Events

PRESS RELEASE                                                    

TWO BUSINESSES – ONE VISION: O2 MODERN FITNESS, TUCSON’S ONLY DEDICATED INDOOR CYCLING STUDIO, OPENS DOWNTOWN PARTNERED WITH AN EXPANDED FITWORKS CYCLING SUPPORT, TUCSON’S ONLY DEDICATED BIKE-FITTING STUDIO.

 Two Tucson Cyclists develop a Concept Studio to Support the Performance Goals of Local Cyclists and offer Group Fitness Classes On-and-Off the Bike based on the Health Benefits of Cycling.

Downtown Tucson – O2 Modern Fitness is being opened by Susan Frank, and utilizes the certified SPINNING indoor cycling program, as well as innovating customized programs for beginners as well as experienced athletes. Along with the Spinning, group fitness classes such as Pilates, yoga, and Tai Chi with emphases on cycling-specific flexibility and core-conditioning will provide complementary cross-training.

 Fitworks Cycling Support’s Kurt Rosenquist has been operating downtown for the past two years already. His business focuses on cyclists’ and triathletes’ performance and comfort in comprehensive one-on-one bike-fitting appointments as well as assisting all levels of athletes in reaching their cycling goals through clinics, coaching, and training plans.  Fitworks also sells custom bicycles by Independent Fabrication, Cinelli, Giant, Tiemeyer and others, along with many cycling products.

 The two businesses are combined in one location to give their clients the best possible combination of training tools to increase fitness, lose weight, fine-tune their riding skills, and optimize their equipment to support their performance. Since proper positioning and technique on the bicycle leads to greater comfort and efficiency, providing an understanding of those principles makes the Spinning experience that much more effective and enjoyable. Similarly, the body-awareness gained through cycling-specific yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi classes allows for a much better understanding of technique and posture while cycling.

 Even for people who don’t ride outdoors, the many known and proven health benefits of cycling can be found riding a Spinning bike a few times a week. Countless medical studies show cycling to be the safest, most sustainable route to losing weight, preventing or even reversing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, lowering cholesterol, and so forth. O2 Modern Fitness’ class schedule gives opportunities throughout the day and evening, seven days a week, to make those benefits accessible to anyone living or working locally, or not so locally. No membership is required, although class pricing is discounted in monthly and bulk passes.

 O2 and Fitworks are located at 186 E. Broadway, in the Julian Drew building on the SW corner of Broadway and 5^th Avenue. Clients can park for free (with a pass) in a dedicated parking lot west of the building.

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 For more information or inquiries please contact Susan Frank or Kurt Rosenquist at the email addresses above, or go to www.o2modernfitness.com or www.fitworkscycling.com

 

 

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March 21 Pre-ride Training Discussion -  

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to issue a big thank you for Kurt and Eugene who gave the bike talk last Saturday.  I think it was the biggest turnout for a ride for quite a while.  It worked well to meet at Ike’s, and have both the speakers also join us for a ride, of which I’m sure we probably asked them a million questions on the ride as well.  There’s nothing like practical experience from those who have been there and done that.  Both Eugene’s and Kurt’s experience over time gave us some valuable information to help better our cycling.  By the way if you still need to have a great bike fitting, that’s Kurt’s specialty he can be reached at 906-0409, 240 N. Court Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701.  I don’t know if you guys wanted to blog this, and reply to all what you may have gained from the day, but if you wish fire away, and the rest who couldn’t attend can benefit from what you gained.  We didn’t have a formal handout for this meeting, but likely on the other bike talks in the future I’ll try a little harder to get one together.  One thing that may work a little better next time is if we have everyone meet right at Ike’s coffee, to be a little easier.  It was also great to have both groups ride together, I didn’t get a head count, but it was a decent turnout.  So if you have something to share with the group of what you learned from these guys, please hit reply to all, and send your comments back.  Again thanks to both Kurt and Eugene, I heard later on that Eugene was actually recovering from an injury, so if you see these guys out on the road, give them a thank you.

A few things I learned from the ride were:

Eugene, has had a great attitude that has carried him from the bottom to the top in being a Cat 1 rider, which is the highest you can go.  He always carried that attitude that he could be better, and beat his competition, and didn’t let the thought of not wanting to win every race enter into his mind.  Even though it took probably 17 years to climb up from Cat 5 (beginner) to Cat 1 it happened over time.  He also talked about using mental strategies while racing to have better tactics to be in place to win.  He also mentioned on a healthy side, most pro’s probably only win about 15% of the time, being such a competitive sport, that’s just the way it is, so have fun and respect your competition.  My thought after that is that we often don’t know what we can do.  So if you aim higher, to get better, or to win, you just may do so.

Another point he made that was excellent was the importance of recovery.  He rides 6 days a week, but when he is feeling sore, he’ll have a day off, which is a recovery day of just light spinning, 1/2 hour to an hour.  If he’s still sore the next day, he’ll take another recovery day.  Being 41, now recovery was more important than ever, to be ready for when you do want to compete. 

Along with the note of the older athlete, he mentioned about planning training for when you want to have peak performance, and that now he ramps up at a slower pace than when he was 20, the goal is achieved the same way, but again, gradual changes and improvements work better than trying to have fast improvements, and not recovering and growing from workouts and a training planned aimed at bringing progress.  I was also surprised to hear that he counts calories, and likes to have desert every day, so getting excess weight off is important, but again gradually, where you don’t get into the yo-yoing of diets, but keep your progress, and still enjoy life.

Kurt also had some great things to say, one on nutrition and riding strategies, which often our problem can be overeating, while on a ride.  For shorter rides an hour or so, we really don’t need any food.  Some racers don’t eat for a couple hours, and often we take in way more protein at once then our bodies can assimilate.  So if we don’t take it in, it goes unused.  There were also many questions and answers about training with a heart rate monitor, and perceived exertion, intervals, and so many things I can’t list them all.  These guys allowed quite few minutes of questions and answers at Ike’s over coffee and scones, but they also were nice enough to ride with us, and continue doing that during our ride.  So again thanks everyone for coming, and Eugene and Kurt for donating your time to our group.

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This Spring I will be hosting evening social gatherings at Fitworks to informally discuss topics chosen ahead of time by participants. There is a tremendous amount of research out there about human performance, training, etc – the science of cycling – that most people don’t have time to look for or can’t translate. There are many finer points of bike mechanics that a mechanic with two decades+ of experience can impart that give greater confidence to someone riding 50 miles away from home. Any and all topics about cycling would be considered for discussion, so comment here on what you’d like to talk about. If there is a subject outside of my realm of expertise, I’ll bring an expert in. 

There may be a nominal charge, to cover any operating expenses, but it will be about equivalent to a trip to Starbucks. This evening event should last 1-1.5 hours. It’s still early: comment on days/times that would work best and we’ll see if everyone can be rounded up together. 

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The Skills Workshop was a great experience for those of us who put it on, but was a success because of the spirit of the participants! Thank you. Special thanks to Susan and Lisa for their help.

Please post comments if you attended and want to tell us anything!