Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

o '" I N :;; ~ ~ z ~ z W .J U > U Fine Tuning Your Body for Optimum Performance by George Magallon, M.D. In this article I will explain how a rider, by manipulating his diet and exercise routine, can force his body to store maximal amounts of energy. 1 have also been asked to explain aerobic and anaerobic muscle function in relationship to strength and endurance. An understanding of this will serve as an excellent basis for the subject of maximal performance. Maximal performance is determined by: 1) Psychological factors, 2l muscular strength and coordination, 3 energy output. Psychologic factors are: "I haven't raced enough; my bike isn't right; I'm stale from riding too much; I didn't sleep last night; 1 have a headache, backache, sore musclesJ flu, gas; my cat is sick." This rider isjust setting himself and others up to accepting his defeat. If you expect yourself to do poorly that is exactly what you will do. The rider with drive, de..termination, self confidence, mental toughness and no sick cat at home will always finish near the top, unless his bike doesn't match his ability. Mental toughness is very important because the top athlete will force his body to tolerate the aching of muscle fatigue far beyond the average person. Recent studies reveal that lactic acid buildup in the body, which is related to muscle fatigue, can be tolerated five times above normal by the top athletes. The great riders do not dwell upon their losses but concentrate on improving the type of riding which is most difficult for them. He rides best when the odds are slightly against him and derives little joy unless his ability is challenged. If he does lose, the failure is accepted as his own and he feels personally responsihle for that loss. Muscular Strength Man basically has two types of muscle fibres; a stronger muscle fiber which depends on the breakdown of sugar without oxygen for energy and a I sm aller en d uracne-type muscI e fib er WI·th a well developed blood supply which dfepends on 0Txygen for drab'u1vinkg energy rom sugar. he stronger, y muscle fibers are called anaerobic for (N ee d musc Ies no oxygen contraction) and the smaller endurance muscle fibers are called aerobic muscles R' f .) A ( eqUITe oxygen or contractiOn. weigh t lifter will have twice as many ORA Hare and Hound by Richard Williams LUCERNE, CAL., Nov. 5, 1972 - The two separate loops seemed to be quite a welcome to the Novices and Beginners who normally spend their day going around in circles on a European scrambles course, or trying their luck in a one loop desert race~ The latter being the first half of a Hare and Hound. At the bomb it's Mike McElfresh, Bob Porter, Lee Dotson and Larkin Wigh t, last race's overall Beginner winner. Larkin Wight does a spectacular get-off for the crowd at the bomb and sits this one out in the back of one of the Jeepers units, Trail is good, a few whoop-de-doo's, an occasional bush in the face. Something exciting happening ahead in front of dry lake, Maico tries to mount Husky, both riders object and the four of them go cart wheeling off together. The dust clears and riders, one up and stirring around, were on the lake now and heading (or a little hill. Just about the time this trail is all starting to look alike, course tigh tens up and up pops some small dunes. Course starts to veer to the right and exits valley in to a very neat little sand wash. Leaving the wash, down we continue to the base of another hill, this time it is a hill. Say hello to fellows on hill writing numbers and talking on radio's. Rolling off the back of hill we come to one of the most famous sections at Lucerne Valley. It would be nice to give this a handle but it has belonged to so many races over the past 20 years it would be hard to say who first put us through here, bu t here we are anyway bouncing along over some of the most beautiful sets of whoop-de-doo's you can imagine - you know the kind, nice and soft - five feet deep and two feet across and as far as the eye can see. Look at all the people, guy standing with flag pointing us into pit road. 28 year old Jim Kiekmeyer on a 360 Yamaha was riTst rider through and keepinJi( with the times was Mike anaerobic fibers as the runner or untrained subject. Not only do we have to types of muscles, we, also vary individually in the actual number of muscle fibers in each muscle group. The type and number of muscle fibers are determined by what you inherit from' your parents. Because of this variation we have a range of individuals with extremely strong bulky type muscles with very limited endurance, to the spindely athlete with no muscle bulk but fantastic endurance. Good examples of the spindely aerobio type athletes are the distance runners of the last Olympics. Obviously most of us are not at the extremes but a combination of both with one type of the other slightly predominating. You cannot really choose your build, but only develop what you are born with to its maximum. Because the number of muscle fibers vary no matter how hard a person works out, if born with a limited number of muscle fibers can never acquire the bulky build of a weight lifter. Most individuals can become good athletes, but to become a superb athlete one must naturally be endowed with the proper number and ratio of muscle fibers. In other words, the superior athlete is born to be great. With extensive training one can increase the capacity of both the aerobic and anaerobic muscles; however, each individual has a ceiling of performance. A group of 20-year-old men who were never active in competitive sports were place on a hard training program. Initially their improvement was very good, but after one year there was no further increase in their ability and the plateau attained was far below the values of top athletes. Female riders' maximal muscle power runs generally 25% lower than males, therefore they should be commended for their achievements in competitive racing. ENERGY Wh I . 