How time flies!

Hello All,

Wow, how time has flown since the last post! Here’s what has happened in this 49er household during the last few weeks.

Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
Straight	Straight	Straight
Falcons	Giants	Packers
Chargers	Bills	Giants
Bengals	Packers	Bills
Ravens	Lions	Panthers
Rams	Titans	Browns
Lions	Dolphins	Cowboys
Jaguars	Steelers	Colts
Patriots	Panthers	Rams
Saints	Chargers	Saints
Texans	Falcons	Steelers
Redskins	49ers	Cardinals
49ers	Saints	49ers
Broncos	Patriots	Chargers
Dolphins		Bengals
Panthers		Seahawks*
Bears
8-8	6-7	11-3

These picks were put in because I put them in back in July. As I update you, I have the Monday night game on, but I feel confident the Hawks will win this one.

I, unfortunately, have not touched my fantasy team, either. I am not sure who is hurt or who should have been starting. Anyway, here is my starting lineup for the last three weeks, and the points my team accumulated.

	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
QB – Drew Brees (Saints)	22	24	22
RB – Toby Gerhart (Jaguars)	6	9	2
RB – Mark Ingram (Saints)	0	0	0
WR – Demaryius Thomas (Broncos)	5	-Bye-	36
WR – Michael Crabtree (49ers)	15	4	1
WR – Allen Hurns (Jaguars)	12	6	2
FLEX – Shonn Greene (Titans)	9	1	3
DT – Justin Smith (49ers)	0	2	1
DE – Carlos Dunlap (Bengals)	2	-Bye-	1
DE – Justin Tuck (Raiders)	1	1	-Bye-
LB – Curtis Lofton (Saints)	1	2	1
LB – Alec Ogletree (Rams)	3	-Bye-	2
LB – Von Miller (Broncos)	2	-Bye-	1.5
LB – DeAndre Levy (Lions)	4	2	2
CB – DeAngelo Hall (Redskins)	4	0	-Bye-
CB – Janoris Jenkins (Rams)	3	-Bye-	0
S – Eric Weddle (Chargers)	2	2	0
S – Bernard Pollard (Titans)	1	0	0
D/ST – Seattle Seahawks	0	-Bye-	In Progress
K – Mason Crosby (Packers)	1	8	6
P – Andy Lee (49ers)	2	2	1
HC – Carolina Panthers	0	0	1
	Loss 96-117	Loss 63-74

Lesson for today: always update your fantasy football lineup, and pick your spread games. Northern Borealis is now 1-3 and is looking at going 1-4. I am going to get back into the groove.

Right now it’s 10-0 Seattle with 8:30 left in the 2nd Quarter. I have Seattle winning, by 6 points. Unless Washington can “wake up” and start playing, Seattle is going to win by a lot more than the 6 points I predicted. I’ll update you on the Monday night game, my pickems, and Northern Borealis tomorrow.

Talk to you later!

Week 1 – NFL

Hello All,

Like I said, I will keep you guys updated on what I say and what happened in the world of the NFL. Since I am getting this out to you the Friday after football season has officially started, I will give you the picks I made, the lineup of my fantasy team, and the results of it all. So, this will be a longer post than normal.

Week 1 Picks

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Teams I have to win this week

• Seattle Seahawks
• New Orleans Saints
• Chicago Bears
• Baltimore Ravens
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Kansas City Chiefs
• New York Jets
• St. Louis Rams
• New England Patriots
• Philadelphia Eagles – My Lock of the Week
• Houston Texans
• San Francisco 49ers
• Carolina Panthers
• Denver Broncos
• Detroit Lions
• Arizona Cardinals

Green were picked correctly, Red I missed on. My total for the week was 10 out of 16.

