Freeride Physiology Study (subjects needed!)

[johnnystuntrider]

***approved for posting by cam@nsmb.com***
Hello all...

I'm conducting a couple of research studies on the physiology of freeride
mountain biking (FMB) for my Master's degree (PE) from UVic. What I'm trying
to do is define the cardiovascular and muscular responses that occur during a "usual ride". From there, I'll be able to determine if FMB can be considered as a health and fitness - promoting activity.

So, I need some participants for the pilot phase of the study, to be run on March 17 - 19th, 2006. Basically, all you'll need to do is fill out a
questionnaire, then ride from the top of seventh secret (Fromme) to the end of Road side attraction (while wearing a special heart rate monitor).
We'll do grip strength testing pre and post-ride as well.

I'm looking for about 10 riders who have the technical skills to ride 7th,
leopard, kirkford, crinkum crankum, and RSA in a continuous (not race!)
fashion. PM me (johnnystuntrider) or email me at birtwell@uvic.ca if interested.

Thanks

Cam Birtwell

[e-did's]

Free riding is a very subject term and can encompass many different forms of riding (DJ, DH, stunt riding, trail riding etc), and your proposed route is more on the XC side of things.

With that ride your HR will be through the roof, and the rider will be well above their obla for the majority of the ride I would think.

What about conducting a study on say a trail like Airsupply or the Rig? Or even at Whistler, which I guess would be closer to DH?

Great idea for a study, but I think you have to define your terms, in that what is a usual ride and what is freeriding.

[johnnystuntrider]

Good points... I've defined "freeride mountain biking" as:

"A recreational form of downhill mountain biking, involving negotiating natural and man-made obstacles such as roots, rocks, and bridges. Routes typically involve a significant loss of elevation but may incorporate undulating terrain."

Under that definition, the route I've picked out fits the description of freeride mountain biking. Another benefit of using this route is that more individuals will be able to qualify as subjects, whereas riding Air Supply is typically reserved for a smaller group of expert riders.

Riding at a continuous (but not race) pace shouldn't kick people into super high levels of heart rate or lactate... I tested the route last week and HR peaked at around 80% of max. Forearms took a bit of a beating though.

Want to volunteer?

[SkunkworkS]

Sweet, this thing lies right in my spring break...

Are you interested in a 15 year old who really wants to pop his Fromme cherry?

[Highrider]

You better hope that the top of 7th isnt still a luge track! Or you may be administering first aid!

[Luudwig]

You better hope that the top of 7th isnt still a luge track! Or you may be administering first aid!

Two weeks ago it was definitely a "luge track".
u know set the bike in the icy track and hang on for dear life. Lotsa fun as long as you didn,t hit any obstacles.

[johnnystuntrider]

SkunkworkS... I'm sorry man... my UVic research ethics will only cover riders over 18... I'm going to run another (bigger) study in June, so I'll try to tweak the age bracket for that one!

[johnnystuntrider]

Had some questions about the specifics of meeting dates and times, so I'll answer them here for everyone to read...

Friday evening (the 17th) there'll be a general meeting (Karen Magnussen Rec Center in Lynn Valley) to go over the format of the ride portion, fill out questionnaires, weigh bikes, do the pre-ride grip strength, and do some height/weight measures for participants.

Saturday will be the main ride day, and I'm hoping to fit everyone in between 10am and 1pm.

I also realized it's probably better to email me as opposed to PM's so I can get an email address to reply to...

and yeah, I'm hoping it's not a luge track... rode that last week and it was no picnic!!

[SkunkworkS]

SkunkworkS... I'm sorry man... my UVic research ethics will only cover riders over 18... I'm going to run another (bigger) study in June, so I'll try to tweak the age bracket for that one!

Ah well, it's all good. GL with your study!

[shorebiketires]

Sounds like a cool study. We should get as many people as possible out as this could have a big upside for the sport if people start to recoginize not only the fun side of things but also that FR/DH riding can be physically demanding. I'll be there!!

[whistler110]

Sounds like a great study and I would be interested in hearing the results.

One question though, why does it need to be mostly downhill? I think you could be missing a large percentage of what freeriding is and can be in other areas. Riding the Whistler Bike Park won't do too much in the heart rate department, but if you want a good heart rate go ride "river runs through it" or do some urban assualt. I believe these qualify as freeriding but have no appreciable elevation gain or loss.

Don't you just love how everyone has an opinion on things?

Anyhow, good luck.

[cam@nsmb.com]

Sounds like a great study and I would be interested in hearing the results.

One question though, why does it need to be mostly downhill? I think you could be missing a large percentage of what freeriding is and can be in other areas. Riding the Whistler Bike Park won't do too much in the heart rate department, but if you want a good heart rate go ride "river runs through it" or do some urban assualt. I believe these qualify as freeriding but have no appreciable elevation gain or loss.

Don't you just love how everyone has an opinion on things?

Anyhow, good luck.

Probably an issue there is that there have been lots of studies in that vein. There's not much that seperates River Runs from a technical XC race in terms of the physical demands whereas I would suspect that studies examining the downhill component are much more rare.

And I don't know about you but generally when I ride Fromme my heart rate is higher on the way down than it is on the way up. Look at motocross riders - those guys don't turn a pedal and yet it's supposed to be one of the most difficult things you can from a cardo-vascular standpoint.

I'll be interested in seeing - and perhaps even posting - the results.

Good luck Cam!

[Dantes Inferno]

Ride Aline 15 times a day...... That will get the heart pumping.

