Getting Fit

Been pretty quiet on the riding front lately. I've hit a couple of trainer sessions at Lou's, and snuck in cold, windy two hour mtb ride at Big Creek with Taylor, Sedore, Bruce and Kurt, but that's been about it. The holidays combined with a rather poorly timed head cold have even kept me off the trainer, let alone having a ride outside. Things are better now, and I hope that a streak of decent weather will let me commute into work this (short) week.

I did manage to schedule a road bike fit on the 26th with Adam at Rasmussen Bike Shop. Adam used the Specialized BG Fit II System during the session. I can say that this was a great fit experience for me. Adam started out by asking me number of questions about issues I was having while on the bike. Adam checked me for indications of a tilting pelvis, and leg length discrepancies. I made him aware of the pigeon toe that I have in my lower legs. When I mentioned my tight post-ride IT bands and soleus, he took the time to check the flexibility of my IT bands, hamstrings, and back. Next, Adam had me perform a couple of knee bends so he could watch the movement of my knees. He then put a set of footbeds underneath my feet, and had me repeat the knee bends, while he explained the theory behind their use. I noticed an immediate change in my knee stability with the foot beds underneath my feet. Convinced, I had him trim them to fit my shoes and put them in place.

With these checks out of the way, Adam prepped the computer and stood and watched while I warmed up on the trainer. The next change we made was adjusting my seat forward and leveling it out. I tend to run my saddles a bit on the nose high side so I don't feel like I'm sliding off the tip of the saddle. After a bit of time figuring out how to adjust my American Classic seat post, I was on the bike again. As soon as I was on the drops, I noticed how relaxed my elbows were and now naturally my hands went to the drops. Although it felt different, I knew that the seat adjustment was a good thing.

Next, Adam started monitoring my pedal stroke using the computer, two small video cameras, and two orange dots that were stuck to my knees. We spent the next hour playing connect the dots with the bottom, middle and top of my pedal stroke and making adjustments to both the cleats and the shims underneath the footbeds in my shoes. It took a good amount of time, a number of changes before Adam felt happy with the results. The post fit video shows my knees having a nice linear movement throughout the entire pedal stroke. Before the fit, my left knee was moving in a large arc or an oval. From the short time I was on the trainer in the shop, I felt like I was able to put more power to the pedals, as well as pedal more smoothly.

I'm hoping to get on the trainer for a couple of hours in the next day or two to see how it feels for an extended period of time. I'm sure it will take some time for my body to adapt to the new position. That said, I feel that the money and time I expended on the fit will be well worth the investment. Adam really took his time during the process and made sure that everything was as ideal as it could be, all without making any unnecessary changes to either me or my bike. If you haven't had a bike fit done, or it's been a few years since you had one performed, I would strongly suggest talking to Adam and scheduling a fit session with him.