Erik Moen PT will be speaking at the 2012 Seattle Bicycle Expo on Sunday, March 11, from 11:20 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Topic: 5 Keys to Riding Faster in 2012.

Check out the full Seattle Bicycle Expo schedule.

1. Cycling should not hurt
You would see a Physical Therapist if it hurt to walk or run, why should riding a bike be any different? If riding your bike hurts, precision adjustments to position and equipment can stop the pain – and keep you on your bike.

2. Prevent overuse injuries
Biking is repetitive in nature. During a bike fit, we optimizing alignment and position, which can greatly enhance cycling enjoyment.

3. Ride more effectively
Why waste energy fighting or trying to keep balanced on the bike? Our goal is to mate the bike with your body so that you can enjoy riding comfortably and efficiently.

4. Enhance safety and bike handling
Ensure you can reach and maneuver all necessary parts of the bike safely and effectively – shift/brake hoods, pedals, water bottle, etc.

5. Improve endurance and efficiency
Optimize muscular ergonomics and train neuromuscular skill of cycling biomechanics. The bike position is not inherently natural. Your muscles have to learn how to be efficient on the bike. When your bike fit is dialed in, your body is happier.

Ice may be simply avoided by having temperature standards for your rides. The use of internet based weather reporting sites can help you determine the temperature safety of your commute route.

Bicycle riding around the greater Seattle area can have temperature swings of 5-10 degrees F. This can be the difference between frozen and thawed. Just because it is above freezing at your house doesn’t mean conditions might be the same down the road.

You should use caution with your bike commute when the overnight temperature has been below or near freezing. A fall can result in a serious injury, taking you off of your bike for a long period of time. The “bummer” of taking a day off due to possible freezing temperatures far outweighs the “bummer” of a fracture, concussion, or road rash.

HealthVault’s goal is to have exportable, centralized, reliable health information that you can provide to your healthcare providers. A further Healthvault goal is for your personal tracking and management of your health information.

HealthVault allows you to centralize and track your lab diagnostics/values from certain labs. This alone will allow your different practitioners to compare apples to apples and have historical physiological values.

HealthVault is a work in progress. I have noticed nice improvements over the last three years. HealthVault has slowly been building its healthcare partnerships to best provide health services for its users. It is not perfect, but it is a nice step forward in your personal organization and management of your healthcare information.

Storage of personal health information will be an effective method of interacting with healthcare providers who are more frequently utilizing electronic medical records.

The top manufacturer of compression garments is CEP. CEP is a branch of a German company called Medi, a long time worldwide industry leader in the development and manufacturing of medical grade compression garments.

CEP sells a custom garment intended for lower extremity recovery following rigorous exercise. CEP says Clone garments speed recovery, so you can get back to meaningful training sooner. As a custom garment, it fits you like a glove, which makes for a powerfully effective recovery garment.

Clone garments are meant to be used at rest, such as sitting, sleeping, during transit (e.g. car or plane). You can wear them under other clothes, such as jeans, sweats, or pajamas. They are available in black.

Compression garments are typically used immediately after an activity or a workout. They’re also effective during a flight of two hours or greater. You will need to wear the Clone for 3-4 hours immediately after activity for best results.

The cost for Clones are $289, which includes two custom garments. CEP suggests a “one to wash, one to wear” approach. Clone garments require special washing and drying conditions, but these are simple enough that it can be handled at home.

CEP Clone garments take two weeks to manufacture. Clones are made domestically, in North Carolina, and are shipped directly to the client. All clone garments have a six month every-day-use guarantee.

CEP Clones may be measured for and purchased at Corpore Sano Physical Therapy or other specialty retailers of CEP.

Upon inspection I found the saddle to be 2-3mm higher than my traditional saddle height mark (established on the seat post). I made the saddle height correction. No more hamstring tendon pain on the next ride. Good old, well fit bike.

The moral to the story: always make re-checks of bicycle position, and make reliable marks or measures on your bicycle equipment to indicate proper position. Tendon discomfort can indicate improper positioning of your bicycle, and small saddle position changes (when near normal) can create injuries.

Recently, I discovered this device called Podium Legs, which is basically the best thing you can get for home massage. It has these four chambers that compress individually and flush the crap out of your legs and get the blood flowing. In other words, it feels freaking amazing.

I’ll put on my compression tights and then cozy up with my Podium Legs next to the fire, maybe drink a glass of wine. I’m lying about the fire and wine—but I’d be in a relationship with them on Facebook if I could.

If you don’t believe that two orange tubes could change your life, try them out. Use the code WHEELS and you can even return them if you hate them, but you’ll love them. So be careful with your new addiction.

Over the years working with him, I learned a few critical things—one was to take preventative steps to avoid injury. As a scholar athlete, I’ve taken his advice seriously and relied on a few gadgets to help accomplish this goal. I’ve written a series of short product reviews to share my experiences. Here’s the first one:

The Helmet (Futuristic, right?)

This one is really simple. I wear my helmet. It has saved my life, over and over again. I see a lot of people go without them—maybe they just want to feel the wind flowing through their hair, maybe they get hot. Whatever, that’s their prerogative, but not for me. I feel stylin’ in mine. I wear the Specialized Prevail helmet—in white, of course, because it’s so pro. It’s really light, breathable, and doesn’t make me look like a Super Mario Brothers character. And recently, I found out that it is super durable upon impact.

Story time: Picture this – double pace line, 28+mph down the highway, guy hits a bump, swerves and grabs some brakes, I go flying, hit my head, lady then decides there’s no where to go except over my neck and head. My helmet breaks in three places, but my brains stay in tact. Helmet=1, Road=0.

It seems ridiculous to pay $30 for a tiny jar (other brands) of what is essentially diaper cream. But don’t fear—there are cheaper products that are just as good—for example, Enzo’s Buttonhole Chamois Cream. More than just a clever name, Enzo’s works well and comes in massive quantities for cheap (8oz for $20!). They have a 1oz size too, which is great because TSA can’t take them from you!

In Part 2 of this series, we looked at cleat attachment and cleat positioning. In this post, we’ll be looking specifically at cycling cleat wear, and why it is so important to frequently check it.

Cleat wear
Cleats have a nasty habit of wearing down! Wear and tear on cleats can result from riding your bike a lot (a good problem), but more often it’s the result of walking on your cleats too much. Cleats are engineered for being worn on pedals, not pavement.

The hidden dangers of riding on worn cleats
It is important to monitor the wear of your cleats because an excessively worn cleat will put you at risk for overuse injury, and may result in an inability to clip in or out of your pedals. A worn cleat can also cause unexpected pedal disengagement, and crashing.

Possible injuries from over-worn cleats
Irregular pedaling mechanics is most often the result of worn cleats. This can cause an undesirable tilt of the foot on the pedal platform, which causes your muscles to have to compensate for the imbalance and leads to an overuse injury. The resulting injuries can range from hamstring tendonitis, to patella-femoral compression, and iliotibial band friction syndrome. (In plain-speak, that’s basically such tight butt muscles that it causes hip pain, knee pain, or a super tight IT band.)

Cleat wear indicators
Some cleats have wear indicators on them, which show you when it is time to replace your cleats. Other cleats do not have this feature, but have accompanying wear suggestions and practical guidelines.

For those cleats that do not feature wears indicators, you can check other factors such as squeaking or worn tensioner screws. An excessive rocking motion of the foot on the pedal is a strong indicator of cleat wear. Check your cleats every few rides for cleat wear. When any of the above factors become apparent, change your cleats.

Cleat Replacement
Cleats are meant to be replaced regularly. It’s an easy thing to neglect, especially if you are worried about properly positioning the new replacement cleats. There’s an easy way to make sure you get it right, however. Just use a Sharpie pen to trace the outline of your cleat (use a contrasting color so you will be able to see it on the bottom of your shoe). Remember to use bicycle grease to help the screws stay tight.

How to extend the life of your cleats
If you have to walk on your cleats a lot, try picking up some cleat covers (often called ‘café covers’) at your local bike shop. The covers will prolong the life of your cleats. Cleat covers are made of dense plastic, usually with a grippy finish on the underside. You can carry them in a jersey pocket, then easily snap the covers over your cleats when you have to walk.

Be aware that cycling cleats wear down over time, and that they can accidentally detach from your shoes if you don’t keep an eye on them. Frequent inspection of your cleats will help in keeping them functioning properly, and in help in keeping you injury-free and on the road. A good rule of thumb is to change your cleats once per year.

Got everything properly set up? Go ride!