You could sit there in your cubicle doing "work" or you could actually do something productive and meaningful with your life. Like signing up to the Specialized Riders Club. It's like a bike-heavy MySpace but with better looking people and large quantities of hard, clear liquor. You can get a freebie membership, or if you harden up to the premium membership ($50) the tattered, slave-labor orphans at Specialized will give you a sweet Rider's Club jersey, a book (with lots of pictures for you Valley High grads), Bicycling magazines, rock star treatment at tons of cycling events, 20-30 extra watts on your next time trial, new friends that are far prettier and more interesting than your current friends, killer tan lines, a sweet promotion and 50% raise at work, guaranteed weight loss with a tighter and firmer backside, the ability to solve a Rubic Cube, any Specialized bicycle you want, the ability to rap and not sound like Mitt Romney when you do it, a course in vegan cooking, a guarantee that Apple will never again release the newest and hottest iPod three days after you purchased the current model, and... AND! AND! AND! ....wait for it.... AND an email newsletter.

Now with all of that how could you refuse? Check out our profiles if ya wanna: Jen, Jane, Kelli, Maria, Ana, and Emily.

Everyone on the team has taken advantage of our partnership with Firehouse Yoga. And we'd like to invite you to do the same. Please join us next Monday at Firehouse for their Yoga for Athletes class which starts at 7:45pm. It's cheap, it's newbie-friendly, and you get to hang out with all the PRC girls.

Firehouse is located in the heart of Dog Town, on the corner of University and 23rd in Des Moines. Check their website or visit them on MySpace.

We hope you'll join us for Tuesday Morning World Championship Coffee... this is not a ride, it's what we cyclists do this time of year in place of riding. (Drink coffee and chat about how much cycling we should be doing.) Tuesday morning, 7:00am at Zanzibar's Coffee on the corner of 28th and Ingersoll in Des Moines.

See ya'll there!

When you mix the newest gear from Specialized with two semi-semi-professional cyclists who have desires and dreams of becoming amateur models in a room with a novice photographer... well, you only have one question to ask; Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?

Check out the PRC Specialized fashion show!

Last year around this time, I signed up for Team in Training to compete in the inaugural Hy-Vee Triathlon. Now, I’ve been an athlete all my life, but this was a big deal for me because it was going to be my first triathlon. As foolish as it sounds, the only thing preventing me from training for one in the past was that I did not have a road bike. Being that I was just a couple years out of college and had not yet acquired that high paying job, this was going to be a big purchase. Now, I was definitely naïve in regards to all the accessories need to ride the $1200 bike I just bought…my bank account was fiercely crying out for more money. The buyer’s remorse did not last long, as I soon realized that the money I invested bought me more than a bike, it opened the doors to a whole new life.

Team and Training introduced me to a community in Des Moines that I had struggled to find since I moved here. I met so many awesome people to train with, race with, learn from, cheer for, and have cheer for me. I found myself waking up at 5:00am every Tuesday morning to meet a group of female All 9 Yarders at Cambpell Park to ride before work. On one of those rides, I was cruising along side Dee Mable, who mentioned to me that I should participate in the Race Like A Girl series at Union Park. For those of you who know me, it should not surprise you that my answer was “sure”. I believe it was after the second race that several of us met at the Star Bar for drinks afterward. As I’m sitting there drinking a Sam Adams, Donny comes up behind to invite me to be a member of Punk Rock Cycling for the 2008 race season. At this point, I did not really know Donny, so I was flattered and a bit weary about accepting the invitation. Obviously though, I decided to join the team.

