Figures, right? I cancel the race and the day ends up slightly damp, overcast, but otherwise completely uneventful. I woke up praying to see the whole world covered in snow, traffic crawling on the road outside, people scraping ice off their cars. But, no, that wasn't what I saw.
Oh well. The missus and I had a nice relaxing day off. We spent some time together where she wasn't working and I wasn't promoting. I have to admit that I ended up doing some training in (with the missus's blessings). I came away with some perspective as to what I've manged to do in the last 5 or 6 months of training.
First off, I decided to up my bench press weight to 180 lbs. When I first started doing the bench a few months ago I ended up at about 160 lbs as a comfortable, repeatable, but hard to do weight. I haven't changed that for a while so I decided that it was about time. With 180 I cranked out 8 reps, no problem. I read somewhere it takes about 5-6 days to fully recover from muscular tearing (i.e. what you do when you train) so I'll take it easy for at least a day or two, then I'll see how it goes with more weight. I used to max at 200 lbs but I have to imagine that I should be able to exceed that now. My goal now is to do 3x8 at 180-200 lbs.
I have other lifts but I haven't been playing with the weights as much. The bench is something I've always been fascinated with and so it gets the most experimentation. Plus any leg lifts stresses my fragile knees so I tend not to do much more than very light weights for my legs.
Another thing is I went for a run. I don't think I've done one since sometime in October, and back then I was just dying, and I mean dying, while running at about an eight minute pace. In fact, I couldn't run 1.5 miles in under 12:00 (I just checked my training diary). At first my legs were sore, but that went away quickly as my muscles adapted to the new stresses of running. Later my limits were all aerobic - I was gasping for air and simply couldn't breathe enough to run faster. My average heart rate typically hit 169+, my peak 180+, and I maintained the low 170s while I ran.
Incidentally I seem to go about 10 beats higher running than I do riding. Not sure why but it just seems to be the case.
Yesterday, on a sort of whim, I decided to check out how my running had deteriorated. I knew I could do some risky training (i.e. I'll have really sore legs) because I don't have a "priority" race for two weeks.
Yeah, Bethel is a priority race for me.
Anyway, I trotted along at a leisurely pace, covering the first half mile in a hair over 4 minutes (that deserved a double take on the watch), the second in a bit less than 5. My heart rate stayed in the mid 140s, proving that I really was taking it easy. Then I turned around and tried gunning the engine a bit, so to speak. I started running somewhat fast, found it to be manageable, so I accelerated. I waited for the air to suddenly lose all potency but that didn't happen so I went faster. And finally, since I knew I was coming up to the half mile marker in a couple hundred yards, I accelerated once again.
I slowed to a walk at the half mile marker. 3:30. And my heart rate was at 166 bpm. And I was barely breathing.
In fact, within 90 seconds my heart rate was down below 120 (and I was still walking), low enough that I called a couple people I forgot to call earlier. I left them both voicemails (go figure) in a regular voice, no breathlessness, no outward signs I'd just done a fast-for-me run.
My legs were a bit shaky though, the muscles not used to the running stress.
Finally, back at the apartment, I went to the dungeon and started my planned ride. I want to do some aggressive hours this coming week so I wanted to keep my time down to 90 minutes for this particular ride.
With no SRM I have no wattage figures. However I know the gears and I had my heart rate watch on, so I had an inkling of what kind of efforts I could make.
Ends up I felt very, very good.
Good enough that I lost track of time and the missus had to come downstairs to retrieve me. I'd done some fast big gear work, fast little gear work, and spent a bunch of time riding on the drops, trying to acclimate my body to the slightly unnatural posture it requires. As usual I had a DVD playing in the background, the images more important than the sounds.
Typically my fast big gear efforts (53x13-15) last all of 30 seconds before I blow, pedals turning slower and slower, my heart rate at 160-165 (my sustained limit while riding indoors).
But last night the efforts seemed less imposing. I felt unstoppable. I'd do a 60 second effort, then a 2 minute effort, then 3 minutes. I'd look at my heart rate at the end of each one, out of breath but not cripplingly so. 145. 148. 150. The numbers didn't move very much, and they dropped like a rock once I eased up. In fact it took me longer to find a good song on my laptop than it did to recover from my last effort.
Eventually, though, I got off the bike. I was in the middle of one of my efforts, imagining myself to be time trialing in the break along with the other guys on my DVD screen when I suddenly found the missus peering into my face (talk about a little shock). I hadn't heard her come downstairs as I couldn't hear anything except the laptop music with the earphones, headband over the earphones, and the volume cranked. And though I felt a bit wobbly walking up the stairs, I figured it was because I'd just done a pretty hard (for me) ride.
Later that night, when I came down to retrieve something, I almost fell down the stairs.
The running, I realized, had stressed my legs more than I thought.
I went from unstoppable to unwalkable.
I want to do some big hours today. We'll see how it goes. My first challenge will be to get into the basement to retrieve my bike without tumbling down them.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Bethel Spring Series - Tour de Kirche CANCELED
Sorry folks but we're going to call the Tour de Kirche, the race scheduled to run March 16. With snow forecast from 4 AM, almost definitely falling by 7 AM, and then tapering until 12 noon, we feel that the conditions would be simply too risky to hold a race.
My nightmare scenario is someone in the last lap takes a wide line somewhere, ends up on some slippery stuff, and takes out a bunch of racers.
In rain, it's slippery everywhere, but it's relatively consistent with no ice. With temperatures near freezing it's different - bits and pieces of the road rideable and other bits and pieces potentially unrideable, I simply can't justify the risk. Yeah, I'd ride on a day like that on my own (and I have, or in small groups) but in a racing field with the unknown variables of rider handling, the red mist of competition, and the exponentially higher risk of a mechanical?
No.
We'll be refunding all pre-registered racers or transferring their registration to a later race (your choice, and don't feel bad for asking for a refund).
Having done this, the weather will probably be really nice on Sunday, 75 degrees and sunny. But based on the information I have right here, right now, we're calling the race. In order to let those folks know that travel from far, far away (New Hampshire among other northern places) we wanted to make the call as early as possible.
Remember we do NOT race March 23 (Easter Sunday) so the next race will be March 30th. If you want to get some racing in on Easter weekend, check out the Plainville Series March 22. I should be there and maybe I'll see you there.
My nightmare scenario is someone in the last lap takes a wide line somewhere, ends up on some slippery stuff, and takes out a bunch of racers.
In rain, it's slippery everywhere, but it's relatively consistent with no ice. With temperatures near freezing it's different - bits and pieces of the road rideable and other bits and pieces potentially unrideable, I simply can't justify the risk. Yeah, I'd ride on a day like that on my own (and I have, or in small groups) but in a racing field with the unknown variables of rider handling, the red mist of competition, and the exponentially higher risk of a mechanical?
No.
We'll be refunding all pre-registered racers or transferring their registration to a later race (your choice, and don't feel bad for asking for a refund).
Having done this, the weather will probably be really nice on Sunday, 75 degrees and sunny. But based on the information I have right here, right now, we're calling the race. In order to let those folks know that travel from far, far away (New Hampshire among other northern places) we wanted to make the call as early as possible.
Remember we do NOT race March 23 (Easter Sunday) so the next race will be March 30th. If you want to get some racing in on Easter weekend, check out the Plainville Series March 22. I should be there and maybe I'll see you there.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Bethel Spring Series - pre-Tour de Kirche
Earlier this year someone asked me about the various names of the Bethel Spring Series. He didn't realize that they all happened on the same course, essentially the same race each week. I told him I plugged in Tour de Bethel into AltaVista's Babel Fish site and got what apparently is a translation of "Tour of House of God" in multiple different languages.
I chose the ones that sounded about right (I have no idea if Kirche really means "House of God") and made up some Classic sounding names for the rest of them - the Criterium de Bethel (i.e. Criterium International), Circuit de Francis J Clarke (i.e. Circuit Het Volk or Omloop Het Volk), and the FDJ Gold Race (i.e. Amstel Gold Race).
Look, if I can't ever do those races, at least I can do facsimiles of them.
Anyway, names aside, last year we had one day where we woke up to see the roads absolutely covered in snow. We had to cancel the race. The race name that week? Tour de Kirche.
It happens to be the race coming up.
And the forecast calls for snow.
At 9 AM in the morning.
So.... for now, I've changed the index page of the race site to reflect the fact that the race just might be canceled Saturday. It depends on what the weather folk say. Two days ago it was going to be nice, then yesterday that nice forecast disappeared and this alternative one returned.
In some ways it'd be nice to take a break. However we already have a break next weekend - Easter Sunday.
So, although there are those who would disagree, I'm hoping for a nice forecast for the Tour de Kirche.
Once the Series gets going, it sort of carries itself on a mixture of momentum, rote work, and exhausted personnel.
One thing that I really wanted to do this year was to get the results up quickly. I got a taste of the customer side of things when I went to check the results of a race series where I placed. I had no idea who placed around me and, well, I was curious.
It took only a couple days to get the results up but those couple days drove me crazy. Yeah, I could have emailed the promoter or something but, you know what? I wouldn't want someone emailing me about results I posted day of race.
Instead I waited (im)patiently.
I don't want the racers at Bethel to go through this so I've tried to streamline the results posting process. So far it's been, well, reasonable. Results went up once while I was still at the race course (some of the Pro-1-2-3s were still cooling down) and once right when I got home (but that was at 8:30 PM). My goal is to get them up while still at the race course.
Not quite "Live" coverage but it's pretty close. And for a race like Bethel, that's pretty good. Compared to the weeks for VeloNews (the print version, not the virtual one) or the months for Winning Magazine to get results, a few hours seems pretty good to me.
I have yet to do one race report. No time during the races and I don't remember anything afterwards. I used to make notes as I swept or marshaled or whatever but this year I just haven't done that. I seem to have lost my short term memory too, so when I try and recall someone's name, I feel like that blue fish in Nemo.
You know the fish, it's... err... the blue one.
I forget her name.
Anyway, in the past years I've faked it by checking out other people's emailed reports - but this year I think everyone is forgetting what happened. I've barely gotten any. One. Maybe two. Not four or six or eight every week.
So until the reports come in, no race reports.
By the way, I'm the one embellishing them, not the original emailers. So when I wrote something like "a series of withering attacks" it's because I wanted to write that and I felt it applied to the rider in question.
