The Pedaler Health Team is growing!

Our collection of heath specialists has grown again in 2019. We have recently added two new massage therapists to The Pedaler Health giving our clients access to massage 3 days per week. We are excited to welcome Amie on Mondays and Thursdays, and Vicki on Fridays. Both clinicians have a wealth of experience dealing with cyclists and multi sport athletes.

Amie and Vicki join Nathan (Podiatry), Anouksa (Physiotherapy) and Matthew (E.P) who consult weekly from The Pedaler.

We will be announcing a few new names to the health team over the coming weeks to help us look after the needs of Brisbane’s cycling, running and multi sport community. We are also excited to almost be ready to roll out our two new key technology additions to The Pedaler as well - Saddle Pressure Testing Hardware and a Virtual Wind Tunnel. These are hugely exciting additions to our business and allow athletes a chance to get more comfortable on the bike whilst also being more efficient. These new features will be handled primarily by Anouska - our Physiotherapist.

Whilst we are usually busy, we typically have appointments available each week so give us a call and let us help you get more comfortable. All health bookings can also be managed online as well.

Stage 3 Battle Recharged - A day in the Sun

words - Luke Stenner

photo - Harry Dennis

Hot and dry westerly winds swept in across the range this morning as the team arrived to stage 3 in the township of Tyalgum.....a familiar but typically difficult hunting ground for the Cobra's.

The boys were calm and positive after a solid day out yesterday, and DS Prete set out providing the strategy for the day's race. Ensuring all bases were covered, a potential podium was on the cards, and hopefully a stronger result in the teams classification.

From the drop of the flag at around 1km into the race it was ON! With a flurry of attacks.......Liam Nolan was first to pounce and went with an early break of around 8 riders, which got out to around 30sec at one point. Unfortunately Liam had a mechanical which ended his race prematurely.

The race came back together soon after where more attacks were being launched off the front.....Dave Edwards was in most of these from what we could see from the car....but at this stage, the peloton wears not letting anything get too far ahead.

Nearing the end of the 1st lap with the weather already starting to take its toll, and the climbs beginning, the elastic finally broke and a single rider from Olivers Racing (the eventual winner by 6min!) broke free, solo with approx 19 riders chasing and in pursuit. From this group of 19 riders, Olly broke clear with Kane Richards (McDonald's) and they then spent the next 60kms or so chopping off into the searing heat and brutal cross and head winds. 

With the Olivers racing rider gradually taking more time from Ollie and Kane, and from the chasing bunches,.....a smaller group of 5 riders bridged across to Ollie with approx 25km to go. Olly managed to grit his teeth, drink one more coke, and take one more gel and hang on with this group until the last KOM.....just losing contact at the top coming in a very respectable 6th, moving himself into 5th on overall GC. Jono Butler had another consistent day finishing in the first chasing bunch in 14th and holds his GC position in 15th. Mitch, Josh and Tim all rode strong in the peloton, finishing in various bunches on the road. The Team now sit in 4th on GC....a huge result!

An equally big day and kudos to all the support today.....with the weather so brutal....and with various mechanicals and breaks everyone was stretched and had to push hard for a excellent team result.

Now back at our digs for a icy cold refreshing ale, showers and some rest before another hot and windy day in the hills around Tyalgum tomorrow.

Big thanks to Luke for generating some content after today's stage.  All the guys were pretty shattered and getting creative can be trying.  Cheers mate.

The Pedaler Hit Squad

Tomorrow sees the launch of a new Queensland Racing Entity simply called, The Pedaler.  This 10 man squad will race the elite Queensland Road Team Series in conjunction with our existing Cobra9 Intebuild Racing Team.  With the reduction in high level domestic racing available locally in Australia, we have taken the opportunity to provide a platform for some of South East Queensland's strongest riders from across multiple NRS teams to race together and enjoy the benefits of solid hard racing under the singular Pedaler Banner.  

This new team will be lead by road Captain Jordan Kerby and feature some immensely talented youngsters including Ryan Thomas, Kaden Groves and Mitch Neumann racing under the same banner for the first time.  We hope that by injecting this calibre of talent into QRTS, we will see a return to the glory days of the competition where routinely Australia's best riders would grace the roads of South East Queensland.

The team is based out of The Pedaler and 4064 cafe and supported in kind by our mates from Attaquer and POC sports.  The team will be managed by Joshua Prete.

Team Riders                         

David Edwards  (Cobra9 Intebuild Racing)

Jordan Kerby  (Cobra9 Intebuild Racing)

Daniel Fitter (NSWIS)

Kaden Groves  (St George Merida)

Ryan Cavanagh  (NSWIS)

Mitch Neumann  (Cobra9 Intebuild Racing)

Ryan Thomas (Olivers Real Food Racing)

Nick Woods  (Cobra9 Intebuild Racing)

Jonothan Butler (The Pedaler) 

DS Josh Prete

Alongside The Pedaler Squad, the QRTS version of the Cobra9 Intebuild Racing Team will feature a mix of experience and youth.  The core of our team since 2012 will remain (apart from the talisman Rups who is having a year building his new business) and Dugs who is also having a sabbatical. They will be joined by a few of our Elite B riders who are coming through the ranks and a couple of very talented Masters riders.  

