It's the end of January, New Years has come and gone. Resolutions have already been broken, and most importantly, it's time to dust off your trusty steed. This is the beginning of a multi-part series on seasonal tuneups and the home shop. Why multi-part? Because triathletes, cyclists and other readers of this blog have short attention spans, and it guarantees semi-regular updates.
Let's talk about the home shop. Not to take anything away from the local bike shop and keeping the ladies from fawning over Hot Bikeshop Guy(s) but tuneups are really easy and can save you some claude. More money in your pocket = more money for toys.
You're gonna have to have some basic tools to develop the home shop. Ladies - steal, erm, borrow your husbands, boyfriends, daddy's tools. Gents, this gives you a perfect excuse to visit the hardware store for necessary purchases. Fortunately, most bikes require normal everyday tools for the basic tune up. Click on the links for pictures.
The Tools:
4, 5, 6, 8mm Allen Wrenches (Hex Keys). Almost all bike now a days are held togeather using allen bolts. The smaller sizes are for bottle cages and cable bolts, while the larger sizes are for derailluer attachment bolts, and headsets. Try to avoid buying a set of keys in random sizes, you'll end up with 3 useful ones and 40 sizes perfect for losing. T handles wrenches are great for torque and hard to reach places, little more expensive but worth it.
Phillips and Standard Screwdrivers: A garage stable. You'll want a couple of sizes, small ones for the limit screws and brake adjustments, standard sizes for general work and prying off seals. You can go cheap with these, but be warned, they tend to walk off for mysterious reasons.
8,9,10 mm Combination Wrenches: Another staple in a garage. Old school folks who ride 1980 Bianchi's have these all over. They are pretty much replaced by allen keys, but still appear here and there. Get quality wrenches, cheap ass wrenches love to strip bolts.
Cable Cutters: Diagonal cutters will work, but a proper cable/houseing cutter by Park, Pedros or Shimano will work better and provide cleaner cuts in houseing.
Needle Nose Pliers: Great for holding cables for tensioning, plucking nose hairs, and crimping cable caps. Scissors, Knife, Sharp Instrument: Cutting bar tape, electrical tape, opening beer for shotgunning, and fending off tool thieves.
Adjustable Wrench, 6" and 8": Removing cassetts, lockrings, crankarms. A truly versitale tool.
Special Tools: These tools help make life easier when working on bikes.
Chain Breaker: No matter what the fancy chain cleaning machine claims, a chain is best cleaned off the bike. Besides, it keeps the sludge off your sexy frame. If you're one of the schmucks with a universal link then ignore this tool....for now.
Headset Wrenches: Old school threaded headsets, or richboy Campy and Chris King headsets require to big assed wrenches, usually a 22-24mm size. 2 wrenches are needed, please refrain from using channel locks for the adjustable cup.
Cone Wrenches: Thin open ended wrenches for adjusting wheel bearings. Can also be used for opening bottles of your favorite fermented beverage.
4th Hand Tool: The most awesome tool for cable adjustment, be it derailluers or brakes. Pedro's make a great yellow one.
Chain Whip, Cassette Lockring Tool: No, this is not for BDSM role playing. These are used to remove the cassette for cleaning and replacing. Other tools/items:
Flammable Liquids: Chain lube, WD-40, degreaser. Lubing and cleaning of the bike, and for making blow torches. Rags: The 10 year old T shirt, underwear with holes larger than a quarter, or last years sweater from Aunt Fanny.
Workstand: You gotta hold the bike somehow. You can get away with a simple stand here. Fermented Beverage: Need I say more? Next up: Cleaning the bike for prep and adjustments.
Next up, how to clean your steed for a tuneup.
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Are you looking for something to motivate you during the cold dark months of winter? Perhaps something to put a smile on your face, or just something entertaining to read before bed that's all about swimming, biking and running? Or perhaps you have that special athlete in your family who would like really enjoy a first edition book as a present. As you may not be aware, my newest book, "No, Seriously, My Training Starts Tomorrow" was just published and I have the limited first edition books in my happy hands. The book takes the best of my writing and compiles it into a grammatically correct and I think painfully funny chronicle of going from Everyman to Ironman. The chapters include my adventures and race reports from as far as Austria, Australia and Albania. OK, I'm just kidding about Albania, (I seemed to be starting with the "A" countries of the world). But the book will take you the reader around the globe with over two hundred pages of triathlon inspiration. As a special "Thank You" to you guys I have 50 first editions books that will only be sold here. (Please note that about half are already pre-sold.) You have first crack at getting the remaining books before this book goes on sale on Amazon and such. If you would like a signed copy of one of the 50 First Edition Books, you can order it below directly from the author (that would be me). The books are being sold on a first come first serve basis and I will ship them out to you immediately. As they say in the commercials, once the 50 "First Editions" are sold, they are gone.If you are looking for that unique present for Valentine's Day for that tri Buddy in your life (or for yourself), you may also want to consider getting a signed copy of my first book "My Training Starts Tomorrow" along with the newest book. Click HERE to read the Amazon.com reviews of my first book. You can order both signed books as part of this Valentine's Day gift package and save about 15 percent by clicking below: I especially want to thank Judith Houlding my editor, Fred, Steve, Dave, Tommy, and especially Barb without whom this book would have been impossible to write, and Wes, Fliegs, Tim, Mike, Gutti, the Rally Sport Triathlon Club, and all of my raceAthlete teammates, and all of you for giving me a reason to train, race, and write.Thanks Guys! This weekend was the third running of the Ghost Town 38.5 mile ultramarathon in Hillsboro, NM and it was my second running of the event. The first year I ran it was the inaugural year 1n 2006 when the whole thing was run on roads and about 2/3 of the run was pretty much flat with a long climb at the end. The race has since changed course and begins with a little more than 6 miles of uphill road, ends with a little more than 6 miles of downhill road and has about 26 miles of sometimes intensely rugged, rocky and steep forest road and trail in-between. I have an on-again/off-again relationship with the fact that I ran a marathon. My iPod died before me -- at Mile 15. On again. I only beat Katie Holmes' time by eight