Bethel Spring Series - 2010 is LIVE!

Oh, I love our rep in Colorado. Seriously, she got all sorts of things handled on the phone (rather than exchanging countless emails), all in a 30 minute conversation, give or take.

So, now, the 2010 Bethel Spring Series is for real.

Well, almost. I have to print and sign some papers and get them over to Colorado, then it'll be official. Everyone's already approved them, I just have to take that final step.

So now I can officially boast about our BikeReg page.

Yep, each event is there. On the first one, the Ronde, you can register for the whole Series. You can pay $12 per week for the six weeks of racing, or, if you want to do two races a week, it comes out to $11 a race overall.

In case you don't know this, it's a killer deal.

It's really a killer deal because we actually work with the racers with entries. We will bend over backwards to accommodate you because, frankly, you make the race. The Series is like a store, and you're the customer.

So, if you want to move a registration from one week to another, fine.

If a race is canceled, we refund you your $12 or $11. Or give you a race credit for a different week, whatever you want.

You want to help out? You race for free, depending on what you do.

Look, it's the way I'd want to be treated if I was paying a promoter to race. Of course, since I know what it's like to promote a race, I end up treating other promoters the way I want racers to treat me. For example, I usually write off a paid entry fee if I don't feel like racing, like when I wake up too tired to contemplate even driving to the race. But that's besides the point.

The point is that Bethel was started to be "A race by racers for racers."

There's no mention of keeping money that we don't deserve.

The only rule?

You have to ask for any changes before the race takes place.

In other words, if you want to skip a week because you got sick or something, let me know before race day that you want to skip that race and use the race credit at a later week.

Don't ask me after the fact.

Because, seriously, the one thing I won't do is bend over backwards for someone that overslept or partied too hard or something. Just give me a call or email me or something and let me know, and I'll move your registration back to a later week. Not a problem. Maybe a pain, but not a problem.

Ask me after the fact and it's a problem.

So, the race is on. We have some new stuff for this year.

I may have mentioned this before, but I want to say it again. For 2010 there will be some stuff that I really wanted to do for a while.

We have Leaders' Jerseys, thanks to Vergesport. They're yellow, cool, limited, and you can only earn one by winning the Series.

Very cool, right?

Well, when I see pictures of the Tour and such, the guys in the Yellow, even if they're just clinging to it by their teeth, they try and enjoy it a bit. They dress up in more yellow than normal.

Like shoe covers.

Ah.

Shoe covers. Yellow shoe covers.

Well, thanks to Verge and Navone Studios, we'll have three weeks worth of shoe covers. They'll match the Leaders' Jerseys of course, and they'll make you look all that more pro when you're leading the Series.

What's nice is that since we're getting more than just 7 shoe covers, the wearer of the shoe covers gets to keep them.

Like those guys that lead the Tour in the middle of the race - they have all that yellow kit stuff as a souvenir.

And, of course, you can't ride into Paris without a yellow helmet.

Likewise, the Leaders on the last day will be cruising around the course under a Leader's Helmet (made by Specialized, not the brand "Leader"), courtesy Outdoor Sports Center.

Incredibly, we have a full size run of a nice yellow, black, and grey helmet for all the Leaders on that last day.

Just like the shoe covers, the helmet wearer keeps the helmet as a souvenir. Since they'll have a pair of shoe covers, they get to keep them too.

Hopefully they'll get to keep the Jersey too, but it's not unknown for the Jersey to change hands on the last day. If that happens, the deposed Leader has the right to keep the helmet and shoe covers.

Of course the overall winner can negotiate. But that's up to them, not to me.

Pictures at some point, not now though.

Promoting - Permits and BikeReg

This morning I was up pretty early, even by my standards. I think it was 3:32 AM when I started brewing up a pot of coffee, the cats busy munching away upstairs. I staggered to the laptop to finally put through the permit apps.

I staggered because, frankly, I could barely walk.

See, on Sunday, I went to the Y with the missus and my sister-in-law. The SIL is an avid runner, so we all jumped on treadmills. And since we only had about 30 minutes to run, and I wanted to do a 5k, well, you can kind of guess what happened.

After a nice, calm, mellow warm-up, with all sorts of mental checking of the hip area for signs of injury or damage from the Big Crash, I checked the time.

And quickly set the gizmo to do a 5k run.

I cranked out an 8:30 pace start, an 8:00 middle, and a 7:30 pace last mile or so (well, I tried to dip into the 6:30s but got kind of tired).

