Despite the rainy weather and frigid waters, our Canadian team represented at the Age Group World Championships in London, England.  We are so proud of our 4 BPR athletes that competed!
See their race reports here:

Illustration by Andy Mora
Most road cyclists are just a turn of the screw away from a new tri bike.

In the sport of triathlon it is easy to get caught up with the latest bike trends. Many purchase tri bikes just because their friends have one. The fact is, to get into a perfect tri position you don’t necessarily have to be on a tri bike. Your perfect tri position conforms to three points in space: hands, pelvis, and feet. The way these three points are oriented for your optimal position is specific to you, not the bike you are riding. It’s about the bike conforming to your body rather than your body conforming to the bike. To get into a good tri position on your road bike is easy. Of course, getting your bike into a tri position starts with proper road position.

Step One: Aligning the EngineResearch shows that, compared to road position, the tri position should be slightly more forward over the pedal axle. An ideal road position should have the muscular stress evenly balanced between your glutes and your quads. A tri position will shift that delicate balance forward. Consequently, your quads will bear slightly more load and your glutes less. The research has shown that shifting forward helps triathletes adapt to the run more easily. The question is, how much do you move your seat forward on the rails? This varies from one athlete to another, but generally the move is no less then one centimetre and no more than three centimetres. A word of caution: moving too far forward will only make you slower and less powerful.

See this on our forum...
I've had an interesting couple of weeks of running. I have been running really comfortably in my New Balance MT101s. They are a cross-country minimalist shoe, so no gradient from heel to toe, and very little cushioning. Over the last year, I've run mostly in the trails with these shoes, but now that I'm preparing for an ultra distance run that includes cobblestone and rock, I've begun running on the road with these also.
Well, I got a little nervous a month ago, that I could not sustain the very long distance in these minimalist shoes. I started researching every shoe on the market, looking for something with a very flexible sole to match what I'm running in, but with more squish. NB is coming out with one late March, but that is too close to my race date. In the meantime, I bought a Brooks Pure Flow. They feel like slippers, and the sole is really bendy. I've done two three longer runs in them, and the knee pain raised it's ugly head. I've blamed it on skiing, weight in my pack, inconsistent downhill running, knee alignment in my cycling cleats. During my latest run, it was really obvious that it was MUCH more work running in these shoes than my NB 101s. I can feel my feet fighting for balance on the landing, and having to move through a greater range for push off. I can feel myself heel planting, despite my best efforts, and then the squish allows my heel to go lower than my toes, so adding stretch to the achilles.
Today I did a recover run on the treadmill in my good old NB 101s, that I've been running in for a couple of years. My knees felt GREAT. So yes, I'm still a little nervous about running really far over cobblestones without much under my feet, but I can see that the squishy shoe is not my answer.
My observations fit really well with the article below.
Ginny

This was a mountain bike race in Mongolia that took an epic 7 days to complete the incredible 800+ kilometres.   Jen, Quail, Matt, Sonya, Peter, and Cory all finished this crazy expedition race.  
See their race reports here...
Find Cory's here...
Find Sonya's here...

This girl is a force! Just 2 weeks after Badwater, she takes on Ultraman Canada. Here she is on her way to the fastest female run split of the day, moving her into 2nd place female over the 3 day epic event.
See Stacey's report here...

Kona bound, the Spartan way. IMC race report.
.......Firstly I'll start with a warning...this race report contains:
- swear words
- it's a long write up and a 15minute coffee break won't cut it
- it's my first race report of the year so it's all encompassing
- It's Kona Baby!
- is full of excessive enthusiasm, passion and happiness which is highly contagious

Read, and enjoy my life as an open book, at your own risk.

Let's begin.

Team BPR with a total of 8 medals today at the Apple Tri! A true force in the OK! Congrats to everyone who raced today! I was one proud (and now sun burnt) dude all day long!  
See race reports here...

Flat tire change
Step One: Free the tire from the rim
Step Two: Remove the old tube
Step Three: Clearing the tire
Step Four: Install the new tube
Step Five: Check for pinches
Step Six: Inflate the tire

Ride safe!!

Many are still unaware that static or passive stretching prior to a sport performance has more disadvantages than advantages, especially for sports that performance depends on strength, power, speed, and endurance.  Studies in the exercise science field show more and more that static stretching is likely an inappropriate warm up for many sports.
More...