Fantasy Team

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QB – Drew Brees (Saints)

RB – Toby Gerhart (Jaguars)

RB – DeAngelo Williams (Panthers)

WR/TE – Demaryius Thomas (Broncos)

WR/TE – Alshon Jeffery (Bears)

 WR/TE – Michael Crabtree (49ers)

FLEX – Kyle Rudolph (Vikings)

DT – Kyle Williams (Bills)

DE – Julius Pepers (Packers)

DE – Carlos Dunlap (Bengals)

LB – Curtis Lofton (Saints)

LB – Alec Ogletree (Rams)

LB – Von Miller (Broncos)

LB – Jerrell Freeman (Colts)

CB – DeAngelo Hall (Redskins)

CB – Janoris Jenkins (Rams)

S – Eric Weddle (Chargers)

S – Eric Reid (49ers)

D/ST – Lions

K – Mason Crosby (Packers)

P – Andy Lee (49ers)

HC – Panthers

Total points for the week were: 70 while my opponent gained 116. Some changes are coming up for my team…

Week 2 – NFL

Welcome back,

I am almost done playing catchup with providing my football picks and giving fantasy football updates for my team, Northern Borealis. That being said, let’s just dive right in.

Northern Borealis

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First off, I made a few changes to my fantasy roster:

	Position	Player	Team
Dropped	RB	DeAngelo Williams	Panthers
Added	RB	Mark Ingram	Saints
Dropped	DE	Chris Clemons	Jaguars
Added	DE	Justin Tuck	Raiders
Dropped	RB	Bishop Sankey	Titans
Added	RB	Shonn Greene	Titans
Dropped	RB	Carlos Hyde	49ers
Added	RB	Terrance West	Browns
Dropped	WR	Kenny Stills	Saints
Added	WR	Allen Hurns	Jaguars
Dropped	WR	Mike Williams	Bills
Added	WR	Mohamed Sanu	Bengals
Dropped	K	Jay Feely	Cardinals
Added	K	Brandon McManus	Broncos

My starting lineup this week:

	Northern Borealis
Position	Player	Team
QB	Drew Brees	Saints
RB	Toby Gerhart	Jaguars
RB	Mark Ingram	Saints
WR/TE	Demaryius Thomas	Broncos
WR/TE	Alshon Jeffery	Bears
WR/TE	Michael Crabtree	49ers
FLEX	Jordan Cameron	Browns
DT	Justin Smith	49ers
DE	Carlos Dunlap	Bengals
DE	Justin Tuck	Raiders
LB	Alec Ogletree	Rams
LB	Von Miller	Broncos
LB	Jerrell Freeman	Colts
LB	DeAndre Levy	Lions
CB	DeAngelo Hall	Redskins
CB	Janoris Jenkins	Rams
S	Eric Weddle	Chargers
S	Bernard Pollard	Titans
P	Andy Lee	49ers
K	Mason Crosby	Packers
HC	Buffalo Bills
D/ST	Seattle Seahawks

Picks

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Straight	Spread
Ravens*	Steelers
Bengals	Falcons
Bills	Bills
Saints – Lock of the Week	Saints
Titans	Titans
Panthers	Lions
Patriots	Patriots
Cardinals	Cardinals
Jaguars	Jaguars
Rams – Upset of the week	Rams
Seahawks	Chargers
Broncos	Broncos
Packers	Packers
Texans	Texans
49ers	49ers
Colts	Eagles

* I made my picks back in July, so if you read on here that I picked the winning Ravens, it was because I chose them back in July and not the morning after the Thursday night game against Pittsburgh.

As of 2 this Friday afternoon, Northern Borealis is down 0-3, Straight Pick was correct, Spread Pick was wrong.

Happy football weekend! I will be watching the Chicago Bears visit my beloved 49ers on TV (living in Northern Ontario kinda dampers the ability to go see live games). What games are you guys making a point to watch? Do you agree/disagree with my picks? Do you think I have a fantasy player who should come off the bench? Let me know in the comments.

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Fantasy Football season is upon us!

Hello All,

I know I am late in posting this (see http://outdoorsbike.com/2014/09/12/long-time-no-see/). I am a huge football fan. I always joke that when I was born, the doctor put a ball cap on my head and a football in my hands before I was given back to my mother. But then again, growing up in the States, who is not like that. At least, in Small-Town, America it was like that: town shutting down on Saturday morning to watch the high school football game (my Junior year we got lights installed and had our first Friday Night Lights, it was bigger than if the President of the United States were to visit), college football on all day on Saturday, Sunday was entirely devoted to the NFL (my family was odd in town, we would flip back and forth between football and NASCAR), and at the end of Monday’s football practice Coach giving you homework of watching your position during the Monday Night Football game.

