TIme Trial and Track Training with Power

Computrainer - Track simulation

2009-11-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

It was a Computrainer weekend. The Soloist is still at the shop with the busted derailleur. And I didn't feel like sorting out some training wheels for the TT bike just to go out in the cold wet rain...

Yesterday I did an hour plus L2/L3 ride. At least according to the CT numbers. But really it felt a lot harder. Only 73TSS points for an hour and fifteen minutes. But I could barely walk after..

Today for fun I built a Track simulation 3d course. 200m, flat about the right dimensions....

This was fairly interesting. I did my normal "paced" type ride. I.e. set the CT pacer going with its constant wattage and then just try and stay in its draft. Again this felt harder and for what should have been equivalent to the track, a lot slower. Normally an easy pace spinning around would be about 35-38kph. The CT with about 200w was only getting me about 29-30kph.

I then tried to do the equivalent of a Take-a-lap drill. Normally at the track the group goes around at about 33-35kph and when the coach whistles the front person jumps off the front and rides hard until he catches up to the back of the group. Usually, depending on how fast you go, about 3-4 laps, 50-70 seconds.

When I tried this on the CT I basically failed miserably. Very hard to moderate the power to something I could hold and then just wasn't going fast enough. Even though the starting speed was only 28 I only was able to push and hold about 38 and just never made it all the way around.

So then I changed the drag to 50% AND lowered the pacer wattage to about 125 Watts... So it was only going about 25kph. Even then I was only JUST able to get around and then die...

Not quite sure what this says about the CT.. We know that the power numbers "seem" low. But here what we see is the speed for both power AND Perceived Effort being to low. I have never failed to catch the group in a take-a-lap drill on the track. Here I failed miserably with lower emulated speed and watts and higher perceived efforts.

A very good workout. I just would like to know if I can believe the numbers or should bias them up. Before it was easy to say that perhaps the Ergomo was too high... But here is some empirical, although still somewhat subjective, evidence that the CT "game physics" is not quite right.

BVC Friday - Back to B

2009-11-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

It was back to the B group this week. I had been racing in the A's just to get a longer workout and fill in the numbers a bit. But there where record numbers out on Friday (16A, 20B, 16C, 6N) so they didn't need any extra people up there, especially people who wouldn't be able to keep up and would be getting lapped, repeatedly...

Even in the B's the low CTL and negative TSB meant I was just doing my thing at the back of the bus. Fun racing. But no real change to do much with my present state of fitness.

Pez on Warm up

2009-11-04T16:09:00.000-08:00

Pez has a good summary of warm up requirements here.

While he is using Cross and running late due to shorter daylight hours etc etc.... One of the studies he references is about tests using a 3km TT.

The results are not astounding but worth repeating:

In summary, any kind of moderate to hard warm-up seems infinitely preferable to no warm-up at all. Therefore, set your departure time and stick to it! Also, do whatever you need to in order to trim and optimize your on-site preparation so that you’re not fiddling away precious time once you arrive.

I know that I always seem to find a million things to do other than getting on the bike and getting warmed up... And typically don't want to fatigue myself and probably then don't do enough Tempo.

Computrainer ERG files

2009-11-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

See here for a large number of Computrainer ERG workout files from Velotraining with a writeup here.

He has ERG workout files for many of the common workouts (e.g. L3 2x20 minutes) and then generated customized versions of them based on your FTP. Where FTP is anywhere from 100 watts to 500 watts. Each workout has an appropriate warmup and cool down.

You can also see the workout chart for each.

This is L3 3x20 @ 76-90%.

JRA - Exploding derailleurs

2009-11-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

Bummer, half way across the Golden Ears Bridge, JRA (Just Riding Along) and all of a sudden the rear wheel skids to an abrupt halt. Upon inspection I see the dérailleur hanging from the chain jammed into the spokes of my training wheel! The hanger broke allowing it to get pulled around the cassette. Fortunately neither of the stays OR the wheel seems to have been damaged. I think just replace the dérailleur and chain ...

Friday night I was back at the track for three hard races with the A's... I'm still really out classed there. I should be racing in the B's.. But the A's seemed to need some more riders to fill things in a bit (pack fodder) and where doing longer races than the B's so I stayed with them to get a better workout. Still bloody embarrassing putting in many many laps off the back ...

I did manage to get some points in the first face. It was a Tempo and for some reason the pack let me jump off the front and take the first five laps... I think they where just being kind and knew that it wouldn't really matter HOW many laps I got... And of course they where right, that got my wind up so I was not even able to hang in with them as they sped by.

