No gas? Not wanting to deal with parking? Not building or even maintaining the strength in your legs, cardiovascular endurance, nor increasing the activity level that sits below excessive post oxygen consumption (EPOC) i.e. fat burning?
If you hinted toward yes on any of the previous you need to be riding a bicycle to your next surf session.
However, trying to ride a bicycle with surfboard in arm can be cumbersome, and even downright dangerous while navigating through the chaotic summer beach traffic. Once a bicycle surf rack is used you'll be free to cruise safely in style; favorite board at your side.
Riding a bike is not only eco-friendly, does great things for the circulatory system and heart, but also helps maintain stress levels. An easy example of this is parking now becomes a non-issue. While others are wasting time circling furiously around a packed parking lot rushing to get in the water & elevating their cortisol levels (the ‘stress hormone’), you will already be in the line-up, warmed up, and taking off on some fun corners. The increased circulation of riding a bike to and from the break will also be better for your overall mood with an increased distribtion of stress fighting hormones, nutrients, and oxygen. Did we forget to mention you can also work on your tan? Rest easy, life is good.
The other added benefit aside from having more surf time, increased work of the cardiovascular system, and better distribution of stress reducing hormones is increased resistance training on the primary muscles used to stabilize the lower extremities, while surfing a wave. These include the Hip Flexors, Gluteus Maximus/Medius, Hamstring complex, Quadriceps, and Gastrocnemius/Soleus musculature.
These muscles will be discussed in more detail in a later post explaining how they affect one’s surfing in every range of motion while riding various types of waves. However, for now I’ll state what may seem to be the obvious: every time you opt to take the bike out instead of the car you’ll not only get a nice warm up before the surf session (by loosening up the muscles & joints, preparing them for fluid and uninhibited movement) but there will also be an eventual build up of these muscle groups through various micro-tears within the fibers, with every muscle contraction, or in other words every stroke of peddling the bike. The longer term result of this is tears eventually rebuild into stronger muscles that stabilize the lower half of the body. Some benefits of a stronger lower half is having faster reactions to quickly breaking waves, an ability to turn harder with more control, and increased confidence in taking off and then approaching what was originally thought of as an unmakeable section of a wave.
We want the world to trade in their cars and go green with a bicycle. Mention this blurb and we'll give you 15 bars of wax (yes that's enough to keep you waxed up for a couple years maybe) on an order of $99 or more, just to keep the stoke alive. No Joke....we want to stoke you out, and save the planet, one action at a time.
Written by Peter Connolly, CPT, CES