It's the monsoon season again, also known as 'summer' here in Bath. The rain has been less of the drizzly type and more of the downpour flash flood get paddling type.
I got caught in it on Thursday night on the way back from the Dursley evening 10 (it being too wet to do a Wednesday evening 10). It was nearly 50km home and after about 10km it totally thundered down. I was riding back with Chris Madge, who had the good fortune to live in Alveston so was able to turn off and go home. I, being silly and living in Bath, needed to go further via lots of puddles.
I got past Coalpit Heath with about 25km left and heard that spine chilling sound: 'pss...pss...pss...pss' coming from the back wheel. Not good, because I was riding the disk with a tubular on it. I made it to the bottom of Pucklechurch Hill as it was getting dark but could go no further.
I tried plan A, which was call Robin and get him to give me a lift to the station, but he was busy with a plumber. Plan B took me a while to figure out, but it should have been the obvious thing. Rip the tub off and put the spare on. Luckily, there wasn't too much glue on it and the water probably helped get it off. It was 9:30pm by the time I sorted it out and I was chilled to the bone. The last 20km along the bike path were pretty weird, as I was holding my front light in my hand (nowhere to put it on the bars), afraid of dropping it out of my numb fingers. I should have used my other front light, because it gets bloody dark along that path.
It was still pouring by the time I got home but fortunately not too cold. Still, I was happy to thaw out and wolf down a packet of gnocchi and various other comestibles.
I'd almost missed the start of the TT anyway because after I signed on I turned left instead of right to get to the start. I rode 4km down the road before I realised, then hotfooted it back with about 2min to spare. Oops.
My legs felt a bit pudgy after a very rubbish four days (45km total on account of the monsoons) and I couldn't get a lot of power out. 326W compared to 345W in the Chippenham 10 (22'18, PB for me) two weeks ago. I guess it was the quickest time (21'54) and not bad on a lumpy out and back course on the rough surfaced A38. No-one else went under 22 minutes. Chris also said he was about 20W down on normal, so maybe it was one of those nights.
Sunday should be a bit better for the Cheltenham 25. A bit of a nor'easter but at least there's no rain predicted. I dunno what time I'll do because my training's been a bit haphazard of late. And there are plenty of decent riders there - check their line 2 times - so I could finish anywhere between 2nd and 10th. Richard Prebble is down to start and I can't see anyone beating him. But you never know I suppose.
I have to beat my 40km time of 55'47, which I set on two occasions in Oz in 1990, back when you used to be able to turn around on the F4 at Emu Plains. On one of those days, I remember Martin Renwick did a 50'31 (he had a proper TT bike) and wondering how on earth I could get that fast. I now realise the bike+kit is worth about 3 minutes. The rest is in the legs, so I'll likely discover that I haven't improved at all in 20 years. I had a vague recollection that he did well at one of the British national championships around that time, so he was and is no slouch.
The national 10 mile champs were last weekend. Michael Hutchinson destroyed everyone to win. Even allowing for the fact that it was a fast course on a fast day with a fair bit of traffic, 18'07 for 16.1km is extremely brisk. Only Wiggins (17'58) and Boardman (17'54 in a club event) have gone quicker in the UK. That sort of effort would require a power output between 440-460W, and Hutch is only 5kg heavier than me. He is in a league of his own on the UK TT circuit at the moment and will probably win the national 25 in just over a week.
Next year I'll try to do more national championships, as I will have the qualifying times for them. But this year I do want to ride the British Cycling national TT champs (British Cycling and the Road Time Trials Council are different organisations), which are in September over a 29 mile course in Gloucestershire. I hope some of the pros turn up. That would be cool.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
A punch up at the wedding
Polly has got it sorted and Simon is left holding the baby (Eva)© Simon's Mum
I like a good wedding. Everyone always looks the part, there's usually free grog and it's a happy occasion for the bride, groom and everyone else.
Cousin Polly's last weekend was a great occasion, with the reception being held in the House of Commons. Yep, that one. Owing to her dad Martin (also my cousin) being an MP, we got it to ourselves for the arvo, no doubt bringing the country to its knees for the duration. Martin showed us around the Chamber of Commons and the House of Lords and we voted 'no' on something. Well it was Saturday.
