Mid Season position review with Paul at RidePlymouth

Apr 19, 2011

So we are a couple of months into the season and we are now reaching the meaty end of cycle racing in the U.K. Now is a good time to review where you are at? Has your winter training paid off are you firing on all cylinders? One of those mid season checks that I thought would be a good idea is to visit Paul @ Ride Plymouth especially now that he has upgraded his equipment with a computrainer Spinscan and review my position.

“SpinScan^TM Pedal Stroke Analyzer is an exclusive feature of CompuTrainer and Velotron that helps you increase power and efficiency. The multi-color torque graph represents one full 360° revolution divided into 15° segments. The left/right leg percentage power splits give you the feedback needed to pedal in “circles”. It will identify “flat” or “dead” spots in the pedal stroke where optimal power is not transferred to the drive train. A dynamic bike fit utilizing SpinScan is an excellent way to take the subjectivity and guesswork out of the bike fit process. And the ATA (Average Torque Angle) displayed on the Polar Graph helps you adjust your position for optimum power.”

In my case it identified a right leg bias and that I was not utilising all the muscle groups effectively. I was getting good power out but not delivering it smoothly through the stroke. My Spinscan efficiency was averaging at 66 – and for a rider of my type I should be aiming for late 70′s early 80′s.

Paul then suggested that we made some small cleat adjustments (2mm to the right and 3mm to the left shoe) to encourage the calf muscles to contribute more and help ‘smooth out your stroke’ . This showed that be adapting my pedalling style I could achieve numbers in the 80′s. So this has given me a mid season boost that may well see me be able to transfer power more smoothly whilst at the same time saving energy.