CORE EXERCISES FOR CYCLIST

SCISSORS KICK

WHAT IT WORKS - Tranverse abdominus, hip flexors, inner and outer thigh

A) Lying on your back with legs straight, place both hands palms down under your lower back.
B) Pushing your elbows down into the floor and pulling your belly button towards your spine, raise your shoulder off the floor and look towards the ceiling. Raise your leg 4 inches off the ground and scissors them:left over right, then right over left. Thats one rep. Work up to 100 if possible or else 30 to 50 reps should be suffient.

WHY IT WORKS - A comprhensive movement that connects key cycling muscles, the kick also builds inner thigh muscles, which help you achieve hip, knee, forefoot alignment, for a proper and efficient pedal stroke.


CATAPULT

WHAT IT WORKS - Entire core

A) Sitting with a slight bend in your knees, press your heels against your floor. Extend arms to the front of the shoulder height, palms facing each other.
B) With a straight spine and upward gaze, inhale deeply, then exhale and slowly lower your torso to the floor over 5 counts as your inhale. Arms are overhead.
C) In one smooth movement, leading with the arm, exhale and explode back to the starting position. Do 20 reps

WHY IT WORKS - Contrary rto its name the catapult encourages supreme body control.

BOAT POSE

WHAT IT WORKS - Tranverse abdominus and lower back.

A) Sit, resting both hands lightly behind you, and lean back until your torso is at a 45 degrees angle.
B) Keeping your legs together, lift them off the floor as you extend arms forward at shoulder height. Abs are tight, as thighs and torso forms a 90 degrees angle. If your hamstring are tight, you'll need to bend your knees a little. Work up to holding for 60 seconds.

WHY IT WORKS - As with the plank, this pose builds the lower back stability and core strength needed to remain bent over the handlebar for hours, or to blast up hills without compromising power or speed.

TRANVERSE PLANK

WHAT IT WORKS - Tranverse abdominus and obliques

A) Lie on your right side, with your right elbow under your shoulder, forearm in front for stability, and stack your left foot on your right. Raise your left arm over your head.B) In one motion, lift your hips to create a straight line down your left side. Lower your hips a few inches off the floor; do 10 to 15 reps, then switch side.

WHY IT WORKS - Strong obliques improve your stability in the saddle, letting you take on hairpin corners with more control and speed.

PLANK

WHAT IT WORKS - Tranverse abdominus, upper and lower back

A) Lying on your stomach, place your elbows under your shoulders with forearm and hands on the floor.
B) Lift your hips off the floor keeping your back straight and abs tight, and rest on your toes. Aim for 60 sec.

WHY IT WORKS - The plank builds the strength and muscular endurance you need to ride powerfully in the drops or in an aero position long after others have surrendered to the top of the handlebar.



HIP EXTENSION

WHAT IT WORKS - Lower back, hamstring and gluteus

A) Lying with your hip and stomach on the stability ball, put your hands on the floor directly under your shoulder, and extend your legs with toes resting on the floor.

B) With a straight spine and shoulder blades back, as if you are trying to make them touch, lift both legs off the floor, keeping them straight. If possible, raise them slightly higher than parallel to the floor. Hold for 2 sec and lower. Do 20 reps.

WHY IT WORKS - This movement builds backside strength, for added efficiency on the second half of the pedal stroke.


POWER BRIDGE

WHAT IT WORKS - Hip flexors, gluteus, lower back.

A) Lying on your back, bend your knees and place your heels near your gluteus. Arm at your side, palm down.
B) In one smooth motion, squeeze your gluteus, raise your hips off the floor and push up from your heels to form a staright line from shoulders to the knee; toes come off the floor slightly. Hold for 2 sec.Keeping your toes raised, lower yourself three-quarters of the way to complete one rep. Do 20 reps.

WHY IT WORKS - in addtion of working the hip flexors, often extremely stiff in cyclist, the bridge strengthens the link between your lower back and gluteus.