The Houses of Parliament in Westminster© Jeff Jones
I managed to get a hotel nearby called The Wellington that promised a lot more than it delivered. It overlooked a park and the exterior was quite nice in an ivy covered way. But the interior brought back memories of the badly named Hotel Adjacent Casino in Adelaide - a shabby and depressing '50-60s look. It also reminded me a bit of the Terry Gilliam film Brazil, with pipes and ducting running everywhere. The heating was turned up full blast, despite it being a relatively warm (if wet) day. I turned it off and probably caused an explosion in the basement.
I was 'upgraded' from a single to a double room, but I would have preferred to see as little of the inside as possible. Oh well, you get what you pay for I suppose. At least I had the foresight to beat the multitude of Germans and Russians to the breakfast room the next morning, otherwise I would have starved.
Martin and wife to be Sara. Note: Not part of this particular weddin'© Jeff Jones
The reception itself was far better. I caught up with several long lost relations, including cousins Robert and Sophie who I hadn't seen for 10 years (approx. 33 years in the case of Sophie). Robert actually didn't show up until 6pm, having overslept, but not too many noticed. And a cousin Philippa from what used to be Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe, and still a bloody mess. There were various other members of the Linton clan there but I think I was the only Jones. Some of the older set thought I was Hugh Laurie of House (and plenty of other things) fame but I disabused them of this notion.
It was, of course, good to see Polly and Simon with the knot securely tied. Food, drink and many photos followed. My skills as a photographer have improved so much that I completely missed getting the bride and groom, instead ending up with a blur. Then another blur. Then my batteries ran out and the spares were flat. I should concentrate on shooting wolverines in Sweden. Luckily someone else by the name of Simon's Mum had a camera.
Polly, of course, looked good© Simon's Mum
Martin and Polly© Simon's Mum
Polly had time for an autograph session too. Simon waits patiently.© Simon's Mum
Someone forgot to hire the limo© Simon's Mum
Martin's speech© Simon's Mum
Don't look at the camera. Cut the cake straight!© Simon's Mum
The first dance© Simon's Mum
The entry hall innit© Jeff Jones
I don't believe I managed to get the bride or the groom in the frame. Obviously I need a bigger lens. Pass the wine.© Jeff Jones
Note: there wasn't a Punch-Up At The Wedding but that's the only appropriately-themed song I have. It's better than Myxomatosis.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Seven seconds
The great wheel turns.
Last week, I lost by seven seconds; this week I won by the same margin. And broke the course record in doing so, which was rather nice. To say that I am happy with this result would be an understatement, but I will say it anyway because I approve of understatement.
The Somer Valley course is probably the least interesting of the eight hardriders courses I've done so far, as it's all on non-technical but very dead A roads. It still has a fair whack of climbing: 600m in 46.5km, which is as much as Cheltenham but over a longer distance.
The course record was 1:05:42, which I thought I could break. But only because after plotting it on Bikely, I initially thought it was 43km, not 46.5km. Less than 40km/h on A roads? Easy!
When I rode it, I realised I'd got the starting point wrong and it was indeed 46.5km...
It's best described as 'rolling' but there were a couple of hills where I needed the small chainring. And the finish was gradually uphill, so it was important to go out conservatively save something for the final dig.
My pacing was a lot better than last week. Each of the climbs took several quanta of energy out of my legs but I still had more than enough in the tank for the last couple. The finish was really difficult to judge - both Gavin P and I found that. We were expecting it to be tougher than it was and both of us could have gone a bit harder. Anyway, it was nice not to be written off by the end.
I checked my clock and it read 1:05:26 so I knew I'd broken the record. But the conditions were so good that I thought Gavin could do it too. When we got the official times it turned out we both did: me with 1:05:31 and him with 1:05:38. Another tight race! I finished with the princely sum of 57 quid for winning, breaking the record and the team win with Simon Snowden and Robbie Richardson.