The last time I ran a 5k was on a similar, if not identical, treadmill, one in the exact same room as this one. It took me almost 28 minutes to do it then - this time, less than 25 minutes.

Since the last time I ran was in May of 2009, you can understand that my legs were a bit tired after the run.

And, Tuesday, at 3:32 AM, I had to stagger to walk anywhere.

Anyway, I digress.

With freshly brewed coffee at hand (with 2 teaspoons of sugar, a dash of fat free half & half, and way too much peppermint extract), I started finalizing the USAC permits for Bethel.

Before it was all about printing forms, mailing them, and waiting for the paperwork to travel around the country. First Massachusetts, then Colorado. Now it's all electronic.

Problem is, I can't edit certain information. So I have to rely on the staff in Colorado to do that for me.

Now, usually, when you call for help with things like this, I'd expect it take forever. People will ask me questions on what I did, make me feel like I really screwed up, and jeez what kind of a moron would...

You know the saying - it's the nut holding the keyboard that screws things up.

Anyway, USAC is distinctly not like that. In fact, the person that help out with permitting and such, at least for this area, is really helpful. It's hard to believe that the only things I have to pay for is a club application ($150) and daily permit fees ($50). Okay, fine, we pay the $3 insurance per rider, but that's not money we necessarily see. And, at $12 pre-reg per week of racing (which includes that insurance), the riders shouldn't really worry about it either.

If I hear anyone complain about the $12 pre-reg fee...

Anyway, I'm hoping that the magical person in Colorado Springs can edit stuff as necessary to make the permits proper. But in the meantime, they're in the system, even if it needs just a little tweak.

And I can keep drinking my coffee.

The other nice thing in this computer age is BikeReg. It's a site that allows you to register online for pretty much any race you want to do. Okay, fine, they get a fee, like an eBay, but it's worth it.

Just like USAC's helpful person in Colorado Springs, BikeReg's team is also extremely service oriented. They're super friendly, super helpful, super responsive. In fact, if you check out the site link, it's the same one as last year.

How cool is that?

In fact, they're so good they're just a bit too responsive, and, to be honest, that's why I'm scrambling to get the permit apps in place. I won't go into details (I'm pleading the fifth), but suffice it to say that BikeReg rocks. Any scrambling is because of me.

Now that I've handled those things, I can work on other things. Like this post.

And a second mug of coffee.

How To - Comfort On A Bike

Today, some thoughts on "comfort".

I recently ordered a custom (all aluminum) frame from Tsunami Bikes. The builder asked me what I rode now, and if I felt comfortable with it. I told him my current bike is a SystemSix and I'm good on it for 100+ miles, 8+ hours.

The builder told me my new frame would feel extremely similar.

I thought, "How can he tell??"

Then I realized that comfort has to do with the front and rear of the frame. For the rear, my SystemSix has an aluminum rear triangle. So will my new frame. They both have beefy chainstays, slimmer seatstays. Therefore they'll feel the same.

The front end - I'll be using a familiar carbon fork (I already own it, and it's installed on an aluminum framed bike, and I've ridden it for those previously mentioned 100 mile days) and the same stem/bars as normal, so that's all the same too.

So, when you define comfort, think about what you're looking for. There are maybe three types of comfort:

1. Hands - if the bars, stem, fork, front wheel, even your bar tape are too stiff, too unforgiving, your hands hurt. If your bars are too low or too far out you'll put too much weight on them. Less comfort.

Steel bars transfer vibrations really well, aluminum or carbon not so much. Since I'll have aluminum bars, that's not a problem.

Steel stems, too, transfer a lot of vibration. Tubular steel stems, like the one I ride on the track, are nice and rigid, but given the choice, I'll take aluminum.

2. Saddle - Given similar wheelbases, if your saddle, post, rear tire are too rigid or too unforgiving, you'll have saddle discomfort. I seriously think frames have little to do with overall comfort with the saddle, again within a certain wheelbase range (+/- 1 cm). Yes, my tandem, with its 18-wheeler wheelbase, is much more comfy, and yes, my track bike, with its go-kart wheelase, is a bit less comfy.

When you hit a bump, your frame isn't the only thing to flex - it's your tire and saddle first, your wheel next, and then your frame. If you're out of the saddle and rocking a flexy bike, the frame will flex too.

The key here is the saddle and tire - get firm but forgiving ones and you'll be good, like a good mattress or couch. Too soft and it'll feel like you're riding in mud. Reducing air pressure on the road isn't really effective by itself unless you get a larger tire (else you'll flat too easily, or your tires will wash out in a hard turn).

