I’ve always said that the bicycle can help solve all the world’s problems, and I stand by it.  As I wait for the bike to keep working its magic, it’s good to know that cycling helped save a triathlon friend of mine.  Anne Brennan is an Ironman athlete and a fellow blogger….and she’s here to tell you about how cycling helped save her.

How Cycling Saved This Runner

by Anne Brennan

In 2001, I was running, a lot, too much as it turned out. Running had helped me through so much stress in my life and because we were living in a new country and I was not feeling quite at home, I found myself using my running crutch a lot.  Unfortunately I ran so much that I ended up with yet another stress fracture and this time it was a doozey.

This stress fracture had been brewing. I had felt it and ignored it.  Until one day, as I was running along the Common in Wimbledon, I bounded over a puddle, landed as gracefully as a charging rhinoceros and felt the leg giveway.  Within a couple of minutes the knot formed and though I was able to hobble around on it, I knew I was in trouble.

When I went to the doctor, he confirmed my fear.  The original stress fracture had given way to a crisscrossing fracture and one more run would most likely mean a shattered tibia.

So, this mean doctor who took running away from me told me I could swim.  I had taken lessons a few years earlier so I knew how to swim and I wasn’t bad at it, but it didn’t give me the release that running did.  For three months I swam, patiently waiting for the doctor to give me the okay to run.  When I proudly walked back in after three months of doing exactly as I was told, fully expecting that I would be given the okay, I was sadly disappointed.

“You can bike,” that stinky doctor said, like he was giving me some sort of gift.

I cried all the way home.

But the next day I got on the bike and I rode.  Luckily, as a runner I had found a new way to explore England.  I had created “get lost runs.”  I would head in any direction that looked new and exciting and just run.  Wherever I ended up I would catch a bus or a train and I would go back home. It made every run an adventure.

So I applied the same principle to my first ride.  I explored the area around Wimbledon and found myself in a park I had yet to visit – Richmond Park.  It was incredible.  I couldn’t believe my luck.  Within a quarter mile of entering the park I discovered herds and herds of deer.  The next day I went a little further, finding yet another park filled with daffodils as far as I could see.  I began to fall in love with this new country of mine.

Over the next three months I rode all over London and Southwest England. I rode through the hilly Surrey countryside, through city parks and along the Thames path.  I invited other moms to ride with me and I made new friends and finally, I began to feel at home.

When I went back to the doctor, six months after that horrible puddle-jumping incident I was given the okay to run, with a caveat.

“You may run,” the doctor cautioned, “but if you push your mileage like before, you will stress fracture again.”

I had a history of fractures and the story really was all too easy to read.  If I pushed on down the path I had been traveling, eventually running would not be available to me.

At another time in history, I would have been gutted by this caveat.  Running had been everything to me.  I defined myself in two ways, as a mother and as a runner.  But now, with the gift of cycling that the doctor had given me, I knew I would be okay.  The truth is, I would have missed my rides if I had gone back to running exclusively.  With those three months, I was saved.  I had not only been returned to running by allowing myself to heal, I had found a new love in cycling.

Today, I still run.  I also swim when the training-need arises. But cycling takes an equal part to running.  I love my bike. I love my weekend rides with my husband and my solitary exploration rides in our new home in Maryland.  In the end, cycling saved me.

Ann Brennan is an Ironman triathlete and fitness writer, dedicated to motivating others to get up off the couch and lead healthy lifestyles.  Read more by Ann at http://www.annsrunningcommentary.com or visit her YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/BrennanAnnie/featured.

Attention all Triathletes: Take part in this one week triathlon camp held in Grenada, West Indies this March.  It will give you quality training time just prior to your full season getting started, and you’ll cap off the week by competing in the Grenada Tri de Spice Triathlon.

Oh, and when you’re not training you’ll be in for one incredibly fun and relaxing time on this beautiful Caribbean island.

This triathlon camp will be focused on cycling, but information and training for swimming and running will also be available.

