By guest KIT blogger, Chris Chapron I’m going to cut to the chase. I’m a mountain biker at heart. I prefer dirt to pavement. I started off racing MTBs and that grew into cyclocross to extend the season (and the occasional foray into some Wells Ave training races (Newton, MA) which all have been replaced by commuting and bringing the kids on their bikes into the woods. With that being said, as the years passed I needed a new pair of shoes that could stand the rigors of commuting, the occasional race, and helping the young-ins push their little BMX bikes through the woods and up the hills.
By guest KIT blogger, Cort Cramer The winter is quite cold for many of us here in the US, and as a result a portion of your training time will very likely be spent on the indoor trainer. The indoor trainer can provide focused and high-quality training sessions, as typical outdoor distractions (cars/wind/hills/etc.) are mitigated.. Once you have committed yourself to riding indoors, you must carefully consider the types of sessions to do. See below for two types of indoor trainer workouts. CADENCE-BASED SESSIONS Cadence-based workouts emphasize changes in cadence instead of power and heart rate. Cadence-based workouts typically do not stress the cardiovascular system, but are more focused on improving the muscular system and can range from high rpm efforts emphasizing neuromuscular power to very slow rpm efforts emphasizing muscular strength. The higher cadence sessions help to ensure that you maintain your ability to quickly contract and relax the muscles over the winter, a crucial skill in cycling. Indoor sessions for these are relatively simple, and can easily be performed outdoors also when weather permits. A standard session of this type would be fast pedaling intervals: pedal one minute at ≥110rpm, followed by one minute at your self-selected (i.e. […]