If you haven't seen the race reports from past years, I made them really small and discrete at the bottom of the weekly results.
Ah well. That's all in the past for now.
And though it makes for some good reading, what concerns me right now is the weather for Sunday.
Keepin' my fingers crossed.
I chose the ones that sounded about right (I have no idea if Kirche really means "House of God") and made up some Classic sounding names for the rest of them - the Criterium de Bethel (i.e. Criterium International), Circuit de Francis J Clarke (i.e. Circuit Het Volk or Omloop Het Volk), and the FDJ Gold Race (i.e. Amstel Gold Race).
Look, if I can't ever do those races, at least I can do facsimiles of them.
Anyway, names aside, last year we had one day where we woke up to see the roads absolutely covered in snow. We had to cancel the race. The race name that week? Tour de Kirche.
It happens to be the race coming up.
And the forecast calls for snow.
At 9 AM in the morning.
So.... for now, I've changed the index page of the race site to reflect the fact that the race just might be canceled Saturday. It depends on what the weather folk say. Two days ago it was going to be nice, then yesterday that nice forecast disappeared and this alternative one returned.
In some ways it'd be nice to take a break. However we already have a break next weekend - Easter Sunday.
So, although there are those who would disagree, I'm hoping for a nice forecast for the Tour de Kirche.
Once the Series gets going, it sort of carries itself on a mixture of momentum, rote work, and exhausted personnel.
One thing that I really wanted to do this year was to get the results up quickly. I got a taste of the customer side of things when I went to check the results of a race series where I placed. I had no idea who placed around me and, well, I was curious.
It took only a couple days to get the results up but those couple days drove me crazy. Yeah, I could have emailed the promoter or something but, you know what? I wouldn't want someone emailing me about results I posted day of race.
Instead I waited (im)patiently.
I don't want the racers at Bethel to go through this so I've tried to streamline the results posting process. So far it's been, well, reasonable. Results went up once while I was still at the race course (some of the Pro-1-2-3s were still cooling down) and once right when I got home (but that was at 8:30 PM). My goal is to get them up while still at the race course.
Not quite "Live" coverage but it's pretty close. And for a race like Bethel, that's pretty good. Compared to the weeks for VeloNews (the print version, not the virtual one) or the months for Winning Magazine to get results, a few hours seems pretty good to me.
I have yet to do one race report. No time during the races and I don't remember anything afterwards. I used to make notes as I swept or marshaled or whatever but this year I just haven't done that. I seem to have lost my short term memory too, so when I try and recall someone's name, I feel like that blue fish in Nemo.
You know the fish, it's... err... the blue one.
I forget her name.
Anyway, in the past years I've faked it by checking out other people's emailed reports - but this year I think everyone is forgetting what happened. I've barely gotten any. One. Maybe two. Not four or six or eight every week.
So until the reports come in, no race reports.
By the way, I'm the one embellishing them, not the original emailers. So when I wrote something like "a series of withering attacks" it's because I wanted to write that and I felt it applied to the rider in question.
If you haven't seen the race reports from past years, I made them really small and discrete at the bottom of the weekly results.
Ah well. That's all in the past for now.
And though it makes for some good reading, what concerns me right now is the weather for Sunday.
Keepin' my fingers crossed.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Training - Burnout
Burnout.
If you're a drag racer, it's an exciting word. It means your race is about to start. You're warming up your tires, laying rubber on the track, setting up for what you hope will be an excellent launch into a winning race.
Burnout.
It's a bad word when used around any athlete. It stands for staleness, for hitting a plateau, for the beginning of the end.
And in the last couple weeks I started thinking of the word.
I used to be able to motivate for even hours long trainer sessions, riding harder (according to my heart rate) than a pace at which I sometimes race.
But for the last few weeks I've had a hard time getting motivated on the bike. Yeah, racing is fine but I find that training, usually on my own, it's hard sometimes.
There are two types of burnout. The first is physical. You can't sleep, can't recover, and your heart rate never gets above just over your resting heart rate. Physical burnout is somewhat fatal. Usually some enforced time off will fix it, but little else. I spent my first year as a Senior racer training insane miles, trying to "get in shape" for 100+ mile road races. I won a race early on but after that I was toast. I think I finished one race in the 45 I entered in the latter half of the year. I could barely turn the pedals but I kept thinking I needed to do more speed work.
Wrong.
When your body is depleted, you can only recover. I spent a depressing winter trying to figure out what went wrong, gave up on trying to win 100 mile road races, trimmed my training accordingly, and suddenly I was flying again.
The second type of burnout is psychological. This is a better problem to have if you have to deal with one or the other. Mental burnout is not physical - this means the body is still able to train and develop, but the mind up top is a bit toasted. Up in this northern town, I am without my standard group rides, so virtually all my rides are solo - the exceptions are when I catch or get caught by someone.
I've developed some ways to deal with psychological burnout. I started coming up with these ideas when I was 15 and sitting on the bike in the basement of my house. Unheated, dark, with no music or no TV, no heart rate, not even cadence, I had no distractions to take me off the pain of riding.
So, just like any creature in a limited environment, I started playing mental games with myself. A few tricks come to mind right away - Revolutions, Time, Long Distance, Coffee, TV, and Music.
First, though, I should point out the big "Do Not" of riding and countering burnout. You absolutely have to keep your eyes off the clock (or any cumulative meter). Just like watching a pot of water boil, keeping your eyes on the time or mileage will slow time down to a crawl. This mentally drains you, and since you're dealing with mental burnout, that's the last thing you want to do. Instead, focus on immediate numbers - cadence or heart rate works, and if you don't have a cyclocomputer, just counting revs using your watch is great. This will keep your mind on the here and now and keep your physical effort levels higher than low.
Revolutions
I read somewhere a long time ago that a person can do 40 revolutions no matter what - that amount of work can be done while holding your breath. So whenever I'd get into trouble, I started counting pedal revs. If I got to 40 and I was still okay, I started again, because, obviously, I could go 40 revs.
So I'd keep counting.
As long as I felt okay, I'd keep counting, mentally keeping track to make sure I was counting in multiples of 40. Sometimes, on a long climb or during a long trainer session, I'd find myself up to 400 or 600 before I realized it.
Time
Another method of making time go by is to, well, watch time go by. Sort of. Don't keep looking at the clock, the odometer, whatever you use to keep track of your overall riding time. You should keep thinking about time every now and then, guessing at where you'll be, and after 10 or 15 minutes, check your clock.
You'll probably find that you're at about 3 or 4 minutes.
Seriously, time crawls when you're working hard, and your perception of time gets distorted with every increase in your heart rate.
Once you get the hang of checking your time, you'll find that doing an hour on the trainer (or on the road) only involves four or five time checks.
Long Distance
I've told a few of my friends recently that I have a hard time motivating for those sharp efforts most racers rely on for training - intervals, sprints, things like that.
One thing that I find helps is to simply pile on the mileage. Go easy at first, then, later, make efforts while I'm already deeply fatigued. I find those efforts much easier to sustain than ones I make when I'm fresh.
And, ironically, the highest wattages I've seen have always been when I'm the most tired - after a couple hours of incredibly hot riding last summer or after 4 or 5 hours of desert heat in California this past February.
A lot of times I'm tempted to go and do multiple laps of a shorter loop. I justify it in thinking I can see if I can't go faster, that if I flat or bonk or something I can get home easier, etc. But realistically it's one thing to set out to do a few laps and it's totally different to actually do those two or three or four laps.
It's a lot easier to do an out-and-back or a loop course, one where you're committed to doing the mileage. If you ride an hour always heading away from your house then you'll be forced to ride an hour back, give or take.
Climbing takes about 3-4 times longer than descending so figure out how much you climb or descend and take that into account. If you gradually gain elevation the return trip will be nice, but if you're constantly descending (say, you live at the top of a big climb), budget more time for he return.
My most enjoyable long rides are like this - my PCH rides, the Palomar attempts, the Kent rides (Norwalk - Kent - Norwalk), and some of my exploratory rides up here northwest of Hartford.
If I'm feeling okay, I'll push the "out" leg a bit further, forcing myself to ride that much more to get back. And I always try and ride harder on the "back" leg to try and get used to working when I'm tired.
Doesn't mean I can, just means I try.
Coffee and TV
Coffee or, more specifically, caffeine amps the system. If you drink caffeinated drinks all the time it's not as potent, but saving coffee for pre-ride drinking makes for a higher energy ride. I wouldn't go out and take caffeine pills - they're so concentrated and don't make you automatically drink 10 or 20 ounces of stuff with it - but a mug or two of coffee (2-4 cups) or a can of energy drink is hard to beat. Caffeine, sugar (if you ride almost immediately you'll absorb the sugar efficiently), and fluid.
TV is also good when sitting on a trainer. Visual distractions work well, like when you watch a movie, but I think watching cycling is better. I'm a big believer in people learning by imitating - I was first exposed to this when I learned to play violin simply by watching my teacher. He was the equivalent of a Wilfried Peeters or a just-below Jens Voight. Excellent, almost the best in the world, but not quite star status.
It was his influence that brought me as far as I got, but I reached my limits when I ran out of hand eye coordination (aka "talent").
Imagine learning how to ride with someone like that - you'd take things for granted that others never even learn.
Likewise, it's not a bad thing to sit on a trainer for an hour or three and watch pros pedal on TV. You see how they sit, pedal, and handle the bike. If you set up a couple tall mirrors, you can observe your own form as well.
Music
When on the trainer, I find that relatively fresh music gives me an insane boost in power, sustainable heart rate, and sustainable perceived effort.
Music is magic.
The key is "relatively fresh". If I've been inundated with the songs for the last couple months then it won't do anything. Listening to individual songs is like smelling different perfumes in a store. After smelling a few different bottles of the stuff they sort of overwhelm me. New or rediscovered music, that's the best.
On the trainer it's a no brainer. I use some small ear phone type things, hook it up to my computer (I use a 6 foot extension cord so I don't inadvertently pull my whole computer onto the floor if I fall over or something), and crank the volume.
Except for not hearing the missus when she calls me, I can't see any disadvantage over this setup. It certainly beats shaking the whole house with a cranked out receiver/amp pumping a couple hundred watts of power through the speakers, and in my current apartment, I don't even have that choice.
