Save South SeaTac For Riding

For the last 12 years or so the area under the flight path of SeaTac has been opened to Mt. bikers and hikers to enjoy. South SeaTac park (if you zoom in you'll see it's race day!), otherwise known as Des Moines Creek Park, through the work of many people has become a great urban mt. bike park that gets a lot of use all year round. Whether you're a MTB racer, CX racer, dirtjumper or weekend warrior South SeaTac provides great trails in an unique urban type setting. In the last year or so it has become known that there will be a jail built in the area and that we are in danger of losing the park to recreation. There is some great information on the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance website and I encourage you to read up on the project there. But this post isn't really about the jail and the issues concerning the construction of the jail. This post is about the amazing people in the Mountain bike community.

Through the work of Wick, John Kennedy, Joe Martin, Lisa Miller, BikeHugger, the Cascade BikeClub and I'm sure others, the word went out that it was time to support our sport and the areas in which we play. Through Facebook, Twitter, websites, blogs, email and I'm sure a few good old fashioned telephone calls the word went out. And people responded. This was to be a chance to show the officials in charge of the SCORE project that we care about the park, that we enjoy using the park and that we're good stewards of the park. And by all accounts we succeeded. There were somewhere near 400 people (racers and family) at a Wednesday Night World Championship race and they were all having a good time.

As I lined up with the masses to start my race I heard a few people exclaim, "this is crazy, look at all the people!" And I also heard, "don't worry about where you place, this is about saving the park". The attitude in the group was great and I was struck by how quickly this group could get organinzed and get out to support the sport. I saw people out there that I hadn't seen before. I saw teams from Recycled Cycles, uBRDO, Joe Bar, Revolution Cycles, Ragnorak, Center Cycle and more. I saw old friends that I hadn't talked to for a while and it made me remember why I like mt. biking so much. It's the community. The people. The laughs and the pain.

I was reminded of all those things last night and as I did my "dog lap" after the race I could do nothing but smile even though my legs felt like lead and my face was covered in dust. It was a great night for all the people that showed up and a great night for the cycling community in general. Thanks to all the people that showed up and thanks to all the people that got the word out.

What may I have done wrong?

Question:

I live in North Carolina and purchased a new bike recently. Bike is a Specialized Roubiax. Have never owned a road bike, only an old mountain bike that I have been using on the road with street tires. I have noticed over the first two weeks that I have actually lost speed over my ragtag mountain bike. What may I have done wrong? Wrong bike? Need to train more? Honestly, discouraged to have spent almost $2K and lost speed.

Jennie's Answer:

Hi Scott,

If your Specialized Roubiax has 23mm road tires on it, it should be fast, although your ragtag mountain could be faster on the downhill or flats. Sounds like your mountain bike is an old frame that is quite heavy and once you get it up speed on the flats or downhill, you probably feel like it's faster than the Roubiax, which could be possible! It really comes down to weight and resistance. If all things are equal: wheels, bearings, and tires, then the heavier the frame, the faster it will be (once you get it up to speed) on the flats and downhill. The lighter road bike still is the best option for varying terrain and will be faster overall for your riding. It could be that you are feeling like your Roubiax is less solid underneath you and it feels slower but you will adapt to the weight change and that feeling will go away!

Don't give up your Roubiax! You will really enjoy it after some more riding time!

Cheers,

Jennie

Stan's Answer

Hi Scott,

There are several components that influence your cycling performance in addition to the style of bike you're riding. First, there is no question that a lightweight road bike will outperform a mountain bike on pavement and generally the lighter the machine, the greater the advantage. Road bikes in addition to being significantly lighter than mountain bikes also allow better rider positioning for improved aerodynamics.

Better aerodynamics, lighter rolling components (mainly the wheels), and the overall lighter weight of a road bike make for no contest from a performance standpoint when compared that of a mountain bike. The second part of the equation is the rider and it sounds like in your case you have not spent a lot of time yet riding your new bike. While your new road bike will increase your performance over time, it will take some time for your body to adjust to the new riding position and it may be that you will need additional bike fit adjustments to optimize your comfort and power output. A fitting session by a trained fit specialist may be a good investment for you. I expect that you will see the improvement over the next month or two.

Ride for fun-ride for life,

Stan

Ask your own question here!

Recovering After a Climb

Question:

Hi, I tend to have issues with recovering stamina after climbing just a few of the local hills (Juanita drive, Interurban in Lynnwood). And I'm finding that I'm getting passed like crazy if there's any other bike traffic. Is this a strength training issue, or am I doing something wrong in my climb? Thanks! Jason

Jennie's response:

Hi Jason,

Thanks for your question. There are a few things that could be going on. If you are having problems on the climbs themselves, there isn't really anything wrong other than incorporating more specific climbing intervals in your training. Sounds like you aren't able to recover after the climbs because you are producing lactic acid during the climbs and having a hard time recovering. To prolong the time before you produce lactic acid, you can start incorporating strength endurance intervals to help your climbing. You'd want to do low cadence 40-50rpm for 5 minutes. Start with doing 4x5min at 40-50rpm uphill during your road training. You will have to choose a gear that you can hold for that duration and rpm. This is more of a muscular fatigue, so don't worry about your heart rate. When you do these, you have to really tighten your core by trying to pull yourself down into your saddle. This will protect your lower back when doing this strength work. If you do these intervals twice a week for 4 weeks you should feel much stronger on your climbing.

Cheers,

Jennie

Stan’s response:

Hi Jason,

Jennie’s suggestions will definitely improve your hill climbing, and general cycling performance, for that matter. Your cycling performance, as is true with most sports, will improve with increased riding (quantity of effort). The other factors that determine level of performance also include your body weight, equipment weight, your natural ability, level of fitness, and how you train (type and quality of effort). I would also include technique in this last category.

