Battling the Cold – Winter Outdoor Riding Strategies

Riding in the winter does not have to be that uncomfortable, however, just like many things in life, it’s about preparation.

In North America, winter riding can take on a lot of different forms. In the Pacific Northwest for example, constant rain is a necessary evil with occasional snowfall as many in Vancouver have recently experienced!

The constant here is that specialty clothing is required for each type of condition. As the temperature drops and wind chills increase, correct clothing and equipment choice is essential.

A good place to start is your bicycle. Adding some sort of fender to the front and rear wheels will limit the spray from wet roads.

2012 – What’s On Your Bucket List?

A New Year brings on a chance to start fresh and get some renewed focus.

You may want to kick some butt in more than one GranFondo next year…or just better your time in the one you did last year. Either way, setting a goal is going to keep you motivated throughout the long winter months.

I thought that I’d make sure that you were aware of some very cool Pro races happening in North America these days – watch the videos on their sites and get inspired to go down and watch! Some of the climbs of these races are just like being in Europe watching the best ‘players’ duking it out.

Winter Workout Tips

Cycling is all about efficiency and winter riding can be a great time to focus on improving your pedaling mechanics and breathing action.  We only deal with about ½ horsepower so everything we do as riders has to be analyzed and refined. Winter is a great time to work on fine-tuning your cycling habits, especially when you are riding indoors. Practice these skills at least once a week while riding your bike on the indoor trainer this winter.

Long View’s Team FlexPod at the 2011 RBC GranFondo Whistler

September 10, 2011

Long View along with our clients and partners rode the RBC GranFondo Whistler as a group of 18 - most had never done a GF, let alone ridden 120km at 30kph! Here is a video recap of their day.

Long View Systems (a NetApp Gold Partner) assembled a group of 18 riders to take part in the RBC Gran Fondo Whistler – a 120km “Big Ride” from Vancouver to Whistler, Canada on Saturday, September 10, 2011, including 7,500 feet of climbing! Participants included Andrew Bentley, Gord Mawhinney, Michael Kochorek, Alex Stieda and Robert Rodriguez from Long View. Partner participation from NetApp (Patrick Rogers, VP Corporate Alliances & Phil Brotherton, VP Microsoft Business Unit) and VMware (Scott Munson, Senior Director, Global Strategic Alliances). Benny Cifelli, NetApp’s Western Regional Manager tagged along as well! 10 Long View customers rode with us including clients from Cole Financial (Phoenix); CNRL and Alliance Pipeline (Calgary); West Vancouver School District, Glacier Media, Aritzia and Intrawest (Vancouver); and Simmax (Edmonton). The intrepid group was sponsored by the members of Team FlexPod – NetApp, VMware, Cisco and of course, Long View! All riders rode in the colours of NetApp’s professional cycling team, Team NetApp.

Winter Options – and how NOT to be a 1 trick pony

It’s always a good idea to do a variety of activities in the winter to keep your mind fresh and develop supporting muscles that may have been ignored while the cycling season was in full swing. As a pro, I always did some cross-country skiing during winter. Recently, I have been taking up telemark skiing – so much to learn and such a great quad burn!! But, there’s nothing like ‘skinning’ up a field of virgin powder and making fresh tracks with only you and your buddies along for the ride.

I strongly support trying a new activity. Technical sports can be frustrating at first but the mental benefits of learning a new motor skill are worth it. However, if you want to keep improving as a cyclist, your cross-training needs to be at least somewhat complementary to the kinesthetic systems that keep your bike moving. I tend to avoid impact sports like squash, basketball or volleyball that are tough on knees and ankles. You don’t want to spend your off-season recovering from a strained ACL or torn Achilles tendon.

Musings on the 2011 TdF & why it’s important to you

I think everyone can agree that the 2011 Tour de France was the best & most exciting Tour in years. Granted, in Canada, it was broadcast on a Tier 2 sports channel (TSN2 vs TSN) but it was in HD so the images were brilliant.

I’ve heard rumblings about Cadel being too passive and amazement over Andy Schleck’s gutsie ride…but this just means that people care…and they were watching and getting informed.

Cadel’s BMC team came into the Tour with a plan, and in reality, made it work just like they needed to, to win. Their preparation before the race was perfect. Riding the Dauphine (instead of Tour de Suisse) was the right thing to do as the TT in the Dauphine was on the same course as the final TT of the Tour. As any of the guys will tell you, riding a course at race pace is the only way to really understand where you can gain time. There was no thought of sprint stage wins, just a clear focus on getting Cadel into yellow in Paris.

The Thrill of the (Down)Hill

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Descending can be the most exhilarating aspect of cycling but you’ve got to do it right. During this year’s Tour de France, watch the pros as they ‘bomb’ the descents. There is always a smooth, calculated line and careful consideration … Continue reading →