TriSports.com Blog

Reflections and Roller Skates:

As the holiday season continues to move at a frantic pace here at TriSports.com I have to remind myself to take time and enjoy this crazy time of year. Stresses always seem greatest around the holidays and it is important not to lose perspective. One thing I try to do as the year ends, is to look back and remember the times the year has brought. Personally, 2009 was a crazy year filled with both highs and lows. Fortunately the good times win out by a huge margin.

My favorite TriSports.com memory this year (and there are lots to choose from) would have to be Adult Skate night. Every Thursday night Skate Country here is Tucson has Adult Skate night. I hadn’t been roller skating in over 7 years but what ensued was hilarity at its finest. All I can say is that you haven’t lived until you have made extended eye contact with a guy that looks like Bilbo Baggins skating backwards for a couple of laps. So if you ever in Tucson on a Thursday and looking for something fun to do. Lace up and roll out to Skate Country. Most likely someone from TriSports.com will be there. Till then have fun, relax, and enjoy the offseason. March is coming quicker than you think.

Chet aka The Jet at Skate Country

Putting Endurance First

Ever since my epic bonk at Interbike I have been on the hunt for nutrition.  Admittedly I am very poor about refueling when riding.  I credit that to two factors.  The first is a lack of bike handling skills initially, that have put me in a habit of not eating or drinking for fear that I might break my face if I let go of the hoods.  The second is that everything I tried tasted ok but was a bit rough on the old stomach.  Nutrition is relative but for myself I have finally found a line of products that work for me….and the winner is…First Endurance.
After sampling all the major players in nutrition racket First Endurance comes out on top by producing a product that tastes good, works better, and has the highest absorption rate thereby having the best value.  Taste of course is a personal preference but value of the First Endurance product line is not.  In cruder words I am not peeing away my money by purchasing 10,000% of my daily intake of Vitamin C only for it to go to waste because my body cannot absorb it.  I could go on but why would you take my advice?  I am not a two time Ironman Champion.  Jordan Rapp is however and here is a video of him fresh off his victory at Ironman Arizona talking about his experience with First Endurance.  See more videos like this here.

Get an Edge with Garmin

On a previous blog I had mentioned the importance of having a cycling computer on your bike if you plan on training.  While this may not be a revelation to most, you would be surprised by the number or cyclists I encounter on the road not using any type of computer.  While some may still go by the old stand-by “just ride hard”, science of the day says that this is not necessarily a good thing. 

So how can I become faster by owning a computer you ask?  By shedding pounds off your body because you are working out at Zone 2 and burning your fat stores instead of burning off the food you ate today.   You will become faster when you increase your power output on the bike.  Of course you first need to know what your power output is. You can know, instead of just feel, you are improving on the bike by tracking your training rides and seeing your performance increase or decrease over the season. 

So which computer should you get?  Well if you are on a budget a good Cat Eye or Blackburn may do the trick.  If you’re not on a budget then SRM is the way to go.   After looking at all the 2010 Cycling Computers entirely I am going to purchase the Garmin Edge 500.  This new Edge 500 does everything I am looking for and is compatible with ANT + technology.  So when I convince my wife I really do need a power tap wheel I will not have to switch out my computer, for more info check out the video below.

“The Commuters Corner:” I don’t dehydrate.

One of my favorite memories with a bike comes from a time my friend Rich and I decided to mountain bike on the hottest day of the year.  It was sort of an impromptu ride and pulling up to the trail turn off Rich asks if I needed to get more than one bottle of water.  I laughed and told him, “Don’t worry about man, I don’t dehydrate.”  Two hours and one mad rattlesnake later, we are lost, out of water, and I am of course severally dehydrated.  We survived and made it back to the car well after sunset but I learned an important lesson.  I, in fact, do dehydrate. 

Ever since that day I have made sure that I always have enough water while I’m riding.  This year I went to Interbike for the first time and had the opportunity to go out early for the Outdoor Demo Days.  We left in the morning and flew to Vegas.  After landing we got in the car and grabbed a bite to eat on the way.  We all watched in amazement as Erik (our Retail Manager) put down a 20″ Cheese Steak before riding all day.  I made it a point to pack a camelbak so that I could have water, unfortunately I was not able to fill the Camelbak until later in the day .  Long story short, I do not know if it was the lack of water, the plane ride, or the different climate, but I began to slowly fade. 

Flash forward to the end of the day, and things go from bad to bloody.  We grabbed a few demo road bikes for a quick ride and I got off to a late start so was pushing to try to catch up with rest of the group.  I had barely caught up with them when my face exploded.  My nose began gushing blood and I had to pull over and try to stop the bleeding.  That took a while.  Eventually I took off my base layer (an old white cotton t-shirt, not the smartest) and ripped a piece off and plugged the nose.  With the remainder of the shirt I began to franticly try to scrub the quickly drying blood off the $7,000 demo bike.  After the bike was clean and the bleeding stopped, I began the ride back to the tents to return the bike.  Luckily we weren’t very far out but it was a bit of a climb and I am not a great cyclist.  Oh, and I had just lost a pint of blood.  If it wasn’t for Mark giving me a push at the end, I do not think I would have made it without walking. 

