Tri 101: Basic Bike Skills

In an effort to spend more time writing and less time scrolling through social media. I am going to try to post a Tri 101 blog post every week for the month of January, and then hopefully monthly for the rest of the year.

Admittedly, I am not the greatest cyclist around.  I rode my bike as kid to and from the pool and friends’ houses in my neighborhood, but that was all on a Walmart mountain bike in a climbing gear a lot, because I was a kid, so I didn’t know what I was doing.  It was good for me.  I think it is good for kids to go out and be active like that.  It also meant I at least knew how to ride a bike.  I did struggle a little when first getting back on a bike at nineteen, especially with the seat height required, when I previously had my seat too low. 

Before working on any skills on your bike make sure you have a good bike fit.  Some shops offer fit services, but you can also pay for a professional fit. In Nashville, I know of two people who offer bike fitting, and if you have more than one bike you can sometimes get a discount on getting multiple done at the same time. Also, maintain a good relationship with your local bike shop, because they can be  a lot of help in the future.

Basic Cycling and Pedal Stroke:  A good bike fit will have you set up so you can keep your foot flat throughout the pedal stroke and you can apply even pressure across your whole foot during the pedal stroke.  I suggest starting out practicing like a kid, which means starting in your neighborhood or somewhere with little traffic so you can make sure you are comfortable with your bike. When I first started riding at nineteen, I felt like it was a whole new thing and not just like riding a bike.  I also recommend getting comfortable with stopping. When I first started riding, I would stop while still on my saddle, which meant I was leaning to one side, and my foot was barely on the ground. You should aim to learn to stand and get off the saddle when stopping, so you will be more stable when stopped and less likely to fall or struggle getting started again like I have. As you get more comfortable, parking lots and neighborhoods are also great places to get more comfortable with more advanced skills I still do not have.

Turning:  There are two turns you will encounter the most, and then the one I hate because it can be a surprise.  A 90 degree turn, a 180 degree turn, or a hairpin turn.  The 90 is the easier of the two.  Before considering trying to take speed through your turn, focus on learning to slow down, and keep your outside foot at the bottom of your stroke as you coast through the turn, keeping your weight on the outside of the bike.  Having the weight on your outside foot helps with keeping balance, and having your inside foot up keeps it from scraping the ground. I have only encountered one hairpin turn, and I have done it many times. The first time I almost crashed, because it was my first time on the Ironman 70.3 Augusta race course, but the next times I rode it I was much more comfortable with it, although I am cautious and probably frustrated people behind me. The 180 is one I have encountered a few times, like 2013 USAT Collegiate Nationals, where there were two on the course.  I practically came to a stop going around the cone on one because it was a single lane on the road with bikes going both ways.  I can now more confidently do one, and I have had to in a time trial. Practice these so on race day if there is one it is no problem. 

Shifting:  I spent a lot of time in my granny gear (easiest on the whole bike) when I first started riding, and it took me a while to get comfortable in my big ring on my bike rides.  Getting to know your big ring (front biggest gear) is one of the most important things, because once your comfortable in it on flats, you will get stronger on hills too.

Basics:
Left is front gears (usually 2, sometimes I’ve seen 3 on some Canondales) Right is rear
Flats:  Big gear in the front, smaller gear in the back.  You know your back gear is too big if you are hearing your chain, and this can break it.
Hills:  Small in the front, big in the back.  You know your back gear is too small if you are hearing your chain.
Some rollers can be handled in your big gear, but you need to anticipate if you are going to be in your small front gear for it.

I know I am in the wrong gear when I am feeling like my heart rate is crazy high and my legs and moving really fast.  I shift into a harder gear when this happens.  I rarely have the problem of being in too difficult of a gear, but some people do, and it will make their knees hurt or their quads are becoming sore.  Shift in the back first then the front.

For hills the best approach is to try to keep your cadence up by shifting into an easier gear.  This way, when you reach the top of the hill, you can shift into a harder gear more quickly and won’t be stuck coasting from tired legs at the top.  Now, if you are trying to build power for hills, that is when it is ok to overgear some, which I am doing a lot lately.  The trainer is also good for building power. 

