I was racing BMX at the time, and all I cared about was doing skids, wheelies and jumping doubles.  Smooth is fast?  What the heck does that guy know?  I preferred to let it all hang out, on the ragged edge. If I could put it all together, then I would sometimes win, or get on the podium.  If I didn’t, I crashed.  I crashed a lot.

It wasn’t until I was in my teens that I began to realize that maybe the “old guy” was on to something. I was really getting into my cycling and all I wanted to be was a Pro. I had moved on from BMX up to the big skinny wheels. I was learning about endurance training and how every little bit of energy you save will help you at the end of a 5-hour road race.  How could I save energy?  Sure I could sit in the wheels, but everyone knew that.  What if I worked on my pedaling technique, to be more proficient?  What if I tried to hold my body still, and just move my legs, instead of bobbing up and down all over the place?

I began to notice it in other forms of racing too.  Car racing.  Motocross. MotoGP. Track and field. Swimming.  Ayrton Senna racing a Formula One car – it looked effortless.  Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Johnson, those guys make motocross look easy.  Valentino Rossi, on a MotoGP bike shows precise control. Carl Lewis running 200m – his torso doesn’t move, his head doesn’t waiver, it’s as if he’s floating.  Ian Thorpe, big powerful, strong arm strokes, almost lethargic movements, yet he was flying through the water.  All these athletes had something in common, they looked slow, even boring.  I had mistaken smoothness for slow.  No sliding, no skidding, no tire smoke, no unnecessary accelerations. Flowing.

Huh?

I then began watching the Tour de France, and saw the most boring of riders win.  Miguel Indurain.  He would climb the massive mountains at 20mph, his legs the only part of his body that moved.  His upper body never changed, his head never bobbed, his facial expression never even once made a grimace or showed any emotion.  Smooth is fast, fast is smooth.

I spent a lot of time over the years trying to be as smooth as possible so as not to waste energy.  I practiced it.  I rode the rollers with one leg.  I rode up hill on training rides with my hands behind my back, leaning forward in a position that would naturally occur whilst climbing, to strengthen my body and rely only on my legs to take me up the climb.  I figured I needed to make myself as smooth as possible. I was not very naturally gifted as an endurance athlete so I needed to work on other aspects of the package.  The engine I was born with only had so much horsepower, so I had to refine things that were wasting my horsepower.

Take a look at some Tour de France footage, watch the really good guys, Cancellara in the TT, Contador on the climbs, Cavendish in the sprints.  Those guys are so smooth.

Next time you are out riding, think about the things you can do to be smoother, to flow better.  Try not to jump out of the saddle and accelerate at the bottom of the climb – stay seated, find a rhythm, count your pedal strokes, gauge your effort.  You might reach the top of the climb faster and with fewer changes in effort levels, thus saving more energy for later.  Maybe try not to brake so hard before a corner that you wash off all your speed and then have to accelerate out.  Carry your speed through the corner.  Easy in, fast out (it’s safer too!). Momentum is your friend, and requires a lot less effort than acceleration.  It can also be a benefit when you are getting really tired towards the end of a long ride, when you feel your shoulders roll and your head bobble. Remember that the more the rest of your body moves and not just your legs, the more effort it takes.

To this day, I always aim for “smooth is fast, fast is smooth” It’s the best piece of racing advice my Dad has ever given me.

Ride smoothly.

Cody Stevenson

1. Don’t rotate your tires in an attempt to even out the wear. This isn’t Discount Tires and you aren’t driving a four-wheeled vehicle. You are riding your bike, where a front flat in a corner at 30 mph is more than an inconvenience. Your rear tire will wear about 3 times as fast as the front. When you buy a new tire to replace your worn rear tire, PUT THE NEW TIRE ON THE FRONT. Then, take your slightly worn front tire and put it on the rear. Yes, I know that means you will have to install two tires, not one. You need the practice. Do it. Why? Because then you will have a fresh new tire on the front and it will never be more than 1/3rd worn. It won’t be subjected to UV rays for a year and you won’t have a gazillion little glass cuts in it. The tread will never get thin, and you may go for years without ever experiencing a front flat. This is a good thing. Believe me.
2. If you patch your tubes, don’t ever use a patched tube on the front wheel. Patches seem to fail right when you don’t want them to. A rear flat isn’t fun in a high-speed corner. A front flat? See #1.
3. The cool, lightweight wheels we ride today don’t have a lot of spokes like the ones we used to ride. Did you know that the lower the spoke count, the higher the spoke tension has to be? If your wheels have lots of miles on them, particularly if you ride near the coast (where they are subjected to damp, salt air), take a close look at your spoke nipples. Corroded nipples often have cracks hiding under the white powder that is your aluminum nipple slowly decaying. Cracked nipples fail, and with higher tension wheels, the wheel goes out of true instantly. Way out of true. Remember that high-speed corner? Wobbling front wheels are amusing to your friends, but you won’t be laughing. Consider having a professional wheel builder (that would be Charles Wells) inspect your wheels annually. He’s very adept at finding those pesky cracked nipples.
4. Carbon fiber is wonderfully light and makes for a great riding fork or handlebar. It’s also fragile. If you are in any kind of accident, have your fork inspected by a competent bike mechanic. That means removing the fork to check the carbon steering column as well as the fork blades. So far this year, Cody has discovered two cracked steering columns while doing normal maintenance on customers’ bikes. If the thought of riding with a cracked steering column doesn’t send shivers up you spine, I don’t know what will. If your crash involves a car or other immovable object, buy a new fork, bar and stem. They may "look" OK, but don’t be fooled. A broken fork never ends pretty.

I hope these simple suggestions help prevent even one mishap.

Ride safely.

Bill Holland

Yes, I have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Now a blog??

No, I’m not an imposter. I wanted to write this because I have something important to say to my friends and fellow cyclists.

Years ago, when I lived in Pacific Beach, my typical ride was up the coast to Swamis and back. More often than not, it was cold, misty, and foggy. Definitely wind jacket weather.

My favorite jacket was a Pearl Izumi that was bright red on the front and black on the back. One morning, a car came within inches of me. Surprisingly, he stopped and began apologizing profusely. ” I’m really sorry, but I didn’t see you.” Obviously. Then he said, “why are you wearing black? You blend right into the pavement.” Which I might really have done had he come a few inches closer. Needless to say, I retired my black Pearl Izumi jacket. In searching for a bright replacement, I was surprised at how many jackets were black on the back.

What were they thinking?

If you have seen a Holland jersey, jacket or vest, you may recall they are a red/orange/yellow combination….front AND back. That is no mistake. Why is it the only jersey I ride in? I still remember the part about blending into the pavement.

You don’t have much control over the motorists who pass you. Half are probably texting. One of the few things that you CAN control is what you put on your back. Make it a bright, loud color.

Friends don’t let friends wear black…on a bike.

Ride safely.

Bill Holland