Dates

• Training Camp runs from March 24 to 30, 2013.
• Tri de Spice Triathlon – March 31
• 9 Nights Accommodation (March 23 to April 1)

Schedule

Day 1:  Cycling for triathlon

• Introductions / Bike set up 2 hour
• Short fun ride 1-2 hour
• Talk about cycling for triathlon followed by discussion and QA
• One on One bike fitting (others have free time to swim or run)

Day 2:  Bicycle fit and positioning / Ocean Swim

• Morning ride 1-2 hours
• Talk and workshop about bicycle fit and positioning for triathlon
• One on One bike fitting (others have free time to swim or run)

Day 3:  Equipment

• Morning ride 1-2 hours
• Talk and discussion on proper bike set up, equipment bikes, wheels, etc.
• One on One bike fitting (others have free time to swim or run)

Day 4: Cycling Technique / Ocean Swim

• Morning ride 1-2 hours
• Talk/presentation about being an efficient cyclist for triathlon
• Hands on workshop on pedaling technique, cadence, bike handling skills
• Riding in the wind, etc

Day 5: Pacing for triathletes

• Longer ride
• Talk/discussion on how to pace in training and during a race 2 hours
• One on One bike fitting (others have free time to swim or run)

Day 6: Putting it all together / Ocean Swim

• Short ride practicing technique
• Talk and discussion about incorporating what you have learned
• workouts and training plan
• One on One bike fitting (others have free time to swim or run)

Day 7:  Rest Day

• Free day to relax on the beach or take in an island tour or event (ask us for a list of recommended options and prices)

Day 8:  Tri de Spice Triathlon (Olympic or Sprint) 

• More details for the triathlon can be found at www.tridespice.com

Accommodation

Option 1: Deluxe Waterfront (waterfront location)

Includes balconies or patios facing the Bay and surrounded by gardens, these spacious rooms are decorated in Caribbean colors with teak furnishings and have fully equipped kitchenette, Cable TV, phone, ceiling fans and A/C. Option for king bed or two single beds.

Daily Continental breakfast buffet included

Option 2: Standard (non-waterfront location)

One bedroom apartment accommodation. Attractively furnished with a double bed, fully equipped kitchen, coffee machine, air conditioning, cable TV, telephone, laundry facilities and internet.

Coach

Victor Jimenez is a professional bicycle fitter, technical cycling consultant and recognized authority on road and triathlon cycling. A teacher and problem solver at heart, Victor helps athletes and coaches better understand the technical aspects of cycling. “It amazing to work with athletes on their bicycle fit, equipment, and riding technique and see the results in their races and in their smiles.”

For over 25 years Victor has been involved in bicycle fitting, cycling, triathlon and the bicycle industry.  He shares his thoughts and ideas about bicycle fit and technique on several cycling and fitness related blogs. He is a regular contributor and writer for Endurance Magazine and other publications.

Victor got into cycling through the sport of triathlon in the early 80′s then moved into bike racing.  He started out as an athlete and American College of Sports Medicine trainer/ fitness testing specialist. In the mid eighties he began to couple his background in fitness testing and cycling to better understand how we interact with a bicycle. He has worked with thousands of athletes to improve their position on the bike and ultimately their riding. “Its not always about getting faster, I want to help athletes have fun and enjoy the sport of cycling”.

Victor works with coaches and athletes on positioning, form and overall efficiency.  He has been presenter for USA triathlon coaching certification and continuing education workshops.  He works equally well with beginner athletes and elite professionals.

More information on Victor can be found at BicycleLab.com, TheFluentCyclist.com, and Cycling360media.com.

Package Price

Packages include 6 days of training, entry fee for Tri de Spice Triathlon, Airport transfers, Welcome Dinner, Sunset Sailboat Cruise, all taxes, and more.

Deluxe Oceanfront Accommodations:

$3,699 per person – Single Occupancy

$2,399 per person – Double Occupancy

Standard Accommodations:

US$1,799 per person – Single Occupancy

US$1,399 per person – Double Occupancy

When my good friend, Tyler Robinson, told me he had won an entry to the 2010 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, I knew right away that I needed him to provide a guest post about it.  You see, Tyler has an incredible sense of humor in his writing and I had no doubt he would provide one heck of a great read. So here it is, one very humorous view of the cycling portion of his first “big name” triathlon.

