crunching

(posting is from Wednesday, then under the line, Saturday)

Last Year's Test

Around this time each year, good ole cabin fever sets in and I start obsessing over these little digits on a bright yellow computer that sits on my stem. Now that I am done with my 2 week swine flu bout (actually it was a common cold combined with bronchitis) I am ready to start basing some riding off this little guy.

The whole point of this week is to determine my "zones" for training. Not necessarily my pinpoint lactate threshold YET, because I won't be ready for that training for another month or so, but enough gauge to tell %Vo2 or tempo. Wednesday I wanted to clear out the legs from a solid weekend of riding and some core work on Tuesday with some fun, every zone hitting, intervals.

Wednesday WORKOUT
10 minute warmup
20 minute zone 2 @ 191 watts
5 minute z1 based on hr
5 minute %Vo2 @ 250 watts
5 minute z1 based on hr
2X2 minute LT @ 305 watts
4x30 second 100+rpm increasing power
15 minute cooldown aim for 85+rpm

I am pretty sure my LT sits at 300 watts give or take about 10 (don't want to be specific at all, no guarantees) When I was riding at 310, my heart rate pretty quickly shot to 183bpm, then stopped dead in it's tracks. I am hopefully this means 300 is the number as that sets my threshold power (ftp) around 4.28w/kg @ my current 70kg (by the way, getting sick and losing your appetite for 2 weeks shrinks your stomach) I think this sounds about right comparing it to the teammates who took the test in my previous post, they who finish well in front of me especially on the road bicycle. But, they were on the road bikes which I bet is another 10 watts right there. Again but, compared to people outside Cuyahoga County, this number seems way too high. So I am pretty excited to go into the Lab on Saturday for the REAL RESULTS. There are just too many variables even when riding the trainer.

When I start talking w/kg I always think of Ray simply becuase he does well at a lot of the races I am at. When Ray's w/kg was 4.3 he was pounding out 27mph runs at the Presque Isle time trial. Gran it, Ray had a pretty trick TT setup and a less frontal drag so there is that. For some reason, I don't think I could go 27mph right now. But my powermeter says I could, sort of. I don't know. But I will know on Saturday.

Picture from Last Year
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RESULTS: Well my 2x2 minute tests turned out to be pretty accurate. I warmed up the legs and the trainer for about 15 minutes then churned out 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200, 220, 240, 260, 280, 300, 320, and 350 increments of one minute until I couldn't anymore. One thing to note is my powertap was a set 20-25 watts lower each interval, only getting accurate past 500 watts. There were some "sandbagger" coughs from the employees about having a little too much breath at the end but hey, at least I might be able to improve some doing another one of these in March. Still, my heart rate didn't do the big jump going anaerobic but I still think I got the right number of threshold, 320 watts @ 70kg, or almost 4.6w/kg but didn't push enough to get me the bragging rights. I still had a little gas left for the 30 second effort and managed to eek out a 631 watt average. Not my best ever, but also not on my TT bike on the trainer, but for that the best ever.

Slave Labor on the Six13's

Got started on the new drivetrain for the road bicycle.

something new to look at

No news is apparently good but not for blogging. I have been sitting on a few posts (and the couch) way too much as of late. Basically I had to skip riding/life for two weeks in part to severe bronchitis/swine flu so not much has happened. I may have some semi-interesting news tomorrow but for now you are succumbed to this crap below.

I've been trying to finish my winter chores in case the weather decides to turn. Apparently the whole weather thing isn't getting the message.

Richard Sachs::
Gutted/Broken Rival Shifters put on
Clean Chain
Put on a massive training gear (sissied out on this one but still 42-18 outside probably 6-8 times before the flu struck)

TT Bike::
Swap to Sram Force 175mm Cranks
Get Sram Rival Brakeset
Adjust front shifting
Clean Chain
Really, really work on fit

Road Bike::
New Chain
Rebuild with parts from A Bike (red crankset from B Bike)
Piece together a set of tubulars
Extra Coats of Bike LUST before build

B Bike::
New Chain
Full Fenders
Build up matching front pt wheel (ordered not here yet)
Put on Time ATAC XS’s
FSA 172.5’s with NO pedal spacers (slight cleat modification to follow)

MTB::
New Chain
Garmin Cadence/ Head unit
Nokon Cables
XX Shifters
Decide if I need more than an 11-28 in the rear (26t up front)
Put back together training wheels

I'll take some sick pictures of my bikes once they are finished and I can walk outside without getting frostbite. The top TT picture is a before and below is an after a prior visit to the shop. I ended up working on the fit with Sean on the computrainer testing each angle a few times from either a different stem or spacer stack height after measuring my correct saddle height.

Here are the angles of my various positions. I tried out two stems in five different positions. And then I would ride 3 minutes in my 39-18 at 96rpm. I wouldn't flinch a muscle and Sean would record the power/speed and pedaling efficiency. The results seemed logical but I wasn't expecting to put on a stem with 10mm less of length from last year. Then again, I didn't have my saddle two inches past the recommended use line or have any spacers stacked underneath. My balance of weight, though more, is equal from last year and feels fast.

Between our very analytical brains, Sean and I found a few variables that I will test out later but for now the position feels dialed and looks cooler and was about 20g lighter.

bailing

I was still sick on the weekend and bailed on my Power Test but Jonathan and Gartmac still did theirs so I recorded wattages and gave them the tips to cheat the old compu-meter after I started putting together my mountain bike. I get my dosage of pain on this machine this Saturday. At least I am bit more motivated now and have a # to expect. But as always, we shall see.

Before this last thaw, the icicles were topping out around fifteen feet. That is pretty cool. I also didn't really go outside this weekend. That is not pretty cool.

Proving my vampire status, I taped off the last of the light into the basement. I may or may not be hydrating on blood as of late too (for my threshold test, you know)

actual sickness

Well I managed two and half weeks of feeling well and actually riding (7.5hrs in half week, 11.5hrs, then 11hrs the last week) a bit before I get sick again. This time seems more real as I have already missed two days of school and had a fever that lasted three days. Now I realize what it feels like to really be sick. The only fault in being sick at this point in the year is being another week behind training for Presque Isle, missing my Conconni Testing, and of course, missing school. I am feeling slightly better now but I am more than likely going to sit tomorrow and sunday out, completing a week full of non-exercise. Now not only did I miss training for Presque Isle, I am losing fitness!

From this setup on the trainer. To this.....

winter bike

Sram finally came through with my replacement warranty shift mechanism so I finally finished up my all black and white (minus the front wheel which i may update soon) fendered bike. Don't worry, the unslammed stem is just for the winter with my 564302 layers of clothing.I thought the bulk of the death storms were over but considering we got over a foot of snow this week and 2 days off from school, it is definitely NOT over. Sram's latest version of Rival seems more compact, slightly closer to the bars, and has the words Rival swapped from before. Looks too much like Apex in my opinion, but hey, at warranty price I'm not complaining. Semi-Custom spacers with the rear fender drilled. Fully sealed. Double Chainring?!? Slightly reformed rear fender tightened to seatstay bridge. 172.5mm training cranks. New idea for cross, gonna see how I like it. Also, buy my parts.