Are we there yet?

[jsirabella]

swampy, when I started on the bike craze it was not for racing, watts or anything like that but to do a ride from NYC to Boston by myself. I fell into touring and was told by many that you need to "cork" the handlebars for that many hours on the road as many who are into touring will tell you how their hands go numb. I did not do it but I believe it has to do with the type of handlebar tape? Or some method where they use cork which is suppose to be really good for all the roads vibrations, people swore by it.

Sorry if I do not have the exact wording but I am sure you can google it also.

-js

 

[swampy1970]

I personally find that my personal choice in bar tape is governed more by surface texture and grip than padding. I actually preferred the old Benotto unpadded cellophane tape from back in the 80's. My hand woes were caused by being stuck in one position. Not having done a 600km before I wasn't too sure what was going to happen with regards to the group and pretty much figured that I'd be riding alone lots... so I left the low-profile "base bars" on. The exact opposite happened - I ended up riding with a group of guys for the entire duration of the ride. The last 400km weren't as bad on my hands as there were only 4 of us by then - so half the time inwas on the front chillin on the Tri-bars but by then the downward spiral had started and by 450km my right wrist was hurting quite a lot. I did happen to have the cork padding on the bars with a thin gel strip underneath. I'm signed up for the Davis Double this coming weekend and will be putting the regular bars on in place of the base bars. The clip ons will be on too Whether or not I do the DD is debatable at this point - its a great ride but I didn't most of the course in the 300km and rode way further in the 600km...

 

[jsirabella]

swampy, really hitting the ride this year! Well my first event is this Sunday, the Grand Fondo and thinking of using the C9 and the 42, 51 combo. I just worried not low enough gearing but should be fine, I think. I am getting it tuned up and ready to go for the weekend, tomorrow. My wife though scheduled a balloon ride the day before. Hope it is not too crazy tiring.

-js

 

[Felt_Rider]

New addition to the stable with pictures on this link. http://thecyclingaddiction.blogspot.com/2012/05/cannon-cyclery.html

We had to use an awkward stem to get the fit right. I still need to get some miles so the aerobar extensions back ends will be cut shorter later and there may be some other adjustments, but here is how it looks at the moment. I asked to be fitted more the comfort side for longer distances rather than a super aggressive aero fit.

 

[swampy1970]

A stem isn't awkward. The perceived idea that it's not going to give you a position like the guys in the Tour makes it seem awkward. In reality, a bike alone is useless without a rider sat on it - and that's all that should matter, you sat on the bike and being sat on it such that you produce a good balance of power, comfort and aero. How you define that balance is upto you but looking at a bike as a singular unit - it's not the way to go.

A bike alone propped up against a wall or a tree might look fast - but it does 0 mph.

I'd move one of those bottles to the seat tube and move the behind the seat bottle holder lower to move the top of the bottles such that they're not sticking up behind your back.

It's a nice bike - go have some fun with it.

 

[Felt_Rider]

Originally Posted by swampy1970 .
I'd move one of those bottles to the seat tube and move the behind the seat bottle holder lower to move the top of the bottles such that they're not sticking up behind your back.

It's a nice bike - go have some fun with it.

Thanks

Yeah, I just slapped the rear mounted bottle cage on temporarily for the photo. I barely got it attached and I will have to get it setup later. It is one of those things that should be super simple to attach and yet hard to get your fingers and tools into tight spots. I have a seat tube bottle cage, but did not put that on for the photo. I had hoped the rear mount would be easy enough to attach so that I would only use it for longer routes, but it such a pain that I suppose I will leave it on once I get it setup.

For hydration I will be able to carry 3 - 26 oz bottles (~24 oz actual fluid amount) for the longer distances (~100 mile routes) and will probably only have to stop and refill once during the hottest months.

I will need to make a new computer mount to fit the width of the aerobars and get the computer out in front to where I can see it. I will just use the inexpensive mount I built before. Takes a while to get all these things sorted out and I just brought it home late yesterday.

 

[Felt_Rider]

js, I too felt the discomfort of the break from cycling with over 7 days off. This week I have kept it light and as expected I really had no choice because the light efforts were even a big struggle. Last night I was starting to feel more normal again, but still kept the L4 intervals at 10 minutes each and wow they felt hard. The efforts earlier in the week with just 30 minutes at L2 felt like ****.

