racetrack

Friday, did the 30 mile Racetrack loop. Pretty solid ride. Started off poorly when I got hung up at the light by Mile Run on 53rd ave. 90% of the time this light is green so when I have to stop for it it sucks. On the other hand I didn't have to stop on 441 going out or coming back in so that was cool. My watts on my 5 minute intervals were right on and I didn't crash or get a flat which is always a good thing.

The head wind I was fighting earlier turned into a tailwind on the way back into town and I was flying the flannel at >24mph. I buzzed to the finish right at 1:29. Not my best by any means but I good effort.

Today is Wednesday so I do the 3 minute intervals followed by the Glider ride. I decided to do the intervals on the trainer since it is safer than flying through rush hour traffic along the stretch of north 43rd ave I normally use. As a bonus I inflated the special trainer tire up to 120 psi. Remember my last post where I said my trainer watts were crazy low compared to my road watts? Of course you do. Well I had misread the directions and had only put 60 psi in the trainer tire. Apparently that contributed to my difficulties because I noticed an improvement immediately today. The stuff I said the other day about deceleration and loss of momentum on the upward stroke are still true, just much less significant. My 3 minute average watts were about 10% lower which is what most people report.

Now I had to get the trainer tire off, put my road tire on and make it to the group ride starting point. I had just bought a new road tire at B&M  and it was still in the package. New tires are stiff and flat and I could not get the son of a biscuit to seat on the rim to save my life. After struggling and running out of time I gave up and put an old extra tire I had on and took off.

Publix is the interim ride captain while the Ride Captain heals his fractured pelvis. The Guest Lecturer was there. Other than that it was really a motley crew. During my pull I was doing like 25mph but it was downhill with a tailwind and my power meter said my watts were around 220 which is about what I shoot for  when I am leading a group ride. Nevertheless Publix pulled up and told me to cool it. Later I tried to explain to the Semi about the power meter and how I'm actually not a maniacal jerk off, but base my efforts on maintaining a standard level of watts. I could tell he wasn't feeling it even though he teaches physics at UF. He said something about how I should have slowed down more through the turn from 43rd on to 441. The thing is I soft pedaled for like 20 seconds after that turn and looked back to make sure everyone was on.

 The last 4 miles heading back on 53rd ave were pretty sedate. The usual pace pushers were not there. The Guest Lecturer had dropped off a few minutes into the ride due to a stomach virus.

Toward the end I peeled off and went down the street that connects 53rd and 39th. It is a pretty cool road that goes between a bunch of neighborhoods. It's sandwiched parallel between 13th and 34th for those of care. Anyway I did one last  3 minute solo freak out on that road and called it a day.

All and all a decent day of riding. I was happy to get the watts sorted out on the trainer. Now I just need to put that new tire on.

The Trainer

Monday I was on a tight schedule so I broke out the trainer for its first session. It was 40 degrees out. I set up on the porch.  It was absolutely brutal. Within 10 minutes I was dripping sweat. I took off my t-shirt and gloves. The trainer was good. It was quiet and the pedaling was smooth. The thing I didn't realize was it is impossible to bike at the same watts on a trainer as on the road.

I had planned for riding for 27 minutes to replicate my Monday ride in Brooker. Last time out on the road I averaged 224 watts. On the trainer I only managed 172 watts. Not only that but those 172 watts killed me. Towards the end I was actually making this whimpering crying noises. I had to break the ride down in smaller minute increments and will myself  through each portion.

From reading online I gather that this is a common phenomenon. There are several reasons. The main one seems to be in the weaker 'dead spots' of the pedal stroke (the 6 to 11 o'clock part) the trainer wheel is still decelerating the bike tire at the same rate. This is unlike road biking where that doesn't occur as appreciably, thus allowing momentum a greater role in carrying the pedal through the dead spot. I did indeed feel my hamstrings working a lot harder to deliver the pedal up to the top.

This morning biking to work was a minefield of cars, pedestrians, debris. I had to slow down, swerve out into the grass, go out into traffic. I was running late as it was. Somehow I caught mostly green lights which helped my cause considerably. On the way home some dude passed me as I was crossing the intersection of 8th and 34th st. I was kind of tired and wanting to get home so I just tucked in right behind him and drafted off his ass all the way through 16th ave. I'm sure he found my close cycling annoying but everyone who knows me knows I'm not one to turn down free speed.

Did I mention my car is in the shop?

Flat

Did the Racetrack loop today. It was raining this morning and I thought I might have my inaugural ride on the trainer but the skies cleared up. I was feeling pretty decent. Halfway through the ride I realized that I had a shot at my one hour watts record. I never go all out for an hour so whenever I get near this  mark it's in the context of a longer ride. Anyway I had just finished one of my 5 minute intervals of harder riding. Usually at this point I back off some. I was only 13 minutes from  the hour mark so I kept going  at a pretty good clip cruising along 156th ave at a wind aided 23+ mph.

