|
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE, Worcester, Mass.
Bicycling column
April 24, 1994
Putting the right spin on it /
Getting into the cycling groove just as easy as riding a bike
By Lynne Tolman
As mud season recedes, excuses for not getting out on the bike dry
up. Even if your wind trainer and cross-country skis gathered dust all
winter, a bicycle with fresh lube on the chain and new air in the tires
will be forgiving on your rusty joints.
Getting the kinks out is simply a matter of taking to the street or
trail, according to Dr. Thomas F. Breen, an orthopedic surgeon at the
University of Masschusetts Medical Center in Worcester and team doctor
for the Saturn bike racing team. After all, riding a bike comes back
just as easily as, well, riding a bike.
"You really need to get a certain number of good base miles in. That
just means spending time on the bike," Breen said. A casual rider might
get back in the groove after 50 or 100 miles in the first couple of
weeks of the season, while a professional racer will need 1,000 miles or
more to feel competitive.
"The muscles have a certain amount of memory," Breen said, "but you
sort of have to retrain your muscles to work within that range."
Stretching the quadriceps, calves and gluteal muscles before riding
helps. "Stretching doesn't get the same emphasis in cycling as in other
sports, which is funny because cycling does emphasize massage," Breen
said.
Spinning -- pulling the pedals around and up in a circle, not just
pumping them down -- is crucial. Use the same motion as if you are
trying to scrape mud off your shoe, but the shoe sticks to the pedal,
thanks to cleats or
or toe straps. Shift into easy gears to maintain a steady, fast
cadence, at least 70 to 90 revolutions per minute.
"One of the biggest mistakes people make is pushing big gears too
soon, getting in the big chainring and pushinng those power miles,"
Breen said. Spinning is easier on the knees, less tiring, better
aerobic exercise and works more muscles.
Breen, who moved to the Saturn pro squad after three years doctoring
the Plymouth-based IME-Healthshare team, is an intermediate (Category 4)
amateur racer himself, this year with Landry's/Hot Tubes. He can often
be seen on his Merlin titanium frame at the Wells Avenue training series
in Newton.
He enjoys noncompetitive riding too. Every August he rides the
Pan-mass Challenge from Sturbridge to Provincetown, and this summer, to
mark his 40th birthday, he plans to bike the length of Vermont.
He got right to work for Saturn when 1992 U.S. road champion Bart
Bowen, one of the top talents on the automaker's team, fell in the
Redlands Bicycle Classic last month in California, injuring his elbow.
Breen operated on Bowen at UMass, and Bowen is back on the road this
weekend at the Tour of Willamette in Oregon, getting ready for the start
of the Tour DuPont next week in Delaware. Injuries aside, the buzz this
year is that there is more parity between Saturn, Coors Light and
Chevrolet/LA Sheriff, the three principal domestic teams.
Since the advent of "floating" pedal systems, which allow the foot
slight lateral motion while clamping the shoe to the pedal for effective
spinning, Breen said, he sees fewer overuse injuries from cycling.
"Cycling is generally very forgiving to the lower extremities. It's
often used as rehabilitation for knee and hip injuries from other
sports."
However, that can lull cyclists into a false sense of security, Breen
said, and they can still overdo it. Most common are knee problems
related to poor bike fit or stemming from misalignment of the foot,
ankle and knee, he said.
Breen hopes to develop a cycling clinic at UMass, similar to Dr.
Andrew Pruitt's practice at the Western Orthopedic Clinic in Denver,
where cyclists set up their bikes on a wind trainer and are videotaped
so doctors can critique their riding for injury factors.
Breen will be the featured speaker at a free seminar on biking
injuries from 6:30 to 9 p.m. May 24 at New England Rehabilitation
Center, 463 Worcester Road, Framingham. Other speakers are Dr. Jerry
Sobel of the New England Spine Care Center, bike mechanic Mike Hamlet
from Landry's Cycling & Fitness, and North Shore physical therapist
Craig Devine. To reserve a seat, call Brian J. Green (617-935-5050,
ext. 1700) by May 20.