'all Ie' d h en musc es are lOti y wor e t e anaerobic fibers predominate,' however, at about two minutes the aerobic muscles fibers are handling about 50% of the, work. Soon after this the anaerobic fibers are fatigued because of the accumulation of lactic acid and the aerobic process utilizing oxygen carries the work load. In other words, the bulky strength-type muscle fibers McElfresh on a 400 Husky running second. Highlighting the 250 class and third overall was Bob Blackman. Loop two is 37 miles long and leaves the valley in a figure eight fashion north and to the left. With a thirty minute delayed start, the first Beginner takes some gas - gets his check and splits into the desert. That was Melvin Garter on a 400 Suzuki. The country takes on a differen t look here and course becomes quite interesting going in and out of small tigh t washes, dashing up and down the small hills and laughing to myself at some of the signs observed around the course. This particular section is rolling knolls, six to ten foot high with short spurts of flat ground on top, sprinkled with a dash 'of rocks laying here and there and the sign says "Slow - It's more fun that way". Other comments I noticed along the way were - at the top of a down hill, "Bombs Away" halfway down - "s top if you can" and a nice cross ditch just laying there waiting for you to drop in was marked "Danger, open trench" and judging from the danger marks and upside down arrows, I gathered they weren't kidding. 1 locked it up and took the little trench in stride. Sitting on top of some hog-backs was another one of those smiling guys with his radio-<:quipped Jeep and some more of those guys and girls taking numbers and directing us down off the hill aeross the dry lake and straight into the mouth of the biggest widest wash 1 have ever seen. After another check, we eventually come to the mou th of the pass and there it is - cars, trucks, camper~, people, and the finish looks like maybe a couple of miles further and the end of 70 miles is rapidly approaching. It already has for some of the real race guys - Mike McElfresh 'had taken over the lead and swooped righ t in there for the overall win on his 450 Husky picked up his bottle of Champagne and pro~eeded to have his Victory ... ,..... ~-----=--==;...--==~====:::::~::~ .~" " • 'i' .. )f fatigue in about two minutes and when the endurance type aerobic muscle fibers take over you have attained your "second wind." ,The body fuel for all muscle work is glycogen. This energy source is composed of glucose (body sugar) and the amount of glycogen stored in the muscle directly determines endurance. When carbohydrates (sugar, starches, etc.) are absorbed, they are all converted to glucose by the liver and then passed directly into the circulation for utilization and storage. Carbohydrates are poorly absorbed in states of deficiencies of certain B vitamins such as thiamine, pyredoxine and pantothenic acid. A rider therefore should be sure than he utilizes a good source of vitamins. After absorption the glucose (sugar) is stored in limited amounts in the muscles and any excess of this is converted to and stored as fat. When the muscles are worked, the glycogen undergoes an extremely complicated breakdown releasing energy for utilization by the muscles. The stronger 'anaerobic muscle fibers can metabolize the glycogen to lactic acid and the accumulation of this product partly accounts for muscle fatigue. At this point the importance of the aerobic muscle fibers is realized because the aerobic process, using oxygen, will convert the lactic acid to a form which will relase further energy without the accumulation of waste products. When the lactic acid is reduced fatigue will disappear. If the athlete then paces himself so that the aerobic process can keep the lactic acid down to tolerable levels he can continue his exertion until all the stored glycogen is depleted. At this point the athlete is completely exhausted; he is through! From this you can understand why you breathe hard after short strenuous exertion such as a 100-yard-dash. By deep and rapid breathing you draw in elaXccte,.css acox"dygeton tnoormbealusell.dDll~ts°.reBdrUeCaethin~ge returns to normal when the lactic acid ' returns to normal. It is obvious that if an individual could crease the amount of stored lll' glycogen in his muscles he would increase his endurance. Increased muscle glycogen allows the rider more energy to race harder and longer. Remember that protein is not a good source of energy and a pure