Improving your Impact

" The single most effective way to improve your impact is to do a better job of providing it" ~ Seth Godin (Improving Your Condiments)




The "it" in this case is everything from choosing your music, to how you "teach". 
From how you present yourself to how you dress.


Improving your impact is in exact proportion to how much you care.

It always amazes me how infectious happy people are.
What they bring to the ride, lightness, gratitude, joy and just pure fun!


The opposite amazes me too.

What do you need? I want to help. Whatever it is, I'll do everything I can to make it right.
You're very important to me.

How many businesses make you feel this way?

I recently heard of a chain of clubs that do not require indoor cycling instructors to re-certify. They simply pay you half of what you were making when your certification was in good standing.

How important do you think you are to them?

"Statues"

"...a statue is a standing position that eliminates bounce while peddling (sic) and focuses muscular efforts on developing strength and control in the quadriceps". ~ website from a "reputable" studio


Where on earth are they getting this stuff? "Eliminating the bounce" means trapping energy in the joints, risking injury to the knees and spine. 

Everything I learned about Cycling I learned from an "Old Fart"

1. Don't underestimate an old fart - sub 60 min 40k TT in his mismatched kit kicks ass! (Never judge a book....)
2. Riding is always love #2 - old farts have their priorities right. Taking the wife shopping is priority #1 (if things aren't good at home, your ride will suck anyway).
3. "Ride your own ride" - if the cowboy at the front of the pack pushes the pace, let him go. (He's got something to prove, you don't).
4. Break the hill into thirds - save enough (gear and breath) for the top (break things down into manageable chunks).
5. Don't click up the cog too early on a climb, you'll lose power (be patient and don't underestimate your own strength).
6. Singing on a hill intimidates your cycling buddies (relax through exertion).
7. Imitating farm animals also intimidates your cycling buddies (he's nuts better do what he tells you).
8. Yes you will fall when you first learn to ride clipless - pick yourself up and do it again, and again, and again (if at first you don't succeed...).
9. There are about 15 different ways to get to the same coffee shop, all of them worth riding (so many opinions all worth listening to).
10. If an old fart shows up to the ride in 3 layers, booties, balaclava and 2 pairs of gloves - follow suit. (Experience trumps all).

Sprinting - A Rant!

I can forgive just about anything but sprints done wrong are unforgivable! When a "sprint" is executed by unloading resistance and pedalling like a frantic lunatic that just shows total and complete ignorance of anything cycling related. I found this on a website for a spinning studio; "Two common speeds for spinning are light resistance, to mimic sprinting, and medium to heavy resistance, to imitate hills" (it goes on but that's another rant). Seriously?? Do you really think that Mark Cavendish (possibly one of the world's best sprinters) sprints for the line in a gear ratio of 39x23?  Sprinting means you want to get from here to there FIRST!! It means that you are going to put out your biggest effort, you are going to push your biggest gear with the fastest cadence you can muster at that gear! Big gear means lots of resistance. Big gear and fast cadence means lots of power - a 10/10 effort. At C.O.R.E Cycling@ a sprint demonstrated incorrectly during the practical exam is an automatic fail. 

Cycling Efficiency

When the kit I wore on today's ride is washed, dried, folded and back in my drawer.