It’s all about the swim.  When you tell people you’ve completed the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, the only thing they want to hear about is the swim.   The run sometimes gets a bit of attention because of the infamous sand ladder, but the focus is always on the long, cold and allegedly shark-infested swim from “the rock.”

Nobody wants to hear about the bike segment – the poor, red-headed stepchild of this infamous race.

Except you, followers of Loving the Bike.  Or at least so I’m told by my buddy Darryl…

With that in mind, I’m going to pick things up as I exited the San Francisco Bay a couple months ago, cold and slightly disoriented from inhaling half my body weight in brackish water and having had my goggles rudely knocked off by a perfectly placed foot to my face.  After spending enough time in the swim-to-run transition to write a short novel (did I mention I was slightly disoriented?), I made the half-mile dash to “Big Red,” my rental road bike for the day.   At this point I should mention that when I rented a bike over the Internet, I had a choice of either a brand new Trek Madone 4.5, or the house special – a perfectly functional Trek, but definitely not a plastic-still-on-the-seat pristine work of art like the Madone.   I chose Big Red because there’s nothing quite like the added excitement of wondering if your handlebars are going to fall off while careening down the streets of San Francisco.

After completing a slightly speedier run-to-bike transition and having finally managed to get clipped in, I bolted along the flat initial segment of the course thinking “pffbbtttt… San Francisco isn’t that hilly – this is going to be a breeze.”  Hmmmmmm…

In all honesty, the hills weren’t that much of an issue; I’m a pretty light guy which is ideal for climbing.  And besides, as we common folk were working our way up the endlessly winding hills there was plenty to focus on as the pros and elite age groupers rocketed past on their way back down.  It was quite an experience – you would hear the telltale “whump, whump, whump” of a disk wheel in the distance and then all of a sudden a flash of carbon and spandex would scream by at a velocity I’m reluctant to travel in my car, let alone on a bike.  How those men and women managed to make some of the turns at the bottom of those hills I will never know.

What I’m not, however, is a particularly seasoned or confident rider, having reintroduced myself to cycling last summer when I started down this mid-life crisis path known as triathlon.   You see, because I live in Canada and am subjected to cold and snow eight months of the year (and that’s in a good year), most of my cycling time is spent securely attached to a trainer in my basement.   And while this is fine for conditioning purposes and for catching up on reruns of Dexter, it doesn’t do much for one’s bike handling skills unless you consider napping while riding a skill.   Add to this the fact that prior to this race I had been out on the road in 2010 exactly once for a grand total of ten minutes, in the snow, to make sure I could still clip in and out of my pedals, and you can probably guess that I wasn’t exactly vying for the Most Nimble Cyclist award.

As such, it came as little surprise to me that as I was simultaneously trying to change gears, return my water bottle to its cage, start up a hill and dodge the riders on either side of me (at that point I may as well have tried to make a ham sandwich I had so much going on…), I suddenly found myself staring up at the sky as I slid to a halt on my left hip.  And if that wasn’t bad enough, as I righted myself I overcompensated and ended up going back over the other side onto the boulevard in a horrific display of slow motion, just as the only other person I knew in the race happened to ride by.  I can’t seem to win the lottery, but I can manage to fall twice at exactly the time my buddy cruises by.  Perfect.   The best part is that any time I want to relive those few glorious moments, he is more than willing to recount the episode to anyone and everyone who will listen.  My only saving grace was the fact that there were no event photographers stationed at the bottom of that hill.

In any event, the only thing that was really hurt was my pride so I hopped back onto Big Red, dusted us both off and made my way to the top of the course.  The next half-hour or so was primarily spent applying an involuntary death grip to the drop bars as I made my way back down the various switchbacks and straightaways.  For a moment or two I convinced myself that I was going as fast as some of those pros, but the smell of burning rubber from my rear brake suggested that perhaps I wasn’t quite as committed to the downhill thrill as they might have been.  Falling uphill onto your pride is one thing; launching yourself into space at 70 kph is quite another and I had little desire to experience the latter.

That said, I’m pretty sure I heard a “whump whump” or two from Big Red on the way down as I headed back toward T3.