On the road it's a bit different. I ride regularly with a hands free ear piece for my phone. I've spent 5 or 6 hours riding with such an ear piece piping in MP3s off my phone. I keep the ear piece in my right ear, turn my head regularly to directionalize sounds, and keep the volume pretty low.
There are some disadvantages to this. First off, it's not stereo. Second, at some point though, I may miss a little noise, a hint of some potential danger. Finally, if you play the music long enough to kill your phone, you've just killed your phone.
Now that I have a less powerful phone with a shorter life battery, I've decided against bringing such electronic music with me on the road. Instead, after an hour or two, I find myself humming songs. Not as effective, but, hey, I'll take it.
The above tricks will help deal with mental burnout. It won't do a think for physical burnout.
So what does that all mean for me?
I'm going out for a loop ride :)
If you're a drag racer, it's an exciting word. It means your race is about to start. You're warming up your tires, laying rubber on the track, setting up for what you hope will be an excellent launch into a winning race.
Burnout.
It's a bad word when used around any athlete. It stands for staleness, for hitting a plateau, for the beginning of the end.
And in the last couple weeks I started thinking of the word.
I used to be able to motivate for even hours long trainer sessions, riding harder (according to my heart rate) than a pace at which I sometimes race.
But for the last few weeks I've had a hard time getting motivated on the bike. Yeah, racing is fine but I find that training, usually on my own, it's hard sometimes.
There are two types of burnout. The first is physical. You can't sleep, can't recover, and your heart rate never gets above just over your resting heart rate. Physical burnout is somewhat fatal. Usually some enforced time off will fix it, but little else. I spent my first year as a Senior racer training insane miles, trying to "get in shape" for 100+ mile road races. I won a race early on but after that I was toast. I think I finished one race in the 45 I entered in the latter half of the year. I could barely turn the pedals but I kept thinking I needed to do more speed work.
Wrong.
When your body is depleted, you can only recover. I spent a depressing winter trying to figure out what went wrong, gave up on trying to win 100 mile road races, trimmed my training accordingly, and suddenly I was flying again.
The second type of burnout is psychological. This is a better problem to have if you have to deal with one or the other. Mental burnout is not physical - this means the body is still able to train and develop, but the mind up top is a bit toasted. Up in this northern town, I am without my standard group rides, so virtually all my rides are solo - the exceptions are when I catch or get caught by someone.
I've developed some ways to deal with psychological burnout. I started coming up with these ideas when I was 15 and sitting on the bike in the basement of my house. Unheated, dark, with no music or no TV, no heart rate, not even cadence, I had no distractions to take me off the pain of riding.
So, just like any creature in a limited environment, I started playing mental games with myself. A few tricks come to mind right away - Revolutions, Time, Long Distance, Coffee, TV, and Music.
First, though, I should point out the big "Do Not" of riding and countering burnout. You absolutely have to keep your eyes off the clock (or any cumulative meter). Just like watching a pot of water boil, keeping your eyes on the time or mileage will slow time down to a crawl. This mentally drains you, and since you're dealing with mental burnout, that's the last thing you want to do. Instead, focus on immediate numbers - cadence or heart rate works, and if you don't have a cyclocomputer, just counting revs using your watch is great. This will keep your mind on the here and now and keep your physical effort levels higher than low.
Revolutions
I read somewhere a long time ago that a person can do 40 revolutions no matter what - that amount of work can be done while holding your breath. So whenever I'd get into trouble, I started counting pedal revs. If I got to 40 and I was still okay, I started again, because, obviously, I could go 40 revs.
So I'd keep counting.
As long as I felt okay, I'd keep counting, mentally keeping track to make sure I was counting in multiples of 40. Sometimes, on a long climb or during a long trainer session, I'd find myself up to 400 or 600 before I realized it.
Time
Another method of making time go by is to, well, watch time go by. Sort of. Don't keep looking at the clock, the odometer, whatever you use to keep track of your overall riding time. You should keep thinking about time every now and then, guessing at where you'll be, and after 10 or 15 minutes, check your clock.
You'll probably find that you're at about 3 or 4 minutes.
Seriously, time crawls when you're working hard, and your perception of time gets distorted with every increase in your heart rate.
Once you get the hang of checking your time, you'll find that doing an hour on the trainer (or on the road) only involves four or five time checks.
Long Distance
I've told a few of my friends recently that I have a hard time motivating for those sharp efforts most racers rely on for training - intervals, sprints, things like that.
One thing that I find helps is to simply pile on the mileage. Go easy at first, then, later, make efforts while I'm already deeply fatigued. I find those efforts much easier to sustain than ones I make when I'm fresh.
And, ironically, the highest wattages I've seen have always been when I'm the most tired - after a couple hours of incredibly hot riding last summer or after 4 or 5 hours of desert heat in California this past February.
A lot of times I'm tempted to go and do multiple laps of a shorter loop. I justify it in thinking I can see if I can't go faster, that if I flat or bonk or something I can get home easier, etc. But realistically it's one thing to set out to do a few laps and it's totally different to actually do those two or three or four laps.
It's a lot easier to do an out-and-back or a loop course, one where you're committed to doing the mileage. If you ride an hour always heading away from your house then you'll be forced to ride an hour back, give or take.
Climbing takes about 3-4 times longer than descending so figure out how much you climb or descend and take that into account. If you gradually gain elevation the return trip will be nice, but if you're constantly descending (say, you live at the top of a big climb), budget more time for he return.
My most enjoyable long rides are like this - my PCH rides, the Palomar attempts, the Kent rides (Norwalk - Kent - Norwalk), and some of my exploratory rides up here northwest of Hartford.
If I'm feeling okay, I'll push the "out" leg a bit further, forcing myself to ride that much more to get back. And I always try and ride harder on the "back" leg to try and get used to working when I'm tired.
Doesn't mean I can, just means I try.
Coffee and TV
Coffee or, more specifically, caffeine amps the system. If you drink caffeinated drinks all the time it's not as potent, but saving coffee for pre-ride drinking makes for a higher energy ride. I wouldn't go out and take caffeine pills - they're so concentrated and don't make you automatically drink 10 or 20 ounces of stuff with it - but a mug or two of coffee (2-4 cups) or a can of energy drink is hard to beat. Caffeine, sugar (if you ride almost immediately you'll absorb the sugar efficiently), and fluid.
TV is also good when sitting on a trainer. Visual distractions work well, like when you watch a movie, but I think watching cycling is better. I'm a big believer in people learning by imitating - I was first exposed to this when I learned to play violin simply by watching my teacher. He was the equivalent of a Wilfried Peeters or a just-below Jens Voight. Excellent, almost the best in the world, but not quite star status.
It was his influence that brought me as far as I got, but I reached my limits when I ran out of hand eye coordination (aka "talent").
Imagine learning how to ride with someone like that - you'd take things for granted that others never even learn.
Likewise, it's not a bad thing to sit on a trainer for an hour or three and watch pros pedal on TV. You see how they sit, pedal, and handle the bike. If you set up a couple tall mirrors, you can observe your own form as well.
Music
When on the trainer, I find that relatively fresh music gives me an insane boost in power, sustainable heart rate, and sustainable perceived effort.
Music is magic.
The key is "relatively fresh". If I've been inundated with the songs for the last couple months then it won't do anything. Listening to individual songs is like smelling different perfumes in a store. After smelling a few different bottles of the stuff they sort of overwhelm me. New or rediscovered music, that's the best.
On the trainer it's a no brainer. I use some small ear phone type things, hook it up to my computer (I use a 6 foot extension cord so I don't inadvertently pull my whole computer onto the floor if I fall over or something), and crank the volume.
Except for not hearing the missus when she calls me, I can't see any disadvantage over this setup. It certainly beats shaking the whole house with a cranked out receiver/amp pumping a couple hundred watts of power through the speakers, and in my current apartment, I don't even have that choice.
On the road it's a bit different. I ride regularly with a hands free ear piece for my phone. I've spent 5 or 6 hours riding with such an ear piece piping in MP3s off my phone. I keep the ear piece in my right ear, turn my head regularly to directionalize sounds, and keep the volume pretty low.
There are some disadvantages to this. First off, it's not stereo. Second, at some point though, I may miss a little noise, a hint of some potential danger. Finally, if you play the music long enough to kill your phone, you've just killed your phone.
Now that I have a less powerful phone with a shorter life battery, I've decided against bringing such electronic music with me on the road. Instead, after an hour or two, I find myself humming songs. Not as effective, but, hey, I'll take it.
The above tricks will help deal with mental burnout. It won't do a think for physical burnout.
So what does that all mean for me?
I'm going out for a loop ride :)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Life - Ad, Comments, and Training
It won't yell at you or put some not-safe-for-work things on your screen. But if you pride yourself on your awareness, this is a great wake up call.
"The Test"
I don't do much advocacy stuff other than say thank you when people in cars let me in or actually stop at a stop sign, but that ad is cool. If I was rich, I'd pay to play it all over the place.
Today I tried to take a break from things, mainly things on the laptop. "Laptop" nowadays means bike stuff since I've tried to separate bike stuff from everything else. One of the things I did was I made some corrections to GC (an error extremely obvious when I looked at it but not when I put it up in a daze). This meant opening up a bunch of programs, editing things, uploading them, doing the security dance my site requires to change things, and then checking to see how things look. This takes time - in the past I've spent upwards of 4-5 hours to get this done - and is one of the main reasons I posted the Bethel results to the blog.
The blog, as I pointed out before, also allows some user interactivity, including posting comments.
Since I get alerted whenever a comment is posted, I also read some of the comments. Frankly I was at a loss for words with some of the immense hatred out there. I hope the comment writers aren't coming to the races - to be so two faced (supporting Bethel and then posting such things about it) is kind of like pulling a Spitzer, just not as serious.
Anyway, this prompted me to take a break since Bethel is more a hobby than anything else (let's see, I spend half of Saturday, all of Sunday, and bits of Monday and Tuesday working on the race, don't make money except prize money I win... yeah, sounds like racing bikes doesn't it?). I decided to think about things for a bit and that means doing other things.
I did decide that I need to review my own policy on comments. I'll follow the lead of BikeForums.net's user policy. One thing is that I won't allow any future comments aimed at specific, named individuals. Well, me, I'm fair game, because it's my blog. But no one else.
One thing I did today was to ship out my SRM head. Technically it's the PowerControl (the crank is the PowerMeter) and the way it's built the battery is not user-replaceable. I don't know why but it isn't. Think iPod. And it lasts about a year.
