Hunter Allen - Cutting-Edge Cycling

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Allen, Hunter.

Cutting-edge cycling / Hunter Allen, Stephen S. Cheung, PhD.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7360-9109-1 (soft cover) -- ISBN 0-7360-9109-2 (soft cover)

1. Cycling--Training. I. Cheung, Stephen S., 1968- II. Title.

GV1048.A53 2012

796.6--dc23

2011049602

ISBN-10: 0-7360-9109-2 (print)

ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-9109-1 (print)

Copyright 2012 by Hunter Allen and Stephen S. Cheung, PhD

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E5089

For all the cyclists and racers who want to improve. HHA

For Debbie, my tandem partner on and off the bike. SSC

L ook through the archives of your favorite cycling photographer or magazine. The feel and ambience of hard athletes performing a hard sport remains the same, but the overall look of the sport today is far different from years past. Except for the basic diamond shape of the frame, bicycles are almost completely unrecognizable from 20 or even 10 years agofrom clipless pedals, brake lever and electronic shifting, aerodynamic road bikes and time trialspecific bikes, oversized and integrated headsets and bottom brackets, eleven-cog cassettes, compact cranksets and bike geometries, ceramic bearings, and wind tunnels to pretty much carbon everything. The dizzying pace of technological improvements has been such that cycling has often been likened to Formula 1 racing on two wheels, and this focus on technology is one of the underlying fascinations of the sport for many people.

Although the techno-geek angle within cycling continues to advance by leaps and bounds, the basic awareness and application of the science of training and fitness is unfortunately lagging behind for many amateurs and even professional cyclists. True, many cyclists would never head out for a ride without their bike computers, heart rate monitors, or power monitors. But numbers are just random digits without any meaning unless cyclists have the knowledge and understanding of what the values mean and how to use that knowledge to their advantage. Many athletes are still stuck in variations of the just ride more and harder mentality of training. Meanwhile, despite the scientific advances in equipment, which result in the ascendance of designs that prove better, training itself continues to be rife with old-school ideas that seem to gain added cachet simply because theyre old. These ideas include such chestnuts as riding long steady distances and avoiding intensity in the off-season, riding a fixed gear to improve pedaling technique on the road, and using the knee over the pedal spindle as the optimal seat setback position. Such ideas and beliefs may or may not have merit, but rather than examine the evidence, many coaches and athletes blindly accept them simply because theyve been handed down through the generations.

This concept of an evidence-based approach to cycling science and training is the philosophy underlying this book. Our goal is to bring a science-first perspective to cycling by digging into the scientific basis behind concepts such as lactate threshold, periodization, bike positioning, pedaling technique and cadence, nutrition, and recovery. From there, we develop proven and practical strategies to enhance your performance on the bike. Our hope is that this book will be equally useful to athletes and coaches by creating a common knowledge set and improving communication between the two parties and ultimately the performance of both. Just as a public that is better educated about health can cause doctors to become better educated themselves and more accountable, informed athletes and coaches spur one another to greater heights. We hope to increase the awareness of and appreciation for cycling sport science among athletes of all levels. Throughout the book, we not only examine the science but also present it in ways that are accessible and practical regardless of your level or experience. Case studies of individual cyclists illustrate how various concepts come into play when the rubber hits the road.