Click here to view the video on YouTube.

If you’re out for a recovery or social ride rolling turns or a pace line is  not  the best strategy – so we’re covering a few ways of sharing the load here.

1. Social/Sociable turns – As the name suggests, to be used when you want to be able to have a chat, recover and when speed is not a high priority. The group forms two lines and the leaders work fro as long as they feel comfortable 9 or until those behind demand a shot at the front) then they pull off to opposite sides and fall back to the end of their respective lines. Remember to not pull through too hard – maintain the pace set by the previous leaders or if you do feel the pace can increase pull it up slowly once you’re at the front.

2. Echelons – Used for speed and efficiency when riding into a cross wind. To effectively draft in these conditions the riders have to fan out across the road to be covered from the wind. The group can rotate as in normal rolling turns.

The important thing to remember here is that you should be turning into the wind as you peel off into the slower line.

This means the faster line is shielded from the wind as they come forward maximizing efficiency. As with normal rolling turns don’t pull through too hard or you’ll throw the rhythm out.

3. Pace lines – Used for speed when efficiency is less important – often  seen in team time trials and lead out trains for sprint finishes. There is a single line of riders. The lead rider will peel off after a certain period – usually dictated by the amount of effort he/she can sustain – and drifts to the back. Unlike the other formation you can pull through as hard as you like here – as speed is the aim and the previous lead has likely spent themselves you should be going hard into your turn. Be careful – it is easy to overstep here and get dumped out the back once you peel off. Maintain enough speed when moving to the back to ensure you can get back in the line without having to push too hard so that you can recover.

Also just a word about group formations turn sharing and hills – all formations come apart on the hills. Everyone will have their own climbing pace and it is best to let this prevail and reform the group at he end of the climb. Turn sharing is about lessening wind resistance, the hills are all about gravity.

If you have any questions let us know – often best to post them on the Youtube channel on the relevant video then everyone will get maximum benefit.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

In previous posts we’ve covered how much energy is saved when drafting behind another cyclist. It’s central to the whole sport and not surprising that ways of taking advantage of it are built into almost every aspect of road riding – it forms the core of any ride strategy.

One way of maximising this advantage across a group travelling at speed is rolling turns.This sharing of the load at the front effectively distributes the hard work across the whole group meaning everyone benefits and the group can travel at greater speed. The video here demonstrates this very clearly – riders are in two adjacent lines with the outside line riding faster than the inner line.As the lead cyclist on the outer line passes the lead on the inner line they pull off and ease off to fall back in to the slower line. At the back of the slower line the last cyclist will follow the wheel of the rider pulling past on the faster outer line.
In this way the group is constantly revolving and in motion meaning that each riders turn at the front is relatively short and the recovery time is extended. As you can guess rolling turns is usually used when travelling at higher speeds.

A few things to pay attention to are

• Make sure you ease of as you pull out of the outer line. If you don’t you’ll screw it up for everyone. The whole group will have to increase its speed and it will throw the rhythm out – or you’ll just be left to hang out the front by yourself which no doubt won’t last long.
• Make the transitions from one line to another as smooth as possible. Glancing down under your arm as you pull past a the front will enable you to place the wheel of the bike you’ll be moving in front of.
• At the back the cyclist you need to follow into the fast line may change – some cyclist may be sitting out. If this is the case they’ll usually indicate with a “Yep!’ or something similar meaning you’re good to join the fast line.
• Brake gently if necessary or use your body position to vary your speed. Braking suddenly is going to end badly. Small variations get magnified down a long line – keep everything as smooth as possible.

Finally just a quick word on jumping into a  riding group. If every rider is wearing the same team gear – you’re best to leave them to it. You can ask but usually a  team training group won’t want any unknown interlopers in there. If it looks more casual it’s still wise to ask before you just hammer in there. The group may have formed organically on the road, it may be a group who  are training together.

Have fun, stay safe. Rolling turns with a group who are disciplined and controlled is a great thing – usually very fast and  a lot of fun. Let us know any questions you have.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

This video is going to stir people up. So it was mandatory that I jump in to do my bit to help out – in the stirring that is.