A super rigid tire is a bear to ride too, even on an otherwise "flexy" frame. I learned this vividly a long, long time ago. I tried out a friend's bike, one that felt really flexible when I did the "push down on the pedal while standing next to the bike" thing that I like doing. I figured the bike would feel like mush, but my friend claimed the frame wasn't mushy at all.

Oddly enough, when I rode it, I felt a huge contrast in comfort (meaning how nice is it to ride) and flex (how efficient it feels). My hands and butt were going numb due to road buzz, but when I jumped the bike felt totally mushy.

Things didn't compute. If my hands and butt go numb due to road buzz, I figure that means the frame is really, really stiff. Therefore the frame ought to be really stiff and responsive.

A frame that feels mushy (I define mushy as "when I do a hard jump in a big gear, the chainrings move enough to make the chain rub the front derailleur"), it means the frame flexes a lot. That means it should be pretty pliable too.

My friend's bike had half of each characteristic. What gave?

I put my own wheels on the bike and suddenly the bike was comfortable and mushy. The discomfort didn't come from the flexy frame, it came from my friend's overly rigid tires.

3. Fit - The last comfort factor is fit. How does the bike fit you? Usually the saddle height has little to do with comfort, but with a too-high position, especially on a rough terrain bike, you can't unweight yourself as easily and therefore your "saddle" is uncomfortable.

The usual suspects are the two saddle-bar measurements, horizontal and vertical.

When I say "horizontal", I'm referring to the overall length from the saddle to the bar. If this distance gets too long you end up with a lot of weight on your hands (and therefore arms and shoulders). You may get numb or tingly hands, and road shock will seem a bit more pronounced in the bars.

"Vertical" refers to the vertical drop between the saddle and bar. Once again, too much of a drop will put a lot of weight on the bars.

Interestingly enough, having too little drop or too little reach will also cause some discomfort.

A long time ago I fit a recreational rider, a woman in her forties, someone that did some aerobics classes but was otherwise sedentary, to her bike. It was a hybrid model I'd sold her years prior. She wanted to ride but had some back discomfort. The hybrid put her in a slightly bent over position - the straight bars and high stem made for a pretty upright position.

I asked her if she'd be willing to experiment a bit, on my dime so to speak. I installed a long, flat stem, slammed it down into the fork (it was back in the quill days), and put bar ends on her straight bars. If it didn't work I'd work along more conventional routes, but I thought that weighting her arms and using her core would result in reduced stress on her back.

She ended up with a position that, if she was holding the bar ends, would almost resemble a time trial position, except she had to hold up her upper body with her arms (no arm rests).

The result?

She felt much more comfortable.

In fact, she felt much less comfortable trying to sit up just a bit. She basically leaned over until her back was comfortably stretched, and stayed in that position while she rode.

The lesson here is that the long, low position favored by pros could possibly be the position you can use too.

I wasn't thinking of that when I was on the trainer last night. I did a 20 minute test (failed miserably - 246 watts, and when I "went hard" in the last three minutes, I went down in wattage).

Afterwards, a bit disappointed, I decided to do some low rpm power bits, punish my legs a bit for being weak. I got in the drops, kept my torso low, and churned away. As my rpms dropped (I was shifting up), my wattage rose, until I was doing a steady, gear-churning 275 watts.

I crouched down, lower and lower, until my face was just above the bars. My old weight wouldn't allow me to do this - my torso would get in the way - but my new, improve "me" did.

I rode, my face a couple inches above the bars, my shoulders low, my forearms reaching up to the drops, and at a pretty significant angle (!).

Looking in the mirror, my position looked really uncomfortable. But I could breathe, I could pedal, and it didn't feel bad.

I may not ride all day in that position but, hey, maybe when I do a Commesso move (he pushes enormous gears in a super low position), I can churn a gear like he did in the 07 Giro.

I realized that I'd be able to replicate this position with a bit more practicality once the new frame arrived. The longer position would let me get lower without putting the bars directly under my nose. The shorter head tube, even with the headset installed on top of it (the differences would almost cancel each other out) would get my bars down a touch.

Anticipation.

Promoting - Bethel Spring Series 2010 - BikeReg Framework

Yesterday I spent a bit of time doing some BikeReg work, in preparation for the 2010 Bethel Spring Series.

As far as tasks go, it could have been a lot worse. BikeReg makes it easy to get a previous event, copy it, select new dates (for the event and registration cut-off), or even edit categories.

*Edit* Holy carps. I just, and I mean just finished updating the stuff, and made a request to group the six days together.

And guess what?