PowerTap said: 320W average, 328 normalised. So a higher absolute average than in Cheltenham, but a lower normalised one. I'd like to bump that up to 350W for an hour and 370 for 20min, but I don't usually hit peak fitness until June. Of course I may be close to it now, given recent results. It's tough to compare a time trial power output to that on a road bike, where you tend to produce more but go slower.
I can't exactly complain with the way this season has started. It's somewhat better than last year, or possibly any year in terms of results. In opens so far, I've notched up four wins, eight team wins, two 2nds, a 3rd, two 4ths, a 9th and a 12th (at Castle Combe). I'm leading the WTTA series and have a slight edge over Gavin P, who may only ride one of the remaining four events as he has a growing family.
Next up: a 25 miler in June where I think 52 minutes is doable. Then a few sportives, including Paris-Roubaix, Franja and hopefully the Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge (must enter). Then one hardriders TT in July before resuming in earnest in August and racing through until mid-October. I'll even do a road race.
I must say I like it when it's above 20 degrees. The weather has finally managed to do that. Well done, bravo, etc.
Song of the day: there were a few, but "Seven Seconds" wasn't one of them. There was some PJ Harvey, possibly.
Cora and Clarice: On the bike path, I occasionally see a pair of identical twins doing their morning constitutional. The two women look to be in their 50s, have the same hairstyle and matching iPods. They walk side by side and don't acknowledge your existence, never moving an inch even when they can see you coming towards them. I suspect they are Lord Sepulchrave's sisters and are plotting to burn down the Bath municipal library and dreaming of power, possibly.
Last week, I lost by seven seconds; this week I won by the same margin. And broke the course record in doing so, which was rather nice. To say that I am happy with this result would be an understatement, but I will say it anyway because I approve of understatement.
The Somer Valley course is probably the least interesting of the eight hardriders courses I've done so far, as it's all on non-technical but very dead A roads. It still has a fair whack of climbing: 600m in 46.5km, which is as much as Cheltenham but over a longer distance.
The course record was 1:05:42, which I thought I could break. But only because after plotting it on Bikely, I initially thought it was 43km, not 46.5km. Less than 40km/h on A roads? Easy!
When I rode it, I realised I'd got the starting point wrong and it was indeed 46.5km...
It's best described as 'rolling' but there were a couple of hills where I needed the small chainring. And the finish was gradually uphill, so it was important to go out conservatively save something for the final dig.
My pacing was a lot better than last week. Each of the climbs took several quanta of energy out of my legs but I still had more than enough in the tank for the last couple. The finish was really difficult to judge - both Gavin P and I found that. We were expecting it to be tougher than it was and both of us could have gone a bit harder. Anyway, it was nice not to be written off by the end.
I checked my clock and it read 1:05:26 so I knew I'd broken the record. But the conditions were so good that I thought Gavin could do it too. When we got the official times it turned out we both did: me with 1:05:31 and him with 1:05:38. Another tight race! I finished with the princely sum of 57 quid for winning, breaking the record and the team win with Simon Snowden and Robbie Richardson.
PowerTap said: 320W average, 328 normalised. So a higher absolute average than in Cheltenham, but a lower normalised one. I'd like to bump that up to 350W for an hour and 370 for 20min, but I don't usually hit peak fitness until June. Of course I may be close to it now, given recent results. It's tough to compare a time trial power output to that on a road bike, where you tend to produce more but go slower.
I can't exactly complain with the way this season has started. It's somewhat better than last year, or possibly any year in terms of results. In opens so far, I've notched up four wins, eight team wins, two 2nds, a 3rd, two 4ths, a 9th and a 12th (at Castle Combe). I'm leading the WTTA series and have a slight edge over Gavin P, who may only ride one of the remaining four events as he has a growing family.
Next up: a 25 miler in June where I think 52 minutes is doable. Then a few sportives, including Paris-Roubaix, Franja and hopefully the Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge (must enter). Then one hardriders TT in July before resuming in earnest in August and racing through until mid-October. I'll even do a road race.
I must say I like it when it's above 20 degrees. The weather has finally managed to do that. Well done, bravo, etc.