I appreciate the ease and freedom of being able to jump on a bike and head down the road without need of worrying about any extra equipment – before I became at all serious about cycling this seemed the point and I flouted any helmet laws as I could. After  years of riding I have now had enough experience to know that unless you are riding down  gorgeous paved, carless streets on a retro cruiser somewhere in Europe, this is unwise  – if not downright stupid. But that, in itself, doesn’t mean people shouldn’t have the choice.

I have friends who, without question, would not be with us today had they not been wearing a helmet. I know how dangerous it is to ride in numerous cities where you have to assume you are invisible if you are on a bike. I have a deep respect for the fact that getting on a bicycle in any environment except an empty paddock after a recent rain is, by its nature, dangerous. This sense of unpredictable danger makes me incredulous of anyone pulling a trailer with children in it through heavy traffic or even, I have to admit, using  a Dutch bike with one of those human buckets on the front. These may well be fine in certain environments – primarily  the wide, flat, cycle filled streets of Holland for which they were designed – I honestly think they are not for rush hour streets in any country with a serious car culture. Personally I would never put my children in such clear and present danger… but I digress.

In the end I see arguments for both sides. Certainly relaxing these laws on those using the metro-based bike hire schemes in Australia would increase the take up. Possibly, as has been suggested, make it a choice and if you sustain a head injury while not wearing one you lose any right of litigation (less nanny state more self responsibility and responsibility for the consequences).

I do however have real problems with this video – and this is less the cyclist in me than the sceptic and marketer.

How these images of people cruising easily through empty streets relates at all to any traffic situation in an Australian city I have no idea.

There is a real problem with equating obesity with helmet laws. It certainly is true that Australia has worked its way up to being the fattest country in the world – implying that this is in any way connected to helmet laws is not only ridiculous but should be the first flag for questioning the way this message is presented.

The video makers are plainly wrong about cycling in Australia – all the indications and statistics show that cycling as an activity, sport, recreation and as transport has increased almost geometrically in recent years. And all the statistics also show that fatalities from cycling accidents have halved since mandatory helmet laws were introduced in the early nineties.

If, as they say, utility cycling has ceased for ‘a whole generation’ ( and as a side note we should be wary of sweeping statement like this in any politically motivated content) it is not because of helmet laws – it is quite clearly, from the visual they show to fit this dialogue, that the streets are so congested with cars that it is, flat out, a dangerous pursuit – which would demand some small amount of caution and protection before doing it – a helmet at least, full body armour and a police escort if you can swing it.

This crusade is presented as wanting to increase cycling take up, which is a noble cause, however I can think of numerous other places to put your attention, time and creativity than getting helmet laws repealed to achieve this goal. I, for one, do not believe having to wear a helmet is stopping any significant part of the population from riding. I’d say lack of safety, cycle ways, and the attitudes of both the not-yet-cycling public and drivers in general are in the way.

This could have been a light, charming call to try a new or lost recreation. This could have concentrated on getting a 1.5m passing law put in place or a campaign to get new cycling lanes established.  If you want more people on bikes this seems an odd route to take. We can only assume that the maker has a new bike, a new do and just can’t tolerate helmet hair.

What do you think?

Yours

Crankski

Functional training focuses on exercise which mimics daily living or movement specific to the sport you’re engaged in. In these activities your body is usually being used in a dynamic fashion in a multitude of planes. This is certainly true of cycling – and the reason functional training is so effective for this sport. Through functional training movement specific strength is increased. It also results in better body awareness, balance and proprioception developed resulting in better integrated movement. This will mean more effective power and better endurance through efficient use of the muscles systems that are engaged.

As it focuses on ‘real world’ forces such as gravity and momentum it also means that functional training can be done without any need to visit a gym and strap yourself into the machines. The exercises can be done with small weights or a medicine ball and often use body weight and gravity as the source of resistance – just as it is when you’re riding or engaged in other physical activity.

It is unsurprising that functional training is gaining popularity. It trains nerves, muscles and joints into an integrated system that is able, and used to, moving in all three planes. It’s clear that building a muscle in isolation to become effective in one plane, when it will never be doing that outside the gym, is not a good use of your precious training time. Building dynamic stability, efficient movement and effective, activity specific strength through functional training is, however, a great way to train – especially on those off season months.