protein diet is not a Celebration.. Following Mike in was Bob Porter, second overall Novice and first 250 on a Yamaha- Boh Blackman pulled in third overall and second 250 on a Husky. Steve Plyle worked his way up to fourth overall and second 400 on a Suzuki. Filling in the remaining front runners was Rid< Stumpf, fifth overall, third 250 on a Yamaha, Lee Dotson, sixth on a 400 Husky and R. Mortensen, seventh overall and fiTst 400 over 35. Not too shabby in the midst of all those kids, and Mortensen is over 40, by the way. Righ t behind is Jim Bagley on a 400 Husky and capturing-the riTst under 16 position. Jack Sabine is fiTst 175 and he also is over 35. Chuck Loyd held his lead in the 100 class and pulled in 22nd overall, rust in class. First Beginner overall was 21 year old Michael Goodwin on a 250 Bultaco stopping ,at the rmish, receiving his Chainpagne and congratulations from his friends, with time to spare. Ron Bair took second overall and second 250 on a Rickman. Third overall goes to sensible diet_ Protein is necessary for a healthy body and to build strong muscles, but is an expensive and poor substitute for carbohydrates as a source of energy. Fortunately most foods considered as protein sources also contain carbohydrates and fat. In a person with a normal diet the stored glycogen will provide energy for about two hours of heavy exertion. When glycogen storage approaches zero the subject will be exhausted. If the person is placed on a high carbohydrate diet the glycogen storage can be increased about 50%. If the person will exercise to exhaustion, depleting his glycogen preceeding the high carbohydrate diet he can increase his glycogen storage two and one-half times the normal amount. Further increases of almost three-fold can be attained by a high protein/low carbohydrate diet several days before exercises. To break it down into a daily routine counting Sunday as the day of racing: ' Regular diet on Monday and Tuesday. High proteinflow carbohydrate diet Wednesday and Thursday. During these days follow your own regular exercise routine. On Thursday increase your exercising, jogging or running so that you will deplete your glycogen storage. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning place yourself on a high carbohydrate diet. Now remember that if you don't race on Sunday all the carbohydrate will tum into fat! ' The above' routine is more or less what 1 have worked out personally with some of our district 37 desert and motocross riders. There are no hard fast rules and the riders can vary the above to fit his own personal needs. For example, some individuals cannot tolerate a high protein or high carbohydrate diet without some stomach discomfort. Grape juice, which is a beautiful source of almost pure glucose, can cause some loose bowels and this can be quite uncomfortable in your leathers. I understand some Buzzards can attest to this. A brochure outlining good sources of . aI arb h d d protem, natur c o y rate an method of calculating the amounts d d . d' 'd aI b bta' d nee e per 10 IVl U may e 0 me by sending a self-addressed. stamped envelope plus- 25t for handling to: E d V' 'C 638 S GI d n ora ItamID 0., . en ora, G_le_n_do_r_a_,C_A_9_1_7_40_. _ hard-riding Robert Baker on a 125 Yamaha- Robert is also first 125-16. Randy Peers was fourth overall and first 400 ,on a Husky. The second loop was obviously not showing any favoritism towards the Bike Bores. Fifth overall and third 250 was Sami Srour on a Bultaco. Rounding out the top ten riders was Ron Harbert, 250 Yamaha, Steve Rion, 400 Suzuki, Mark Arballo first, 175 on a Yamaha, Richard Bair, 250 Rickman and John Fisher on a 360 YamahaFirst girl to rmish was Terry J ones on a 125 Suzuki, and hats off to nine year old Jimmy Hullett going all the way on his SL-70 Honda1 heard an in teresting rumor ,going around the pits today and cornered one of the Desert Racing Association officials to confirm it, and it seems that the Desert Racing Association has a point to point Hare and Hound from Baker to Las Vegas for Beginners and Novices in the wind for some time in February. Sounds like a real 'gas' if they can get it together. 0-36 Under New Stewardships District 36 has begun its reorganization with the appointment of stewards for each of its racing divisions. The group will be chaired by J .B. "Woody" Woods of the Hayward M.C. and it will be his duty to formulate plans for the collection of monies and disbursement of competition cards with the aid of the stewards. Anyone with any ideas or comments about the formulating of new licenses, number plates and the like are invited to direct comments to the appropriate people_ . Chairman: J.B. Woods 433 Craycroft Fremont, Ca-, 94538 Enduros: Polka Dots M.C. Frank Showers 4320 Alsace Ct. Fair Oaks, Ca., 95628 916·967-9249 f' _ Scrambles: Polka Dots M.C. Leroy McDonald 1404 Lomas Ave. Sacramento, Ca., 95822 916-428-6110 Motocross: Dirt Diggers North Bruce Young 1301 Sheffield Roseville, Ca., 9567.8 916-783-5676 Hi1Iclimb: Campbell M.C. Bill Landsborough 1104 Sherman St. Santa Clara, Ca., 95050 408-244-0605 Short Track: Richmond Ramblers Len Vestal 1710 Hellings Ave. Richmond, Ca., 94801 415-232-8957 1 ., • , •• , .......... r I "

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