Which Drivers are the Worst

There is a poll on a cycling forum, that I take part in from time to time that is running a survey trying to determine which cars are the worst when it comes to altercations with cyclists.

The survey can be found at the Canadian Cyclist Forum.

Which drivers are the worst?

Here's what I wrote on the forum:

The worst drivers (and cyclists to for that matter, but that's a whole other thread) are the ones who don't understand that they share the road with all other users of that road, that what they are doing is the riskiest and most dangerous thing that any of us do on a daily basis, that it requires their full concentration on what they are doing, and that in an instant they can seriously injure or kill another user of the road, be it another car driver, cyclist, pedestrian, or even themselves!

Most drivers are not bad, but there is a certain percentage of drivers who take a completely cavalier attitude towards driving a vehicle and think that all that matters is themselves and they are the only user of the roadways that matter. That somehow they are exempted from the rules of the road, common sense, civility and the laws of physics. Over the years, I have seen this group driving all kinds of makes, models and types of vehicles. It's less to do with the vehicle and more to do with a mind-set and attitude.

Which drivers have you found to be the worst?

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You Ask I Tell #2

Mikel Perce asks - Can Macca win again in Kona?

If you are talking about this year, as of yesterday, and Chris McCormack's decision to go after a spot on the Australian Olympic Team for 20112, that answer now by default is, "No"! It's an interesting development to be sure - says a lot about the man and the sport. I have always liked Chris McCormack. To him triathlon has always been about swim/bike/run. He cares little about the format, drafting, no drafting, the length of the race, the stakes, where and when. He just loves to, swim/bike/run and race. He's a true original and Renaissance man in in the sport in this regard. No petty comments about how this format or this length or this race is better than another. It also says a lot about the sport of triathlon and what is this sports biggest stage, and I think there are some misconceptions there. Many, think that it's Ironman and Ironman Hawaii in particular - hard not to think this, if you are in the sport because the triathlon media and many triathletes are absolutely obsessed by the Ironman distance. The reality is that compared to the Olympic triathlon, the Ironman pales in terms world wide media attention and exposure. The Ironman is possibly the biggest event inside the sport of triathlon, but outside the sport of triathlon, it's most clearly the Olympic Games Triathlon.


Derek Aldritt asks - What is the worst excuse that you have ever used to get out of a training session?

I will counter this question with asking another - why would you be doing something as time consuming and arduous, as training for a triathlon if you were looking for excuses to get out of training? The training, first and foremost, has to be something you want to do. Lance Armstrong goes to great lengths in he first chapter of "It's Not About The Bike", about how getting on the bike and riding every day is what he wants to do. In fact, he hopes, he dies someday while riding his bike. A morbid thought to be sure, but the point being, that to be an endurance athlete is to have this inner passion and drive to want to be out there, doing what you do every day and few things will get in the way of that. Sure life gets in the way from time to time, but you should never resort to having to make up excuses to get out of training. This is what you want to do!

Larry Bradley asks - How much time will a racing flat save you in the run leg of an Olympic Distance triathlon?

In real time not a lot - in a 10K run at modest pace, we are talking 10's of seconds. Enough to possibly separate you and some competition. The real secret of racing flats or any special equipment that you use only on race day is the psychological boost that you will get from holding off using your best gear, and keeping it in reserve for race day use only. Of course, you should never use something, shoes or otherwise completely new and different on race day - everything should be tested in training first, to see how it works and your body reacts. However, the mental boost and edge that you get by having race-day-only gear can be significant and can't be over-looked.

Do you have a question about the Sport of Triathlon? You Ask, I tell!


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What The Heck Were We Thinking?

An old friend sent me this picture recently. Yes, that's yours truly rocking the Speedo in a triathlon race in the late 80's somewhere in Ontario. In a recent post, I was talking about Training Naked (although a different kind of naked) - back then we used to race nearly naked! And the little that we did wear, was trimmed in pink! Yikes!