That said, I am really looking forward to getting out on the pavement tomorrow morning and do about a 4 hour mix of L2/L3 type of ride and then on Sunday a 2 hour easy paced ride with the new TT bike and see if I can start getting used to the bike and aero position. I gave it try on the rollers down in the aero position and really had trouble controlling the bike so I hope that I do much better outdoors with balance and control.

I believe that getting out on the pavement will be the real turning point for me to getting back on track and then next week back to the steady diet of multiple sets of 20 in L4 during the weekdays. I hope anyway /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

[swampy1970]

So no Davis Double this weekend. My hands are still experiencing some numbness from the 600km a couple of weeks ago. Not sure what the root cause is but I'm seeing the physio tonight and if she can't find anything remotely obvious then it'll be off to the docs. It's slowly getting better but the "cycle" of doing a long ride, finishing well and feeling good the waking up the next day with something that keeps me off the bike for weeks has finally gotten old... In 5 weeks I've ridden the bike 4 times - and two of those rides were 30 minute "testing the water" very gentle rides... I'm gonna have to suck up that $90 and change entry fee and change my attention to the end of June. The only upside is that I've already got the bike kitted out for the Alta Alpina at the 3rd weekend of June and will just need to change the cassette (to an 11-32) closer to the event. Not sure if I'll need the 32 but that cassette has a better range of climbing gears that the 11-28 shimano cassette (23-25-28- rather than -21-24-28) As usual with time off the bike I've kept myself entertained with BBQ and high quality and high strength beers and as such I weigh a fair amount more than indie than when I started the series of Brevet rides so the one thing I'm taking from this is that while I can comfortably do those rides I need to have a good base of training behind me with a fair amount of hours in the saddle - if only to ensure that silly things like bar position is set correctly for the longer rides... The devil is in the details but I'm not sure with just smashing out 2 to 3 hour rides that I might have caught the hand/arm issues that have bothered me following the 600km. So knowing that I can ride for hours and "deal" with the duration and distance, the focus is gonna change slightly and as planned the shorter fun efforts are gonna come to the fore... Fun time

 

[jsirabella]

felt, I have to be honest I am still not back into form myself. You really need to have the time and for me that comes to anywhere between 10-15 hours a week. I have found for myself I am a "slow builder' meaning I find I raise my numbers best with longer L3 than 20 minute harder rides. Once I reach a nice point with that I can put in the harder efforts but those are best done outdoors for me. Since I went to Cali I have not but for the last few weeks been able to put in the required time cause with the move, shooting and conventions just not in the cards.

This makes me worried for Sunday as I got the Gran Fondo coming up and for the first time I feel a bit intimidated. These guys are not your usual MS/weekend crit style group. I mean it is 5000 riders and the pictures look like your normal ride but they have this really well done bound book they give everyone, list of the hills and how much climbing (I really wish they did not do that), nice girodano jersey, time clips and a wrist ban thy put on me today that I wil wear for 2 days now. It starts at 6am too.

I decided as the first ride to get back into the thick of it, I rebuilt the C9 and got it ready to go as I always wanted with the aero wheels and powertap, campy centaur all going. I hope for the best as I signed up for the 60 mile route.

swampy, you probably just compressed a nerve and as long as it is coming back you will be fine. The only issues with nerves they heal even with minor issues at a glacial pace. I believe if you would have done a few more of the longer rides and had the right padding you would have been fine but that ride was in a word extreme! To expect nothing is tough unless cycling is closer to a career for you.

In anycase I know you are fretting missing the Davis but you are a smarter man for sitting it out! Hands are one of those things we seem to use quite a bit in life.

-js

 

[swampy1970]

Originally Posted by jsirabella .

felt, I have to be honest I am still not back into form myself. You really need to have the time and for me that comes to anywhere between 10-15 hours a week. I have found for myself I am a "slow builder' meaning I find I raise my numbers best with longer L3 than 20 minute harder rides. Once I reach a nice point with that I can put in the harder efforts but those are best done outdoors for me. Since I went to Cali I have not but for the last few weeks been able to put in the required time cause with the move, shooting and conventions just not in the cards.