[Couch_Surfer]

Definately curious about this study and the results. Is the plan to have folks ride that trail in one continuous go top to bottom? I don't know about anyone else here, but it's pretty rare that I ride any trail top to bottom with no stopping. We usually stop, rest, bs about how much fun we're having a half dozen times or more.

[johnnystuntrider]

The plan is to have the participants ride continuously, but not at race pace... I'm in the same boat as you, Couch Surfer... as I typically stop a number of times during my ride. On the other hand, I'd guess that there are a fair number of riders who do ride continuously, due to time, riding solo, or just preferring to bomb it down the hill.

The problem with studies is the need to standardize as much as possible without losing too much meaning. It would be tough to standardize "bs breaks" (haha) because I'm sure everyone has their own preferences for stopping or not.

Should be interesting!

[Knnn]

If it's just ride as continuosly as you can then I would be interested. PM sent.

[Couch_Surfer]

i like the standardized bs breaks concept. highly amusing to think about

[KING-OF E-VILLE]

I'd like to be in the study too, and I agree with what was posted above. My heart rate is higher coming down something like 7th (where you have to pedel at times) than it is on the climb. I think you've got a great idea going here.

but I have to add that I find it hard to crank it down the route you have chosen without stopping, my big bike is not the best for riding the last half of leopard, so I'm usually hurtin by the time I'm traversing above the 5th switchback, after it turns steep again I'm usally all good, but some of the XC sections of Leopard are tough to do non stop.

Oh, by the way, i'm 39.

[synchro]

hey cam,

great idea. if you have time, and as a few others have suggested, i think it would really add to your study if you are able to also include a trail where there is less pedaling and more stunts. comparing HR info to difficult sections of the trail could add a really unique aspect to this study.

cheers and good luck!

[johnnystuntrider]

Good points guys...

I guess my rationale for the chosen route was the level of technical skill isn't super high, it's a fairly long and continuous run, and having a bit of pedalling essentially assures we'll see some heart rate increases!!

Some of those sections on leopard would be super hard to pedal through on the big bike, so what I'm saying to the participants is to "ride as continuously as possible"... so walking a little bit is definitely okay...

There'll be more options in June when I do a larger second study, and that could involve more stunt-studded trails with less pedalling... but the route again will have to be an easy link from trail to trail, and UVic ethics might not want the liability involved with people riding skinnies while fatigued!!!

...Still need about 6 more people so if anyone's interested...:rocker:

[Farmer]

didn't read everything so I dunno if its been said already, but it would be cool to do the study over several mountains, including sun peaks and whistler (being the 2 biggest bike parks) as well as freeriding throught BC

but that would taker a hell of a long time to do, not to mention having to travel and ride everywhere (:D)

[johnnystuntrider]

...yeah it'd be tough travelling to all the best riding spots in BC...hmmmm I think you've given me an idea Farmer... hahaha :cool: Would be a neat comparison between "smooth groomed" runs like whistler and more natural riding...

...need one more person... so if anyone's on the fence, let me know!!

[Couch_Surfer]

Good points guys...

I guess my rationale for the chosen route was the level of technical skill isn't super high, it's a fairly long and continuous run, and having a bit of pedalling essentially assures we'll see some heart rate increases!!

Even without the pedaling, it would be cool to see this study. I would love to see heartrates of people ripping Neds.... Pretty much the closest thing to a downhill course on the shore, yet I know when I stop (a couple of times) I am breathing heavy...

[HeadOverWheels]

One thing that seems to be inconsistant is the level of rider and type of trail. It shouldn't really matter what trail you take or the riders, the differences give you the results you're looking for.

Take Trail A and rate it according to up and down hill stuff, stunts (what type of stuff and its level) then figure out the length, get a graph showing the grade of the trail, done.

Then take a group of riders and get all the details. Height, weight, age, male female, heart before and all the stuff I'm assuming you were planning on getting and then the test is this person on that trail.

Keep the same crew for a few different trails. See whats up.

I think that would be a pretty cool concept but of course if its going to be a long term thing you need to figure out whats the important info you need before.

good luck man, give us your results when its all done.

cory

[johnnystuntrider]

Surfer... yeah, my original plan was to use neddies as the "test ground" and I may just do so in the next phase... a lot less pedalling, but still gets the heart thumping...

HeadOverWheels...

Good points and good idea about doing a trail to trail comparison... since this really is the first study of its kind, all I'm trying to do at this point is to define whether or not riding a primarily downhill trail has significant effects on the cardiovascular and neuromuscular systems. Using different trails with the same riders would give me a relationship between the average trail characteristics (incline, level of difficulty etc) and the body's response... which would be a really interesting study to do. :idea:

Aside from that, you've got the right idea with the other components... I'm taking a bunch of anthropometric and demographic measures (age, sex, ht, wt, bmi/weight-for-height) and including weights of bikes (noting fs or ht). I'm also doing a handgrip strength test pre- and post-ride to get an idea of the force decrement that occurs over the course of the ride. I've got a trail profile map (with elevation changes) from the NSMBA and will be time-stamping rider progress for different parts of the trail to match up with HR response...

The combination of all these measures will allow for lots and lots of analysis... just off the top of my head... is riding a lighter bike associated with higher heart rates because it gets bumped around a bit more, or lower heart rates cause it takes less energy to maneuver? Or what is the relationship between amount of rear wheel travel and heart rate? In reality, I'd need a much larger sample (as I'll hopefully have in the summer) to do a lot of those analyses, but they're interesting to think about (and there are a lot of intervening variables).

I plan to try and publish this study in the physiology literature, so when I've got it all written up, I'll share it with the permission of NSMB Cam...

Sorry for the long post... getting excited about the study!!!! :dizzy: