Night and Day

Before reaching out to Jerry, I’ve had two previous bike fits, including a pretty insensitive “Serotta Bike Fit.” I was getting close to entering my first season as a Cat 1 on the NCC circuit and was feeling pretty nervous about a right knee pain that has been bothering me forever, and especially after some specific interval work.

My call was a bit out of desperation, as the first race was only about a month away and I was living on a bike racers budget (read broke). But after talking to him on the phone for awhile about the way he fits and Steve’s fitting principals, I pulled the trigger and went to see him the next week.

Fitting process put me at such ease. It was a collaborative effort from the start and I felt assured that we’d figure out something that’d work before it was all over. Jerry is a hell of a guy and pleasure to be around. Lots of great stories to swap.

Jerry sent me away with a fairly drastic change in my position and some exercises and recovery techniques to do daily. I kept daily journals on my transition to the new fit and communicated with Jerry on a regular basis so that we were on the same page.

I can’t stress enough how important this fit has been for my cycling life. The ideas and methods used weren’t the most high tech things in the world, but they were different than anything I’ve read about or experienced prior and it just made so much sense.

My body has never felt more solid, on and off the bike. After time, I was able to use much more of the functional available muscles in my legs to pedal, thus being able to produce more wattage over more time. My pedal stroke became fluid and allowed my upper body to open up more, greatly increasing the amount of air I could take in my lungs. Whereas in the past, a TT or long sustained effort would eventually lead me to this point of labored, audible breathing, my new position would NEVER lead me to that point. My legs would give out far before I reached that terrible and hugely inefficient breathing style. Instead of my respiratory system limiting me, my legs were limiting my high end, and legs are a lot easier to change. I didn’t even know I was being limited by my breathing until I started putting in efforts post fit.

I also can’t stress enough, the importance of the exercises Jerry gave me to do daily. He made me realize the importance of active recovery and exercise and I incorporated them into my daily routine all season. When I missed a day or two in a row, it was amazing to see how the body would react. There wasn’t pain or anything, but the luxury I was feeling on the bike when I stayed on top of the exercises was gone and numbers would drop sometimes significantly. So by doing the exercises everyday, I was able to reach better training numbers and build much quicker.

The mental ease that came with having a fit that I truly trusted and no longer had to think about allowed my mind to focus on other parts of the sport. This year I was able to really dive into nutrition and dial it in much tighter than I have ever done before. Figuring out nutrition allowed for ridiculous performance growth, and I believe I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I hadn’t been solid on the bike first. Cause really, what’s the point on focusing on the side aspects of racing when you don’t event feel confident on the bicycle?

At the end of the day, I went to Jerry and questioning whether or not I’d wanted to continue biking and currently, after finishing a great season, I am proud of the body I have now and it’s capabilities. Nothing hurts, I don’t feel like I need to “certain” aspects and I feel like I can do anything I want with it, on and off the bike. I don’t want to be a bike racer forever and I became afraid that I was starting to destroy my body to a point that wouldn’t allow me to become and expert in any other subject. That fear is gone.

I’m all praise for Jerry and Steve. Would gladly answer any questions from anyone about my experience. Feel free to email me, christophermoore3435@gmail.com

Cheers,

Chris.

G’day Chris,

Thank you for taking the time. I think the credit goes to you and Jerry though, not me. Jerry for positioning you for best advantage on the bike and to you for taking on what Jerry conveyed to you and conscientiously putting it in to practice. Best wishes for your cycling future.