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Over the past decade the number of coaches available to the general public has risen enormously. It seemed for a long time that coaches were thought to be only for the elite athletes but that sentiment has changed in many sports. Now, with a shift in attitudes, amateur athletes benefit as much if not more from personal coaching.
I first became aware of Dave Morris through the mtbr forums in the mid 1990’s. Like any online forum, this one had passionate particpants but one in particular, MTBDOC, was a vet/masters mountain bike racer who had been coached by Dave for several years. His posts spoke
of a regular joe with normal genetic potential and a full time job, who realized significant fitness gains on limited training time.
Around that time there were some articles published in Bicycling and Mountain Bike Action that discussed some of the training principles used by Dave and I started putting some of these ideas into practice after my wife and I had our first child. I found that I was able to ride relatively well on extremely limited saddle time.
I gave up racing for a few years while our children were young but returned to the scene two years ago. I sought out Dave for some coaching to try and make a go at racing while still placing my family and regular job first. It’s one thing for coaches to train elite athletes to championships but it’s another to take a basic amateur and help them improve on their limited time schedule. I’m just a sample size of 1 but my experience with Dave’s coaching principles has been awesome, and I am riding stronger than ever before on limited training volume.
Dave agreed to an interview and I hope you’ll find it interesting. He has a unique perspective on the sport, having spent a large part of his career working with hundreds of elite and amateur level cyclists, as well as being on the front line of sports research. Read the rest of this entry »
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29 May »
Events »
Cory
The UCI World Cup series continued in Fort William, Scotland this weekend, with a full slate of mountain biking action. Spectators at the event had a chance to watch pros like Michal Prokop, Jill Kintner, and others rip it up on the second 4x event of the season, and downhillers like Sam Hill, Cedric Gracia, and Tracy Moseley pin it on a challenging DH course (men / women). The fourth UCI cross country took place on Saturday, with the usual cast of racers laying it all on the line. Read the rest of this entry »
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Whether you are a regular home wrencher or are the type who fixes your own emergencies and then leaves the tough stuff for the pros, there are certain bike tools you just can’t live without. Favored tools differ from person to person, of course, and the things in your toolbox will depend on the type of riding you do and how much work you do on your own bike.
So I figured it might make an interesting story to discuss the five tools that I couldn’t go without in my shop. These are the tools I use the most and, with a fleet of 10 bikes between myself (7), my wife (2) and my son (1), plus the regular arrival of test bikes through my job at Pedal Magazine, my tools are put to good use.
Since my riding focus typically falls on the cross country racing and road riding side of things, you’ll notice that weight-weenie side of me in my tools. But after your read my list, please feel free to post your own list of most-used shop tools. Read the rest of this entry »
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Doh! When I loaded up the site this morning, I realized that I hadn’t hit the ‘publish’ button to put this post online. I guess it was because I had to turn off my brain to get through the film version of The Da Vinci Code; obviously, I forgot to turn it back on when I left the show. And I don’t want to see any ‘You’re always like this’ comments…
Original content
For Monday, I posted up a review of the Manitou Minute: 04 and followed that up with Ashwin’s comparison of the fibre-based Flat Attack sealant and Stan’s latex concoction. For Wednesday, I posted up the build specs for my 2005 Giant Trance, thinking that the entry would generate some decent discussion — ‘Too heavy!’, or ‘Why not get a Reign?’ — and it did, just not the type of discussion I expected. Moving on, Guitar Ted gave us a thoughtful glimpse at the type of event that served as the foundation for the growing ultra-endurance race scene.
Elsewhere on the ‘net
Over at NSMB.com, Lee McCormack posted up an overview of the 2007 Fox Racing Shox freeride and downhill lineup. Stumbled across a Flickr photostream with a bunch of pics of classic Shore riding. CyclingNews reviews the Scott Scale 10 hardtail and has a closeup look at Liam Killeen’s pink 25th Anniversary Stumpjumper. Cannondale launches SystemSix, its next generation frame technology. Word is that there will be a mountain bike SystemSix frame in production for next year too. More to come on 06.06.06.
2006 Giro D’Italia recap: In road biking news, Ivan Basso is set to win the Giro d’Italia by a comfortable margin. It looks as though Jan Ullrich quit the Giro during today’s nineteenth stage. Although a back injury was cited as the main reason for the withdrawal, I’d put money on Jan not wanting to ride anymore during the Giro. And since I’m in a gambling sort of mood, does anybody want to put money on the T-Mobile team being in disarray during the Tour de France this year?