Cobra9 Intebuild Racing Elite Team

Adam White

Brad Hamblett

Callum O'Sullivan

Timothy O'Brien

Timothy Lofthouse

Matthew Zaranski

Nathan White

Jerry Van De Pol

Kurtis Brent

Hadleigh Milligan

DS Luke Stenner

Squads Mechanic - Taylah McLennan

Teams Manager - Adrian Duffy

Soigneur - Harry Dennis

Coaching with Kerby - Set your goals.

With the 2017 season on our doorstep, now is the time to start setting yourself personal goals for the months ahead.  Training full noise to beat your mates up Cemetery Hill is not going to get it done when you arrive at Battle on the Border at Easter time.  Set your training to be specific to your needs and your physiology.  

Make a time to drop in and sit down with Jordan and set out your training goals for the new season.  We will ensure that your training fits around your life, not the other way around.

Cycling Orthotics. What do they do?

I've covered this topic previously in fairly scientific terms and unfortunately, the jargon contained therein makes for pretty heavy reading.  To simplify, let's approach the topic in a more example driven context and explain what we can achieve when using orthotic therapy in cycling.  But first, let's run through a couple of the frequently presented pathologies to us at The Pedaler and across our sister brand Cobra9 Cycling Orthotics.

1. Hot foot - Either focal regions or the whole forefoot.  Very common.

2. Numb foot - Again, either focal regions or the whole foot.  Very common.

3. Painful boney 'lumps' - These can be over bunions or soft tissue swellings.

4. Lower limb overuse injuries - Knee pain, hip pain or ankle impingement.  Very common.

5. Arch strain / pain - Typically in the arch or on the outside of the foot.  Less common.

The use of cycling orthotics to treat these conditions depends on the circumstances behind their emergence and no broad generalisation of treatment options is possible.  However the method by which a cycling orthotic may effect these conditions is set out below.

1.  Increasing the surface are for reduction is pressure.  Simply, Pressure = Force / Area of distribution.  

By providing an increase in the surface area, you can reduce the peak pressure (as long as the force remains constant).  We shouldn't over estimate our influence here as the orthotic in the shoe is an inert object.  It doesn't 'push' back.  However, a stable and well designed shell can alter the pressure.

2. Reducing overuse injuries by altering the direction of force of the pedal stroke.  By shifting the angle of the orthotic we can adjust the direction that the load passes through the foot and ankle.  Again, we shouldn't over estimate the impact here and imagine meteoric shifts in visual outcomes, but given the repetition involved in cycling, small changes can make a huge difference.  

3.  Altering focal areas of pressure via prescribed additions.  We can modify an orthotic and add a range of options to alter pressure points.  Domes, deflection cut outs, dual density materials, memory foam and camber shifts are a few examples whereby you can improve pain by moving load to a tolerable location on the foot.  

When treating a cyclist or any patient for that matter, providing generalised treatment prescriptions is impossible.  There are far too many other variables to simplify the process down to a pure formula.  However, you can begin to see where the relationships emerge.

Someone who complains of focal forefoot burning may benefit from an increase in area of pressure distribution along with selected topical orthotic modifications to shift the load away from boney, swollen or painful regions.  

A cyclist with a sore knee due to repetitious knee movement may benefit from altering the direction of load from the 'foot up'.  

A cyclist suffering from 'numb foot' may benefit from a reduction in insole thickness paired with changing shoes and/or the alteration of the forefoot load by modifying the shape of the forefoot of an orthotic with a dome / cut out or a combination of both.

As you may have noticed, the concept of power has not been discussed.  That is simply because there is no scientific study to back it up and what current studies that do exist within this field are either statistically imperfect or not relevant to the use of prescription orthotics.  It is unlikely this will change as placebo double blinded trials with prescription orthotic therapy are incredibly difficult given no two prescribed orthotics are the same and a placebo prescription cycling orthotic is virtually impossible to create.  There is however, a great deal of good research into other cycling orthotic based outcomes from a variety of institutions including some very good examples from Brisbane's own University of Queensland.

As a consequence, most studies end with similar conclusions supporting the notion of a case by case approach to orthotic therapy whilst using as much evidence based practise as practically possible. This is our approach at The Pedaler and Cobra9.  Our 16 years of experience treating cyclists certainly helps as well.

So when you are considering whether a cycling orthotic is what you need, remember that they aren't magic wands.  They are one treatment option among many others and may require fine tuning.  Make sure your condition is explained to you first, then the basis behind why orthotic therapy may help your pathology needs to be clearly outlined.  Be informed......then get something cool from your Private Health Insurance for a change!!

Nathan White B Hth Sc (Hons) Podiatry, M A Pod A, AAPSM, SMA