minutes. Off again. There are rumors that she may not have even completed the whole thing. On again. She's kinda strange and her husband is insufferable. Way on again...oh wait. I digress. Editor's Note: Longtime teammate Bigun (along with Tacboy) have a brand spanking new new podcast. Take a peak when you have a second. It makes for some great swim, bike, and run listening. The raceAthlete B-Fit B-Day Challenge is a celebration of your life and As parents, we have expectations for our children. We expect them to eat their vegetables, to be polite, to do well in school, to grow strong, to get a job, to contribute to society. I'd like to think that these expectations are universal, but judging by what I see in the world around me, they might not be. (Warning: the following column contains graphic descriptions of an unflattering body function. Make sure you’ve finished breakfast before reading.) Tomorrow I am supposed to run my last long run before my half-marathon next weekend. But instead, I ran it today, on the coldest day of the winter here in Minnesota. The cold doesn’t scare me (if you haven’t read my previous post about running in cold weather, make sure to check it out). It was titties cold when I was getting ready to head out in the late morning. We challenge ourselves with triathlons, training year round to keep our aerobic levels and technical skills to a point where we can compete to our body's potential, but sometimes we forget that not all of our bodies are made for the wear and tear that accompanies such a demanding schedule. Professional athletes have personal trainers, but the average triathletes have to listen to our bodies and interpret the signals to our best ability. We all have aches and pains that we deal with on a regular basis, and we work through them. Occasionally though, we misinterprets the pain signals and try to push through aches and pains that should be addressed and not pushed through.
One of the most common problems triathletes face is a weak lower back. If we push though lower back pain instead of address it, there is a possibility that we will have to discontinue working out altogether to recover from related injuries. But if we can detect the weakness ahead of time, there are exercises we can do to build up our lower back muscles before we injure them. Warm Up:Before you start these exercises, be sure that your body has had a sufficient warm-up. You can walk for 15 minutes on a treadmill, go out for an easy 15 minute rollerblade or jog around the block a few times. Take a few minutes afterwards to stretch out so that you do not pull any muscles while following the exercise drills below. Exercise 1: (see fig 1)Grab an exercise ball and sit on it. Roll down the ball carefully until only your neck and head are on the ball. Push your butt up so that your back is aligned with your head and neck. Bend your knees and plant your feet firmly on the floor. Try and keep your knees close to together. They don't have to touch. If you are having pain in your knees, position them comfortably to avoid injury. Keep your body in position and raise both arms so that they are perpendicular to your body. Keeping your left arm in place, lower the right arm down to your side. Then bring it back up. Keeping your right arm in place, lower the left arm down to your side. Then bring it back up. Be sure to keep your body posture through these arm movements. Start out by completing 1 minute of these exercises. Then, as you get better, move up to 2 minutes. To challenge yourself even more, grab some stretchy bands and ask a friend to help out or use a pole. Slide into the same position listed above, but have your friend or the pole stand behind you and hold the stretchy band in the middle while you hold the two ends. You will do the same exercise above, but this time you will have resistance. This will work your core muscles, specifically your lower back and butt muscles as well as simulate a freestyle-like arm movement that will certainly strengthen your swim. You can do this same exercise but change it up to work other muscles by having the friend or the poll on the other side of you, standing down by your knees. Instead of lowering each arm to your side like the exercise above, lower each arm the opposite way and brush your biceps by your cheek. Make sure your arm is straight and not bent. Again, start out doing 1 minute drills and move to 2 minutes as you get stronger. To get out of this position, let go of the stretchy bands, put your hands on the floor and sit down carefully. Move the ball away and stand when you are ready. Exercise 2: (see fig 2)Keep the exercise ball and rest only your calves and feet on it. The rest of your body should be lying flat on an exercise mat. Your arms should be facing palm down next to you body on each side for balance. After you have gotten yourself into this position, you want to push your butt up into the air so that you can draw a straight line from your neck to your ankles. Do not arch your back. The straight line is the key! In this position, you want to lower your butt to the mat and raise it back to the initial position slowly. You will feel your butt and thigh muscles working! Start out doing a two sets of 10 slow sets and move to 20 when you feel strong enough to complete them. To make this workout harder, roll the ball so that only your ankles and feet are on it. It will make your butt and thigh muscles work harder producing much better results. To get out of this position, put your butt on the floor, bend your knees, push the ball away and put your legs on the floor. Simply sit up from there and stand up when you are ready. Exercise 3: (see fig 3)Continue using the exercise ball and lay face down on your belly. Put both hands and both feet on the floor to gain your balance. Once you have your balance, raise your right arm and left leg at the same time. Then lower them back to the ground and raise your left arm and right leg. Do not raise your hand higher than your head or your leg higher than your butt. You should be using your lower back muscles to do raise and lower your arms and legs. If you are not sure whether or not you are using these muscles, ask a friend to feel your lower back while you are doing this drill to make sure they are flexing. Just a tip: Be sure to keep your head facing down or you may strain your neck muscles. Start out by completing 1 minute of these exercises. Then, as you get better, move up to 2 minutes. To get out of this position, simply put all hands and feet on the floor, roll back so that your knees are on the ground, and sit back on your feet. Roll the ball away and stand up when you are ready. Warm DownWhen you are finished, take a few minutes to stretch and think about the drills. If you are having problems with these drills, ask a friend to watch or exercise in front of a mirror so that you can see if your body is properly aligned. |
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