Sorry, got caught up there. Anyway, this year I am no longer going to be a passive fantasy football fan (is it fan? team owner?). I joined a league on ESPN and I went all out. The league I am in has more than the standard 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 FLEX, 1 K, and 1 DEF/ST. This league requires a full team: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR/TE, 1 FLEX, 1 DT, 2 DE, 4 LB, 2 CB, 2 S, 1 D/ST, 1 K, 1 P, and 1 HC. I thought this would be the most fun because it does not focus on just the offense, instead it makes you build a full team.

Here was my draft:

9	Drew Brees, NO QB
12	Demaryius Thomas, Den WR
29	Alshon Jeffery, Chi WR
32	Toby Gerhart, Jac RB
49	Bishop Sankey, Ten RB
52	Michael Crabtree, SF WR
69	Jordan Cameron, Cle TE
72	Seahawks D/ST D/ST
89	Matt Ryan, Atl QB
92	Kyle Rudolph, Min TE
109	Eric Weddle, SD S
112	Curtis Lofton, NO LB
129	Carlos Hyde, SF RB
132	DeAngelo Hall, Wsh CB
149	Mason Crosby, GB K
152	Eric Reid, SF S
169	Alec Ogletree, StL LB
172	Von Miller, Den LB
189	Bernard Pollard, Ten S
192	Jerrell Freeman, Ind LB
209	Julius Peppers, GB DE
212	Justin Smith, SF DT
229	Carlos Dunlap, Cin DE
232	Aqib Talib, Den CB
249	Panthers Coach HC
252	Andy Lee, SF P
269	Brian Hartline, Mia WR
272	Heath Miller, Pit TE
289	Janoris Jenkins, StL CB
292	Chris Clemons, Jac DE
309	DeAndre Levy, Det LB
312	Kyle Williams, Buf DT
329	Jay Feely, Ari K
332	Bills Coach HC
349	Lions D/ST D/ST
352	DeAngelo Williams, Car RB
369	Brad Nortman, Car P
372	Mike Williams, Buf WR
389	Marqise Lee, Jac WR
392	Kenny Stills, NO WR

To sum up here is my team:

QB

Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints)

Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons)

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RB

Toby Gerhart (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Bishop Sankey (Tennessee Titans)

Carlos Hyde (San Francisco 49ers)

DeAngelo Williams (Carolina Panthers)

Mark Ingram (New Orleans Saints)

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WR/TE

Demaryius Thomas – WR (Denver Broncos)

Alshon Jeffery – WR (Chicago Bears)

Michael Crabtree – WR (San Francisco 49ers)

Jordan Cameron – TE (Cleveland Browns)

Kyle Rudolph – TE (Minnesota Vikings)

Brian Hartline – WR (Miami Dolphins)

Heath Miller – TE (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Mike Williams – WR (Buffalo Bills)

Marqise Lee – WR (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Kenny Stills – WR (New Orleans Saints)

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Defensive Tackle (DT)

Justin Smith (San Francisco 49ers)

Kyle Williams (Buffalo Bills)

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Defensive End (DE)

Julius Peppers (Green Bay Packers)

Carlos Dunlap (Cincinnati Bengals)

Chris Clemons (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Justin Tuck (Oakland Raiders)

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Linebacker (LB)

Curtis Lofton (New Orleans Saints)

Alec Ogletree (St. Louis Rams)

Von Miller (Denver Broncos)

Jerrell Freeman (Indianapolis Colts)

DeAndre Levy (Detroit Lions)

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Cornerback (CB)

DeAngelo Hall (Washington Redskins)

Aqib Talib (Denver Broncos)

Janoris Jenkins (St. Louis Rams)

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Safety (S)

Eric Weddle (San Diego Chargers)

Eric Reid (San Francisco 49ers)

Bernard Pollard (Tennessee Titans)

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Defense/Special Teams (D/ST)

Seattle Seahawks

Detroit Lions

---

Kicker (K)

Mason Crosby (Green Bay Packers)

Jay Feely (Arizona Cardinals)

---

Punter (P)

Andy Lee (San Francisco 49ers)

Brad Nortman (Carolina Panthers)

---

Head Coach (HC)

Carolina Panthers

Buffalo Bills

I wanted to have at least one backup for every slot. Every Tuesday I will post my result from the previous week, Wednesday my player transactions, and Thursday my lineup for the coming week. In addition to this, I will be posting another post with my picks for the week, lock of the week, upset game, and spread picks (for the gambling folk out there wanting another voice in the crowd). These will be posted on: Tuesday will be results from the previous week, Thursday will be the upcoming predictions.

