The Heckle Report

Was good to see you and your pro-pro shoulder numbers.

I'm impressed by the food intake. You ate more before the race yesterday than I ate in the entire day.
 
Tuesday thoughts:

1. Monday nights post CX double weekend are the best sleep I get. I would go as far say that the work and training and pain racing is worth just that one good night of sleep.

2. Elbow under saddle. Certain techniques are supported by different people but this one seems like be pretty universal. Keep the saddle outside of your arm. You can lift the bike higher.

BUT I keep it in at times to lift the bike higher for less effort. What? I like to lift the bike on an angle using the saddle for leverage against my arm. It comes up just as high with noticeably less strain on my little tiny stick arms. Tell me I'm wrong but give me a better reason then you can't lift it as high. This works specifically well in open quarters. If there is traffic next to you lift straight up.

I made use of this technique up the stairs this weekend. As a bonus it keeps the pedals away from your legs iff'n you like kicking them while running.

Thoughts? I’m looking at you @Delish.

No matter what I say to support this one it’s something that will always be a source of criticism but I'd like to have the conversation for funnn.
 
Whatever this guy does
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Sideways. In traffic you should be holding bike sideways. Blocking bonus points also if you knock Bruno into someone else and they both yard sale. Double bonus if pics.
 
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE - Beard-pocalypse 2016
September 21st 2016

In a totally unexpected event at 9:34PM I decided to de-beard my face. It started with a trimming of the mustache which was fine, and even, but just looked weird. Ultimately my failure to cut back my whiskers along the way is what lead to the debearding along with the beard being way too long for my own good this early in the season.

Traditionally I shave a stupid mustache for the last weekend of July and begin CX beard growth season at that time. This beard actually started after the fu-manchu shave the weekend of Lewis Morris if I have my facts straight June 26th 2016.

Expect a full beard-covery by January.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation to your local junior development cycling program.
 
The Heckler said:
Tell me I'm wrong but give me a better reason then you can't lift it as high. This works specifically well in open quarters. If there is traffic next to you lift straight up.
Click to expand...

To Suitcase or not: Horses for Courses

I say do what works as long as it is not a limitation...but question whether it is in fact limiting you.

If your saddle is under your arm--call it suitcasing--you can only lift the bike so high before you hit your armpit. Most people work around this limitation by cantilevering the bike out to the side using the saddle for leverage just as you describe-lets call it bikewinging. It works for lots of people who are very good racers, both men and women.

Ellen gets it...big logs make suitcasing difficult. Bike to the side FTW. Red Mill in the background (is that Mo?) looks to be fighting her bike.
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From my observations I'd say that well over half the UCI women suitcase or bikewing. Based on this empirical evidence alone, I have to assume there may be some good reason women so often bikewing. I don't know exactly why this is but perhaps it is due to women being on average shorter and with less upper body strength than men (note "on average" because there are definitely female racers who are way more ripped than their male counterparts myself included).

Some of the top men do it too. Here's a very very good cyclist doing the bikewing on his way to winning the Canadian National Championships.

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If it works for people winning Nationals or UCI races it can't be all bad but very few of the top male UCI racers bikewing and there there must be a reason. I'll give you a couple reasons I don't like it.

1) It limits your ability to run very fast. Your body natrually wants to twist as you run. Your arms move opposite your legs and your upper body twists. When you bikewing, your bike essentially becomes a part of your torso which makes running awkard and less efficient. When you hold the bike to your side your upper torso can more much more freely.
2) It limits your options. How do you go from suitcase or bikewing position to shouldering? That's simple to do if your arm is inside of the saddle. What happens if the barriers are really high? What happens if there is an unexpected pileup and you need to squeeze through a tight spot?
3) It increases the chances of dropping a chain. when you leverage the bike out an an angle, lateral forces are applied to the chain (gravity). If you or somebody else bangs a pedal when you are running it's much more likely that you will drop your chain than if your bike was vertical. Also, it's nearly impossible to set the bike back down without imparting lateral forces on the drivetrain. Again, if you bounce the bike when you set it down with lateral forces applied to the chain you are much more likely to experience chain drop.
4) Really good dismount technique should make bikewinging not only unnecessary but downright hard to do. Look at photos or watch slo-mos of the fastest guys in the country/world doing dismounts and running the barriers. What you'll notice is that immediately prior to dismounting, they steer the bike away from their bodies. This subtle move not only gets the bike away from the body and opens up space to run, but it puts the bike slightly behind the rider so when you lift there is a little centripetal force acting on the bike which keeps it out to the side. If you don't steer the bike away from your body you have to do something to get the bike away from your body after you pick it up--I think that's why most people end up bikewinging. It's a natural response to less-than-ideal dismounts.

Take a look at this slow-mo from Day 1 Nittany:


First two riders (Thompson and Durrin) get it. It's subtle, but they both steer the bike away after their right hands are pushing down on the top tube but before they dismount. A+
Third rider (Maxx Chance) sets up late but impressively only takes 1 step before the stair
Fourth rider (Clark) dismounts with both hands on the hoods. 4 steps before the stair. I'm a huge AC fan but he's not somebody to use as a model for technique.
Fifth rider (Marion) also dismounts with hands on the hoods but limits it to two steps.

Compare & Contrast Curtis White (PVD last year) to Garrigan from above
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