What were we thinking? Swim/bike/run in a Speedo? Brilliant. It did make for quick transitions, but the only place that this sort of get-up was cool( and that's a stretch, looking back), was on race day on a triathlon race course. No where else. Of course, some did push the boundaries with this - wearing the Speedo elsewhere - out shopping and for coffee (I am serious), and that's why we have the Under-Pants Run at Ironman Hawaii and other Ironman races - as a sort-of lampooning send-up of how ridiculous, and potentially offensive this all was to others.

Fast forward to today, and thankfully tri clothing for triathlon races has become much better. Truth be told, doing it all in a Speedo was not that comfortable. I am not sure exactly what we were thinking. Hopefully, in some small way, our crazy ambitions and discomfort back then, has lead to the more realistic, modest and comfortable triathlon race apparel options that are available today.

Although, don't get me going on the compression socks! A blog for another day.

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You Ask I tell

I am starting a semi-regular feature here, called, You Ask I Tell. I fielded the questions on Twitter and will answer them here on the blog.

Rhys Spencer asks, "How can I do well in an Ironman triathlon without any swim training?"

The reality for many age-group triathletes is that swim training takes up the most amount of time with the least bang for the buck and with perhaps the greatest inconvenience of the three sports that make up triathlon. I am saying that you do need to swim, but once you have elevated the swimming to a certain level it's really hard to take it to the next level . . and the next level really may be only a few minutes faster. What to do? Make sure your stroke is a as good as it can be. Make sure when you get in the pool you really make every interval and workout count. Make sure that you do straight 30 min and even 60min plus swims at IM race pace regularly. Most Master's swim programs will not have you doing this, but it's my feeling and the feeling of a few top triathlon coaches that I have spoken to who feel these are important workouts for the IM swim.

Larry Bradley asks "Why do we see Age-Group triathletes finishing in the top 10 of some 70.3 triathlons?"

There has been a very quick proliferation of the 70.3 races in the past few years and the size of the Pro pool of athletes has not grown accordingly. Once you drop away from the absolute best long-distance triathletes in the world, you get into a gray area where there may be a mingling of second and third tier Pro triathletes and the very best Age-Group triathletes. Some of these Age-Group triathletes are very fit and experienced and when they have a good day they are finishing in the top-10 of races.

Rob Colling asks, "What is your training advice for those of us triathletes in the freeziest of areas?"

You need to focus on what you can do and what you can't do. Because triathlon is made of of three sports there are a number of different ways to skin the cat here. However, I find that many triathletes tend to lament the fact that they can't cycle that much because of snow, cold and lack of light and to not focus on what sort of training can be done despite the weather. One approach for some is to forget triathlon almost completely and just cross-country ski. However, to make this really work, you need to really commit to the skiing. A couple times each month does not count. You need to commit to 3 - 4 ski sessions/week and really work it. No skiing for you? This is perhaps the best approach for the non- skier: Make the winter a huge run focus and/or swim focus. Winter weather, should have minimal impact how much and how often you can run or swim. Winter running, with the right apparel and right attitude, can be some of the best running of the year! They say that the base for great summer running performances is laid in the winter. What about the bike? Forget the mega long terribly boring trainer rides. Hit the bike trainer a couple times each week, but really make it count. No noodling around. Quick warm-up. Go hard for 20 -30 minutes and then warm down. Done!

Hope this helps.

You ask I tell. Any questions?

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Merry Christmas

Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer
Fun for all that children call
Their favorite time of the year

Snowflakes in the air
Carols everywhere
Olden times and ancient rhymes
Of love and dreams to share

Sleigh bells in the air
Beauty everywhere
Yuletide by the fireside
And joyful memories there

Christmas time is here
We'll be drawing near
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year
Oh, that we could always see

. . . .by Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson

Paolina and I would like to wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas. Safe travels and training wherever you may be!

Training Naked!

Back then they really trained naked!

Do you train naked?

Not talking about training in the nude - sans clothes, although I am sure there are some who do that to! Make sure you use sunscreen! What I am talking about here, is training without all the modern training and monitoring tools that almost everyone seems to be using these days - heart rate monitors, power-meters, GPS units and so on. Some also call this training blind.

