A Look Into the F.I.S.T. Workshop

One of the most sought after and respected certifications in the bike fitting industry is F.I.S.T. - Fit Institute Slowtwitch.  The F.I.S.T. certification is the result of many years of research by Dan Empfield, who - among many other things - is the inventor of the triathlon bike and current head of www.slowtwitch.com, one of my favorite place on the Internet.  I had been planning on attending F.I.S.T. for a few years now, and the opportunity finally came together.  It was a great experience.

F.I.S.T. is a 5-day workshop at Dan's home, Xantusia, in Valyermo, California.  Valyermo is located about an hour and a half northeast of Los Angeles, in the Mojave Desert.  I flew into Burbank and made the trip to Xantusia on Sunday, February 1, in what was not exactly stereotypical "sunny southern California" weather - it was cold, raining, and very windy.  There were cars spinning out on the highways leading up to Xantusia, and I learned that tumbleweeds can tumble in the rain if there is enough wind.  There was plenty.

Welcome to Xantusia

Arriving at Xantusia, there are two houses on the property.  One belongs to Dan, and the other belongs to Mark "Monty" Montgomery, who hosts all of the workshop guests at his bed and breakfast.  I was the first workshop guest to arrive, and Monty showed me around the house and to my room, which was in a cabin next to the pool.  Monty and I hung out and chatted by the fire until other guests started to trickle in during the rain, sleet, snow, and wind.  By Sunday evening, quite a few folks were at the house and we were getting to know each other.  Monty is a great cook and provided us with meals, drinks, and snacks for the week.  In addition to the F.I.S.T. workshops, Monty hosts training camps throughout the year, including some cycling teams or camps arranged by triathlon or endurance coaches.  It's a really neat area if you just want to get away and ride road or mountain bikes, run trails, or swim.  It might be something Vector Cycle Works could do at some point in the future.

Day 1 of F.I.S.T.
Dan Empfield explains the philosophy behind the F.I.S.T. protocol.
Ian Murray is in the background, waiting for his turn to present.

During the F.I.S.T. workshop, Monday and Tuesday are dedicated to road bike fitting, with a mixture of lecture and hands on fitting.  Dan has help with the training from respected fitters in the industry, and we had the pleasure of learning from Ian Murray and JT Lyons.  Monday was primarily lecture and demonstration, and I was lucky to be one of the demonstration subjects getting fit for a road bike by Ian.

On Tuesday, we had much more hands on, breaking into groups around one of the 3 fit bikes in the studio, and taking turns fitting each other.  It really was a fun way to learn the details of the F.I.S.T. protocol, and a great way to make some friends in the process.  Life at Xantusia is pretty laid back and casual, too.  We did a couple of rides during the week, with many of us grabbing one of the bikes on site, throwing on our pedals, and hammering out a few miles in the Mojave.  We took a nice ride on the "recovery loop" at lunch on Tuesday, which was about 22 miles, if I remember right.  The scenery is beautiful, the hills are definitely more challenging than anything in the central Indiana area, and there isn't much traffic on the roads.

Paul Swift of BikeFit demonstrates how we document our changes
according to BikeFit principles.

On Day 3 of the workshop (Wednesday), we changed gears a bit and switched to learning about one of my other certifications - BikeFit.  While F.I.S.T. is more of a geometric approach to bike fitting, BikeFit gets into the details of the touchpoints on the bike - the foot, pelvis, and hands.  For the BikeFit portion of the F.I.S.T. workshop, we focused on the foot/pedal interface.  Paul Swift asked me and one of the other workshop attendees, David Macleod, to help teach.  This was an honor and a lot of fun.  After about a one hour presentation, we split the 14 attendees into two groups and allowed everybody to get a chance to have their foot/pedal interface dialed in.  It was a pretty big group, and it made for a long day - I think we wrapped up around 8 PM.  Judging from the feedback from the others, learning the BikeFit protocol really enhanced the experience for the attendees, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing many of the attendees at a BikeFit certification course in the future.  I hope that I'll be teaching again soon, too.

F.I.S.T. and BikeFit make a really nice knowledge combination for bike fitting.  I feel the geometric aspect of F.I.S.T. makes for a really solid cake, and the attention to the muscular and neuromuscular details within the BikeFit protocol are the icing on that cake.

Dan dials in Ian's triathlon bike position.

For Day 4 and 5, we wrap up the F.I.S.T. workshop with a focus on triathlon bike fitting.  After a brief discussion on the theories and principles of the F.I.S.T. approach to triathlon bike fitting by Dan and Ian, Dan demonstrated the techniques by fitting Ian for a new triathlon bike.  Ian had wrecked his bike during a race last summer, so this was something that was very useful for him.  One of the fun things about the F.I.S.T. experience is that most of us spend our meals and downtime together at Monty's house, including Ian and JT.  So, we had some good conversation at lunch about which bikes would fit Ian best.  As we had out turns going through the process of being fit for road and triathlon bikes throughout the week, we were all doing a bit of shopping for the bikes that fit us best.