Happy Football Season everyone!

Long time no see

Hello All,

Welcome back to Outdoors Bike! I am extremely sorry for my nearly one year hiatus. I promise that will never happen again. To catch you guys up on why I have not been around I will spend this article going over life getting busy and my plans for the future of Outdoors Bike. My next post will get back onto track, so if you would like to skip this one, I will not judge you.

Around the same time of my last post, I started my own business. 3 in 1 Business Solutions has become my main form of income. The goal over there is to become a virtual bookkeeper/accountant. If you would like more information on the business, you can find it here http://www.3in1businesssolutions.com.

In the spring, my wife and I finally found the perfect house to call our first house! We bought the three bedroom bungalow in

My home away from home

April and was all moved in over Easter weekend. The Monday before the house became ours, there was really bad flooding in the whole neighbourhood, and the sellers were afraid we would back out because of it. They covered all of the repairs to the one room affected and installed a sump pump for preventative measures. We are still settling in and getting used to the extra maintenance/cleaning of a house, not an apartment. We still have to finish my office, but for now this is my work environment.

In July, we took a half month off to go to a mini family reunion in my wife’s hometown. I say mini because it was not an official family reunion. Our family, my wife’s sister’s family, and her parents all went to the same town for Canada’s Independence Day. It was nice to take some time off to see the place that moulded my Buttercup. It really reminded me of my home town, which I found to be quite intreguinging (I also grew up in a small mining town, however it is 2,990km [1857.9miles] and in a different country).

Our best friend.

Shortly after getting back from our summer vacation, our family grew once again. This time we brought home a pure-bred chocolate lab, Penny. We have been talking about getting a dog for a very long time (a.k.a. I have been asking my wife if we could get one since the day after we graduated from university). It took all of two minutes for my wife to fall in love with her, while my son did not share the sentiment. The first day, he was not sure what to make of her, and sometimes, even scared of her. This was odd behaviour for him, since he has been around dogs and labs before and never hesitated around them, however, all the dogs he was experienced with were full grown and had a lot less energy. By the second day of having Penny, my son was inseparable from her. Since then, they have taught each other a lot, like how to not bite. It is easy to see that they are going to be best friends for a very long time.

Have to make sure it works

Now that we had a dog and little one, who never stops running, we had to make sure that they would stay in our yard without having us to chase after them all day. That caused us to hire a contractor to put up a fence. This was a little sooner than we were planning, next summer was our deadline, but we could not keep up with the both of them. We found a great contractor (once I find out he has a website I will definitely put a link on here for anyone interested) who was able to craft what my wife had envisioned and keep to a monetary budget I was expecting. The result of his, and his crew’s, work is phenomenal! We are so pleased with the result. Come spring, we are planning on painting the fence white, to make our house one more step closer to being the ideal house we envision.

With all of this hoopla going on this year, I have neglected some of the most fun things I find in this life, getting outdoors. I have been able to log 174km running, 57km mountain biking, and 30km cross country skiing this winter. All for a grand total of……….. 261km. OUCH! I have definitely dropped the ball. I started off the year with a goal of 2,014 overall km this year (get it, 2014 km in 2014). At this rate, I will have done 492km on December 31. Like I said, busy busy with life.

Now I am getting back into the groove I was in this time last year. Albeit, it is the end of summer, but that does not mean we cannot have fun! Let’s look into the future for Outdoors Bike.

First of all, you will notice that “.wordpress” is no longer at the end of the address. That is right, this website has “taken off the training wheels.” By the end of the year, there will be a shop associated with this website so you can pick up some extra cables, brake pads, hiking boots, canteens, etc. Shortly after the shop goes live, I will start reviewing products for you. If you would like me to review a certain product, just let me know and I will review as soon as I can.