This makes me worried for Sunday as I got the Gran Fondo coming up and for the first time I feel a bit intimidated. These guys are not your usual MS/weekend crit style group. I mean it is 5000 riders and the pictures look like your normal ride but they have this really well done bound book they give everyone, list of the hills and how much climbing (I really wish they did not do that), nice girodano jersey, time clips and a wrist ban thy put on me today that I wil wear for 2 days now. It starts at 6am too.

I decided as the first ride to get back into the thick of it, I rebuilt the C9 and got it ready to go as I always wanted with the aero wheels and powertap, campy centaur all going. I hope for the best as I signed up for the 60 mile route.

swampy, you probably just compressed a nerve and as long as it is coming back you will be fine. The only issues with nerves they heal even with minor issues at a glacial pace. I believe if you would have done a few more of the longer rides and had the right padding you would have been fine but that ride was in a word extreme! To expect nothing is tough unless cycling is closer to a career for you.

In anycase I know you are fretting missing the Davis but you are a smarter man for sitting it out! Hands are one of those things we seem to use quite a bit in life.

-js

JS, just go and have fun and ride at your pace. If there's a set of cut off times you need to beat at a few locations don't let yourself get too close on the early ones as some organizers are base the cutoffs on average speed and you might find yourself having to do 16mph up a 3 mile climb... Get the jersey and have a blast riding on closed roads and across that bridge. It'll be fun. Pre-make you bottles, pump up the tires before you leave the house and don't forget your helmet...

The 600km wasn't tough. I felt pretty darned good at the end - just as I did in the 400km (bar the bit of cramp)... it's just the oddball aftermath that appears afterwards that you don't expect. I guess it'd be easier to deal with if I'd been suffering with hand and arm pain for the last 100 miles but finishing and apart from a bit of mild soreness it was all good. But it is what it is.

The physio worked her wonders again and pummelled me into submission this afternoon. For such a small girl she's fecking strong - the scene in Star Wars where Vader makes the neck crushing gesture and crushes the guys throat, well, with hands as strong as hers she'd make Vader her *****! I'm over the Davis ride... If it had been the Alta Alpina I would have been highly ******. The DD is a great ride and has awesome support but the roads of Solano and Yolo counties are not the roads in the high Sierra.

 

[jsirabella]

swampy, I pretty much did as you suggested but have lots of comments and story to it.

1) Friday night my wife reminds me that we have a balloon ride she scheduled months ago in Allentown PA for Saturday night. I remind her that I have the Grand Fondo and have to be at GW Bridge by 530am. She says can not cancel and it is a sunset ride so I figure out the earliest I will be home is about midnight. Still determined I say screw it, 4 hours sleep and do it!

2) I feel as tired as hell but get to the GW Bridge by 530am. I wait, wait, wait and tons of people and looks like it will be an MS stye ride with all various cats of riders from hybrids to high price road bikes. Well we are lining up and waiting and the books says we will all have to be over the GW by 7. It is 715 and we are still just sitting there and waiting. By this time I have been there for over an hour and it is freezing on that bridge.

3) Well it finally starts and the hands off to the cops cause through out the ride they really made sure traffic was well taken care of for the whole ride. The riders are going at a pretty slow pace and honestly cause of having to stop due to traffic no one can really build any speed.

4) We finally hit river road (some call rocket road) mainly cause you fly down it till you reach about Alpine which is a long climb back to route 9. Rocket road is quite narrow so you really have to ride defensive/aggressive as you start to see water bottles, flats left and right and even clothing all over the road.

5) We hit route 9, tallman state park, old mountain road and the funny thing, it was pretty much the same route I ever did but this time we went pass the TOGA shop and all the way up to Bear Mountain. I signed up for the Medio and wish I did the Gran but that is ok I was too tired abd by hour 4 I was starting to feel it bad.

6) The last part is going back the other way down route 9 to Weehawken but I had decided earlier I was going back over the GW and home. Going back on route 9 is a ***** as you hit all the fast roads out. The wind was also against you. I dd make it back and finished the ride in 4 hours and did 60 miles. I believe my PT read about 70 but that is from my house to the start line and back.

I will post the file tomorrow. I did a quick look and while I really felt I was killing myself on some of those hills, the numbers did not impress me too much. The nice thing though is that I did finish the ride and more important found a great route to ride every Sunday. It will make for some great practice.

