It's all about performance

     Got my seat raised to just the right height
     So I can pedal with efficiency
     Don't mess with my cadence
     I pedal to the beat
     How you think I made this?

     It's all about performance.
     That's the name of the game.
     I pump up my tires and I oil my chain.
     Performance
         (Lyrics excerpt from Performance)

Ok, so I'm quickly learning that cycling does involve some actual technique and it's evident that I need to make some adjustments if I'm to get through the hilly IMC course in a reasonable amount of time without thrashing my legs. I've done a few longish rides (60-75k) followed by brick runs and it's clear than I can run pretty quick off the bike. However, I believe that even my extensive ultramarathon experience won't be sufficient to run a fast marathon if I don't learn to ride properly.

An IM friend with a fair bit of cycling experience once told me that the bike training portion of Ironman is blue collar work - just time in the saddle. While I recognize that I'll need to spend many hours riding between now and race day, I only partially agree that it's as simple as getting the time in.


Some of the buzz words I've been hearing directed at me lately are:

"You need to up your cadence".
"Stop mashing your pedals".
"Use your core".
"Spin smoothly".

Any poor sod can jump on a bike and ride around town. These days you're not even suppose to have gears if you wear skinny jeans. However, as in all endurance events, one of the key components to Ironman is learning to race efficiently. Turns out I'm a bit of a pedal masher: I naturally cycle with a low cadence and only exert force on the down stroke. I rode BMX as a kid, but haven't really ridden much of my adult life, save a bit of mountain biking and riding around town; none of which has included any clipless pedals.

So how does all of this relate to the Poor Man's Ironman? I'm getting there. My first step in starting to get serious about my biking was to get a bike fit. So I headed over to a bike shop recommended by new Tri-friend Darryl. They adjusted my pedals, seat height, angle and position and my aerobar location/height. I was expecting to pay $200, but the fit and new brake pads only came out to $100. Yeah!  The bad news: my cable ends are fraying and I'll need to replace them soon. I was informed that I might even have to replace the cable housing. 

Since I'm trying to do the bike thing on a budget, I decided to head over to Our Community Bikes, where they gave me 4 cable ends absolutely free (super easy to install). While I was there I also scored a used pair of Shimano SPD pedals for $5.00. I figure the only way I'm going to stop being a pedal masher is if I start clipping in on my my junk bike, which I've been using to commute to the pool. And $5???? Shut the front door..... you'll never get a deal like that at MEC. Why is it called a Co-op anyway? Because they collectively rip everyone off equally?

Back to performance. I seem to get bounced around a lot by the bike when I'm riding on the track. No surprise, when I focus on pedalling smoothly the bouncing stops. I've also noticed riding on my rollers makes it obvious when I'm not spinning smoothly. I plan on using both of these over the winter to improve my pedal stroke.

Earlier this year I dated this cyclist that was adamant that I should buy a power meter. Clearly she didn't last long, 'cause I ain't droppin' no coin on no power meter. Cadence meter? That's a whole other story. My friends keep telling me to up my cadence. Everything I read indicates I should be riding at at least 80 rpm, but I really have no concept of what that feels like. So yesterday I finally broke down and bought a Cadence Sensor for my Garmin Forerunner 305. Of course I didn't want to buy it new and a quick search on Craigslist revealed a brand new one for $70. I haggled the guy down to $60 and I now have cadence an speed (non-gps) displayed on my Garmin. 

I'm pretty excited about learning to ride more efficiently. Last week I did a 75k ride with Kyndra and at times it felt like I was working too hard. It was a great ride, but certainly couldn't have kept that pace up for another 100km. I certainly am grateful for having a bunch of experienced IMC'ers around me giving me cycling tips.

Sorry for the long post. I'll try to write less lengthy posts, but more often from now on. Stay tuned for my budget update - there have been a few other minor cycling purchases that I didn't mention in the post (including having to pry myself away from a Cervelo P1 yesterday).