Life at Retül: Mike on bike fitting in Boulder

Recently we wrote about Velomotion's Mike Smith going to Retül HQ in Boulder, Colorado to learn more about bike fitting.

Here Mike tells us what's been going on and what he's been up to in Colorado.

Since arriving in last Thursday (05/07/12) I've worked at Retül's HQ every week day and spent the Saturday just gone at the National Olympic Centre in Colorado Springs. This is a 1.5 hour drive north of Boulder with Denver in between the two.

Working at the HQ my role is slightly different than at Velomotion, as well as fitting I've got involved in recertification's. This involves looking at other peoples fit data as well as their marker placement to make sure the other studios around the world are fitting correctly. The stand out day so far was working at the Olympic centre, its an amazing facility which caters for every Olympic sport. We spent the day working with the upcoming USAT athletes. Between 3 of us we fitted 12 athletes in 6 hours with a quick lunch break.

The majority of fits in Boulder tend to be TT/TRI fits which isn't suprising based on the number of triathletes I see out riding here. I can see the attraction of triathlon in Boulder due to the great roads, running trails and several large reservoirs nearby. I've worked with quite a few high level triathletes already.

I'm still riding most days like I would in England. The combination of the climbing and altitude make for much tougher rides. I'd equate a 2 hour ride out here to a 3.5/4 hour road race, yes it's that tough. I can climb quite comfortably with everyone I've riden with so far but I definitely need to work on my descending, I could make argument that they're quicker as they know the roads better, but I think that's only a small part of it, they're bike handling is admittedly better.