It has been a year now and I wake up every day feeling blessed by all the fortunate things that have happened since I bought my bike. I have completed three triathlons (placed 2nd in my age group in two of them), raced in three cyclo-cross races (and just recently bought a cross bike), road-tripped to Ohio to compete in the USAT Duathlon Nationals (no, I didn’t finish, but we all have our bad days), I’ve learned how to roller ski and cross-country ski (thanks to Nathan, who by the way I met at the third Race Like A Girl night), I spent of week in Montana cross-country skiing in the mountains, and I am competing in the City of the Lakes Loppet and the American Birkebeiner in February. There has been a different light shining down on my life this past year. One year ago, on a cold winter night, I would have been curled up on the couch watching a movie after spending an hour on the treadmill. On Tuesday night this week, I found my self skiing underneath the moonlight, enjoying the brisk air, and remembering that there is a God.

If you're interested in getting the "I'm A Little Punk" t-shirt for the wee-ones in your life this is the last reminder! We're going to do a pre-order only and we'll place that order at the end of January. Give us sizes, quantity, return address and mail a check for $18 ($15 for the shirt, $3 for the shipping) to:

If you want to keep better track of your training you can do a number of things: Hire a coach to do it for you (we're too independent), purchase an online training program (too poor), write down everything you do (ala Jen), or use a pretty rockin Excel spreadsheet that allows you to write in all your cycling information. We did not create this spreadsheet, we found it as a free download and thought that some of you DIYers out there would dig it. The spreadsheet is for cycling only and it doesn't have a place to chart power (though if you had a power meter you probably have the fancy software that came with it). Let us know what you think. Download CHART LOG!

We paid our $150 and now USA Cycling recognizes PRC as a club. Next we've gotta get the girls' USCF licenses ($60 per rider)... but since Jane and Jen plan to race UCI, that'll be another $180. Four girls plan to do a triathlon... that's another $39 per girl for USAT licenses. Any of them feels like racing some MTB races? Add on another $30 each... Not to mention the fees for our USCF race that we're required to host. In total PRC could end up dropping over $1000 JUST in licenses. Ugh!

See ya'll there!

The discussion came up yesterday about saddles. Since PRC is a Specialized Designs 4 Women team we've all been asked to give Specialized saddles a try and I'm sure we all know that saddles can be a very, very tricky component to dial in. For most people once they find "that saddle" they are very reluctant to change so the fear of trying something new is understandably disconcerting.

Specialized has done a fairly good job of solving many of the fear issues. They took several scans of the of the skeleton of a woman and realized that a woman's pelvis and soft tissue aren't really designed to spend hours on a bike absorbing impact. The sensitive areas need extra cushioning to avoid soreness and injury. Which is why Specialized saddles come in different widths: 130mm, 143mm, and 155mm (some men's saddles do not come in the 155mm width). The different widths of saddles are designed to accommodate the width of your sit bones. Now these are very common widths for saddles, and most companies follow suit in making saddles to these widths. But Specialized makes EVERY saddle in EVERY width... so where another saddle manufacturer only makes there high-end-Jay-Z model in 130mm and their 4-pound-grandma-saddle in 155mm, Specialized makes it in all three.

But how do you measure the width of your sit bones? Well... you could have a very awkward moment where you grab your ankles and a friend attempts to measure you up with a ruler... OR! ...you can use the Specialized saddle fitting tool. Affectionately called the Assometer, or Ass-O-Meter. The Assometer is essentially a piece of dense memory foam and a ruler. When sitting on the Assometer your sit bones will leave an indentation in the foam and using the ruler guide you can determine which width saddle you should be running.

Now a girl with some extra luggage in the trunk could still have very narrow sit bones. And small frame girls could have really wide sit bones. So, don't think that the size of your butt equates to the width of your sit bones. Here is how Specialized best breaks down sit bone width to recommended saddle width: If sit bone width is 70-100mm ride a 130mm saddle for more aggressive or aero riding and a 143mm for more relaxed or upright riding. Sit bone width at 100-130mm puts you on a 143mm for aero and 155mm for upright. And sit bone width at 130-160mm suggests you try the 155mm or larger.