Drinking Water/Electrolytes:  First, you need to do this.  Second, unless you have an aero bottle and are on a tri bike, you have to take a hand off the bike.  I learned this out of necessity, and before that I literally had to stop to drink water.  You are also going to need this skill for longer races/rides when you are going to need some nutrition on the bike.  I still have to slow way down to do it, if that tells you how difficult it was for me to learn, but by slowing down I know I can keep my balance.  I highly recommend practicing taking bottles from different cages on your bike if you have more than one. Generally, on my road bike I keep my primary drink on the cage on my down tube, and a secondary on the seat tube, but on my trip bike I usually have an aero bottle and rear cages as well, so I had to learn to refill bottles too. It is always best to do this before race day.

If you are just starting out, take some time and learn these things, and it will hopefully pay off by helping you improve at a much faster rate than I did where I was just figuring things out in my own time.

Tri 101: You Signed up for What?

This is going to be the first post in an updated version of a series I ran on my old blog called “Tri 101”. The goal is to create a set of simplified resources to assist individuals who have signed up for or are considering signing up for their first triathlon. I am going to utilize the information I previously shared as well as things I have learned in more recent years to provide a free resource for people who are just starting out.

You signed up for a triathlon.  A lot of people will ask you why you are paying to go do up to 17 hours of cardio depending on your race distance, and everyone has their own reason.  A lot of triathletes come from a single or double sport background, or sometimes even no athletic background, so there is a wide variety of people getting involved in this quickly growing sport. This means you are not the only one who is probably looking for guidance on getting started.

Now what do you do?  The first thing to do is figure out your plan.  Are you going to be like me and not really train much because you think you’re just that good?  Go for it.  Are you going to follow a training plan or find some form of consistent training?  Go for it.  Just make sure you know whether/how much you are going to train, and plan out all of the gear you are going to need.

When deciding what your plan is, know what you are getting yourself into.  Below is a breakdown of the distances.  If you aren’t much of a swimmer you are going to want to be in the pool for a little bit before attempting an Olympic.  It is all about being realistic about where you are and what you are attempting to do. If you don’t have a ton of time to train and are really strong in a single discipline, maybe spend more time on the other two and do just enough to maintain your strength in the third, or if you are new to all three, prioritize where you think you can make the most gains in the time you have available.

You also need to keep in mind that there is more to doing a triathlon than just doing three sports.  Maybe you can accomplish the three distances on their own, but you have to consider what it is going to be like to do them all together.  This is especially important when it comes to running off the bike, where your legs will feel like jell-o the first time you try it.  No matter what distance you’re racing, at least a couple brick workouts leading up to it is going to help a lot with that, because while transitions may be easier to learn, getting a feel for going from swimming to standing immediately or from biking to running does require some training to adjust.

My next post in this series is going to be all about the gear you need as you prepare for your first race.

Week 1: Zone 2 Training

My first week of zone 2 training has been interesting. As mentioned previously, I have my spreadsheets to track my running and my weight to control for any weight loss, but I am not sharing any of that for a while, because I don’t have any results to share yet. What I am going to share will be my week of training, how it felt, and anything I noticed or found helpful.

Monday: Zone 2 run. I wrote about this with my first zone 2 running post, so I will not go into much detail. I walked a lot, and I let my heart rate settle down to zone 1 when walking.

Tuesday: Nothing. I felt tired, and unmotivated. I did a lot around my house though.

Wednesday: 45 minute zone 2 bike. It was sort of zone 2, but I was on a hilly route, so I let my heart rate climb up a little during the climbs and settled back into zone 2 on the descents and flats. I have to pay close attention on descents to keep it from dropping too much. This means shifting up a gear or two and keeping my cadence up.

Thursday: Swim in the middle of the day. I felt pretty good and had time to get in some extra distance, so I made it 3300 instead of my planned 3000. I also had another zone 2 run that afternoon. I felt like I ran a little more in the beginning compared to Tuesday, but less near the end. One of the recommendations I got from Triathlon Taren is to run more to improve efficiency on the run, so I am aiming for 3-4 runs per week right now.

Friday: Swim in the morning. This was another 3000 with some speed in it. I back off a lot on speed workouts due to an old shoulder injury at the moment, so anything “sprint” or “all out” is actually just strong. I also did 30 minutes of stretching and core work in the evening. As I mentioned in Triathlon Training and Tax Accounting I am planning on trying to focus on strength and mobility to prevent injury.

