Basics of successful Cycle Fitting Part 1. Experience

‘FIT’ seems to be a golden word in road cycling at the moment, and a bit like wheel building, carries its own level of mystique. It seems a lot of people are unsure of the workings of the human body, whereas these same people may be amongst some of the best bicycle mechanics you could wish to meet.

As ‘FIT’ is a symphony of the body and bicycle working in unison then it is very important to be fully aware of how the human body was designed to work and how we can adapt the bicycle to suit its needs. To put this into perspective you could be a great mechanic but without the knowledge of the human body, those great adjustments are worthless. Worse still you could end up damaging the most important part of all, the ‘nut that holds the bars’.

Some people will view ‘FIT’ as a one time ‘fixer of all ills’. This view is way wide of the mark. The sport’s top professionals will be fitted as often as things change such as new sponsor, new bike, new FIT, crash, rehab. You don’t need to be a sponsored athlete to appreciate that as the body ages it becomes less flexible and injuries can be picked up necessitating the need for a new FIT to cater for this. ‘FIT’ is changing as much as the rider is.

Some people will think that after the FIT has been done they will be able to climb like lontador, descend like cancallara and that all of the niggling aches and pains that that they had will ‘magically disappear’. 

Well we are not wizards! The idea of a FIT is to allow someone to cycle correctly supported for their needs, yes, but any change that is made will take a time for the body to become accustomed to, even if it is for the better.

Muscles take time to grow, tendons time to stretch. You will not accommodate a new position immediately; it will take time to get the body used to the new position. Following my guidelines will assist the process and any niggles will be minor and should have completely disappeared by the 4^th or 5^th ride (if this is not the case then the ‘FIT’ will need to be re-checked).

If a rider is looking to emulate the position of a professional with a ‘slammed’ stem they may be disappointed. Their body may not be able to tolerate this position, at least not for very long.

So how do we get started? What equipment and documentation do we need? How much experience does it take? How long should we allow? Where should I be conducting this process? So many questions! Let’s get some answers.

For this Blog post (Part 1) I'd like to begin with how much experience it takes. No real easy way to approach this, because you will need to understand a heck of a lot, but everyone must start somewhere.

Experience Matters

If this is the first thing you have read about ‘FIT’ then good. It’s a good place to start, but you’re research must advance beyond these words. I will list some books that are good for you to read, but make the time to back up your reading with qualified physiotherapists. You are a bike mechanic/rider first and foremost, even after months of reading there will still be things that throw curveballs. Something’s cannot be fixed without professional help. These people are you lifelines. Make friends with them.

Get a physical assessment (alignment check) done. A good Pilates class should offer an initial body assessment as should a sports injury clinic. Get one (preferably two) done and learn from them. Pick out similarities; compare them to what you have read. If more than one person is saying the same thing then it helps you gain a clear direction. Understanding your own body will assist you in understanding others.

Get full cycles FIT’s done from experienced outlets. Again, get more than one done. Again look for similarities in the way the FIT is conducted and note these down.

It is preferable to follow this order:-

1.      Formulate – Practice – Record.

2.      Read –Digest.

3.      Physical Assessment (non cycle).

4.      Full FIT (cycle).

5.      FIT classes.

6.      Read –Make notes –Digest.

Got the money? Go for a class. There’s more than one provider offering them, but at present there seems to be no standardisation, so again, go on more than one and seek similarities. I hope that what you learn will bring you full circle to my guidelines that you read here.

      I would recommend that it is wise to do your first few FIT’s on people who you know well. This will overcome any embarrassment you may have when laying hands on people and let you develop a professional manor in these situations.

            I would offer your first few sessions free of charge. The feedback and experience you will gain will be priceless and allow you to be sure you are proceeding in the right direction. Using my guidelines (plus anything else you have learnt) will allow you to keep a consistent record of every rider FIT you do and these are good comparative records, although as mentioned before, no two riders are the same!

For Part 2 of the Basics of successful Cycle Fitting I will be taking you through the Fit Environment, How long it may take you and what Equipment and Documentation you will require.

We all have to start somewhere...

  This month I've had a go at my first road race. 

Following the classic statement "How hard can it be?" I first applied for my racing license with British Cycling becoming a Gold member (schmoke and a pancake?) and obtaining my (fourth cat) racing license to boot.

Category Four (or Fourth Cat) is where wannabe road racers like me start. You then gain points by way of wins or top ten places and progress through 3rd, 2nd and 1st to Elite / Pro. 

 I had read a lot of gumph on the internet about Category 3 and 4 racers and not much of it helped to be honest. 

Having done a series of Sportive rides, a couple of Sprint Triathlons and a Time Trial at Blenheim Palace last year, I knew I was in good shape and a strong rider, I just didn't know how strong.

