I just got back from the Trek level two fitting course in Portland Oregon. Two things: first, it is a very cool and friendly city and it’s unreal how bike friendly it is. It’s the rainy season right now and everywhere I looked there were people on so many different types of bikes riding around. Everywhere there are bike lanes and bike paths to be seen- Winnipeg could learn a lot from Portland. Secondly, I learned a lot of new and great information on fitting.
Trek set up a few new things to cover this time at level two, and the one thing that most of us wanted was Triathlon fitting. We got to Tri fitting in day two, as they set out to work us up to this over day one. The main brain behind all of this fitting was Michael Sylvester. Two words to describe him: brain and bike fitting. He has helped build bike fitting in the northwest over the last twenty years and now with Trek’s help is bringing his knowledge to the rest of us. At level two Michael brought in some outside help: M.D. Mark Timmerman, Warren Mays (a leading expert in orthotics and prosthetics), and Jay Dicharry (Director of the SPEED performance Clinic in the Center for Endurance Sport at the University of Virginia). All three brought such a wealth of knowledge related to bike fitting that we just touched the surface of their related fields.
It was like going back to school on day one: a lot of terminology on lower extremities of the body, levers, and planes of movement. Then after the first break, we dove into anatomy and physiology, muscle and joint relationship, kinetic chains, and cycling biomechanics. Oh boy that sounds like fun….but it was all building us up for what was to come. Linking it all together, with altering alignments, and relieving or eliminating pain. Before we broke for lunch, Dr Timmermann had all of us on the floor doing core exercises. Then he walked us through a few Case presentations, and how to develop plans and course of actions in fitting and referrals. After lunch we learned simple but yet effective tests to examine the rotational relationships of the upper and lower leg and testing core stability and core strength. Both of which it turns out I need help in, in fact most of us do. We finished off day one in groups of 5-6 doing the tests that we learned and applying this to (on the bike) cleat fitting.
Day two started a little rough for lot of us at the course, due to the night before….but that’s another story, for another time.
Jay Dicharry started day two off with a lot of great information leading up to the triathlon fit. He debunked a lot of myths and summed it all up with this statement “we know that there is a tipping point in every rider where we could make them more aero, but they will lose ability to move joints through an efficient range of motion and therefore be slower”. Think about that, why do we all looking to be 1% more aero, when we give up 10 to 20% or more of our power due to our own range of flexibility, lack of core strength/stability, and the big one our own range of motion our joints (functional anatomy). The pros can look at that 1% aero improvement because they get paid for their results – and most of them work on core stability and flexibility every day. They have a endless supply of resources. We all should look at tri/TT positions that do not take away our ability to use our own power and try to work on increasing flexibility, core stability, and work within our own range of functional anatomy.
After lunch Jay and Michael then lead us down the path on Tri fitting. This is not a straight and narrow path, there is no easy simple answer to this. We are all different in so many ways. The thing to think about is: let’s put the rider in a position that is not limiting their functional anatomy, and the rider then can sustain that position over the event that they are riding in. Sustain the position – this is key. Sustain the whole body, not just the arms. We looked over ride height, seat tube angle, bar drop, bar fore/aft, bar tilt, and width. Jay really stressed preservation of power as the number one goal. Lower is not always better. We then got to break into our groups and work on Tri/TT fitting. I was the guinea pig. Wow, how low can I go? Not very low, until I work on a few things…core stability is one of those things. However, I now have a good understanding of a better Tri/TT fit that will allow the better use of power, without worrying about achieving the lowest position. Doing that without being able to maintain the position will cause a loss of power and eventual slowdown.
It’s good to be back, and I have a lot of things to go over and digest. But I want to thank Trek, Michael, Warren, Dr. Timmerman, and Jay for the wealth of information that they provided and shared with us. It has given me a better understanding of what we as fitters can do to help people have more fun on the bike in comfort with proper bike fitting.