Getting the bike fit right...

I woke up this morning motivated to lift weights. I headed downstairs and started cranking it. I lifted as heavy as I could to get a pump. I wasn't worried about hurting myself. I felt strong. I'm feeling like a new, revived person. 

After lifting, I did five core exercises. I'm starting to realize how important it is to strengthen my core. I should be stretching as well, but I haven't yet gotten that level of motivation. I need to get that motivation. I know I need to start stretching regularly. I have this intuitive feeling that my calf issue is caused by knots in my left calf, and stretching should help that. 

This afternoon was bike-fitting day. I found a local chiropractor who offers bike fittings. I wasn't sure what to expect or if he was any good. When I put my bike in the car, I noticed the hub skewers were not like the ones I'm used to. They are flat on the end and wouldn't work with a stationary bike trainer, which is needed to do a bike fit. 

I was relieved when I went into the doctor's bike fitting area and saw all the bike tools. He was used to working on bikes with the skewers I have and had one that he replaced mine with that would work on the trainer. 

He started with a physical assessment of myself. There was lots of bending, walking away and back, measuring my feet' width, squatting, lying on the table to check flexibility, and a bunch of other stuff, all before I even got on the bike for the fit. It was pretty immediately that I felt confident that he knew what he was doing. 

The first thing he did was spend time looking at my shoe position, and he adjusted the cleat on my right foot. That original positon before his adjustment may have been why I rubbed off all the paint on my old bike frame from the heel of my shoe. It was a minor adjustment, and I'd like to know if it will make a difference on this bike and prevent my heel from rubbing on the side of the frame. 

He put some tape with markers on my front and side, under my knees, and on the sides. Then he had me ride. He recorded me riding, had some software that captured the ride, and showed him the angles I was riding at. The seat was at the right height and didn't need adjusting. The bike builder set the height up the same as my last bike. 

The adjustments included the seat angle. He moved it 5.5 degrees lower than it was, and the aero bars required a lot of work. They needed to be pulled back a lot, then raised, and the arm pads widened apart. It was challenging to adjust them with the electronic shifting, taking them apart and putting them back together. 

Once the final adjustments were made, it did feel much better. The real test would be after dinner when I went on my first official post-bike-fitting outdoor ride. 

The final verdict is that the bike feels good, other than the aero bars are still too far out and the arm pads have to be moved up. It's not the bike fitters' fault, as I thought they were the right length during the fitting, but after I started riding in the wild, I realized they were still too long. The good news is that I can adjust them myself. I'm just hoping that when I move them, my seat position will still be okay. 

This was my fourth ride on the bike, and it felt great overall. I'm much more stable, and the bike feels smoother than my old Cervelo. I spent more time in the aero position on this ride. I was given tips by the chiropractor, who, during my physical, immediately after touching my back, immediately noticed my upper back was tight, which would prevent me from going aero comfortably without a sore neck. 

He gave me some time and suggested I consider physiotherapy. Before I left, I agreed to come back for physiotherapy. I don't see any downside other than the time it takes me away from work. I'm scheduled for my first session on Monday afternoon. 

When I returned from my ride, I decided to get a massage the next day. It's been at least 10 years since my last massage, but I used to get them all the time when I was training. My calf is injured, and some deep tissue massage may help, and possibly also with my back. 

With 10 minutes left on the ride, it started to rain lightly. I was extremely cautious because I was nervous that I'd wipe out again, but a little rain didn't hurt. When I got home, the water helped me as I wiped down my bike from the sweat. There was some benefit from the rain. 

Weights - 48:53 

Bike - 1:05:19 / 26.62 km / 24.5 per km avg