I) It's heating up around here. 29 degs by the end of the week, which almost qualifies as warm.
II) I managed the Dave Lloyd (240km + 30km to Wrexham station!) in a tad over 9 hours this year, including 5km going off course 'cos someone had turned a sign around... It only rained lightly for four hours this year. A biggish feature will make it into Cycling Plus.
III) The Dave Lloyd was on Sunday and I felt as though I'd been nailed to the bed on Monday (didn't ride). Tuesday was a bit better and on Wednesday I did the club 25 mile champs. I managed to get around in 55'36 to win - a bit slower than last time (55'13), similar power, but the wind was in the opposite direction, so the start was 5km of headwind instead of tailwind. Ben was second in 56'14 and Simon Snowden third in 58'52.
IV) I did the Bristol South 50 on a warm but calm Saturday evening. Started at 6:40pm and finished approx 1:44:05 later. Good - a new club record and better than my 1:45:19 on that course last year - but alas not good enough to do better than fourth. Only 291W average though, which was a little disappointing. I'd have needed a bit over 300 to win.
But I'm aiming to peak a little later this year - last year I was knocking out 335-340W/hour in July and August, but tailed off a little in Sept. This year I'd prefer to have a stronger September, so will do some proper training in July. We shall see! I have seemingly more than made up for the lack of power with aero improvements, which is promising.
V) Been busy.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Go faster stripes
I like time trialling because it feeds my numerical obsession. But sometimes it can be confusing. Pinning down why you're fast on a particular day when you're not on another should be a matter of power and aerodynamics, but sometimes there are things that you can't explain easily.
I've done two 25 milers in the last week. Both were largely on dragstrip-type dual carriageway courses, both had a moderate amount of traffic and wind, similar air pressure, and I averaged exactly the same power for both (314W).
One was the nationals, where I did 54'49 for 43rd. The other was the Dursley 25 on Saturday evening, where I flew around to win in 50'49 - a new personal best and club record, and I think the second fastest time ever on the U46B (Richard Prebble has done 50'02 on it). Interestingly, my old PB of 52'02 was set on the same course last year in June with almost the same power output (315W).
The other interesting thing is that I put 1'30-1'50 into riders who beat me or finished close to me at the nationals. Had I done that in Norwich, I'd have been top 15. So there was a relative gain as well as an absolute one, but for no extra power. What gives?
Some of the absolute gain is explainable. The nationals course was about 0'30-1'00 slower because of the two sets of right hand turns and the roundabout that I had to slow for each lap 'cos of traffic. Plus it was a headwind/tailwind at the nationals and about 12 degrees, whereas it was a crosswind and 18 degrees in the Dursley event. Crosswinds are faster when you've got an aero frame and disk, 'cos of the sail effect. What's that worth? It'll have to be another 2'00, but I suspect I'm being generous.
I made a couple of equipment changes too: I pumped up the tyres to ~140psi instead of ~110 (only good if you've got good roads). I finally got to use my newly purchased Zipp 808 with a Planet X FMB tubular on it - definitely quicker than my usual Zipp 404 + clincher. The tyre/wheel combination makes a lovely singing sound as you ride along. Unfortunately it didn't drown out the song that was going through my head: Hit Me Baby One More Time, by the much misunderstood chanteuse Britney Spears. Don't ask me how that got there 'cos I don't know.
I also bought a Specialized aero bottle, which although it was tilted to one side probably provided a bit of a fairing compared to a normal bottle. I got some new Pearl Izumi shoe covers - a bit better than my rather tatty lycra ones. And I mounted my computer on the top tube, which was more aero but resulted in a bruised left knee 'cos I kept hitting it on the upstroke. Bit of a fail there.
Finally I was riding in new shoes and had abstained from alcohol for a whole week. Shocking I know. But neither seemed to affect my power output, which is a Good Thing.
So that's the other 1'00-1'30 in absolute and relative terms. Well, it'll have to be.
