For our benefit??????

Well, this is all for our benefit; right? Oy!!!! So John and I met with our endurance coach today, Ken Snowden from EnduranceCoaching.com. Ken was on the 1972 Olympic Cycling Team and currently trains both runners and cyclists. Today was our initial meeting/bike fitting with Ken. The good news is our new Trek Madones are the right size...well, Praise the Lord, I can't even begin to think about shopping for new bikes any longer. The bad news is, our nice, comfy seats had to go!! The only thing I said this week to John was, "I don't care what he changes, as long as I don't have to give up my seat!" Well, that's one of the first changes made!

Basically what Ken does is puts us on our bikes while we "spin" in a bicycle trainer so he can see our positioning on the bike as well as our pedaling stroke, then makes adjustments accordingly, whether it is to higher or lower the seat height, or move it back or up, or in the case of my bike, he changed the angle of the handle bars. The ultimate goal is the most comfortable ride with the most efficiency.

John was up first. Okay, so John's the ringer in this family; right??? Ken watches John's pedaling form and was impressed!!!! Everything was so fluid and smooth, just a bit of a tweak to the height and position of John's seat. Ken then took some measurements and took the bike out of the trainer to watch John on an actual ride. He just kept commenting on how great John looked and how even after all of these years, John has maintained incredible control and precision. That's my man!!!

Then, it was my turn...okay, totally different story!!!!!!!!! So we first had to explain to him about my knee problem with the ligament damage. Dr. Duddey, our chiropractor, who also is a die-hard cyclist has suggested some massage therapy and told me to lose the ligament brace I had been wearing, so my knee is quite swollen and quite sore; that's Problem No. 1 with Shannon! Then I have to explain that on the same side, I've got a jacked up ankle, which doesn't have a socket that rotates and where all the bones have fused into one mass, making a very stiff ankle with no movement; but, hey, at least it's all on my left side! Well, after some tweaking and adjustments to the seat and the handlebars, I'm good to go...or at least get started! Ken was extremely supportive and understanding, and at the end of our 2-hour session as we are leaving, notices that the left foot is extremely flat and said some of the problems I'm having with my knee, among other issues, is directly related to that foot being flat, so Monday I'll be making an appointment for a podiatrist to get some orthotics, and again talk to him about my ankle issue! Of course my form wasn't as nice as John's, but I've got some things to work on and I'm even more encouraged!

So, another shopping trip to the bicycle store, another couple hundred bucks, and new seats, that as you can see don't quite look as comfortable! I mean, seriously, check out the padding difference. I was cracking up when we put the old seats on top of the new seats to truly see the padding difference...okay, Coach! Whatever you say! We'll check 'em out for comfort tomorrow morning before church!