Before I could finish typing this post, I got a response.

Here's the 2010 Bethel Spring Series group.

Wow. Ask and ye shall receive.

Now back to the regular planning. *End Edit*

For example, it took only a couple keystrokes to make the Masters race 45+.

Stuff like that. I found it easy to churn through all six events, updating things all over the place. I even updated the email text that goes out to registrants, which, unfortunately, was a few years out of date (oops).

Anyway, I changed a lot of things. One change I made is that Masters will be 45+ this year.

I also labeled the different races a bit more clearly. The Juniors race is now "Juniors Cat 1-2-3-4", to make things clear that Cat 5s cannot do that race.

The Masters 45+ race (which used to be Masters 40+ but I changed it for this year to Masters 45+) is now "Masters 45+ Cat 1-2-3-4", to make things clear that Cat 5s cannot do that race.

I also started reviewing the prize lists, which starts out low and increases steadily over four weeks. This doesn't include the overall GC prizes. That should be okay since I tend to determine them just before the last event based on how well the Series went.

Don't worry, I tend to increase whatever prize list I jotted down in the cold, dark winter. The relief at seeing the end of the Series makes me a bit euphoric, and the prizes follow.

I feel a lot better about having BikeReg set up, even if it doesn't go live until January 11th or whenever the permits are accepted, which ever is later.

Let me repeat this in case you're just skimming.

The BikeReg pages don't go live until Jan 11th or until permit apps are accepted.

Okay, maybe they'll be live, but don't register.

The other big obstacle to filing the permits has been getting the flyer together. I made the same changes to the flyer (like putting "Cat 1-2-3-4" after Juniors and Masters, and changes Masters to Masters 45+).

I'll be uploading the new flyer along with the online race permit applications and, hopefully, walla, we'll be racing.

Booyah.

Tsunami Frameset - Base Coat - Ultrasound #4

Base coat means there'll be a top coat, and that means, usually, there will be two colors in one.

When the base coat is silver-ish, it usually means the top coat will be a tinting one, like a transluscent red.

That example would be called Candy Red.

I'm using that example because the frame will NOT be that color. I can't wait to see the frame when it's done. This should be pretty cool.

Shiny bauble. Precious.

A view from a bit further away.

Eagle-eyed readers may notice some weird fittings on the first picture - it's actually the bottom of the downtube and seat tube, so it shows the housing stops for the derailleur and brake cables.

Paint emphasizes any finish imperfections, and although I'm not necessarily looking for a jewel-like finish, this is a nice surprise.

One thing's for sure - I won't need to worry about the housing stops breaking off.

And another thing's for sure too. This anticipation is killing me. I feel like a kid again.

Racing - 2010 Goals

So, yesterday was diet. Today I'll expand a bit on what I want to do for 2010.

My main goals, as always, will be the same as they have for, oh, a while. I suppose these haven't changed for 15 years or so:
1. Win the Cat 3-4 Bethel Spring Series.
2. Win CT Cat 3 Crit Gold at the Nutmeg State Games (and be the first rider across the line regardless).

Goals without an idea of how to accomplish said goals are somewhat pointless. I hope that being lighter (by one to two bikes' worth of weight) and retaining my end-of-2009 strength will help tilt the odds to my favor for Goal 1. For the second, it's a matter of racing smart and sprinting well.

Some immediate other goals for 2010, in no particular order:
1. Work together with my teammates in races.
2. Climb Palomar Mountain faster than 90 minutes for the whole climb.
3. Return to pre-1999 race weight of 160 lbs (-23 lbs from avg race weight in 2009). Ideally return to 1997 race weight of 149 lbs, -34 lbs from 2009.

Again, some ideas on execution. For the first, I want to be able to work with my teammates, both helping them and receiving help. I want to execute more leadouts like the one that won the guy on my wheel a race, but to give said leadout to a teammate this time (!).

Climbing Palomar while 20 or 30 pounds lighter... How can I not go faster?

And weight, that's the diet thing.

Goals kinda sorta already met, or being fulfilled now:
1. Get a custom geometry frame.
2. Revamp my wheel collection.
3. Prune my equipment list.
4. Lose a bunch of weight.

I've ordered the first, am about to pull the trigger on the second, am working on the third, and ditto the fourth.

Other goals, less "urgent":
1. Become a licensed official.
2. Become a licensed coach.

I have to find a seminar that I can attend to do #1. I checked the box for "coach" and have to study the book and take the test for the second.