My back/body held up well but I was really beat up and have to say I am not the type to let the bike roll me home but this time I did!! When I got home I nearly just passed out at the doorway. Other notes was a fight with someone as I was listening to some music and told me he would report me, lots of crashes and blood as I saw 3 as folks were just heading out way too fast on these roads and with that many riders of all various degrees someone is going to get hurt and atleast 3 guys commented that I was a tough man to do the ride with a CX frame ( I did not get it.) The stops were a bit too far apart IMHO but they were very well stocked with food and drinks.

Next week I will have more rest and maybe do a compare. Well the file soon to come.

Swampy on another note, hoep the hands doing better.

 

[swampy1970]

Sounds like an interesting ride. Glad that you finished your ride and found some new roads.

The hands are getting better. Did a couple of 2.5 rides over the weekend. Just went out and did a reasonable ride. As expected felt a little rusty after a couple of weeks off the bike... Infact I've only done 4 rides during the month of May and only 500 miles. Boo!

 

[Felt_Rider]

Sure was nice to have a 3 day weekend and the wifey endorsing a ride each day /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

Bumped my CTL from 60 to 68. This stuff with the metrics really seems to apply to me as not only did my CTL drop like a rock, but how I felt on the bike was relative to that number. However, I am starting to feel a bit better now and the legs are starting to open up again. Ramping up slowly also helped me spend time getting used to the new TT bike and position. I am starting to hold this thing in a straighter line now. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif But still have a lack of confidence on fast descents with twisty sections to stay in the aero position. Being a scaredy cat I am coming up to put my hands near the brakes and control the bike better sitting up. I need much more time and I will get there. Saturday and Sunday miles I would guess I spent over 90% of my time down in the aero postion. I feel like the bike FIT is good. I started to fail from the intense heat on Saturday and did quite a bit of suffering those last 15 miles, but this typically happens on the first really hot ride. Hopefully I will be a bit more acclimated to the heat from here on. Sure was nice having 3 - 26 oz bottles on the TT bike and stopped to refill one of them just for safety.

One thing I noticed about being in aero is that I will be moving a whole lot faster if I am going to stay at training in L3 or above. The speed is so much higher with lower watts in comparison to using my compact equipped road bikes and yet my confidence is still not good enough in the aero position to really sustain that type of speed in aero. As time went on and confidence grew I was really suprised how much speed can be generated with lower watts. The position and the bike must be okay. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

I feel like it was a good move to keep my intensity lower this weekend, rack up some miles and save my legs because training L4 start back this evening if I don't get trapped at work. The more miles I did this weekend the more open my legs felt so by the time I finished the 31 mile ride on Monday I felt like I was back to where I was before going on vacation. Last week as part of getting back into the groove I did short high intensity intervals trying to open up the legs. Wow! the legs really did not like that, but it did work as well as far as getting them to open up. The low intensity miles just seemed to top it off.

Saturday - 88 solo miles on the Felt B10 with lower intensity (L2 mostly with some blocks of L3)
Sunday - 40 solo miles on the Felt B10 with lower intensity (L2 mostly with some blocks of L3)
Monday - 31 solo miles on the LOOK 585 with lower intensity (L2 mostly with some blocks of L3)

I am still toying around with bike setup, but I think I am about there with the last little details for now. I set up a torpedo bottle mount, but have it below the bars so that my computer is in a position that I can watch for training. This is probably not as stream lined as the typical torpedo mount, but for a non-racer I think it will be okay. I posted pictures on the blog, but I have moved the computer down on the bottle cage. I filed down the back side of the Garmin mount and used epoxy to glue to the bottle cage. Now it looks more streamlined and in a better viewing position. Taking out the bottle from below the bar extensions is very easy. I like this setup. The torpedo mount was created from an old bottle cage that I had and zip ties. The computer mount is from PVC. All very low cost items, but works pretty good.

This pictures of the bottle cage mount can be seen here, but this is with the previous computer mount. LINK

 

[jsirabella]

Figure it has been a while and finally a bit of a down day, if there is such a thing. Anyway promised a pic of the Grand Fondo.




