It's been a great ride!

Kick-It marketing will no longer be selling Footbikes.

 Please contact www.Footbikeusa.com for all of your Footbiking needs.

Footbiking is still the most rock'n sport of all time.

Keep Kick'n it!

Sarah

What is your Footbike doing today?

During the months of March thru November my Footbike gets so much use I don't have to ask What is my Footbike doing today? Most days my Footbike sees the local trails and race courses, but sometimes my Footbike gets to go somewhere Fabulous.

Included are some pictures in Moab Utah on a great vacation. Oh and when we drove through San Francisco we couldn't help ourselves we had to stop and get out the Footbikes for a kick across the Golden Gate Bridge.

So as the season get's underway don't forget to snap a picture or two of

"what your Footbike is doing today"

send them our way and we will post them on the blog. Thanks

ps. Not interested in seeing a picture of a Footbike hanging in your garage collecting dust.

Get out and KICK IT!!!!!!!

Looking back...

2011 was a fantastic Footbiking year for us.

We participated in many events and added many new friends to our Footbiking circle.

Salt Lake City Marathon

We started out the racing year in April with our 2nd appearance in the Salt Lake City bike tour.

We had 5 Footbikers, one of which was a first time marathoner. Although we started out in the rain the weather cleared up and we had an enjoyable kick. All participants had fun and did well.

Brain Injury Association 5K

In May 5 Footbikers showed up at Liberty Park to support a friend and neighbor in the Brain Injury Association 5K. My 6 year old son raced his first race and had so much fun. He kicked hard and loved being a part of the event. The race atmosphere was exciting, getting a race shirt was awesome, but I think the best part for my six year old was wearing his own bib number.

Way to go Weston!!!

Utah Valley Marathon

Pictured: Lisa, Sarah, Chris, Andrew

June brought on our 3rd year participating in the Utah Valley Marathon.

What an event!

Up so early in the morning, standing for an hour freezing at the starting line. I loved the atmosphere and felt just like my six year old did at his first race, soaking in everything I could. 10 Footbikers raced, several were first time racers who did awesome. There was exciting competition among the experienced kickers with record setting times. This was the most incredible event we have taken part in yet.

The best part for me was taking Jeff at the finish line by one little second.

Jeff and Sarah coming in to the finish line.

Wow talk about some adrenaline!

Jeff, Mat, Chris

Sarah (not pictured Ruth 2nd and Lisa 3rd)

Pedal Away Parkinsons 10 mile ride

July we did the Parkinson's disease 10 mile bike tour in

honor of my father with many family members on Footbikes and on bikes.

Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon Running race (no footbike this time)

August was my 1/2 marathon running race. I had to prove that footbiking

is an excellent training tool for long distance runners. See my previous post.

I think I proved my point.

Viva Bike Vegas 60 mile Bike Tour


Sarah and Ruth at the starting line. Ready to ride the lights of the Las Vegas Strip

October at the Viva Bike Vegas was a perfect way to end our season with a

timed 60 mile race (30 miles of uphill) What a challenge,

but truely satisfying and it made all those training miles worth it in the end.

Chris, Jeff and Mat at the finish line!

Utah Kick Group Days

On top of all of the races we had several kick group days which gave us the opportunity to kick together with fellow footbikers and share our love for kicking with them.

2011 was a kick'n year. Here's to 2012!!!

Numb hands?

I used to have numb hands.

It started out that it would happen only every so often, but then as I increased my training time and distance it would happen every time I went out.

I sent out a facebook discussion on the matter and received so many comments and suggestions and I tried many of them and finally resolved the problem.

I biked 60 mile in October for the Viva Bike Vegas without my hands going numb at all.

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this.

Here are some of the things that I tried.

I bought new gel padded bike gloves, mine were wearing thin.

I changed the angle of Ergon hand grips, flattening them out to hopefully relieve any nerve pressure. I also raised the height of my handlebars back up as I had previously lowered them completely. I made a conscious effort to hold lightly on the handlebars instead of gripping them tightly.I made a very conscious effort to put my weight into my legs instead of leaning or resting down on the handlebars while riding or coasting, one of the exercises that was suggested to me that i practiced regularly was to only ride with one or two fingers touching the handlebars therefor forcing my legs to bare my weight and my fingers were for balance only. Another trick that was suggested was to do quick switches. Only kick 3 times on each side before switching legs. All of these suggestions were great and helped to an extent,

but it wasn't until I got a new short stem which brought my handlebars so much closer to my body that my numb hands went away entirely.

If you suffer you may want to look into a new stem.

Where have I been?

I know it seems that I fell off the face of the earth, but I simply ran out of time. Not enough hours in the day to train and keep up with four kids and the house. I had to let something fall aside and so it was my blog. I kept swearing I would catch up to it after the older kids were in school, then after the Viva bike Vegas race in October was over and then after the holidays it certainly would slow down. It is now the end of January and I am finally catching up on life. I only have about 5 weeks until the training starts again so I'll give ya what I can.

Footbiking/Running Experiment

What is the longest you have ever spent

physically exerting yourself?

1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, maybe longer?