I didn't budget for that when I bought it but I figure it's like 2/3 of a flat race tire a year. It seems like it'll be a couple week before it gets back. My electronic training diary (WKO+) will suffer - my graphs will be all screwed up. It's one of those things - if you start plotting points and creating graphs, it's kinda neat to check out your progress (or not). So unfortunately my graphs will be a bit stunted for a while.
On top of that, the PowerMeter (the crank bit) battery lasts "about 10k miles" according to the kind customer service person who emailed me some answers to my questions. 10k miles. Hmph. Like two years. Or if they figure I'm riding 20 mph (I wish!), 500 hours. Three of my 2007 seasons. Maybe 18 months if I taper my training significantly this year. If I pick up the riding again (it's severely tapered in the last three weeks), I could do it in about 5 or 6 months.
I think if I got a job I'd get myself a - can you guess? - backup system.
I won't tell the missus just yet though because the whole idea with the SRM was not to have to buy a lot of stuff for it.
Anyway, since I'm not totally fit or burnt out, I want some feedback on my riding. See, usually, at the end of the season, I've taken all my various speed and distance measuring devices off the bike. It doesn't matter too much anymore and I start caring less and less. I know where I stand and a bit of training isn't going to change things.
But it's March.
And in March, everything counts.
March (and February and January) are the months where I crave the data, mostly because I keep seeing good news. Hey, I'm faster! Hey, I'm stronger! Hey, this is great!
Around May and June things start to taper. Oh, I'm the same speed. Oh, I'm the same strength. My sprint gets honed usually through August or September so in June I still get something. Hey, I can sprint faster!
Then in September things start slowing down. Weather eases. Joints stiffen. Bike slows.
So, seeing as it's March still, I thought it'd be a good time to stick a cyclometer on the bike - and the Cateye I won last year would be a nice one to put on. Only problem is that I can't find it. So I'll dig through some boxes and find it and stick it on the bike.
And maybe I'll surprise myself.
Hey, I'm faster!
I wish.
"The Test"
I don't do much advocacy stuff other than say thank you when people in cars let me in or actually stop at a stop sign, but that ad is cool. If I was rich, I'd pay to play it all over the place.
Today I tried to take a break from things, mainly things on the laptop. "Laptop" nowadays means bike stuff since I've tried to separate bike stuff from everything else. One of the things I did was I made some corrections to GC (an error extremely obvious when I looked at it but not when I put it up in a daze). This meant opening up a bunch of programs, editing things, uploading them, doing the security dance my site requires to change things, and then checking to see how things look. This takes time - in the past I've spent upwards of 4-5 hours to get this done - and is one of the main reasons I posted the Bethel results to the blog.
The blog, as I pointed out before, also allows some user interactivity, including posting comments.
Since I get alerted whenever a comment is posted, I also read some of the comments. Frankly I was at a loss for words with some of the immense hatred out there. I hope the comment writers aren't coming to the races - to be so two faced (supporting Bethel and then posting such things about it) is kind of like pulling a Spitzer, just not as serious.
Anyway, this prompted me to take a break since Bethel is more a hobby than anything else (let's see, I spend half of Saturday, all of Sunday, and bits of Monday and Tuesday working on the race, don't make money except prize money I win... yeah, sounds like racing bikes doesn't it?). I decided to think about things for a bit and that means doing other things.
I did decide that I need to review my own policy on comments. I'll follow the lead of BikeForums.net's user policy. One thing is that I won't allow any future comments aimed at specific, named individuals. Well, me, I'm fair game, because it's my blog. But no one else.
One thing I did today was to ship out my SRM head. Technically it's the PowerControl (the crank is the PowerMeter) and the way it's built the battery is not user-replaceable. I don't know why but it isn't. Think iPod. And it lasts about a year.
I didn't budget for that when I bought it but I figure it's like 2/3 of a flat race tire a year. It seems like it'll be a couple week before it gets back. My electronic training diary (WKO+) will suffer - my graphs will be all screwed up. It's one of those things - if you start plotting points and creating graphs, it's kinda neat to check out your progress (or not). So unfortunately my graphs will be a bit stunted for a while.
On top of that, the PowerMeter (the crank bit) battery lasts "about 10k miles" according to the kind customer service person who emailed me some answers to my questions. 10k miles. Hmph. Like two years. Or if they figure I'm riding 20 mph (I wish!), 500 hours. Three of my 2007 seasons. Maybe 18 months if I taper my training significantly this year. If I pick up the riding again (it's severely tapered in the last three weeks), I could do it in about 5 or 6 months.
I think if I got a job I'd get myself a - can you guess? - backup system.
I won't tell the missus just yet though because the whole idea with the SRM was not to have to buy a lot of stuff for it.
Anyway, since I'm not totally fit or burnt out, I want some feedback on my riding. See, usually, at the end of the season, I've taken all my various speed and distance measuring devices off the bike. It doesn't matter too much anymore and I start caring less and less. I know where I stand and a bit of training isn't going to change things.
But it's March.
And in March, everything counts.
March (and February and January) are the months where I crave the data, mostly because I keep seeing good news. Hey, I'm faster! Hey, I'm stronger! Hey, this is great!
Around May and June things start to taper. Oh, I'm the same speed. Oh, I'm the same strength. My sprint gets honed usually through August or September so in June I still get something. Hey, I can sprint faster!
Then in September things start slowing down. Weather eases. Joints stiffen. Bike slows.
So, seeing as it's March still, I thought it'd be a good time to stick a cyclometer on the bike - and the Cateye I won last year would be a nice one to put on. Only problem is that I can't find it. So I'll dig through some boxes and find it and stick it on the bike.
And maybe I'll surprise myself.
Hey, I'm faster!
I wish.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Bethel Spring Series - Trials and Tribulations and GC
This year I made a change in the way I'd post results. I wanted to get feedback, give a venue for racers to talk about what happened at the races, ask questions, and all that - but in a public forum. So I linked the results to the blog, with the intent of posting, at a later time, complete results on the actual site (so we have two copies of it, one on our servers, one elsewhere).
I figured this was good for a few reasons.
First, I don't have to check email quite so often. If someone doesn't put in a subject line or word in an email, it shows up as [NONE] in my email - and those get deleted right away. Since my email is easily trolled (it appears on all the carpediemracing.org pages), I get one to three hundred emails a day, most of it spam. I'm ruthless about deleting email and I'm sure I've deleted more than a few "real" inquiries. I do look for names I recognize before I delete but since this might involve clearing 5 pages of 200 emails each, I only do a light scan before purges.
Second, since some people grumble privately about things and don't feel like telling me about it, I figured I'd get the most honest feedback about the races. Public opinion tends to be the most ruthless of them all. My goal is to improve the race without losing its informal character, to keep it a fun and enjoyable spring series.
Finally, to be completely frank, I wanted people to hit the blog and see if they read any other part of it. I'm just as curious as to what people think of the blog and wanted to have more people check it out.
As a side note, since I screwed up my tracking code, I don't have any 2008 site statistics before March 3 or so. This means I can only guess at how many people hit the site. The blog has the tracking data (and Google didn't mess up their own code) so it's easier for me to see that, yeah, people want to see their results.
This knowledge is pressure enough that I want to get the results posted as close to real time as possible, to the extent that I got a broadband wireless card specifically for this reason (a new for 2008 race "feature").
So how did putting the results on the blog go?
Well... I think the fighting has finally died down after two days of somewhat continuous posts as well as off-line emails and comments I've gotten via email or phone.
But that hasn't been all of "Bethel" in 2008, believe it or not. I've forgotten some things that happened at the races in my post-race-post-promotion-gotta-get-home haze.
So here are a couple.
First, because this sort of pisses me off. It's about this one Cat 5 rider that came into the tent, talked to the missus, and said that he simply couldn't race in this cold. The missus, bending the rules just a bit, gave the racer back his entry fee. Look we're human and all that.
When the results came in she printed them to post on the van. One name in particular jogged her memory.
Yep, the guy who was "too cold to race".
Incredible. Although some riders may call me names (and others question why I don't ban racers so readily when they call me names), I'm calling this guy a name and it's not a nice one. Not only that, this particular racer will be put onto a somewhat permanent list of those-not-to-be-trusted.
I've compiled this list over the many years of the Series and right now it has.... two names on it. And one racer, who shall remain nameless, races regularly at Bethel and has raced regularly at Bethel, probably for all but a year or two of its existence.
This guy got himself on a pretty sweet short list.
Being the good hearted person I am, I won't reveal his name except to those race promoters who ask me for his name. And I will reveal his name, privately, to that that ask, only after I receive verification from the racer's family (he dutifully provided his name and phone number on his release form).
I can't believe I forgot to mention that in my recap because, except for one unbelievable incident from 10+ years ago, I've never had a person flat out lie to us to take money. The other incident took place in the then Cat 1-2-3 race when a very, very well known racer claimed to have taken the last paying spot. He dutifully named some racers in front of him, some next to him, and he seemed on the up and up. We had no camera at the time (we were saving up for one) so I had no proof one way or another. I paid him even though I didn't know if it was accurate because, well, he's a very, very well known racer and I figured he probably knew.
After the well known racer left, another one, a friendly sort, came up to me.
"What did Well Known Racer want?"
"Oh, we missed him in the field sprint. He got 6th. So I gave him his money."
"What?! No F'ing way he was in the sprint. I watched him - he stopped at the bell and watched the sprint. He was standing right next to me!"
Yeah, I felt used. And it took another couple entries to buy a DV tape for our camcorder, because the DV tape money had driven away in that guy's pocket.
These things do happen. Luckily, except for a sense of right or wrong (or of being used or not), the races don't really matter for me. I don't need the races to make any money other than so I can give it away in primes or prize money or to pay to hold the race. So ultimately the shortsightedness of a few simply hurts my faith in racers, not the race.
Now, just because I said that, I don't want to be flooded with a slew of "Yeah but I got whatever place" next week. We have a camera now :)
On a good note, I started out some race last Sunday and noticed an Horst/Benidorm racer having some problems with his pedals or something. They wear the orange kits and hail from my new hometown area. I used to be pretty intense rivals with some of their riders, at least until they upgraded out of 3s. I ruined one particular rider's day many times, some of them literally feet from the line, ending an unsuccessful 10 or so lap solo moves heartbreakingly close to the finish. But, as I told some guys who wondered if he'd ever win a race, the move will eventually work.