Nothing really note worthy but I am happy enough and a good route was learned for future rides. The only issue really right now is the lack of time to really train. Between the company moves, convention season and shooting I just can not put in the time as I would like. A bit disappointed as I had an amazing winter that was working up to a great season that fell apart. I guess the saving the company comes first as my CTL is hitting about a 60 now. I wanted to do about 15 hours a week and than move to lot less time and harder intervals. I have found once you are off the bike for more than a week or two, you loose alot and the building does not happen faster but just as long as before. My problem now is every time I am ready to get into the harder intervals I have to take a long break. Since there are no events planned I am using it to keep the weight down and when time permits I will go back to a more structured program. Right now my life is anything but structured...

-js

 

[Felt_Rider]

I figured you were probably still busy with work and life. Maybe things will start to calm down for you soon.

 

[swampy1970]

CTL starting to rise again, should be at 60 by the weekend! Woohoo! The last two randonees just did me in. My hand still isn't 100% from the 600km but the few weeks off the bike for that and the couple of weeks off the bike after the preceding one (400km - back issues after the ride finished) and a week of rest after the rain soaked and farking windy n hilly 300km meant that my CTL tanked and weight increased. But I satisfied that particular curiosity so back to business as usual. Finally getting back to where gettIng a reasonable gear over during a 2 to 3 hour ride is OK. It's looking like this'll be the heaviest I've been for the Alta Alpina - and if not it'll be pretty darned close - which isn't something to be happy about give the mountainous nature of the ride, especially the second 100 stretch... But on the upside the old trust steel bike with its slightly steeper seat tube angles seems to suit be better over the loner distances. On the 600km ride (376 miles) my back felt great, whereas on the Alta Alpina last year my back was feeling it which isn't what you need with a nice 9.5 mile climb summiting at ~185miles... The longer rides did allow me to work on better pacing and feeding too and gave me a chance to test some things out. I guess what I ultimately lost in training time due to these events will be offset a bit with "lessons learned" and things tried. They say that knowledge = power. I hope it does because my power output on the bike really sucks right now. LOL.

 

[Felt_Rider]

I feel like I am moving in a positive direction again after my vacation. My CTL has bumped a little to 69, but I am also ramping training duration and intensity at an intentional slower pace. I know that once I get back into the 80's things will begin to feel sweet out on the roadway. At this pace it may be early fall before I get into the 80's. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

I find it interesting how maturity in a particular activity reflects how fast one can bounce back following a break. Most of my friends that are cycling veterans (have over 20 years of cycling) can bounce back within a week or so. I have 30 years in lifting and can bounce back within a week with the weights. The first week there is a little soreness/tightness and then back in action. I now have 8 years in cycling and I am noticing that I am coming back faster, but it still takes me quite a few weeks to get the cycling legs going. ugh


I am really enjoying getting used to the TT position on the new bike, but like many others have stated my power output is lower as compared to the same course on a road bike. I have been finishing with a lower TSS for the long rides. 0.69 IF for last Saturday's 80 mile ride. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif Oh well it is all good since I don't race and do not have any goal events this year. Power output is coming up a little each week on the TT bike.

 

[bgoetz]

Well I went 56'11" on a less than ideal day (headwind home) at our Clubs 40k last night. I was real pleased with the results, but am feeling it today. Does anyone else ever have stomach issues after an effort like that, because my gut feels like it is eating itself.

 

[swampy1970]

Sadly I've experienced a fair few "fun times" with post TT stomach issues. From the common dizziness and barf within a minute or so after the finish to a bizarre dual simultaneous gut emptying, with both "exits" feeling like I'd just passed acid similar to the beasties in the movie Alien. Thankfully my behind as already glued to the toilet seat but I didn't have enough time to get that trash can close enough to stop me turning the bathroom floor into something that resembled 3 gallons of watered down clam chowder with added carrots. Google: youtube billy connolly ibiza Sometimes it happens, sometimes it don't. Personally I prefer a headwind finish unless I have a monster gear on the bike to deal with 30+mph and bees wings legs when I'm stuffed and riding with a tailwind. There were a few "lumpy" courses where I'd have 57x11 on and be doing far in excess of 95rpm going down hill with a tailwind. With my old TT position that was an experience where too long at 100rpm had the risk of never becoming a father! LOL

 

[jsirabella]

swampy, I think this says it all: TMI