skilewis74 said:JF used leg weights (10 lbs./pair?) for speed training when he was doing
track racing. I read that at that time he could hit 18 mph on his 24
w/ I think 127 cranks.
He did most of this training on a 20 w/ I think 150's.
Uh...
Some of that is true. Yes, you can ride with a heavy backpack, but it
could be a risk for "strap" injuries if you have a crash, and also your
crotch probably won't appreciate it. It will, however, teach you to
ride without rotating your torso as much, as you'll feel the weight
moving from side to side.
This reminds me of riding behind Ryan Woessner in the America's Most
Beautiful Bike/Uni Ride (around Lake Tahoe) last June. He had a floppy
backpack on him, that was plopping quickly from side to side as he
pedaled. I remember thinking to myself how that was either going to
drive him nuts, or chafe him to death as he was attempting the 100
miles. But he's Ryan Woessner (many-time Individual and Pairs Freestyle
World Champion) and he finished the 100 miles with no complaints I was
aware of.
But I did use ankle weights back in my days of serious training for
racing. Since racing on 24" unicycles was all about how fast you could
get your legs to go without losing control, I figured training with
ankle weights would allow me to go faster. They worked.
I think the main difficulty with ankle weights was getting them to stay
snug while moving at 200+ rpm, while not cutting off circulation to the
feet. It took some practice to figure out a way to get them tight
without being too uncomfortable. But once I figured this out I rode
with them on most of the time. I think my "main" pair was 5 pounds
total (2.5 per leg). I had a heavier pair with removeable lead ingots,
but I can't remember if I was ever able to get them to fit right.
I would ride my whole race training regimen with the weights on. That
is, riding to the local track, a few laps of warmup, stretches, 4 timed
laps as fast as I could (the 1500/1600m race), cool-down laps, one lap
backwards, one lap with my left foot, one lap with my right foot, then
practicing the short races.
Then several runs of the 100 meter race, which was the one in the
Guinness Book. After this, I'd take the weights off and do several
more, timing each. There was obviously a speed difference without the
weights, and they appear to have worked as a training method as I was
the winner of the majority of races as Unicons I - IV, including the
Guinness 100m race at Unicon III in Tokyo. I also set records for the
1600m, race (USA) and 1500 (IUF). All have since been broken though.
Here's a picture of one of the Guinness 100m races from Unicon III.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: guinness87.JPG |
|Download: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/25520 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
--
johnfoss
John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
-----------------------------------------------
Man with broken collar bone say: "Have you checked your shoelaces
lately?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/68210
Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com