Tyler is dialing in David's position.

After another lunchtime ride on Thursday, we wrapped up the workshop with some more hands on application, taking turns fitting each other for triathlon bikes.  Friday was a bit of a shorter day, with some folks heading out in the early afternoon to catch flights home.  I was the last to leave on Saturday morning after hanging out with Monty, Dan, and the dogs for a bit before heading back towards Burbank to catch my early afternoon flight.

Overall, the F.I.S.T. Workshop experience was really a lot of fun - I can't thank Dan, Ian, JT, Paul, Monty and the other attendees enough for all the shared knowledge, camaraderie, and great conversation throughout the week.  I am pretty certain I will be back to Xantusia at some point or another.

How does this change things for me at Vector Cycle Works?  There are certainly a lot of aspects of the F.I.S.T. protocol that I had already been applying over the last couple of years of fitting.  The body geometry and how it relates to bike geometry in F.I.S.T. are the basis for most fitting systems out there - the genius behind F.I.S.T. is how Dan has taken so much information about bikes and the human body and distilled it down to a practical methodology that works well for most people.  There are a few details I think I will be better at, including bike selection for a customer looking at purchasing a new bike.  Bike choice and how it affects handling is also a key piece that was covered during the workshop.  A bike that fits well, handles well.

One aspect of the F.I.S.T. methodology I really like is the use of the fit bikes to create and document a series of "trials" for fitting, which is much easier and faster than doing it right on the customer's bike.  While I feel that we can often find a very comfortable place on a customer's bike, we don't necessarily know if it's the most comfortable position because it's too difficult to try variations and find the edge.  People can ride lower or more "aggressively" (and I use that term cautiously) than they think, but they won't realize it until they can try it.  I can do this with my poor man's fit bike, but it's not quite as fast or reliable as a real fit bike.  You will be seeing a new fit bike in the Vector Cycle Works studio soon.

If you are interested in purchasing a new bike or getting more comfortable on your current bike, come in and take advantage of my F.I.S.T. certification soon - sign up for your ForeverFit or sizing session at https://vectorcycleworks.appointlet.com.

The view from Xantusia.  Beautiful, isn't it?

Visiting the ARC Wind Tunnel

Today was a fun day - the Auto Research Center (ARC) hosted their "Bike Fitter Appreciation Day" at their wind tunnel in Indianapolis.  Wind tunnel testing for cyclists is a relatively new adventure for them, and they had this event to help spread the word.  I am really grateful to have this opportunity, and it was a really cool experience.  A big "thank you" to Tim Jennings and the rest of the ARC crew for inviting us.  Being a cycling nerd and a motorsports dork, I totally geeked out.

Getting Brent's bike ready for his run.
The black table is specifically installed for cycling tests.

The event started at 8:00 AM.  I was the first one there and the only guest there for about an hour before another fitter showed up.  So, I had a lot of time to talk to the staff, hang out in the tunnel, and ask annoying questions about every detail of the tunnel.  They showed me how they configure and calibrate everything.  Another fitter, Brent Emery from Milwaukee, was scheduled for 9:00 AM.  After some time getting his bike set up, we got to watch him do a run.  Brent happens to have won a silver medal in the team pursuit in the 1984 Summer Olympics.

The wind tunnel is pretty cool.  It was originally designed for racing and automotive purposes.  When not configured for bikes, they can test 1/2 scale cars and 1/4 scale semis with a rolling floor.  For cycling, they go 30 mph, but for race cars, up to 118 mph.  It uses a 451 HP electric motor, and to quote one of the technicians, they're "responsible for most of the blackouts in the immediate area."

For cycling purposes, the wind tunnel is set up with the black table, as shown in the pictures.  The rolling floor is not used, and the tunnel is calibrated with the table in place, so that is basically "zero."  The table is equipped with 6-axis sensors to measure several parameters.  For cycling purposes, we're mostly concerned about the following terms:

Drag - The force opposite the motion of an object.  We tend to think of this as a bad thing, and a bike/rider's drag is expressed as CdA - the drag area.  We can also think of this as how many watts we need to go forward.  A big person will require more wattage than a small person to overcome their larger CdA.  The ARC wind tunnel is accurate to within .25 watts.  The main objective of wind tunnel time is to find ways to reduce our CdA so we can go faster with the same power output.

Yaw - The angle at which the wind hits the cyclist.  Zero degrees of yaw is wind coming straight on.  This is what you would experience riding on a completely windless day.  Most cyclists don't get perfectly windless conditions, and it is common to experience 15+ degrees of yaw at normal riding speeds.  The drag on a bike and rider will vary based on the yaw angle.  The ARC table can emulate up to 30 degrees of yaw.

The ARC table has two mounts that replace the skewers, and rollers to spin the tires.  They will typically spin the tires during a test, and usually discourage riders from pedaling because the body movement makes it difficult to get consistent measurements.

A peek inside the control room.