Saturday: I was super tired Saturday morning, probably from my early morning to swim Friday, so I slept in before working at the bike shop for the day. When I got home from working, sleeping in meant I had to get in my 1.5 hour bike ride. I picked a pretty hilly route for it, which I do a lot on Zwift, and I like that choosing hilly routes means I think less about speed and more about heart rate and the purpose behind the workout. My heart rate still got a little high on a couple hills, but it was returning very nicely when I slowed down, which is a good sign.

Sunday: My long “run” day. I have found a shuffle that I can stay in zone 2 under the right conditions with. I ended up with a few extra minutes past the forty-five I planned for this workout, and it went very well, or as well as a run/walk when I really want to run can go. The really positive thing that has come from all of this is that I can do longer workouts without feeling like I am dying at the end. The distance may not be there yet, but the time is, so as I get faster (hopefully), my distance should build up without increasing time. Of course I am increasing time as well.

Overall, this last week went really well for me, and it felt good. I haven’t actually felt this good training in a while, and my current week is off to a good start. I think not working for two weeks has something to do with it, but I have also made a few other changes, like trying to eat better and taking a vitamin D and B12 supplement. The vitamin D is under the recommendation of my doctor and the B12 is just what else was in the one vegan vitamin D gummy I could find online.

This week I am starting to incorporate some intervals into one of my run and bike workouts each week. On the run it will be on my hard run day and will be heart rate based, while on the bike I am just going to continue with hillier routes, but also push a little bit more for short periods of time.

Training in Nashville

I work in a bike shop and we get questions all the time about where people should go to train, so I thought I would create a post with just that. Here is your guide to training in Nashville.

Centennial Sportsplex

Swim

Pool Swimming. Do you like a cold pool or a warm pool?
If the answer is cold, my recommendation is the Centennial Sportsplex on West End. This is also a good option if you are staying downtown. It is a Olympic size pool, set up short course most of the year, except during the summer. They have anywhere between two and seven lap lanes available and the pool is open 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. If you prefer a structured workout, I work for Nashville Aquatic Club as a masters coach and highly recommend you look into joining us for a workout.
If the answer is warm, the local YMCA’s are a great option, if they have enough lanes. They have between three and six lap lanes, depending on the Y. I recommend Maryland Farms in Brentwood at 6:30 p.m., because it is normally quiet then, and it is open until 9:45 p.m. if you are a night owl.
An option in the middle would be also in Brentwood, the Indoor Sports Complex, which is an Olympic size pool with four to eight lap lanes available and is not too warm or too cold.

Open Water. I recommend going with the Nashville Aquatic Club group out to Percy Priest Lake. You can go to the public areas on your own, but some have heavy boat traffic, which is why I recommend a group in a cove.

Natchez Trace Bridge

Bike

If you are downtown, your closest option will be Shelby Bottoms Greenway, from there you can get on roads and follow the Music City Bikeway, which goes all the way to Belle Meade or follow the Music City Bikeway the other way on Shelby Bottoms to the Stones River Greenway, ending at the Percy Priest Dam.

If you are on the west side of town, I recommend either finding the greenways in Percy Warner and Edwin Warner Parks or coming out to where I like to ride on routes near the Natchez Trace. I can provide Strava links to routes or map some, but my favorite is to ride out the Natachez Trace from Highway 100, headed south. You get off at the Lieper’s Fork exit and stop by either Red Bird Coffee or Puckett’s Grocery for a minute and then take back roads back through Franklin. There are a few options for the route back, and I can provide the exact route if someone is interested. It has a lot of rolling hills, but only one significant climb up the trace entrance.

Belle Meade Boulevard

Run

If you want to get out of the city, any of the greenways I recommend for biking are also good for running. Aside from that, I also recommend Belle Meade Boulevard as a good option for running. It connects to an entrance to Percy Warner Park, and is about five miles total if you go out and back. It is a rolling route, and very shaded in the early morning hours, but it will get extremely hot in the afternoons.

There is also a path in Brentwood starting by the Brentwood Library on Concord Road that is very flat if you prefer a flat route, and another path I like in Franklin. This one starts at the soccer fields at the Franklin Recreation Center and goes along the river, through a neighborhood and into downtown Franklin where you can continue onto a new extension I have not run or on to the sidewalks in Franklin.

Those are all of my best suggestions for where to train. I have lived in Nashville since 1996 and once in a while am still finding new places to go run or ride, so I will definitely try to share those with pictures as I stumble upon them.