changes & performance to plan. I also review any significant power files. Most clients believe that this service is a great value in coaching (relative to the $80/month fee, less if a current member of a sponsored team). So with that being said, I'd like to apply Fatigue Profiling to current clients for a nominal fee of $25. This will be about a 1 hour long process for me. It will provide both of us (coach & client) further insight on what's best for future training. Please let me know if you're interested in learning more. Thanks for reading!

Tubular vs Clincher

Jeff Melcher — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:52:00 GMT

I'm having a dilemma of sorts because of needing to buy new wheels later this week. I'm going with a set of 404 from the fine folks at Wheelbuilder.com but contemplating tubular vs clincher.

Main decision points:

1) 200g difference per wheel for CX & Crits is a small difference in performance unless there's significant climbing. Accelerations are the biggest difference but hard to get any facts on what that difference actually is. Read one article that stated a 5% difference from a standing start, 10s sprint. Don't do many of those; I'm not a track racer; applicable to some degree to crits. Picking up the bike in CX matters also, but the aluminum Dura-ace tubeless that I currently own are a good option for a balance between weight & performance.

2) TT = doesn't matter for performance due to few accelerations. Wheel cover on the rear makes 808 or 404 comparable to a disc.

3) Clinchers have less rolling resistance at the same psi, but a very small difference at that. Tubular can go very high in pressure which can be helpful to reduce rolling resistance (TT mainly; I like having traction in crit's).

4) Clinchers have good repairability. Tubular might not be a good everyday wheel set because of the opposite.

5) Aluminum to carbon wheel swapping is painful with brake pads needing to be changed, and re-aligned with the Zipps because of the angled brake track.

6) Zipp tubular have additional aero features (shape) to gain some minor improvement over their clincher.

7) Well glued tires shouldn't fall off but do present a mess for changing tires if to be used for CX.

Many of you are laughing by now because of this much thought going into a wheel set. Some of you get it. Share your thoughts if you have any on this subject. Thanks for playing.

WCA Circuit of Sauk & La Crosse Race Reports; Masters Cat 3

Jeff Melcher — Mon, 03 May 2010 18:33:00 GMT

Circuit of Sauk: The field was dominated by the Fisher riders today = 7 or 8 in total. Team Extreme had the usual suspects = Brain, Rick, and myself. Strategy went out the window as the race started out with an attack by a Fisher rider on the controlled leadout? Brian covered it with me giving chase. Now slightly gassed, the peloton seemed content to soft pedal (if there is such a thing with the long climbs, and in the brisk wind) for a lap. The 2nd lap (15 miles each) did get more taxing with a break being instigated by Fergusen/Fisher. I latched on (thanks for Rick's timley shout) just in time to be part of the 6-man attack. Meanwhile, Team Fisher shut down any chase efforts making life difficult for those in the pack including Rick & Brian; our break went up the road uncontested. We drove the pace with hard Tempo, and a semi-functional paceline (I'm not the only one that needs the Team Extreme Skills Clinic). The pace was hard enough to crack two, and then there were 4. Coming into the long finish straight Fergusen tried getting away and succeeded momentarily. I gave chase without the other two being able to latch on, caught him, waited for the other two to just about bridge, and launched again around Fergusen for the win. Tomorrow will be a change of pace at the LaX Criterium. Hoping that Rick has good legs, and can take the W.

LaX: I'm writing these reports to give credit where credit is due; to confirm what a great thing Team Extreme has going on the road. We were 3 strong once again with Rick, Brian and myself taking to the starting line. LaX had a pretty awesome vibe which seemed to motivate riders to be downright squirely at times. The first few laps were spent figuring out who we didn't want to ride by, and the best lines in the fairly rough turns. The few attacks off the front were being closed quickly, so TE just chilled in the pack. I started moving up for safety reasons if nothing else. Soon after doing so a rider lost control directly in front of me while entering turn #1. Lesson learned is that you never want to take a turn so badly that you lock the rear brake up and skid across the road from inside to outside taking a good part of the pack with you = you don't want to be that guy! Anyhow, I made it through OK and saw 4 guys still riding hard about 5 seconds down the road. So, insticts had me bridge to them; to not do so would have ensured a break with no TE representation. Josh Shively/La Crosse Velo (past Elite MTB'er) was on front cranking the pressure up, 2 guys with us were shelled, I rotated past them, and the rest was a 25 min two man break that lasted until the finish due to some incredible work being done by Rick and Brian back in the pack. I followed Josh out of corner #4, he attacked, I stayed on until 50m to go, jump/sprint to gain a wheel length = win #2. I owe a great part of this success to my team mates. You guys rock! Time to return the hard work at Muskego. Oh yeah, lesson #2 for the weekend = it's better to bridge up after a crash and at least acknowledge the fact that the break was formed because of a crash, and to suggest they wait for what's left of the peleton to get back on? You can tell me your thoughts on this one.