Tim also gave me a tour of most of rest of the ARC facility, although the doors to the 7-post shaker rig and their drivetrain dyno were closed, meaning something secret was going on in there.  I did get to see the inner workings of the tunnel itself including the motor, cooling for the actual floor of the tunnel (the downforce of race cars will create a lot of heat on the rolling belt and the supporting structure and instrumentation), and the stuff to control humidity.

I also got to see their rapid prototyping room.  They have three 3D printers, and they actually had a few interesting parts looking around, mostly parts used to mount a race car or semi model and control it in the tunnel.  The race car models are mounted to a device called a "sting", which hangs down from above the tunnel.  The sting includes instrumentation and motor controls to allow them to do stuff like emulate braking or turning to see how those changes in angles affect the aerodynamics - downforce, drag, etc.

This was really a great experience, and it's nice to have such a facility nearby.  Wind tunnel time is not cheap, but if it is something you are interested in, drop me a note at travis@vectorcycleworks.com and we can see about doing a session.  In the meantime, you can learn more about ARC here:

http://www.arcindy.com/

Thank you again to Tim and the rest of the crew at ARC for a great learning experience!

A Closer Look at Dimond Bikes

At Vector Cycle Works, my focus will always be on being the best bike fitter I can be, and provide the best service I can.  Part of that service involves making things more convenient for people, so I've become a dealer for a lot of products in order to better serve my customers.  I don't want people to ever think I'm trying to push them into a certain brand because I sell it - I am here to help folks make an informed decision about what is available to them and help them find something that fits their needs.

When it comes to bikes, I keep a database of a lot of different bikes available via local bike shops and the Internet.  The Internet has reshaped how people buy cycling equipment, and the industry is changing accordingly.  More manufacturers are going direct-to-consumer (Trek is a recent big announcement).  Shops like mine need to be able to adapt to that - if somebody wants to know if a bike that they found online will fit them, I'll find out.

With that said, I'd like to introduce one of those brands that might fit my customers:

Dimond Bikes
One of the bicycle brands that has really burst onto the scene in the last few years is Dimond:

http://rustersports.com/dimond/

Dimond is the brainchild of TJ Tollakson, a professional triathlete and the founder and CEO of Ruster Sports.  Ruster Sports not only makes the Dimond, but they also offer their Hen House bike travel cases, as well.  The company and all manufacturing are done in Des Moines, IA, so you're looking at a made in the U.S.A. bike.

The Dimond bike is currently offered in one model, which is a unique-looking bike that appears to be missing a few parts.  The classic "double diamond" frame design has been thrown out in favor of a beam design.  The "Dimond" name is missing an "A" in reference to that missing "A" of the double diamond frame.  Cool, huh?

The concept of a beam bike is not new - Zipp, Softride, and others were making something similar before the UCI banned them in the late 90s, effectively killing the beam bike market.  But, because triathlon rules are more open, the concept has been coming back, with great results.  At the 2015 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, Maik Twelsiek had the fastest bike split of the day on his Dimond.  The removal of the seat post and seat stays helps aerodynamics.  An added benefit of this design is the ride - the lack of a seat post helps to provide a smoother ride.

Dimond bikes are high-end, made-to-order bikes and offered direct-to-consumer.  Having talked with the good folks at Dimond, they care about their customers and want to get to know you.  To help reach out to consumers, Ruster Sports have put together a network of professional bike fitters and shops who can help guide you in the Dimond purchase process.  I am excited to be part of that network, as it fits into the Vector Cycle Works business model nicely: it's all about "fit first" and puts you in the driver's seat during the process.

The "Fit First" Process
If you are in the market for a new bike, you can come into Vector Cycle Works for a sizing, which involves discussing your needs, goals, preferences, and budget, and getting you on a fit bike to find your fit coordinates.  The nice part of this is that we are not dealing with the limitations of an existing bike or trying to make something work that maybe shouldn't.  We're starting from scratch with a clean sheet of paper to find your ideal fit.  After we are done, I will provide a list of different bikes that will fit you, using different stem and bar configurations, as needed.

If a Dimond bike fits you and your goals, the next step is to work with Ruster Sports to configure your ideal bike.  Dimond bikes are offered in two builds - the Race Build and the Premium Build.  Dimond bikes are also available as a frameset, which allows us a lot of flexibility.  Ruster Sports are flexible in their component selection - perhaps we sized you up with your favorite noseless saddle and they can accommodate that with the build.  They will also do custom paint, if you want something that really reflects your personality and sense of style.  Dimond backs up their bike with a 6 year warranty.

We can also build the entire bike up to your specs at Vector Cycle Works.  Perhaps you want to use your saddle of choice, the bars we sized you with, and a Power2Max power meter.  Ruster Sports can custom paint the frameset and send it to Vector Cycle Works for the final build.  You can truly create your perfect dream bike.  You can see some beautiful custom Dimonds on their blog:

http://rustersports.com/blog/

Is a Dimond In Your Future?