So there, that's your saddle lesson for the day. Rasmussen Bike Shop does have an Assometer as well as a number of Specialized saddles/widths to choose from. And Specialized has a detailed (and sometimes kinda gross) website ripping apart the body to show you your inner self.

Des Moines is due for a high temperature of ZERO today. Cold, cold, cold. To pass the time we're riding indoors, XC skiing outdoors, lifting weights, running, skipping work, drinking coffee, and napping. We are super proud of anyone who goes out for a bike ride in these temps!

Keep yourself busy and check out our newest collection of photos... all about winter riding.

After the girls workouts I take the time to make them the world's most amazing post workout smoothie. In a blender add 2 scoops of Hammer Soy protien, 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter, 2 bananas, 2 dollops of maple syrup, and 4 cups of chilled, chocolate almond milk. Blend and serve 4. Best served in Specialized pint glasses. Calories? Protien? Carbs? Who cares! It tastes amazing. -DQ

So this California girl is experiencing cold like she never imagined. This past Sunday, Emily, Jane, Donny and I met up for a ride in sub 30 degree weather including a bit of a wind chill. After spending too much time putting on too many clothes we all met up and headed out. We ended up turning around after an hour at which time my fingers froze then nearly broke off. It was the craziest cold pain I have ever experienced one I am sure many of you Iowans have been through before. It brought me back to the days when I used to have to put my whole foot in an ice bucket (to ice my ankle) only to experience shooting pains to my heart. But, unlike with the ice bucket the pain did not go away. So after trading gloves with Donny twice and making a stop to shake out my arms, we made it back. I think there are some riding techniques I can incorporate which may alleviate the problem but until I am sure I’m going to spare my fingers and my heart from going through that one again.

Other than dealing with the Iowa winter, my PRC experience is going amazingly well. Adjusting to being so far away from family and friends has been made easier by my fun-loving team and the wonderful community we are all a part of. So thank you to everyone for being so supportive and taking the time to hang out with us whether it be riding or over coffee.

-Ana

We hope you'll join us for Tuesday Morning World Championship Coffee... this is not a ride, it's what we cyclists do this time of year in place of riding. (Drink coffee and chat about how much cycling we should be doing.) Tuesday morning, 7:00am at Zanzibar's Coffee on the corner of 28th and Ingersoll in Des Moines.
See ya'll there!

We've had many requests for kid's t-shirts. So... we'll bite. Here's the "I'm A Little Punk" t-shirt. If you've got a kid who's into cycling or if you just want to have your child make a statement of fact, these are for you! We're going to do a pre-order only and we'll place that order at the end of January. Give us sizes, quantity, return address and mail a check for $18 ($15 for the shirt, $3 for the shipping) to:

The team has gotten some press from the awesome folks at CyclingUpdate.com, Iowa's premier website for all things bike racing (and quickly growing to one of the best source for the Midwest). Please take some time to check out the article.

And when you're done with that take a glimpse at the All 9 Yards ladies in pink, one of Des Moines' other women's cycling teams.

We've had many requests for kid's t-shirts. So... we'll bite. Here's the "I'm A Little Punk" t-shirt. If you've got a kid who's into cycling or if you just want to have your child make a statement of fact, these are for you! We're going to do a pre-order only and we'll place that order at the end of January. Give us sizes, quantity, return address and mail a check for $18 ($15 for the shirt, $3 for the shipping) to:

Ana, Maria, and Jane stepped up to the test yesterday. And the results for everyone are very promising. Sometimes, a test in January can be a real downer... an athlete takes 3-4 months off of high intensity and then they're asked to throw down a pretty monterous effort. Usually the 2min test is great but the high end endurance for the longer tests needs work. And for all the girls that holds true, so we can tell they've rested well and have been keeping themselves in "base mode" the past few months. Now we've set a marker and everyone is already looking forward to the progress they'll make before the next test in February. Still have to test Jen though, and we're looking to get that done in a couple of weeks.

