Page 26 - It's killing me but..........

31-05.-2006, 06:08 AM

#376

netscriber

Registered User

Join Date: Dec 2005

Posts: 294

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by RapDaddyo

BTW, if a fast time is your goal, your best power management strategy is to ride at higher power uphill and upwind. Basically, add power when bike speed is slow (e.g., <15mph) and back off when bike speed is fast (e.g., >20mph). This is because you get almost a 90% payoff in bike speed % increase when bike speed is slow and you get about a 10% payoff in bike speed % increase when bike speed is fast. For example, let's say your sustainable power for the century is 200W. If you ride uphill at 220W (+10%), you will gain ~8% increase in bike speed, whereas if you ride downhill at 220W you will gain only ~2% increase in bike speed. Obviously, it's a sliding scale continuum and I am grossly simplifying the decision criterion (<15mph >20mph), but it should work for you because it depends on one piece of data readily available (speed).

RD man. I HAVE to say this. Its of extremely great value to this forum to have people like you who can be articulate and technical at the same time. I have been on many forums and have discussions with people on a daily basis on my job(and these are mostly highly technical people with PHDs) but rarely do I find a combination of good communication skills and technical knowhow at the same time.

31-05.-2006, 06:19 AM

#377

RapDaddyo

Registered User

Join Date: May 2005

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Posts: 4,115

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by netscriber

Thanks, NS. And, no, you can't have my PT SL.

31-05.-2006, 09:34 AM

#378

Sillyoldtwit

Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: IN PEACE AND QUIET

Posts: 1,340

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by RapDaddyo

Thanks RD for that final piece of useful advice. Whether or not I'm able to put it into practice or not, is another matter. You know, the fog of war etc.

Have decided other than cycling to the supermarket, I'm resting for 4 days to let a bit of chafing in the groin heal completely. Something small like that can spoil a ride for you at times.

I don't think I told you, my cycling partner is entered for this ride too. As we are travelling up together, I said bring your bike over on Saturday to make sure I can get 2 bikes in the car. To which he replied that he couldn't leave his bike with me as I might sabotage it in order to finish ahead of him.

I will keep you posted as to who crosses the line first. 31 versus 63 shouldn't really be a contest.

31-05.-2006, 10:22 AM

#379

RapDaddyo

Registered User

Join Date: May 2005

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Posts: 4,115

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sillyoldtwit

31 versus 63 shouldn't really be a contest.

But, it's not 31 vs. 63. It's ? vs. 250W. Who knows?

31-05.-2006, 10:54 AM

#380

Sillyoldtwit

Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: IN PEACE AND QUIET

Posts: 1,340

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by RapDaddyo

But, it's not 31 vs. 63. It's ? vs. 250W. Who knows?

That was the reason for the knowing wink.

Having said that, there is an expression "young legs".

31-05.-2006, 11:09 AM

#381

RapDaddyo

Registered User

Join Date: May 2005

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Posts: 4,115

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sillyoldtwit

there is an expression "young legs".

There is (or should be) another expression, "power trumps youth."

31-05.-2006, 11:29 AM

#382

Sillyoldtwit

Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: IN PEACE AND QUIET

Posts: 1,340

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by RapDaddyo

There is (or should be) another expression, "power trumps youth."

And there's no fool like an old fool.

01-06.-2006, 10:18 AM	#383
Sillyoldtwit Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: IN PEACE AND QUIET Posts: 1,340	Re: It's killing me but.......... Well everything is looking good for the century on Sunday. The weather is fine, and for the first time since the 70s, this morning I weighed in at 71 kilos! The last time I did a century, albeit mostly flat, I weighed close to 85 kilos and had an FT of somewhere in the region of 120Watts. Sunday's course is an entirely different ball game, but at 71 kilos and an FT at around 250/260Watts I should be able to stagger round it. Being very mountainous and finishing with a long, long climb, I think pacing myself will be of the greatest importance. Til Monday then - cheers! TYSON

01-06.-2006, 10:41 AM

#384

RapDaddyo

Registered User

Join Date: May 2005

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Posts: 4,115

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sillyoldtwit

Well everything is looking good for the century on Sunday. The weather is fine, and for the first time since the 70s, this morning I weighed in at 71 kilos!

The last time I did a century, albeit mostly flat, I weighed close to 85 kilos and had an FT of somewhere in the region of 120Watts. Sunday's course is an entirely different ball game, but at 71 kilos and an FT at around 250/260Watts I should be able to stagger round it. Being very mountainous and finishing with a long, long climb, I think pacing myself will be of the greatest importance.