The good news is that there are many things you can do to improve your hill climbing. Following a regular program and increasing your work load gradually will improve your power, endurance and recovery rate. You will see improvement with these efforts whether you are riding 50 or 150 miles per week.

I am not a natural hill climber and look for any way I can to improve my hill performance and some of these techniques are: (1) Set a pace at the bottom of the hill and try to maintain this for the duration-do not go too hard initially as you will lose more time when you blow up than you gained at the beginning. (2) Get a cycling computer and, preferably, a heart rate monitor, so you can record lap times for repeat efforts on the same hill. This will provide a gauge of your improvement, both in performance and heart rate terms. Record this information in a training manual-that can consist of a simple calendar. I also recommend that you start recording your workouts and mileage in this journal. (3) Try to remain seated as much as possible-you will use less effort for the same speed. Stand occasionally to give your quads a rest. (4) Do not look at the top of the hill, but only the road just ahead of you (when this is safe). You’ll be less discouraged and reach the top sooner! (5) Use varied gears in your hill training-smaller to help develop your aerobic engine and larger to develop power. (6) Do not make a hard effort right before starting your climbing-save it for the climb. (7) When riding in a group, take the lead, if possible and ride your pace up the hill-many will follow your pace. (8) If you are leading near the top of the hill, try to hold the lead until you reach the crest to avoid getting “dropped” by the more rested following riders. If you do slip back, by being in the front, you have more distance you can give you before being dropped. (11) Remember not to gauge your results with that of others as there will always be better climbers-but measure your progress with your prior results. (12) And lastly, develop a “can do” attitude and look forward to climbing-Chris Carmichael says hill climbing provides more fitness per mile than any other type of riding! Many racers are not particularly strong on the hills, but get by and have other riding strengths to keep them competitive. I have also found that mountain bike riding improves hill climbing capability and bike handling skills as well. The good news is that everyone can improve their climbing performance to a great extent. Have fun and Ride for Life!

Stan

Would you like to ask a question of our panel? Click here to do it!

This is an bang-up opportunity!

We get a lot of email and a lot of it is trying to sell us something. This one is a classic!

Dear all.
This five wheels BMX bicycle is an far out model for 2009-2010 world market. It have four front-wheels (6") and one trailing wheel (20"). All aluminium and magnesium alloy frame. All parts be from Taiwan famous manufacturer as Chang Wei, Hanbin, Hsin lung, Weile, KMC, Kenda, Innova, JALCO, Chang star etc. thereinto, BMX-5W model be three speeds for urban bicycle and BMX-5Wi model be single speed for performing bicycle. It have very hypernotion, trendy and activate new performance for each young people. This is an bang-up opportunity, If you be interested in this new product and will turn into exclusives wholesaler in north USA market, Pls contact us soon.

What do you think, should we carry this? After all is a "bang up opportunity".

Tire Tech

This was part of our in-store messaging but I thought it would be good to share with our readers

Most of us understand the basic differences between bicycle tires. Most of us could offer up to customers that a Specialized Armadillo 700x23 offers a high degree of flat resistance but rides slower and 'harsher' than more supple tire while a Michelin pro race 3 provides a lighter and faster tire.

What causes the different ride characteristics between all the different 700x23 tires we carry and why?

Finer threads and weaves in higher thread count tires have less space that can be filled by rubber compounds. this minimal infill of rubber allows a tire to be built lighter and retain greater suppleness of the fabric casings.

A tire with a supple casing is faster because the casing absorbs less energy as it deforms. This minimizes the amount of energy lost when the tire rolls over pavement rugosities. This lower loss of energy makes folding tires faster. A more supple casing ALSO deforms more over pavement rugosities. This greater deformation makes more supple tires more comfortable in ride quality than a stiffer bodied tire.

Less energy lost and greater 'give' makes more supple tires faster and more comfortable than their stiffer, more robust cousins.

With the advances in flat 'breaker' technology, tires like the Continental 4000 or Schwalbe Ultremo made with woven Vectran fibers- a very tough liquid polymer crystal thread woven into an extremely tough yet flexible fabric - can provide an admirably flat resistant and fast tire while retaining excellent suppleness and comfort. Michelin Pro Race 3 tires utilize a non-woven flatbreaker than make this 700x23 one of the faster, lighter road bike tires we offer while still providing a moderate degree of flat protection.

The few disadvantages of more supple tires are more fragile casings (sidewall abrasion resistance and durability overall) and higher cost.

Hope this has been informational-

Beck

source: Jan Heine, "PSI RX", March 2009 'Adventure Cyclist' magazine and other, sundry sources.

We do our best to stay informed and to keep our staff informed. It's not easy maintaining the "expert" status!

Rules of the Road

Looks like it's time to do another Bike Commuting 101 Clinic.  As the weather starts to turn nice and daylight savings comes there are more and more bikes on the road.  With more bikes on the road comes more confusion about the rules of the road as they pertain bikes and the interaction between cars and bikes on the road. 

The clinic will be here soon, in the meantime remember this one rule.  Act like a car. 

There are people that don't agree with this, but from my personal experience of commuting at least a few times a week for the last 15 years, it has served me very well.  I've never been hit (knock on wood).  It's been close three times.  Once was the cars fault, the other two were my own.  

Take a look at this series of questions and answers for even more info check out this article from the Seattle Times.

And stay tuned for a commuting clinic!

Seen in the Shop - Nov. 7

Cool old KTM bike in the service shop. I knew that KTM made motorcycles but had no idea that they also did bicycles. Check out the black box just behind the seat stay. It is a KTM branded plastic accessory box. Anybody know any history about the KTM bicycle brand?