Hopefully, starting in the spring, Penny will be going on all running, hiking, fishing, and camping trips I partake in. I look forward to have another good companion by my side while I am in the backwoods. Some of you may be saying “hunting season is coming up” and you would be absolutely right. I plan on taking her bird hunting with me this Fall. I will keep you guys updated on those excursions.

I will be posting new articles a lot more frequently. At first, I will be posting on a weekly basis working my way to be a daily post. That should be exciting!

I believe that is everything going on here. Let me know what you guys have been up to in the last year. Have you logged more km/miles than I have in the new year? Have I beat you with running but not mountain biking? Has your family grown? Relocated? Would you like to start the list of items to be reviewed? I look forward to hearing from you guys.

Let’s rediscover the wonderful nature all around us!

Offseason mindset

Happy Halloween, or in my house growing up, Happy Nevada Day! Since the summer is at an end (depending on where you are, it could be drawing to an end still) I believe it is time to start focusing on the offseason of mountain biking, or in other words, weight training. Have you stopped and thought if your workout routine is well rounded. This list will help you in determining if you are well rounded in your routine.

1. Mobility – Your ability to move freely while maintaining good posture. Also includes elements of body control and body awareness.

2. Power – Your ability to coordinate your muscles in order to create quick, dynamic movements. Life is dynamic and so everyone should have some sort of power training in their program, even if it is something as simple as slamming a medicine ball into the ground.

3. Strength – I define this a little differently than most. I define strength as your ability to create proper movement and maintain that proper movement under load. Creating a movement through compensation, such as using your lower back during leg exercises, is not true strength no matter how much weight you move.

4. Conditioning/ Endurance – Your ability to engage in your chosen activities without excessive fatigue. A good conditioning program will also act as a catalyst for fat loss. For most people proper conditioning should focus more on intervals than on traditional steady state aerobics.

Make sure you keep these in mind before you hit the gym. If you have any questions about my list, or if you have a suggestion about something I missed, please comment below.

Cardio vs. Endurance Training

It’s time for Mountain Biking Thursday!! To start things off let me ask you a question – do you want better “cardio” or “endurance” from your training program?

For a lot of you this question just triggers more questions. Aren’t they are the same thing? If you improve your cardio don’t you also improve your endurance?

Without recognizing this “addition by subtraction” affect you end up having to work twice as hard for half the results.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case and if you simply focus on improving your cardio you can miss out on some powerful ways to improve your ability to endure on the trail.

The cardio training paradigm says that the only way to get better is to add to your cardio capacity. Increasing VO2Max, lactate threshold and other markers used by science to measure cardio capacity is the central focus of this paradigm. Base miles, heart rate zones, weekly mileage and other cardio training tactics are pretty much the only tools used for getting faster on your bike.

However, there is far more to being the fastest rider possible than just cardio capacity.

The endurance training paradigm tells us that not only do we need to add to our cardio capacity but we also need to subtract from the negatives that keep us from effectively using our cardio capacity. Without recognizing this “addition by subtraction” affect you end up having to work twice as hard for half the results.

To illustrate this concept I’ll go over the other elements of training and how “addition by subtraction” can influence your overall endurance –

1)  Mobility – Without good mobility in the hips and upper back you will end up in inefficient positions on your bike. You must have a straight lower back in order to create the best platform possible to create leg drive. If your lower back is rounded then your platform is compromised and you waste a lot of energy as you try to lay down strength and power with each stroke. Add in the fact that poor mobility is usually caused by excessive muscle tension and that tight muscles fatigue faster than usual and you have a recipe for a lot of wasted energy that no amount of cardio training can address.

2)  Strength – Poor strength levels mean that you have to tap into more energy reserves to create strong movements. Think of it his way – you hit a hill that requires you to use 70% of your leg strength with each stroke to power up. Let’s say that you increase your strength levels and now that hill only requires 60% of your leg strength with each stroke. You now use less energy to get up that hill and will have more for later stages of your ride/race. Again, increased endurance without an increase in cardio capacity.