We’ll be posting some cycling specific functional training exercises here soon – stay tuned.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

There is more than one way to corner on a bike. Which method you use will depend on a range of factors including -

• Your level of skill
• Visibility of the road ahead
• Cambre and consistency of of the corner
• The sharpness of the corner
• Speed and other riding conditions

Cornering is all about shifting weight but there is of course numerous ways to do this – we’ll cover these below but as general advice for all cornering methods you should

• Drop your torso to lower your centre of gravity – this will usually mean getting into the drops
• Anticipate the safe speed you can take the corner at before you hit it and slow if necessary. This will be dependent of a range of factors outside of the corners sharpness – the road surface, wetness, other riders around you will all have a bearing.
• If possible cut into corners late – this outside-inside-outside method ( see video) cutting through the apex of the corner  allows you to see more road going into the corner ( and so better able to judge it) and give you more road to ride on coming out. Obviously if you’re riding in traffic then that will have a large bearing on how to approach the corner.
• Look where you want to go not down at the road surface. Looking where you intend to go will help your control.

The most common method of cornering is leaning where you angle both yourself and the bicycle. This method is suitable when you can choose your line around the corner, the road is relatively wide and your have good visibility. To lean through a corner effectively

• Move slightly back  in the saddle
• Ensure your inside pedal is up and outside pedal is down – if the corner is sharp and the inside pedal is down you risk hitting it on the road.
• Put your weight on the outside pedal
• Pointing the inside knee toward the apex of the corner will shift  your centre of gravity inside the tire line.

Countersteering is a great technique for when you may need to correct your direction within the turn. Good for descents and uncertain, changing corners or where ever conditions may change suddenly. The idea is to lean the bike more than your body – if the lean is large this can interupt pedaling which is why it is especially suitable for descents where gravity will be providing much of the speed. To countersteer effectively

• Keep your body vertical and incline the bike beneath you. This is most easily done by extending your inside arm and pressing on your inside hand.
• Changing the downward weight on the inside hand will give you great control – push down more to increase the angle of the turn, lighten it to reduce.
• You may find your inside knee touching the top tube when cornering tightly with this technique.

Steering is less commonly used but is useful to learn for conditions with a slippery or uneven surface where leaning the bike could result in slipping. Essentially you’re keeping the bike vertical and turning the handle bars to  cornerIt will feel awkard and slow to begin with but, as with all skills, worth developing as it will give you a better understanding of how your bike works and how you work with it.

• Keep the bike itself relatively vertical
• Shift your weight forward and slightly to the inside
• Push down and forward with your outside arm so turning the handle bars into the corner.

I know we say this with almost every post – but it bears repeating. Practice and playing with these techniques will give you added skills, abilities and awareness on the bike. Whether you’re racing your just getting to work this will keep you safer, more aware and more confident.

Let us know your thoughts.

Don’t get me wrong – I love cycling. I love that every morning I can head out and find some casual sport with other riders heading down Beach Road here in Melbourne. I love the irony of engaging in a pursuit the mantra of which is ‘Harden the F**k Up’ while wearing brightly colored skin tight lycra.

I love seeing over weight, middle aged men spending their mid-life crisis getting fit on a bike that their income may afford them but their experience does not – beats the hell out of buying a porsche.

I love the absurd, snobbishness and elitism of roadies. I love that when the meme takes hold all the details do matter – that getting the right socks suddenly seems important. I love the unsaid, seldom written code of the culture that can only be osmosed over time and immersion in it.

I love the gear, the blend of history and technology.

And I’m a roadie. We’re the tough guys, right ? All race face and yelling at each other to ‘close that gap’.

So when a close friend talked me into doing a 6 hour 2 man team Mountain bike race I thought – ‘Sure, I’m up for that’

Admittedly I had spent the week or two before hand drinking martini’s in the tropics with the company of a very recent and talented female friend – Turns out this is only a reasonable training plan if you’re 007 ( Damn you popular culture – you misled me …again!)

Admittedly I have limited MTB skills having only been out into the bush a handful of times.

Sure, this is a good idea...isn't it?