Buying a Dimond is not for the instant gratification type, but good things come to those who wait.  Ruster Sports and Vector Cycle Works are not advocates of having a huge inventory of bikes, so I don't have one of each size available for a test ride.

So, how do you go about riding one?  The Dimond Van is out and about, touring the world.  You can find the Dimond Van at different triathlons, and the plan is to schedule a visit at Vector Cycle Works sometime during 2016.  Like Vector Cycle Works on Facebook or sign up for the mailing list so you can be the first to know!

In the meantime, schedule your sizing session at Vector Cycle Works and find out if a Dimond is right for you!

How Well Do you Move?

It has been a while since I've posted anything, and I've been intentionally quiet on social media through the holidays.  Even though Vector Cycle Works is a dealer for a lot of great cycling stuff and could have offered some great deals for the holidays, my main focus is providing the best service.  My online silence has been because I chose to use this time to dive deep into finding ways to improve the Vector Cycle Works customer experience.

Most of my customers are not front-of-the-pack racers.  Many are new to cycling and have taken this sport up because they want to get back into shape, or maybe have taken an extended break from riding.  I'm lucky to meet these people who are so excited about cycling - it really is a lot of fun, there are a lot of great, enthusiastic people in the various flavors of the sport, and it can be a great low-impact path towards greater fitness and health.  But, as many of us soon realize, cycling can be painful.  Why does something so simple have to be so complicated?  Why does it hurt?  Why can't I be as fast as that guy?

This is the often the point where people come to me.  People get a bike fit for a variety of reasons - discomfort or pain being at the top of the list, but getting faster on the bike is right up there.  One of my philosophies on bike fitting, which may be a bit misunderstood, is that it is not about the bike - it is about the body.  We are a pile of meat and bones with a history that has shaped us to be where we are today.  A good bike fit will accommodate us where we are today.  

There are certain geometric conventions used in bike fitting that have been derived from typical measurements of average people that have been proven to be effective in helping us be as efficient as we possibly can.  Most of those conventions are a working range.  For example, we adjust seat height based on a knee angle measurement, which has a range of about 10 degrees.  Ideally, for maximum efficiency and performance, we need to be close to the top of that range.  As a fitter, I could shoot for a specific angle and call it good, but using the same formula for everybody who comes in to me would be irresponsible.  Unfortunately, most of the people that come to me can't ride at the top of that range safely.  It often manifests itself as pain and can result in injury if not adjusted.

As I fit an individual, we identify where in that range that person can safely be.  This is where the individual is at their best - finding the limitations of their body and accommodating that.  I can make you faster via your bike fit, but there is a glass ceiling, of sorts.  Your body's history, composition, asymmetries, pains, past traumas, and past injuries all add up to make you who you are today.  As we get older, that history gets longer.  Your history might prevent you from getting the most out of your bike.  You are only as fast as you can be, but you want to be faster.  While the bike fit can accommodate your current potential, how can you truly unlock your potential?

I lose a lot of sleep trying to answer that question.  I want to help everybody I meet be pain-free and fast.  When fitting people, I've often seen some interesting movements and imbalances that I can accommodate, but can't necessarily fix.  Some result in a referral to a medical professional.  It is one thing to recognize abnormal motion and accommodate it, but another thing to understand what is causing it and correct that.  How do we lift the glass ceiling?  How do we unlock someone's real potential?  

Functional Movement Screening (FMS)

We have to look at the source of our movement to find these answers.  We need to look at how well you move.  I feel I have found something that can help move you in the right direction:  Functional Movement Screening (FMS).  I am now an FMS-certified professional.

FMS is not just about bike fitting.  Matter of fact, when I took the certification course, most of the people there were some sort of strength-training professional - personal trainers, strength coaches for college and pro teams in various disciplines, CrossFit coaches and gym owners, etc.  I felt a bit out of place, but was quickly assured by the instructor that I would fit right in because we all care about how someone moves.  FMS is about looking at the human body as a species rather than as an athlete in a particular sport.

When you look at us from top to bottom, as a human and as a system as a whole, how well we move is a function of how our various muscle, neurological, and skeletal groups work together.  We can't necessarily think of movement as what the quadriceps or hamstrings might be doing, but what they are doing as part of the entire kinetic chain.  In any given movement, such as pedaling a bike, some muscles are used to move us, while others are used to stabilize us.  A different movement may change the purpose of a specific muscle.  Often, if certain muscles are unable to do their job, the related muscles get recruited to do that job. A muscle that might be used to push the pedal (i.e. the glutes), may be compromised and used to stabilize us because of weak "core" muscles or a mismatched/poorly adjusted saddle.  Compensatory actions prevent us from using the muscles for their best purpose in that movement.

These compensations hold us back and are often the reason we get injured.  I fit a lot of Ironman triathletes.  Many of them come to me with some sort of overuse injury.  Once injured, we are 2-3 times more likely to get injured again.  We often short-circuit our rehabilitation in an effort to get back into our sport.  This isn't just triathletes or cyclists, we see it all the time in sports (and don't even get me started on the state of kids' sports these days, when 10 and 11 year kids are having "career-ending" injuries once limited to adults).