Goals I really have to meet, due to obligations:
1. Promote Bethel Spring Series.
2. Help promote "Pedal For Paws", a charity ride to benefit a cat shelter (of course) on Oct 2, 2010.
3. Give bike riding/racing tips at each team meeting I attend, 30 min presentation tops.
4. Hold 6+ week, 1 day per week, "how to ride" clinic (how to ride in a group comfortably).
5. Fulfill my duties as Rider Safety Coordinator for the New England Bicycle Racing Association (or NEBRA).

I have to file permits and such for the first item. Believe it or not, it'll be kinda sorta new for me, since I usually did other things.

The second will be a new thing, but I think I can handle it. The third thing I've already done once, and I hope that the next bunch goes well.

The fourth thing will end up relating to the fifth and last thing. And that last thing is my most visible goal.

It's something that popped up recently. Although "Rider Safety Coordinator" sounds distinctly un-sexy, it's actually something I really want to do. My basic mission is to formulate a framework of etiquette and rider skills that each club can teach their members. This should have the effect, over the course of a few years, of homogenizing racers' attitudes towards how races ought to be raced.

My first deadline is January 9th, when I need to present my ideas to NEBRA.

Onwards.

Training - Diet Update

In mid October of 2009, I embarked on a mission to lose weight.

I'd been racing obliviously at 10 pounds over my perceived weight (due to a very optimistic scale in my bathroom). When I realized that I wasn't a "svelte" 171 lbs but was in fact weighing in at 181, I decided that if I really wasn't 171, I'd become 171.

(This conveniently ignores the fact that my "171" was a "race" weight, my lightest for the year. Usually I was 10 over that, even during the summer. I usually broke a perceived 190 lbs during the winter... which really meant I was regularly climbing into the 200 pound range. It makes my perceived 200-205 in 2003 an astounding 210-215 lbs.)

I dieted.

When the weight started coming down pretty quickly, I started thinking a bit more dramatically. Some time on the calculator, doing some wattage per kilogram estimates, and I decided that I needed to do more.

Losing weight is about a net loss of calories. A pound of fat is worth about 3500 calories, so I'd have to run a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat.

I felt like I should be 20 pounds lighter than I was in October. This means I had to lose about 70,000 calories worth of weight to hit my target.

70,000 calories.

And, to be totally honest, I'm looking for another 10 pounds. So about 100,000 calories worth of deficit.

Deficit spending, unfortunately, is harder to do when dealing with food as opposed to money. I simply had to limit my intake.

How you do that, at some level, is besides the point. True, it's not a good idea to just starve yourself (although apparently Floyd would skip eating for a day or two if he needed to "lose weight"). You need whatever nutrients. You should maintain some level of exercise so your body doesn't go into hibernation (pack on the pounds) mode. Blah blah blah.

But the bottom line? You gotta cut calories.

Period.

Since I raced well at 155-160 lbs and I've been suffering immensely for the past 5-7 years, 155 became my goal. The other thing is my BMI was usually around "obese", and "normal" would mean 159 lbs.

So my absolute minimum goal would be 159 lbs, and I'd want to be down at 155 or so.

Using a diet/calorie guide, I decided that I'd go for an 1800 calorie daily target, holding to that number until the end of the year. I'd ride whenever I felt like it. And, come 2010, I'd see where I was and adjust things (goals, methods, etc.) from there.

I didn't want to force myself to train hard because, frankly, I expected to be feeling weak and lackadaisical. Therefore I felt that both my weight and my form would decline during the remainder of the 2009 year. At the beginning of 2010 I could start tapering my weight loss and work on regaining some of that lost strength.

No one who knew me would accuse me of having a healthy diet, at least until now. For me it was an easy process - it became a game of reducing calories however I could, watching what I ate, and trying to fill up on calorically empty foods (like green beans) or at least low/no fat foods (like pasta or lean meats).

For me that meant no more fried calamari, no more full rack of ribs. No more 2 huge burgers at a time, 5 McD burgers at a time, desert every time we went out to eat, 1 pound of pasta at a sitting, big bag of peanuts "to get me through till lunch" (700 cal in that alone). No 3-4-5-6 donuts at a sitting, no full bacon/egg/cheese/bagel sandwiches.

A lot of my former life's "snacks" and meals were 1000-1500 calories EACH (!!!). My standard "calamari and ribs" would sock me a good 2000 calories, another 500-1000 if I had a desert, and that's not including the veggies drenched in butter, the garlic bread drenched in butter... you get the picture.

