Break from racing
Racing is quite demanding in all respects be it physical, mental, or social. That is why one can never take shortcuts and every detail must be ironed out. I have always been a tech weenie and naturally always made sure my bike was in prestine condition before race day. After class gets out Friday afternoon I'd take not a moment of respite and soon be on the porch scrubbing the chain down to a shine, removing the cassette to dislogde those chunks of who-knows-what, and lubing everything up to be sure that not a single watt was wasted. But I had not yet tapped into one of the biggest resources to improve performance, a good bike fit. My dad mentioned this to me during the week and before we knew it we were on our two and a half hour trek to Austin. BTW: When you pull into the Source-E's parking lot, shift to first if you're driving standard it's like a wall. We met up with David and after taking a quick look at the amazing SRM ergometer and lab equipment, we started the bike fit process. As it was my first bike fit ever, the process was a rewarding learning experience. With the aid of some sticky dots, a level with a "laser", an angle measuring tool, and an awesome Salsa stem that allows you to adjust a nearly infinite number of positions, David and I were able to micro adjust my position. During the process we determined that my saddle was too high, my stem was 1cm too long, and that I was a pretty symmetrical person. We also adjusted my cleats with a black marker and piece of paper. Although I don't really understand how it works, we figured out that I needed to slide my cleat back just a bit. It was a great learning experience and I was also able to see my sister at UT. When I got back home I was excited to get back on the bike. After a two week lull off the bike I expected to be pretty sluggish on my first ride, but that was not the case. I'm sure it wasn't my fitness, so the bike fit really helped. After just fifteen minutes to adapt, I found that I was pedaling a rounder circle(although I still need to work on pushing over the top of the stroke) and wasn't shifting as much on my saddle.
I have always neglected this nuance, but now I have figured out how important a bike fit really is. This plus the motivation of the a new team, keeps me ready for a new season. Although a stomach problem has stalled my training a bit, I'm already better and ready to come out of the off season flying.
Thanks for reading,
Alan Ting