Part of this tendency for re-injury is because we think in terms of "getting stronger" as a metric for how well we've recovered.  We tend to think of strength as how much weight we can move or, in cycling, how many watts we can generate.  We shouldn't confuse strength with power.  Strength is just a component of power.  Being powerful requires having the following elements:

Mobility

Motor Control

Strength

These can also be thought of as a pyramid - mobility forms a wide base, motor control is a smaller step on top of that, and strength is the top, smallest step.  Too often, we neglect mobility and motor control for strength.  If you've ever been to a gym, you've probably seen somebody moving some big weights with poor form.  I see the same thing with cyclists, it's just not quite as obvious.

So, to have true power, we must train all 3 elements.  The question then becomes, "where do we start?"

This is where FMS comes into play.  I tend to think of FMS as having two distinct parts:

1.  Screening - The testing battery used to identify and measure our movement deficiencies.

2.  Correctives - Exercises prescribed to overcome those deficiencies.

When I first started looking at FMS, my plan was to utilize the screening as part of the fitting process.  I soon realized that the value lies in being able to provide corrective exercises to help "fix" people's deficiencies.  

FMS and Bike Fitting

At Vector Cycle Works, an FMS screening is now incorporated into the bike fit process.  I can also do the screening for non-cyclists.  The screening takes about 15-20 minutes and involves doing 7 movements which are scored on a scale of 0 to 3.  A perfect score is 21, and that is pretty rare.  Most folks I've scored so far have been between 6 and 14.  I scored a 12.  The scoring system is intentionally simple - it's not about picking out the specific muscle or reason for poor motion.  It's about identifying the weakness as a whole.  A low score indicates a lot, including the potential for injury, especially where there is asymmetry in movements (many of the FMS movements are scored on both sides, and the lower score is used for the final score).

Additionally, I now offer 1-hour corrective sessions along with prescribed exercises that customers can do at home.  This allows you to do some "off the bike" work to improve your experience on the bike.  The screening score by itself doesn't tell us much - it's the scores of the individual movements that tell us where we need to start.  We can identify your biggest deficiencies and concentrate on those first.  Often, focus on a weakness will improve your score on the other movements.

The cool part of the FMS process is that we can spend some time together to identify the exercises that actually work for you.  Try an exercise and re-measure.  If we see an improvement, we'll keep doing it.  If not, skip that exercise and move on until we find something that works.  A poor score can indicate tightness or weakness, and how we respond to different exercises will help us understand which it is.  We use progressions to work our way through mobility exercises, motor control exercises, and strength exercises.  It's pretty fascinating stuff.

This discussion wouldn't be complete without mentioning pain.  Pain is what drove me to become a bike fitter and pain is an important factor in FMS.  When performing the screening, any motion that invokes pain is scored as zero.  This is where I draw the line as an FMS professional and refer you to a medical professional.  There are SFMA (Selective Functional Movement Assessment) medical professionals to whom I can refer you.  I've made a few good connections in the Indianapolis area.

As a bike fitter, I am really excited to offer FMS as a service to my customers.  The idea of identifying what is holding us back and working to move that out of the way will help you find your potential.  FMS corrective work is separate from the ForeverFit bike fit, as that is about an accommodative bike fit.  Come in, get ForeverFit with an FMS screen, do some corrective work, we'll adjust your fit accordingly and we'll work together to get you a new PR!

You can schedule your FMS screening and correctives at https://vectorcycleworks.appointlet.com.  Come in and make 2016 your best year ever!

Taking the "Pain" out of the "Pain Cave" - Part 5: How Effective is your Indoor Training?

About this time last year, I started the "Taking the 'Pain' out of the 'Pain Cave'" series of blog posts.  But, as things got busy in the fitting studio, I got a bit sidetracked.  So, I thought that as trainer season approaches again and a lot has changed, it's time to talk trainers again.

If you missed out on the first few posts, you can catch up here:
Part 1:  Introduction
Part 2:  Resistance
Part 3:  Drive Types
Part 4:  Accessorizing

So far, we've talked a bit about the hardware aspect of training.  Since the last installation, Vector Cycle Works has become a dealer for several brands of trainers:
CycleOps
Elite
Kinetic (often referred to as "Kurt Kinetic")
Tacx
Wahoo Fitness

The various products offered by these manufacturers range from under $200 to over $1600.  In another post, I'll provide a more complete comparison of the specific products.  For the purpose of this series, we're going to talk about the effectiveness of your training.

I am often asked about what level of trainer is appropriate for someone, and that is going to depend a lot on budget, what you expect from the training, and what features help you justify the cost.  In the first few installments of this series, we covered the basics of the trainer types and how to accessorize so you can get in a decent workout.  That was all about the hardware, but now we're going to get into what I like to call the "squishy bits" - the aspect of the human experience that is a bit harder to quantify.  Humans are very analog, and we have a spectrum of "needs" and "wants" that we should understand.  Do you want it to be fun?  Do you want it to be effective?  Does your coach want information?  What is your budget?  How much time do you have?  What is your schedule like?  What motivates you?  These are all questions helping to define what you need.