So what did I take away from all this?  First, always know your limits.  I knew that I should not be riding any more but I couldn’t resist.  Second, water isn’t enough.  I had always been from the school that water is all you need and everything else is just marketing and capitalism.  I was wrong, probably not as wrong as the time I said I don’t dehydrate but fairly close.  When you’re on the bike for longer than an hour you are going to lose performance without something extra to help refuel your body.  So look into some different nutrition options and see what is right for you.  Everyone is different but for me I am finding that I do well with Hammer Nutrition Heed.  If you have any other suggestions let me know.

The Commuters Corner – “Safety”

It’s time to wrap up our little three part series on Speed, Comfort, and lastly Safety.  Now it’s true, I purposely delayed talking about Safety.  To me safety is like old girlfriends.  Yeah it’s part of my life but I don’t need to talk about it.  I admit, that’s a little extreme but you get the idea.  Too often people equate safety to asthma, coke bottles, and acne.   The truth is that there is nothing nerdy about protecting your ability to walk or controlling your risk on the road.  You might be the best rider out there but you are sharing the road with other people.  You can’t predict everything so it’s better to be prepared.  Remember your seven P’s.  Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance, or in this case Perilous Personal Predicaments.    Here are a few products that might save your life.

When you are on your bike you should always wear a helmet.  Kind of a no brainer these days.  Yes, that was a pun.  Eat your heart out Matty B.  Almost any helmet will work. I personally recommend the Lazer O2 (or the Oxygen).  This is my favorite road helmet out right now.  The Fit system is amazing and tons of vents to prevent over-heating.    At the end of the day, you need to protect your dome-piece.     

The next item is a light.  This becomes even more important as fall and winter approaches.  You do not need to break the bank here but if you are blind like me you might want something with a little more lumens than a $15 set-up.  That is why I recommend the Blackburn Flea front and rear combo.  This will keep you legal and is fairly bright.  Like going to the mall in 8^th grade the biggest thing is not just seeing but being seen as well.

Last, as always, get on your bike and ride.  You need to be alert on the road because you are mostly likely going to have to avoid accidents.  That means you need to feel comfortable on the bike.  The best tips I can offer short of telling you to take a safety course is ride with purpose.  Be deliberate with your actions and communicate what you are going to do before you do it.  Cycling has come a long way since its inception.  Correspondingly so has bike safety.  Check out this bike safety video from 1950.  No helmets, but thank God for the approved reflectors. 

The Commuters Corner – “Speed”

     Part two of the “Speed, Comfort, Safety” topic focuses on everyone’s top priority speed. Aldous Huxley penned it wonderfully when he said, “Speed provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.” Perhaps this is a symptom of a problem with humanity. But as the great Ricky Bobby said, “Who cares, I just wanna go fast”. If you are dead set on going faster but not ready or able to get a new machine here are some items that can make your commute go a little quicker.

     The first is the BlackBurn Delphi 4.0 Cycle computer. This will tell you how fast you are going but more importantly if you are going to slow. It is easy to lose focus starting out on the bike especially if you have a longer commute. A computer will help you maintain mental integrity so you don’t convince yourself that you’re working harder than you really are.

     The second item that you should invest in is a quality set of tires. The problem with commuting is that you may not be willing to lose flat protection to gain speed. Thankfully tires like the Michelin Pro Race 3 exist, which offer adequate puncture protection but also do not weigh more than 200 grams. Losing rotational weight makes you faster. Don’t believe me, ask me…….or google it. If you don’t mind pumping up your tires every time you ride get some of these as well.

     The third item I would recommend is the Oakley Thump Pro. I know someone is cringing out there because listening to music is the last thing you want to do on the bike. You need all your senses to protect yourself against less than attentive drivers but this is about being faster not being safer that’s next week. Why will these sunglasses make your faster? Well besides providing stellar optical clarity (I am not kidding, these lenses are crystal clear) you will also be able to forget your pain by focusing on something else, like music. Maybe there is a hill that is just killing you every time you ride. Put these babies on and throw down to some Spice Girls and watch how you climb up with ease. Probably not, but listening to music has proven to improve athletes endurance by 40%. Can’t argue with that.

     The biggest thing you can do to become faster is free, ride your bike. If you are not spending time on your bike consistently you are losing speed. So get out there and ride your bike or I’ll have Ricky Bobby put a cougar in your car.

The Commuters Corner – “Speed, Comfort, Safety”

The vast majority of technology advances in our sport revolve around these three things, speed, comfort, and safety. All riders are different and have their own reasons for riding the two wheel wonders we call bikes. Correspondingly all cyclists have different ideas about which of the three are important. Over the next three weeks we will look at each attribute individually and talk about some products that may help you achieve your goals while commuting accordingly.

