1969 MANUFRANCE HIRONDELLE " MY FIRST RACING BIKE "

Just have to share a small story with you all.

When I was 14,  I had already been working for 2 years and saving my pennies.

One day I walked in to a bike shop in my neighborhood and my eyes fell on a brand new French racing bike. Nothing like anything I had ever seen before.  In my mind this was my " Red Rider BB gun " and I had to have it.

It took all the money I had plus a small $$ contribution from my father and it was mine.

I rode it tirelessly for the next 4 years until my 2nd year in University when it was taken from me.

I never forgot this bike and I have been looking for another one for the last 35 years and was never able to find one until 2 weeks ago. .

I bought it from a fellow in San Antonio Texas and it is exactly the same year and colour as mine was, with all the same components. What are the chances of that, and it is in really good condition to boot.

Unfortunately he would not ship it to Canada, so I had it shipped to a UPS store in Lewiston NY and I went and picked it up 2 days ago

Just shows you that never giving up pays off.  I had to pay 3X what I originally paid for the bike in 1969, but it is well worth it.  To be honest with you, it's priceless to me

Here is a picture

About to move inside for Winter Training. What should you do??

Outdoor riding season was cut a little short this year in our neck of the woods this year. Already over 25 cm's of snow has fallen and its only the first week in December.

Fear not some excellent indoor training can set you up well for next season's goals and now is the BEST TIME of the year to have a bike fit done.

Why you ask?

You are about to put 4 - 5 good month's of indoor training in.  Don't you want to make sure that all the muscle memory you are going to build is in the best position possible?

A lot of people ask me why riding indoors seems to be a lot more uncomfortable than riding on the road.

Here's why...

Riding outside is a much more DYNAMIC experience, your body is constantly moving around adjusting to the wind, the other riders around you and the conditions of the weather road itself.

Riding indoors is a much more STATIC experience, mostly staying seated all the time, never getting to coast, no recovery downhill sections etc. As a result your body doesn't experience as much variation in its position so your muscles get fatigued more quickly and you may get some aches and pains that do not happen out on the road

Being in a static position periods of time will bring out all the flaws in your pedal stroke that you not feel outdoors and riding on a constant flat for long periods on time doesn't help the nether regions either

Here's a HINT

Most of us train with our bike in a position which mimics a flat road, which means that the distance from the ground up to your rear skewer centre is the same as the distance from the ground up to your front skewer.

Try lifting up the front wheel so that it is about an inch higher than the back wheel.  This will mimic riding on a 2 percent grade.

What this will do for you is shift your weight back a bit and give you what we like to call in the industry " a better seat ". That will take a little pressure off the crotch and allow you to train longer and harder with more comfort.

If you get bored, try riding outside in the winter on a warmer dry day.

Although you can build muscles indoors, you build character outdoors