Motivation is a big key here.  Are you intrinsically or extrinsically motivated?  What is the reason for you to get a trainer?  Simply put, many of us do indoor training because we want to ride faster.  We don't need indoor training.  We can take the winter off and go out and ride on the first nice enough day in the Spring and still have fun on our bike.  We might be a little rusty and find ourselves saying, "man, I was having a hard time keeping up with the group today" or "I wish I hadn't gained 10 pounds over the winter..." but we can still have fun on a bike.  Indoor training fills a "want" - a want to show up at the first Spring group ride feeling better than ever.  The spectrum of products on the market represent the spectrum of wants that we may have.  The fundamental question we need to ask ourselves is, "how effective will this workout be?"

I consider indoor training to have 4 levels:

1.  A trainer and the TV
2.  Enhanced with video
3.  Training with power
4.  Smart trainers

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.  For now, we'll cover the first two levels in about as much detail as needed, and just touch on levels 3 and 4.  The higher levels get considerably more complicated, so we'll save that for the next installment.

Level 1:  A Trainer and the TV
This is where you've got all the hardware, and you sit and ride for a couple of hours, maybe watching TV or a movie.  This is better than nothing, but is mostly ineffective for three reasons:
1.  You are not especially motivated
2.  You have no guidelines for training
3.  You have no way of measuring your progress

This level of training is what gives indoor training a bad name.  You can do this with the most basic of trainer, but you'll probably realize that you wasted your money because you became bored with it and the trainer now sits in the corner collecting dust.  You might even start hanging your laundry on it, along with the treadmill you don't use anymore.

If I could give this level of training a score of 1-10, I'd give it a 2, at best.  You want more than this.  You deserve more than this.

Level 2:  Enhanced with video
Level 2 is where we start to add a bit more structure and entertainment value.  There are a bunch of fun video options out there from brands like The Sufferfest, epicRides, Spinervals, Pain Cave, Cycling Videos Online, Ride Fit, Indoor Cycling Videos, Turbo Tripping, Real Rides, Endurance Files, and many more.  Having a few videos improves issues 1 and 2 above regarding motivation and guidelines.  The videos offer some motivation by adding entertainment value and making it a bit more interesting.  For example, The Sufferfest incorporates cycling video with indie music and a dark sense of humor to make the videos more tolerable and relevant to sitting on the trainer.  epicRIDES videos are rides through scenic areas with music and an on-screen narrative.  You can find a video to match your tastes.

The other element that gets introduced with some videos is on-screen instruction.  This is where the video has some narration telling you what to do and we start to introduce the concept of the structured workout.  We are trying to workout with purpose.  This is usually done based on rate of perceived exertion (RPE).  RPE is essentially you trying to determine on the fly just how hard you are working.  Video instructions might suggest "warm up at an easy pace for 5 minutes", or "go 10 out of 10 for 1 minute."  While a structured workout is going to provide benefit, it is pretty hard to guess what "easy" or "10 out of 10" actually is.  You might use a heart rate monitor or your speed and cadence sensor to give you an idea of where you are, but this is very much based on feel.

An alternative to the video version of Level 2 involves having a coach.  Your coach might prescribe a certain workout, similar to what many of the videos try to do, and have you report back with your results.  This is still very much about going on feel, but at least you've got that extra motivation that a coach can provide.  You are now being held accountable.

Another alternative is going to a spinning class.  This is the type of class like those offered at LA Fitness or Life Time Fitness where you get on a spin bike, adjust the flywheel resistance to your liking and a coach yells out instructions over the loudspeaker, all done to high-energy music.  Spin classes can be a lot of fun because you've got other people to motivate you.

Overall, I would consider training with video, being coached, or spin classes enhanced training that will help keep you on the trainer longer.  When it comes to effectiveness, I would give this a score of 4 on a scale of 1-10.  It's much more effective than not having it, but there is a long way to go.  These are still being held back by problem number 3 of Level 1 training:  There is no way to measure your progress.

Level 3:  Training with Power
This is where things get considerably more complicated, so I will keep this brief for now.  Training with power now takes that element of training by feel and quantifies it.  We are now starting to measure your output, addressing the third issue of the Level 2 training described above.  We are measuring your performance, collecting data, and using it to shape your overall training season.  This is no longer just a series of workouts, but a foundation for a plan.

In my opinion, this is the biggest jump in effectiveness between these levels - we're now jumping up to an 8 out of 10.  The best part of this is that there are many ways to go about it, to meet your needs and budget.  There have been huge advances in this area in just the last 5 years, particularly with what is called "virtual power."  Part 6 of this series will be all about virtual power and real power.  I'm gonna go into full geek mode on you for that one.

