Volume 1 / Issue 008

Triathlons are gaining ground in popularity and I have written down some thoughts about the bicycle leg and what one can do to improve. I have such respect for people who will work this hard in three sports to better themselves! I hope to generate some comments from this article to post later.

The next Dallas Fitting Trip is scheduled for Dec 26th-29th. Let me know if you need help with fittings or planning your next dream bike.

Our Q&A section continues with questions about riding in a straight line and brake adjustment.

Our Holiday Special on Tacx Fortius Virtual Reality trainers continues. We have almost sold out but will honor any new order before Christmas at the special price.

Don’t forget to visit our blog as new stuff is posted there almost daily. It is easy to subscribe to the blog so you can get updates sent to you.

Thanks again for letting me share with you a little about cycling. I respect your time and will strive to continue to make it worth it.

Our every other weekend trips to Dallas have to be modified in the next few weeks to accommodate demand. I am also developing fitting trips to Houston and other locations so stay tuned. If you want me to come to your city and do fittings for you and your colleagues, contact me and we can arrange it.

Dallas Fitting Trip, December 26th through December 29th. Fittings will be held in the Cooper Fitness Center in the spin classroom.

Dallas Fitting Trip, January 9th through January 12th. Fittings will be held in the Cooper Fitness Center in the spin classroom.

Holiday Special

Tacx Fortius “Ultimate Stationary Bike” VR Trainers

I wrote an article for the website recently entitled “The Ultimate Stationary Bike” that described how a Virtual Reality trainer can transform your bike into an incredible indoor cycling experience. The Tacx Fortius was featured in last month’s Bicycling Magazine and an online review is posted here.

Tacx has improved the model for next year and has an upgrade path for units purchased this year. Next year’s version will be able to utilize Google Earth files to allow you to ride any course that can be plotted, while indoors looking at your computer monitor or flatscreen TV. All you need is a computer and the Fortius and you are good to go.

The MSRP of a Fortius Multiplayer  is $2044 and the upgrade for a current unit is $180. I am offering these units for $1750 so you have the ability to get the new unit capability later and get a trainer now to keep the holiday pounds at bay.

Even though I only have two Fortius Units in stock I will honor any orders made prior to Dec 25. Special orders need to be paid in full and you can call with a credit card.

Also, I will assemble the units for $125, including updating any firmware in the motor brake.

I also have Real Life Videos, training mats, trainer tires and sweat covers to complete your indoor training setup.

Check out the reviews and give me a call. You may be fitter at the end of the Holiday Season than at the start!

Feature Article – Triathlon Training and Fit – When in Rome…

Triathlon is one of  the best things that has happened to bicycling. Many people who were runners and swimmers, or just people wanting to challenge themselves in a race against the clock, have taken up the Swim, Bike, Run phenomenon. I think it is super as it brings a different type of person into cycling. There is much to learn, however, and I have always been adding to my “triathlon bank” of information.

When cyclists dabble in triathlons, they are already good cyclists and running is relatively easy to learn. I remember when I was a full-time Category 2 bike racer in Dallas, I found a “Thursday Night Group” of runners at White Rock Lake in Dallas who seemed to be having a great time running and then going to a place afterwards to drink beer and eat. I did some 10K runs and found it easy enough to get to a 6:15 pace, but as luck would have it, I turned my ankle badly and my running career was over. It also hurt my cycling and I remembered this when I started seeing people try triathlons back in the 80’s.

I see many people who are triathletes and a trend has developed, at least to my perspective. I sense that triathletes will spend inordinate amounts of time in the pool learning to perfect a swim stroke. They do intervals, speed work, and emulate the fast swimmers who can win a competitive swim meet. Additionally they run with the fast runners. I hear of all sorts of organized run workouts; hill intervals, fartlek, speed work, track workouts, you name it. Here is the rub: I also hear so many of these people “just getting on their tri bike and riding.” This does not compute to me!

In many past articles I have elaborated how much one needs to learn to ride a bicycle properly. I think that this fear of the unknown combined with bad anecdotal urban myths (“I don’t draft on a group ride because I can’t draft in a triathlon,” etc.) causes triathletes to suffer on the bike and subsequently the run. With this in mind, there are two things I ask triathletes to think about as they work on their bike leg; Fitting and Training.

Since I talk about fitting a lot, we can get this one out of the way. I believe the best and most aerodynamic position on a triathlon bike is one that is efficient enough to generate loads of power, balanced enough to avoid muscle imbalances that can cause premature fatigue and comfortable enough (read high enough!) to allow you to stay in the aerobars the entire event. I cannot stress this last part. If the bike is set up so that you have to sit up and rest during the triathlon then you are going to pay a huge time penalty. My fitting process deals with this and I can answer direct questions from you regarding this part of the program.

The main topic of this article is “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Translated into triathlon bikespeak, this means that if you swim with the fast swimmers and run with the fast runners, you need to learn to ride with the fast bike riders. I know this is so easy to say and so hard to do, and that is why I am mentioning it. More people lose time on the bike than anything, followed closely by losing time on the run because the bike leg was a disaster. The runner-centric thought process also contributes here, stating that if the bike leg is too taxing, the run is blown, so take it easy on the bike leg.