Pacing wise, from a power perspective I was about the same in the Dursley as I was at the nationals. Speed wise, I seemed to get faster in the Dursley despite dropping power, so I dunno what was going on there 'cos the traffic would have been getting lighter towards the end of my ride (I started at 6pm, finished at 6:50). But I do remember in the first 8km I was getting used to riding the 808 at speed (it's deeper so it wobbles more in a crosswind), so would have been putting out more power than necessary. On the second lap I'd figured out how to stop it moving around so much.
My splits were nice and even: 10miles/16.1km in 20'18, 12.5miles/20.1km in 25'25, 15miles/24.1km in 30'34, 25 miles/40.2km in 50'49. So the last 10 miles was about the same as the first 10, allowing for the standing start.
It was nice to win against a full field anyway, and points to some faster times later in the year. Also good to see Robin do his first race for Chippenham (54'06), as well as 13 year-old Luke Davies knock four minutes off his best to clock 1'05'14. He reckons he's raced six times in the last eight days, so it's obviously knocking him into shape.
Next up: the Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge next weekend (jeez I hope it doesn't rain again). It's now 240km and finishes at the top of a steep hill. Plus I'll have to ride to Wrexham station afterwards, so it could be a 270km day.
The weekend after that, I'm doing a 50 mile TT (a similar course to yesterday's 25), then the next week a 10, again on a similar course. The aim is to go under 20 minutes for that 10...
I've done two 25 milers in the last week. Both were largely on dragstrip-type dual carriageway courses, both had a moderate amount of traffic and wind, similar air pressure, and I averaged exactly the same power for both (314W).
One was the nationals, where I did 54'49 for 43rd. The other was the Dursley 25 on Saturday evening, where I flew around to win in 50'49 - a new personal best and club record, and I think the second fastest time ever on the U46B (Richard Prebble has done 50'02 on it). Interestingly, my old PB of 52'02 was set on the same course last year in June with almost the same power output (315W).
The other interesting thing is that I put 1'30-1'50 into riders who beat me or finished close to me at the nationals. Had I done that in Norwich, I'd have been top 15. So there was a relative gain as well as an absolute one, but for no extra power. What gives?
Some of the absolute gain is explainable. The nationals course was about 0'30-1'00 slower because of the two sets of right hand turns and the roundabout that I had to slow for each lap 'cos of traffic. Plus it was a headwind/tailwind at the nationals and about 12 degrees, whereas it was a crosswind and 18 degrees in the Dursley event. Crosswinds are faster when you've got an aero frame and disk, 'cos of the sail effect. What's that worth? It'll have to be another 2'00, but I suspect I'm being generous.
I made a couple of equipment changes too: I pumped up the tyres to ~140psi instead of ~110 (only good if you've got good roads). I finally got to use my newly purchased Zipp 808 with a Planet X FMB tubular on it - definitely quicker than my usual Zipp 404 + clincher. The tyre/wheel combination makes a lovely singing sound as you ride along. Unfortunately it didn't drown out the song that was going through my head: Hit Me Baby One More Time, by the much misunderstood chanteuse Britney Spears. Don't ask me how that got there 'cos I don't know.
I also bought a Specialized aero bottle, which although it was tilted to one side probably provided a bit of a fairing compared to a normal bottle. I got some new Pearl Izumi shoe covers - a bit better than my rather tatty lycra ones. And I mounted my computer on the top tube, which was more aero but resulted in a bruised left knee 'cos I kept hitting it on the upstroke. Bit of a fail there.
Finally I was riding in new shoes and had abstained from alcohol for a whole week. Shocking I know. But neither seemed to affect my power output, which is a Good Thing.
So that's the other 1'00-1'30 in absolute and relative terms. Well, it'll have to be.
Pacing wise, from a power perspective I was about the same in the Dursley as I was at the nationals. Speed wise, I seemed to get faster in the Dursley despite dropping power, so I dunno what was going on there 'cos the traffic would have been getting lighter towards the end of my ride (I started at 6pm, finished at 6:50). But I do remember in the first 8km I was getting used to riding the 808 at speed (it's deeper so it wobbles more in a crosswind), so would have been putting out more power than necessary. On the second lap I'd figured out how to stop it moving around so much.