Admittedly my winter training has fallen foul of the weather…and I  did share three bottles of wine with my team mate the night before ( I’m realising things may have been more stacked against me than I thought) -however I did not realise how unprepared I was.

Pete, the other half of the team, and I did a recky of the 10 km course as the light was fading the day before the race. We had underestimated how technical it was ( for the uninitiated ‘technical’ is Mountain Biker speak for rocky and terrifying – y’know ‘technical’)

The marble ground of the gold fields is brutally unforgiving as Pete found out during our recky – falling twice and injuring himself before we even got to race day. It was a little sobering – hence being driven to drink the aforementioned wine – the best defence against soberness.

So race day arrives and Pete draws the short straw for going first. The riders have to run from the top the a hill down to where their bikes are – only possible due to recessed cleats on MTB shoes – in road shoes it would have been a comedy routine. In the end it was a comedy routine anyway as I waited with Pete bike while he moseyed down the hill. I don’t know if this was a protest or a strategy to let the field get away on us so that  he could take on the technical bits without the added technical difficulty of 300 others trying to negotiate the same piece of single track at the same time.

Pete had been spooked by his falls the day before and walked the ‘techy’ hurty bits and turned up around 50 mins later as I was desperately trying to warm up by doing hill repeats near the transition area. I say ‘transition’ however that is not a good definition of what we pulled off passing the baton throughout the day –  it was more an ‘evolution’ and took a similar amount of eons each time we finished a lap.

I know that mountain biking is a different set of skills and fitness than road riding, I know that riding on Pete’s local bike shop’s demo bike ( lovely as it was) wasn’t going to give me my best performance… but for all of these things I knew it was still confronting bursting my lungs as others rolled on by me hardly  breaking a sweat it seemed. That’s usually my gig – the hearty ‘ How you doing?’  as I effortlessly pass and dust off someone as they struggle up a climb. Somehow it was all exhausting, the downhill parts needed such concentration, on my part, I can’t say I was able to recover from the climbs during them.

Mountain biking (is say with my broad depth of experience) is all about balls and momentum. You have to know and trust both your bike and your ability and the best way over  the rocks is – as fast as you can. Inertia is your enemy. If you lose momentum and then hit that small rock it will stop you in your tracks – and if you’re unprepared you’ll fall. If you have the balls and the skills you can roll right over stuff that will scare the hell out of anyone used to asphalt ( me for example)

I struggled through three laps and Pete finished four – we didn’t totally lose but even with a complete lack of expectation about the result ( we’re just in it for the ‘fun’ – (please define that word again for me))  it was kinda brutal. However I did negotiate  33 km of pretty techy ( by all accounts) single trail with out falling or injuring anything but my ego. I was introduced to  a cycling culture so different from road riding that it needs to be commented on.

This was a race. There were serious athletes competing. The whole course was on single track ( yes that means enough space for one bike) and a very broad range of skills and speeds across the field. I had to pull off numerous times to let others pass me, and occasionally I did pass others. Throughout  what could have been a desperate shit fight, everyone was polite, understanding and totally supportive of us lesser mortals who were just trying to survive. There was no ‘ get off my wave’ stuff at all.

I was kinda humbled by the whole thing. The mad skills of these guys, the massive cahoonas on them and the inclusive and fun nature of the whole event.

I’m not sure when or if I’ll do it again but it has to be said – us roadies, not so tough after all – not this one at least.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Arguable  your drive train is the most important part of your bike. It includes the crank, chain rings, the chain and the cluster of gears on your back wheel. To most beginners the ratios between the chain rings at the front and the cluster at the back sound like deeply geeky gobbledegook but it is vital to understand what’s going on down there.

Typically  road bikes have two  chain rings ( the larger cogs on the crank set). Each is referred to by the number of cogs it has on it – the larger  the ring the more  teeth.  So the front chain ring may be referred to as a 34/28 meaning the  larger ring has 34 teeth the smaller one 28.

At the back the cluster of gears on your back wheels will have a range of teeth from the largest to the smallest and the cluster is referred to by the largest and smallest  - a 12/25  for example.

The difference in effort it takes to turn the pedals in any particular gear is down to the ratio between the  chain ring chosen and the gear at the back  - put simply the higher the ratio ( the more difference between them) the more power it takes to turn the pedals and consequently the faster you’ll go. Low ratios are used for climbing hills and spinning, high ratios for speed, power and sprinting.