Peter Reichman 1943 -- 2009

2009-10-28T00:36:00.000-07:00

Peter Reichman 1943 -- 2009
Long-time cyclist, race director and friend to many Vancouver Velo Vet, BCMCA and Burnaby Velodrome members, Peter Reichman died on October 18.

Peter had been recovering from the "brain event" that surfaced late this summer when riding in the race up Seymour Mountain. A tough competitor and strong supporter of masters cycling, Peter will be missed by the cycling community

REICHMAN - Peter February 6th, 1943 - October 18th, 2009 Peter is survived by his partner Peggy Riley, daughters Kathi (Rodney Galetti) and Kim (Scott Ashe), stepson David Gheriani and stepdaughter Sarah Gheriani, grandchildren Brandon, Ryan, and Sotia. Peter will be fondly remembered by his family and friends. Since his retirement in 1999, Peter has been able to enjoy cycling with the Vancouver Velo Vets, BC Masters Cycling Association, and Burnaby Velodrome Club. A celebration of his life was be held at Boal Chapel, 1505 Lillooet Road, North Vancouver, BC on Monday, October 26th 2009 at 2:00 P.m. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation.

Neaves Road - L3

2009-10-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

Out to Neaves Rd in Pitt Meadows. The new Pitt River Bridge open in both directions now, including the bike lane... Mainly doing about an hours worth of L3, then some short hill climbs in Westwood on the way home. Didn't get all the way up Westwood though as the temperature dropped from about 9C to about 3C within minutes when the Sun set. So I went half way up and then scooted across on Panorama Dr. before I froze to death.

BVC Friday NIght - A group - still out the back

2009-10-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

More A group racing.... 15 lap Scratch and 4x10 Points race. Not so many of the really fast young guys... but still 10 people. And fast enough. I'm still fairly weak from my month off so pretty much just out the back. Only lapped once in the Points race though :-)

BVC Workout - Whistle Drill, some SST

2009-10-22T01:12:00.001-07:00

Last night was two SST hill climbs. Twice up Westwood. About 16 and 17 minutes respectively. Not too bad for coolish day (10C) with winter training tires etc. PB this summer was 15 even. About 130TSS points.

Tonight was BVC Workout. Whistle drill for three sessions. Then 10 minutes at SST, then about 15 minutes SST.

The extended time off has pushed CTL way down (hit about 40)... Now pushing back up. ATL has swung and that is pushing TSB negative. I suspect that the next few weeks I'll not be terribly competitive on Friday nights. Especially if the juniors keep showing up. The B group looks better all the time.

BVC Friday NIght - A group - out the back

2009-10-17T19:54:00.001-07:00

So after watching from the sidelines while a nice comfy A group race for the first three weeks... I get out for my first night and think, well A might be ok.. And then Jacob Swingboth and Cody Campbell show up (both National Junior Track Champs...) And me at a very low ebb in training... so out the back was I.

Anyway. I"ll see what the signup is like next week... Dave Kosick is doing well in the B's so maybe that would be a better spot :-)

Back to the track...

2009-10-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

Well actually I was back two weeks ago... nice workout, but then at exactly 15 minutes after midnight... the nose felt funny and by 12:30... cold... That has now done what colds always do caused bronchitis to flair up.

But anyway, not infectious, not really sick. So time to get back on the bike. I did an easy L2/L3 ride on the weekend (Ford Road.).

Tonight was the Wednesday BVC Structured Workout. Two sets of groups of four doing four laps tempo and then one sprinting. Then finished with take-a-half lap whistle drill with the group split into two groups of eight.

Finished with about 20 minutes of SST paceline work. Bruce Denis and a couple of other people, doing 42+ kmh workout. Last four-five minutes moving up to 44.

I've missed the first three weeks of the Friday nighters... Will get back out this Friday.

Home Wind Tunnel Kit at Costco!

2009-09-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

Available now at your local CostCo...

When I saw this at CostCo today I couldn't help think that at last someone was finally making a Home Wind Tunnel Kit for doing low cost Time Trial aero testing... Given the number of Tri-athletes around these days you never know, it could happen.

Alas the tunnel portion appears to be only about 12" across... and at $649 ($449 today with $200 coupon!!!!) probably not quite what I'm hoping for.

Track Racing starts this week, time to set goals for next year

2009-09-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

But I'm taking a week off... at least...