My splits were nice and even: 10miles/16.1km in 20'18, 12.5miles/20.1km in 25'25, 15miles/24.1km in 30'34, 25 miles/40.2km in 50'49. So the last 10 miles was about the same as the first 10, allowing for the standing start.
It was nice to win against a full field anyway, and points to some faster times later in the year. Also good to see Robin do his first race for Chippenham (54'06), as well as 13 year-old Luke Davies knock four minutes off his best to clock 1'05'14. He reckons he's raced six times in the last eight days, so it's obviously knocking him into shape.
Next up: the Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge next weekend (jeez I hope it doesn't rain again). It's now 240km and finishes at the top of a steep hill. Plus I'll have to ride to Wrexham station afterwards, so it could be a 270km day.
The weekend after that, I'm doing a 50 mile TT (a similar course to yesterday's 25), then the next week a 10, again on a similar course. The aim is to go under 20 minutes for that 10...
Sunday, June 07, 2009
National 25: not there yet
Average. That's probably the best description of my ride in the national 25 today. Not great, not bad, in fact pretty much bang on form. But still slow.
I clocked 54'49 for 43rd on a windy day, but when you consider the winner's time was a scorching 48'23, it wasn't much to blog home about. I'm still lacking about 20W compared to peak fitness, which is annoying because I feel as though I've been getting there in the last few weeks. Obviously not yet.
But there were a positive things: it didn't actually rain while I was racing, which was a bloody miracle considering the dire forecast. It absolutely chucked it down not long after I finished, and I'm so glad I wasn't out there in it.
It was also good to race against the best riders in the country. They were pretty much all there, bar a few. And while I really would have liked a top 30, I realise that I need to be in really decent shape to get it. Maybe next year.
Hutch was amazing. He did the first half in 25'10. That's 48km/h average mostly into a stiff headwind! By contrast, my halfway split was 29'10. That means he was taking 20 seconds per mile out of me! At least it was only 10 sec/mile on the way back.
Put it this way, even in top form I would have been only a minute faster. Top 25, yes, but an enormous gulf behind Hutch. I'll have to live with that. I may tone down the beer drinking activities for a bit until I get fit.
A good experience nonetheless and Ben (54'37 - 37th), his dad and I had a fun weekend. Norfolk is flat.
BikeRadar Live last weekend was brilliant. A lot of work but it was so nice to see so many people (8500) come along and look like they were enjoying themselves. Bigger, better, more next year.
I clocked 54'49 for 43rd on a windy day, but when you consider the winner's time was a scorching 48'23, it wasn't much to blog home about. I'm still lacking about 20W compared to peak fitness, which is annoying because I feel as though I've been getting there in the last few weeks. Obviously not yet.
But there were a positive things: it didn't actually rain while I was racing, which was a bloody miracle considering the dire forecast. It absolutely chucked it down not long after I finished, and I'm so glad I wasn't out there in it.
It was also good to race against the best riders in the country. They were pretty much all there, bar a few. And while I really would have liked a top 30, I realise that I need to be in really decent shape to get it. Maybe next year.
Hutch was amazing. He did the first half in 25'10. That's 48km/h average mostly into a stiff headwind! By contrast, my halfway split was 29'10. That means he was taking 20 seconds per mile out of me! At least it was only 10 sec/mile on the way back.
Put it this way, even in top form I would have been only a minute faster. Top 25, yes, but an enormous gulf behind Hutch. I'll have to live with that. I may tone down the beer drinking activities for a bit until I get fit.
A good experience nonetheless and Ben (54'37 - 37th), his dad and I had a fun weekend. Norfolk is flat.
BikeRadar Live last weekend was brilliant. A lot of work but it was so nice to see so many people (8500) come along and look like they were enjoying themselves. Bigger, better, more next year.
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