Cycling Clinic – September 6th

Many of you have heard me mention Stephanie Chase and that she has been putting on some cycling clinics for people desiring to hone their bike riding skills, especially as it applies to group riding.

Her next clinic will be a 4.5 hour clinic on September 6th in the Greater Portland area.  She plans to set the costs on a sliding scale in the hopes of getting the completely full (it’s currently half full) and making it affordable so that all of those that need it will take it.  This clinic is designed for both men and women alike who take cycling seriously as part of the athletic endeavors AND as a safety issue in learning to ride correctly.

So the sliding scale is beneficial to word of mouth in trying to get people enrolled.  Here’s the layout:

1-10 riders  $45.00

11-15 riders  $40.00

16-20 riders  $35.00

Here is the basic format of the clinic:

Opening Discussion/meet & greet                 20 minutes

Pacelining/drafting/gearing                            60 minutes

Discussion                                                               10 minutes

Climbing Technique/gearing                           60 minutes

Lunch Break                                                           30 minutes

Accelerations/Bridging/Moving Up            60 minutes

Cornering/Discussion                                        30 minutes

For more information, feel free to contact Stephanie by either emailing her at  or phoning her at (207) 939-6934.

Stephanie is a licensed cycling coach, certified personal trainer, and Cat 2 racer for Team International/Global Energy Cycling Team out of Boston, MA. She brings a lot of cycling knowledge and personal experience to these clinics. I personally have had the pleasure of taking her 6-week clinic and learned a ton. I’m sure this condensed version will be equally as informative and easier to fit many schedules.

Shifting Gears

My gears have not been shifting very well lately. On the Peak ride Wednesday it was annoying to shift and not have the derailleur respond as it should. It was sluggish at best.

It wasn’t much better on the Thursday night ride so upon my arrival home I put the bike up on the stand and made some tension adjustments with the barrel adjuster.

I thought it was pretty good until I got on the bike to commute to work Friday. It was shifting horribly. I had to shift up twice and down once to get the derailleur where the chain wouldn’t jump. I read Wheels’ blog about adjusting the cable tension so I set out at lunch to tighten the cable more by pulling it tighter. It seemed to work but I could only get it to shift well one way but not shifting well the other way.

I had to resort to taking the bike to my mechanic Saturday morning. I was hopeful the problem was a frayed cable and not the chain/cassette, which is still pretty new. My mechanic did notice that the chain was a little worn but still had plenty of life left. So he ended up cleaning the cable housing and replacing the cable.

I took the bike for a ride Sunday morning and it shifted perfectly. I’m glad it was a relatively easy fix. I will have to contend with a little cable stretch over the next couple weeks but I can manage those adjustmenst on my own.

It’s all about Performance

This is making the rounds like wild fire:

Too Busy to Blog

I’m saddened to say that I’ve been too busy to blog. Here’s why (from last week’s schedule):

Sunday: Cleaned the house then went to the Old Port to meet some friends for lunch at Ri Ra’s and walk around with them.

Monday: PVC ride, then a double back to catch the last of the CCCP ride, then drinks out with the group.

Tuesday: Commute to/from work then dinner and the Neko Case concert at Port City Music Hall.

Wednesday: Dinner with friends at the Portland Yacht Club – they are members, not us.

Thursday: Ran errands after work for two hours, because I hadn’t had time to do them earlier in the week, followed by making something for a company BBQ the following day.

Friday: Movie (Julie & Julia) with hubby and a friend.

Saturday (yesterday): Early morning ride for 2.5 hours, yard work, then Bay Stock, which was a concert on the Maine State Pier featuring Jason Spooner Trio, Gypsy Tailwind, and Guster.

Sunday (today): a 2 hour ride then scraping and painting outside for 7+ hours.

Yup, it’s been crazy busy! This week should be better. Or at least after tomorrow. I’ll go for my normal Monday night ride, followed by drinks with the crew, then home to make a dish for hubby for his monthly pot luck at the office.

As you can imagine, not only was there no time to blog, but there was no time to ride. Grrr. After practically the month of July off I was starting to get back at it consistenty and then hit with a heavy week of socializing, which don’t get me wrong, is a lot of fun. I just hoped to be able to work in a few more rides.

The rest of the week will be “quiet” but I’m on a mission to get a few projects done prior to company coming at the end of the month, not to mention the normal routine to-dos such as laundry, general cleaning, etc. In between I’ll do my best to get something interesting posted. (I would have had a nice Neko Case video to post but it turned out kinda crappy from my phone.) So why don’t you check out her interview on Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me instead? (Special thanks to my friend Scotty for posting this on FB – it’s really great!)

Chase Cycling Group Cornering Clinic

No, I’m not dead. I’m still around. I’ve just been crazy busy since my last post. To keep you entertained, here is a recent video I made for my friend, Stephanie Chase, from her cornering clinic:

I promise I’ll post something fresh soon. In the mean time, you can follow me on Twitter.