3)  Power – Power levels will help you better create quick, powerful movements on your bike. Quick bursts that take less than 10 seconds to complete, like passing someone on narrow single track when a small window opens up, can expend large amounts of energy if your power levels are poor. Improved power will keep those quick bursts from fatiguing you prematurely.

4)  Technical Skills – This is a huge one that few riders appreciate. The key to going faster is to not only increase your speed but to scrub less speed in corners and in technical trail sections. Learning how to corner, how to get into proper position on your bike to set up for trail obstacles and myriad of other things will again result in less wasted energy.

5)  Nutrition – This one should be a no brainer but bears mentioning. If you do not give your body the proper fuel to recover from training, power through rides and basically live your life then you will always feel that you lack the energy you want.

6)  Mindset – If you are timid on your bike, deal with negative self-talk or otherwise do not how to mentally approach the challenges you face on your bike you will always be disappointed in your performance levels.

7)  Recovery – Drill this equation into your brain and you’ll be smarter than most “coaches” – Training + Recovery = Results. How well you recover from your training will dictate what kind of results you get. Simply adding to the training side of the equation with no regard to things like massage, stretching, sleep, ice, heat and a whole slew of other tactics to speed your recovery will result in less than optimal gains from your program. Learning how to monitor your recovery to make decisions on if you are doing enough or if you need to do more is also an important part of endurance training.

So there you have it, seven ways that you can increase endurance without increasing your cardio capacity. Just to drive this point home, I’ll give you one more analogy –

The cardio training paradigm is like always trying to add to the size of your gas tank. The endurance training paradigm not only looks at the size of your gas tank but also makes sure your alignment is good, you are firing on all cylinders and that you don’t have your parking brake on.

Simply adding to the size of your gas tank while ignoring all of the things that are causing your gas mileage to suffer is pretty silly and no one would take their car to a mechanic that would suggest that, yet mountain bikers are taking that same approach with their training everyday.

From this perspective, your training program should address everything that goes into riding faster and longer on the trail, not just focusing on building your cardio capacity.

If you have any questions about this concept or questions about how it would apply to you post a comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Cardio vs. Endurance Training – Why true endurance requires more than just cardio capacity.

How to Manual your bike

Manualing is one of those skills most rider’s think you are either born with or you just can’t do it. We’ve all seen the guy holding a manual forever – making the rest of us feel like chumps – but the truth is that you only need to be able to hold one for a second or two for it to be a very valuable skill on the trail. And, more importantly, this skill can be easily learned by anyone.

You’ll no longer have to ride over small trail obstacles, you’ll be able to effortlessly loft the front end at will and avoid losing momentum.

Manualing is simply your ability to powerfully drive from the hips in order to bring the front end of your bike up. It stems from keeping that all-important relationship between the bike’s and your center of gravity. You want to drive the bike in front of you by extending your legs and hips while keeping the arms relatively relaxed.

You need to avoid pulling the front end up with arms (which results in bent elbows) or by simply leaning back forcefully with the lower back. Both of these techniques result in the bike center of gravity changing without your center of gravity compensating. You have to remain balanced in order to manual and the ability to drive from the hips and not the arms/ lower back is the key.

Once you know how to manual you will start to see the trail completely differently. You’ll no longer have to ride over small trail obstacles, you’ll be able to effortlessly loft the front end at will and avoid losing momentum. Getting up small ledges will also become much easier as you learn how to use your hips instead of your arms to pick your front end up. As a bonus, the basic movement behind the manual will eventually lead you to bunny hopping and/ or popping off a lip.

Now that you know “what” to do, you have to make sure that you can do it in the first place through Metabolic Skills Training. Metabolic Skills Training is the term James gave to the art of using strength training exercises to improve your technical skills on the bike. By understanding how each exercise relates to the skills you need on the trail you can ensure that you are getting maximum transfer from the gym to the trail. In addition, the right exercises done correctly will help you more easily learn and apply technical skills on your bike.

