Saturday, August 14, 2010
8 14 2010 Flying 200 meter motorpaced efforts
Today was a leg speed workout. Gear used was 48 x 16 = 81" behind the motor. Flying 200 meter efforts were done in such a way that you allow a small gap to open up, then you jump hard to close it and try to come around the motor. The whole point of the workout is to try and convert power and strength from the gym into speed and acceleration on the bike.
Here is the same video with a ghosting effect to add some drama.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Life after Sports
Life After Sports by Ian Sager
What do athletes do when they "retire"? For some, sports are a steppingstone to a high-profile second career. Others go for a "normal" life
Who hasn't envied the professional athlete? And what sports fan hasn't fantasized about rounding third base, heading for home to win the World Series, or sinking the tournament-winning putt? For must of us, those dreams remain just that, and we end up in more prosaic jobs, with retirement coming after perhaps 40 years of work.
For those with the talent, dedication, and luck to make that dream a reality, the life of a professional athlete can be on par with that of a rock star or Hollywood heavyweight. But even the most successful athlete has to face the reality of retirement—and much sooner than someone in a less glamorous field..... more
Erin Hartwell
PEZ: Why quit road ? you weren't old.
The Achilles injury woke me up to a few things that had been brewing in recesses of my mind. I began to realize that I was racing professionally more for the wage I was being paid and less for the passion that brought me to the sport and almost to its pinnacle. I made a respectable salary as a pro but it was no longer an investment in my future. There was little to save after the bills were paid and I was at an age where I wanted more stability and a clearer future for my family.
Little things began to take their toll... I was tired of host housing. When you start thinking, “I could have had a Ph.D. by now,” that’s not good. It makes it harder to get out the door in the rain and cold.
Additionally, my body was becoming unreliable, breaking down, much more unpredictable. The foot injury really brought me to my knees. All the form I had worked so hard for was gone. Mentally, the injuries drained me.
I needed to forge a future that showed greater promise to my wife and two young children than that of an aging bike rider. I decided to go to school before it was realistically too late to reap the value of a degree. I didn’t want to get up one day and ask myself, “what the hell just happened?”..... more
What do athletes do when they "retire"? For some, sports are a steppingstone to a high-profile second career. Others go for a "normal" life
Who hasn't envied the professional athlete? And what sports fan hasn't fantasized about rounding third base, heading for home to win the World Series, or sinking the tournament-winning putt? For must of us, those dreams remain just that, and we end up in more prosaic jobs, with retirement coming after perhaps 40 years of work.
For those with the talent, dedication, and luck to make that dream a reality, the life of a professional athlete can be on par with that of a rock star or Hollywood heavyweight. But even the most successful athlete has to face the reality of retirement—and much sooner than someone in a less glamorous field..... more
Erin Hartwell
PEZ: Why quit road ? you weren't old.
The Achilles injury woke me up to a few things that had been brewing in recesses of my mind. I began to realize that I was racing professionally more for the wage I was being paid and less for the passion that brought me to the sport and almost to its pinnacle. I made a respectable salary as a pro but it was no longer an investment in my future. There was little to save after the bills were paid and I was at an age where I wanted more stability and a clearer future for my family.
Little things began to take their toll... I was tired of host housing. When you start thinking, “I could have had a Ph.D. by now,” that’s not good. It makes it harder to get out the door in the rain and cold.
Additionally, my body was becoming unreliable, breaking down, much more unpredictable. The foot injury really brought me to my knees. All the form I had worked so hard for was gone. Mentally, the injuries drained me.
I needed to forge a future that showed greater promise to my wife and two young children than that of an aging bike rider. I decided to go to school before it was realistically too late to reap the value of a degree. I didn’t want to get up one day and ask myself, “what the hell just happened?”..... more
Kissena and T-Town velodromes juxtaposition
These aerial views show you the 200 meter line in relation to each other on these two different sized velodromes. Definitely have to adjust how you ride the flying 200 meter time trial on tracks of various lengths.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Smart Phones - Endomondo App
I was always a fan of the Palm smart phones, but it appears they are being left behind in the dust. I recently upgraded my Palm Centro to an Android HTC Evo 4G.
There is free cool application called Endomondo which tracks your workout. Above is a screen shot of a 40 mile easy road ride completed today. It seems like convergence is rendering dedicated devices useless, pretty soon there would be no need for Garmin GPS devices, a smart phone can do the same thing.
