The Bike Fitting

My bike fitting this morning was very interesting.  I got there and my black beauty had new red tape!  I fell in love with her all over again.  Pretty. 

Ryan was my bike fitter.  He was a young guy with a shaved head who knew a TON about fitting and the mechanics of biking.  When I got on the bike he said, "Oh My.  That is awful!  How long have you been riding like this?"  Ugh.  Ryan said my seat was way too low and I my seat was far to small for my "sit bones".  I didn't even know I had "sit bones"!  I need to look at the other seats we have in the garage to see if they will fit the bill. 

So Ryan raised my seat almost 2.5 inches.  He said he could raise it even more but he was afraid that it might hurt my knee even more.  He also put my aerobars on.  They are different from my last pair.  I think I'm going to dig it.  I can't wait to try it out. 

He gave me some interesting tips.

1.  If you get pain behind the knee, IMMEDIATELY stop and lower your seat until the pain goes away. 
2.  You can't lock your arms.  That puts too much pressure on your hands and they will go numb. 
3.  If your seat doesn't fit your "sit bones" it will put extra pressure on your lady bits. 
4.  Ladies make the mistake of getting too "comfy" of a seat.  It ends up making the parts chafe and rub worse!
5.  You should have your bike cleaned and tuned quarterly.  The dry air and dust of Arizona grinds the chain and builds up dust.  The dryness also can crack your wires. 
6.  Tires need to be checked before every ride.  Pressure at 120! 
7.  Your knee should be at a 30 degree angle at your down stroke.
8.  Core strength will make you more comfortable on the bike.