When you move with more efficiency and power then you will find that everything you do on your bike comes more naturally, resulting in more of the elusive “flow” that so many riders hear about but rarely get to experience. As a mountain biker you can not just pound out mindless reps and hope that it will help you on the trail – you must understand the movement lessons behind the exercises. Most exercises in your training program should be chosen because they represent a way to work on a fundamental movement skill that supports a technical skill that you need on the trail.

The swing is as close as you can come to a hard trail ride without throwing your leg over a bike. It ingrains body position, teaches you how to absorb impacts with your hips and builds massive forearm strength and endurance. However, the most important lesson you learn from it is how to keep the arms relaxed and drive the hips forward. It is a forward-backward projection of energy which makes it a unique way to learn how to drive the bike forward, which means that when you can do 20 perfect reps with a 16 kg (women) or 24 kg (men) kettlebell you’ll be able to more confidently loft your bike into the air.

Few things have changed my riding as much as picking up this elusive skill. Learn how to do a proper kettlebell swing and then apply those movement lessons to the bike and you’ll be one of the rare riders who can also use this valuable skill to help you rider faster and with more confidence on the trail.

How to Manual and Bunny Hop Your Bike

Clipless Pedals?

Clipless pedals simply attach you to the bike and shouldn’t affect how you actually move on the bike. You should be able to ground your feet so they don’t fly off and be able to pedal without your feet coming off no matter what pedal system you use. Losing your mechanical attachment point to the bike should not drop your performance by more than 3-5%, otherwise you’re not creating the movement in the most efficient and powerful manner in the first place.

I think that this gets lost in the whole discussion – the pro riders that everyone points to in defense of the superiority of clipless pedals can rip with flats as well. They can flat out ride a bike and know how to apply a clean, efficient pedal stroke and riding technique regardless of the pedal interface.

Sure, they may be faster with clipless pedals but it isn’t this massive performance gap that you see with the average clipless user.

There are lessons that you learn from being able to ride, manual, bunny hop and jump with flat pedals that you can get around learning with clipless pedals. Learning those lessons will make you a better rider with clipless pedals if you even choose to use them.

I guess that’s my ultimate point – make sure that you can ride a bike first and then look to use equipment and technology to potentially enhance your progress. You need to know how to apply good, functional movement to the bike and that means being able to do it without being attached to your bike.

If I had my way everyone would start out on a hard tail bike with flat pedals and graduate to more technology once they’ve learned to ride without it.

It isn’t really about clipless pedals and being attached to your bike, it is about an industry wide misuse of the technology. Using that attachment point to feed into dysfunctions is one of the main reasons cycling has such an insane overuse injury rate.

Learn to pedal without the aid of technology and then you’ll be healthier and more powerful with it.

For a lot of riders, finding out that you can pedal up anything with flats that you can with clipless and that you can learn to keep your feet planted has been a revelation. They are realizing that most of the advantages given to clipless pedals are not really in the system itself, it is in the power given to it in the mind of riders told from day one that it is a vastly superior system and a must for all serious riders.

To draw this to a close, I’m not saying that flats are “better”. I am saying that they are not the inferior choice they are made out to be by the mountain biking industry.

You can “connect” with your bike on either system, but from a movement and technique perspective you should be able to ride flats without a serious performance drop off. Using them as a crutch and using them as a true performance enhancer are two different things and recognizing this can help make you a much better overall rider.

 

 

 

 

Why clipless pedals don’t really “connect” you to your bike…

The Language of Bicycle Parts

People who talk about bikes can sometimes sound like they’re speaking a foreign language all of their own. Some of the words they keep using are completely unfathomable and bizarre, and some sound familiar but often mean something completely different than expected. The language of bikes is not just a way of keeping in the clique though – it is vital to be able to identify specific parts.

Disc brake calipers: These are bolted to special disc mounts on your frame or fork. Operating the lever forces thin, hard pads onto your rotor, the metal disc attached to your hub. Powerful and lightweight, these can be daunting to service because they are new technology. However they respond well to treatment with a few basic tools. Mechanical versions use normal V-brake levers and cables; hydraulic disc brakes use an oil-filled hose to force brake pads onto the rotor.

