Day 114\ A new start and some top advice.....

A new year and a 'New Start'. My last post i wrote about really getting bugger all done and that theme has continued over Christmas and new year. I managed one running session and one TRX session however, flight cancellations a further bought of illness or two, a diagnosis of mild Bird Flu later and i'm back home raring to go. Yesterday i got back on the bike and in glorious sunshine did 21km in an hour and felt great afterwards. However it did serve to reinforce a number of key points,

1. The need for appropriate kit
2. The need for a bike that fits and doesn't crush any important nerves!!!! 

Pop 'New Start' into google images and this is the result

While in London i managed to go and see my friend Scherrit aka 'The Bike Whisper' so he could have a look at me on a bike, as we are similar sizes it was his bike. I don't want to knock 'the steed' but this thing was like sitting in a bubble bath by comparison. The long and short of it was as follows'

• Sportive Bike (more comfy than out and out racer)
• Baby front cog (a sportive bike should have but compulsory for a bigger rider)
• Effective top top length of 575mm

Based on my desire to be comfortable on this ride and during the training hand built in steel could well be the winning specification. Also on the kit front were speedplay pedals. These are generally rated as the best around and are as you'd expect more expensive but i think they are worth it and i'll explain why.

From previous sporting experience injuries have occurred from contact, accidents or fatigue. Injuries in cycling also occur from fatigue but more as a result of repetitive strain type injury. Think about it, you aren't performing large, multidirectional open chain movements but a small closed chain movement. But you are performing it hundreds of thousands if not millions of times, so if you have a series of small errors in your setup or restriction on how your body wants to move naturally then you likely won't be able to feel it but after several months and a couple hundred thousand cycles it could potentially spoil your training and competitions, cycling really is all about 'the aggregation of marginal gains'. So for my money hand made frame with speedplays.

Other Tips

• Top quality shorts (makes sense really)
• Splodge of cream between the legs before longer cycles
• Longer cycles to be performed at 80rpm (including hills) and below aerobic threshold approx = 180-age +5
• Come out of sadle for 20-30 seconds every 12 to 15 mins to give your bits a rest
• Don't let your knees drop out to the side at the top of each stroke