Spending time training indoors is not as bad as you may think.

With the current crop of weather that we are experiencing it is becoming more and more difficult to get those all important miles in on the road. But its not only the weather that can put a stop to all good intentions, modern life has its own way of halting proceedings when its all so important to be putting in those valuable miles on the bike.

At this time of year all you here is how you have to keep up the miles in preparation for the upcoming season. It’s all to easy for the winter months to be gone and to feel unprepared for what you have planned. Whether it is the first race of the season, getting ready for a season of audaxes or a planned cycling holiday somewhere. Preparation is key not only for winning but for enjoying what you have worked so hard for.

There is a host of reasons why training indoors especially at this time of year makes a big difference. Your warm up doesn’t have to be as long as if on the road, your not affected by the weather so no need for all those layers, there is no traffic to contend with and when you get a set up in the garage or spare room it makes it easily accessible at those busy times.

All this roles into a great package, you end up saving time as you can concentrate on you training and make the time count. Even if you have the smallest of windows it will be better spent on a turbo trainer than on the road.

It is easy to spend a lot of money on the latest of advance training tools but its not always necessary. Although the more expensive setups do offer a lot of information which when displayed can make it easier to track and improve on your progress. Which in turn will help you in achieving your goals, you can just pair up a turbo trainer with a heart rate monitor and have great work out.

10 indoor essentials to get you training:

1: Turbo Trainer.

Tacx Satori Blue Limited Edition Turbo Trainer

The Sarori is the warm-up trainer choice for the Pro Teams, with a very robust frame it will stand its ground almost anywhere. With a handle bar mounted resistance lever makes changing your workout whilst on the bike as easy as changing a gear.

2: Training mat.

Tacx Turbo Trainer Mat

Not only will it protect your floor from swear and help dampen sounds down when your going for those sprint sessions. With its non-slip coating it also help things from sliding around and prevent wear when getting on and off.

3: Bike Cover.

Scicon Sweat Protection Towel

Sweat dripping onto the frame can actually cause quite a bit of damage if you don’t wash it off. These simple but affective towels will take care of your frame and components.

4: Heart Rate Monitor.

Garmin Edge 500 GPS Unit with Heart Rate & Cadence

Now a basic heart monitor does not need to cost as much as the Edge 500 but when you take into account what the Garmin offers you it actually works out as a bit of a bargain. It is currently the best cycle computer on the market, offering everything you would expect from a traditional cycle computer but with a whole host of other features that once you’ve tried you will not be able to live with out.

Click here to read the review on the Edge 500.

5: Hydration.

High 5 Clear 750ml Bottle plus Sample Sachets

It is essential that you stay hydrated before, during and after your training sessions. This little kit has some useful sample sachets which will help you hydrate and also give you a tester into just how sports nutrition can help you.

6: Training Tyres.

Continental Ultra Sport Home trainer Tyre

Now it may seem a little strange having a tyre just for training but when you are doing turbo sessions you can go through tyres rather quickly. These special tyres from Continental can not be use on the road, as they are made from a special compound compared to standard tyres. They have a increased life due to a special hard compound, which not only keeps cooler to eliminate tread separation but they are far quieter that n standard tyres.

7: Wheel Support.

CycleOps Climbing Block

When you have your bike in a turbo trainer it will be become quite clear that your front wheel is lower than the front. A wheel support will level your bike out and put you in the position you are familiar with. This block from CycleOps has a 3 level design so you can simulate more of a climbing position, use 2 blocks and you’ll get 12 different adjustment levels.

8: Training DVD.

Camichael Training DVD

Camichael has a range of DVD’s out to help assist you in your training programs. With workouts to suit every possible riding style from general fitness to power training with the more specific time trial and sprinting programs, there is a DVD for everyone.

9: Entertainment.

Entertainment DVD’s.

Spending any amount of time staring at a wall whilst riding can make any workout become a tiresome chore. Setting up a TV in front of you or simply listening to music can make things a lot more enjoyable whilst training. Music can help with rhythm and keep a certain pace up so chose your music wisely, may not always be your particular favourite but the right tempo on in the back ground can really help. If you do decide on a something visual to help you out make sure you set the TV directly in front of you otherwise you will find yourself with a crinked neck.

10: Fan.

Something very simple but also very useful is when your training hard you will inevitably build up a sweat. By using an electric fan and circulating some air in front of you can help cool you down and make it more comfortable to train.

Remembered maybe more for his cycling career Cino Cinelli has change the  face of cycling as we know it today. From his days winning races like the Milan-San Remo in 1943, the Giro di Lombardia in 1938, and the Tour of the Apennines in 1937. His brilliant intuitions led him to start a company in his own name in 1948.