Level 4:  Smart Trainers
The concept of a smart trainer is not new - the CompuTrainer has been around for a long, long time.  Smart trainers take training with power up a notch by being able to adjust the resistance for you based on the demands of the workout.  Because of this, smart trainers can provide a more road-like workout - the ability to increase the resistance can allow you to emulate hills, allowing for workouts based on actual routes and race courses.  These course workouts add an element of fun to the workout that you might enjoy.

Smart trainers get expensive, although competition in this area has made them more affordable.  It also has made it more confusing.  You can take your training to a 10 out of 10 with a smart trainer.  The reason I say this is that while Level 3 provides the biggest improvement in being able to quantify the effectiveness of your training, Level 3 is all about the data and doesn't add as much "fun factor" as it could.  That might be enough motivation for you.  But, if you need just a little bit more, smart trainers push you just a bit harder.  When a workout segment expects you to push X watts for Y minutes, the smart trainer will force you to do that.  Without it, you can be told to do it, but coast through.  Like having a coach, you now have something holding you accountable.  Humans can benefit from that.


Summary
That was a lot of information.  In the next post in this series, I'll delve into virtual power and power.  From there, we'll get into smart trainers and other options to add more fun to your workouts!  Thanks for reading.


p.s.  Before you go, Vector Cycle Works is an epicRIDES affiliate.  Click here to buy their videos:

Allow Me to Introduce Myself - Meet Your Fitter

Updated 12/9/2017

There are a lot of great bike fitters in the Indianapolis area, so why should you choose Vector Cycle Works over the others?

Bike fitting is an art with a lot of science behind it.  Most fitters have a pretty wide array of tools at our disposal, and knowing which ones to use when is key.  We ask a lot of questions, listen carefully, and guide you through the process with the goal of addressing your primary needs.  Bike fitting is not about the bike - it's all about you, the enthusiastic rider looking to get the most out of their cycling experience.  Tools, methods, and knowledge are a big part of the fit session, but a lot of what makes a good bike fit is the relationship between the rider and the fitter - how well we communicate, how comfortable we are with one another, etc.  For someone who is about to invest their time and money into this process, it might be nice to meet the person with whom they are going to spend a few hours.  So, in an effort to make you more comfortable, allow me to introduce myself.

I like long walks on the beach in the moonlight...  Oh wait, wrong introduction...

First off, my name is Travis Rassat.  I was born and raised in rural Minnesota, near a small town called Waverly.  I'm proud of my small-town heritage - I believe in honesty, integrity and trust, and apply those principles to Vector Cycle Works.  In the picture above, you can see my first bike - I've been riding since I was 6 years old - I got that bike for my birthday.  That bike went through a lot - wheelies, jumps, sand, gravel, mud, you name it - it was ridden often and hard.  I learned to fix stuff at an early age, mostly because I had to make sure things were working before Dad got home, like the time I tore down our lawnmower just to see how a small engine works.  But, that's another story...  I was always wrenching on my bike, adjusting the seat and handlebars, and even at an early age, tore it down, repainted it, and put it back together.  A few times.  Curiosity and an interest in all things mechanical is in my DNA.

I moved to Indiana in 2001, got married to my wife, Keena, in 2004, and have two daughters, Natalie and Mia.  My day job is in the computer industry.  I have attended 5 different colleges, having studied mechanical engineering, computer programming, computer science, motorsports engineering, psychology, business, and music history over the last 23 years.  All that nets out to an AAS in Computer Programming from St. Cloud Technical College in 1998 and a BA in General Studies with a minor in Business from IUPUI in 2015.  I guess you could say I just love learning (or have had a really hard time figuring out what I want to be when I grow up).

If I'm not on a bike, I love hiking, camping, and doing things outdoors, especially in places like Colorado, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota, and any of Indiana's state parks or other wooded areas.  Anybody who has been to visit Vector Cycle Works has seen my drum set sitting close to the shop in my house.  I've been playing music since I was in 4th grade, although I've forgotten how to actually read music, and only play by ear and feel.  I like it better that way - it's not so rigid.  That's really just a nice way of saying that I'm a pretty awful musician.

Like other fitters, bicycling is a big part of my life, although this is where my story might be a bit different than that of other fitters;  I've never raced at a high level, been on a national team, worked in a bike shop, or worked for a bike manufacturer.  I'm just a regular dad and husband who enjoys cycling as a hobby and balances it with the rest of life.  That's not to say I am not competitive - I got into mountain bike racing around 2003, racing in a few DINO events before an old back injury (herniated disc in my back in 1996) and the birth of my kids put me on the sidelines for a few years.  In that time, I gained a lot of weight and never really recovered from the back injury.

In late 2008, when my daughters wanted me to pick them up and throw them in the air and I couldn't because of pain, I was heartbroken.  I felt like a failure as a dad and had to do something to change myself.  I was way overweight and hurt all the time.  A friend at work approached me and asked if I wanted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Around that time, another coworker coerced me into doing a triathlon.  So, around New Year's Day 2009, I started a new journey to a healthier life - I was going to swim, bike, and run my way to the top of Kilimanjaro.  My first triathlon was the Carmel sprint in April 2009.  I think I was one of the last 5 finishes in that race, but I was hooked - within an hour of getting back home, I was signed up for my next triathlon.  After a few more races, I went all in and bought a triathlon bike in 2010 - a Quintana Roo Seduza.  I am still racing that same bike today, although it has been upgraded a few times.

