It's All About The Base

Climbing Kaloko in Kona, HI. Picture - Paolina Allan

Ounce again, I'm putting the 30-Year-Base to the test. If you have been involved in an endurance sport (running, cycling or triathlon) for less than 5 years, with all due respect, skip right to the end of this post for the final good news.

It's at times like this that I'm thankful that I've been doing what I have for the last 30 plus years. You see, there is a huge advantage to having a massive base of aerobic fitness that you can tap into. You can do things and get away with things that the newer athlete can't.

In a few weeks we are off to Cuba again for some cycling with some pretty serious road cyclists. I'm really looking forward to it, and again, my goal is the same - don't get dropped!

Because of the big base of fitness that I have, over a relatively short period of time, I can elevate my regular fitness to a higher level reasonably "quickly". It's not easy, and it does not come without some genuine, hard and concentrated work, but I always surprise myself, how quickly the fitness does ramp up. I've been using several different sessions on the indoor trainer, coupled with steady state riding on the rollers on the "off-days". I dug into some old training logs, and also read up on "Sweet-Spot" intervals. As a classic "pursuit-style" rider my whole life, these are the kinds of sessions that I both "enjoy", if that's the right word,  have a high impact, and ramp up my fitness quickly. 

The other two sessions I've been doing are NOT so enjoyable (to be honest they are ugly, brutal and painful) - but are also high-impact: T-Max sets, as well as one minute All-Out bursts with almost full recovery - I've always been the, world's worst sprinter on the bike, but these sprint sessions forces me to activate and work this range and the five fast-witch muscle cells I have in my whole body!! Both these sessions have me on the trainer for 60 minutes or less. A painful, 60 minutes - but a productive, 60 minutes!

And it's all coming around - a month in and with just two weeks to go, I can feel the legs and the lungs coming around. I'm looking forward to the trip to Cuba, and fingers-crossed, not getting dropped from the main group.

The good story to end this with and for the newbies just joining back in now, THIS is one of the key up-sides and advantages to hanging in there for the long-haul with endurance sports. Once that serious, long-term aerobic base is established (roughly 5 years or more), you can whip yourself back into some pretty decent form over a relatively short period of time. 

The BIG base is helpful in other ways. When you have some down-time either by choice (vacation, taking a break etc , .) or by force (injury, sickness), the loss of fitness tends to be more minimized the bigger your overall fitness and aerobic base is, and the quicker you will return to good to great form!

The Challenges of Cycling in York Region

*Why is it that only a few roads in York Region get this extra strip of pavement to the right?

An event called the York Region Bike Summit was/is going on today. I found out about this too late to attend.

I lieu of of attending, I thought I might sum up  a few anecdotes/observations/questions, from a regular cyclist who's lived in the heart of York Region, in Aurora for 14 years.

They have been resurfacing many of the secondary roads in the region, more out in the country-side, recently which is great.* Why is it when they do this, do they not add that extra meter of pavement on the other side of the white right line to all the roads? Safer for cyclists and for motorists!

I see that bike lanes do get added intermittently in some of the municipalities. Newmarket did add a bike lane to Bathurst on their section of Bathhurst when the road was refurbished recently, but when Aurora refurbished Bathurst on their stretch, extended to the south . . no bike lane! Why?

Aurora just added a bike lane on Bloomington Side Road between, Bayview and Yonge street. It's a great addition. Nice to see. Unfortunately this bike lane goes from nowhere, to . . . nowhere! I've cycled along there maybe 15 times since the spring. I've never seen another cyclist on it!

Some form of education, perhaps starting right at Drivers Education, needs to go on regarding cyclists. It's extraordinary the numbers of drivers I encounter on roads in York Region who tell me flat out, and with a straight face that, "Bikes are not allowed on the road!"

The sprawl has led to many services, and retail, being too far to walk for many (although it's not that far for some!), but a great deal of services and retail, is within an easy bike ride of thousands of homes in York region! I cycled over to a new shopping mall near me a few years ago that was less than 1km from my house. There was no proper place to lock up my bike. I polity asked, the store manger why this was the case. Her response: "We did not even think of that!"

When I walk around my neighborhood, and I peer into the garages of neighbors, I see that more than a few houses do have bicycles of some form in those garages. This is good news.Yet, I never see these people out riding their bikes . . . ever! Why?

The sprawl goes on and on. When they sell these ever sprawling sub-divisions in York Region, the collateral marketing material used by the developers (brochures, billboards,  construction hoarding etc . . .) seems to frequently picture people walking, and . . riding bicycles, with tag lines such as, "Live close to nature . . . ". Yet, in an extension of the last paragraph, it's rare to actually see people out walking or riding anywhere in York region!