Sprint Picture

WCA Crit #2 & 3, and the 10.1 mile CFF Time Trial

Jeff Melcher — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:16:00 GMT

Is it bad that I don't want to write up races that go poorly? Well, Menomonee Falls was one of those races. I lost one client for a couple of weeks due to a last lap turn crash = separated shoulder. Recover well Scott! And then there was my race that was fun, but wasn't the best from a tactical standpoint. That's the point though; a new sport where I'm learning every race. 6th place didn't sound bad once I heard about Scott, and Travis getting held up in the last turn due to another crash in the Cat 3 race. The good news is that Travis came back to finish 5th place the very next day at Great Dane #2 = nice!

The next day (4/18/10) was my invite only 10.1 mile TT. I invite clients and friends to participate in this free event. At the start time of 11:00, the temperature was hovering around 48 degree F with a 10 MPH wind out of the North. And, this course offers up a couple of climbs adding to the cool wind to make for a challenging event. While not the ideal conditions for a fast time trial, it's what we come to expect this time of the year. I had 8 willing participants toeing the line one by one with 1 min between each. It was great to have two volunteers for this race (many thanks to Brittany and Marguerite) to help with pictures and time keeping. I'd also like to thank Bob P. for helping out when he had a mechanical just a few minutes prior to "go" time (maybe he broke a spoke on purpose to miss out on the 28 min's of pain Anyhow, back to the results. The fastest average speed for competing Eddy Merckx style (without TT bars/bike) was Ben M with a stellar 24.9 MPH ; only .1 MPH below his goal. I had the fastest average speed at 26.3 MPH with the full aero set-up include a wheelbuilder.com wheelcover, and custom built rear wheel. Also to help this year I had my new Team Pedal Moraine skinsuit on, along with the Pedal Moraine supplied ZIPP wheels. Thanks to everyone that helped to make this event a success!

WCA Crit #1: Great Dane

Jeff Melcher — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:11:00 GMT

It was a nice sunny day in Madison as I toed the start line of the Master Cat 3 race. This was my first time competing in a criterium where I actually had teammates to consider; I'm riding for Team Extreme when competing in criteriums or road races in 2010. They have a large group of great guys racing both the Cat 3's, and Master Cat 3's. Looking around I found John Timm, Rick Amen, Grant Stevens, Jeff Gantz, and a few other teammates. Also a few other past and present coaching clients. So we all rolled away from the start with me being pretty cautious for a few laps. The group was riding predictably overall. Just a few laps into the race one rider launched hard around the group with no real response coming from the front. It was early to take a flier so that guy was given a long leash; hindsight would see that it was too long. I decided it was time to ride closer to the front to stay out of trouble, and react to any additional/significant attacks. Grant jumped around at about the halfway point of the race, and I tagged on for an attempted break/chase. We were joined about 1 lap later by Greg Ferguson (Team Fisher Midwestern). With 3 pretty strong riders, I though we could make something stick. Guess the pack thought that also as they chased in earnest. We gave that move up about 2 laps later. Fast forward to the last lap. I jumped up to about 7th with 1 lap to go. Coming into the last turn I worked hard to grab the wheels of my new teammates that were riding 1st (Grant) and 2nd (Rick). Grant pulled us to about 100 m to go, moved out of the way, Rick jumping for the sprint with me near his rear wheel. Uncertain of constituted proper "teamwork" here, I decided to go for the win (which was really for 2nd since the flier had led the entire race by 45 seconds). Rick and I crossed the line sprinting hard with me in front by about a wheel. Awesome teamwork resulting in 2nd & 3rd place!

The next race was Cat 3's. I tried to repay the favor by working for Jeramey and Travis. I went for every attack, sat on, and repetitively helped to have the race come back together. The last lap was another hard ride at the front but my legs gave up the race with the finish straight in sight. Not quit the leadout I was hoping. Good news in that Jeramey finished 5th, and Travis was 9th. That race was about 20 watts higher for normalized power than race #1 where I finished 2nd. The experience was complete in that I learned to ride for others after taking advantage of a gift in the first race. Pretty awesome experience!

Asheville Training Camp Re-cap

Jeff Melcher — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:13:09 GMT

This year's version of the Asheville Training Camp/vacation included 8 people total with 3 on just mountain bikes, and 5 on both road and MTB. I rented an enclosed trailer taking responsibility for hauling 10 bikes. The trip down was tediuous at best because of traffic. Weather was a bit miserable the first day with our road group starting on wet roads in cool weather. This was a new cabin/location so we decided to drive part of the first route before riding it = good call! To get out of the cabin you had to descend the access roads (about 15% grade in sections) only to climb back up a similar twisty road for 15 minutes, and descend another twisty road to the 50 mile loop below. On our first time doing this descent we had one rider slide out on one of the many rain soaked downhill switchbacks. Checking his condition (and his bike) at the bottom, both were OK, so we decided to press on with a shorter loop than originally planned. Everything was going well (other than the steadily increasing showers) until late in the ride when we had another rider miss judge a 90 degree turn at the bottom of a steep descent, and he ended up going front-wheel/chest first into a 6-foot deep ditch. A rough start no doubt but there were no serious injuries in either accident. And thankfully, the rides improved everyday thereafter. No significant crashes after day #1. About 3 hours of mountain riding per day with a couple of short recovery rides thrown in for good measure = 17 hours of saddle time for the week. Although fatigued, the camp/vacation participants could often be seen smiling and laughing when verbalizing the highlights of each ride. Awesome rides everyday kept us signing up for more. Great people, rides, food, and location made this trip a winner! And the view out my office window wasn't bad either.