Til Monday then - cheers! TYSON

I'm jealous. Wish I could be there to ride alongside (assuming I could keep up). You're ready. Have a great ride!

05-06.-2006, 01:14 AM	#385
curlew Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Indiana USA Posts: 79	Re: It's killing me but.......... Apollo. This is Houston. Do you read me? ? ? ?

05-06.-2006, 03:06 AM

#386

RapDaddyo

Registered User

Join Date: May 2005

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Posts: 4,115

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by curlew

Apollo. This is Houston. Do you read me?

I imagine we'll hear from Tyson within 24 hours. I expect his ride went well. I, OTOH, am suffering. I led a 60 mile group ride yesterday with ~2K' of climbing. Even though we started at 6AM, it was 100 degrees by the time we got to the long climb (5 miles at 6%). I was almost dizzy from the heat when we finished. Today, I led a 50 mile TTT practice ride and the temp was 90 degrees by 7AM. I've had it with heat for a few days. I think I'll fill my tub up with water and ice cubes and watch a long movie (Dr. Zhivago?).

05-06.-2006, 12:07 PM	#387
Sillyoldtwit Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: IN PEACE AND QUIET Posts: 1,340	Re: It's killing me but.......... Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It is approaching 9am here in the Land of the Rising Sun. At the keyboard is one fatigued, injured old man. I'm definitely taking up croquet next year! Yes, I completed the century but not without event. Whoever designed the course was without doubt a sadistic joker. We all assembled on a large field at the bottom of the ski slope with the chairlift rising up into the clouds. Then the announcer said, "will the people doing 160k please assemble at the start of the chairlift." I thought, no they are not going to ask us to climb up the little windy road following the chairlift. Surely not - not at the start. You've guessed it; the answer was. YES. A bloody 2 km 12% to start 160ks! As I told you, we started off in groups of 20 (but not downhill -that was the 70km course start) I started off in about the 10th group and we all just stood there agape as the riders snaked their way up the climb becoming dots in the distance. Still, managed that without much difficulty, then there was a ferocious snaking downhill with streams of thin wet mud crossing the road in places. I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best. Then the pace really hotted up and I was drafting on the flat at 46/48 kph. A new experience for me. Actually took the lead 2 or 3 times. Groups of course broke up as people drifted off the back and the climbs started. I found myself drafting someone then finding him too slow accelerated to catch someone faster. For me, it was an awesome experience as I started to play with my new toy - POWER. Last October when I did the 150km round LakeBiwa, I latched onto people but just couldn't hold it for long (no basic power ) At about 100km disaster struck! We were hareing through a long well lit tunnel on a raised pedestrian path (one foot drop to the roadway) Halfway through the tunnel there is an exit into an escape tunnel where the path curves inward then back out again - a sort of a half U. I was cycling behind my cycling buddy and because I was wearing dark sunglasses didn't see the bend and went straight on - CRASH, BANG, WALLOP!! I wondered what had hit me. Luckily both feet came out of clips as I landed half in the road and half on the path. I had a badly scraped elbow, thigh and knee but luckily no serious damage. While I was picking myself up and dusting myself off, there was another loud crashing sound, another cyclist had done the same thing. However, he fared somewhat worse than I did, he banged his head and was unconscious for 30 secs or so. There was blood streaming from a cut above his left eye. I'm not sure how much that affected the final 60km, but it certainly knocked the wind out of my sails. 5km later at the feed station, in the first aid tent there were other guys with blood streaming from wounds. I dread to think how people did the same silly thing that day Then later on the joker had his final laugh. After the last feed station we had a 13km climb back to the ski resort. No, I tell a lie, that was his penultimate laugh. The final laugh was a 1km 15-17% snaking road back up to the resort. You've never seen so many people suffer including me. People were snaking across the road as well as snaking vertically. Sheer and utter purgatory! If it hadn't been Japan, I would have sworn the course was designed by RD! This 1 km of course was the 1km downhill start for the guys doing the 70km course where because of the danger, no overtaking was allowed till the bottom. For those who are interested, my cycling buddy and I were playing cat and mouse throughout the ride; sometimes he was ahead of me and sometimes vice-versa. Sometimes I won a climb, sometimes he pipped me. But in the end he actually finished a few minutes in front of me - young legs RD on the last climb. But revenge shall be mine next year, unless of course he latches on to power training. On our way home, people were still snaking up the above - riding walking, crawling - people who really shouldn't have been doing 160km. In fact for the next 10km there were guys still struggling along with the above mentioned climb to go. Heehe! Gives sarcastic laugh. One final note for all those who talk about good definition cycling legs, good muscular calves, 5,000 dollar bikes etc. I burned up no end of them. So cycling isn't about looking good, it's about DOING good. That is, POWER, POWER and more POWER! I'm starving - give me more POWER, I have to have more POWER! PS. Temperatures reached 30C (86F) degrees in places! Last edited by Sillyoldtwit : 05-06.-2006 at 12:41 PM.

