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“Fezzari Nailed It…”- Road Bike Action Reviews Fezzari Fore CR3
01 week ago
by Tyler Cloward
in Uncategorized
Road bike action Magazine had the chance to ride and write a review of the Fezzari Fore CR3 and p[ublish it in the April 2012 issue. Below are images from the magazine and text from the article.
The Fezzari Fore CR3 is a solid-riding, durable bike at a price that is hard to be. See for yourself.
Better late than never! Leadman Epic 125 Triathlon race report
01 month ago
by KelseyWithrow
in Uncategorized
Q & A for the Pros
To anyone looking for a truly epic race experience, the Leadman Epic 125 Triathlon is that and more. This race dealt us heat with temperatures in the mid 90s and constant WIND with gusts up to 67mph. Lifetime fitness put on a well organized race and did an awesome job taking care of its athletes.
Pre Race:
I drove down Thursday morning to Las Vegas with a few Salt Lake City athletes that were also racing. The 7 hour drive went by fast as we were all excited to get there. On Thursday night, i took part in the athlete pro panel at the swanky lifetime Fitness in Summerlin. I had never been inside one of those gyms before and was really amazed how nice it was.
Friday was an interesting day. I slept on the pull out couch and must have slept weird because I woke up with what felt like a pinched nerve in my neck. I couldn’t turn my head very well without a sharp pain going down my arms. Lucky for me, one of the athletes I was staying with is a chiropractor and active release therapist who works out of Salt Lake. Dr.Tom(UpZen Health 801-572-2272) took the time out of his day even though he was racing too and worked on my neck till the pain was gone. I highly recommend going to see him if you have any niggles. Its great to have someone in that line of work that knows the aches and pains of us endurance athletes.
Mid day we headed down to Lake Mead area for a warm up on the swim course, a short ride and a run to get the blood flowing. Today would have been the perfect day for the race as there was hardly any wind and it wasn’t very hot. At 7:30, I headed over to the host hotel for the elite athlete briefing. It was short and sweet which allowed me to get back for a good nights sleep.
Race morning:
I woke up at 6:30am with no pain in my neck area:) and headed down for the free continental breakfast. I got ready the night before so i was able to take my time at breakfast. We left for the race site at 7:45 and arrived with plenty of time to get our transition areas set up. Good thing because I ended up borrowing a back wheel from the owner of Las Vegas Cyclery. My tubular went flat over night and i didn’t want to risk having it happen in the race.
Swim(2.5k):
The swim started off pretty calm unlike the ITU style I’m used to. I got on one girls feet and stayed there for the first 400 meters before i decided to make my move into the lead.. The water was really choppy with the wind being so strong but i just tried to keep a steady pace. I exited the water in 1st, about 45 seconds ahead of the next female.. I took my time in transition putting on socks which I never do but I didn’t want blisters.
Bike(109.5k):
I came out of transition on my Fezzari T5 with one other girl and we set out of what would be a really long day on the bike. My coach wanted me to ride at a steady pace with as low of a heart rate as I could. I felt pretty good on the way out with only a few girls passing me. As soon as i hit the turn around, my feeling of being comfortable went right out the door. We went directly into a powerful cross and head wind. It was everything I had to keep my bike upright. I became very dehydrated throughout the bike and watched my power get lower and lower. Girls that I had 10-15 minutes on at the turnaround started passing me. In the last 10 miles, i was blown across the road(thankfully no cars were behind me) three times and passed by more women. Its a very frustrating thing to be having a good race and then it turns into a nightmare. I rolled into T2 very worked and not sure I was going to do the run. I took in some water and gathered myself for a minute then decided I would be a lot more bummed if i came all this way and didn’t finish.
Run(13k)ALL UPHILL:
I started the run off walking, hoping to bring my core temperature down but unfortunately that wasn’t happening. Every time I tried to run i was quickly brought down to a walk. I realized if I was going to finish this is how it probably had to be. The run was 8 miles all uphill with no where to hide from the sun. Thankfully, there were aid stations every mile with water and wet towels. At the 6 hour mark, I finally crossed the finish line with nothing left in the tank and a horrible sunburn.
I’ve gone though a lot of emotions reflecting back at this race. At first I was happy just to finish but then realized that I’m an elite athlete and finishing should not be something to be just ‘ok’ with. I’m happy to have the first race of the season in the books and look forward to a solid season full of podiums and good performances:)
Road Biking: Fezzari Bicycles – Experience Alpine Loop
05 months ago
by Tyler Cloward
in Uncategorized
We are often asked where we ride, what the climbs are like in Utah, so we thought we’d put this video together of one of our favorite road rides, the Alpine Loop. This road is part of the Tour of Utah every year and is hands down one of the prettiest road rides around, but after watching this video you won’t need up to tell you that.