Remember, if you'd like to give yourself the test it can be done very cheaply! We rented the PowerTap SL2.4 wheels from Rasmussen Bike Shop ($50/3days) and you can download the testing formula here.

JANE
Test Date: 1-10-08
Start time: 5:30pm
Breakfast: Oatmeal, orange
Lunch: Tuna sandwich, salad
Hours of Sleep: 8
Hours at Work: 8
Stress Level: 2
Fatigue Level: 3

Warm Up: 20 min

Test #1
Average wattage for 2 Min: 307
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 4.9
Recovery: 12 min

Test #2
Average wattage for 10 Min: 211
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 3.3
Recovery: 15 min

Test #3
Average wattage for 6 Min: 211
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 3.
Cool down: 10 min

Maximum HR Achieved: 184


ANA
Test Date: 1-10-08
Start time: 5:30pm
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: Chili, pasta, apple, PB sandwich
Hours of Sleep: 5
Hours at Work: 4
Stress Level: 4
Fatigue Level: 7

Warm Up: 20 min

Test #1
Average wattage for 2 Min: 322
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 4.3
Recovery: 12 min

Test #2
Average wattage for 10 Min: 218
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 2.9
Recovery: 15 min

Test #3
Average wattage for 6 Min: 224
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 3.0
Cool down: 10 min

Maximum HR Achieved: 183


MARIA
Test Date: 1-10-08
Start time: 5:30pm
Breakfast: Bagel
Lunch: Sushi
Hours of Sleep: 10
Hours at Work: 7
Stress Level: 4
Fatigue Level: 3

Warm Up: 20 min

Test #1
Average wattage for 2 Min: 271
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 3.4
Recovery: 12 min

Test #2
Average wattage for 10 Min: 198
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 2.5
Recovery: 15 min

Test #3
Average wattage for 6 Min: 197
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 2.5
Cool down: 10 min

Maximum HR Achieved: 189

For 2008 the PRC team will be wearing Oakley sunglasses. Each girl is set up both on and off the bike with spanking new, women-specific fashion and sport pieces. On the fashion side... Kelli will be sporting the BREATHLESS, Maria and Emily will rock the BELONG, and the rest of the girls are decked out in the RAVISHING... each in a different frame/lense color.

We want to give a special thanks to Oakley and our rep here in Iowa, Rob, for all the work they've done to get women's eye wear looking and performing this well. We are so excited to have the opportunity to represent the O.

We're hosting a duathlon training series this spring! The events will be Thursday nights at Water Works Park in Des Moines. A very fast and flat run-bike-run starting at 5:30pm. The dates are April 3rd, May 1st and May 29th. These will be perfect brick workouts helping you build toward some of the great triathlons Iowa has going on in the summer months. Check back for coming details!

Wow, what a great feeling to unhook the trainer and take the road bikes outside for some nearly 50 degree weather on Saturday and Sunday. A little wet and muddy but that didn't hurt anyone. I was able to get in 60 miles or so on Saturday with the guys (thanks for letting me tag along) and then on Sunday, we welcomed home Jane, Emily and DQ from Montana and had a wonderful team ride heading east in the afternoon for 60-65 miles. Great pace, great weather and just felt good to be out riding together again (not that there is anything wrong with training within the walls of Donny's place but it's just not the same).

Speaking of, Maria, Ana and I found it a little lonely at Donny's last week while the others were away but we were back to a full house again this week. Got a great workout in while Donny started our testing to determine speed, cadence, power, heart rate, training zones, etc (see previous post). Should be a great point of reference a few months from now and a great training mechanism until the season gets underway. Donny was able to even tell us where our results compared to other national results for our category. Thanks Donny! Very valuable information!! Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!!

