Helmet Cam - 2011 SoCal Training Camp Hacking Around

I've been fooling around with a few clips, trying to figure out how to finalize them. You know, a long time ago, in English classes, the teachers drilled this concept of a "theme" into my head. First the theme, then the writing.

I hated themes.

But, as time went by, I got used to themes. Kind of like coffee and asparagus, I started liking them as I got older. See, themes tie a work together. Random writing isn't really good unless you want random writing. Random clips, too, don't grab attention, not in the way a clip with a theme collars you.

So, for me, a clip has to have a theme, a concept, some idea or thought I want to get across to the viewer (which, believe it or not, is first me, second everyone else - I make these clips for me).

Once I have a theme the clip pops up shortly after. It's a work of inspiration - most clips get done in a couple days of inspired editing (along with some missed training, missed sleep, and missed time with the Missus).

The race clips are a bit lost right now, with not much direction in any kind of a storyline. A clip that has me just riding around... that's not so interesting. My races, if you've ever watched me race, are usually pretty boring because I sit in most of the time, gritting my teeth, hanging on for dear life.

That stuff doesn't translate well into helmet cam clips.

I had some other clips, those of descents and such, stuff from training rides. My friend Rich tried to do a "how to" bit (how to wipe your tires) but when I tried to aim the camera with my head I aimed it too low. If you want to see a clip of someone's wheels and tires it'd be good, but if you wanted to see how to wipe a tire off while you're riding, not so much.

I've been importing a lot of clips into iMovie, a process which takes a long time for each 3.67 GB helmet cam file. After finishing a slew of them, I started creating projects (i.e. clips) using the imported files, framing out thoughts (themes) using bits of clips to trigger memories or ideas.

Of course some inspiration hit me when I started viewing some of the imported movies, with all sorts of memories triggered by the clips. Cars I'd forgotten about, ride events that escaped me, all restored in vivid, living color.

One result of some of this importing is the following clip, one I kind of threw together as a kaleidoscope of my 2011 SoCal training camp. Although it started as a "How To Trackstand" clip, some other bits I found looking for trackstands made me grin. I found a few things I liked, took some stuff from other projects that wouldn't play out thematically quite right (yet), and tossed in some some random stuff, the stuff that made me smile.

I put those all in a "training camp recap" clip, below. I hope you enjoy it.

How To - Trackstands

I promised in an earlier post to put something up on doing trackstands.

First, don't try this yourself. I can't be liable if someone tries to do a trackstand and falls over in front of a speeding car or breaks their wrist. Capisce?

On to the theoretical how-to article...

A trackstand is simply when a rider, on the bike, stands still without putting a foot down on the ground. This skill gets its name from match sprints on the track. Since there was no advantage to being in front in a match sprint (the second rider is drafting and can jump when he wants), in the old days the leading racer would stop and try and force their opponent to get to the front. This led to some ridiculous races where racers just did trackstands for hours. Modern sprint rules force one rider (based on random drawings) to lead the first lap. This helps the race move along.

Trackstands are useful for a bunch of reasons:
1. Showing off (being honest here - I've even seen pros who can't do trackstands).
2. You can't unclip (say due to a pedal malfunction).
3. You'll stop only a short time and don't need to unclip (you were about to roll past some slow traffic when you realized there's broken glass all over the shoulder - so you need to wait a second to merge with the cars).
4. Skill building to enhance overall cycling skills.

This last reason is the true reason to learn trackstands. Although it's fun to show off a fluent trackstand, the way you do a track stand means you'll be able to learn and execute other maneuvers.

One cool thing about trackstands is you simply need a bike and your personal gear you wear. No carbon cranks, aero wheels, or the latest and greatest components will help you do a trackstand. And when you can do a trackstand and the rider next to you (who's laid out all that dough to buy that really cool stuff) can't, well now.

