Like a good Agile practitioner I have followed through on my action items to improve. This week I got re-fit on my tri bike. Of course I've always known that a good bike fit is worth its weight in gold - doesn't matter how much money you spend on a sweet ride, if it doesn't fit you it is like throwing your hard-earned cash down the garburator.
http://thesportfactory.com/site/trainingnews/properbikefit.shtml
And of course I've had my bike fit, several times. I haven't played with the fit in over a year. And the fit has been fine up until now. Who knows what changed. I think it is fair to say I am not the same athlete I was when I got my last fit. What I do know is that for whatever reason, suddenly something was not working. So, back to drawing board for me with an expert bike fitter.
Several hours and many tweaks later, I am riding with my new and improved bike fit. We didn't change anything drastically, but we changed many things slightly. Which of course is the magic of the right bike fit. It's obvious when someone needs a drastic overhaul - and believe me, even to my non-master eye, I see lots of riders out there who desperately need a bike fit. The magic really comes when you are mostly there, but need a few tweaks. My seat height and lateral position was the biggest change. I can feel a huge difference in my ability to recruit my gluts, which along with my current weakness in that area (which I am also working on!), may have contributed to some of my physical issues. I'm sitting more over the pedals, which feels better, and at least it seems to me like I am able to produce more power. Hopefully this will also alleviate some of the lower back pain I've been living with. We changed out my saddle too. The Adamo I put on at the beginning of last season was certainly an improvement over what I had before, but it still wasn't right, and I think it has been contributing to my left leg issues. It was just too wide for my body. I'm still not 100% sure this is the right saddle for me, but it at least has promise. The other 'big' change was my aero bars. I seriously didn't even realize how wrong it was until it was right. Now I fold down into aero and it just fits like an old pair of cowboy boots or my favourite pair of jeans. Like it was meant to be! I love it! Curtis is the man!
So I've got a few road rides on the calendar for this weekend. Certainly it felt better last night, with a lot less shifting on the saddle to find a comfortable position. I'm excited to see how I feel on Sunday afternoon. It certainly goes to show that regularly evaluating your bike fit is necessary. Get yourself over to a good bike fitter, Curtis at Cannon Cyclery or Matt at Sport Factory, and Get Fit!
Happy training!
Kat
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