The Massachusetts Recreational Trails Advisory Board will meet at 6
p.m. Thursday at the Auburn Public Library, 369 Southbridge St. (Route
12), to discuss trail projects funded with federal 1993 Symms Act money
and funding options this year in the absence of Symms money.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1994 Telegram & Gazette
Lynne Tolman [email protected]
|
|
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE, Worcester, Mass.
Bicycling column
Aug. 28, 1994
Campagnolo parts going up and up /
Westboro doctor has prized collection
By Lynne Tolman
Cyclists intone the name with reverence and affection: Campagnolo,
or Campy for short.
Italian racer Tullio Campagnolo needed to change a flat tire during a
race on a snowy mountain pass in the winter of 1927, but his frozen
hands couldn't undo the screws that fastened the wheel to the frame.
The experience led to the invention of the quick-release skewer, the
story goes, and other bicycle parts followed.
By the 1960s, Campagnolo components were the standard of excellence
for racers around the world. From about 1966 to 1986, Campy
derailleurs, chainrings and the rest were "clearly the highest quality
stuff available,'' according to Michael Kone, editor of Vintage Racing
Bicycle Newsletter.
A virtual shrine to the Campagnolo company exists in Mitch Gitkind's
basement in Westboro. A physician with a practice in Worcester, Gitkind
is part collector, part broker of vintage European cycling parts,
particularly Campy components from the company's heyday.
Campagnolo was eclipsed in the past decade by the influx of
inexpensive, lightweight Japanese components, namely Shimano, that made
indexed shifting the new standard. "Campy prices became out of sight
for most people,'' said Gitkind, 35. "It became very exotic, almost.
You might see it on a $3,000 De Rosa, and you could get Shimano Dura
Ace, the top of the line, for half the price.''
Campy makes indexed shifting systems now and continues to capture a
share of the racing market, but it's the old parts that inspire worship
-- and are appreciating in value.
For example, a top-of-the-line Super Record derailleur from the early
1980s that cost $80 or $90 new might go for $175 now if it's in good
condition, "and it will be $200 plus soon,'' Kone said. "Just the
crankarms go for about $150, without the chainrings,'' he added.
Doing business as Campy Rehab, Gitkind buys parts from old bikes
going unused or being updated, and sometimes resells them to dealers
such as Kone, owner of Bicycle Classics, a mail-order company that
opened a store in Denver last spring. Kone's "primary business is older
Campy, and we have about 1,000 people on our mailing list,'' he said.
For Gitkind, it's a hobby. "I'm not looking at it as a great
business opportunity. To me it's just kind of fun to dig the stuff
up,'' he said.
Even the old Campy catalogs are valuable, with their fractured
English and glossy photos diagramming every bolt, spring and washer.
Gitkind got a 1970s-vintage Catalogue N. 17 for $30 and has been offered
$80 for it.
He likes it when he finds someone restoring a classic bike who needs
something he has acquired. But some items he's keeping, in the locked
glass display case in his basement -- part museum, part mechanic's shop
-- or to put on his own Basso, which he rides every Tuesday evening with
a group from Fritz's Bicycle Shop in Worcester.
Gitkind admires Campy's craftsmanship -- he points out tiny metal
parts that are cast, not stamped -- and the durability of plain old
steel. No titanium bolts for him. Campagnolo at its best "was really
simplicity, and not to sound sentimental, but it's the beauty of the
pieces themselves, the elegant swoops and curves and circles,'' Gitkind
said.
Vintage bikes also make a more affordable hobby than, say, Ferraris,
which also happen to fascinate him.
The jewel of the Campy inventory, one that Gitkind does not yet
possess, is the 50th anniversary group, made in 1983. It's a set of
components similar to the Super Record group but featuring gold accents
along with the distinctive Campagnolo script logo. Only 15,000 sets
were manufactured, each numbered. A used set in reasonable shape goes
for as high as $1,200 to $1,600, Gitkind said.