My sense is that the forces at work here are massively cultural/societal and will be really hard to change. When people are asked why they don't cycle more they'll come up with all manner of reasons and excuses - safety, weather, distance . . etc. My gut feeling, and I hate to say this, that as a culture and a society, particularly in heavily suburban areas of North America, such as York Region, we are becoming more lethargic and lazy! Go ahead pile-on. However, the ultimate evidence and acid test of this . . . our ever expanding waist lines!

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The Key Contact Point on a Bike - Part 1

 The under-side and business part of the new Look Blade 2 pedals.

This is the first of a two part series on what I believe is the key contact point on the bike - the pedal-cleat-shoe interface.

Contact points with the bike, are big with me. Previously I have blogged, about handle bars and even bar tape - stressing their importance, as key contact points. While others seem to stress about frame weights and materials, aerodynamics and Crr, for true riding enjoyment, comfort, and ultimately performance, it's the contact points we have with the bike, that are key to a great ride with optimal power transfer!

As to the last point - the pedal-cleat-shoe interface is where your hard earned fitness and power is transferred to the bike, then to the road, and is driving you forward! It's more important than you think.

There's lot's of choices for pedals. Some of this will be based on individual feelings and needs. Full confession, I've been a LOOK-man since they first came out with the first clip-less pedals back in the late 80's. I've had various LOOK and LOOK compatible pedals over the years. For me they have always worked, and worked well. The designs have been reasonably simple. The pedals have been durable, and easily maintained. They have always lasted longer, than I would have thought given the abuse they get.

My LOOK Keo Carbon pedals were starting to show their age. When the pedal platform and interface point on either the pedals or the cleats start to get worn down to the point, that you are getting a bit of medial-lateral rocking it's time to change either the cleat or the pedal or both.  Closer examination, of the old Keos. showed that the platform was showing some micro-wear - that even new cleats may not have helped with.

Naturally, I first had a look, at the current LOOK line up. When the Blade came out a few years ago, It looked intriguing - but the reviews were mixed, and like many I was a bit concerned with the exposed outboard location of the actual carbon fiber blade on the pedal - the functional part of the pedal that was applying the force to keep the cleat clicked in. It appeared, one, even minor bike crash, with a laying down of the bike on the side, might render the pedal useless!

For 2014, Look completely overhauled the Blade pedals - now called the Blade 2. The carbon fiber blade was widened, and moved to the very bottom and middle of the pedal. This made the pedal more rugged and, FWIW - improved aerodynamics of the pedal itself. It's so good at this now, LOOK stopped making a truly aero Blade pedal, for the time-trialer and triathlete!

Other improvements include a substantial increase in the contact interface between the pedal and the cleat (now 17% wider) and a slight lowering of the stack-height to the pedal axle ( now 13mm). Reviews, of the original Blades were that the click-in was a bit vague, and one could hardly tell you were even clicked in. I can say, that the with the Blade 2's the click-in feel is not dissimilar to the very popular Keo line - by both feel and and a nice and noticeable "click" noise. You know you are in!

The Blade 2 comes in three set tensions ( the Keos had adjustable tension) 12nm, 16nm and 20nm. I'm riding on the 12's, and they are similar in tension to the way I was set up on my Keo's - which I would judge as moderate. I'm told that most Pro level riders, who are riding the Blade 2's are going with the 16's. The 20's? Maybe for track sprinters?

Riding impressions: Fantastic - compared to my Keos, the contact with the bike seems more firm, positive and substantial. I use the grey LOOK cleats, that have a bit of float and everything feels amazing.

The one slight negative that I have about the Blade 2, is, that the pedals do not naturally return, to that heel-down position, that the Keos, and most other similar pedal designs do. This makes getting in the pedal a bit frustrating at first, as you are always expecting the pedal to be in that position - ready for action! It's this way for two reasons - LOOK used more robust seals on the inboard bearings, than previously, so the pedals don't spin as freely when un-weighted. The bigger reason, is the weight of the pedal is now more evenly distributed throughout the pedal and not concentrated in the heel - as it is with the Keo's. So, the pedals when you click out, if they end up up-side-down, will tend to stay up-side-down, until you want to click back in. Here, a little flip with the toe is needed to spin the pedal back into the correct position, to click back in cleanly. It takes a few times before you get the hang of this.

If you are looking for new pedals, that are very light (110g - CroMo, 90g - Ti), offer an amazing contact interface with the cleat/shoe, and are aero, then the new LOOK Blade 2 is one for you to consider.

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