My thought is, the people finishing at the front of their age groups or overall are not taking it easy on the bike. They train like bike racers on the bike, just like they do swimming and running. Here is how you can do it:

1. Ride a road bike in group rides. Tri bikes are inherently designed to ride in a timed race, not in packs. You need the speed work and intensity of road group rides, particularly with people who are better than you. Get a good road bike and learn the tricks of the road racers. This finesse and expertise will transfer back to the triathlon. It’s not easy to learn to ride with bike racers but it is well worth it.
2. You need to ride in a straight line in a triathlon. This is the shortest distance between two points. You learn to ride in a straight line in a peloton as you are close to other riders and the better the group, the closer they can ride together. You eventually learn to relax and ride gracefully and smoothly.
3. Do intervals. Hill intervals, speed intervals, short and long intervals. You already do this on the swim and run, just do the same on the bike.
4. When riding in groups, get used to going fast. Once you are used to 30 miles an hour, holding 25 mph on the tri bike doesn’t seem so bad.
5. Push your limits on hard training days. When you do intervals or go on a hard group ride, exceed your expectations. You may suffer. You may get dropped. This kind of conditioning will make you better. The logic is to train hard enough that two things happen. First, when you recover, you will get stronger. Second, the training is so hard that the race is easier.
6. Get a coach. A good coach will make a huge difference in your progress. You need to be accountable and the coach can help keep you from overtraining. You may need more input than one coach can give. If your coach is weak on swimming, for instance, you may need a separate swim coach to work in tandem with your main coach. It’s ok. Nobody knows everything about everything. I don’t coach running or swimming, but focus strictly on the bike. You need expert help from three disciplines.

At the end of the day, getting your position on the bike better and learning to ride both the road bike and the triathlon bike well is not only important, but a realistic pathway to cut huge chunks of time from your events. Nobody said triathlon was easy, but so many people are finding the rewards that it must be worth it. Stay focused!

Until next time,

Kevin
President
KGS Bikes

Dear Kevin,

I got a hint from my husband that I am getting rollers for Christmas. I have trouble riding in a straight line on the road and he is tired of people calling me out as a “squirrelly” rider. I am terrified of these things but deep down I know he is right. Should I tell him that rollers are a short pathway to divorce court or can you tell me what to do so I don’t embarrass myself?

Annie

Dear Annie,

You have asked two questions but the answer is the same for both of them. You have trouble riding in a straight line, and you know that to ride rollers you have to ride in a straight line! There are many reasons people have trouble riding in a straight line, smoothly and relaxed. One question I would have is, do you have your bike setup so that your hands have a lot of weight on them? If the saddle is too far forward you are holding yourself up with your hands and that can make steering difficult. Also a super short stem can make steering quicker than you like. Those issues are beyond the scope of this Q&A so let’s assume they are ok.

Rollers and riding on the road are just the same, only different. I know that is a smart aleck remark, but consider this. The rollers turn underneath you, so while you are stationary, the “road” is moving underneath you. That said, anything you do on the road you should be able to do on rollers. What they don’t tell you is that rollers reward good technique and penalize bad technique more so than the road. This means that learning rollers and riding in a straight line just need some definition and coaching.

Regarding the road, I suggest that you pick a stretch of road that you are confident and comfortable on and that you do “white line” drills. What this means, is that you ride on the white line and see how long you can do it. Don’t look down at your front tire, but see the front tire in your peripheral vision. This is the trick! When you look farther down the road your riding will smooth out. Just check the tire on the white line with glances and you will learn to relax.

Now that you have gotten this down, it’s time to learn to ride rollers. I am going to save this topic until next time, but just put the rollers in a doorway and go slowly. I will have more info in the next newsletter.

Kevin

Cooper Clinic - The world renowned Cooper Clinic is starting to create medical exams and services aimed at professional adults who ride bicycles.

Cooper Fitness Center – The Cooper Fitness Center has a special strength training introductory program for cyclists.

These links are to our frame builders and other providers that make KGS Bikes the premiere fitting studio and cycling boutique in the world:

Co-Motion Cycles – We’ve long enjoyed a reputation for building tandems that simply handle better.

Guru Bikes – Our approach is based on combining the best of both worlds: cutting edge technology delivered by hand and with an old school attention-to-detail.

Lew Racing – Lew Racing has achieved a following among racing cyclists because of the wheel’s tremendously high strength, low weight and the meticulous attention to engineered performance inherent in its design.

Parlee Cycles – Simply put, PARLEE frames are the best built and best riding carbon fiber frames available today, at any price. They are functional works of art.

Rocket 7 – Since 1999, Rocket7 has been handcrafting cycling shoes in the USA with the finest materials available.

Sem Custom Paint – Dave Sem is the best extreme detail painter in the world.

Serotta – Only Serottas have the extensive engineering of our proprietary Colorado Concept tubing design. It’s the foundation behind the unique ride of each and every Serotta.

Source Endurance – They are teaming with us to provide physiological testing, data analysis, training consultation and long-term coaching. They have two state-of-the art labs, one in Austin and one in San Marcus. We are proud to recommend them and invite you to check them out.

Storck Bicycles – Numerous innovations in frame and component design that are standard in the industry today were developed, patented, and introduced by Storck Bicycle.

Tacx – Home of the Fortius Virtual Reality trainer. This is the trainer component of our “Ultimate Spin Bike”. Tacx also makes many other fine products. KGS Bikes is an Authorized Tacx Testing Center.

Zinn Cycles – For more than a quarter of a century, Zinn Cycles have been working to make cycling more enjoyable for customers, and that commitment remains at the heart of everything they do.

About KGS Bikes and Kevin

KGS Bikes is known around the world as the premiere bicycle fitting studio and cycling boutique. Kevin Saunders, President, has over 25 years experience in bicycle fitting and high-end bicycles. He also has a broad knowledge of anatomy, structural engineering and industrial design. In addition to fitting services, KGS Bikes sells bicycles from Parlee, Serotta, Zinn, Co-Motion, Storck and Guru. They also feature Lew wheels, custom shoes by Rocket7 and the best available components from around the world. Visit kgsbikes.com for more information, including beautiful photography of the bikes carefully created for their owners.

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KGS Bikes – 16611 Huebner Rd. – San Antonio, TX 78248 – 210-849-2501