"The story is that the company is in possession of the No. 1, and
No. 2 is in the possession of the Pope,'' he said. "I think it's
true.''
Vintage bike aficionados are motivated by appreciation for quality
and by nostalgia, Kone said. Many were coming of age in the 1970s when
the Schwinn Paramount, a little flashy with a lot of chrome, was a top
racing bike going for about $1,000, "and now they've come into their own
financially and they can buy the bike they couldn't afford then,'' he
said.
Gitkind bristles at the label "retrogrouch,'' cyclists' own tag for
those who shun the latest gizmos, although he shares the Bridgestone
Owners Bunch's adoration for all things retro: friction shifting, steel
frames, wool clothing, leather saddles.
It's the "grouch'' part that rankles, for he is not averse to
technological advances. "I'm not against the new stuff, and if I raced,
I'd need it,'' Gitkind said.
"The technology is infinite, but some of it I don't think will really
catch on,'' he said, waving a Super Record crankset for emphasis,
"whereas this is timeless.''
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1994 Telegram & Gazette
Lynne Tolman [email protected]
% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
%
% To: LANDO::JPSTEVENS
% Subject: Campagnolo collector
% Date: Fri, 12 May 95 08:58:06 EST
% Message-Id: <[email protected]>
% Organization: NovaLink Interactive Networks (800-274-2814)
1. Campy collector Mitch Gitkind will give a presentation at a meeting
of the Seven Hills Wheelmen, 7:30 p.m. June 5 at the Unitarian
Universalist Church, 90 Holden St., Worcester, Mass. Free admission.
2. Mike Kone has moved his business, Bicycle Classics, from Denver to
1329 Highland Ave., Needham, Mass.
Lynne Tolman [email protected]
% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% Received: from mail1.digital.com by us1rmc.bb.dec.com (5.65/rmc-22feb94) id AA13415; Fri, 12 May 95 09:05:52 -040
% Received: from bifrost.novalink.com by mail1.digital.com; (5.65 EXP 4/12/95 for V3.2/1.0/WV) id AA21377; Fri, 12
May 1995 06:02:33 -070
% Received: by bifrost.novalink.com id <2445-3>; Fri, 12 May 1995 08:49:02 -0700
% From: [email protected] (Lynne Tolman)
% X-Mailer: NovaMail 3.63e
% To: lando::jpstevens
% Subject: more on Campy guy
% Date: Fri, 12 May 95 09:00:48 EST
% Message-Id: <[email protected]>
% Organization: NovaLink Interactive Networks (800-274-2814)
|
|
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE, Worcester, Mass.
Bicycling column
April 30, 1995
Charities go long-distance /
Riders raising big dough
By Lynne Tolman
Cynical cyclists call them the "disease and body parts" rides.
Diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart, lung -- you name it,
there's a charity trying to beat it or save it, and they're all raising
money via bike rides.
Bike riders are asked to solicit donations, per mile or flat sums,
and pedal away. Most charity rides offer plenty of support on the road
-- mechanical help, food and drinks -- and post-ride celebrations and
goodies like T-shirts. Lodging tends to be low-budget: camping or
dorms.
Fund-raisers flourished in the late 1980s, but then ridership began
to drop as competition heated up for a limited market, according to Tim
Kneeland of Seattle, who has run fund-raising bike tours since 1980.
"It's not a dying breed, but it's a constricting breed," Kneeland
said. He predicts a shakeout.
Cyclists who develop a thirst for long-distance touring, but not for
putting the touch on all their friends and acquaintances, soon find out
there are many organized rides that cost little or nothing. Hence the
jaded reaction to the proliferation of charity rides.
But a well-supported tour, whether it's a 25-miler or a weekend
getaway or a cross-country trek, can be just the challenge to turn a
casual pedaler into an avid cyclist.