BVC is starting the Fall track series a week or two early this year.... after we pushed the road season late into September and I did the BC Senior Games...

And we are having unseasonably warm weather.... the last few days would have counted as a heat wave most summers in Vancouver...

Sigh :-(

Anyway, I'm staying off the bike until probably next week. Maybe, if the the weather holds I'll do a social ride on the weekend... just to keep the legs limber... Can't actually remember the last time I went on a social ride.

I will be at the track on Friday for the racing... Pick up the results and I got voted onto the BVC Board, first meeting this Friday after racing.

Also time to think of goals for next year..

Need to determine goals for 2010... So I can start working on them ....

Higher FTP for TT
Higher one minute power for RR
Extend RR endurance from 1.5 hour to 2 plus hours

I'm hoping to get more weekly practice TT's happening locally next year and a couple more TT races. That will both help build FTP and benefit from a higher FTP.

The second and third goals would (hopefully) get me fast enough to actually get on the podium for some Cat 4 type races. I was reasonably good at staying with the peloton this year in the sanctioned races, only to get dropped either at the last sprint hill or during the final sprint.

Or just running out of gas, especially on hot days with lots of Anaerobic and Endurance work. Dove Creek RR being a good example.. Pulled everyone around and ended up with leg cramps in the last lap..

It may be an idea to do the "B" group in Spring Series next year. They race between 80 and 120 km (C only does about 60-70.)

BC Senior Games Wrapup - 2 Gold, 1 Bronze

2009-09-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

BC Senior Games finished... results the same as the Comox weekend earlier this summer. I finished 1st for TT and HC, 3rd for the RR. Bill Yearwood was 2nd for the TT and HC and 1st for the RR.

The RR was going reasonably well until the finish. The plan was to follow Dave Kosick and Bill Yearwood through the final corner and then sprint to the finish (about 300m).

Unfortunately we caught up with a lapped rider right at the corner... Bill and Dave managed to get by him but then he turned across me so I had to go really wide loosing all my speed and letting Bill and Dave get (at least) a 30-40m gap...

Then with the bumps and whatnot getting around the obstacles my chained dropped to the little ring and I was sitting there spinning... took a few seconds to find a cog suitable allowing Pat Ferris (I think) to almost get by me... Got a gear with about 100m to go and managed to get back to 3rd just at the line.

Today was the HC... As planned I did it on the TT bike. I knew that Bill and Dave would do well over that distance. Both are strong but don't have as much endurance. I can beat them on longer TT's and HC's (like Seymour, Cypress or Mt Washington...) but 4-5 minutes would be a lot tougher.

The end result was 4:24. Bill at 4:33 and Dave at 4:36.

Neither of them used their TT bikes (although Bill did use an aero helmet.)

So assuming I was correct in thinking 15-20 seconds advantage for the TT bike... it looks like that got me the Gold... :-)

The TT bike was setup with my climbing wheelset (Bontragger XXX Carbon Wheels with Vittoria EVO CS Tubulars) which are about 500 grams lighter than my normal race or TT wheels.. and a 12x27 cassette.

I started in the big ring and shifted to the little ring about .6km in where the grade gets over 3.5%. Then shifted back to the big ring at 1.45km where the grade drops back down below 4%. This worked reasonably well to allow me to keep my cadence up. Overall cadence averaged 89. Which was quite comfortable for the TT bike.

BC Senior Games ITT - 1st 22:13

2009-09-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

BC Senior Games 15.8km ITT today.

Managed 22.13 for 1st 55-59 and best time overall by about a minute...

See here for Bikely Route. This is a reasonably difficult course.

The first 4km goes out from Ferguson Road to under the bridge and back, averaged 40.9 km/h... Hard to get any speed up.

Then it was out to Iona with a tail wind, average 46.2 km/h.

They ran us right into the parking lot with the turn-a-round right where next to where the park toilets are. Caused a certain amount of futzing about getting through the parking lot.

And then crunch time all the way back against the wind... 40.7 km/h.

Overall, 42.7 km/h. 292 PAvg and 293 NPAvg.

2009-09-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

Rich Wharton had a tweat pointing at a Paul Smelders blog post here titled What EXACTLY is happening when you can’t keep up on the CT.

He gives some of the math involved and explains why you can or can't keep up when doing an ERG mode workout.