It worked the following week and he beat me by about 20 feet.
Whatever, as a whole they're stronger than me and they race races I've never finished. And they win and place in them.
Anyway, the poor guy had some problem and wasn't doing much to pedal his bike. He seemed to tower over me which might be an illusion on my part, since I'm about as short as they get when sitting on the bike. I moved my left hand right next to the stem (the only way to hold the bars if you're about to push someone) and reached out my right hand. As I closed in, I braced myself and put my hand on his hip.
And shoved him forward hard.
I tried not to slow so much that the guy behind me would slam into me, and since no one did, it seemed to have worked.
I had no idea if my little push helped (I heard a "Thanks" but that's like saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes) but I know I've been the recipient of dozens and dozens of such pushes over the years and although some were a bit enthusiastic, I've never complained about receiving one.
Ends up that he really did have a problem. And no matter how experienced you are, it really, really sucks to watch the field ride away from you for no good reason.
So, you're welcome for the push. Glad it helped.
Posting results on an interactive blog also allows me to see who's posting things (if they want me to). By checking out links I can see what other racers thought of the racing, the promoters (i.e. if I'm doing an okay job), and things like riders, equipment, fitness, things like that.
Some of the ones I found:
The Bell-Lap
answers to questions you didn't ask (2nd week)
answers to questions you didn't ask (1st week)
Millwork One
Sommerville Sports
So the reason for coming here today (at least for me) was to neaten up the results from the first week. I then spent a lot of time figuring out how to get the GC stuff to go smoothly and efficiently. I managed to work out a semblance of a system, put it to use, and now have GC and team GC posted.
Not very neat but I'll see if I can fix it tomorrow.
Let the comments begin.
I figured this was good for a few reasons.
First, I don't have to check email quite so often. If someone doesn't put in a subject line or word in an email, it shows up as [NONE] in my email - and those get deleted right away. Since my email is easily trolled (it appears on all the carpediemracing.org pages), I get one to three hundred emails a day, most of it spam. I'm ruthless about deleting email and I'm sure I've deleted more than a few "real" inquiries. I do look for names I recognize before I delete but since this might involve clearing 5 pages of 200 emails each, I only do a light scan before purges.
Second, since some people grumble privately about things and don't feel like telling me about it, I figured I'd get the most honest feedback about the races. Public opinion tends to be the most ruthless of them all. My goal is to improve the race without losing its informal character, to keep it a fun and enjoyable spring series.
Finally, to be completely frank, I wanted people to hit the blog and see if they read any other part of it. I'm just as curious as to what people think of the blog and wanted to have more people check it out.
As a side note, since I screwed up my tracking code, I don't have any 2008 site statistics before March 3 or so. This means I can only guess at how many people hit the site. The blog has the tracking data (and Google didn't mess up their own code) so it's easier for me to see that, yeah, people want to see their results.
This knowledge is pressure enough that I want to get the results posted as close to real time as possible, to the extent that I got a broadband wireless card specifically for this reason (a new for 2008 race "feature").
So how did putting the results on the blog go?
Well... I think the fighting has finally died down after two days of somewhat continuous posts as well as off-line emails and comments I've gotten via email or phone.
But that hasn't been all of "Bethel" in 2008, believe it or not. I've forgotten some things that happened at the races in my post-race-post-promotion-gotta-get-home haze.
So here are a couple.
First, because this sort of pisses me off. It's about this one Cat 5 rider that came into the tent, talked to the missus, and said that he simply couldn't race in this cold. The missus, bending the rules just a bit, gave the racer back his entry fee. Look we're human and all that.
When the results came in she printed them to post on the van. One name in particular jogged her memory.
Yep, the guy who was "too cold to race".
Incredible. Although some riders may call me names (and others question why I don't ban racers so readily when they call me names), I'm calling this guy a name and it's not a nice one. Not only that, this particular racer will be put onto a somewhat permanent list of those-not-to-be-trusted.
I've compiled this list over the many years of the Series and right now it has.... two names on it. And one racer, who shall remain nameless, races regularly at Bethel and has raced regularly at Bethel, probably for all but a year or two of its existence.
This guy got himself on a pretty sweet short list.
Being the good hearted person I am, I won't reveal his name except to those race promoters who ask me for his name. And I will reveal his name, privately, to that that ask, only after I receive verification from the racer's family (he dutifully provided his name and phone number on his release form).
I can't believe I forgot to mention that in my recap because, except for one unbelievable incident from 10+ years ago, I've never had a person flat out lie to us to take money. The other incident took place in the then Cat 1-2-3 race when a very, very well known racer claimed to have taken the last paying spot. He dutifully named some racers in front of him, some next to him, and he seemed on the up and up. We had no camera at the time (we were saving up for one) so I had no proof one way or another. I paid him even though I didn't know if it was accurate because, well, he's a very, very well known racer and I figured he probably knew.
After the well known racer left, another one, a friendly sort, came up to me.
"What did Well Known Racer want?"
"Oh, we missed him in the field sprint. He got 6th. So I gave him his money."
"What?! No F'ing way he was in the sprint. I watched him - he stopped at the bell and watched the sprint. He was standing right next to me!"
Yeah, I felt used. And it took another couple entries to buy a DV tape for our camcorder, because the DV tape money had driven away in that guy's pocket.
These things do happen. Luckily, except for a sense of right or wrong (or of being used or not), the races don't really matter for me. I don't need the races to make any money other than so I can give it away in primes or prize money or to pay to hold the race. So ultimately the shortsightedness of a few simply hurts my faith in racers, not the race.
Now, just because I said that, I don't want to be flooded with a slew of "Yeah but I got whatever place" next week. We have a camera now :)
On a good note, I started out some race last Sunday and noticed an Horst/Benidorm racer having some problems with his pedals or something. They wear the orange kits and hail from my new hometown area. I used to be pretty intense rivals with some of their riders, at least until they upgraded out of 3s. I ruined one particular rider's day many times, some of them literally feet from the line, ending an unsuccessful 10 or so lap solo moves heartbreakingly close to the finish. But, as I told some guys who wondered if he'd ever win a race, the move will eventually work.
It worked the following week and he beat me by about 20 feet.
Whatever, as a whole they're stronger than me and they race races I've never finished. And they win and place in them.
Anyway, the poor guy had some problem and wasn't doing much to pedal his bike. He seemed to tower over me which might be an illusion on my part, since I'm about as short as they get when sitting on the bike. I moved my left hand right next to the stem (the only way to hold the bars if you're about to push someone) and reached out my right hand. As I closed in, I braced myself and put my hand on his hip.
And shoved him forward hard.
I tried not to slow so much that the guy behind me would slam into me, and since no one did, it seemed to have worked.
I had no idea if my little push helped (I heard a "Thanks" but that's like saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes) but I know I've been the recipient of dozens and dozens of such pushes over the years and although some were a bit enthusiastic, I've never complained about receiving one.
Ends up that he really did have a problem. And no matter how experienced you are, it really, really sucks to watch the field ride away from you for no good reason.
So, you're welcome for the push. Glad it helped.
Posting results on an interactive blog also allows me to see who's posting things (if they want me to). By checking out links I can see what other racers thought of the racing, the promoters (i.e. if I'm doing an okay job), and things like riders, equipment, fitness, things like that.
Some of the ones I found:
The Bell-Lap
answers to questions you didn't ask (2nd week)
answers to questions you didn't ask (1st week)
Millwork One
Sommerville Sports
So the reason for coming here today (at least for me) was to neaten up the results from the first week. I then spent a lot of time figuring out how to get the GC stuff to go smoothly and efficiently. I managed to work out a semblance of a system, put it to use, and now have GC and team GC posted.
Not very neat but I'll see if I can fix it tomorrow.
Let the comments begin.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Bethel Spring Series - Ris Van Bethel recap
I started preparing for March 9th on Friday morning - when I woke up at 4:30 AM, I stayed up. On Friday it was 4:30 AM, but on Sunday, after Daylight Savings kicked in, it would be 5:30 AM.
And, on Sunday, it'd be time to get up.
Saturday I started "trying to get tired". I succeeded too, getting to bed (and sleep) about 7 hours before we were scheduled to wake up. Then, at 2:00 AM, I was up, my early bedtime no match for my body's ingrained day/night schedule. I tried to get back to sleep for a few hours but simply couldn't, so I lay in bed, waiting for my alarm, resigning myself to a long day at the races.
I got to do a lot of thinking about last week's race in those few hours. I hadn't been training too much once I returned from California, and while I was out there, I realized that I rode pretty strongly after a hard day or two. This past week, after taking a few days off from the bike, I did two hard days and one somewhat long day in the three days prior to the race. Not my normal operating procedure since I normally take Friday off before a Sunday race, not do 2 hours of pedal to the metal riding.
Nonetheless my unusual training meant that maybe things were a bit different now.
Sunday the weather at Bethel ended up cold and blustery - high 20s, low 30s, winds of up to 40+ mph. It got to the point where I had two guys literally holding the tent for much of the day. I was worried pieces of it would fly away (the removable sides, the tent top, or one of the ropes would let go) and I didn't want a tent or a side to go cartwheeling across the field or into one of our heaters.
I got to try my new torch out, one used to melt ice and such. I blasted a patch of sand to test it but after that it wouldn't ignite. And with all the dead, dry grass around (think of California in fire season but with 50 degree lower temperatures), I realized that my numb brain wasn't working very well. The ignitor failure was probably a blessing in disguise because it would have been bad news to have the local fire department called to douse a fire next to the course.
We left the frozen sand for the sun and chipped away at what we could.
With the cold weather forecast I'd prepared vigorously so I'd have enough fuel for the day. I brought the microwave, pasta, bottles of water, and some high-sugar, high-caffeine energy drinks. Then I realized I forgot the pasta and the bottles at the house.
Smart move, Sherlock.
So, after 6 hours and two Dunkin Donuts egg sandwiches and large coffees later, I got ready to race. I wore less than I did last week - knickers (not windproof tights), one LS jersey, jacket, and a SS jersey to fly the colors. Booties, warm gloves, and my normal neck and head coverings completed the get up. I also wore my taped up helmet, taping up five vents that weren't taped last week.
