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.

15K

Drove out to Brooker again today to do my 15K loop. I wanted to better my time from last week. It is a great stretch of road. Pretty much deserted. Debris free. The road is very smooth. I felt like I was going faster than last week. I punched it out of the saddle going over the hills. I did the narrow turn around at the halfway point with a little more confidence. The thing is at the end of the ride I had only bettered my time by a measly 2 seconds. Which I guess is better than getting worse, but still. So I need to average at least 21mph for the course. Right now I stand at 20.4 which is not so good. Why am I doing this again?
Big time ride with the CoF this Saturday. Hot chocolate was consumed. There was a moment of truth when we contemplated turning around early due to 30 degree bone freezing temp. We soldiered on and crushed it.

Downtown

Rode downtown with V last night. Someone in a van honked at us on the little road that runs through GHS. They received a hearty return volley from the air horn. Saw this film Melancholia at the Hipp. I felt ill during the movie due to lack of food and all the jerky hand held camera work. Biking out in the night air afterward helped me feel better.

Still Raining, Still Dreaming

Wednesday- after a false start due to the ultimately unfounded fear of precipitation I embarked on my Glider-less ride. Remember that My Bloody Valentine EP "Glider"? That was a pretty good one.

Anyway I started out with my  3minute intervals x 4. My goal was to do them all at 260 watts and I did it. My legs were burning, I was huffing and puffing and my heart rate was near my max but that's the point right. Next week I'll go for 265 watts.

After the intervals I did my 30 mile Racetrack loop. My pace was significantly more casual than what I do on Fridays. Mainly because I was tired from the intervals. I threw in some 5 minute periods of harder riding (220 watts for those of you keeping score at home) just to mimic the group dynamic of when I take a turn pulling at the front.

The wind was absurd. 18mph according to the weather channel, but there were gusts where it was well over 20. My front wheel was getting knocked around quite a bit. There were times when I was just going 12 mph. I didn't much worry about it though. I just lowered the gear and kept the watts steady. At home I did some other exercises (chin ups, dips, step ups) and called it a day. I was pretty wiped and I still had to drive down to Ocala for this CPR recertification class

So dipping into this week's mailbag, I have a request to post a picture of my bikes. The one on the left is a 1955 Schwinn Tiger that belongs to my wife. It is rideable, but is awaiting some much needed TLC. The middle is the Sempre who despite an overinflated sense of importance ("born for performance" indeed) I have grown to love. Finally the Cortina is my workhorse commuter bike. Bianchi should have named it the Ashford and Simpson because it's solid as a rock.

Random notes

Today marked the triumphant return of Small Kid Huge Backpack (SKHB). For my newer readers let me explain. SKHB was this little kid with a preposterously oversized backpack overloaded with massive textbooks. The cumulative weight of which caused him to hunch over like a decrepit old man. He wore a perpetual scowl. I sleuthed that he attends Cornerstone Academy which is a Christian school by my house. He has been MIA for a while but this morning there he was, a little older and taller. Still with a giant backpack, slouching from the oppressive poundage. He looked as displeased as ever.

Hardcore fans of the Lone Biker blog will appreciate this deep cut. I have recently seen the shoegaze vampire boy that I mentioned last year waiting at his bus stop on 34th just north of University Ave. We have a thing were we subtly nod to each other. He seems to have put on a little weight and appears less pale and wane so I my need to come up with a new nickname.

Monday night biking home I witnessed a college age gentleman walk out of his house on 34th and urinate in his front yard. What is it with public urination lately? Was the backyard the designated spot for going number two?

When I came into work this morning Manic Monday was playing on the muzak. I used to imagine when they sing "He tells me in his bedroom voice/ C'mon honey, let's go make some noise" that it was Kim Gordon singing about Thurston. Like that was their code for getting it on except half the time they'd just go into the bedroom and wind up making actual noise with screaming feedback and kinky alternate tunings. Then I was sad thinking about how Kim and Thurston broke up and if they could break up what possible hope do the rest of us have?

Checking the cycling club list serve I see that the Glider ride captain has canceled tomorrow's ride because it might rain. He canceled last week's ride because it was too cold. One of the Gliders actually said when it's below freezing with the wind from cycling "it feels like 2 degrees." I thought to myself  "How would you like 2-grease deez nutz 'cause I'm going biking." Needless to say I'll figure out a way to ride tomorrow.

Hopefully I'll be riding with the CoF this Saturday. Last weekend one of the Sunrisers said he hadn't seen me before and wondered what I usually biked on Saturday. I told him I normally ride with one of the Netherlands' "leading lights" whose Nom De Bike is the Cyclist on Fire. He either was impressed or thought I was totally insane. Either way he left me alone for the rest of the ride.

Brooker

Drove a half hour out to Brooker where the site of the Gainesville Cycling Club time trial is held. The 15K loop was actually really nice. There is no bike lane but there was no traffic. It's an out and back loop through this rural neighborhood with a couple of brief hills. The road was smooth. I averaged 20.4 mph and 220 watts.

