Friday, March 30, 2012

A little over two weeks away from race day

The weather has really become nice here in Arizona, as well as my allergies have become really bothersome.  Still getting my workouts and not letting them get in the way, for now. Sunday I took a great nearly 25 mile training ride late in the day.  A perfect way to end the weekend. The feel on the road was nice. I am still really impressed on how using the rollers has improved my form.
Next weekends plans are to head out to some hills to work on some climbing.
So onto a quick tech tip,
The ProGold degreaser and bike wash works awesome.  Spray a little on and let it do its magic.  For those who dont have a set of cleaning brushes, here is a trick I have been using to clean hard to reach areas.  Get a rope! Yes a rope.  Slip the rope around the area you cant quite get a towel into and run it back and forth to loosen or wipe the dirt or heavy grime away.  Works great around your rear gear cassette. A clean bike is a bike that is easier to maintain and your parts will last you longer.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Tour de Mesa, next race on the schedule

So Saturday April 14, is my next race.  The El Tour de Mesa has a few distances, in which I will be doing the farthest distance of 70 miles. My training is coming along both on the rollers indoors and out on the road. 
I have really noticed a huge difference in when I wear a cotton t-shirt indoors on the rollers.  The heat is really kept in.  I am looking at placing a small fan out in front of the rollers to help cool me down a little. I've been getting some great workouts in with my Miowatch Quest, a GPS watch with heart rate monitor. I have the GPS turned off and just using the heart rate monitor function.  My workouts have moved from three weeks ago in Zone 3 to now Zone 2, 45 minute workouts.
The El Tour de Mesa is a new race for me and I look to have some fun.  Bib numbers have been issued online and I am #297, if your out there before the race or on the course say "hi".  

Sunday, March 11, 2012

SOLE footbeds


**********UPDATE: April 2015**************
If you reading this, drop me an e-mail (timhakr @gmail.com) as to why you are interested in footbeds and what brought you here to this page.  Are you looking for comfort while running or cycling? Do you suffer from foot pain?


This blog post is from March 2012


SOLE footbeds are quick and easy to mold to your custom foot shape. They come with easy to follow instructions. SOLE footbeds are used to help with muscles on the bottom of your feet to avoid pain in the Plantar Fascia.  SOLE also makes sandals and flip-flops that are custom fit to your foots bottom profile.  

My walking shoe size and cycling shoe size are 13, while my running shoes I buy size larger 14, to avoid troubles with my toe nails. When preparing my footbeds, I used the insole inside my cycling shoe to match the SOLE footbed for size and cut them to fit.  For my running shoes the SOLE footbeds came in my running shoe size. Also with the seven different types of footbeds, SOLE offers just what you are looking for. 
Not know what SOLE footbed would be suit you? There is an easy questionnaire on their website   www.yoursole.com , answer some questions about your arches in your feet what type of activity will you be wearing the footbeds for and the site lets you know what would work best for your situation.




Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New rubber for the road


New rubber on the ride.  I slapped on a pair of Michelin XCR road tires on my mountain bike for my indoor training rides on my rollers.  These tires are slick and are really nice. With the weather and more rides outside I will be switching these out for a pair of knobby Michelin tires soon. I also look forward to bringing these out on the road and testing them on the asphalt and how they feel cornering.