Asheville, NC

Jeff Melcher — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:35:00 GMT

It's the end of March which means one thing to me, the annual Asheville vacation has finally arrived. This is year #9, maybe #10. I think of this trip as more of a Training Camp but there needs to be some non-bike related fun thrown in for good measure. Heck, it's hard to not have fun when your day is filled with decisions like: what bike do I ride today (MTB or Road)? up which mountain(s)? for how long? what to wear down the killer descent? and what's for dinner considering the 1,800 calorie burn?

April is the official start of the racing season for those that lean more towards the road. For me, April racing will include a few criteriums, a CFF Time Trial, an ABR Time Trial, and a chance to be part of road racing team for the first time in my career (or hobby if you prefer). Exciting times no doubt.

As always, hope that you're enjoying the ride!

TT Bike Fitting

Jeff Melcher — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:06:00 GMT

CFF has added the option of a power meter test to the TT bike fitting process for verification of sustainable power; before and after significant change in position. There's a balance between being aero and power production. Most of us won't pay $400/hr for wind tunnel testing, but verification by power testing might be the next best thing. And, I do this (and Bike Fitting in general) for $40/hr. As Joe Friel says...

http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2010/02/my-bike-fit-and-wind-tunnel-testing.html

Shimano SPD 2-hole Cleat Wedge Alternative

Jeff Melcher — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:49:00 GMT

One of the difficulties I've had is the proper wedging of SPD mountain bike style cleats. There are plastic inserts (wedges) made for under the cleat (in the shoe can also be used if there's room). The problem is that the two hole cleat has a very small contact patch with the shoe. Once you put a plastic wedge under the cleat, care must be taken to get the cleat screws very tight in order to ensure that the cleat doesn't move under the constant pounding of hard Mtb riding (not as big of a problem for casual use off-road, or on-road use). Well, my friends at Bike Fit have come up with a better solution that will be available in about 8 weeks. It's a metal cleat that has the typically needed varus tilt casted into it. No worries here about plastic wedges deforming or slipping. This will be another great option for getting clients that use the Shimano SPD 2 hole cleat properly fitted.

Potential benefits of ITS and/or Cleat Wedges?

Jeff Melcher — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:26:00 GMT

Photo by Fixed Gear Photography

One of the relatively unique products I use in bike fitting is cleat or in the shoe (ITS) wedges. The idea behind wedging is to compensate for a varus or valgus forefoot tilt with a goal of greater comfort and power. The vast majority of cyclists have a significant tilt (approximately 90%) worth compensating. You can learn more by checking out the Bike Fit section of my website:
http://www.cyclingformandfitness.com/Bike_Fitting.php

Personally speaking, I have about a 20 degree varus tilt on each foot making me a prime candidate for wedging. Before wedging (late 2008) my knees went from nearly rubbing on the top tube to traveling inside the foot during each pedaling down stroke. Considering that we pedal down with each leg once per pedal stroke x 80 rpm x 120 min's during the average ride = 19,200 down strokes, it's not hard to understand how side to side movement of the knee over and over often creates knee, ankle, foot, and/or hip discomfort. It's also understandable that pedaling like this causes a loss in pedaling efficiency/effectiveness. The bike fit literature claims an average power increase of 1.8% by adding wedges for cyclist that can benefit from doing so (about 90%). Being skeptical by nature, I wanted to prove this for myself. Therefore, in November of 2008. I performed this experiment:
Wedging & Insole Experiment, Nov 2008
I was pleasantly surprised at the 2.3% power (about 5.6 watts at a Tempo pace) that I gained by wedging, along with an increase in comfort. Consequently, I was sold on this product and became a dealer shortly thereafter.

Bike fit clients continue to report power increases after wedging along with less aches and pains. And, there's a better chance that clients will enjoy cycling for many years to come by the associated improvement in pedaling form. Pretty awesome!

Motivation & Goal Setting, Part 2

Jeff Melcher — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:27:00 GMT

One more clarification to what I said in my last blog entry (two in the same day = a new record). For the last 15 years continuous improvement has been the name of the game for keeping my motivation intact while racing MTB (WORS more specifically). All I needed to stay motivated were consistent & tangible improvements (measured by power, recovery time, and race results). With the help of a coach (2003 - '06), I finally achieved my definition of success for several consecutive years ('05 - '09). The last 15 years (focused on WORS exclusively) have contributed to an awesome journey; to a destination that was well worth the effort. Wouldn't change a thing! Every positive and negative experience contributed to where I've arrived

Nowadays, I also enjoy "other" cycling competitions (road & cyclocross) because they bring me back to learning & growing. Therefore, a change of focus is part of my 2010 goal setting process. Being committed to SMART goals is so important if you want to stay motivated. That is why I'm sharing my story. As always, thanks for reading.