Trackstands are done by overcoming a natural (but incorrect) instinct on the bike. There are a couple of these instincts. I don't know how we learned them - perhaps from our first wobbly rides when we were kids. Regardless, in teaching many people how to do trackstands (and other skills), the instincts have always been there in the cyclists.

The first thing you have to learn when you rock climb is to trust the rope. To do so you have to do something which is completely against your instincts - let go of the wall. Once you feel comfortable doing this (this implies you trust your belayer and the gear), you open your horizons on the rockclimbing front.

In trackstands, you must overcome your instinct to "avoid going backwards". It is critical that you be able to roll backwards.

Remember - virtually any cyclist can do a trackstand! Send $19.99 to me to learn the 4 easy steps and I'll also send you instructions on how to pick up a bottle off the ground, bunny hop, and beat McEwen in a sprint!

Okay maybe not the last one.

To do a trackstand you need to be able to do three things:
1. Control the amount of force you exert on the pedal to a very fine degree.
2. Have enough leg strength to roll forward from a dead stop.
3. Roll backwards.

You know how there are those "How to draw" articles? They draw a rough oval, put some little edges here and there, and suddenly it's a face? Well track stands are sort of the same deal.

Get your bike, some normal shoes (to begin with), and put on clothes that you can fall on. This means thick long sleeve clothing. Get your helmet, gloves (really thick long finger ones), and also bring your cycling shoes.

If you get somewhat comfortable trying trackstands with sneakers, try it with the cycling shoes. They actually make it easier since you can (lightly!) pull up on the pedals.

How to do a trackstand:

Gradient (for beginning trackstanders and for those who are risk averse)
1. Find a very slight uphill, one that would allow your car to barely start rolling if you parked on it. The hill will be used to allow the bike to roll backwards a bit.

2. Pedal uphill on it slowly. Start in a low gear (try a 39x19). Roll up until your pedals are horizontal and let the bike slowly come to a halt (or almost halt). Horizontal pedal position is important because it gives you power to pedal the bike forward when you need to go.

Note: since I learned to do a trackstand with my front wheel pointing left, my left pedal is forward. For those of you aspiring to be track racers, you should learn with the front wheel pointing right and your right pedal forward. "Right-handed" trackstands are harder to do in the real world of roads whose crown goes uphill to the left (i.e. left hand drive cars). Aussies, Japanese, Indian, Brits, and a few other places I'm sure will be the exception to the rule.

Engage the chain/cassette
3. Without frantic pedaling, ease your forward pedal pedal down slightly so you engage the cassette in back (i.e. you feel some resistance and if you stomped the pedals, you'd go forward). This fixes your foot/pedal position in relation to the rear wheel. Basically you have reached your trackstand position.

Roll backwards, reset pedal
4. Allow the bike to stop. If you've pedaled too firmly for the gradient, use your brakes slightly to help the bike stop. Later you'll learn to judge your pedal "easing" so that you will rarely use your brakes. Lighten up the force on the pedals just enough to allow the bike to roll back. You should allow the bike to pull the pedals backwards too. This "resets" your pedals so you can pedal forward again. Without allowing the pedals to reset, you'll end up at the bottom of the pedal stroke and unable to roll forward.

Roll forward using pedals
5. As soon as you lose your nerve, stomp on the pedals to roll forward. Initially you'll roll back perhaps 5 millimeters. Later you'll find yourself rolling back 5 inches. The limit is really set by what gear you selected - if you roll back too far, your pedals will end up vertical and you won't be able to accelerate unless you "reset" them by pedaling backwards another 1/4 turn. In certain gears your chain may derail so I don't recommend doing this.

The theory being used here is the one that dictates how you balance on your bike. Your bike balances because it rolls and it is steered. It has nothing to do with wheel inertia, wheel size, wheelbase, etc. Once you lock up a bike's steering, it's unrideable. And it seems only circus performers can balance on a stationary bike with its wheels in a straight line.

Your "trackstand" is actually going to be very short forward rolls separated by very short backward rolls. Initially you'll use gravity to roll you backwards. Most roads have a crown so you can simply point the bike a bit up the crown as your hill.

