All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

what do you mean by this, and how do you know that?

 

How has the Poseidon been holding up for you? you got the Redwood right?

 

Well, obviously we all have both, but I have always been more of a sprinter than long-distance runner. My 23&Me genetic tests actually came out saying this as well.

 

there's not good evidence to say that anyone is comprised of one over the other. People seem to think the balance is like 90/10 or something, but when it says someone is "predominantly" one fiber type, what that really means is that you're more like 48/52. I'm willing to bet that your preference for sprinting is mostly circumstantial, and/or psychological preference.

Here's a really good article with plenty of scientific research and sources backing it up that talks about a lot of this.

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/muscle-fiber-type/

Sorry I don't mean to poop on you, but misconceptions like this are very prevalent, and i just enjoy educating on these topics, since its part of my work/career.

 

No offense taken. I certainly didn't believe it was a 90/10 mix, and never even thought about the exact mix. I'm just going by what I have typically been good at athletically. I ran good 40 times in high school and was always fast for short distances, but make me run a mile? I'm hating it at the end. I need to go in bursts and then rest. Not sure that could all be psychological, but agree that it may have nothing to do with muscle fibers, lol, not my area of expertise. Either way, I love mountain biking and hate road biking.

 

To re-state what I think @TenBeers is trying to say...genetically he is predisposed to produce more type 2 than type 1 fibers. There is actually good evidence to support that mechanism.

There is a variant in the ACTN3 gene that results in more Type 2 fiber production. This has been shown in both mouse studies and in studies of power/sprint athlete cohorts. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167488916300039?via=ihub and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3554644/ are good examples but there are quite a few studies on the topic. 23andMe actually does a good job of explaining the significance of the variant in my opinion (https://medical.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Muscle-Composition.pdf) and it's association with elite power athletes. It's also acknowledged that the effect of this variant is only a few percent difference in muscle fiber composition, so you're not wrong to say 48/52.

This is a fairly new avenue of research and the bulk of the papers on the topic were published after that blog post you cited; also I think what the blog post is saying about training is not quite what @TenBeers is trying to say. I also totally agree about his preference for sprinting having little to do with this genetic variant.

I don't know what you do for work, but I'm a clinical geneticist and my job is interpret the significance of genetic variation.

Edit: Not saying what you're saying is wrong...just further clarifying the misconception

 

I did and it has been great! Been running tubeless and really don't have any complaints other than the brakes. They suck, stopping power is meh and the feel is generally soft but didn't expect anything out of this world on a sub $1,000 bike - will upgrade at some point but just spent all my free money on a new mountain bike.

The Redwood is a bit of a pig on the pavement (never going to get a KOM on a road segment with it), but on the fire roads and mellow blue single tracks, it rips.

 

I would hold off on selling it, give it a few months - especially after your Enduro. The TW offficial strava is on the first post I think.

 

I will not be on that, I am having surgery on the 25th, I will be down for a few weeks in a sling too, SUCKS!!!!!!! I just smashed a killer 36 mile ride on my felt f70. I have also dropped once pants size again in three point five weeks. I think I will always have my mini pony keg but there is strong, divine force within me, a voice, and it screams of pure rush, energy, and free spirit. It makes me push my boundaries. Ketamine has really helped me a lot in many ways.

 

Thank you all for the responses! Thought is definitely to go with the single with add on to get what I need in terms of flexibility. Only concern now is rack theft. Are you all relying on the hitch pin lock or additional forms of security?

 

Totally. I think there are a lot factors including what people are predisposed to. I love strength and power sports (I powerlift and strength train), but also prefer MTB over Road, but love road riding as well.

In my experience (I'm a ortho Physio therapy assistant), there's a definite confirmation bias cycle in the sports and types of activities people prefer and they end up enjoying the things they're good at. i.e. you might have done a lot of sprint style play as a kid, instead of endurance, (like playing tag rather than playing soccer games with your friends, for example), so when it came time to engage in various sports, you enjoyed sprinting because you had already trained that without realizing it. and then as you grew up, you gravitated towards more sprinty sports and activities over endurance based ones. So you don't like endurance because you've never been accustomed to it... People's bodies are more adaptable than they realize, and I'd be willing to bet if you suffered through a acclimation period for endurance, you might enjoy it.

I'm guilty of this BTW too, I hate running because it was never comfortable for me. So I don't run, so it's uncomfortable when I do. I know (through my PT experience) that if I trained my weaknesses running, I'd probably enjoy it, but I don't want to suffer through the acclimation period.

That's super interesting! Thanks, I enjoy being educated and learning as well. Genetics, Molecular Biology is super interesting to me, and was my favorite part of my Biochemistry studies when I went through undergrad like 10 years ago. I mentioned above that I'm a Physical Therapist Assistant, specializing in orthopedics now.

I did know that genetically people lean more towards one side or the other for fiber type. But I also knew from my strength and performance training education that the balance is not too far off from 50/50. and I was looking for a little clarification on what he meant, because it read (through my computer screen, admittedly) as being somewhat black and white. I know I've heard a lot of people talk about fiber type composition as if they are like, 90/10. Its one of those fitness myths that is based in some level of truth but very misapplied.

 

but if i wear sweat pants and flannel in summer while riding my bike, it'll convert my fat to muscle through sweating, right? /s ;P

 

correct.

 

I've been sick since Friday unconfirmed but most likely Covid. Been sweatin what feels like a gallon of juice a night, I'll be jacked by the time this is over eh? Fortunately haven't had much respiratory symptoms, but not looking forward to busting the tar outa the lungs when this is all done and over..

 

Thats the ketamine talking. Well in that case sell the Chameleon and fill that closet full of lycra.

Edit: Good luck on the surgery, also glad you found a discipline that you are stoked about.

 

Also, just to add to my above comments; those studies are done on elite athletes. It makes sense that people who would make it to the elite levels would have a genetic makeup that allows them to excel at that sport.

No offense to @TenBeers but those studies may or may not apply to him (they definitely don't apply to me, lol)

 

awe bummer! well hopefully you come out of it jacked!

 

here in the northeast, we have roughly March to December to ride - last year I only had the mountain bike and did decent mileage, but not enough to be happy for the year. I’ve already crushed my last year total mileage and that’s mainly due to the gravel bike (and the new trainer miles over the winter).

on the mountain bike, 10-12 miles and just over 1,000 of elevation is a pretty solid ride (takes about 2 hours). On the gravel bike, 2 hours puts me close to 25 miles and 1800’ of elevation. However the main difference is the heart rate on the mtb can get over 180 bpm, where the gravel bike barely tops 165 for what feels like the same relative effort.

Always fun to Strava record and obsess over the stats during the post ride beer.

 

Yes. Totally. 1k vert or it wasn't a mtb ride for me. hah! I get 1k on the gravel rig and it feels a lot more easy. Heart rates definitely a big factor in my ability to rdie the gravel rig for a lot longer and further. I mean, I've put 50+ miles on a single ride on my gravel rig. I was hungry but I didn't feel too stressed over it. I'd have to super plan that out on a mtb ride if I wanted to do that. hah!

 

If anyone wants to spend 40 minutes listening to a podcast (and maybe spend 40 minutes less reading TW ) I recommend this one from singletracks.com with the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship, formerly Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz, talking about the organization, trailbuilding and advocacy.
https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-tr...e-trail-users-and-share-trail-impact-studies/
If you’re a local rider I encourage supporting this group; and even if you’re not local but interested in trails and advocacy, it may be interesting. Full disclosure: I have been a supporter and active volunteer with this group for several years.