I always wanted an Apple iPhone but ATT was the major stumbling block, instead I settled for an iTouch. In any case Android operating system smart phones are finding a niche in popularity across all carriers. I selected an HTC phone since they are also a sponsor of the cycling team HTC Columbia. These phones do the same thing or even better than the Apple iPhone without all the hoopla and drama.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Motorpacing
http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/03/tips-on-motorpacing/
Driver and Scooter/Motorbike:
1. The scooter/motorcycle should be able to go up to 70km/hr
2. Anything much more than an 80-100cc scooter may be too powerful and accelerate too quickly at the higher speeds for the riders behind to keep up with. The small increases in speed may not seem like much to the driver, but 2 or 3 km/hr is a big deal to the cyclists on the back who are on hanging on for dear life.
3. Ideally you want a roller on back of the scooter. Keep an eye out for any protrusions that could catch a wheel at the ends of roller.
4. The driver needs to accelerate slowly on climbs and hills. The cyclists behind will increase speeds much more slowly than the motorcycle.
5. The driver can accelerate more quickly on descents. The bike coasts more quickly than motorcycle.
6. The driver needs to think like a cyclist with regards to the bumps, cracks and ridges in the road. Even pointing them out like a cyclist is preferable.
7. The motorcycle should have an extended mirror so that the driver can see predetermined hand signals.
8. Give the hand signals between the driver and riders some serious thought and spend time understading them. The driver will NOT be able to hear the riders and will be looking for visual cues in his mirror. This is #1 for safety. Establish signals for slow down, speed up, sprint time/hill jam, etc. as well as safety signals.
9. The motorcycles should have a lowered exhaust so the riders behind aren’t breathing in fumes for hours on end.
10. It’s great if the motorcycle has a basket on the back to carry waterbottles, extra clothing, food, etc.
11. Consider practicing your first few motorpacing sessions on an outdoor velodrome until everyone gets the hang of it.
Riders:
1. More than 4 or 5 riders on a motorpacing session gets to be too many. The further back the rider is from the motorbike, the harder it gets because there is less of a draft. Right behind the motorbike is the area where you get the most rest (relatively speaking). The riders behind are doing the most work.
2. Don’t just go out and motorpace without some proper strength and power blocks of training. If you do this you’ll gain some form for a while, but you won’t have the underlying fitness to keep it going and build upon it. Make sure that you motorpace after you have a good base of strength and you’ll be able to push the bigger gears faster. Use motorpacing as “top up” training about a month out from when you want to reach your peak.
3. The training effect that motorpacing has on the riders is SPEED. The neuromuscular training effect associated with being in the draft and using higher leg speed (less torque) will help you increase the SPEED component of your training. It also improves the psychological element of not being completely in control of pace (similar to a race – this is where a good motorpace driver who knows you makes a big difference)
4. If the cyclist behind the bike separates as little as 1 ft off of the rear of the motorbike, the workload will spike incredibly high to regain the “sweet spot” of the draft that is best only inches away from the bumper. Once or twice and this isn’t an issue, but after an hour of motorpacing which is usually done in zone 4/5, that wattage spike REALLY hurts........ more
Driver and Scooter/Motorbike:
1. The scooter/motorcycle should be able to go up to 70km/hr
2. Anything much more than an 80-100cc scooter may be too powerful and accelerate too quickly at the higher speeds for the riders behind to keep up with. The small increases in speed may not seem like much to the driver, but 2 or 3 km/hr is a big deal to the cyclists on the back who are on hanging on for dear life.
3. Ideally you want a roller on back of the scooter. Keep an eye out for any protrusions that could catch a wheel at the ends of roller.
4. The driver needs to accelerate slowly on climbs and hills. The cyclists behind will increase speeds much more slowly than the motorcycle.
5. The driver can accelerate more quickly on descents. The bike coasts more quickly than motorcycle.
6. The driver needs to think like a cyclist with regards to the bumps, cracks and ridges in the road. Even pointing them out like a cyclist is preferable.
7. The motorcycle should have an extended mirror so that the driver can see predetermined hand signals.
8. Give the hand signals between the driver and riders some serious thought and spend time understading them. The driver will NOT be able to hear the riders and will be looking for visual cues in his mirror. This is #1 for safety. Establish signals for slow down, speed up, sprint time/hill jam, etc. as well as safety signals.