Instead I've been eating (and appreciating and enjoying) smarter, more efficient food. I'm usually between 1700-1900 calories per day, 35-45 grams of fat. My sodium intake is out of control, ditto carbs. Whatever, it's okay by me. I don't want to make the effort to fix those things and I don't care about it.

Little changes means big differences. I eat stuff like low cal whole grain bread. I add veggies to most of my dishes to add bulk without too many calories. Egg Beaters instead of eggs. Less sugar in each coffee. Skinless boneless chicken breast instead of a "family pack of wings" (I used to eat about 3/4 of said pack in one sitting, like 20-30 wings).

The differences add up, even with the minor things like Egg Beaters. I'm not going to even talk about the wings (which are 2+ grams of fat apiece).

3 or 4 or 5 grams of fat may not seem like a lot, but it becomes significant when it's the difference for each of 3 or 4 things at one meal. So lower fat bread, lower fat meat, lower fat "accessories", avoid certain things, etc etc.

If I'm hungry I eat, even if it'll put me over. This isn't intervals, and suffering more won't help me in the long run. I want a sustainable weight loss, not just some number I can generate by not eating for a week. I figure that starving myself isn't good, else my body will hoard everything I eat. I just try and eat better. My late night snacks are usually a banana, not a 3rd dinner.

I've been using a straight-forward calorie counting site, my-calorie-counter (which is too busy right now - I guess a lot of New Year Resolution stuff going on).

The "activities" section has a lot of stuff, and the cycling is based on (believe it or not) wattage. I usually select 150w avg since most of my rides are 170-190w, but I don't give myself those calories for the day. This means I don't say, "Hey, I rode 1500 calories worth, I can eat 1500 more". I figure the calories burnt number is optimistic so I ignore it. I'm taking more days off, yeah, and usually I end up over my calorie count when I ride, but I focus on calories in, not allegedly expended.

I did have to ease up on this "math method" when I was riding consistently in Florida. I felt the need to eat some of the family-made food, with lots of people putting lots of effort into the dishes. Unfortunately, even small servings of butter-laden food have lots of calories and lots of fat, so my caloric intake ballooned to an average of about 2400 calories a day. Those "1500 calories burned" while riding suddenly became a bit more significant.

I started to figure out what I need to eat so I don't bonk on longer rides, or so I don't lose strength over the course of a few hard days in a row. A recent addition to my book collection, courtesy my sister-in-law - Coggan and Hunter's Training With Power actually addresses this problem, so I should have some good info to work with for my next training trip.

And, yeah, this means I got a book on training. Watch for flying pigs. Snowball fights in Hell.

So far I'm pretty good - same kind of fitness as I had at the end of the summer, just a lot lighter. I could do some 2 hour rides without too much problem, but I think I need to work on the fuel thing for longer rides.

I've worked pretty steadily on the diet, and, fortunately for me, I'm seeing some results. For example, when I bent over to pick up a bag a few weeks ago, my pants fell down. Hehe. Luckily it was at my dad's house, in the driveway, at night, no lights. But still, it was kinda funny. I avoid those pants now.

And on the first of this year I finally broke through the elusive 160 pound barrier. I figure I have another 5 lbs or so to lose before it gets stupid, but it's interesting to see how the whole thing's been progressing.

Tsunami Frame - Ultrasound #3

Okay, now we're talking.

I just got an updated couple pics on the frameset Tsunami Bikes is building on my request, and now it's looking a bit more like a frame, a bit more... BMX-like.

Tiny Bike, as christened by Hans.

Primer grey now. You can see a bit more, compared to the unfinished aluminum. I won't reveal the final color because, frankly, I'm leaving it kinda sorta up to them. It may be bright, or dark, or bright.

Some interesting things hanging around in the background.

Note how low the bottle cage is on the seat tube. This is a side effect of having a 40 cm seat tube (center to top of top tube). It'll be about 42-43 cm to the top of the mast.

The short head tube and the long front center become much more apparent here. It seems a long way from the original fit session, but, at the same time, it seems really quick. It's only a month since my fit session, and it'll be just a month until I see the frame in person.

To put things in perspective, if I had asked for a primer grey paint job I could have had the frameset pretty much right now.

In Florida I was thinking of the "new fit" all the time. I'd ride in the drops and think, "They're there now, but they'll be 6 cm further out in a month." Or I'd stand and think, "Okay, my knees can brush the bars now, but in a month they'll be missing by at least 5 cm."

It's like the little scene in American Flyers, where Muzzin is taunting the Russian leader Belov.

"Think about this, Belov. I may be behind you but I'm really two seconds ahead."

