This Spring, I was reading some news on a bike web site and I clicked on a little ad that caught my attention. This one had to do with core strength and cycling. We've all heard this a million times, right: you can't be a strong cyclist without strong core muscles - abs, lower back. I landed on a site called Cyclo-Zen ("Bridging the gap between cycling and yoga"), the brainchild of Graeme Street. Graeme could turn me into a cycling powerhouse if I followed his routines for "power yoga, low back conditioning, power training and recovery techniques". I didn't buy, but I did sign up for the email newsletter which came faithfully once, sometimes twice a week and really had good stuff in it. But I still didn't buy...

August found me in Vermont on our Terry Tour which started in Stowe and wound its way into the Northeast Kingdom. There, I was reintroduced to some roads I hadn't ridden in fifteen years. And there, in the words of a friend, I "had my you-know-what handed to me by a couple of hills". Bad enough, but even worse because these were hills I had climbed on that last trip. OK, so hills and I have never been on particularly good terms; but this was a total shut out. Ever since I left Pittsburgh, my hill-climbing abilities have waned. Frustration!

Back home, another cheery email awaited me from Graeme. OK, time to buy. The week special offered me a discount if I bought not only the Cyclo-Zen, but the Cyclo-Core program, too. I loaded them both into my cart.

I decided to start with the Cyclo-Zen program and to save Cyclo-Core for the off season. Two routines caught my eye -- a stretching session and a strength session. Graeme recommended doing the stretching as frequently as desired and the strength session once a week. So, I started with stretching for a few days and then hopped on the bike for my regular 40 mile loop. Hmmm....was it my imagination, or did I indeed feel very fluid and loose on the bike? The fit of my bike is excellent (better be), but this was something new: relaxation on the bike. Nah - it must be the cooler weather.

Several stretching sessions and one strength session later (and I see why he says weekly is sufficient!), the weekend rolled around and so did the 40 mile loop. Only this time it was even better. Not that I was going any faster, but I was sure riding easier and with less effort.

Now I'm about six weeks into this program. I'm pushing slightly higher gears, continuing to feel like a well-oiled machine and wondering just what the off-season is going to be like when I try the Cyclo-Core program. I'm hooked. If you want to put a little pizzazz in your riding, take a look at this program. This guy is on to something.

I hope to have an interview with Graeme in a future blog. I have lots of questions for him!

Tailwinds,
Georgena
talktous@terrybicycles.com
www.terrybicycles.com