All simple enough but it is important to pay attention to how you’re changing up and down the gears. Generally you need to avoid having your chain forming an angle between the chain ring and cluster at the back. So when changing up through the gears you should avoid changing all the way to the smallest gear on the back and then changing up to the large chain ring. Conversely when changing down don’t change all the way down at the back and then drop down to the small chain ring. Doing this not only causes undue wear to the most commonly replaced part of  your bike  - it also represent a substantial loss in transferred power.

Instead you should be changing chain ring while in a middle gear – this will ensure less wear, better power transfer and lessen the chances of your losing your chain. If you’re new to riding you may have to pay closer attention to  which gear you’re in as you change up and down until yo develop a sense for when to change your chain ring. Using your gears like this man your combination of gears is effectively halved – but looking at the ratios that each combination represents you’ll find that there is the same spread – some of the inefficient gear combination have the same ratio as the  correct ones making them redundant and ineffective.

You may want or need to change your crankset and cluster dependant on the kind of riding you’re doing. Typically if you’re  riding a lot of hills you would opt for a more forgiving cluster with larger gears at the top end and possibly a compact crankset – with less teeth in the chain rings – this combination obviously lowers the possible gear ratios and will give you somewhere to go when the inclines start to bite.

Pay attention to your gear combinations and your drive train will last longer and work more efficiently for you.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

There’s is more to pedaling than just turning them. This seemingly simple action has far more subtlety to it that you would expect if you’re just beginning. To be clear here we are talking clipped in pedaling with  cycling shoes and a cleat system – if you want to get the most out of those legs this is the only way to do it.

Put simply the most efficient pedal stroke is one that applies a constant pressure right around the pedal stoke in the direction of the stroke – a smooth consistent spin around the crank or ‘pedaling the full circle’ – what is called the ‘souplaise’ in France. While this my sound straight forward the bio-mechanical action is in fact very complicated taking in multiple muscle groups and joints all needing to co-ordinate in an efficient way. It is only after extensive experience and awareness that an really efficient pedal stroke can be developed.

First you’ll want to just bring your attention to your pedaling and exactly what your legs are up. If you haven’t spent some tiome on this or are new to cleated riding your legs will be doing whatever default, habitual action seems to work – you can no doubt improve it. The full pedal stroke is usually divided into four parts for the purposes of talking about the stroke -

• The down stroke – Your foot pushes the pedal down in the front part of the stroke. Typically it is here where most of the power comes from – your large gluteal and thigh muscles are fully engaged and you have the legs weight and gravity on your side.
• The under stroke? – The underside of the stroke – your foot finishes the down stroke and pushes backward.
• The upstroke – The foot lifts up at the back of the stroke.
• The overstroke? – The foot travels over the top part of the pedal action to reengage with the downstroke.

While we divide the pedaling action into these four parts to more a easily talk about them the action we’re trying to achieve is a seamless integration of these – a circle not a square.

There are various pedaling techniques which are said to improve pedaling efficiency. For many of these the jury is still out about their effectiveness when matched against metabolic cost – yes it does get geekier.

Ankling is a pedaling method that seeks to better engage the calf muscles in the stroke ( see video). The foot is angled slightly upward to the front of the bike in the down stroke and then slightly downward in the up stroke as the foot is pulled up to the top of the stroke. It has been shown that this very deliberate pulling up stroke increases the power through this section of the action however their is also much evidence to show that the metabolic cost of this does not justify it. The action of pulling up the foot engages the muscles on the underside of your thigh which are not nearly as strong as your gluteals ( the largest muscle in your body)- these tire easily with this kind of demand put on them and use vital resources that may be better spent getting you over the next kilometres. That said obviously if you’re sprinting to the finish then it is time to use everything you have – practicing ankling will give you the ability to do this when it will count and will also give you a greater awareness of the movement your leg and foot in enagaged in.

If you want to explore this movement further and develop a smooth souplaise you can try  unclipping one foot and pedaling – this will force the engaged foot to apply pressure right around the circle and give you a greater awareness of how that feels, which muscles are enagaged when and where to bring your attention to turn your stroke into a habitually efficient movement.