In 1978, Cino handed the company over to a young entrepreneur in the steel tube industry with the bicycle at heart. Antonio Colombo owner of Columbus tubing had a different interpretation, perhaps more visionary, the eye sees beyond the present.

From the beginning up to the present, competition is always in Cinelli’s DNA. Its handlebars are chosen by Champions such as Lemon, Fignon, Hinault and Chiappucci, without forgetting Lance Armstorng and Mario Cipollini and also Di Luca, Freire and Simoni.

Below is a brief look into the way Cinelli has continuede to reinvent the way we look at modern bycicle and the way we ride them.

1919 Columbus is born

The beginning of a great firm.

1940 Racing

A sprint between Cinelli, Brici and Coppi.

1951 Binda Foot Straps

The first ones in history, a myth which doesn’t stop surprising.

1962 Unicanitor Saddle

It is the first saddle with plastic body. A revolution in its era.

1963 Aluminium Handlebar

Round shape and light alloy. The modern handlebar was invented by Cino Cinelli.

1971 – M71 Pedal

The first quick release pedal in history was patented by Cino Cinelli.

1980 Cinelli Laser

Since its creation the lazer has won 28 gold medals at the Olympics and Worldchampionships, pioneering TiG welding in bicycle frames, the Laser is exhibited at the Contemporary Art Museum in Chicago.

1987 Cork Ribbon

Unique, shock-absorbing, comfortable, colourful. The original is Cinelli.

1993 Lance Armstrong

Wins the World Championship with Cinelli components.

2002 Ram

Integrated monocoque carbon fiber handlebar defined “the crown jewel of the carbon revolution” by Velonews magazine.

These are the roots of Cinelli, this is the presence that it has: today Cinelli is mentioned in the Dictionary of Italian Design (Rizzoli, 1999), in the ADI Design Index (2000-2001), and the Corriere della Sera newspaper calls it a cult object in the USA like Ferrari, Vespa, Lavazza or Fornasetti (9th January 1999).

Truly a remarkable company.

Click here to check out Cinelli at PBK.com.

End of another week of news do just a little round up of things you might of missed out on.

Vuelta 2010 route announced.

The 21-stage 65th Tour of Spain has a few big changes happening next year.
The presentation was set in Sevilla this year which is the start town for next years race. Normally set in Madrid the first day sees possible the biggest innovation of the tour as it is a night time team time trial set in Sevilla. The 16 kilometer pan flat course is set to make an exciting start to the tour which has a host of new climbs added to the 21 day tour. The feeling going round is that it is going to take a strong man that can climb to win.

Contador and Valverde have spoke about the tour.

“It’s a Vuelta that looks exciting but also very, very hard,” said Valverde, who also expressed his delight that stages six and seven of the race will run through his home region, Murcia.

“It’s a beautiful Vuelta, for the spectator,” said Contador.

So it looks like its set to be a whole host of exciting racing going on next year.

2012 Olympic Track Cycling Update.

After the announcement by the UCI for the changes to the London Games in 2012 there has mixed opinions on whether it was a good decision or not. Many of the athletes affected have spoken out and it would be safe to say it may have brought the UCI some bad press.

The UCI has now redefined the format for the games with the objective of making the event more attractive to the public by placing more emphasis on endurance compared to previous games.

Now it might just me thinking that the comment of making it more attractive to the public is a strange one. For someone who has been to see the World Championships and enjoyed it immensely with a sell out crowd around me something just doesn’t add up. But at the end of the day they do have to take care of the masses and most people will be watching the action on television. It tends to be the buzz of the crowd and the noise of the bikes tearing up the wood which makes being at the events so exciting and to focus the event more on the viewing public may help the ratings.

What ever your beliefs may be, these are the details from the UCI:

•     Flying lap (250-metre time trial)

•     Points race (men: 30 km, women: 20 km)

•     Individual pursuit (men: 4 km, women: 3 km)

•     Scratch race (men: 15 km, women: 10 km)

•     Kilometre time trial (men), 500-metre time trial (women)

•     Elimination race (24 starters)

The flying lap is not completely new, as a flying 200 metres is traditionally used for qualification in the individual sprint. However, the distance of 250 metres is an innovation.

The points race will be run over the same distance as at World Cup meetings.

The individual pursuit, one of the iconic endurance specialities, will also maintain its traditional distances.

The scratch race, a new addition to the Olympic scene as part of the omnium, will be run over longer distances than previously, equivalent to traditional scratch race distances.

The kilometre (standing start) is the only event that is not traditionally held during Six-Day races for endurance riders. Because of this, it will be a decisive component of the omnium.

Finally, 24 riders will compete in an elimination race. Every two laps, the last rider over the finish line will be eliminated.