Cables and hoses: Connecting brake levers to calipers or V-brake units, these need to be kept in good condition to transmit an accurate signal. Speed control, as well as raw braking power, is vital. Steel cables run through lengths of outer casing from brake levers to V-brakes. Hoses are the stiff plastic tubes that transfer hydraulic brake fluid from hydraulic brake levers to calipers.

Rear derailleur: This moves the chain step by step across the cassette sprockets. Different-sized sprockets give you different gear ratios, so that you can pedal at a constant rate over a range of different speeds. The movement of the rear derailleur is controlled by a cable on the shifter on the right-hand side of the handlebar. Correct adjustment gives you slick shifting and ensures maximum life for your chain, chain set, and cassette.

Chain set: This consists of one, two, or three chain rings bolted together. Like the cassette sprockets, choosing a different-sized chain ring gives you a different gear ratio. Larger chain rings give you a higher gear which is harder to push but propels you further on each pedal stroke. Smaller chain rings give you a lower gear, allowing you to climb steep hills. Chain rings will wear out over time, the valleys between the teeth stretching until the chain slips under pressure.

Cassette and Freehub: Your cassette consists of a set of different-sized sprockets bolted together. Currently nine-speed cassettes are most common and combine with the three chain rings on your chain set to give you 27 gears. Smaller cassette sprockets give you a higher (harder0 gear for maximum speed, and larger sprockets give you a lower (easier) gear for climbing hills. The cassette is fitted to a freehub on your rear wheel.

Chain: The chain connects your chain set to your cassette, so that when you pedal, the back wheel goes around. It needs to be strong so it does not snap when you stand on your pedals and stamp up a hill, but it must also be flexible so that it can shift from side to side across the cassette and chain set. Chain width needs to match your cassette: for example, nine-speed cassettes have narrower, more closely spaced sprockets than older eight-speeds so you need a narrower chain.

Headset: The main bearing at the front of your bike, the headset connects your forks to your frame. This part is often ignored because it is mostly hidden in the frame. This bearing must be adjusted so it turns smoothly without rattling – any play or binding will affect your bike’s handling. There are two types of headsets: the newer “Aheadset” type has almost completely superseded the older threaded headset. Regular servicing keeps bearings running smoothly and helps your headset last longer.

Bottom Bracket: Bottom brackets are another “out of sight, out of mind” component. The bottom bracket axle connects your two cranks together through the frame. If worn and loose, the bottom bracket can lead to front gear shifting problems and cause your chain to wear out. Worn bottom brackets can be spotted by checking for side to side play in your cranks. Usually supplied as a sealed unit, this part must be replace when worn or stiff. This repair needs a couple of specific but inexpensive tools.

Wheels: Building wheels can seem daunting, but it is very satisfying to ride around on a pair you have built yourself. Building a wheel consists of two steps: weaving the spokes together to connect hub and rim, and tensioning each spoke so that the rim is flat and perfectly round. A wheel jig is essential for this task. it holds the wheel steady and has indicators that help you decide which spokes need to be adjusted and by how much.

Hubs: Well-adjusted hub bearings let wheels spin freely and save you energy. When properly adjusted, your bearings will be tight enough to prevent any side to side play without being so tight they slow you down. occasional servicing to clean out any grit and dirt that has worked its way in will keep your wheels turning smoothly. Fresh, clean grease helps keep moisture out of your hubs. Jet-washing is tempting after a muddy ride, but will drive water in past your hub seals, flushing out the grease.

Suspension: Suspension makes your ride smoother. Almost all new mountain bikes come with front suspension forks, and full suspension bikes (with front suspension forks and a rear shock unit) get lighter and cheaper every year. Suspension bikes are better because they absorb trail shock and make you faster over uneven ground. The suspension keeps your center of gravity moving forward rather than up and down. Front forks and rear shocks need setting up for your weight and riding style.

Pedals: Introduced from road bikes, clipless pedals have replaced toe clips: a key-shaped cleat on the bottom of your shoe locks into a sprung mechanism on your pedals. The idea of clipless pedals is daunting for the first-timer, but you will appreciate the extra power once you are used to them. Because your shoe is firmly attached, all your energy throughout the pedal stroke is used. Clean, oiled cleats will release your shoe instantly when you twist your foot. Many riders prefer flat pedals with studs.