The whole day the missus had been suffering in the cold. Even in the relative shelter of the sided tents, the gusts of wind were so strong that wind blew around inside the tents. I'd put two body heat pads (the iron stuff) on her but she took them off, saying they weren't helping. So I went back, grabbed them, and slapped them on my knees.
Perfect.
I did a warm up lap or three and lined up on about as bare a bike as I've ridden in a while. No helmet cam. No fiddling with wires and cables and switches and tapes. No SRM head (the cranks were there though). One bottle, half full.
This was a "Perceived Effort" race.
The race was not as fast as last week. For one the wind was just atrocious. The field would slow to a crawl on the back stretch. To give you an idea of how powerful the wind was, at full gas the Pro-1-2-3s were going 21 mph. Atrocious.
And I think racers were less willing to work. So it made for a slightly easier day. At some point a teammate rode up to me.
"My heart rate is 168."
I looked at my watch. It read 134 - it couldn't be right since I was hurting a bit. I looked back at him.
"Mine is broken."
Next lap I glanced at my watch. 163. Right.
We scampered up the hill since it turned in a sort of crosswind direction, then recovered on the first stretch before lining it up again on the long bend ("Turn Two") to the back stretch.
With the strong winds, any gap left heading into the backstretch turned fatal, with riders behind the gap desperately pushing to close them. I figured one of these gaps would launch a break but it didn't work quite like that.
With about 10 or 15 to go, the field blew apart, splintering into four distinct groups. Four from my standpoint at least - I could see the break of 5 or 7, a chase of 10 or so, the front field of 30ish, and my group, of which I sat maybe 20 back, all separated by 10 or 15 meters. With 80 something racers (8 places, so 8 places x 10 = at least 80 racers) starting the race, I wasn't sure what was behind and I wasn't about to go back there to check it out.
I felt like I was watching a clip of a race in the flatland of Holland, the field blown apart by the wind. Only thing was no echelons, it was all a result of gaps left before turning into a massive headwind.
Then, collectively, all the groups blew up. The front guys essentially sat up, the chase merged with them, the field surged up to them, and the second field group merged with this curb-to-curb group of racers.
What I didn't know, and it was hard to tell, was that two riders never blew up. They went clear of all these groups, holding a gap of something like 47 seconds with 5 to go. A bunch of guys were working to bring them back but to no avail. The race victory was up the road and out of reach.
As a team we'd tried to work something out last week but in the excitement of the moment things didn't work out. This week we'd tried something a little less organized. I told the guys that I'd work it out on my own, following someone and jumping if things seemed good.
Ends up that someone used up a lot of gas moving into position and didn't have much success in the sprint. I, on the other hand, had saved a lot of gas in the move up process because, well, frankly, I didn't move up very much. At the bell I might have been 30+ riders back with the field somewhat stretched out and going at a ferocious pace.
Three sharp moves on the backstretch moved me inside the top 10, the last one even psyching me up, and I jumped a bit late at the bottom of the hill. I quickly cleared all but two guys and then, in agonizingly slow motion, started to reel them in.
One I beat at the line - in fact, after my bike throw, he passed me back - and the other beat us decisively.
The legs, it seems, are back.
During the race two guys started swinging at each other, and I went looking for them after the finish. I wanted them to talk to each other, work it out with words, not fists. But before I could implement my intervention, the official came by. After listening to both of their stories (both admitted to taking their hands off the bars), both were disqualified. This interrupted what would have been a decent day.
I did the P-1-2-3s, stayed in there until 10 or less to go, then used a lot of my racing currency to move to the front. I wanted to offer my riding services for a lap or two if I could as I wasn't sure what I had left. Ends up we didn't need to do anything so I drifted back through the field for a few laps, raised my hand, and sat up.
Five hours later, after dropping the van off, transferring things to our car for the drive home, food, and the actual drive home (and unpacking of the car), we were at home.
As the missus put it:
"Two down, four to go."
And, on Sunday, it'd be time to get up.
Saturday I started "trying to get tired". I succeeded too, getting to bed (and sleep) about 7 hours before we were scheduled to wake up. Then, at 2:00 AM, I was up, my early bedtime no match for my body's ingrained day/night schedule. I tried to get back to sleep for a few hours but simply couldn't, so I lay in bed, waiting for my alarm, resigning myself to a long day at the races.
I got to do a lot of thinking about last week's race in those few hours. I hadn't been training too much once I returned from California, and while I was out there, I realized that I rode pretty strongly after a hard day or two. This past week, after taking a few days off from the bike, I did two hard days and one somewhat long day in the three days prior to the race. Not my normal operating procedure since I normally take Friday off before a Sunday race, not do 2 hours of pedal to the metal riding.
Nonetheless my unusual training meant that maybe things were a bit different now.
Sunday the weather at Bethel ended up cold and blustery - high 20s, low 30s, winds of up to 40+ mph. It got to the point where I had two guys literally holding the tent for much of the day. I was worried pieces of it would fly away (the removable sides, the tent top, or one of the ropes would let go) and I didn't want a tent or a side to go cartwheeling across the field or into one of our heaters.
I got to try my new torch out, one used to melt ice and such. I blasted a patch of sand to test it but after that it wouldn't ignite. And with all the dead, dry grass around (think of California in fire season but with 50 degree lower temperatures), I realized that my numb brain wasn't working very well. The ignitor failure was probably a blessing in disguise because it would have been bad news to have the local fire department called to douse a fire next to the course.
We left the frozen sand for the sun and chipped away at what we could.
With the cold weather forecast I'd prepared vigorously so I'd have enough fuel for the day. I brought the microwave, pasta, bottles of water, and some high-sugar, high-caffeine energy drinks. Then I realized I forgot the pasta and the bottles at the house.
Smart move, Sherlock.
So, after 6 hours and two Dunkin Donuts egg sandwiches and large coffees later, I got ready to race. I wore less than I did last week - knickers (not windproof tights), one LS jersey, jacket, and a SS jersey to fly the colors. Booties, warm gloves, and my normal neck and head coverings completed the get up. I also wore my taped up helmet, taping up five vents that weren't taped last week.
The whole day the missus had been suffering in the cold. Even in the relative shelter of the sided tents, the gusts of wind were so strong that wind blew around inside the tents. I'd put two body heat pads (the iron stuff) on her but she took them off, saying they weren't helping. So I went back, grabbed them, and slapped them on my knees.
Perfect.
I did a warm up lap or three and lined up on about as bare a bike as I've ridden in a while. No helmet cam. No fiddling with wires and cables and switches and tapes. No SRM head (the cranks were there though). One bottle, half full.
This was a "Perceived Effort" race.
The race was not as fast as last week. For one the wind was just atrocious. The field would slow to a crawl on the back stretch. To give you an idea of how powerful the wind was, at full gas the Pro-1-2-3s were going 21 mph. Atrocious.
And I think racers were less willing to work. So it made for a slightly easier day. At some point a teammate rode up to me.
"My heart rate is 168."
I looked at my watch. It read 134 - it couldn't be right since I was hurting a bit. I looked back at him.
"Mine is broken."
Next lap I glanced at my watch. 163. Right.
We scampered up the hill since it turned in a sort of crosswind direction, then recovered on the first stretch before lining it up again on the long bend ("Turn Two") to the back stretch.
With the strong winds, any gap left heading into the backstretch turned fatal, with riders behind the gap desperately pushing to close them. I figured one of these gaps would launch a break but it didn't work quite like that.
With about 10 or 15 to go, the field blew apart, splintering into four distinct groups. Four from my standpoint at least - I could see the break of 5 or 7, a chase of 10 or so, the front field of 30ish, and my group, of which I sat maybe 20 back, all separated by 10 or 15 meters. With 80 something racers (8 places, so 8 places x 10 = at least 80 racers) starting the race, I wasn't sure what was behind and I wasn't about to go back there to check it out.
I felt like I was watching a clip of a race in the flatland of Holland, the field blown apart by the wind. Only thing was no echelons, it was all a result of gaps left before turning into a massive headwind.
Then, collectively, all the groups blew up. The front guys essentially sat up, the chase merged with them, the field surged up to them, and the second field group merged with this curb-to-curb group of racers.
What I didn't know, and it was hard to tell, was that two riders never blew up. They went clear of all these groups, holding a gap of something like 47 seconds with 5 to go. A bunch of guys were working to bring them back but to no avail. The race victory was up the road and out of reach.
As a team we'd tried to work something out last week but in the excitement of the moment things didn't work out. This week we'd tried something a little less organized. I told the guys that I'd work it out on my own, following someone and jumping if things seemed good.
Ends up that someone used up a lot of gas moving into position and didn't have much success in the sprint. I, on the other hand, had saved a lot of gas in the move up process because, well, frankly, I didn't move up very much. At the bell I might have been 30+ riders back with the field somewhat stretched out and going at a ferocious pace.
Three sharp moves on the backstretch moved me inside the top 10, the last one even psyching me up, and I jumped a bit late at the bottom of the hill. I quickly cleared all but two guys and then, in agonizingly slow motion, started to reel them in.
One I beat at the line - in fact, after my bike throw, he passed me back - and the other beat us decisively.
The legs, it seems, are back.
During the race two guys started swinging at each other, and I went looking for them after the finish. I wanted them to talk to each other, work it out with words, not fists. But before I could implement my intervention, the official came by. After listening to both of their stories (both admitted to taking their hands off the bars), both were disqualified. This interrupted what would have been a decent day.
I did the P-1-2-3s, stayed in there until 10 or less to go, then used a lot of my racing currency to move to the front. I wanted to offer my riding services for a lap or two if I could as I wasn't sure what I had left. Ends up we didn't need to do anything so I drifted back through the field for a few laps, raised my hand, and sat up.
Five hours later, after dropping the van off, transferring things to our car for the drive home, food, and the actual drive home (and unpacking of the car), we were at home.
As the missus put it:
"Two down, four to go."