It is my belief that comfort is the most important of the three. I know that this might sound backwards. How can comfort be more important than speed or even safety? However, if you are more comfortable you are going to be able to maintain a higher level of speed over longer distances. Admittedly there are some exceptions to this theory, a cruiser might be the most comfortable bike in the world but it will never be faster than a road bike.

When commuting, it is crucial to be comfortable. Why, because you’re commuting not racing, you are interacting with traffic and want to keep your focus on the road rather than the discomfort your saddle is causing. Discomfort is often a major determent to new riders and often results in abandoning their commute. One of the best ways to counteract this is to purchase a saddle. The majority of bikes come with the most god-awful saddles ever created. So go out and try a saddle that works for you. If you don’t have an idea what saddle you want check out our demo section. My suggestion is the Selle An-Atomica saddle. This saddle is one of the most comfortable saddles I have ever been on. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that when TriSports.com employees need to purchase a saddle this is the picked the most, by far.

My commuting saddle.

The Commuters Corner – “What you need to commute.”

   So now that you have made a commitment to ride to work you may be asking yourself what you need to buy.  The truth is not a lot.  There are only a couple things you really need to have in order to commute.  The first thing is a bike.  Any bike that doesn’t have an engine should work with one exception.  I would not recommend commuting with a tri bike, mainly because of safety issues.  Tri Bikes are intended for speed but they are also intended to be ridden when it’s just you and the road.  Cornering and Braking in traffic on these can be a little tricky if not downright dangerous. 
   The next thing you need is a helmet.  If you are not wearing a helmet you are not controlling your level of risk on the road and you might be breaking the law.  You don’t need to break the bank however when purchasing a helmet.  The Giro Transfer is just as safe as the Giro Ionos.  The differences between the two are weight, airflow, and ascetics.  Those are big issues, but not if you are on a budget.
  You also want to take some small essential items for on the road repairs when commuting.  Check this video out for a comprehensive look at what should be with you every time you ride, regardless of your destination.

The Commuters Corner – “Committing to Commute”

                 Here at TriSports.com we are big fans of riding your bike to work.  It just makes sense for us.  As a company we strive to reduce our footprint on the environment, advocate cycling, and be healthy.   Riding into work is more than just an option; it is the result of our desires.  So there it is, as my co-worker Billy would say, “Ride your bike, it’s just that simple”. 

                The truth is sometimes it’s not just that simple.  Like anything worth doing there are going to be detractors.  Detractors like time, safety, and convenience.  Commuting on your bike is great if you live 3 miles away but what if you love 30 miles away.  What if there are no bike paths and your are forced to interact with drivers who in their hurry to get to work are not paying attention to how close they are to you.  Or what about riding in bad weather?  All the above issues ring true for me.    I am not going to tell you that you just need to get on your bike and get over it.  There is risk associated to riding your bike, but there are risks with everything.  You are risking your life when drive your car to work.  All you can do is try to control the level of risk. 

                This blog will help encourage, instruct, and hopefully entice you to ride your bike to work.  If I can do it anyone can.  I am not the standard TriSports.com employee.  I have more than 15% body fat and my legs still have hair on them.  J Hey, if anyone can understand the commuters’ plight it’s me.  I’m in your corner.

                So at the risk of being cheesy, let’s make it official.  Repeat after me, I am going to ride my bike to work.  Did you say it?  I hope so.  How much are you going to ride? Well, that’s up to you but I am going to shoot for three days a week for myself.  Hope to see you out there.

My new Car!

Taking it to the Streets

On my way to work this morning a song popped into my head.  I’m not sure if I remember all the words, it’s been a really long time since I had heard it, but I think it went something like this.

“One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?”

Do you recognize it? Let me know if you do.  I think it is from Sesame Street.  Pretty funny when you think about it, teaching kids how to tell what doesn’t belong.  So why is this song on repeat in my head?   It probably has something to do with working at TriSports.com and not being a triathlete.  I have been working at TriSports.com for two months now and it has been the most unique work environment I have ever experienced.  I can’t help but laugh when I think about my first day,  driving into work and seeing only three cars in the parking lot.  I recall thinking to myself, “Where is everyone?”  Only to be greeted as I enter the doorway by all the coworkers I thought were “slacking off”.  Turns out people really do ride their bikes to work.  I have heard of these people but have never seen one, much less a whole group!  Later I am introduced to my rest of my department.  Not only am I the new guy and the youngest, but I am also the only person there who has not completed an Ironman or full marathon.  I don’t even want to tell you about the guilt I felt eating fast food for lunch in front of a guy who is having fresh bell peppers and fruit. 

It has been a very weird and fun couple of months.  You will be happy to learn that I am already looking at races for next year.  After being immersed in the world and culture of the triathlete I must say that I am hooked.  And why wouldn’t I be?  Triathletes to me are everything I want to be in life, disciplined, intelligent and a little crazy.  Take that Sesame Street.

A little treat from the Cookie Monster