Friday, August 8, 2008

Cycling Analytics

Last week I got together with Brian, the founder and "captain" of the local bicycle and triathlon racing club Oregon Trail Racing. He is a faculty member at Eastern Oregon University in the sports science department and has developed a cool lab for videoing cyclists for the purpose of analyzing their pedal stroke and posture. I had developed a knee pain while training so he was going to take a look in order to determine if my bike setup was the culprit. You can check out videos from the session here (I couldn't figure out how to embed them, any experts out there?).

It was awesome; I felt like a professional athlete. He had reflective balls and tape all over my body, big spotlights, and multiple cameras focused on me. As you can see from the videos I was not on a traditional trainer, but instead on a new setup called "rollers." It was a unique sensation pedaling away, not going anywhere, yet not falling over.

We learned that my seat needed to be raised and pushed back in order to get a fuller extension on the down stroke. Sure enough, after making the adjustments I went on a 30 mile ride with no pain. Since then I've done hill climbs and a 60 miler with no pain at all. Not only is the pain gone, but the ride is generally more comfortable. Hooray!

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