-Kelli

We were able to test two members of the team yesterday, Kelli and Emily. Using the CycleOps PowerTap SL2.4 (a wheel you can rent from Rasmussen Bike Shop to do your own testing) we did a Critical Power test using 2, 10, and 6 minute intervals with full recovery between each interval. How this works: Each girl does her interval at maximum effort (time trial pace). We then extrapolate an average wattage for that interval as well as the highest heart rate achieved. Then, plugging the three interval results into a formula, we get a very well structured heart rate training zone as well as a series of power zones based on ride duration. If this is confusing you, no worries, seeing the results will make perfect sense of everything.

KELLI
Test Date: 1-8-08
Start time: 5:30pm
Breakfast: Oatmeal, protein shake
Lunch: Turkey sandwich, cottage cheese, fruit
Hours of Sleep: 5
Hours at Work: 10
Stress Level: 8
Fatigue Level: 5

Warm Up: 20 min

Test #1
Average wattage for 2 Min: 303
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 4.1
Recovery 12 min

Test #2
Average wattage for 10 Min: 236
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 3.2
Recovery 15 min

Test #3
Average wattage for 6 Min: 255
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 3.4
Cool down: 10 min

Maximum HR Achieved: 197

EMILY
Test Date: 1-8-08
Start time: 5:30pm
Breakfast: Steamed eggs, dry toast, coffee
Lunch: Turkey & veggie sandwich
Hours of Sleep: 7.5
Hours at Work: 8
Stress Level: 3
Fatigue Level: 5

Warm Up: 20 min

Test #1
Average wattage for 2 Min: 246
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 4.2
Recovery: 12 min

Test #2
Average wattage for 10 Min: 169
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 2.9
Recovery: 15 min

Test #3
Average wattage for 6 Min: 181
Watts per kilogram of body weight: 3.1
Cool down: 10 min

Maximum HR Achieved: 189

Using these results we can tell you a number of things including:
1. Kelli should take steps to building on her top end explosive power while Emily should work on her endurance.
2. The HR zones between two athletes of the same gender and same age is drastically different.
3. If these two were to race today it would be advantageous to use Kelli as a long distance attack or lead out and save Emily for the final climbs.
4. They both enjoy turkey sandwiches for lunch.
5. Emily’s critical power for an hour is 153, Kelli is 222. (Yet when you consider drafting and climbs their speed would be similar and one would likely not drop the other.)

Answering the nerdy questions before you ask.

Q: What is a watt? And what is critical power?
A: A watt is a unit of energy that you can produce. Wattage is a plural of watt and is often called “power”. Wattage is to a cyclist like horsepower is to a car (in fact 600 watts = 1 horsepower). Critical power is the highest wattage you can maintain for a given time.

Q: Why did we choose 2, 10, and 6 minute intervals?
A: Because we wanted to test top end speed (2min). The ability to dominate a 2 minute effort is crucial in mass start cycling. The final sprint, Iowa climbs, the start of a break away, the first lap of a criterium. All of these efforts are roughly 2 minutes and the ability to perform at this length of time is paramount. We believe that anything above 10 minutes is more a test of mental fortitude that actual fitness. The formulated results our spreadsheet gives for any training time over 10 minutes are well within acceptable for anyone’s training standards.

Q: Why do the tests in that order?
A: You need a shorter and longer test to extrapolate decent averages. Doing the tests in this order (2min, 10min, and 6min with full recovery) is the best way to test an athlete in one sitting where the first tests will have the least effect on the subsequent tests. The 2 and 10 minute tests were to ensure our averages, the 6 minute test was to help better define the averages. While we prefer to do our testing in one day, you could do the test in two sittings, for example; do a 1min and 15min test on Tuesday and a 3min and 9min test on Friday… you may find a slightly better set of averages.

Q: Does anyone ever test themselves for an hour or more?
A: I’m sure there are some sadomasochists out there who would put themselves through that type of torture, but I would rather take a CP value from a really hard group ride or race.