Top 5 Weight Lifting Exercises for Cyclists
46 months ago
The off-season is a great time to tone down your intense cardiovascular training and focus on building your leg muscles in the gym. Building your leg muscles will help with overall power as well as endurance. Weight lifting also requires your body to use many of the smaller muscles required for balance and agility. Here are 5 exercises to build stronger muscles for increased power and strength.
Squats for Cyclists
The squat is the single best exercise for developing powerful legs, as it works the entire upper leg muscle, butt and lower back. When done right, you will quickly see results in increased power output and sprint speed weather you are on a road bike or mountain bike.
In doing the squat exercise, you first hold a weight bar across your traps just at the base of neck and top of back. You will want to be in a standing position with knees slightly bent, your feet pointing straight ahead or turned out just a bit, and positioned slightly wider than your hips. Then while keeping your back straight, bend your legs and lower your hips until your upper thighs are parallel to the ground. From this point you then push straight up, returning yourself to the standing position.
If you haven’t done squats before, we would recommend that women use just the weight bar and men can add 10-25lbs as a starting point. What’s great about this weight range is that it allows you to develop proper form, which is most important with a technical exercise like squats.
As with all movements described here, in order to thoroughly exhaust the muscle and attain the most amount of blood flow (increased blood flow brings more oxygen and nutrients to the muscle helping it become stronger and recover quicker), you will need to focus solely on isolating the muscle and not tensing the rest of your body. Pay attention to a complete range of motion at the top and bottom of your movement flexing the muscle at the peak of each repetition.
In cycling, along with your hamstrings, the quadriceps in your upper leg will carry a majority of the load, the squat will help you develop strength quickly.
Calf Raises
The Calf Raise is a great exercise to improve your lower leg muscles for two reasons. It will increase your cadence allowing you to pedal faster on a road bike and also increase your ability to push off your pedal transitioning into the next pedal stroke on a mountain bike. There are a number of machines to work this muscle group, all with virtually the same range of motion and movement.
To do calf raises, first position your toes on a raised bar that allows your heels to drop several inches below your toes. A curb or set of stairs will work just fine for this. You can hold dumbbells in your hands, or do this with no external weights.
The secret to this movement is to really stretch your calf all the way down at the bottom of your contraction, and when raising all the way up pinching the muscle at the top. Stand on the ball of your foot with your heel hanging off of the ledge, slowly lower heels down as far as your can then raise up to your tip-toe, and back down. You will feel a nice stretch in the back of your calf. Then raise yourself back up to tip-toe and repeat. Do four sets of this, with 20 repetitions each time.
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Hamstring Curls
Strong hamstrings help when sprinting towards the finish line as well as in the steep section of a single track climb. Having strong hamstrings also balances out the quad muscle giving you more power overall.
The Hamstring Curl is done on a bench with a pulley system that allows you to raise a stack of weights. You lay on your stomach, with your legs out straight out behind you. With the back of your lower leg against the bar, you bend your legs so that your heels come up toward your rear, raising the stack of weights.
In this exercise, do three sets of lifts with ten repetitions in each. The weight can be the same in each, but the rest interval between sets should be only 30-60 seconds. Start light at 20 % of your body weight until you find the right weight for you for these exercises. The right weight is one that challenges you over ten repetitions, and failing in the 12-15 rep range.
The Leg Press
You can do three sets of leg presses, performing 12 repetitions in the first set, then 10 in the second and then eight repetitions in the last, getting progressively heavier (10-15%) each time. Allow three minutes rest between sets. This exercise will mainly work the outer muscle of your thigh and your upper quadriceps. This helps to balance the muscles worked in the squat exercise building muscle evenly across the top of your quad.
To determine the right starting weight for your exercise, a good rule of thumb is to start with an amount roughly equal to your body weight. If you can do this twelve times easily, bump up the weight by 10-15%. If it is already too difficult, trim it down by the same amount, making these adjustments until you get to that good starting point.
Leg Extensions
The leg extension is performed on a bench with a pulley system that allows you to raise a stack of weights. You sit on the bench with your feet and ankles pressed against a bar that, when raised by slowly kicking your feet out and forward, lifts the weights into the air.
In these exercises, do three sets with ten repetitions in each. The weight can be the same in each, but the rest interval between sets should be only 30-60 seconds. Start light — maybe just 20% of your body weight at first — until you find the right weight for you for these exercises. The right weight is one that challenges you over ten repetitions, but that you can ultimately complete.
This exercise will develop the quads right above your knee, along with the squat, hamstring curls and leg press your will successfully isolate all muscle in the upper leg, seriously increasing your climbing and sprint speeds, as well as enlarging your endurance potential.
Whether you are a trail hunting All-Mountain/XC rider or a pavement seeking road cyclist, this group of leg exercises will bring immediate results and bring more enjoyment into your biking.