Song of the day: there were a few, but "Seven Seconds" wasn't one of them. There was some PJ Harvey, possibly.
Cora and Clarice: On the bike path, I occasionally see a pair of identical twins doing their morning constitutional. The two women look to be in their 50s, have the same hairstyle and matching iPods. They walk side by side and don't acknowledge your existence, never moving an inch even when they can see you coming towards them. I suspect they are Lord Sepulchrave's sisters and are plotting to burn down the Bath municipal library and dreaming of power, possibly.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Close...
But cigarillos were scarce in the Cheltenham hilly today. At least I was beaten by a clubmate, with Ben Anstie doing a very good ride to pip me by seven seconds. He always beats me on the flat but normally I have the edge over him on a hilly course. But after giving him some advice on how to ride them, he has turned the tables :-) He should do a good ride in the national 10 in two weeks.
We were nearly two minutes in front of third place, so it was convincing. And with Simon Snowden finishing six minutes down on us, we easily won the team prize. Seven and counting, plus Chippenham also won the team prize in Clevedon on Sunday.
Alas, the weather gods were not on side today. The forecast was for a dry morning with temps around 15 and not a lot of wind - ideal really. But there was an overnight band of rain didn't move at all, so we ended up with very soggy conditions and large puddles everywhere. Ben said it was exactly the same last year, and he destroyed the bearings in his Corima disk as a result.
The course was two laps of an 18.7km circuit with 300m of climbing a lap: one steepish 1km climb, one less steep 1km drag and one 3km drag at 3% to the finish. A few sharp corners and fast descents into the mix too. Course record: 54'49 by a certain Stuart Dangerfield, back when he was winning national championships.
I sussed out a lap time of about 29 minutes and when I looked at the start sheet I realised that Ben, who was off 30 minutes before me, had a good chance of passing me just before I started. Bugger, as it's a distraction. Seeding is meant to stop this but I'm not sure how closely the organiser looked at Ben and my recent results, which we put on the entry form.
Bang on schedule, Ben passed the starter for his second lap as I had about half a minute to go. He was out of sight when I started but, being fresher, I had almost reeled him in by foot of the first climb after 8km. I went straight past him on the climb, heart rate hitting 188, and would have put 10 seconds into him. But at the bottom of the descent into Lower Swell (oo err) he flew past me - I wasn't going slow either, averaging nearly 60km/h down there.
Of course, as soon as the road went up again I re-passed Ben and was now just behind my minute man, Derek Smetham, who being a habitual top finisher had been given a '0' number to denote a seed. Last time they put me behind Derek was in Gillingham, where I didn't quite catch him, so I guess I was doing better today.
There was a narrow, muddy dogleg before we turned back onto the main road towards the finish. I took it steady, so Ben came by flat out again. His bike handling is far superior to mine, and that was the difference between us today. We passed Derek but I let Ben stay in front until the end of the lap. I had to drop back 25m behind him and ride in the middle of the road otherwise there would be accusations of drafting, and that's the last thing I wanted.
My concentration had completely gone by this point and my legs weren't doing much better. The second lap, with its long steady downhill start, couldn't come soon enough and I relaxed again, enjoying the open road in front of me. I'd got to halfway in around 29min but realised I'd have to do a really good second lap to match Ben's effort.
I hit the 1km climb and with hindsight realised I'd overcooked it on lap 1. I did it in 2'43 at 411W on the first lap, but only 3'03 at 370W this time. Ouch. I had to slow right down at the bottom of the following descent (give way sign, but it's marshalled and quiet) as there was a car coming down the narrow lane towards me. Then it was a matter of getting through the dog leg, back onto the main road and up the long drag to the finish.
The last part was full of hurt. Even more than the Dursley. When I analysed it later, my last 9km was done in the same time as it was on the first lap, which was good, but the pain factor was magnified a lot. Computers don't tell you this. The three kilometre drag is dead straight and has two flat spots, but of course you don't get any recovery. The final part steepens and you can't quite see the finish until you get over the brow of the hill.