Q: How do these women compare to pro women out there?
A: Since 2008 will be Kelli and Emily’s first full year of racing they know they’ve got their work cut out for them when they race against some of the top dogs. But with these tests we can pinpoint their weaknesses and strengths early on, understand them, and build on them. So when race day comes they won’t be entirely caught by surprise.

Q: Who’s the strongest girl on the team?
A: We still have four more tests to take, but those numbers will only tell us who is best at taking tests. When a starting pistol is fired, a completely different monster will take over and these women will likely shatter many of their wintertime test results. Which is why it is very important to take some power analysis from your early season events as well. Nothing will ever push you as hard as mass competition.

Q: Why record things like food, stress, or fatigue levels?
A: Because we want to chart every possible variable outside of fitness. Hours of sleep, hours at work, fatigue, etc can all affect one’s performance. On our next test if Kelli got 10 hours of sleep and didn’t have to go to work that day she’s likely to have a better result without actually having a gain in fitness. (For all you women out their doing this test it is especially important to record whether or not your cycle is at a point where it could adversely affect the results).

Q: Since when did taking tests become punk rock?
A: Since we said so. Eat it.

Q: Can I get a copy of this test?
A: Heck yeah! HERE’S THE DOWNLOAD. We recommend that you record much of the same information that we did, and do the test in a manner so you can easily reproduce the protocol. We did the test indoors on trainers, that way we can recreate the same conditions a month from now (if you do the test outside then take note of route, wind, and temperature). Have fun!


We will be testing Maria, Ana, and Jane on Thursday. Stay tuned for those results!

We hope you'll join us for Tuesday Morning World Championship Coffee... this is not a ride, it's what we cyclists do this time of year in place of riding. (Drink coffee and chat about how much cycling we should be doing.) Tuesday morning, 7:00am at Zanzibar's Coffee on the corner of 28th and Ingersoll in Des Moines.

See ya'll there!

Jane and Emily have spent the first week of the year in Big Sky, Montana cross country skiing, one of the best cross training sports for cyclists and runners. Cross country skiing is an excellent aerobic exercise and can actually help you increase your oxygen intake beyond what your cycling does. On top of that, the gliding action stretches your hamstrings, calves and lower-back muscles. All in one activity, you promote flexibility, muscle fitness and cardiorespiratory endurance. This, of course, translates to improved performance when you get back in the saddle.

Check out our photo album from the trip.

It's that time of year... the New Year! To kick our new year off right the team will be doing some performance evaluations. Using a CycleOps PowerTap and running some suggested tests from power guru Allen Lim each girl will know her exact thresholds and training zones. This is HUGE for our training throughout the year! Having your training zones dialed along with a benchmark that you can come back to as a point of reference is key to having a healthy and safe progression through your training.

If you'd like to do your own power testing, Rasmussen Bike Shop rents out fully built and ready-to-use wireless PowerTap wheels, complete with software, and instrustions on how to use the system. Check back later in the week and we'll post some thoughts on how the testing went and possibly some results. ;)

After spending an entire winter throwing down in the Wisconsin cyclocross scene Jen has earned herself a coveted spot as Ms. October on the 2008 Wisconsin Cyclocross Calendar. The photo was taken during Washington Park Halloween Cyclocross race where Jen dressed up like a bunny. You won't believe how many times she was yelled at by spectators, all screaming to see her "bunny hop".

For more photos of Jen and her most-fabulous bunny suit check out our Jen vs. Rabbits slide show.

The frames are starting to trickle in. For 2008 the girls will be riding the Specialized S-Works Ruby for their road races and criteriums. Here is a blurb taken from the Specialized website about the bike:

Each bike is set up with a full carbon frame, fork, seatpost, and crankset. The fork, seatpost, and rear seat stay have built in dampeners that absord a lot of the vibration of the road but don't risk any lateral stiffness. The bikes will be equipped with a DuraAce package from Shimano, Specialized women-specific saddles and handlebars. All sorts of awesome!