I think the longest most intense physical exertion for me is probably backpacking.
I carry a 45lb+ pack and hike for at least 6-8 hours carrying that weight on rocky, hilly terrain.
Next on the list is probably...
Footbiking the 50 mile Viva Bike Vegas ride in Oct 2010, my finishing time 5:30. This ride has at least 23 miles of uphill.
Okay put that aside for a minute.
With Kick-It Marketing I spend a lot of time with runners and cyclists participating in events and marketing in booths to runners. I have heard from many long distance runners that Footbiking is an excellent cross training tool and that it improves running times and so I pitch this to potential Footbike customers. I have found this to be true in my own short runs. Yes I do
run, but the longest I had ever run was 7 miles once on my treadmill and I did a 10k last fall. I did not consider myself a long distance runner and really had never wanted to run any farther.
I got thinking though and I decided that if I had the mental and physical strength to do one kind of physical activity for a long period of time then really shouldn't I be able to do another.
I decided to prove my theory of Footbiking being a great cross training tool and even a main training tool for a long distance run. Many times when I talk to runners about Footbiking I feel like they don't have respect for us because we are on wheels therefore it must be easier to Footbike. Often times when I tell runners about what a great tool a Footbike can be for their running they give me the " sure whatever, like you would know" look. I am currently training for a 60 mile Footbike ride in October so I thought surely with all of my Footbike training I could complete a 13.1 mile run. Right? Well...
Tomorrow I run my first half marathon!
To prepare myself for this run I have been Footbiking 3-5 times a week usually one of those is a 25 mile ride. I have been doing 1 run each week usually a 5 mile run. I thought I would work up to a 13 mile run slowly, but then one Saturday I started out to do a 7 mile run and I decided to just keep going and going. I ended up doing a full 13 miles which kinda makes tomorrows run a little anticlimactic since I have already run the distance, but tomorrow it will be an official timed race and I did not spend hour after hour running my joints into the ground, but I am ready to run the 13 miles none the less.
I think I can officially say that my experiment is conclusive. If I can Footbike for 2 hours I can run for two hours. (Is the reverse true then? If a runner can run for 2 hours then he can Footbike for 2 hours, I think so.)

Besides the Footbike is a running machine and can be a replacement for worn out runners, a cross trainer for runners, a trainer for runners, a fun alternative to running, a resting work out for runners.

Footbiking and running are very compatible.

I think every runner should own a Footbike!

Cannibal 20" bracket

Many of you have asked how we put on a 20" wheel and have wanted to get one for yourself. We have the wheels custom made and then Chris makes a bracket that allows the wheel to work. Please read all of the information below and then if you want to place an order please send an email to kickitmarketing@gmail.com

Cannibal’s 20” bracket
Here’s the scoop!
First and foremost you need to remember a few things before one dives into this purchase.
1. This is a handmade custom bracket. It will be made in my garage, will take me approx. 4 hours from start to finish, and I will make it as close to perfect as I can get but I make these in my garage.
2. The wheels are professionally build by a bike shop where I use to work and have maintained relationship with for 20+ years. They are good; dang good wheel builders!
3. Your existing rear FB skewer can be used but will fit tight, very tight. See my notes below about the skewer. Does it work? Yes, 4 of us have been kicking on them for almost 6 months now but you need to know going into this all the info about the current skewer challenge. We are looking into getting a longer skewer threaded deeper and then sized to correct length.
4. The Tektro R556 brake can be purchased on the internet and has worked wonderfully for us. Other brakes that we have tried are very difficult to get to function correctly due to clearance. See attached pic #191.
5. Will it make you faster? Kick it and find out!

This bracket was engineered for a FB track model that has a carbon front fork already installed. I need to make this clear because it does matter that the person has made these changes to their FB first because it does change the height of their deck and the angle of attack. Again, this bracket was engineered for a FB track that has already had these upgrades. As you can tell from the pictures(#133) attached that the deck drops another 1/8” in addition to the results alone with the carbon fork. Together with Carbon fork and Cannibal bracket you still remain virtually level. It is unknown what type of angle and results you will get if you still are using the stock FB fork.
Cost to build bracket set only(comes with mounting hardware) would be $85.00. This does not include the 20”wheel,tube, and tire, and rear brake(if wanted).

I can provide the kit (Less the Tektro R556 brake) of below listed parts for $255.00.
Cannibal’s 20” bracket kit includes:
20” custom build Alex Rim R390 wheel with wheelsmith spokes, tube, and tire(110 PSI, 20X1 1/8”). *You will have to provide me with Your rear FB hub.
Cannibal 20” bracket set for FB in flat black finish.
Mounting hardware for bracket.
Instructions of how to mount
Shipping

*Note that the existing rear skewer will have to be used for now but with caution not to strip threads due to the wider spacing caused by the bracket. It works and has worked for us wonderfully however, this issue is being addressed to see about obtaining longer skewers that are threaded deep enough to use on the FB hub. It is for this reason that you take on yourself all responsibility to making sure you put the skewer on correctly and carefully not to break it but to also insure that the wheel is secure. Again, it works but with tenderness not to strip the limited threads.