The omnium, after the World Championships in Copenhagen (24-28 March 2010), will thus be made up of the four endurance and two sprint events described. It will be held over two days in a sequence to be defined.

The omnium is one of the five events of the Olympic track cycling programme together with the individual sprint, team sprint, keirin and team pursuit. An equal number of medals will be awarded to men and women in track cycling at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

And to finish with some cool photo’s i’ve come accross this week, some old some new but all with a little story behind them.

Thompson stems going through there stages of creation.

A couple of images of what Team Astana had to do this year to get the teams bikes up to the UCI weight limit. The inserts are made of lead and as you can see they have made them into an expanding wedge to keep them in place.

Abert Einstein taking a break from the theories of relativity.

Now if you think the weather has hit you bad recently just take a look at his picture from the 1988 Giro d’Italia. Above is the Dutchman Van de Velde riding solo up the Gavia which tops out at 8,599 feet and then decends over the other side down to the finish in Bormio. Van de Velde finshed the race but most of the field did not make it over due to ice forming on the brakes and gears forcing them to dismount. For the few that made it over it was a truely remarkable achievment.

So it’s no big secret that certain riders will use different equipment than what equipment is supplied to them by the team’s sponsors. Obviously when it comes to photo shoots everybody has to be in all the right gear looking the part but when it comes to performing then personal preferences have priority.

The one part of the bike that some times can be over look when we are all desperately trying to fine tune our bikes by fitting the latest gadgets and new components to make us faster.

Something i picked up on a few year ago was in the world of downhill mountain biking, where the vast majority of racers (basically the top 20) were all using the same tyre brand. Even if they were sponsored by another tyre company, the black markers would come out on race day and hide the evidence. This went on for quite a long time until the other manufacturers started making copies of the tyres that there sponsored wanted to ride.

The thing that i picked up on this week is that Team RadioShack will be riding Hutchinson tyres. You may have seen some pictures of the team bikes from Trek recently which the eagle eyed of you would of seen that they are fitted with Bontrager tyre. The reason for this is quite simple, Lance has won all seven of his Tour de France victories on Hutchinson tyres.

He’s actually been using them since his days with Motorola over 15 years ago, so you could say he’s grown to love them and with a rumour that he has only had five punctures on them during the seven years of tour victories. You can see why he has stuck by them for so long.

Another rumour us that all Team RadioShack have asked for is tyres, no “financial consideration provide by….” deal. This is obviously to keep Bontrager (Trek) happy by not having another tyre sponsors name on the kit, because I’m sure they will be hoping for an increase in tyre sales next year.

So more importantly what tyres are they going to be riding?

Well Lance is currently on the Fusion 2 and he’s chosen the Tour de France edition while the rest of the team are currently training on the Intensive. They have just put a big shipment in for their first official training camp early next year in Tenerife. When it comes to the first start line of the year then they’ll be on the Carbon Comp Tubulars.

No tubeless tyres in the line up due the fact that Bontrager do not do a tubeless compatible road rim currently and that is one sponsor the team is sticking with. But yet again more rumours but supposedly Steve Hed of Hed Wheels has embraced the RoadTubeless idea and says it should only be within a few years for the tyres to get up to the standard of current tubulars. Bontrager and Hed have been working closely together now for some years, as the carbon aero sections used by Bontrager for their Aeolus wheels. Bontrager still makes their rims out of OCLV carbon in their Wisconsin facility so hopefully Steve Hed with rub off on Bontrager and it might not be long before we see tubeless on the road takes off.

Click here for the range of Hutchinson Tyres at ProBikeKit.com

StillerStrong is set to take over from the LiveStrong bracelets this spring, well if Ben Stiller has anything to do about it they will. After a recent visit to Haiti with working with Save The Children, he has come up with what he’s calling his “original” idea but he’s come up against a bit of opposition from a rather talented cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Check out the video above for the story.

So the results are in and the designs are finalised, So now all thats left to do is tell you who’s won.

And the winners are……….(long Pause for effect like they do on the Xfactor)………………

Hills Hurt Couches Kill

Submitted By: ICanPress Design By: Alex from PBK

With 26% of the votes Hills Hurt Couches Kill is obviously a blog favorite and with a cracking design by Alex from PBK im sure this T-shirt will be a top seller.

53/39 11/21 Whats Your Number

Submitted By: Eric Design By: Gareth From PBK

With 15% of the votes this was also another favorite with a simple yet eye catching design and a personal favorite of mine I think this T-shirt is one of the best.

Im Not Riding Fast Im Flying Low

Submitted By: Micah Design By: Gareth From PBK

With 12% of the votes this slogan was your next favorite anouther cracking design from our PBK Design team this one is a belter!