Soon after hitting the one hour point I felt the bike wobble and I had a flat. Changing the tire was no problem. I removed this piece of glass and was back on the road in about 10 minutes. The break had given my legs a chance to rest but mentally it had robbed me of some momentum. Turning on to 53rd ave I was greeted with a decent headwind that forced my fatigued legs down to 15 mph at times.

When I came home and crunched the data it showed I missed my one hour watt record by one lousy watt. Still not a bad ride.

After a hiatus from the Sempre I planned to rejoin the Glider ride today. First I had to do my interval workout. So I woke up early and stumbled into the fog. The solo workout was subpar. My glasses were all fogged up. The second interval was way low in the watts department, but I rebounded somewhat for the last two.

As for the Glider ride apparently the Ride Captain fractured his pelvis in last week's Glider ride (which had been moved to Thursday). It was one of those slow motion wrecks where he was virtually stopped and fell over right onto his side due to  another rider's screw up. Boss Hogg was there today and there was a special guest appearance from ... the Guest Lecture!. I hadn't seen the Guest Lecturer in some time. I'm not going to sugar coat this, he was fat. The guy had jowls. Man had he let himself go in like 6 months. I overheard him telling another rider that he needed to go on a diet. At the rate he's going he's going to look like one of these guys.

Most of the other usual suspects were there. Fifteen minutes into the ride some random dude gets a flat. We stop for a minute, but he tells us to go on without him. We depart but then someone says "Oh the parakeet and the dopplekeet went into the convenience store we were stopped at to use the bathroom." Really? Two things I have learned on group rides are cyclist love to overdress for weather that is not remotely cold (arm and leg warmers, are you kidding? it was over 60 this morning) and the average rider must have the bladder of an infant.

At  one point Boss Hogg and I were at the front. He was going a little  more hardcore than usual and we were averaging 240 watts for 10 minutes which for me is near a max effort. I was getting tired and he was half wheeling me which I didn't care about but according to ride etiquette is a big no no. Just then as if sent by a higher power some random dog ran out into the rode right in front of the Hogg. He had to slow way down and that gave me enough of a reprieve to finish out our pull.

In the home stretch speed up down 53rd ave I got dropped after doing a minute pull at a near max effort for me. Reattaching to the pack after pulling when I'm tired and everyone  is hauling ass is tough.

The indoor trainer arrived today. Went down to B&M and picked it up. I asked Paul  what bike brands B&M distribute (I know I could have just looked around the shop, but still). Paul got that gleam in his eye and he pulled it out of me that I was curious about time trial bikes. Next thing I knew I was looking at bike catalogs with Keith.

A Day to Forget

Wednesday. Rain was in the forecast so the Glider ride was of course canceled. I kept waiting for a window of opportunity to ride solo. Finally I left around 2PM. It was still drizzling. I was feeling good and I thought it was going to be a good ride. Didn't happen. The first 3 minute interval was ok. Then it started raining harder my glasses  and bike computer were wet. My shoes were squishing with each pedal stroke. I gamely tried to keep it together, but I wasn't feeling it and by the end I was just going through the motions.  I had originally planned to do the 30 mile ride afterward but the rain kept coming and I was freezing. It was a cold ride home.I was shivering worse than when it was 30 degrees.  I cleaned up the Sempre and put it up for a better day.

Earlier that morning I went to B&M and ordered I bike trainer for when it's raining, freezing, too dark to ride etc.

http://www.amazon.com/CycleOps-Fluid-Indoor-Bicycle-Trainer/dp/B000BT7HWY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326941657&sr=8-1

Riding a trainer can be super boring, but it beats missing a ride entirely or the miserable experience I had today.

Sundae Bloody Sundae

I suffered defeat Sunday afternoon trying to switch my pedals back between the Sempre and Cortina. They use different size allen wrench sizes and all I had for my cortina pedals was my pocket plastic allen wrench which could not deal with the Conan like force that B&M had used to lovingly put them on.

I sheepishly went back to B&M with both bikes. Michael pulled out this humongous pair of pliers and didn't even bother dealing with the allen wrench part. I said "It's a lot easier when you've got that giant tool to get them off." Without missing a beat Brian said, "You mean Michael"?

So I ordered the pedal wrench later, reasoning that  it would save me time and foot discomfort if I could swap out the pedals without having to take the bikes down to B&M.

Rode down to the Top with V tonight. Had the spicy tofu burrito which was back on the menu after a hiatus. Later we went  to Karma Cream and split a brownie sundae with 'Tin Roof' ice cream. It was cool but the place was overrun with staff from the Fine Print , a local "independent, progressive, student publication". This guy sitting near us was just the worst stereotypical elitist college kid mouthing off all kinds of opinions in the most obnoxious manner possible. Something about the tone of his voice and his condescending attitude made me want to pummel him endlessly. People who have barely scratched the surface of living life would be well served suppressing the urge to pontificate.

At least the sundae was awesome.