Later you'll use inertia. You probably weigh about ten times the bike (15 times if you laid out dough for your bike or you're really fit). If, while on your bike, you jerk your body forwards an inch, your bike will roll backwards about 10 inches (or 15 - it's the ratio that counts). Use this action to roll the bike backwards. First you can do this on flat roads with no gradient. Later you can do this on downhills. In these cases you'll need to apply your brake when you finish jerking the bike back, especially when doing a trackstand on a downhill.

Although I keep both hands on the bars for the most part, it's not necessary. Skilled riders can even do no-handed trackstands. One-handed is nice if, say, you want to scratch your nose or wipe the sweat away that's slowly but surely trickling into your eyes while you're waiting for the forever red light to turn green.

If you have questions or problems let me know. And when it's a lot warmer than the 7 deg F it is right now, I'll make a short video on this, with my four basic steps clearly laid out.

Good luck!

California - Day Eleven - Hot

Today we did the Celo Pacific Inland ride. Very mellow as some of the folks are racing tomorrow. Nevertheless I was suffering.

First problem - my flat from yesterday actually cut the tire bad enough that the tube started to come out. So before we got to the Grand Deli, we stopped to put a piece of tube box inside the tire. As this was a special occasion, I lined up the cardboard with the valve so it'd be easier to mount and easier to check. As soon as we got on the bikes, we saw the group. They were nice and let us jump on.

One of their riders then flatted. And would you believe, my next problem - I flatted my front tire some miles into the ride. The group waited (very nice as we were technically not part of the ride). My friend and I changed the tube pretty quickly but it was still a ride disruption.

Then we got to some climbs. My legs were not the freshest, with cumulative fatigue from the last ten days of training, but even if I was fresh I don't think I could have stayed with the splintering group. Maybe with the last couple riders. The three women more than held their own and all the guys were chatting away as they rode away from me. How humbling. I consider this my third problem.

We stopped at the top of a particularly long climb for water. For once I ran out of water (two full bottles) in a hurry and started getting goosebumps and lightheaded. There was a reason. According to someone's thermometer, it was 101 degrees at the top of the climb. I don't think I see that in the depths of the summer back at home. 91 at another water stop. And dry.

On the way back, I complained my legs were dead, but I was still able to do some pulling. The descents were fun but I wish I had two fully inflated tires instead of two semi-inflated tires. It would have made carving those arcs much more fun.

As usual, with my dense build, I descended like a rock. Apparently others thought I descended pretty well, but honestly it's the mass thing - gravity does all the work.

It seems also that when I'm tired I can't get out of my pedals. This happened on the last long ride I did and it happened again today. I was forced to do trackstands at lights and once tried unsuccessfully to bang my foot out while hanging onto another rider.

The trackstands led to a discussion with one guy who wanted to know how to do trackstands. Although I'll do a post later on trackstands, the basic premise is you need to have forward or backward movement to balance on a bike (for us normal people). So by allowing the bike to roll backwards, you then buy some forward movement. On downhills, you have to throw the bike back, and your mass (say 10x the mass of the bike) will force the bike back. This buys you forward movement but it uses more energy. The guy had one of those blank looks on his face so I explained it's like throwing the bike. When you throw your bike, your body moves backwards and your bike moves forwards proportionate to their weight ratios.

"Oh it's like physics."

Yep. Now you have another thing to tell your kids when they don't want to study math.

Ultimately we ended up at the Grand Deli and had a great "breakfast" (it was after noon). Ironically two of the riders were from the East Coast and one had even done the race at Bethel. It's always interesting riding in California - you inevitably run into East Coast riders.

And then struggled onto our bikes and crawled back to home base, about 30 minutes away.

Now for some recovery (nap?) and more food.

Oh and we had pro siting #5 today: Skyler Bishop, Kodakgallery.com - Sierra Nevada. He and two other riders (non-pro) cruised by the group and rode away from us.