Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Top 10 mistakes of self coached athletes

Joe Friel is a guru when it comes to endurance training and has written bestseller books like "The mountain bikers training bible" on mountain bike training. Here are his top 10 mistakes made by self coached athletes 

#10 Too much emphasis on miles/kilometers. The key to race success is appropriate intensity
#9 Too much emphasis on heart rate. Your engine is muscle.
#8 Set goals much too high to motivate greatness. Does opposite. Goals must be just out of reach.
#7 Haphazard training. High goals require a purpose for every workout.
#6 Inconsistent training. High goals? Don't miss workouts. Ever.
#5 Too little rest, not enough race intensity before race. Rehearse race every 72hrs for 1-3 wks prior.
#4 Workouts too intense. Increasingly train at intensity you intend to race in last 12 weeks.
#3 Base—start Build period too early. Develop endurance, force & skills before race intensity.
#2 Too many hard days. Not enough easy days. To go truly hard you must be ready.
#1 Poor ability to pace properly. Learn to negative split workouts, intervals & races.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Suspension makes all the difference

I was reminded again today just how much of a difference suspension has made to mountain biking. At a time when rigid single speeds and hardtail 29ers are in fashion, don't be fooled into thinking that suspension is just another gimmick.

On my morning ride I locked our my front fork and forgot to unlock before doing one of my favorite singletrack sections. Its a route that I ride almost everyday and it took just one little stone to send me off coarse and nearly miss out a whole section of track. I couldn't workout what had happened till I realised that my fork was still locked out.

The suspension takes care of a lot of small bumps that you would never even know about unless of course you did't have any suspension. Another dead giveaway is when you have a rider on a hardtail trying to follow the same line as someone on a full suspension on a technical downhill. Even with exceptional skills its unlikely that the hardtail will be able to follow right behind the full suspension.

So if you don't have suspension, then think about getting it. If you do have it, make sure that it is on firstly and tuned properly and working the way it should.

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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Where was my bike made?

Some bike companies have a few secrets. And one of those secrets is where your bike is made or who actually made it. The bike companies like it that way because many of them rely upon the same factories to build their bikes!


The big picture is pretty clear: around 95% of the bikes sold in the U.S. are made in China or Taiwan by a handful of manufacturers of which Giant is the largest.

Generally speaking, low to mid level bikes are made in China and mid to high level bikes are made inTaiwan. The exception is carbon; many manufacturers use Chinese manufacturers to make their carbon frames – even their high-end racing frames.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

MTB riding is the best in SA

South Africa must have the best mountain bike riding in the world. Why does nobody know about it you may ask? Well that's probably because the majority of it is undiscovered.

 

Every new mtb trail that opens and every new mtb race that hits the already bulging calendar is exposing the vast selection of riding that we have metre by metre.

 

As more people become aware of the excitement of mountain biking and more property owners realize the eco tourism potential of trails we get more and more places to ride. So make it you mission to discover new places to ride and take someone along with you and share the joy.

 

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Thursday, November 04, 2010

An Epic race love it or hate it

The Absa Cape Epic - 800km long and 15000m of vertical ascent in 8 days. Love it or hate it, its the ultimate challenge. Believe it or not there are races longer and harder but there is only one Epic.

If you don't think you can do it, then you are not alone because for the majority of first timers it seems like an insurmountable challenge. But some how you manage to do it, pedal stroke by pedal stroke, kilometre by kilometre, water point by water point, day by day, eventually finish PA becomes a booming voice and sea of smiling faces as you cross the line and wonder how you got there.

You may hate the entrance price but you will love the vibe, you may hate Dr Evil but you will love the route, your family may hate you for all the training, but they will love you for finishing. No matter how you feel you can't miss it or deny it.

Last week they announced the 2011 route and so the challenge has been set, its up to you to make it happen.

Check out our Epic resources if you need inspiration or info.

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