It just kept going. It was like doing the national hill climb at the end of a 35km time trial. It was the toughest finish I've had this year and when it was over it took me a long while to pedal again.
I didn't think I'd done enough to beat Ben and this was confirmed at the HQ: he had 58'32 (a big improvement on his 1:01+ last year), me 58'39. Chris Madge slotted into third with 1:00:18 and Derek Smetham fourth with 1:01:03. We both had good rides but that was by far Ben's best result in a hilly. It must be all the road racing he's doing ;-)
Poor ol' Mark Wareham crashed on the corner at the end of the first lap. His hand slipped off his bars (no bar tape) and he lost it. He was able to drive home OK so I don't think he was too badly hurt.
RealStats: I averaged 318W on the PowerTap but with a normalised power (supposed to be a better idea of the physiological workload - on a flat course, normalised power is usually the same as average power) of 338W. So slightly harder but for three times as long as the Ba'ath 10 on Saturday. I'm not sure how that compares with the Dursley because that (303W/328NP) was done with the dodgy Ergomo. My heart rate averaged 180bpm - several beats higher than usual, not that it tells you a lot.
Cake and restorative tea followed, then the long drive back to Chippenham with Simon. Tell you what, Cheltenham is a nice part of the world.
It's the last hardrider for a while next week: the Somer Valley 29 miler, but not particularly hilly. Gavin Poupart will be back. With the form I've got now, I have a small but finite chance of beating him. I have to if I want to win the series because most of the remaining events suit him rather than me.
I will finish with a historical fact: If Mel Gibson could have run faster, or indeed had had a mountain bike, not nearly as many Aussies would have got it in the Nek at Gallipoli.
We were nearly two minutes in front of third place, so it was convincing. And with Simon Snowden finishing six minutes down on us, we easily won the team prize. Seven and counting, plus Chippenham also won the team prize in Clevedon on Sunday.
Alas, the weather gods were not on side today. The forecast was for a dry morning with temps around 15 and not a lot of wind - ideal really. But there was an overnight band of rain didn't move at all, so we ended up with very soggy conditions and large puddles everywhere. Ben said it was exactly the same last year, and he destroyed the bearings in his Corima disk as a result.
The course was two laps of an 18.7km circuit with 300m of climbing a lap: one steepish 1km climb, one less steep 1km drag and one 3km drag at 3% to the finish. A few sharp corners and fast descents into the mix too. Course record: 54'49 by a certain Stuart Dangerfield, back when he was winning national championships.
I sussed out a lap time of about 29 minutes and when I looked at the start sheet I realised that Ben, who was off 30 minutes before me, had a good chance of passing me just before I started. Bugger, as it's a distraction. Seeding is meant to stop this but I'm not sure how closely the organiser looked at Ben and my recent results, which we put on the entry form.
Bang on schedule, Ben passed the starter for his second lap as I had about half a minute to go. He was out of sight when I started but, being fresher, I had almost reeled him in by foot of the first climb after 8km. I went straight past him on the climb, heart rate hitting 188, and would have put 10 seconds into him. But at the bottom of the descent into Lower Swell (oo err) he flew past me - I wasn't going slow either, averaging nearly 60km/h down there.
Of course, as soon as the road went up again I re-passed Ben and was now just behind my minute man, Derek Smetham, who being a habitual top finisher had been given a '0' number to denote a seed. Last time they put me behind Derek was in Gillingham, where I didn't quite catch him, so I guess I was doing better today.
There was a narrow, muddy dogleg before we turned back onto the main road towards the finish. I took it steady, so Ben came by flat out again. His bike handling is far superior to mine, and that was the difference between us today. We passed Derek but I let Ben stay in front until the end of the lap. I had to drop back 25m behind him and ride in the middle of the road otherwise there would be accusations of drafting, and that's the last thing I wanted.
My concentration had completely gone by this point and my legs weren't doing much better. The second lap, with its long steady downhill start, couldn't come soon enough and I relaxed again, enjoying the open road in front of me. I'd got to halfway in around 29min but realised I'd have to do a really good second lap to match Ben's effort.