BOXER BALL CRUNCH

WHAT IT WORKS - Transverse abdominus, obliques and lower back

A) Lie with the middle of your back on a stability ball, yours knees bent 90 degrees and your feet flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your head, but don't pull on your neck.B) Squeezing your belly button towards your spine,lift your upper back of the ball. Keeping your shoulders off the ball, trace a clockwise oval with your torso. Apply pressure with your lower back to keep the ball still through the entire motion. After 15 clockwise ovals, trace 15 counterclockwise.

WHY IT WORKS - Despite the straightforward motion of the bike, your body moves in three direction:forward as you head down the road, vertically as your legs pedal up and down, laterally as your hips and upper body rock side to side."This fluid,circular exercise builds control and helps you minimize lateral torsion and wasted motion.

The Perfect Pedal Stroke

How to get the most energy from each crank revolution.

Pedaling in a simple circle is a complex thing, but mastering it can save energy. with proper ankling (shown here; not the injury-causing technique of the past), riders can churn out the same amount of power at a heart rate as many as five beats per minute lower. This stroke is for flat terrain at threshold, or time trial, intensity.

Hip-Knee-Ankle Alignment Viewed from the front, your hip, knee and ankle should line up throughout the pedal stroke. You don't want knee wobble. "Just think pistons, straight up and down." If you can't correct this, or if you experience knee pain when you try to restrict lateral movement, you may need orthotics or another type of biomechanical adjustment.

Zone 1 Known as the power phase, the portion of the pedal stroke from 12 o'clock to about 5 o'clock is the period of greatest muscle activity. "A lot of people think hamstrings are used only on the upstroke,"but a good cyclist uses a lot of hamstring in the downstroke, because it extends the hip." The key to accessing the large muscles in the back of your leg is dropping your heel as you come over the top of the stroke. "At 12 o'clock, your toes should be pointed down about 20 degrees, but as you come over the top, start dropping that heel so that it's parallel to the ground or even 10 degrees past parallel by the time you get to 3 o'clock." The biggest mistake that novice riders do is : not dropping the heel enough in Zone 1.

Zone 2 Using the same muscles as in the power phase, but to a lesser degree, this phase acts as a transition to the backstroke. "As you enter Zone 2, think about firing the calf muscles to point your toe. As you come through the bottom of the stroke, the toe should be pointed down 20 degrees. "This ankling technique transfers some of the energy developed in Zone 1 by the bigger muscles to the crank."Act like you're scraping mud off the bottom of your shoe."

Zone 3 Even though you feel like you're pulling your foot through the back of the stroke, you're not. "When you look at even the best cyclists, they're losing power on the upstroke. "The pedal is actually pushing your leg up, so the goal is to lose as little power as possible and get that foot out of the way." One fun way to improve the efficiency of your upstroke: mountain biking. "The terrain keeps you honest. "If you're focusing only on the downstroke, you'll lose traction and fall off your bike in steep sections." As for other exercises, i would like to advice against single-leg pedal drills--"for recreation-level riders, they injure more people than they help"--but recommends hamstring and glute-strengthening lifts, as well as squats, "done correctly, in a squat rack with someone showing you how."Saddle Position Proper bike fit, especially saddle height and fore-aft adjustment, is a prerequisite for a smooth pedal stroke. Without it, you won't be even remotely as efficient as you could be. "If your saddle is too high, you're not going to be able to drive your heel effectively," he says. "If it's too low, you'll have knee pain." In the right position (knee over the ball of your foot with the pedal at 3 o'clock; knee slightly bent with the pedal at 6 o'clock), you'll maximize your energy output and also be able to adapt your ankling technique to different terrain, cadence and effort levels.

Zone 4 As you enter the second half of the upstroke phase, think about initiating your downstroke. "Many riders don't initiate early enough,, they often wait until 3 o'clock--but they should be starting before 12 o'clock. A tip: As you begin to come across the top of the stroke, think about pushing your knee forward, toward the bar. But only your knee : "Your pelvis should remain a stable platform, not sinking down and not moving forward." As the knee comes forward, you should feel your hamstrings and glutes engage, and your hip extend.

