It’s coming back. Not the fitness, however the spin and the stroke. For the first time since getting back again on the bike a week and a half ago, Personally i think like I back ‘ve got the spin. The fitness will take much longer. Over the years people who I’ve ridden with have always explained which i had a smooth pedal stroke – which i looked good on the bike.
For this, I have to thank the wheels of the many good riders I have sat on through the years really. All I had been wanting to do was copy how they rode. One of those tires, was the wheel of previous 7-11 Pro Team rider and the first UNITED STATES to wear the Tour de France Yellow Jersey, Alex Stieda( pictured above on the left).
When I first moved to Vancouver in the first ’90’s Alex, then semi retired, rode occasionally, with the mixed band of roadies and triathletes I rode with. Sitting on the wheel of a rider like Alex the efficiency sometimes appears by you, not only of the spin and the stroke, but of the whole body. No real matter what he’s doing, the pedals keep turning over in that ultra-smooth metronome style – up-hill, downhill, on the flats, achieving for a container, shifting gears, fetching something from the pocket of his jersey etc.
It never changes. He appeared so comfortable and relaxed on the bicycle. I had been thinking about Alex this week. It had been 25 years this Spring that ago, Alex and the 7-11 team made their debut in Professional Cycling – the first American based team made up of virtually all American( and a Canadian, Alex) riders.
This actually was the beginning of the long hard street that led to the greatness and success of Greg Lemond, and subsequently and obviously, Lance Armstrong! I’ve ridden with many others as well who’ve great style and form on the bike. My good friend Vince Beretta is one.
- Columbia Public Schools
- A peanut butter sandwich
- Does this cooperation align with my ideals? Beliefs
- Become a certified personal trainer
He’s another one with this buttery smooth pedal stroke. I’ve sat on his wheel on so many long trips, I’ve lost count. Vince is previous top triathlete who was an uber-cyclist in the sport before we even knew what an uber-cyclist was. Whenever I am riding behind a rider like Vince, I am looking to imagine always, that form in my head and transfer it to what I am doing on the bicycle. So, in 10 times and 7 trips, I have centered on form.
I have worried myself little with what gear I am in or how fast I’m going or what my heart-rate was, I just focused on turning those pedals over as and efficiently as I could smoothly. This morning, I rode the rollers for about an full hour as well as for the very first time since getting back into it, I felt that connection between my legs, the bike and my body. I felt good. Now I have to build the fitness back again. That’s going to be a longer road!