All the Mountain Biking I have done has blessed me with some decent handling skills, the only thing that I was missing was some real bunch experience, most of the miles I'd put in up until now had been solo - I don't count the Sportives as they seemed to be a bit of a free for all with no real organisation to how the riders were positioning themselves.

So, after a bit of research I decided to join the Leighton Buzzard Road Cycling Club (LBRCC) as they seemed quite open and offered a range of group rides from G3 to G1 (G being Group) with the G1 crew being the quick group.

My first ride was with the G3 group and I found myself waiting for the group regularly and not really getting the workout I wanted, they were a nice bunch but were out for a Coffee and a chat (again nowt wrong with that) whereas I wanted to be chewing my stem and 'feeling the burn'.

The next week I went out with the G1 riders and found the pace much more to my liking. To my surprise I was able to ride with the quicker riders in the group and help to set the pace. Every rider in the group had good bunch manners and experience and it really bouyed my confidence that I could cope with the higher pace of a race in these 'handlebar to handlebar' situations. 

Craig (the owner of a very nice Pinnarello) who was the race team captain and Jack (an amazing hillclimber) were quick to support my decision and said that I would be fine in a race. 

Decision made. Club jersey purchased and race entered. I couldn't race in my replica Saxo Bank team strip due to British Cycling rules (I like to think I would have been mistook for Alberto Contador as to the reason for this) 

The race I had entered was the TMG Horizon road race. This was to take place over seventy five miles using a loop that was local to me.

This was handy because I could ride the circuit as part of my ride home from work and get a feel for where the best places would be to attack and the road surfaces etc.

I was riding well and felt as prepared as I could be. I'd ridden up some stonking climbs in 39 degree heat in Gran Canaria and was riding strongly upping my average speed on most rides to the 20 mph mark. 

A silly little off during a particularly wet club ride made me cross my fingers and toes that it wasn't wet during the race and my confidence in the corners took a bit of building back up on the next couple of rides.

Race Day!

 The Sun was blessing me with its presence but this didn't stop me having a good dose of pre-race nerves. This wasn't helped when I turned up to the event HQ and there were easy ups with people warming up on rollers and getting rub downs and last minute tactic talks.

Oh well, too late now!

I met with our Club Chairman Carl, who was helping to marshall the event. "Any advice" I asked hoping for a last minute pearl of wisdom "Don't go off the front, don't go off the back" came the reply. Simple enough,"aint no way I'll be going off the back" I thought.

We rolled out behind the safety car and the race was 'neutralised' until we got to the circuit proper. The pace was high, but manageable. 

Typically after months of trouble free use I was having difficulty getting my Garmin to do what I wanted and spent most of the neutral part faffing with this where as I should have been concentrating. Then all of a sudden, BAM! The flag dropped and the pace went right up.

I had been told "never overlap a wheel" and I was super aware of this whilst in the bunch. The scary part was that one minute you'd be giving it the beans to stay on the wheel in front / hold your position, the next thing you know there was a wall of bikes coming back at you and you'd have to ease up. You couldn't brake because you'd have someone in the back of you and I found this quite a challenge (stressful Jules - be honest)

I was aware that my nerves were getting me pushed to the back of the group by the more experienced riders so I managed to shuffle my way to the outside of the bunch and when I had clear line of sight up the road  I launched (what I thought was) a Cav style attack around the outside of the bunch to sit up at the front.

Bad move. Not only did this put unwanted lactic into the legs, it also put me on the outside for the next tricky (very fast and loose) left hand corner. I leant in as far and as fast as I dared, but the bunch then strung out one behind another and the pace went up again. Of course no one would let me in so I sprinted on my own to keep up, eventually being caught by the rag-tag bunch at the back who weren't line astern and getting in with them.

I then spent the next few miles yo-yo'ing off the back of the bunch because of the lactic in the legs before dropping off the back altogether on lap two. 

I then had a lonely ride on my own trying to catch others who had blown in the hope that we'd be able to work together to bridge the gap - but to be honest I'd all but fully fluffed it up.

I completed the full Seventy Five miles with a Personal Best of 21.1 mph average speed and I managed to avoid the pile up on lap three, but I can't say I didn't feel a little disappointment. 

What did I learn?

 Well quite a bit! There are some savagely quick riders out there, but if I had worked the bunch a bit more confidently I could have lasted much longer. 

On my solo rides now I try and spin a lot more to keep my average up (I am a bit of a big gear grinder and this is proving a hard habit to shift) this I think will help keep the lactic at bay for a bit longer and lastly, that the strong riders are ONLY PLAYING on the club rides!!!  

I'm planning to do a lot more races and Time Trials this year and I'll keep you all posted as to how I get on!

Please visit LBRCC's webpage:

http://www.lbrcc.co.uk/

Better still, turn up for a ride!