Free Speed

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Sept 1, 2023

Cross Is Coming

Manitoba's longest continuously running cyclocross race, CrossTastic, takes place  Sunday October 15th at Whittier Park. The 14th edition hosts the Manitoba Provincial Cyclocross Championships. Come out and cheer on the competitors or better yet take part yourself! read more >

April 5, 2024

2024 Rides Start Tomorrow

Obtain your club membership here read more >

Sticky

New Web Site

The new web site is coming live in bits and pieces. Don't be surprised to find some dead links, empty pages, and even duplicate pages.

Here are three ways to increase speed that cost absolutely nothing.

1/ The most obvious but often least thought of by inexperienced riders is to maintain your speed. Stay off your brakes. Learn to corner properly. There are FOG riders who can stay with any group, but the moment there's a corner or a dip in the road, they lose all momentum, get blown off the back and never get back on. Conserve what you're already worked to get.

2/ Most of the energy that one exerts on a bike goes toward overcoming wind resistance. Drafting in the middle of a large peloton can lessen the energy requirement to travel at a given speed by 30-40%. One won't encounter such a peloton in FOG, but riding directly behind another rider can save 25% energy and riding behind a few riders improves that even a little more. The closer one rides to the rider in front the greater the draft, but even riding 5 feet behind another rider can create a beneficial draft.

3/ Drafting is the best way to save energy, but what if you're the one on the front? The biggest source of drag is the rider's body. While you can spend $10,000 on a new aero bike and wheels, the bike only contributes about 10% of the drag. Your body is responsible for about 90%. Research has shown that the fastest position on a road bike is not to ride in the drops, but to ride with one's torso parallel to the ground, one's hands on the hoods. and one's forearms parallel to the ground. This can save 17% over riding on the tops, almost 2/3 of what one gets from drafting! This requires some flexibility and contrary to popular belief the biggest hindrance is lack of hamstring flexibility not a tight lower back. Time to get stretching. Hey, I said it was free, not necessarily easy.