I hit the 1km climb and with hindsight realised I'd overcooked it on lap 1. I did it in 2'43 at 411W on the first lap, but only 3'03 at 370W this time. Ouch. I had to slow right down at the bottom of the following descent (give way sign, but it's marshalled and quiet) as there was a car coming down the narrow lane towards me. Then it was a matter of getting through the dog leg, back onto the main road and up the long drag to the finish.
The last part was full of hurt. Even more than the Dursley. When I analysed it later, my last 9km was done in the same time as it was on the first lap, which was good, but the pain factor was magnified a lot. Computers don't tell you this. The three kilometre drag is dead straight and has two flat spots, but of course you don't get any recovery. The final part steepens and you can't quite see the finish until you get over the brow of the hill.
It just kept going. It was like doing the national hill climb at the end of a 35km time trial. It was the toughest finish I've had this year and when it was over it took me a long while to pedal again.
I didn't think I'd done enough to beat Ben and this was confirmed at the HQ: he had 58'32 (a big improvement on his 1:01+ last year), me 58'39. Chris Madge slotted into third with 1:00:18 and Derek Smetham fourth with 1:01:03. We both had good rides but that was by far Ben's best result in a hilly. It must be all the road racing he's doing ;-)
Poor ol' Mark Wareham crashed on the corner at the end of the first lap. His hand slipped off his bars (no bar tape) and he lost it. He was able to drive home OK so I don't think he was too badly hurt.
RealStats: I averaged 318W on the PowerTap but with a normalised power (supposed to be a better idea of the physiological workload - on a flat course, normalised power is usually the same as average power) of 338W. So slightly harder but for three times as long as the Ba'ath 10 on Saturday. I'm not sure how that compares with the Dursley because that (303W/328NP) was done with the dodgy Ergomo. My heart rate averaged 180bpm - several beats higher than usual, not that it tells you a lot.
Cake and restorative tea followed, then the long drive back to Chippenham with Simon. Tell you what, Cheltenham is a nice part of the world.
It's the last hardrider for a while next week: the Somer Valley 29 miler, but not particularly hilly. Gavin Poupart will be back. With the form I've got now, I have a small but finite chance of beating him. I have to if I want to win the series because most of the remaining events suit him rather than me.
I will finish with a historical fact: If Mel Gibson could have run faster, or indeed had had a mountain bike, not nearly as many Aussies would have got it in the Nek at Gallipoli.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Vindication #2
It is happening again. And I'm not talking about repeats of Twin Peaks.
No, far more importantly, the Ergomo has come out lower than the Powertap in a race-type situation. 306W on the Ergomo compared to 335W on the Powertap in the Ba'ath 10. That's nearly 10 percent! I'd even made sure I set the offset just before starting, but to no avail. Weirdly, if I included the warmup and cooldown, the power averages were a lot closer.
I'll try to find out what's wrong with the Ergomo, although it'll be nice not to use it on Monday as it's quite a bulky unit. But it's orange and matches my skinsuit, unlike the yellow Powertap (which would almost match Bath CC's ONCE colours).
The U47 course was bloody fast, and it made a nice change to ride on smooth roads with a bit of traffic assistance. I managed 20'46 for 9th out of 114 starters, which I was quite happy with. The winner did 19'23, and was surprisingly the only rider to go under 20 minutes. Ben A did 20'27 for 4th and Andy C did 21'53, so we won the team prize. Number six for me+Chippenham this year. Simon S did 22'05 but his head wasn't in it after racing three times this week.
It was hard to hold back on such a course, but I managed to keep enough in reserve so that it never actually hurt, and my average heart rate was about 5-6bpm lower than it would normally be. I think a full on effort would have netted me another 15 seconds or so, which wouldn't have been enough for the podium anyway so I'm not too worried. Monday is more important.
Splits: first 8.5km in 11'05 (slightly downhill but a light headwind, two roundabouts and one left hander). Last 7.6km in 9'40 (tailwind, no turns, bit of an uphill at the end). I was off at 8:11am so while there was a bit of traffic, it wasn't heavy.
