You would not think that Idaho would be a hot bed for cycling, but it is. Idaho is not a Boulder, CO, we don't have a major cycling news paper, but the passion is still here. I recall informing the head of USA Cycling at Interbike that he should keep a close eye on the state, that we have a strong group of racers that come from our playground. We have great terrain for both mtb and road. And some of the best in the game will come from the state. He didn't like that at all, turned his nose up at me and walked away. But the results of success that have come from the state since that date is very impressive. The level of cycling understanding here is at a very high level and that info has helped many reach their goals! That same info goes to our dealers like Craig Upton who worked with Phil Zaijack.
Phil Zaijack just had his career best over super starts Levi Leipheimer & Lance Armstrong at the Tour of the Gila. Idaho also had super results at the Gile from Sam Krieg who is using our system just this year. And there are many more, but we can't use their names, place stickers on their bikes due to the contracts they have with different teams. Idaho's boys & girls do well at races like the Gila i.e. Boise's Armstrong wins the women's title. She can be seen riding the roads around Boise on any give day, when she is not at a major race. When here, she races the Pro men and at times can win.
Think of other racers i.e. Georgia Gould, Reba Rusch that come from here. They have done well.
Idaho has lots of races through the year, both mtb and road, cyclcorss, etc... and it gets people outside. We just had a 3-day TT Festival stage race this past weekend. Spring time in the Rockies can have bad weather. Many thunderstorms, funnel-clouds, dime size hail just moved through the area, but that didn't stop the cycling race. The TT race is the "real deal race", it doesn't allow you to ride a wheel. So it's the real test fact (truth) if something works or not. Then add in some 55 mph high winds, bad storms, .063 inches of heavy rains with a ton of water on the roads (Saturday was a record-breaking rainfall for Boise) yet the results from folks who use our fits rise again or better stayed on their bikes. You have to have good handling skills in a tt set-up. It's not just being aero, and you need to make power to make time in this type of weather.
So, does a bike fit help? Yes! We just fitted two time national road champion, long time road racer from Pocatello, ID. M.D. Kris Walker who use to race the worlds largest women's stage race also held here (HP Women's Challenge) in the day and we took 1 1/2 min off her time Sat., from a year ago, plus gave her more watts. Hunter Allen, the power pro, also her coach will be pleased. She keeps SRM records, so she knew what we did for her.
Who cares? Racers come from all over the world. Where in the hell is Pocatello, ID? It is of concern because it's about 20 degrees colder than Boise, it's north of Utah and west of Wyoming and the winters are very long. These people spend a lot of time on the trainer and have to ride indoors. It's the home of Idaho State U and always has its fair share of cycling fans i.e. Sam Krieg, M.D. Kris Walker, Chris Stewart Champ who is doing his intern through BSU with Wobble-naught & Myo-facts sEMG/Dartfish. There are others and they are fast.
So how did Dr. Walker do? She has more experience than most, she is a young 48 years of age and loves to race gals 20 years younger. She was very fast with her new fit only a few hours before the race! That's right, she just got fitted a few hours before her race! Why? The storm stopped the race in the morning the the she wanted to try our fit? Something that might have been best to due last fall to allow the body time to adapt. A good question? When is it time to get things right? The answer: ASAP!
After starting the fit at 11am, working on it 2:30pm, we had to get her to the race. Her start time was 3:30pm. I decided to follow Dr. Walker in my car on the course like a pro team support car and she was very fast and very focused on her new info and passed many gals ahead of her. Racers started at one min., time slots into a strong black cloud and head wind. Rain and wind, she took a very respected 2nd, 8 sec off the winning time. That's because she went about 75-100 yds., uphill, the wrong way as she missed her turn. It was raining so hard she did not see the sharp right hand turn posted for (20mph) limits. I think she lost about 30 sec total. I know I was laying down the car horn as she went straight and missed the turn! After skidding her rear wheel for a very long ways uphill, fish tailing (putting a flat spot on it) coming to a stop, turning around, trying to lower her gears coming back down the hill, being careful due to all the loose gravel and rain on the less used road made the downhill turn (oh so slow) without a crash, Dr. Walker attempted to get back up to pace as she then passed more racers that started ahead of her on the long uphill blacks creek rd., more heavy wind, heavy rain to the end of the race. Ouch! She still had a better time than a year ago in good weather and no mistakes. That's what know how will do for you.
We are pleased with the success every day of the 3-days of races in both men and women in Idaho. Top placements for men and women. We don't have stickers on many bikes or kits and many just like Kris Walker pay for the services. Kris Walker - "I wish I had do this years ago!". She has attended many speakers in hopes of learning more about fits. A friend of mine put it this way while he was on the phone with me, making sure I stayed 6 cars behind the racer Robert H- "she just added 5 years of racing" to her game. She is now a WN & Myo-facts sEMG/Dartfish user!
There are many top pros who follow our precise CAD methods. Since we started in 1999, we have know all along what you do on a trainer is not what you do in the real world. Why would you not want a dynamic correct fit? The measurements of stacking your bones to the smallest constraint can make a difference. Bones have mass and that affects (compression, shearing, tension) within each joint. Then you still have control of your pedal stroke and you need to learn. What you might have been doing your whole career might be off.
Sure our rivals say you can't do that, that their way is better. But don't tell that to the people who take their game to another level and those levels are many! To win over Levi and Lance is a big deal!
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