9. The motorcycles should have a lowered exhaust so the riders behind aren’t breathing in fumes for hours on end.
10. It’s great if the motorcycle has a basket on the back to carry waterbottles, extra clothing, food, etc.
11. Consider practicing your first few motorpacing sessions on an outdoor velodrome until everyone gets the hang of it.
Riders:
1. More than 4 or 5 riders on a motorpacing session gets to be too many. The further back the rider is from the motorbike, the harder it gets because there is less of a draft. Right behind the motorbike is the area where you get the most rest (relatively speaking). The riders behind are doing the most work.
2. Don’t just go out and motorpace without some proper strength and power blocks of training. If you do this you’ll gain some form for a while, but you won’t have the underlying fitness to keep it going and build upon it. Make sure that you motorpace after you have a good base of strength and you’ll be able to push the bigger gears faster. Use motorpacing as “top up” training about a month out from when you want to reach your peak.
3. The training effect that motorpacing has on the riders is SPEED. The neuromuscular training effect associated with being in the draft and using higher leg speed (less torque) will help you increase the SPEED component of your training. It also improves the psychological element of not being completely in control of pace (similar to a race – this is where a good motorpace driver who knows you makes a big difference)
4. If the cyclist behind the bike separates as little as 1 ft off of the rear of the motorbike, the workload will spike incredibly high to regain the “sweet spot” of the draft that is best only inches away from the bumper. Once or twice and this isn’t an issue, but after an hour of motorpacing which is usually done in zone 4/5, that wattage spike REALLY hurts........ more
Sunday, August 1, 2010
8 1 2010 recovery road ride
I have had to revisit my road bicycle since it has become absolutely torture to do any rides over one hour on a spin bike. You do have to maintain your aerobic base with rides of 2 hours or more, this can be monotonous on a spin bike. I did not ride my road bicycle since October 2009. I therefore had to dust off the cobwebs and spiders from the Specialized Tarmac - last Monday I did a 2 hour recovery ride and today I did a 3 hour recovery ride, easy pace in the smallest gear, on the relatively flat LIE service road. At the same time using whatever downhills came along to do some high speed cadence work in order to convert power to speed.
Speaking of Specialized bikes - I don't get anything for free nor do I get a discount for any cycling products. So whatever I endorse has to be good value for money. I am just an ordinary recreational Cat 4 bike rider / track racer so it might be presumptuous of me to say I endorse products. But I have found all Specialized products which I have used so far to be the best value for money. Their road bikes of which I have the Tarmac and Roubaix, their shoes, their helmets, their pumps, their sunglasses are all great products backed by good warranties which can only be provided by big reputable outfits like Specialized. Of course there might be better products which are more expensive, but when you have to spend scarce dollars on cycling products, you tend to look for value and return on investment..
For Track racing - a custom Tiemeyer track bike can't be beat in terms of value for money. Mavic Ellipse clincher track wheels are also great value for money. Wouldn't it be nice to own a set of top of the line Mavic IOs and disk, but where does one get $6,000 dollars to plop down on wheels?
Garmin - the Garmin Edge 305 GPS has helped to improve my track cycling, although it can become erratic at times over 30 mph due to the fast accelerations on the track. There is nothing like downloading the data from the Garmin - analyzing it and then using that information to modify your training.
Saris Cyclops 300pt Spin Bike - a great torture device, a bit expensive but worth every penny. The power meter feature alone is very useful.
Speaking of Specialized bikes - I don't get anything for free nor do I get a discount for any cycling products. So whatever I endorse has to be good value for money. I am just an ordinary recreational Cat 4 bike rider / track racer so it might be presumptuous of me to say I endorse products. But I have found all Specialized products which I have used so far to be the best value for money. Their road bikes of which I have the Tarmac and Roubaix, their shoes, their helmets, their pumps, their sunglasses are all great products backed by good warranties which can only be provided by big reputable outfits like Specialized. Of course there might be better products which are more expensive, but when you have to spend scarce dollars on cycling products, you tend to look for value and return on investment..
For Track racing - a custom Tiemeyer track bike can't be beat in terms of value for money. Mavic Ellipse clincher track wheels are also great value for money. Wouldn't it be nice to own a set of top of the line Mavic IOs and disk, but where does one get $6,000 dollars to plop down on wheels?
Garmin - the Garmin Edge 305 GPS has helped to improve my track cycling, although it can become erratic at times over 30 mph due to the fast accelerations on the track. There is nothing like downloading the data from the Garmin - analyzing it and then using that information to modify your training.
Saris Cyclops 300pt Spin Bike - a great torture device, a bit expensive but worth every penny. The power meter feature alone is very useful.
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