There's a 25 miler on a version of this course in June, which I definitely want to do. I was riding slower than 25 mile pace today, so if I got a similar day I could do something in the region of 52 minutes. Our club record is 52'20, so it's something to aim at [Our club 10 record is 20'03, but it was done in 1983 - before disks and tribars].
I could have a go on the R25/3 in Wales, which is even quicker than this course because it has a downhill start but no uphill finish. It's not cheating because the rules allow for it, but the whole "personal best" concept is a bit arbitrary when you have courses like these! Not to mention the British Best All Rounder, which is based on your average speed in a 10, 25, 50, 100 and 12hr. A national championship or a national points series, like the Rudy Project rounds, are a much fairer way of determining who's best.
Chocolate 'n stuff
To matters of import, I returned to Morrison's to source some more chocolate. By a strange (but not deliberate) coincidence, I was served by the same employee who had given me the third degree a couple of weeks ago. I was able to remain incognito, probably because I only bought one block. But I must be more careful in future.
I see Boris Johnson got in as mayor of London, which goes to show that anyone can succeed in politics. They say he's the first conservative mayor of London ever. I hope he'll be as pro-cycling as 'Red Ken'. Time will tell innit.
Song of the day: Blade Runner blues. Tres relaxing.
Weather: not currently raining. In fact, it was pretty noice today. Hence, it gets mentioned at the end of this BilgeProductionTM.
No, far more importantly, the Ergomo has come out lower than the Powertap in a race-type situation. 306W on the Ergomo compared to 335W on the Powertap in the Ba'ath 10. That's nearly 10 percent! I'd even made sure I set the offset just before starting, but to no avail. Weirdly, if I included the warmup and cooldown, the power averages were a lot closer.
I'll try to find out what's wrong with the Ergomo, although it'll be nice not to use it on Monday as it's quite a bulky unit. But it's orange and matches my skinsuit, unlike the yellow Powertap (which would almost match Bath CC's ONCE colours).
The U47 course was bloody fast, and it made a nice change to ride on smooth roads with a bit of traffic assistance. I managed 20'46 for 9th out of 114 starters, which I was quite happy with. The winner did 19'23, and was surprisingly the only rider to go under 20 minutes. Ben A did 20'27 for 4th and Andy C did 21'53, so we won the team prize. Number six for me+Chippenham this year. Simon S did 22'05 but his head wasn't in it after racing three times this week.
It was hard to hold back on such a course, but I managed to keep enough in reserve so that it never actually hurt, and my average heart rate was about 5-6bpm lower than it would normally be. I think a full on effort would have netted me another 15 seconds or so, which wouldn't have been enough for the podium anyway so I'm not too worried. Monday is more important.
Splits: first 8.5km in 11'05 (slightly downhill but a light headwind, two roundabouts and one left hander). Last 7.6km in 9'40 (tailwind, no turns, bit of an uphill at the end). I was off at 8:11am so while there was a bit of traffic, it wasn't heavy.
There's a 25 miler on a version of this course in June, which I definitely want to do. I was riding slower than 25 mile pace today, so if I got a similar day I could do something in the region of 52 minutes. Our club record is 52'20, so it's something to aim at [Our club 10 record is 20'03, but it was done in 1983 - before disks and tribars].
I could have a go on the R25/3 in Wales, which is even quicker than this course because it has a downhill start but no uphill finish. It's not cheating because the rules allow for it, but the whole "personal best" concept is a bit arbitrary when you have courses like these! Not to mention the British Best All Rounder, which is based on your average speed in a 10, 25, 50, 100 and 12hr. A national championship or a national points series, like the Rudy Project rounds, are a much fairer way of determining who's best.
Chocolate 'n stuff
To matters of import, I returned to Morrison's to source some more chocolate. By a strange (but not deliberate) coincidence, I was served by the same employee who had given me the third degree a couple of weeks ago. I was able to remain incognito, probably because I only bought one block. But I must be more careful in future.
I see Boris Johnson got in as mayor of London, which goes to show that anyone can succeed in politics. They say he's the first conservative mayor of London ever. I hope he'll be as pro-cycling as 'Red Ken'. Time will tell innit.