(You have to go to about 2:40 into the clip. And, yes, it's kinda cheesy but it's a bike movie, and you take it when you can get it. Oddly enough no one talks about American Flyers when they mention Kevin Costner though. Anyway...)

Like Muzzin tempting Belov, I can feel the Tsunami tempting me. The longer, lower front end, the steeper seat tube angle, a saddle that's actually centered on the rails (not perched precariously at one end of the saddle), a position that lets me stretch out naturally.

I'm not stretched out an extra 5 or 6 centimeters but I can feel it.

Of course these pictures don't do anything to make me any more patient.

I can't wait to get the frame.

Oh, and Happy New Year. May all your racing wishes come true.

Except when it comes to beating me at my target races :)

Training - Florida Training Camp - The Trip Home

We spent the last day traveling, waiting, and traveling some more.

The prior evening I packed the bike under Pap's watchful eyes. He's been teaching me how to fly on the Flight Simulator (he can't fly himself for real anymore). He even taught me the basics of flying a 737, which, coincidentally, would be the type of plane we'd be taking home. We did some autopilot stuff, trim stuff, and then we came in for a landing. I came in a bit low but didn't wipe out on landing.

Good thing, right?

Anyway, he sat and watched me pack up my bike, and Haley joined us too. Pap commented on this and that, reminded me not to forget my wrenches, nor my bottles, nor my helmet (all of which I almost forgot).

Actually I was trying to set a base up so I could return without bringing too much stuff but I failed. Okay, maybe not, but I could think of worse places to train.

We returned our rental car, waited a bit, got a shuttle to the airport, waited a bit more.

In line for checking luggage I heard the typical murmurs behind us.

"I don't know, it's a real big bag. What do you think it is?"

Finally someone piped up.

"Excuse me, excuse me! Sir! Excuse me. Could you tell me what you have in that bag?"

"A bike. Like a bicycle bike."

"Oh."

I could hear disappointment. It became clear why in the next couple seconds.

"We thought it was a harp."

Harp?

The missus and I started chuckling.

But then I thought, hm. Maybe next time I can avoid the bike bag fee by saying it's a harp...

Of course, it's not worth it on Southwest since the bike costs only $50 to fly (and I can check another bag for free), but for those of you on $175-per-bike flights...

After the harp incident we sat down for an early lunch. I took the opportunity to imbibe a bit - a nice Chili's margarita at 11 in the morning. Hey, look, I'm on vacation. My diet took yet another hit with that drink so I just had a bowl of soup.

My calories kept adding up, ditto my grams of fat. I'd been having consistent 2300-2400 calorie days, well over my target 1800, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

I started dreading the morning weigh-in at home.

The margarita had the pleasant effect of making the flight go by pretty quickly. It helps if you fall asleep before reaching cruising altitude.

Not that I'm condoning using alcohol use, but I felt pretty refreshed when I woke up.

We landed pretty hard, and I know that because of my extensive experience flying 737s on the Flight Simulator. Actually, seriously, we did seem to come in high and set down kind of fast. We almost overshot our taxiway too, so I stand by my statement that we came in kinda high and fast.

(Of course, if it had been the game, I'd have seen the red and white lights indicating high or low.)

We got home okay, looking forward to seeing the kitties. I clambered up the stairs with the bike bag, opened the door.

Bella was there, looking, but I must have looked like an alien to her.

Her fur fuzzed and she ran away.

She came back after I made a few trips, and within a few minutes she'd calmed down.

Bella, less fuzzed and more relaxed, on the bike bag.

We were home.

Bonus?

The next morning, I weighed myself.

I was half a pound lighter than when I left.

Booyah!

Training - Florida Training Camp - Day 7 - Winding Down

Tuesday afternoon I set off with DM for the last ride of my trip. We'd do pretty much the last section of the Suncoast Trail that we hadn't done, about 17 miles worth. Combined with the 6 or so miles in Starkey Park (our start point), it'd be "about 46 miles" according to DM.

DM, one of my two trusty guides in Florida, in Starkey Park.

Out of Starkey Park I took some pictures of the immaculately repetitive and fake looking landscape.

Copy/Paste landscape. C/P palm bushes, c/p trees. Looks fake.

I'd swear up and down that this was all done on a computer.

I also saw a prehistoric little armadillo, probably the most fascinating thing I saw on my trip here. Spindly legs, huge armored back, the tiny pointed head... Hard to comprehend.

Spot the prehistoric animal in the picture.

No alligators, alas.

We did see a bald eagle, but I didn't have my camera out so no pictures. Just look at your closest patriotic poster and you should see one.

