Big ol’ collection of bike blogs

Mar 1, 2009 bike blogs submission

 Pierider

Why you should read my blog:  So I can share my experiences with others.

Current bikes: Look 585, Santa Cruz Stigmata, Soma Rush, Fuji Track Pro, Santa Cruz Blur LT, Gary Fisher SuperCal 29r,  Fuji Team Issue

Mother Nature’s 2009 TOC Fit Means it is Time to Talk Fitness (guest post)

Instead of watching the boys ride their bikes up Tunitas Creek Rd, Mother Nature has forced me indoors to cook up my next workout. Being that is still February, it will be rooted in single leg movements to continue to increase my hip stability. This will be the ticket to laying down a lot more power in the saddle this season.

This is one of the largest factors to success on the bike for a lot riders: lack of joint stability. Since your body can only produce the amount of power your joint stability allows, you are firing a canon from a canoe if you don’t work on this, YEAR ROUND. I won’t get into the fact that power meters don’t actually measure power, they really measure hip stability because that is a long one!

Most riders engage in body builder type muscle isolation programs, which is great if you are building bulk to flex on stage, but not beneficial if you are trying to improve the way your body is actually designed to move: as an integrated unit in a 3-dimensional environment. Especially since endurance athletes produce ALL of their power from a single leg platform.

I’ve always found it funny how cycling strength workouts look just like old school body builder routines: sit down and press, sit down and curl, sit down and extend. Since riding a bike takes place in a supported seated environment in only one plane of motion (just like these exercises do), it is critical to do “anti-cycling” workouts that open up the hips and get you working while you stand up on a single leg.INTEGRATE Performance Fitness in the last year and a half. Out of that population, it is safe to say over 50% of them lacked the proper muscle firing sequences to take full advantage of their hips when they ride (not too mention causing joint pain of every variety). This drastically impacts your ability to sprint, climb and ride at tempo.

We have seen 100’s of riders at

Most of the time it is because the hip flexors and quads are too tight, and the glutes and lower abdomen are too weak. This can come from sitting down for long periods of time, or not addressing these issues off the bike.

This causes performance robbing muscle imbalances that WILL lessen your enjoyment of riding your bike. Not too mention what they do to your balance. Fortunately, a functional strength training program will prevent as well as correct this.

Up next week: Where muscle imbalances come from and the most effective strategies on how to prevent them.

Feb 27, 2009 bike blogs submission

…at least I’m enjoying the ride
 
Why you should read my blog: I ride a ton and take lots of pics.
 
Current bikes: Carver custon Ti 26er, Salsa Juan Solo, Kona Jake the Snake, Various fixies
  

Feb 26, 2009 - The 15 freshest bike culture blogs

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Feb 25, 2009 bike blogs submission

Blog Name:  The Best Bike Blog Ever*
 
Why you should read my blog:  It’s the best bike blog ever written by a bike crazed dufus with devil horns.

Current bikes:  Jamis Xenith Pro, IF Planet X, Niner Air 9, Jamis Nova CX, Specialized Crossroads Super Grocery Cruiser

Current bikes: Salsa El Mariachi, Redline Single Speed

Ch - ch - changes!

A lot of pretty significant changes to BikeBlogCollection.com in the last few days, the best of which I’d like to outline to everyone.

1) The blogroll - in the past the blogroll was just a list of links that no one ever clicked on. Now anyone who has submitted a blog to BikeBlogCollection.com is in an RSS feed for their particular category, for example Bike culture. The RSS feed (displayed as a webpage on each particular blogroll page) shows the first 50 words of the 15 latest posts. This is a very cool way to see what posts are worth reading, what might be interesting, and what has the newest content. In addition, anyone can subscribe to these particular feeds in a feed reader and not even have to come back to this page. There is some good stuff there, take a look!

2) Guest blogs and user submissions - Writing a guest blog for the front page for everyone to see or submitting your own blog with the standard generic format is now as easy as signing up for a free account, logging in, posting, and submitting. You have freedom over adding pictures, exactly what you want to say, everything.

I hope these new changes will make the site more friendly and useable for everyone involved!

Feb 23, 2009 bike blogs submission

Jack McRobert

Why you should read my blog: The best blog for people looking to get started in road cycling or time trial racing.

www.nightlightcrystal.com

Why you should read my blog: a brand new piece of kit that will help all riders be safe and train harder all year round at night.

Current bikes: unknown

SOMEONESTOLEMYBIKE.COM - Someone Stole My bike (guest post)

SOMEONESTOLEMYBIKE.COM
If riding a bike is a universal pastime, then having it stolen is a universal nuisance, and it is for this reason that we have created SOMEONESTOLEMYBIKE.COM; to give individuals a cathartic forum to share their own personal stories and express their distinct feelings and philosophies on the aggravating subject of bike theft. We’ll be updating the page weekly with new stories as well as soliciting new ones constantly. There’s no gimmick or money-making intentions here, just the hope that people will enjoy the videos and find a place to vent.

Feb 21, 2009 bike blogs submission

Build a Better Bike

Why you should read my blog: We post a lot of information about bike parts so you can learn how to improve your bike. And we have some fun posts about random cycling stuff as well. And at some point you’ll probably be able to win a free T-shirt!

Current bikes: all kinds

velo club moulin

Why you should read my blog: Cyclo-cross raceteam from Scotland, we also just ride whatever and whenever we can.

Current bikes: too many in the team to list

Team Two Wheel Blog - Dr. Spalm Answers your questions (guest post)

Dr. Spalm - I am an organizer of a local racing team. We have a bunch of riders and cover all categories, from first-time racers to experienced and fast folks. After an unfortunate and nauseating experience last year, I am interested in instituting a new rule that would limit the purchase of skin suits to those team members who are really skinny enough to not gross people out. Any suggestions?
Open-minded, but not THAT open-minded

Dear Mostly Open-Minded:
Thank you for the opportunity to address this issue. A few years ago Dr. Spalm was actively petioning Wal-Mart to stop selling white cotton/lycra stretch pants to women that should NOT, under any circumstances, be wearing such garments. These poor women apparently did not own mirrors, nor were they aware that to cut costs, these pants had a limited amount of fabric that was forced to stretch extraordinary distances to cover their subjects. As such, these pants became lattice-like and see-through and not movie star “how could I have not known that when the paparazzi took flash pictures these intimate body parts would be “accidentally” exposed” see through, but instead “Omar the Tent-Maker had 3-packs of these panties with teddy bears on them” see through. Let’s just say that Wal-Mart was steadfast in their stand that women of ALL sizes should be able to wear cotton/lycra stretch pants, but thankfully they have fallen out of fashion.

So, where does that leave us with skin suits. You might consider some simple objective tests, such as a percentage body-fat test or a BMI index rating. You might also consider pointing out to these large, or more likely, extra-large, riders that their speed on a bicycle is not being limited by the aerodynamics of their clothing as much as the extra weight being supported by their bike frame. However, these might all lead to uncomfortable conversations in which reality is unpleasantly imposed on the dreams of these undertrained and overfed riders. Instead, I suggest that you tell them the skinsuits are not made in their sizes and if they persist in finding factual information to the contrary, the best option is to lose their orders and ask them to wait until next year when team clothing is re-ordered.

Lastly, I would like to make it clear that Dr. Spalm is not opposed to extra large riders (Chapeau mon ami, Rider 3), but is merely opposed to skinsuits (or white cotton/lycra stretch pants) on these generously-proportioned and jolly riders.
Dr. Spalm

Dr. Spalm - After the usual middle-age process of having kids and getting ahead at work, I have put on a few pounds and need to get active again. I really want to do a triathlon, but the only bike I have is a mountain bike I bought at Costco. Do you suggest I ride that or buy another bike? I really like the looks of the time trial bikes.
Trying to Tri

Dear Very (Trying that is):
I am not sure how to answer you. It leads to a number of questions I have. Putting aside the question of why anyone would want to do a triathlon, my answer would be either a) Are you serious? (said ironically), or b) Are you serious? (said seriously).

The only thing sillier than trying to train for and complete a triathlon on a department-store style mountain bike would be buying a special purpose time trial bike before you have started riding or training for a triathlon. Actually, maybe the reverse is truer. I’m not sure.

Here is my suggestion. First, go ride the bike you have. Ride it as fast as you can for approximately the distance you plan to ride in the triathlon. Immediately after completing this distance, if you then feel the strong urge to hop off the bike as fast as you can and start running, preferably a marathon, then maybe you’re right that triathlons are appropriate for your future.

As a second test, I suggest that you sit down at a bar with some appropriate beverage in front of you. Briefly consider the distance the drink sits in front of you. Now, put the drink at least two bar seats away from you and then reach out to try to drink from it from this position. If you find that this new position is preferable to your starting position, then a time trial bike might be a good option for you.

Lastly, regardless of these tests, if you find that you can’t ride a bike in a straight line, you probably are a born triathlete. Good luck.
Dr. Spalm

Team Two Wheel Blog