By Sherman Cravens, Special Projects Coordinator, Peaks
Coaching Group
This article is a rather significant departure from past
articles we have written on the LEOMO TYPE-R in that it is written from the
Athlete’s perspective and much of the article will consist of quotes from my extensive
e-mail correspondence with the Athlete throughout his journey with the TYPE-R. This is not to say that his journey with the
TYPE-R is complete…
We are going to take a look at an Athlete who purchased a
TYPE-R because in his words “Originally, I purchased the Type R because I was
getting more and more uncomfortable on the bike, not at all like the very, very
smooth pedaling style I had a few years ago. It allowed me to make changes, one at a time,
then go back and quantify them so I wasn’t just relying on ‘feels better, feels
worse’. It had gotten the point where I
felt like I was pedaling with the legs of two different guys who didn’t know
each other and one was a really bad bike rider.”
Athlete Information
Age: 62
Riding Since: 1970s. Holds
a Cat 2 USAC Road License
Annual Mileage: 7,500
- 10,000
Most Recent Bike Fit:
2011
Pedals: Speedplay
Zero for over a year, Speedplay X-2 prior to that
Shoes: Sidi Wire
43.5, Suplest Edge/3 Pro 42.5, Gaerne G.Stilo+ 42.5 and 43, and Sidi Shot 44
Insoles: Solestar
size 42 BLK stock, size 43 BLK, and custom BLK
A little background from the Athlete again in his words “I
do stretch and core exercises daily, as recommend by the osteopath. Right side does feel tight, could be past time
for a visit there to be worked over and straightened out”.
“On issues, my skeletal architecture is a mess, scoliosis
(only found five years ago, but pronounced), several disk issues in including a
disintegrated L5-S1 from an old fall. Generally, my left side feels pretty
good, my right feels like a disjointed string puppet. Possibly some nerve
damage into my right leg. Also, the arch of my right foot seems to be
collapsing, leading to the feeling of mis-tracking on my right leg. I’ve tried
every custom and over the shelf insole I can find. And, a somewhat messed up
left shoulder after being hit by a car a few years ago.”
Let’s see if this Athlete’s use of the TYPE-R has helped to
improve pedal stroke, but more importantly feel more comfortable pedaling once
again.
Baseline: June 24, 2017
DSS (Dead Spot Score) and PSI (Pedal Stroke Intelligence)
DSS (Dead Spot Score) is higher than typically seen for both
Left and Right sides at 5.3 and 6.9 respectively.
Breakthrough: August
27, 2017 DSS (Dead Spot Score) and PSI (Pedal Stroke Intelligence)
DSS (Dead Spot Score) has improved significantly with Left
at 1.1 and Right at 3.0. Notice also
that the PSI (Pedal Stroke Intelligence) has improved significantly as well.
He later
stated his right ankle was not over his right foot, but canted in. He continues, “Seems my right arch just
collapses and the ankle rolls in. I had been running the new, larger Sidi Shot
shoes with the stock foodbeds the past few days, which did not feel that bad.
The surprise
was the custom Solestar foot beds I had made for the Gaerne shoes never really
seemed to work right, like my foot was twisting in the shoe trying to find a
comfortable place and my right arch seemed to flex and unflex.
Put them in
the Sidi Shot today – and a much better fit. The curve of the footbeds matches
the Sidi shoes much better than the Gaerne. The Sidis have a fair amount of toe
lift, the Gaerne nearly flat. All of a sudden, my ankle doesn’t rotate in and
my right leg doesn’t feel like its about to fly off at any moment. My foot felt
well supported and not like it was moving around trying to find a comfortable
position.
While the
footbeds were supposed to fit the Gaerne shoes, they really seem to fit the
Sidi shoes much, much better.
I don’t want
to think this fixes everything, but DSS was down and felt much more stable on
the aero bars, more symmetrical and balanced.”
The results
above were not achieved without thorough testing and the Athlete continues to
test and perform prescribed drills. Currently
he recorded activity with the TYPE-R 68 times.
I think the
quote below sums up this Athlete’s experiences with the TYPE-R.
“So, pretty
cool that the Leomo can quantify what I’m feeling, and really helped track down
a problem I’ve been having for a long time.”
As
I stated in the intro, this is a journey towards improvement and for this
Athlete, that journey may not have a final destination.
Peaks
Coaching Group (PCG) began working with LEOMO in 2015 to assist in the
development of the TYPE-R. For more
information on LEOMO, the TYPE-R, or Motion Analysis visit www.peakscoachinggroup.com/leomo
and discover how you too can benefit from this research.
