Why Rides is a series created by Derek of Dialed Health that was created to show the benefits of strength training off your bike so that you despite how much you’re able to ride throughout the week, your body is ready to go out and have it’s best ride ever. The way a bike is designed, your body is in an unnatural position so having a strong body can counteract the discomforts a ride presents and can help you in riding further and longer and that is what Derek wants to prove with this series.
The first episode has him starting in beautiful Healdsburg, CA and riding through wine country, out to the coast of highway 1, and back inland to make it back to the start point. The roads at times, were often steep and rough so having the training to stay strong through these sections made the day much more enjoyable for Derek.
Pete Muir and I followed along in a sag vehicle while I filmed and photographed Derek on the route. With each climb we kept saying how epic each of the sections would be as an individual day ride, but Derek was combining them all in one day. You can check out the route here Why Rides Route and see for yourself how amazing each of sections would be.
From a content side, this was definitely a challenging project to film and photograph. We planned as best we could to make sure that each of the different sections were covered, but logistically planning how to capture the descents without knowing exactly where Derek was, is always tough. I learned the hard way from the DH Vert Challenge last year where I pretty much had to be ready to push the record button with a split second of notice for only a few seconds of actual footage. It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Pete driving me around to make sure that we were where we needed to be and was able to drive while I hung myself out the window to film Derek in the shoulder. Having to film and photograph is also a challenge as a lot of times, the video rig that I have set up makes it difficult to shoot photographs so I often have to switch to a separate camera to shoot. I shot all of the video on a Canon R6 and used my Canon 5D Mark IV as the stills camera. This on top of logistics of storage, battery, angles, settings is quite a challenge, but something that comes with the territory.
Personally, I was inspired by this project as it made me want to be on my bike. I think more than ever, I want to be able to ride further and longer. I love the freedom of being out and pushing your body to new limits and having the help of Dialed Health programs has really allowed me to do that. I hope this video inspires you just as it did for me.
To help with your strength training off the bike, be sure to check out dialedhealth.com and check out his instagram for more inspiration and workouts off the bike. A huge thank you goes to Derek for having me along on the project, Pete Muir for driving me around all day, Garmin, Eliel Cycling, Specialized Bikes, Bare Performance Nutrition for all of the support.
Now to get to work on Episode 2! Hope you enjoy.