Since then, I've continued to lose weight, train, race, challenge myself, and explore the limits of my body.  I'm now down about 55 pounds from my peak weight, and feel a lot better, overall.  We reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in August of 2010.  I've continued to race, and you can see my results at Athlinks.  I've had some successful races, and I've had some terrible ones.  I've got a lot of great memories and stories and have enjoyed every single one of them.   I have raced triathlons from Sprints to races longer than an Ironman (although I'm not an Ironman - long story), have done a few XTERRA triathlons, MTB races, and cyclocross races.

In 2013, I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.  Along with that comes Celiac Disease, as they are related autoimmune disorders.  That has been a challenge that took over 10 years to finally reach a diagnosis, and I still struggle with it.  I deal with a lot of muscular and skeletal pain, as well as nutrition challenges.  It has made it difficult for me to train consistently.  While Lupus is not fun, I see it as something I can leverage when fitting riders on their bikes - I understand what it's like to hurt.

In October 2016, while warming up for a cyclocross race in Louisville, KY, I crashed and ended up with a severe concussion.  It took a couple of months to get back to normal, and that was a struggle and a scare for me.  Since then, I've "retired" from racing, but still continue to try to ride whenever I can.

I got an interest in bike fitting after having been professionally fit myself.  I found the process intriguing, and wanted to learn more.  After a lot of self-study and experimentation with myself and a few friends, I became BikeFit-certified and started fitting others professionally in early 2014.  Continued learning is one of the things I enjoy about bike fitting - there is always more to learn.  A few things I've picked up along the way:

• BikeFit Level 1
• BikeFit Level 2
• F.I.S.T. (Fit Institute Slowtwitch)
• FMS Level 1
• FMS Level 2
• IBFI (International Bike Fitting Institute) Level 2
• Medicine of Cycling conference 2016

I also teach BikeFit courses from the Vector Cycle Works studio, which is really rewarding.

Anyway, that's enough about me.  Hopefully, you've enjoyed hearing my story and feel like I'm somebody you'll trust with your fit.  But, I'm much more interested in hearing your story - whether you find your ride painful or are trying to find that extra little bit of speed to get a win at your next event, I am here to listen, understand, and support you in your goals.  No matter what your goals are, new rider or a long time racer, weekend warrior or pro, I hope you'll come visit Vector Cycle Works soon - I think we'll have a great time together!

Thank you!
Travis

Trying to find Saddle Nirvana?

When customers come to me for a bike fit, saddle discomfort is almost always on the list of reasons why they are not comfortable.  We can do a lot to try to mitigate the discomfort with proper saddle positioning and fit, but sometimes the best thing we can do is try other saddles.  Everybody's body is different, and what works great for one person might not work well for others - we are all different and we are all asymmetrical.  Finding the best saddle for you isn't always easy, so I'm working hard to make Vector Cycle Works the best saddle resource in the area.

Over time, I've accumulated over 55 saddles from Cobb Cycling, ISM Seat, SQlab, fi'zi:k, Selle Royal, Chromag, Terry, and a few others.  Vector Cycle Works is an authorized dealer for all of the aforementioned brands, and I have a few others to give people options.  My goal is to provide options without bias - let's find the right saddle for you, not what's best for my bottom line. Prices range from around $50 to $250, so we can keep your budget in mind.  You can see the complete list here.  I'm always willing to take suggestions if there's something you've seen and would like to try.  If I can get it, I will.


In order to make saddle testing as effective as possible, I have a great tool from BikeFit called the SwitchIt.  It is mounted on an old spin bike that I've modified into a poor man's fitting bike.  The SwitchIt allows us to change saddles with the flip of a lever.  We can make adjustments to angles and fore/aft position in seconds.  You can see a quick video of it in action here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w0OU36RfWY

I do saddle testing sessions for free.  A saddle testing session can take a couple of hours, but it's worth it.  We can usually start to identify some trends in what feels good for you and start to narrow it down to a few favorites.  We usually will revisit the top 5 or so, refining the adjustments to see what makes each one even better.

Afterwards, we'll mount the saddle to your bike and you can try it out for a couple of weeks.  Things will feel different on the road, and it's good to get in 5-6 rides to really get a feel for a change.  If you like it, you have the option to purchase it or order the model in a different color and follow up with an install.  If it didn't turn out as well as we hoped, we'll try again!

Of course, if you really want to maximize your comfort, we can follow up with a ForeverFit full bike fitting, which is guaranteed for as long as you own the bike.  We'll get a good foundation with the right saddle choice and then fine-tune the rest of your fit for maximum comfort and performance.

You can schedule a saddle test or bike fit at https://vectorcycleworks.appointlet.com.