The downside is it takes so long to get out there so it's an extra hour out of my day. Also if anything happens to me it would be hard for anyone I know to find me. Still I think I'll make it my Monday loop for now. My immediate goal is to average 21mph.

Oh and there were inmates working on the road as well which made my a little nervous being so secluded but it was all right.

Sunrisers

With the Cyclist on Fire out of town I opted to ride with the Sunrisers Saturday morning. Regular readers of this blog are well-acquainted with my former arch-nemesis, Boss Hogg. The Sunrisers are Boss Hogg's cycling group. So all the local cycling groups, like classic Mastodon albums have a concept. The idea behind the Sunrisers is they start as early as safely possible (aka sunrise-7:30 AM currently), they ride a 39 mile loop with no stops or breaks so the ride is over by 9:30.  That appeals to me. I'm not one of those people whose social calendar revolves around riding on the back county roads babbling about tires and gloves with some dopes for 5 hours.

The beginning of the ride was unremarkable. They were riding at the same pace as the Gliders. Publix was there and he was  huffing and puffing- not faring well for some reason. About 40 minutes into the ride one guy takes off sprinting  and the group splinters. I speed up some but don't really give chase. Anyway a few minutes later up at the next intersection of county roads everyone is stopped and 4 dudes have their pants pulled down taking leaks. Seriously?  Did they not pee before they left home? So much for the "no breaks" Sunrisers because now we are just standing there. They should change their name to the Urinators and get sponsored by Flomax.

This is where it gets weirder. So we start up again. I start pedaling and there is another dude by me. The rest of the group never catches up. I don't know what is going on. I'm riding fairly slowly, the other dude starts to speed up. I let him go and finally I give up trying to figure out what is happening with the other rider and just go up to my normal speed.

It is foggy and damp. Road spray is kicking up onto my Molteni wool jersey which doesn't thrill me. I try to catch the other dude in front of me but I can't make up any ground on him. So I wound up riding solo for over half the ride. Amusingly, 3 riders from the group catch me at the very end with like 2 minutes to go. These guys appear to be better riders than me. They are younger and fitter than the Gliders. I assume that someone had a mechanical problem that they all stopped to help or perhaps they needed to stop and pee several more times.

Back at the Chevron station I overhear that someone  lost something and they had been looking for it. For what it's worth I set a new personal 2 hour watts record.

The Glider ride was canceled today due to the cold. I waited until noon and did my 4 x 3 minute intervals and called it a day. I had entertained notions of doing a longer solo ride afterward but my feet were numb and frozen. The intervals went fairly well. I few more watts than last week. I need to work on my aerodynamic position because I should be going faster based on the watts I'm putting out. The ride was hard. I was breathing heavy and my legs were burning.

Later I went to Bikes and More to get a replacement light for V. I hit up Keith for some tips on how to make a fast U-turn on a bike since that will come up during the out and back time trial I plan on doing.

Later I drove out to Brooker to scope out the time trial course. I'll probably start riding it for practice. It's 30 minutes away though which kind of sucks.

As all my long time readers know, I dread cold winter commutes. Tomorrow is predicted to be sub 30 degrees which for Florida is pretty fricken cold. I'm breaking out the under armor leggings, a sweat shirt, my warm up track suit and my heavy duty jacket (not the thin orange one).

I'll also be sporting two pairs of socks, one made out of 'smart wool' whatever the H-E double hockeysticks that is. Oh, I have glove liners and over the liners I'll be wearing my giant heated gloves. Did I mention I shall also be wearing my Lake winter cycling boots with the sick ass insulation? I shall.

I think I'll go ahead and wear the scarf as well. I'm not wearing the balaclava because it feels weird against my beard, but the beard should be adequate face protection. I'll also inhale my Benadrex nasal decongestant to keep snot from pouring down my face as the arctic blast rushes into my nasal passages.

Some people would say it's all overkill. But realize that while they're as cold as ice I'm biking in the heat of the moment.

Rode my 15k Millhopper time trial loop this morning. I have ridden this loop every Monday for the past 4 weeks and each week my time is slower and watts lower than before. Not sure what to make of this. Part of the problem is the last 2 weeks I have had to start the ride around 7:30AM and I am not fully awake for maximal activity at that point.

On the way back over I-75 I saw Boss Hogg's group the Sunrisers (because they ride early) heading out. I waved.

Next week I need to move my Monday ride to the actual time trial site out by Bronson. Despite not riding great I'm not really worried. I can't describe why but I feel like I'm poised for a break out ride.

Did we talk about how much cold air decreases speed? I've been going to some websites that convert power (watts) into speed. Among the variables it asks are temperature. I initially thought hot air might make a bike go slower due to humidity, but at colder temps air acts more like a liquid and is denser. So for example pedaling with a power of 200 watts a cyclist could expect to go 0.5 mph faster in 90 degree weather versus 50 degrees.