Tailwind Coaching

Safe Cycling In The Rain (Podcast #16)

How many of have you looked out the window at raindrops falling from the sky and said “ugh, it's raining. I don't want to ride in this.” Be honest.

Good, now of those of you who answered “yes” to the last question, how many of you would ride in the rain if you felt more comfortable? How about if you could feel safer?

Riding in wet conditions, from damp roads to a driving rain, can not only be safe and comfortable, but it can even be fun. It's a great way to keep you on your toes, keep your skills sharp and break out of the ordinary riding rut. Roads that are wet change character completely: climbs become more demanding of finesse to prevent wheels from slipping, descents require perfect lines and braking and handling skills are sharpened by the constant barrage to your senses. But in order to safely partake in these fitness and skill challenges, you'll have to have the proper preparation and keep a few things in mind. In today's podcast we'll discuss a few of these such as:

Proper dress for warmth (and maybe even dryness)
Tips to ensure road safety, including braking distance and traction concerns
Post ride concerns to make sure you recover well (and keep your bike happy)

As a side note, there's only a few days left to take advantage of my Giro d'Italia modular training special. Remember to use coupon code “giro2013” to take 15% off all modular training plans. And keep a look out for my new Century Module, which will be coming out in the next week or so.

Questions and comments are always welcome. Post below to get the discussion rolling (hopefully in the dry.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:59 — 18.3MB)

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Tags: podcast, training|

Giro d’Italia Week 2 Recap

After a harrowing first week that delivered surprises aplenty, the second week of the Tour of Italy was slated to break the race wide open. Those little jabs that were thrown in the first week were slated to become haymakers as the GC contenders stop with the shadow boxing and come out swinging. But some of those GC men were on the back foot and already staggered: defending champion and bib number 1 Hesjedal had two bad days in the ITT and the following mountain stage, conceding nearly 4 minutes and dropping him into 11th place overall. Bradley Wiggins survived the trials and tribulations of the first week, with a good ITT and surviving the following mountain stage without giving up significant ground. But with Vincenzo Nibali resplendent in pink, who would be the one to break his stranglehold of the race?

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Tags: pro cycling|

Motivation – Getting It Back (Podcast #15)

Motivation can be a tricky thing for a cyclist to find, especially after a big “A” race or event. But motivation is often what gets us off our ass, off the sofa and onto the bike and lacking it can be deadly for our fitness (and waist line.)

But how do you go about getting your motivation back after you've spent months training for a huge event? What do you do with that gigantic hole left in your life when you don't have a training plan to follow? Today's podcast will discuss a few tips for rebuilding your motivation, including:

Revising your goals and setting new ones if necessary
Taking some time away from structure (ride with friends or do a Strava Challenge)
Going back to fundamentals (and being motivated by your quick progress)

I'm also running a Giro d'Italia special for my Modular Training Plans: enter the code “giro2013” to take 15% off any or all of my modular plans. Hurry though, this offer only lasts as long as the Giro does.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:47 — 18.2MB)

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Tags: Motivation, podcast|

Giro d’Italia Week 1 Review

[dc]T[/dc]he first (and perhaps most beautiful) grand tour of the year arrived and has wound it's way around Italy for a week now. As always, the Giro has been surprise after surprise, with rain and slippery roads playing almost as big a part as the racers themselves. How has the first week developed and what might we see in the coming two weeks?

As for the protagonists (or antagonists depending upon which side of the fence you're on), Katusha is here thanks to the CAS ruling that placed them into the World Tour, although without the defending second place Joachim Rodriguez. Ryder Hesjedal (defending champion) lined up next to Cadel Evans, Vincenzo Nibali, Michele Scarponi, Robert Gesink and the odds on favorite, Bradley Wiggins. It was anyone's guess who could challenge Wiggins for the overall honors of the 2013 Giro, especially after his and Sky's dominating performance in the Tour de France last year. But as has been shown through the first week, the Giro is an unpredictable and fickle mistress, causing a number of the GC contenders to come to grief and leaving us all to wonder who will take home the coveted Maglia Rosa.

Stages

In the past few years, the Giro has been criticized as being too intense. Too demanding. Flat out too hard. Michele Acquarone has done a fantastic job in balancing the act in order to ensure star quality participation and exciting racing from beginning to end. Balancing time trial kilometers with mountaintop finishes, flat sprint stages and stages suitable to allow a break to go clear and somehow managing to not tip the balance towards one specialist or another is a difficult task indeed. Let's see how the stages developed.

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Tags: pro cycling, racing|

Lezyne Valve Extenders

[dc]S[/dc]ince the weather became nice enough to start using tubular wheels again, the eternal frustration with valve extenders has become yet again apparent. Adding to the frustration is the fact that I'm a devout user of the Lezyne Alloy Floor Drive pump (which screws on to both presta and schrader valve stems) and that just doesn't work with a non-threaded valve extender.

And let's face it…that old Park floor pump I have in the garage is a piece of junk at best.

Enter the machined aluminum, laser etched beauty that is the Lezyne alloy 70mm valve extender. With a presta threaded top on it, wrench flats to ensure proper torque on the stock valve and a little baggie (I do mean little, it almost requires tweezers to open and I have fairly thin fingers) full of o-rings to make a perfect airtight seal, these things are more than worth the fifteen bucks that I paid for them.

As well as looking awesome, they function extremely well (at least as well as a piece as simple as a valve extender can.) They threaded presta cap means you can use the awesome screw on Lezyne pump or you can use any standard pump you want, making life infinitely easier.

The biggest downside to these extenders is that they screw onto the top of the existing valve stem and merely provide a conduit for air to get from the pump head to the valve. I'd prefer if the extender actually moved the valve parts out to the end of the valve extender, much like the ENVE extenders do. The issue with these extenders is simply that in order to access the valve (to open or close it, or to remove it to spray in Stans or anything similar) you have to remove the valve extender, and it may still be impossible to access the valve stem anyway (otherwise you wouldn't be using extenders.) That aside, I've had no issues with them, especially as they relate to the Lezyne Floor Drive pump.

The only other thing one could wish for was stealth black with the sweet laser etched “Lezyne” logo on it. But the polished silver certainly looks the part.

$14.99

Lezyne.com

Tags: components, reviews, wrenching|