Technique: Preventative measures

Taking just a few minutes to check your bike before each ride could save you a painful fall, or irritating on ride mechanicals, in the long run. Read on to learn what, why and how.
1. Saddle, post, handlebars and headset
Don’t just waggle them, put an allen key into all the bolts and check that none are coming loose. Squeeze the brakes and rock the bike back and forth looking for play in the headset. Watch out for: loose bolts, cracks, creaks and play.
It’s also important to use a torque wrench to get the right tightness. Often the correct torque setting will be marked on the component by the bolt itself. This is really crucial on carbon components, where it’s possible to break something by overtightening.
2. Pedals, cleats and cranks
Again, put a spanner or allen key to everything, checking it’s at the right torque. Cleats need to be clean and grit-free to avoid pedal entry or exit problems – there’s nothing worse than shinning yourself on the pedal because the cleat has skidded off. Even worse is falling into the road at the lights because you can’t hold that track stand any more, and you can’t clip out of the pedal.
3. Gears and cables
Have you got the gears indexing smoothly up and down – through all available options – with as little noise as possible, and no rubbing on the front derailleur? Check the cables for fraying, corrosion, cracked outer casings and any signs of rust.
4. Wheels and tyres
Check the wheels are firmly in the drop-outs and that skewers are tight and fully closed. Skewer quick release levers should be on your left (as you sit). The rear should be closed between the seat and chainstays, where the frame allows, and the front should be behind the fork leg.
Unless you’ve got a spoke tensioner – which we don’t even have [in the GB workshop] – don’t bother with the spoke tensions. Check instead for trueness by spinning the wheel in the frame and seeing if the clearance between the wheel and the frame or fork remains consistent on both sides. Check the braking surfaces for excessive grooves or scoring.
Check the tyres for cuts, flints or glass and correct pressure. Don’t check by hand, it’s not good enough. You need a good track pump with an accurate gauge. It’s worth getting a good one, because some of the cheaper gauges can be out by up to two atmospheres. We had one made especially for our workshop.
5. Brakes
Make sure the pads are aligned to the rim. Be sure there is enough pad thickness for at least your planned ride and remember that pads wear quicker in the wet than the dry.
The lever action at which the brakes start grabbing is all down to your personal preference as a rider, so set them up however suits you.
I like to set them up so they don’t grab straight away, so I can feather them – lots of bunch riding pile-ups happen because riders in front overreact with their braking.
6. Chain
One of the most neglected but hardest working components – check for rust, stretching, noisy links. You won’t regret investing as little as a fiver in a chain checker. Wash and oil the chain after every ride.
7. Frame
When you’re cleaning your bike, look carefully for marks or scratches that might be the beginnings of cracks. Cracked paint is a sign of problems, too. Take a good look at all the stress areas of the frame – all the joints or welds, the bottle cage mounts and cable mounts as well.
8. Kit and contact points
Always ride with a basic repair kit. Two tubes, a patch kit, pump, minitool, levers. Contact points also need attention. Regularly check all your kit for wear – cleats, saddles, bar tape and so on. When stuff gets worn, you get injuries.

JTC 100KM FUN RIDE (30/11/08)

Hj with his son,bulat and dnash boss Jamal, which i hope will be sponsoring and supporting us in the more coming future ride.

Kpg Gajah resting area.


At Kampung Gajah resting area.

Me, actually can't wait for the ride to start.

Raimi getting ready for the ride.

Rizal gearing up for the ride.

Everybody in joyous mood before the ride.

Group picture of MCT before the ride.

MALAKOFF POWERMAN 2008 (9/11/08)

Proudly posing with the medal.

A cold 100 plus should be given instead of mineral water.

Close up of the finisher medal.

With Jasni, the other finisher of the Manjung cycling team.

My friend Jeff snap this one for me. Thanks Jeff.