An ERG mode workout is where the CT attempts to keep you at a specific wattage. You cadence (speed of wheel effectively) is ignored. Just what your power output (watts) is. If you are putting out too much, the CT lowers its braking, not enough and it increases the braking so that you need to increase torque and therefore increase power.

This is great as long as you are in a Zone where you CAN keep up... Say the target is 220 watts... Go a little high and it eases you off. Go a little low and it pushes you back up... Net result is you do 220 watts +/- a very small amount for the prescribed time.

But if you are in a Zone where you CANNOT keep up... Say the target is 350 watts, now for the first while things go well. You hit the target and the CT keeps you there... But as you fatigue and can no longer stay at 350 watts, the CT notices and wants you to go up... So it increases the breaking so that you will increase torque.. Of course if that is more than you can do, more likely it will cause you to fall farther back as your cadence slows, and the CT will then increase breaking, and the end result is you stop completely....

This was timely... I missed getting out on the bike yesterday as I had to run out to Richmond to get the "race package" for the BC Senior Games... And it was a beautiful evening... Today I need to do a race tuneup ride for the ITT tomorrow and it is raining... So I may end up on the CT...

Peak Athletic Performance and Vitamin D (updated)

2009-09-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Of course you say you can always find a study that proves what you want... etc etc...

But as this article by John Jacob Cannell MD points out, Vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone and there are multiple research studies showing that IFF you are Vitamin D deficient (and almost everyone is...) you can improve your performance by getting your Vitamin D levels up to "normal" (as in what you would get if you where twenty again, and working outdoors in the summer at a temperate latitude if you are light skinned or farther south for darker skin.)

See Peak Athletic Performance and Vitamin D

And here is a Citation for Athletic Performance and Vitamin D

Update 2009-09-14: The above is only available behind a PayWall.... I did managed to find another summary and comments from another Natural Health Doctor Blogger.... (this site does require "free" registration...) He points out something I missed early, that Cannell suggests that there is a correlation between Vitamin D and Fast Twitch muscles...

My goal this winter is to, somehow, increase my anaerobic power, which as I understand things means more fast twitch...

Cypress Part Deux HC - 1st 55-64

2009-09-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

An absolutely fantastic day for a fall hill climb.... A nice turn out.... With 13 people in my 55-64 age class.

My time was about 38:30. Should have been about 10 seconds faster. The guy I lead into the very last turn finished 38:20 and I would have been there with him, except I hit a pothole and blew out my rear tubular.. So had to limp up the last 200m to the finish line.

Luckily (didn't know it at the time) another 55-64 rider, Michael McPhalen was right on my rear wheel, so almost lost 1st place... He was only 3 seconds back at the finish...

Michel Pelletier was just a little way back from me most of the way up. He took 1st in the Clydesdale division with 38:44... This was just a warmup for him, he is doing the Mt. Baker climb tomorrow.

Overall I was 22 out of 118 men. So not too bad.

Fastest time up was Sebastian Salas with 29:54.

The course was slightly different from the spring version...

Here are the two bikely maps:

The Chicks race starts at the bottom (Cypress Lane) and goes to to under the Power Lines.

Glotman Simpson started at the works yard and went to the turn off to the cross country area, then followed that up a few hundred meters.

Length: 11.82 - 12.24
Elevation gain: 675 - 681

Very comparable... But with a difference in times.

Time: 38:20 - 36:54

The time difference is due to the first part of the Chicks version being flat enough that the Mass Start gets a lot of speed up on the first 1.5km. The Glotman Simposon race extends past the Chicks finish by a similar amount but you don't get the same speed.

Chicks First 1.5km - 2:45
Glotman Simpson last 1.5km - 4:55

So that easily explains the 1:30 difference in my time today.

So possibly a slightly better overall result than the Spring.

Now it is out to the garage to rip the tubular off that wheel and prep it for a new one. It is the light Bontrager XXX Carbon that I use for hill climbs and I'll want it next week.

Wow - 45 days of racing so far this year

2009-09-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

Just reviewing the year so far.... I'm up to 45 days of racing...

That's counting one for each day or evening of track racing.... and allowing one each for the DoveCreek TT and Mt Washington HC even though they where on the same day.

And still have the Cypress HC, BC Senior Games for road and the Fall Track Season...

Good thing I don't do Cyclocross...

Cherry Point RR - Photo Finish

2009-09-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

A wet but luckily not cold day... Derek Tripp was pushing the pace all day to try and catch Dave Mercer and Ray Morrison (over sixty group) for the overall race...

