Cyclingnews Fitness Q&A - March 10, 2011

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Carlos Sastre (CSC) on the rollers prior to his effort. He finished 30th, 16 seconds behind Cancellara.(Image credit: Shane Stokes/Cyclingnews)

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

Warm up like a Spin ride and use your Basic heart rate zone (70-80% of max heart rate for novices, 65-75% for elite). Do cadence pyramids as follows. Start with 2 minutes at 70 rpm, then 2 minutes at 90 rpm, 2 at 75, 2 and 90 and so on by this scheme: 70-90-75-90-80-90-85-90-90-90-95-90-100-90-105-90... Keep working up until you have trouble staying smooth on the bike, then work your way back down to 70 rpm again. Depending on available time, ride for five minutes at a comfortable cadence and then build another pyramid.

Warm up for at least 20 minutes at an recovery pace. Then pedal your heart rate back and forth as rapidly as possible from the bottom of the recovery zone to your AT heart rate. The trick is you are not allowed to overshoot. The goal is to feel how hard you have to ride so that your heart rate will just slide up to threshold but not past, and how easy to ride to have it drop to the bottom of the recovery zone, but not below. Go back and forth for 15 minutes, then ride endurance for 15 minutes and repeat.

Halves: Focus on your pedal stroke 1/2 stroke at a time, for five strokes, and then more on to the next half stroke until you've gone all the way around three times. Thus: Down-and-Back -- Down-and-Back -- Down-and-Back -- Down-and-Back -- Down-and-Back – Back and Up -- Back and Up -- Back and Up -- Back and Up -- Back and Up – Up and Over – Up and Over – Up and Over – Up and Over –Up and Over – Over and Down – Over and Down – Over and Down – Over and Down- Over and Down and repeat

I am really enjoying the stability of the Vaya and want to try a get that same feel in a more classic-looking road bike (probably made of steel). I'm a light rider at 67kg and I'm not going to be doing any loaded touring. A friend of mine suggested that I try and get a classic sport tourer similar to those that were around in the '80s. He suggested a geometry of 73 head angle, chainstays between 43 and 44.5 and a fork offset of 5.5.

A low bottom bracket equals more stability as felt by the rider, all other things being equal. The Synapse geometry doesn't list bottom bracket drop, but rather measures the height of the bottom bracket centre from the ground and records this as 265mm. Working on the assumption that this is based on using a 23mm tyre, then the bottom bracket drop is 72mm. This gives a small advantage to the Vaya if we are talking this parameter alone, but not enough to explain the marked difference you find in riding them.

Wheelbase - The Vaya has a 50mm longer wheel base with most of the difference being in the chain stays. This is a substantial difference and may be enough to explain a large part of the difference that you feel. For instance. the Vaya extra long chain stays mean that your weight is distributed more over the front wheel than it is relatively speaking on the Synapse because the rear wheel has been moved further back. This dampens steering to some degree and may play a part in what you feel. Possibly a large part.

Centre of gravity- This is a pet hobby horse of mine. The lower the combined centre of gravity of bike and rider, the more stable the bike will feel all other things being equal. The Synapse is a lighter frame by some margin and I would assume a lighter bike. That means that even if your position in space relative to the bottom bracket centre of each bike is the same ( and it may not be) then the centre of gravity of the combined bike and rider will be higher from the ground on the Synapse than on the Vaya giving an advantage to the Vaya in terms of perceived stability. An additional factor here may be any difference in the position you hold on each bike. The riders weight placement and distribution can have a huge effect on centre of gravity.

Getting back to "how well it would ride"; you've spec'd long chain stays like your Vaya but much, much quicker steering geometry. A 73 degree head tube angle paired with a 55mm fork offset yields 46mm of trail and 44mm of mechanical trail (assuming a 23mm tyre). That is a very, very quick steering front end and at odds with your stated desire for stability. My advice is to have a lowish bottom bracket drop of 75 - 80mm and a trail figure of around 60mm. A steel frame built like that with the long chain stays that you want should be plush and very stable.

Blisters happen when skin is repeatedly rubbed, pulling the surface layer of skin so that it moves compared to the lower layers. To avoid blisters you need to eliminate the rubbing. In some situations (like in the "saddle contact area") the best solution is a lubricant. That might work for your prosthesis. I don't know if the prosthesis is easy to clean which is certainly a consideration before you go putting goop on it.

Another, often better solution it to introduce a layer of something against the skin that will move with the skin and slide on the inside of the prosthesis. The challenge is to come up with something that will stay in place and not bunch up or get stuck to the prosthesis. That might actually mean introducing two layers that can slide on each other while one sticks to your leg and the other to the prosthesis. Two pairs of tights cut to length might work.

I got into cycling by accident at age 28 while undergoing rehab for sciatica brought on by distance running and playing a lot of tennis. Part of the rehab was riding a computerized exercise bicycle. After a few weeks on the exercise bike, I was able to out-power even professional indoor soccer players who were also being treated at this clinic. I was advised by my doctors to discontinue distance running. So I took up cycling and enjoyed some modest successes in the following years.

I am riding pretty well, but feel that my performance is not what it was in my forties and at 188 pounds and I would guess under 9 percent body fat, I am much lighter than the ideal weight prescribed by the 1997 test. My climbing is good but not spectacular and I can't hold a 53/12 or 13 for very long on the flats like I could back in the day. I attribute this as much to loss of muscle as to age, though I am sure the two are related.

Currently, I am in my standard winter maintenance period which consists of one ride in excess of three hours on the weekend, weather permitting (road or mt. bike), two 30-minute +/- interval trainer sessions a week and two weight lifting sessions a week. My diet is pretty well balanced but I am sure it could be improved. Are there any legal ways to boost growth hormone production in a male my age?

At 188 lbs you actually weigh about right for a professional flat-land sprinter or time trialist your height. You're still a bit heavy for climbing, maybe 5-10 pounds overweight, but you don't necessarily want to be a pro-tour climber, and you don't need to climb like a tour climber to slay all comers in local masters racing. Your weight, too low or too high, is not the reason you aren't performing as you'd like or as you used to.

It is possible that you are undereating or that your training plan is poor and that is holding you back. If you are often tired in training and recovering poorly, you should consider your diet and the balance of work and rest in your plan, but right off I'd recommend building up training hours y adding aerobic endurance pace hours rather than worrying about being underweight. After all, a guy very close to your height and weight has won the Mt Ventoux stage of the Tour de France by riding away from the field.

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, a cycle shop specialising in rider positioning and custom bicycles. In that time he has positioned riders from all cycling disciplines and of all levels of ability with every concievable cycling problem. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: stevehoggbikefitting.blogspot.com/

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

Carrie Cheadle, MA (www.carriecheadle.com) is a Sports Psychology consultant who has dedicated her career to helping athletes of all ages and abilities perform to their potential. Carrie specialises in working with cyclists, in disciplines ranging from track racing to mountain biking. She holds a bachelors degree in Psychology from Sonoma State University as well as a masters degree in Sport Psychology from John F. Kennedy University.