We headed north into a slight northern wind, maybe a 5 mph headwind. Ideally things would stay the same and the return trip would bless us with a 5 mph tailwind. DM set a steady tempo, slightly above my comfort level, and I churned along next to him, talking when I could, staying silent when I couldn't, and when I was in real trouble, tucking in behind him.

I staked out what I thought were some slight rises, keeping them in mind. I wanted to do a jump or two on the way back, and I wanted to get a decent rolling start. One stretch in particular had distinctive fencing lining a long straight, barb wire curving over the top of the fence. I decided I'd do my return jump there.

As we rode north I could feel my prior rides, the muscles used outside but not on the trainer, muscles that had forgotten what it was like to pedal a bike that could tilt side to side, muscles that pedaled when I was tired and hunkered down in the drops.

When we got to the northern trail end, the wind had suspiciously died down a touch. After a short pause (where I munched on 900 calories of "low calorie" bars), we started back. Sure enough, when we turned around, the northern wind had transformed into a western one - we'd be riding into the most annoying kind of crosswind, the kind that feels just like a headwind.

My bike in "Florida Mode"

At least yesterday we had a ferocious crosswind, one that required me to sit almost directly next to DM in order to get any kind of a draft. Today I only had to sit 6 inches to one side of his wheel to get a draft.

I felt a little more capable - the SRM told me that I was doing 180-200 pretty consistently, whereas on the way up I'd been struggling with DM's 220-240 watt pace. I learned from the prior days that he faded a bit in the second hour, and I found myself on more even terms.

I didn't want to "attack" DM unexpectedly so when we got closer to my barb-wire zone I told him I'd be doing a jump, an acceleration to test my legs.

Of course, as soon as I said that, the westward wind picked up a bunch of strength.

We came up to to my target stretch and I decided I'd let it go. I'd do the effort in Starkey Park. If I was going to fight a wind in a sprint effort, I'd do it into a headwind, not some deceiving kinda-sorta cross-headwind.

I let DM know of my updated target as we turned into Starkey Park. Hoarding some energy, I sat on his wheel a bit more, trying to stay at a low pace (under 100 watts) before my "test". We passed through the wandering bit of the trail, and when it straightened out, I launched.

I accelerated from only 19 mph, I think my 53x19, and after I got up to speed, I shifted into the 17, 15, 14, and finally the 13. I overgeared a bit, typical for my first sprints in a while. I also didn't have a goal, a finish line, even a landmark, so when I didn't feel like it I abruptly stopped pedaling.

I checked the numbers after the ride. Although a bit disappointed, I had to remember that this was not even January.

I peaked at 1268 watts, much lower than the mid-1500s I've seen as early as February of a given year, but higher than anything I've done recently.

More significantly, I held just under 1200 watts for 10 seconds, and averaged just under 1000 watts for the 22 second effort. These longer efforts bode well for the final half lap of a race, where I typically hold 1000 watts before I launch a sprint.

Leadouts, as nice as they are for the sprinter, aren't very easy, and if I'm going to see a leadout or two, I don't want to explode when my leadout man pulls off at 150 meters to go.

Towards the end of the ride, before my test, I did some reviewing. I'd found myself going to the drops after less than 90 minutes of riding. I felt much more comfortable there, with my back a bit lower, my lower back stretched out a bit. As a bonus I could use less wattage to go the same speed.

It helped that I was a bit thinner than last year. Before, when I went to the drops, I'd end up thumping my stomach with my legs. Now, not so much.

I also kept in mind my new soon-to-arrive frameset, with an effective length increase of 6 cm or so. Although it may be just cognitive dissonance, I find myself feeling cramped lengthwise. I want to stretch out, stretch that back out, and get into a nice, low position.

It reminds me of the couple times I got to see pros up close on the bike. I had the priviledge of getting passed by one Chris Horner in California, more than once in fact. I was amazed at how low he rode, even on the hoods.

The other pro I got to watch, at a crit where he rode away from a chasing P12 field, is Skip Hamblin (sp?). He may not be in the same class as Horner, but he was so fast, so smooth, he looked like he was on a motorcycle.

And that's what I think of when I see the pros race - they look like they're on a motorcycle.

Their upperbodies are low, almost motionless. Their legs spin very fast (except Mark McCormack, who looks like he's trying to break his bike, not pedal it).

And they go fast.

That's my goal, then. I want to get my long, low frameset, train in a long, low position, and go fast enough like I'm on a motorcycle.

Even if it's just for a half lap or something.

You gotta start somewhere.