I came of age as an endurance athlete back when none of these tools where around. Training tended to revolve around pace and time. These were the guide-lines and benchmarks that we used. Race-results were how we measured progress. The stop-watch and the results sheet don't lie! If we were going out for a 2 hour ride, we noted the fact that we had been out about an hour with our Timex watch, and it was time to turn for home. Simple! That was as about as advanced as we got.

I recall winning a nice Polar heart-rate monitor (HRM) a number of years ago, when I won a 5K running road race. I was interested to see what it was like training with it. Having taken Human Physiology at university and at that point having trained for over 10 years at a moderate level, I was familiar with the different zones and the importance of them in training. After doing some testing with the new HRM and finding out my maximum heart-rate through some field testing, I was able to establish what my zones were and what my heart rate ranges for each zone.

Remarkably, all my key training paces for both bike and run, matched up almost exactly with the key heart rate zones established for training. I had been using the various zones and knowing exactly what they were, by knowing how my body felt at those efforts and levels of intensity, and what the effort felt like, with the only outside input being a wrist-watch!

In a previous blog I talked about running frequency - runs/week - and how this was a great way to establish a solid base of running fitness. You could easily sub-in cycling or swimming to that frequency program as well. In that Blog I suggested that people, not worry too much about how they are running, the pace, the time, the heart-rate, and just run. Run so that you will be able to repeat that run the next day, and the day after that, and the . . . and so on. If you do this enough, in any sport, with a bit of trial and error you will find that edge, of where you can push it a little bit, but not go over. This is key - to find that true edge of your aerobic and endurance fitness and surf along it for little bits of time, and start to extend the time spent at the edge, based on feel. Why is this important? Because, this is what you are doing when you are racing - finding that edge, and then trying to maintain the maximum effort/pace for the distance that you are racing.

To newer athletes who have started up training exclusively with HRM's and power-meters on the bike and carefully scripted spread-sheet training programs based on numbers, limits and zones, this may seem absurd and a bit scary, but if you start training naked and based on feel, you will start to develop a very tuned-in sense, of how you are breathing, your stride or pedal rate, your turnover in swimming, how your legs and muscles feel, at that level of effort. You'll know, and that's a really good thing. The off-season, which is now for many triathletes, runners and cyclists, is a great time of year to try this. Just, run, or ride or swim. Go easy. Go hard. Find the edge. Note how you feel and what's going on with your body.

Do you train naked?

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Customer Service - What does it mean?

In past three weeks as fate would have it I have needed to contact three different companies in the tri/bike space about some minor issues/problems. I received two amazing responses and one I am not sure what to do or how to categorize, but most would consider, this company's response bad.

I'll start with the not so good . . err bad. Let me first say that I am a huge fan and user of this companies product. However, I'm having some problems with a piece of equipment so I go to this companies very well designed and stylish web site and I find the "Contact Us" form. Explain my problem in a nice way and send in the query. I wait a week and I hear nothing. At about 10 days I send another note through the "Contact Us" form (there is no phone/email info on the site). Another week goes by and nothing. I find this company on Twitter, not trying to out them or be an ass, I send a nice neutral Tweet in their direction about what is the best way to make contact about a customer service issue and how long should I wait for a response. Nothing back. This company is considered a leader in their particular product category. Since I don't know the full side of the story, from there side, I will not name them in this post.

A part broke on one of our Kurt Kinetic indoor trainers (the roller wheel adjustment knob). Go to Kurt Web site and get the Customer Service number. I phone and within 30 sec I have a live person in the CS area on the phone who asks, "How can I help". I explain and she then asks for my address and where she can mail me the part. In less than 2 minutes we are Done! No charge and the part is at my door a week later. Bam!

Have some questions about Speedplay pedals and pedal spindle lengths for my wife's Speedplay pedals. Go to Speedplay's site, find the contact form and submit query. Less than 24 hours later I have a personal eMail back from "Mike" explaining clearly and in detail what my options are. I have some further questions which I fire off in an email and minutes later, "Mike" get's back to me. Another Bam!, problem solved!

Obviously the last two are what I would consider amazing customer service and we would hope this is the way it always ends, but we know that is not the case. Still not quite sure what to make of the first company's response.

What's your most recent Customer Service story - good or bad ( Hopefully we get more good than bad!)?

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