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Bethel Spring Series - Ris Van Bethel, March 9, 2008
| Cat 5 Race 1 | Name | Team | Number | |
| 1 | Denis | Adiletti | Bethel Cycle | 916 |
| 2 | Andrew | Nasca | Bikeway | 956 |
| 3 | Marc | Gagliano | Unattached | 948 |
| 4 | Jonathan | Bielik | Benidorm/Eastern Bloc | 968 |
| 5 | Brendan | Delamere | Unattached | 958 |
| 6 | Jonathan | Nash | Pawling Cycle & Sport | 944 |
| 7 | Adam | Ritter | Stage 1/Fusion Think | 954 |
| 8 | Nicholas | Bartow | Unattached | 966 |
| 9 | Scott | Feltmate | Bethel Cycle | 964 |
| 10 | Donald | Salvino | Unattached | 936 |
| 11 | Eric | Goldstein | Westwood Velo | 924 |
| 12 | Andrew | Lawson | Laurel Bicycle Club | 926 |
| 13 | Jim | Brockway | Pawling Cycle & Sport | 962 |
| 14 | Jeremy | Weemhoff | Unattached | 912 |
| 15 | Ralph | Pruitt | Pawling Cycle & Sport | 942 |
| 16 | Ryan | Anderson | 946 | |
| 17 | Geert | Mol | Unattached | 928 |
| 18 | Brad | Cilley | Unattached | 952 |
| 19 | Alec | Bernard | Staples Bike Club | 902 |
| 20 | Justin | Floch | Staples Bike Club | 904 |
| Cat 5 Race 2 | Name | Team | Number | |
| 1 | James | Rothwell | Unattached | 933 |
| 2 | Brendan | Mansfield | Target Training | 965 |
| 3 | Thomas | Thornton | Target Training | 915 |
| 4 | Justin | Tyberg | Bethel Cycle | 911 |
| 5 | Guido | Wollmann | Unattached | 939 |
| 6 | Estaban | Sequera | Unattached | 957 |
| 7 | William | Regan | Unattached | 963 |
| 8 | Brian | Amen | Unattached | 901 |
| 9 | Michael | Colabella | Connecticut Coast Cycling | 919 |
| 10 | Michael | Buchanan | Danny's Cycle | 961 |
| 11 | Michael | Keane | Unattached | 925 |
| 12 | michael | dimson | Yorktown Cycles | 921 |
| 13 | Kevin | Porter | Connecticut Coast Cycling | 931 |
| 14 | Carlos | Fonseca | Unattached | 905 |
| 15 | Jim | Reid | Bethel Cycle | 959 |
| 16 | Gregory | McCoy | Unattached | 907 |
| 17 | Frank | Navone | Unattached | 949 |
| 18 | Bart | McDonough | Target Training | 909 |
| 19 | Matthew | McPartland | Bethel Cycle | 945 |
| 20 | Frank | DeLio | Unattached | 903 |
| Cat 4 | Name | Team | Number | |
| 1 | Zachary | Staszak | Pawling Cycle & Sport | 352 |
| 2 | Brett | Walker | Hammer/FUJI/Bikeman.com | 323 |
| 3 | Rick | Magee | Bethel Cycle | 310 |
| 4 | eugene | doherty | Team DC Racing | 304 |
| 5 | Sam | Dodge | Stage 1/Fusion Think | 340 |
| 6 | kevin | malloy | CCNS/Pedal Power | 307 |
| 7 | Jay | Vincent | Cycle Center Racing | 313 |
| 8 | Brian | Kelley | Pawling Cycle & Sport | 345 |
| 9 | Pedro | Sanchez | Dannys Cycles | 349 |
| 10 | Roger | Billharz | Hudson Valley Velo | 344 |
| 11 | Charles | Litty | Bethel Cycle Sport Club | 337 |
| 12 | John | Romano | Bethel Cycle Sport Club | 350 |
| 13 | Kurt | Weber | Bethel Cycle Sport Club | 343 |
| 14 | Mark | Salvagin | Team Bicycle Doctor | 338 |
| 15 | Anthony | Troiano | Unattached | 309 |
| 16 | Todd | Nicotra | Connecticut Coast Cycling | 342 |
| 17 | LYLE | BARON | PEDDELARS PARADISE CYCLING TEAM | 302 |
| 18 | jorg | polster | Breaking Away Bicycles | 320 |
| 19 | David | Parker | Signature Cycles/DKNY | 319 |
| 20 | tom | siano | Dannys Cycles | 312 |
| Juniors | Name | Team | Number | |
| 1 | Paul | Lynch | CL Noonan/Coast to Coast | 533 |
| 2 | Ben | Lubkin | Storm Racing | 532 |
| 3 | Jeremy | Storm | Storm Racing | 530 |
| Women | Name | Team | Number | |
| 1 | Ann Marie | Miller | CRCA/Sanchez-Metro | 674 |
| 2 | Andrea | Meyers | Team Kenda Tire | 664 |
| 3 | Rebecca | Blatt | Team Kenda Tire | 670 |
| 4 | Elena | Leznik | CRCA/Radical Media | 669 |
| 5 | Kathleen | Billington | Connecticut Coast Cycling | 673 |
| 6 | Elaine | Molinaro | Montclair Cyclists | 665 |
| 7 | Katherine | Papilln-Rodriguez | CVC/Subaru of New England | 663 |
| 8 | Amanda | Braverman | Cycle Center Racing | 662 |
| 9 | Ashley | Prine | CRCA/Radical Media | 666 |
| 10 | Eve | McNeill | Sunapee/S&W Racing | 668 |
| 11 | ELIZABETH | WEEMHOFF | Unattached | 660 |
| 12 | Elizabeth | McAlpin | CRCA/Sanchez-Metro | 675 |
| 13 | Maria | Dumoulin | Unattached | 671 |
| 14 | Leah | Oppenheimer | Colavita | 672 |
| 15 | Nina | Santiago | High Gear/Watchung Wheelman | 667 |
| Masters 40+ | Name | Team | Number | |
| 1 | Andy | Ruiz | CCC/Keltic Const/Zanes cycles | 251 |
| 2 | Stephan | Gray | Bethel Cycle | 270 |
| 3 | Rich | Foley | CCC/Keltic Const/Zanes cycles | 219 |
| 4 | Robert | Lattanzi | CRCA/Sids-Cannondale | 258 |
| 5 | Todd | Hamel | Stage 1 / fusion THINK | 220 |
| 6 | Ted | Shanstrom | Arc-En-Ciel Racing Team | 223 |
| 7 | Chris | DiMattio | Bethel Sport Club | 252 |
| 8 | Aaron | Wolfe | CRCA/South Africa.Net | 260 |
| 9 | Brett | Walker | Hammer/FUJI/Bikeman.com | 225 |
| 10 | John | Interlandi | Stage 1 / fusion THINK | 240 |
| 11 | Eric | Pearce | Bethel Cycle Sport | 207 |
| 12 | Anthony | Felitte | CCC/Keltic Const/Zanes cycles | 253 |
| 13 | Gerard | O'Shea | CCC/Keltic Const/Zanes cycles | 248 |
| 14 | Bill | Thompson | CCC/Keltic Const/Zanes cycles | 274 |
| 15 | Thomas | Butler | CCC/Keltic Const/Zanes cycles | 255 |
| 16 | Greg | Pelican | Bethel Cycle Sport | 201 |
| 17 | Earl | Perretti | Mountclair Cyclists | 238 |
| 18 | Matthew | Snow | Breaking Away Bikes | 261 |
| 19 | Chris | Chapleau | Stage 1 / fusion THINK | 269 |
| 20 | John | Romano | Bethel Cycle Sport Club | 237 |
| Cat 3/4 | Name | Team | Number | |
| 1 | David | Freifelder | Westwood Vel/Trade Manage Capital | 76 |
| 2 | Bob | German | CCNS/Pedal Power | 31 |
| 3 | Ron | LaRose 3 | CCNS / Pedal Power | 2 |
| 4 | Akira | Sato | Connecticut Coast | 1 |
| 5 | Stephan | Gray | Bethel Cycle | 50 |
| 6 | Patrick | Clifford | DISQUALIFIED | 58 |
| 7 | Joe | Straub | Signature Cycles/ DKNY | 4 |
| 8 | eric | merrill | ccc/keltic const./zanes cycles | 8 |
| 9 | Joe | Kubisek | Cheshire Cycle/Epic Velo | 84 |
| 10 | Chad | Dalles | Bethel Cycle Sport Club | 64 |
| 11 | Gabrielle | Gentile | DISQUALIFIED | 7 |
| 12 | Will | Vallar | Danny's Cycles / Sebago Footwear | 28 |
| 13 | Graham | Lang | CRCA Jr Dev/Orbea | 73 |
| 14 | Brian | Tompkins | CCNS/Pedal Power | 53 |
| 15 | Glen | Babikian | Signature cycles/DKNY | 15 |
| 16 | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | |
| 17 | Rich | Foley | CCC/Keltic Const/Zanes cycles | 22 |
| 18 | Todd | Hamel | Stage 1 / fusion THINK | 26 |
| 19 | Peter | Hirst | Connecticut Coast Cycling | 60 |
| 20 | Salvatore | Abbruzzese | CRCA/Blue Ribbon-Translations.com | 81 |
| Cat Pro/1/2/3 | Name | Team | Number | |
| 1 | Justin | Lindine | Target Training | |
| 2 | Eneas | Freyre | Target Training | |
| 3 | Ron | Fantano | Sommerville | |
| 4 | Jacob | Hacker | Unattached | |
| 5 | Anthony | Alessio | Stage 1 / fusion THINK | |
| 6 | James | Thomas | Breaking Away Bicycles | |
| 7 | Chris | Fisher | Williams Cycling | |
| 8 | Stephen | Badger | Target Training | |
| 9 | Matt | Baldwin | Target Training | |
| 10 | Connor | Sallee | ||
| 11 | Chad | Butts | Kraft Genie | |
| 12 | John-Paul | Kaminski | Connecticut Coast | |
| 13 | Mike | McGinley | Sommerville | |
| 14 | Gerard | O'Shea | CCC/Keltic Const/Zanes cycles | |
| 15 | Chris | Crowell | Stage 1/Fusion Think | |
| 16 | Juan | Pimentel | CRCA/Global Locate | |
| 17 | Aiden | Charles | Nerac | |
| 18 | Sal Scotto | Divetta | Sommerville | |
| 19 | David | Sommerville | Sommerville | |
| 20 | Ryan | Storm | Target Training |
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Equipment - S-Works vs Decibel
I noted in my last post that I recently received my Specialized S-Works helmet. It has a lot of the standard Specialized helmet features - the big mouth in front, even rows of air channels bridged by some thin pieces of reinforced foam, and a huge vertical set of rear exhaust ports (that last bit makes it sound like I'm talking about a car or a spaceship - but if you look at the back of the helmet, it really does look like part of a spaceship).