It was a 50-mile fund-raiser for Alternatives Unlimited Inc. in
Northbridge in 1986 that really got me going. I had been riding an
ill-fitting 10-speed short distances a couple of days a week, avoiding
hills. But I finished the Alternatives ride feeling good, and that gave
me the confidence to try a ride with the Seven Hills Wheelmen. Club
members were supportive, and I was hooked.
I've ridden a few fund-raisers since, and easily exceeded the $2,500
requirement for a Maine-to-Florida tour that benefited Literacy
Volunteers of America. But the cause or the route has to be very
compelling to get me to ask for big money again. Would my friends and
co-workers pony up another time, knowing that their donations are also a
gift to me, a nearly free vacation?
Bike-a-thons foster a negative image of cycling, Sheldon C. Brown of
Newton writes in the Charles River Wheelmen's newsletter this month.
Per-mile pledges imply that cycling a long distance is "a painful,
unpleasant chore," Brown writes, rather than healthful fun.
"Too many well-meaning people sign up for a long pledge ride without
an adequate mileage base, with substandard cycling skills and equipment.
These people will 'learn' that cycling is about pain, exhaustion,
saddle sores, sunburn, aching knees and stiff necks. An experience like
this can turn a potential cyclist off for life," Brown writes.
Charities find that the market for their bike rides consists largely
of newcomers to biking and loyalists to their cause, as opposed to
"hard-core cyclists," Kneeland said. About one in three riders on
American Diabetes Association bike tours are "veterans," said spokesman
Rick Reilly.
The popular Pan-Mass Challenge, which has grown since 1980 to 1,500
riders who raised $2.8 million for the Jimmy Fund last year, draws "70
percent alumni," according to finance director Al Cote. The two-day
ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown has about 800 cyclists signed up
already despite a steep fund-raising requirement of $1,000. But the PMC
must keep evolving to attract new riders, Cote said. This year, a
one-day option from Boston to Bourne targets a new market.
Established charity rides have heavy-hitting competition this year
from the new Boston-New York AIDS Ride, whose full-page newspaper ads
are reeling in the riders. The AIDS riders have to raise $1,200 apiece
for a three-day camping tour. That's more than double what they would
pay for a three-day bed-and-breakfast trip with a for-profit company
like Vermont Bicycle Touring or Backroads.
The PMC's reputation is buoyed by low overhead. More than 90 cents
of every dollar raised goes to the charity. Charities meet Better
Business Bureau guidelines if that figure is at least 65 cents, and the
big players on the bike scene all qualify: National Multiple Sclerosis
Society, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association,
American Lung Association, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
For cyclists who hate to solicit pledges, some tour operators have
another option: Pay your own way. For Kneeland's cross-country trek,
for example, you can raise $6,000 for the charity of your choice; the
charity pays Tim Kneeland & Associates a fixed fee of $2,750 and keeps
the rest. Or you can just pay TK&A $3,050 out of your own pocket.
Kneeland said one in four riders chose pay-your-own-way when he first
offered the option two years ago, and now more than half go that route.
Still, Kneeland believes that for worthy causes, there are plenty of
donations out there for the asking. What isn't guaranteed is enough
bicyclists willing to do the asking.
<black box>
TIP OF THE HELMET _ To Winchendon, Gardner and Shrewsbury for winning
grants from the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau to stage bike rodeos
promoting safe riding and helmet use. Massachusetts law requires
bicycle riders and passengers under 13 to wear helmets.
In Winchendon, the police and the Community Action Committee will use
the $2,500 grant for a rodeo June 3 at the Clark Memorial on Central
Street. In Gardner, police and Heywood Hospital will give 500 children
free bike helmets at a kids' bike rally May 21 at Gardner Veterans'
Skating Rink.
There's a workshop at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow<may1> on how to run a bike
rodeo. It's part of the daylong "Playing it Safe" conference at the
Hogan Campus Center at Holy Cross College, Worcester, sponsored by the
state Department of Public Health. Cost is $20; walk-ins are welcome.
For more information, call Diane Butkus (617-727-1246).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1995 Telegram & Gazette
Lynne Tolman [email protected]
|