Those hipsters have it easy track standing on fixies

If you’ve been riding on the road for any length of time in any city with a reasonable cycling population you’ll have seen some ‘pro’, likely in white lycra balancing perfectly at the lights with out any need to put his or her foot down – seemingly unaffected by the gravity that the rest of the population have to contend with. Your initial reaction may vary any where from amazement to barely concealed  jealousy or more school yard reactions – like ‘what a smart arse  show off’. However you react you’re just going to have to suck it up and admit that you’d like to be able to do that.

Whatever the ‘cool’ or intimidation factor track standing ( yes – that’s what it is called) has – bottom line is it demonstrates a level of skill, balance and ‘oneness’ with the bike that no doubt would make us all better and safer riders. So how do you do it?

As with everything, practice is essential – you can do this while out on your everyday ride but it usually results in edging slowly out in to the intersection as you move forward slightly with each clumsy correction. So in the interests of aesthetics and your own safety we suggest you spend some time getting it down where there is no traffic and then go show off.

Here’s some pointers to pay attention to.

• Come to a stop slowly
• Point your front wheel up the camber of the road at about 45 degrees to the rest of the bike
• Focus some distance ahead of you – about 15 metres – find some fixed point and lock onto it
• Move your weight forward -most easily done by standing on the pedals and shifting your weight
• Keep the crank on the uphill side forward at around 3 o’clock
• Shift your hips to the downhill side of the bike
• When you’re learning start with your hands in the drops – this will lower your centre of gravity
• Your balance is an equation between the forward force of your pressure on the uphill crank, gravity pulling you down the slope and the angle of your front wheel -use The Force, Luke.
• Most important is to relax so you can sense and react easily to the subtle changes in balance. If you tense up and over react to what you perceive as imbalance it will be far harder to recover.
• When you start aim to just pull this off for 5 seconds, then ten… building up to a full minute.
• Don’t practice for too long straight away. Start small, sleep on it and let your mind and body process and come back to it – let your unconscious do the work. You’re developing an intuitive sense here so pressure won’t help.

So all that remains is that you go out and do it. With a little forgiving practice you’ll be intimidating the crap out of the commuters in no time-eating a banana in a gale force wind with no need to let your cleats ever touch asphalt.

• Improve your anaerobic capability
• Extend your lactate threshold
• Heighten your metabolic rate resulting in greater post training calorie burn and weight loss
• Allow you to train in a focused way, gain more benefit for less time

Interval training needs to be integrated into a larger periodized training program and it is usually recommended to have laid down a good base milage and fitness level before engaging in it. You’ll want to have put down an endurance base of at least 800 km before moving into interval training. Without this you run the risk of injury by going too hard too quickly. Once you have laid this base you should then still limit your interval training sessions to twice a week and allow at least 48 hours between them to recover adequately. You can space these throughout the week to allow for the other training that you’re engaged with.

Studies have shown that intensity is more important than either the duration of the intervals or the frequency per week in maximizing the benefit of intervals on performance.  When planning your interval training you’ll need to consider the following

• Intensity level
• Length of intervals
• Length of recovery period
• Number of repetitions
• Cadence
• Gear
• Volume of effort

Intervals need to be performed at a heart rate, cadence, torque or power level greater than that of continuous work to have the desired benefit. The intensity of each interval will be determined partly by it duration – it is hard for example to go all out for more than 10 seconds so longer  intervals will necessarily be paced..

If you’re a beginning at this it is suggested that you start with the initial total volume of effort ( ie the interval time ) at around five minutes. As your fitness improves you can extend this to 10 and then 20 minutes of effort over the whole training session.

Building to 6 x 4 minute intervals with 3 minutes recovery between each is a great goal as this seems to be the most productive for a broad range of cyclists. As your fitness improves you’ll need to adapt your interval and other training sessions to continue to challenge and improve your fitness.

Intervals are best done on  stationary bike trainer as this allows more control over conditions and the ability to measure output more accurately.

If you want to get  in depth solid interval training programs you can’t go past  Coach Arnie Baker’s book on High Intensity Training programmes.