The helmets from the bottom - S-Works left, Decibel right.
Note the full circumference lock system on the S-Works. The Decibel gets the half price version - it ends about 2/3 of the way around the helmet. The S-Works is very nice, it holds the helmet in a balanced way, not squeezing your forehead into the front of the helmet. The only draw back might be that if the pads slip on the lock system, your forehead is on hard, stiff plastic. Not comfortable.
The straps are pretty much the same between the two. The recalled 2-D had very, very thin straps that didn't absorb moisture. Apparently they didn't absorb energy either because they disappeared from the stronger S-Works. Pity because the thin straps were, well, thin.
The mouth up front didn't seem that much bigger until I compared it to my Decibel, the interim helmet Specialized provided its S-Works (originally named the 2-D) helmet while the recalled 2-D helmets were replaced. Once I looked at them side by side, I was amazed at the differences. I thought they were significant enough that I wanted to show them to you all.
The maw on the S-Works (left) and the Decibel (right). Jaws versus a guppy. Okay, not quite, but you get the idea.
The vertical exhaust ports. S-Works up top, Decibel down low.
A sexy rear three quarters shot. S-Works left, Decibel right.
Difference in vents. Decibel left, S-Works right.
The helmets from the bottom - S-Works left, Decibel right.Note the full circumference lock system on the S-Works. The Decibel gets the half price version - it ends about 2/3 of the way around the helmet. The S-Works is very nice, it holds the helmet in a balanced way, not squeezing your forehead into the front of the helmet. The only draw back might be that if the pads slip on the lock system, your forehead is on hard, stiff plastic. Not comfortable.
The straps are pretty much the same between the two. The recalled 2-D had very, very thin straps that didn't absorb moisture. Apparently they didn't absorb energy either because they disappeared from the stronger S-Works. Pity because the thin straps were, well, thin.
The mouth up front didn't seem that much bigger until I compared it to my Decibel, the interim helmet Specialized provided its S-Works (originally named the 2-D) helmet while the recalled 2-D helmets were replaced. Once I looked at them side by side, I was amazed at the differences. I thought they were significant enough that I wanted to show them to you all.
The maw on the S-Works (left) and the Decibel (right). Jaws versus a guppy. Okay, not quite, but you get the idea.It's obvious even from my poor photography that the S-Works has much larger vents up front. They're so large that, well, I think they supplied the semi-hardshell case with the helmets for a reason.
Look closely at the Decibel. Look at the mouth which has the blue sticker behind it. See that crack?
Yeah.
I only noticed it when I was taking pictures. It must have happened on my nightmare trip home or when I tossed the helmet in the back of the car last weekend. Either way I'll see if it warrants a replacement.
Look closely at the Decibel. Look at the mouth which has the blue sticker behind it. See that crack?
Yeah.
I only noticed it when I was taking pictures. It must have happened on my nightmare trip home or when I tossed the helmet in the back of the car last weekend. Either way I'll see if it warrants a replacement.
The vertical exhaust ports. S-Works up top, Decibel down low.The S-Works has longer vertical columns but they are broken up by very thing horizontal fin-like braces. It must be where the kevlar framework sits. The underside of the rear (not pictured) is a little more finished on the S-Works. Details, details, details. When you refine something, it's the details that count.
A sexy rear three quarters shot. S-Works left, Decibel right.The rear shot, from above, shows a distinct difference in pattern. The S-Works has this V-shaped thing going on, the V starting at the back and wrapping around the helmet to point at the top of your ears. I don't think it has any functional purpose but it's an easy way to tell the two helmets apart.
Of course, if you get them in different colors, that works too.
Of course, if you get them in different colors, that works too.
Difference in vents. Decibel left, S-Works right.Once I noticed the gaping maw up front, I figured the rest of the vents would be sort of the same between the two helmets.
Wrong.
The S-Works has enormous vents which maintain their diameter through the helmet. In other words, many vents start out big but by the time you get to the head, the vent is disappointingly small. This leads to the acts of desecration where riders use fingernails, pocket knives, nail clippers, cigarette lighters, and anything else they can get to bore out the vents.
With the S-Works, that won't be necessary. I can't imagine where you'd get rid of any foam without causing the whole thing to crumple. The vents are wide everywhere.
Cool.
Now I have wait for the weather to warm up.
Wrong.
The S-Works has enormous vents which maintain their diameter through the helmet. In other words, many vents start out big but by the time you get to the head, the vent is disappointingly small. This leads to the acts of desecration where riders use fingernails, pocket knives, nail clippers, cigarette lighters, and anything else they can get to bore out the vents.
With the S-Works, that won't be necessary. I can't imagine where you'd get rid of any foam without causing the whole thing to crumple. The vents are wide everywhere.
Cool.
Now I have wait for the weather to warm up.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Preview - 2008 Specialized S-Works Helmet
For my birthday last year, the future (and current) missus bought me the nicest helmet she could find, the Specialized 2-D helmet. Light, airy, and secure, the helmet promised to do everything it could to help me go fast safely on the bike.
Only problem was the buckle, or perhaps the strap, was not strong enough to pass a rigorous test. In the US the helmet got recalled.
Specialized tried to make up for this potentially frustrating recall by immediately supplying all affected customers with a free new Decibel, their previous top line helmet. It promised almost-as-good ventilation, almost-as-good fit, and almost-as-good weight.
At the 2-D recall time it was deep into the New England winter and light and ventilated helmets were the last thing I wanted on my head. I had my old primary helmet, all its vents taped up, and it still felt a bit cold.
But, when I went to California in February, I brought the Decibel. It did its job well in the warm sunshine, ventilating as promised. I had some sweat run into my eyes if I didn't wear a cap but that's always been the case with any helmet I've had.
I've even ridden the Decibel at home as the temperatures crept up over 30 degrees.
And, just when I'd totally forgotten about the real reason I have a nice Decibel helmet, the local bike shop (LBS) called me up.
"Hey, we have your S-Works helmet." (One thing they did was rename it from 2-D to S-Works).
It was snowing, the roads were slick, but I was at the shop in 45 minutes. They handed me a nice red box and I was on my way. I opened it about a week later (it's still cold here so I didn't need the helmet right away).
A semi-hard shell case. Nice.
The clamshell case opens up to reveal the helmet. An elastic keeps the helmet from bouncing around (it's visible in the top of the case, the left side of the picture). Faux carbon fiber on the little bridge pieces, as is required to be "cool" apparently.
The helmet also included a soft bag (like the original - and yes, I gave it back with the helmet), a few sticky pads, and the obligatory "S" stickers. They'll find their way on something, my bike or tool box or something.
Note the full circumference "lock" thing (it's white plastic). So nice it holds the helmet on pretty well without buckling the straps.
The gaping maw of the helmet. It's really quite tall and the openings are actually there. I hope it helps keep my forehead clearer of sweat. I remember the first version of the Specialized maw, the front of the opening was huge but the rear narrowed until I couldn't squeeze a small pinkie through the hole. Not much use. These vents are good.
Only problem was the buckle, or perhaps the strap, was not strong enough to pass a rigorous test. In the US the helmet got recalled.
Specialized tried to make up for this potentially frustrating recall by immediately supplying all affected customers with a free new Decibel, their previous top line helmet. It promised almost-as-good ventilation, almost-as-good fit, and almost-as-good weight.
At the 2-D recall time it was deep into the New England winter and light and ventilated helmets were the last thing I wanted on my head. I had my old primary helmet, all its vents taped up, and it still felt a bit cold.
But, when I went to California in February, I brought the Decibel. It did its job well in the warm sunshine, ventilating as promised. I had some sweat run into my eyes if I didn't wear a cap but that's always been the case with any helmet I've had.
I've even ridden the Decibel at home as the temperatures crept up over 30 degrees.
And, just when I'd totally forgotten about the real reason I have a nice Decibel helmet, the local bike shop (LBS) called me up.
"Hey, we have your S-Works helmet." (One thing they did was rename it from 2-D to S-Works).
It was snowing, the roads were slick, but I was at the shop in 45 minutes. They handed me a nice red box and I was on my way. I opened it about a week later (it's still cold here so I didn't need the helmet right away).
A semi-hard shell case. Nice.
The clamshell case opens up to reveal the helmet. An elastic keeps the helmet from bouncing around (it's visible in the top of the case, the left side of the picture). Faux carbon fiber on the little bridge pieces, as is required to be "cool" apparently.
The helmet also included a soft bag (like the original - and yes, I gave it back with the helmet), a few sticky pads, and the obligatory "S" stickers. They'll find their way on something, my bike or tool box or something.
Note the full circumference "lock" thing (it's white plastic). So nice it holds the helmet on pretty well without buckling the straps. The rear black piece (between the two white things at the back of the lock thing) tightens or loosens the whole band, ratcheting away. It isn't replicable, i.e. you can't make it exactly the same each time (like "8" for bare head, "6" for wearing a cap, and "2" if you're wearing a winter hat). I think this will be the next improvement for the ratcheting lock system.
Speaking of straps, these are thicker then the recalled ones - they seem the same as the Decibel straps. This made me suspect the "buckle" failure in testing was actually a "strap" failure.
The gaping maw of the helmet. It's really quite tall and the openings are actually there. I hope it helps keep my forehead clearer of sweat. I remember the first version of the Specialized maw, the front of the opening was huge but the rear narrowed until I couldn't squeeze a small pinkie through the hole. Not much use. These vents are good.In the old days the pros would carve out the inside of their helmets until they resembled a mostly eaten avocado. I couldn't believe they'd do that but that's what they did. Vents were made to be carved (in their eyes). Nowadays, with the enormous vents and air channels, such modding is no longer required.
Phew.
I'll do a compare/contrast with the Decibel next. At first glance they look pretty similar but when I looked closer, there are some big differences. I haven't done much more than slap the S-Works on my head but I'm looking forward to the warm days of... April? May? where I can use it to its full effect.
In the meantime I've let it back into its shell, hibernating until it gets warmer.
Phew.
I'll do a compare/contrast with the Decibel next. At first glance they look pretty similar but when I looked closer, there are some big differences. I haven't done much more than slap the S-Works on my head but I'm looking forward to the warm days of... April? May? where I can use it to its full effect.
In the meantime I've let it back into its shell, hibernating until it gets warmer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