Ray Waggoner took my advice and got off the front on the long backside climb with one and a half laps to go. And managed to stay away.

The rest our 50-59 group was down to about five people (and I think an over 60 who grabbed our wheels when we caught up with them.) Two young guys (Shane Savage and someone else) caught us with one lap to go. We simply couldn't stay on their wheel as we went up the long backside climbs.

That trimmed our group down to three, Derek Tripp, Bill Yearwood and myself. Bill lead us into the finish followed by myself and Derek. I jumped with about 300m to go. Probably a bit early as there is a little rise there... Derek managed to get around on the outside for a win by about a half a wheel... Bill and I where within about a half a tire width... Consensus was that I was second and Bill third. Could have gone either way.

The sprint climb was the hard part of this course. 420m, 30m of climbing. Average 6.6% grade, but actually a bit steeper at the bottom and top... We where averaging about 1:05 seconds, about 380 watts average.

Ergomo had a problem, the CPU stopped recording altitude properly after we went through a heavy rain shower in lap four and five. Hopefully it will be ok after it dries out.

Thanks to Duane Martindale for the photos...

David HillClimb - TT and Standing

2009-09-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

Three tries on my short practice David Hill Climb. Twice on the TT bike and once standing up on the Road Bike.

The TT bike comes in as the clear winner... 4:14, 4:22 (with 10 second wait for traffic light!) and 4:26 for the standing attempt. So it appears that TT has clear 10 second benefit compared to standing and "sprinting" the entire way (which in turn appears from last weekend's testing to be slightly faster than sitting.)

I'll try and get some ideas on the Spanish Bank HC this weekend if the weather co-operates... VVV 10k ITT is on Saturday morning. I'll head over to Spanish Banks after that.

For now looking at a profile from last year (we went up it for the Pacific Populaire) it appears that the main part of the climb will be 3.4% over 2km. And the Bikely profile seems to agree with that. There may be an extra few hundred meters at the bottom and top that will reduce overall grade.

The average speed for David HC was about 22kmh. I'm expecting for Spanish Banks will be more than 27kmh. So the benefit from the TT bike will increase.

D3O - new style body armour

2009-08-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting new technology... D3O is an orange goo that is soft and mold able but when impacted it turns into a solid...

Watch the video here as the test subject gets whacked on the head and knees with a snow shovel.

The assumption is that you change a sharp blow from a high load impact on a small point to a low load over a much larger area. Which is standard for body armor. The point being that this may be lighter and more comfortable to wear for many applications.

Ceder Photos

2009-08-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Duane Martindale for pictures...

BCMCA Nanaimo Ceder RR - 1st

2009-08-29T23:54:00.000-07:00

Very nice but long day... Park-n-Ride from Horseshoe Bay, 25 minute ride to the venue... warmup, race....

Ceder is a long 20km course, we do it three times... I got a small gap, 300-400m about half way through the second lap. Ray Wagner and Derek Tripp eventually bridged over and we managed to stay away from the 50's and most of the 60's (who we had just caught)... Never did catch Dave Mercer and Ray Morrison though.

Nice finish, I managed to stay behind Ray and Derek in the last km.... jumped with 400m and finished with about a 6-8 bike lengths.

So 1st in 50-59 and 3rd overall.

Then it was 25 minute ride back to the ferry... As I rode out of the parking lot to head back the rear dérailleur cable broke so I was stuck in the small cog with only the front big and small rings... Luckily no big hills... Luckily it broke after the race...

Training for Short HC in Senior Games

2009-08-27T16:20:00.001-07:00

The BC Senior Games is in a couple of weeks... and it has a short hill climb, the climb from Spanish Banks up to UBC.

Just long enough to be an HC... about 2km at 3.6% grade. Probably, I think, about 4:00 minutes.

The bigger question is how to train for it.. I'm looking for a similar climb close by. It appears that the best I can find is David Ave. Steeper and shorter. But perhaps close enough to simulate.

Using the bike calculator I get the followingUsing the bike calculator I get the following..

I'm not quite sure I believe the time. The only time I can find in my power files for the SP HC was 4:39 in the Pacific Populaire last year. And that was slightly lower for watts, higher for weight, lower temp etc etc...

But certainly it appears that doing 1.65 along David should give me a reasonable simulation.

I did 3 tests on the David HC today: 4:34-4:25 ... so I think a good test. The 4:25 number was staying up in the sprint position for the entire climb. Almost 10 seconds faster even though more aero.