More blood doping controversy. Elsewhere, Manolo Saiz, the director of the Liberty Seguros cycling team, was arrested by Spanish authorities after a long investigation into doping allegations. Saiz was released on bail after promising to appear in front of a judge, although the bags of frozen blood, steroids, and other materials seized during the operation won’t help his defense any. And while it likely cost Liberty Seguros a boatload of cash — it’s going to cost a fortune in lost exposure / marketing opportunities — the Spanish insurance company terminated its sponsorship agreement with its pro cycling team. I’m sure the fallout will continue…
Healing vibes go out to the dude on a bike that was smacked by a motorist close to my home. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt badly (ie. no ambulance) but I do hope that the driver of the car gets the book thrown at them for blowing through a crosswalk.
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Once upon a time I was a cross country racer, the typical beginner that moved up to sport and then clogged the middle of the pack. You know the guy that made you dismount on the courses most heinous climb? That was me. And I was plunking along just fine until, one day, It hit me. And that day, my view of racing changed forever.
Setting the stage
The venue was one that I had been going to for a couple of years. It was run by a crazy old man that was more concerned about having fun than setting course records. He had his own independent series, and his own licenses.
The thing that really set this guy’s series apart from the others was the courses he created. I recall that one course that had us hiking about 50 yards up a waist high creek, holding our bikes above our heads. Then there was the one with the ravines so deep, that you had to hike your bike up and down each side because of the steepness of the ground. And the one where I found a junior racer buried over his head in a hole he fell into, waiting for another racer to pull him out. Yep! This promoter was certifiably crazy. And we were probably just as crazy for racing those courses. Read the rest of this entry »
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24 May »
Reviews »
Cory
Sorry for the crappy bike pic! I’ll update with a nicer shot when I get a chance.
I do a lot of product reviews for this site and I run a lot of different gear over the course of the season. Even so, I have my own preferences and I think that showing you my primary mountain bike — a 2005 Giant Trance setup for aggressive trail riding — in its current setup says a lot about the gear that I really like.
And for components that I have been using for a long time, maybe read this post as a long term update for the item, and an endorsement of sorts. Read the rest of this entry »
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23 May »
Reviews »
Ashwin
This writeup compares a fiber-based liquid tire sealant called Flat Attack to the popular Stan’s Latex Sealant.
An overview of Stan’s No Tubes system
I’ve been using Stan’s No Tubes tubeless conversion for almost 2 years and, while it’s not without its issues, I really like the system for xc riding and racing. During installation, you use a special rim strip combined with a regular non-UST tire.
The rim strip alone will usually allow you inflate a tire, although it leaves you with no flat protection against thorns or cuts. To gain this feature, you have to use some sort of liquid sealant. Stan’s sells a latex-based sealant and the instructions call for 2 ounces of sealant for a typical mountain bike tire. Read the rest of this entry »
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22 May »
Events »
Cory
After a six week layoff between the first two UCI cross country events, the world’s top xc racers were back in the saddle over the weekend, enduring muddy conditions on a course that was modified in the days leading up to the race. Both Julien Absalon and Gunn-Rita Dahle continued where they left off the previous week, stamping their authority all over this year’s series. Read the rest of this entry »
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22 May »
Reviews »
Cory
I haven’t seen too many reviews of forks that manufacturers are slotting into the burgeoning ‘trail’ market. I recall reading a recent review in one of the major mountain bike publications but, other than that, there doesn’t seem to be too much print about forks like the Rock Shox Revelation, the Marzocchi Marathon SL, the Fox TALAS 130, and the subject of this review — the Manitou Minute: 04.
My initial impressions of this fork were generally positive; I was impressed by the Minute: 04’s adjustability, its stiffness, the cushiness of the fork when the SPV Evolve damping wasn’t in its platform stage, and its all-black good looks. I was less impressed by the fork’s limited range of rebound damping and the fact that it was a little less sensitive in the small-bump compliance department.
I’ve had another full month on the fork since my first writeup and I’ve got some more things to write about it, so read on… Read the rest of this entry »
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I took a few days off this week because the weather has been prime (30 celsius), the trails unbelievable, and the family itching for some family time.
Original content
On Tuesday, Guitar Ted wrote about the 29″er single speed bike. For Wednesday, I posted up Ashwin’s detailed initial look at the 2005 Adidas Adistar XC race shoe.
Elsewhere on the ‘net
Bicycle Tech has a cool video that shows how the 2007 Shimano XTR stuff works. BikeMagic shows how to shorten the brake lines on your hydraulic disc brakes; I tried it this week on some Juicy 5s and it worked like a charm. Lee Likes Bikes discusses sizing for dj bikes. NSMB.com offers up a sneak peek at the 2007 Specialized Demo series — even if you’re not interested in the bike, check out the writeup for its photos, which are classic North Shore.
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