Song of the day: Blade Runner blues. Tres relaxing.
Weather: not currently raining. In fact, it was pretty noice today. Hence, it gets mentioned at the end of this BilgeProductionTM.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Vindication (Ergomo vs. PowerTap)
My long held (well, at least since March) suspicions have been confirmed. Under certain but fairly common conditions, the power readings from my Ergomo tend to drift downwards during a ride. It's to do with the bottom bracket shell cooling down over time, because the Ergomo measures deflections in the bottom bracket axle to calculate power.
You have to zero it before each ride, but as I've found, a temperature change during the ride can throw it out by ~20 watts. This will do your head in if you're trying to use it for pacing a time trial effort. Your average power continues to drop even when you know you're putting in more, or are at least pacing yourself evenly. And then you start to Doubt, which is not being good for the time trialling. Ja.
Today I was able to compare the Ergomo with readings from a PowerTap SL 2.4, which I understand is not subject to these sorts of variations. On a pootle up the bike path, I recorded several intervals, and found that the early ones were consistent across the PT and the Ergomo - to a few watts. But the later ones showed that 20 watt difference, with the PowerTap always giving the higher readout.
This doesn't always happen with the Ergomo, but it does seem to show in races more than training. Maybe the higher speeds are cooling down the bottom bracket? And today the path was wet, which wouldn't have helped. I'm not sure.
I'll use both in the Bath 10 on Saturday. I've going to ride it at 90% effort (aiming for 290-300 watts) and the PT should give me a reliable rolling average.
What I like about the Ergomo is that it's crank based, so you don't need different wheels with PT hubs in order to collect data.
On the other hand, if you have different wheels built from PT hubs, then you can easily use the PT on different bikes.
I like the display of the Ergomo too, as it gives you five readings instead of three on the PT. So you can display current power, average power, cadence (or speed), heart rate, and time. On the PT, you can only display current/average power, heart rate/speed and time/distance/cadence unless you want to fiddle around navigating the buttons while you're racing.
But I love the simplicity of the PowerTap. All it is is a computer and a hub. No sensor, no cables, nothing. The Ergomo has a wire from the bottom bracket to the rather large computer. If I had to pick, I'd probably go for the PT 'cos it's cheaper and seems to give more reliable data.
You have to zero it before each ride, but as I've found, a temperature change during the ride can throw it out by ~20 watts. This will do your head in if you're trying to use it for pacing a time trial effort. Your average power continues to drop even when you know you're putting in more, or are at least pacing yourself evenly. And then you start to Doubt, which is not being good for the time trialling. Ja.
Today I was able to compare the Ergomo with readings from a PowerTap SL 2.4, which I understand is not subject to these sorts of variations. On a pootle up the bike path, I recorded several intervals, and found that the early ones were consistent across the PT and the Ergomo - to a few watts. But the later ones showed that 20 watt difference, with the PowerTap always giving the higher readout.
This doesn't always happen with the Ergomo, but it does seem to show in races more than training. Maybe the higher speeds are cooling down the bottom bracket? And today the path was wet, which wouldn't have helped. I'm not sure.
I'll use both in the Bath 10 on Saturday. I've going to ride it at 90% effort (aiming for 290-300 watts) and the PT should give me a reliable rolling average.
What I like about the Ergomo is that it's crank based, so you don't need different wheels with PT hubs in order to collect data.
On the other hand, if you have different wheels built from PT hubs, then you can easily use the PT on different bikes.
I like the display of the Ergomo too, as it gives you five readings instead of three on the PT. So you can display current power, average power, cadence (or speed), heart rate, and time. On the PT, you can only display current/average power, heart rate/speed and time/distance/cadence unless you want to fiddle around navigating the buttons while you're racing.
But I love the simplicity of the PowerTap. All it is is a computer and a hub. No sensor, no cables, nothing. The Ergomo has a wire from the bottom bracket to the rather large computer. If I had to pick, I'd probably go for the PT 'cos it's cheaper and seems to give more reliable data.
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