5 Must-do's to Get Your Bike Ready for Spring Riding

Spring has sprung (at least for now) and it's time to get your bike revved up for riding season! We hit up Dan Rishworth of EnduroSport in Toronto (http://www.endurosport.com/) for his top 5 DIY (and one non-DIY) tips for getting your bike road-ready.

1) Check your tires. Make sure there are no cuts, that they are not worn down and that the sidewalls are not showing any signs of wear or cracking. Make sure tires are fully inflated before you mount up. And remember, if you've been riding your indoor trainer all winter, there's a good chance your back tire is toast - time to get your to local bike shop.

2) Degrease and lube your chain. Dirt and grime will cause your chain to wear out faster. So get out the degreaser, some paper towels and the lube. Sounds like fun to us!

3) General cleaning. This is especially important if you've been out riding this winter (or were too lazy to clean your bike up after your last muddy fall ride). Take time to give your bike a good wash to get any salt or other road grime off.

4) Get a new set of bar tape. With a bit of practice you can put this on yourself. It'll improve comfort and spruce up the look of your bike for the season ahead.

5) Ensure your bike pouch has all the necessary essentials: spare tube, glueless patches (for that inevitable second flat), tire levers, CO2 cartridge (in lieu of a hand pump) and a multi-tool.

6) Bring your bike in to your local shop for a tune-up. In addition to the items mentioned above, a bike shop tune-up should include:

- shifting adjustment (cable and housing, if necessary)

- brake cable adjustment (cable and housing, if necessary)

- wheel trueing to ensure your wheels run straight

- cleaning and lubricating your drivetrain (chain in particular)

Three Simple Secrets to Success in Adventure Racing

Guest blogger Geoff Langford is the head adventure dude at Frontier Adventure Sports and Training (http://www.far.on.ca/). Aside from putting on some of Canada's premier adventure races, FAST organizes training camps in Mexico designed to offer adventure racers an edge over their competitors. Here Geoff tells us his top three ways you can have success in adventure racing.

If you're new to adventure racing, you probably think you need to be a super-athlete with no need for sleep and an insane tolerance for suffering in order to succeed.

You wouldn't be wrong, but luckily you can also find success by racing smart and focusing on a few key factors that will get your team to the finish line healthy, fast and smiling.

Pace. So many things affect your pace, and a solid team will constantly be focused on maintaining their maximum sustainable pace. Not their full-out maximum pace, but a sustainable maximum. Push too hard and someone will bonk or get injured. Too slow and you'll miss the banquet. The biggest secret here is teamwork - communicate and watch each other, work together and find ways to improve the team's pace - not just your own. And here is where many teams miss an amazing opportunity - tow each other, push each other, take some weight or an entire pack. There are so many ways to create balance and improve your team's overall page.

Time in motion. Isn't that what I just said? No, this is about wasting time. Streamline your team's stops, train and develop ways to avoid stopping, avoid chatting and lingering in transitions. It's amazing how time stopped adds up and keeps the podium just out of reach.

Distance traveled. This involves two skills - navigation and route finding. Surprisingly, it's not all about finding the shortest route, but the fastest. Often the 6K trail run is faster than a 2K bushwhack. Try it when you're training. And use your entire team for managing your route - someone counting pace, someone watching for landmarks, etc. Navigation is technical, but it's not difficult to learn and improve at, and your team's performance will soar.

Of course, there is much more to each of these and I'll dig into them more in the coming weeks. When your team is training, you should focus as much on these factors as anything else.

Don't miss the key point here. Underlying all three of these factors is the core of adventure racing - teamwork!

Photo: Participants in Camp Frontier's Pico2Playa training camp in Mexico work on their towing techniques to improve pace.

5 Tips for an Easy Race Morning

Today's guest blogger is Cory Freedman. She is the race director for the Toronto Women's Run Series (http://www.towomensruns.com/) - not to mention an avid runner and racer herself. With race season upon us, Cory took time to share her top race morning tips to ensure you get to the start line on time and without any unnecessary grief!

1) Set out your race outfit the night before and pin your bib on your shirt.
2) Figure out what time you want to be at the race and work backwards from there. Be sure to give yourself a little extra time to deal with unexpected delays like traffic.
3) If there is pre race kit pick up, do it! It means one less thing to line up for on race morning.
4) Eat a good pre-race meal - bagel, banana, cereal. Eat whatever you typically eat on the morning of a long training run. Don't do anything new on race morning.
5) Drink water or an electrolyte drink before you enter the start chute.

Shamrock’n races for the Irish in all of us!

Get your leprechaun on at these St. Patty’s themed-races!

Find these and hundreds of races and outdoor events across Canada at http://www.getouttheremag.com/searcheventsGOT.php

March 12:

5th Annual Diakonos St. Patrick’s Day Run/Walk in Calgary, AB http://www.getouttheremag.com/moreeventInfo.php?eventId=19284

BMO St. Patrick’s Day 5K in Vnacouver, BC http://www.getouttheremag.com/moreeventInfo.php?eventId=20417

Slainte Irish Pub St. Patricks Day 5K in Hamilton, ON http://www.getouttheremag.com/moreeventInfo.php?eventId=18715

The Original St. Patrick’s Day Road Race in Calgary, AB http://www.getouttheremag.com/moreeventInfo.php?eventId=19485

March 13

12th Annual Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 5K Run/Walk in Toronto, ON http://www.getouttheremag.com/moreeventInfo.php?eventId=19367

Green Sock Half and Shamrock’n Race in Burnaby, BC http://www.getouttheremag.com/moreeventInfo.php?eventId=20187