RUN 11KM BIKE 64KM RUN 10KM

Finally i have achieved my dreams of becoming a finisher of the event. I have targeted to do well below than 4 hours and 15 min and I was doing very well in the beginning. The first 11 km run, i did it in 1 hour and 2 sec. The timing can be considered my personel best. Why? Because after almost 20 years, this is the first time i'm running more than 10 km. Jasni my cycling buddy was 3 min behind me at this time. Then came the cycling part, initially i was feeling good in the bike for the first 32km. My average speed was 3okm per hour and my timing for the first loop was 1h and 4 min. Then tragedy struck me, at the foot of the Tuanku Bainun bridge cramps hit me. Both my quadriceps and hamstring was contracting non stop and i was in terrible pain. I had to jump off from my bike and quickly i administered self first aid for almost 15 min. During that period many competitors including Jasni had overtook me. Finally after a brief period of self stretching and massage, the cramps were gone. Slowly i started my ride again maintaining speed around 25-27 km per hour. With the cramps, there goes my hope of doing well below than 4 hours and 15 min. Quickly i shifted my target to become a finisher. Well it is my actual target but i have an extra target deep in my heart to do it in the above mention time. I manage to finish cycling in 2 hour and 25 min. A quick glance at my polar watch shows me i have done 3 hours and 35 min on the run and bike and i have only 1 hour and 25 min left to finish the race. I began to wonder whether i can make it or not in the stipulated time of 5 hours. With my experience in the sprint event last year, running especially after biking is not an easy task to do. I set my running pace slowly to avoid cramps from coming back. I tried to run consistent with a slower pace but i find it very hard to do. So its time to change strategy again. I ran 200 meter and walk 50 meter and its finally works well for me. I manage to overtook many competitors including Jasni who is almost 15 min in front of me during biking. One competitor that i must salute was an 60 year malay man who manage to overtook many athletes including me. He was consistent on his running until he finishes the race and was placed fourth in his category. I finish the run in 1 hour and 13 min and overall my timing was 4 hours and 44min 33 sec. Well by becoming the finisher i have fullfill my target and i shall return next to improve my timing or become finisher again. My position was 33 for category 40-44 age, and overall 294. To all the guys and gals who did it, i would like to salute you for all your hard work. Finally Jasni manage to sneak in on time and both of us is the only guys in our cycling group who are dare enough to rise to the challenge of the Powerman. Not forgetting the Singaporean athlete who came in in 4 buses. Hope to see you all next year again.

Raveena's Graduation Day (8/11/08)

Receiving her prizes for 2nd overall in her class.

With her best pal Mishal a mixture punjabi and Iban.

A lovely hand written backdrop.

Raveena and her classmates dancing to the tune an Indian Songs.

Performing for an latest Hindi songs Peeya-peeya.

Involving in fashion show.

MY FATHERS NEW GRAVE

1) Missing is beloved father, spelling mistakes remembered not remenbered and children's not chiloren.
2) Side view of the grave. ( Two steps not single step, tiles completely blue)
3) Front view, praying altar 2 feet long with white sand and stone in the middle.
4) Front and side view.
5) Front view of the grave. Generally its ok expect for the spelling mistakes.

HAPPY DEEPAVALLI TO EVERYBODY

Sharveena was thinking way ahead about her future.

Kishen unable to stand still for the camera.

Kanna and Sharveena.

The girls in the family.

Sharveena posing like model.

Raveena showing off her teeth to everybody.

Raveena and Kishen with their new dress.

Both mom and daughter posing in different styles with their new dress.

After mom, its time for dad to pose with his beloved daughter.

Both cousin with their new deepavalli dress.

Where's my ang pow appa?

Kishen and Sharveena.

Kannna and Sharveena.

Janagi, Kishen, Raveena, Geraldine with her daughter Sharveena.

My son Kishen Kumar. A staunch supporter of AC Milan. He's wearing Milan jersey.

Sharveena sucking her favourite finger (baba).

Thina, Geraldine, Sharveena with Raveena.

Prayer's for ancestors a must hindus on deepavalli's eve.

There's no deepavalli without beers. Cheers and happy deepavalli.

Posing with grannies.

Kishen getting blessing from his grannies.

Kolam a must for special occassions like deepavalli.

Raveena and Kishen.

Raveena and Kishen posing with their new deepavalli attire.

Sharveena in the morning.

Sharveena enjoying herself in the afternoon, she was able to sit independently without any assistance.

All of us would like to wish every hindus a Happy and Properous Deepavalli. Be united every indian. May god bless us all.