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FinKraft Client:
Kevin Hines
“ 2009 US Masters 50-54 Cyclocross
National Champion”
Five years in the making
Kevin Hines
"I have been racing Cyclocross for five seasons now and have placed second
twice and third twice at the National championships. So the fifth year was
a charm. I attribute much of my success this season to putting many
pieces of a puzzle together and having my coach Roger help sort it out.
Along with having the best
teammates in the country, it was quite easy. I had ten months of
racing in my legs going into Nationals. Mountain bike racing comes more
natural to me because of my off road motorcycle background and requires a
little less strategy. I won the national MTB championship on my second
attempt and got second the first year I raced MTB's.
The pressure was really on me
because my teammate Jon Bold won the 45-49 class the afternoon before my
race.
I was excited for the Bend race due to the
inclement weather and the technicality it would bring. The race
unfolded a little different than I had anticipated. I was in the lead less
than one minute in to the event. I am usually a bad starter and have to
come from behind. Less than halfway through the first lap I crashed
on a very gradual corner, it was solid ice as was much of the course at
8:30 in the morning. I got up quick and only lost one position. I had to re
pass when the leader made a bobble on the only climb on the course.
On the first lap I had a
fifteen second gap. From there I proceeded to crash again on the third lap
and again on the fourth lap. I did not crash all season long and here
I find myself on the ground three times. I rode defensively and was
fortunate to enough of a gap to make some mistake and still win.
I am very lucky to have a great
team, support crew and Roger as my coach. Racing with and against
your coach might seem unusual to most people. Honestly it has been a very
rewarding and successful relationship.
By Kevin
It has been a pleasure to
coach Kevin and race along side him all year. I am extremely happy for
Kevin having such a success this year.
When we race, we race!
I do not treat anybody any different in a race, no matter whether I
coach them or not. I watch them to see how they race and unless you have TV
camera following your client around in a race, there is no better way of
coaching someone than racing with them. With Kevin we discuss both before
and after a race what tactics or race strategies he should imply to better
him self in a race besides the fitness aspect of our plan. I think that what was the difference between winning and just placing
high for Kevin this season.
Kevin will be racing the Masters Cyclocross World Championships in Belgium on
Jan 23rd, so FinKraft might have a World Champion
in the making.
By Roger
Product Review PowerCranks
PowerCranks - the definition of Ego Killer and possibly the most
effective training tool around.
I have seen a ton of useless
training aids in the past few years, and have listened to people preach a
ton about different workouts and “scientific” methods for getting a more
powerful and complete pedal stroke. The Power Cranks simply performs, and
does so ruthlessly.
Power Cranks
are designed to increase the amount of muscle mass involved in the pedaling
stroke, in other words recruit more muscles to do the same work.
Theoretically that will result in your VO2 max being higher.
Each crank drives the chain but not
the other crank - imagine doing one-legged drills all the time, with each
leg working independently from the other. This is achieved by a unique
clutch mechanism in each crank arm, and means that you use more muscles to
make the rotation, and the weak spots in your pedal stroke are 'trained
out', resulting in a stronger, more balanced and efficient cyclist.
The first ride on Power Cranks is
certainly an eye-opener, and it's recommended that you begin with the
cranks on your home-trainer, until you have become accustomed to the
different neuro-muscular sensations. Furthermore
it’s suggested that high cadences aren’t attempted – it’s better to focus
on form initially. Once you can comfortably ride Power Cranks for 30-45
minutes non-stop and the strange feeling has faded away, you are ready to
take them out on the road.
Riding the
Power Cranks one hour is simply the most you will get out of an hour-long
workout on your bike.
If you are a FinKraft client, go to client login on our web site and
read more about Power Cranks, or just contact Roger (flyingfin@verizon.net)
for more information or purchasing a pair.
By Roger
Here is a testimonial on
the PowerCranks by our client Christoffel
Prinsloo:
"Since finishing the New York City and Philadelphia
Marathons, I've had this dream of qualifying for the Boston
Marathon but also knew that it would be a
push for me and maybe even impossible based on how fast I've been able to
run in the past. In November '09, I started training with Roger and shared
my marathon aspirations with him. At that stage my fears were that at a
pace of 7:30 a mile, my heart rate might be just above my lactic threshold
and I knew that that would be impossible to
sustain for much longer than an hour, let alone 3 hours 20 minutes. He
suggested Power Cranks and workouts focussed on
improving my efficiency. Now, a month after investing in and using Power
Cranks frequently, I am proud to report that I've done a 10 mile indoors
run at under 7 minutes a mile and a rolling outdoors run of 11.2 miles at a
pace of 7:18 per mile. Not only is this well withing
the qualifying time pace but more significantly, my heart rate was at an
average of 136, well below my lactic threshold. I seemed to have found a
new gear!"
CHRISTOFFEL PRINSLOO
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