We don’t all have the fortune of a team car, roof rack full of spare wheels and a mechanic on hand when we go riding which means you need to be prepared for the worst.

At this time of year the wet roads combined with grit and salt make for some tough conditions for tyres and componentry. One of the most common reasons for breakdown is a puncture. While at home and in the warmth of your living room this isnt’ a huge problem in the middle of no where with it can mean the difference between a nice ride home or a long walk.

A basic puncture repair package isn’t expensive, doesn’t take up much room and will keep for many months if untouched.

So the basics:

• A spare tube (maybe two if you’re heading out alone).
• Tyre levers.
• Puncture patches (what if you have more punctures than tubes?!).
• And of course a pump.

All of which can easily be put into a back pocket if packed properly.

Read the rest of this entry »

THE BEST CYCLING PIECE

FROM MY WARDROBE

After a relatively mild autumn, colder temperatures and frequent snowfall have come to the Italian Dolomites. The wide variation in weather — from a cold morning breeze with -5°C (23°F) up to 10-14°C (50s°F) around noon — has forced me to swap out my summer wardrobe with winter gear.
What takes up most space are the cycling tights, base layers and accessories. Gone, are the thermal long-sleeve jerseys and the wind membrane jackets. My fluorescent yellow Insolito Radiation jacket has basically replaced two or three separate pieces of my old winter wardrobe.

The Insolito Radiation jacket has basically
replaced two or three separate pieces of my
old winter wardrobe.

I basically got through the entire winter and spring months wearing only one
jacket last year. The total insulation against wind and cold is fantastic.
I wore this jacket on several cold rides, including 3 hours through a 2°C degree (35°F) windstorm that included drifting rain. I was wearing nothing under it except for the lightweight Base Long Castelli base-layer. I almost couldn’t believe how comfortable it was, and how well it kept the wind out.
I basically got through the entire
winter and spring months wearing
only one jacket.

Heading out for a sunny spring ride with 10-11°C degrees, without the Radiation insert. I felt the breath-ability was improved, and could easily be moderated with the front ventilation panels. When it started to warm up around noon, I zipped the sleeves off, stuffed them in the back pockets, and used the jacket as a vest.
No doubts, if you are serious about riding in all conditions, all year long, this is a great solution for your wardrobe. The multi-season Radiation jacket feels equall comfortable in a broad range of weather conditions, from mild 18°C sunny day to an ice cold and windy -5°C day.

FEATURES AND FIT.

The lightweight shell material is Windstopper’s X-Lite, which is windproof and water resistant. The highly breathable and stretchable fabric moves naturally with the body and doesn’t restrict movement.

The cut is specific for the bike – long at the back, short at the front. The arms are anatomically cut and long enough to accommodate a reach to the handlebars with a soft fleece closure around the wrist to keep the wind out.

The most unusual aspect of this jacket is the Radiation insert, a perforated, aluminized silver liner designed to reflect 80% of the heat back toward the body. The liner zips in along the front and is held in place at the cuffs and sleeves with little snap straps.

Some thoughtful features. The front zipper has a generous zip garage, which wraps over the top of the zipper. A pull tab helps getting the zipper started below, which is helpful, especially when wearing thick gloves.
The functionality is impressive. A zip-off, integrated hood of stretchy fleece fabric is thin enough to fit under a helmet, or tuck away in the back pocket The arms zip off so that the jacket can be used as a vest.
Five pockets, two with zippers, are large enough to hold the Radiation insert, zip-off arms, and zip-off hood in case of exceptional temperature variation over the course of a ride.

Reflective detailing aids visibility in low-light conditions. Two front zippers over the chest helps with temperature regulation.
By Soren Jensen.

Click here for the range of Castelli Radiation clothing at ProBikeKit.com

The New York Times Magazine has just published its 9th Annual Year in Ideas. This is a look back on the past year from there favored ideas. Amongst the A to Z list of ideas is the Bicycle Highway, this is what they had to say:

We’ve just received this email from the guys at FFWD wheels.

FFWD Wheels is proud to announce to enter the ProTour in 2010 by sponsoring Belgian Team Quick Step.

Tom Boonen, Stijn Devolder and the rest of Team Quick Step will ride Eddy Merckx bikes with FFWD Wheels.

“We are excited to have the confidence of the best cyclist ever and are thrilled to team-up with Eddy Merckx providing Team Quick Step with the best material” stated FFWD founder Henk Schipper.

“We have gained a reputation of building the finest and most durable carbon wheels in the market and it’s a logical step for us to enter the Formula 1 of cycling. We are very happy about our partnership with the strongest team over the past decade”.

“Having the opportunity now to get direct feedback from professional riders will allow us to enhance our product development.”

Click here for the range of Fast Forward wheels at ProBikeKit.com