05-06.-2006, 12:49 PM	#388
RapDaddyo Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 4,115	Re: It's killing me but.......... Hell of a ride, Tyson. I think I can picture the smile on your face as you smoked some of the guys with all the right equipment but no power. A buddy in my cycling club bought an $8K bike a couple of months ago, complete with a PT SL. When he took delivery, I told him, "Lucky for you, you've got some power to go with that fancy bike." That's a rough ride. Sort of reminds me of my hardest race. The race started just a few miles south of the Canadian border in Maine at 6:00AM and I was freezing in my summer riding clothes. 120 miles and ~10K feet of climbing later we crossed the finish line in 90 degree temps. I wasn't very smart -- I went on every break attempt for the first 100 miles, then was just too trashed for a strong finish. Was recovering for ~5 days. But, what the hell? I'm still riding. Savor the moment, then I'll tell you how to continue increasing your power and add a little anaerobic work capacity to your arsenal (you can use it to smoke your riding companion on short climbs).

05-06.-2006, 01:08 PM

#389

Sillyoldtwit

Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: IN PEACE AND QUIET

Posts: 1,340

Re: It's killing me but..........

Quote:

Originally Posted by RapDaddyo

Hell of a ride, Tyson. I think I can picture the smile on your face as you smoked some of the guys with all the right equipment but no power. A buddy in my cycling club bought an $8K bike a couple of months ago, complete with a PT SL. When he took delivery, I told him, "Lucky for you, you've got some power to go with that fancy bike."

That's a rough ride. Sort of reminds me of my hardest race. The race started just a few miles south of the Canadian border in Maine at 6:00AM and I was freezing in my summer riding clothes. 120 miles and ~10K feet of climbing later we crossed the finish line in 90 degree temps. I wasn't very smart -- I went on every break attempt for the first 100 miles, then was just too trashed for a strong finish. Was recovering for ~5 days. But, what the hell? I'm still riding.

Savor the moment, then I'll tell you how to continue increasing your power and add a little anaerobic work capacity to your arsenal (you can use it to smoke your riding companion on short climbs).

Can't wait RD - give it to me now!

If you want a good laugh, try reading the link http://www.cyclingforums.com/t-154850-15-2.html
This was a thread in 2004 which started off friendly enough then became more venomous with one post from the OP that went like this.

Quote:

Look, my definition of a hill is something I can't cycle up without
putting in a fair bit of effort.

I live on the north downs, I've been to Scotland, Yorkshire, Lakes/Peaks
- I appreciate what hills can be like, but that doesn't mean Cambridge
doesn't have any.

Fit cyclists that go hareing up mountainsides and call them hills, and
dismiss anything else as being undulations or equally of no substance
can (put politely) go crank themselves.

I post here with a very positive experience with cycling, and then you
lot (not all of you, I know) pick it apart and tell me they're not
hills, inferring a real cyclist would call it a flat ride, well
sprockets to the lot of you - I had a good time, I enjoyed myself, and I
did better than I thought I would, and improved over what I've managed
before.

Maybe if there were fewer snobs in cycling trying to belittle the
achievements of others there might be a few more of us willing to give
it a go.

05-06.-2006, 01:26 PM

#390

curlew

Registered User

Join Date: Aug 2005

Location: Indiana USA

Posts: 79

Re: It's killing me but..........

Yahoo! Glad you made it. There's more energy than tiredness in your words so its clear that you did really well on an epic course.

Tyson, does anybody test ride these routes while these rides are still in the planning stages? The tunnel situation sounds like a real rider trap. Just the thought of heading through a dark tunnel and not being able to detect the route shifting activates a real primordial fear in me...kind of like Indiana Jones being in a dark pit with a bunch of snakes. I'd be dreaming about that trip through the tunnel long after the bruises healed!!

Quote:

I'm starving - give me more POWER, I have to have more POWER!

RD, what have you created?

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode