February 2012 Summary

Here is a breakdown of what bikes I rode the most this February.

A pretty cross bike heavy month for me and very light on the Musashi. This was my biggest mile month in February in the last 4 years and I am feeling a bit tired as a result.

Getting Ready for the Death Valley Double

I put a nice new Ultremo ZX in matching orange on the moose today together with a Mavic wheel.  Every little bit of weight saving will help on that monster climb out of Death Valley.   It ran very nice with the new setup.

I am still not sure what to expect in terms of performance from the Musashi over 200 miles. The longest I have ridden it is less than 100 miles and  I just hope it is comfortable enough for the long haul.

It’s hard to say what my goal is for this event as I don’t really have much of a feel for how the Musashi will perform. I hope it will be quicker than my best time on a road bike but I doubt it will be close to the time on the Bacchetta. I would like to finish before dark if at all possible and my stretch goal is to beat 12 hours.

My best results:

1. 2010 : Bacchetta Corsa Recumbent  : 11h20m (6th Place)
2. 2009: Lemond Titanium : 11h49m (10th Place)

Snelling Road Race: Men CAT 4

Snelling RR is the first big spring classic  in Northern California. It attracts huge fields and is run on a fun course that closed to traffic but open to Bees (they are out pollinating the Almond groves at this time of year). The course itself is a rolling one with pavement that varies from good to nasty but never as bad as Copperopolis and it throws in sand on the corners just to keep you awake. The weather can also be a huge factor on this course and I have ridden it in the rain, with huge floods, frost and of course wind.  This year was the windiest I have ever encountered on the course but the temperatures were mild and the course was bone dry.

I have lost motivation in a big way with mass start road racing and I never feel that comfortable cycling in big groups any more.  I entered Snelling just because I always enter it but as the race drew near I felt less and less like actually taking part. My enthusiasm was not helped by having to get up at 4:30 am to drive out to the course after a really bad nights sleep.

My group had a full field of 100 riders and our race was to be 5 laps (63 miles). I think the rain free winter has allowed a lot of people to get a lot of training in as the whole field looked really fit. I arrived a little late to the start and found myself at the back of the huge group. In the neutralized section out to the start there was a lot of nervous braking and swerving going on and due to the narrow roads there was nothing I could do to get up near the front. I wasn’t really concerned about being at the back as I had resigned myself to taking it easy for 4 laps then trying to put in an attack in the last 5 miles.

Unfortunately when we were given the flag  the hammer went down pretty much straight away and the first section along Keyes road had a very strong crosswind from the right. The bunch immediately strung out with everyone hanging in the left gutter so it was incredibly difficult to get any shelter.  Pretty much from the start people started letting gaps go at the back of the field and I had to use too much energy to close the gaps. I also suffered from the elastic effect out of corners and had to sprint hard to keep in touch. After only 1 lap into the race I was suffering in a way I have not experienced in a road race for years.

The second lap was the same story as the first and I was still rather stupidly hanging around to close to the back and having to work far harder than I should to get out of the wind.  Along Keyes road the entire field was in a single line for a while grovelling in the left gutter. Being at the back I noticed that we were shedding riders at  quite an impressive rate.  On lap 3 up the little climb before the nasty crosswind section on Keyes some people let a gap go and I noticed too late. I chased really hard but simply could not close the gap and I thought that was the end of my race.  Fortunately another few strong riders had also been caught out by the split so we worked together to chase. I really didn’t think we had a chance but after an epic 3/4 lap chase we finally rejoined the lead group (probably down to 35 riders by now).

I had burned up way too many matches in the chase so my only thoughts were of survival on the last lap. The last lap was  a little easier pace but it was peppered by people putting in attacks. I found  it hard to respond to the changes in pace so I ended up drifting towards the back again. On the last climb just before the turn onto the really bumpy section the group split again and I got about a 10 meter gap (sat too near the back again) to the main group and I simply didn’t have the legs to close it. I tried chasing hard on the Roubaix section but I new my day was done and ended up riding in on my own in 27th place. This was a really good competitive and safe race and its a pity I wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

2012 Snelling was the hardest CAT 4 race I have ever ridden and I think there were a few reasons for that.  Firstly my negative attitude caused me to ride like a muppet and end up having to work much harder than I needed to.  If your mind isn’t in the game on a windy day you might as well take an early bath. Secondly I have been suffering from a downward spiral of form since the beat The Clock TT and an inability to get to sleep of a night. I felt physically and mentally drained after the race but didn’t really suffer from any muscle cramps or other ailments. I really am a person that does not do well on lack of sleep and it makes me wonder if I will ever be able to ride the longer endurance races.

On the way back home in the car my back tire exploded. I am glad this didn’t happen in the race.

I have to get my act back together for next weekends Death Valley Double Century which I am going to ride on my Musashi recumbent. Due to my packed February schedule I have only ridden 47 miles this month on the moose which is not the best preparation.

Beat The Clock 2/18/2012: Single Speed Merckx Men : Part 2

Part 2: The Race Itself:

[Registration]

When we got to the start the temps were not too bad (about 50f) but there was a stiff wind blowing for the outward leg. A headwind out was the best thing for me as I was going to be spinning out on the predominantly down hill leg.  I had a nice warmup ride down towards Woodside and felt pretty good.

[My Chosen Steed - The Masi Single Speed CX]

The race itself went to plan but I was seriously under geared on the down hill sections. I got up to about 29MPH and was bouncing up and down desperately trying to not loose any speed. I felt pretty good into the wind and managed to catch a rider or two. The hardest section on the way out was the last half mile before the turn where I got a bit concerned about my average speed. I knew I was going well as my recumbent 2 minute man (Phil Plath)  hadn’t caught me yet and by the turn I was well up on record pace.

Phil Caught me just after the turn and I just rode as hard as I could but he flew away from me. I got caught by a tandem and another Merckx rider but it was really hard to keep the power down on the downhill tailwind sections and they simply flew away from me.  I managed to catch a few people  on the last climb before the finish and buried myself to get the record with a time of 27m20s and an average speed of 22MPH.

[Happy after the race]

It was a hard effort but I probably enjoyed this time trial more than any I have ridden in the last 20 years. There is a certain purity about having to concentrate on nothing but pedaling fast. I don’t think I could have gone much faster on my current setup especially with a 42 x 16.

Beat The Clock 2/18/2012: Single Speed Merckx Men : Part 1

Part 1: The Beginning:

I love the challenge of a record that hasnt been completely put out of reach by some superhuman rider but often such records are hard to find. I have had my eye on the “Beat The Clock Single Speed Merckx” record for a while as it looked like a pretty low apple.  It sounded easy, just do 21MPH for 10 miles and the record was there to be taken, but the Canada road course is ill suited for just one gear shennanigans.   Canada road has a lot of fast descending on the way out and a long climb on the way back. A decision has to be made on either being too low geared on the way out or too high geared on the way back (never mind the complications wind brings to the equation).

My first thought was to slap a front brake on my Felt TK3 track bike and stick with the stock 48t x 15t gearing but as I pondered the “Merckx” rules it became clear that my semi aero track frame did not meet the spirit of the class. After a few trial runs I also discovered that 48 x15 was a pretty hard gear into a strong wind or on a big climb. My only other option was my Masi Single speed Cyclo cross bike that had conventional round steel tubes, wheels with more than 32 spokes and absolutely no aero features. The only real problem with it is that it isnt very light (I actually weighed it today and was shocked to see it at 23.5 pounds) , it has 35mm fat tires and worst of all it has a 42 x 18 gear.  A 42 x 18 gives a speed of approx 18.9MPH at 100RPM which is about 2 MPH short of my target (I reckon anything over 100rpm isnt really efficient).

I took my Masi down to the Calaveras TT course and rode with some fellow FFBC riders for a couple of practise time trials. Calaveras is similar to Canada road in many respects although I  ussually go a bit faster on Calaveras. I had to spin my legs off and hammered myself silly but was unable to crack 30 minutes.  I ended up with sore knees for four days after that stupid session and had to go back to the drawing board.

Plan 2 was to buy a 48 tooth front chainring for the Masi as I reckoned 48t X 18t would give me a speed of 21.6MPH at 100RPM which should be good enough to crack 21MPH.  Unfortunately when it arrived on Saturday I discovered that due to the very wide chain stays, to give clearance for 45 tires, the biggest chainring I could run was a 42 (what a waste of money!).

Plan 3 was to use the 16t BMX sprocket I had gathering dust for the back rather than fixed as I couldnt get a fixed sprocket or sprocket wrench in time and I was busy at work all week.  A 48t x 16t would give me 21.2MPH at 100RPM or 25.5mph at 120RPM on the 35 section tires.  I fitted the 16t on Thursday morning and went out for a trial run.  The good news was that those 2 teeth made enough of a difference for me to do a 21.6MPH average lap on my 4 mile test circuit on a very windy day. I spun out on the tailwind sections and had to get out of the saddle frequently into the wind but the results were  promising. Even with the big fat Schwalbe Marathon Racers (they help up the overall gear) I reckon I finally have a weapon suitable for the task.

21MPH may not sound fast but on a heavy single speed bike with no aero bits on a hilly course I have no doubts it is going to hurt a lot. To be continued……………..

Single speed Merckx Men (Current Records)

1. 29:01 Emerson Ken Team Spotted Ass 8/20/2011 (20.6MPH)
2. 29:32 Jason Pierce Team Pudu 8/20/2011 (20.3MPH)
3. 30:53 Adam Driscoll 3/19/2011 (19.4 MPH)

Mega Monster Enduro 2012 : Bacchetta in the Wind and Rain

The weather forecast for the 2012 Mega Monster Enduro looked pretty good and it didn’t look like long fingered gloves or wind vests would be required. I decided to pack them anyways and I am glad I did. When I got up at 5:30 am it was raining but I thought this was just the remnants of last nights showers so I didn’t worry too much.  As I drove down to Paicines I encountered some pretty heavy bouts of rain and even when I got there it was raining.

Being allergic to the rain, since moving from a very wet part of England, I sat in the van until the last possible moment and didn’t do any sort of warm up.  When I hit the start line the rain had stopped but just 1/2 mile down the road it was coming down strong. My plan was to ride fairly steady for the first 5 miles but try to keep my average above 20MPH.  I managed to do this but the rain was miserable and the wind did not seem to be helping much.  Visibility at times was atrocious and I was riding along expecting to ride over something and get a flat. I kept going over in my mind that if I flatted I was going to call it a day but that never happened.

Around 9 miles in comes the biggest climb on the course and one where I knew the Bacchetta was going to be at a bit of a disadvantage.  The rain eased off on the climb but my glasses fogged up so visibility was very poor again. I was caught and passed by a team of 3 guys on the climb but I resisted the temptation to up my pace and kept rigidly to my 160BPM max effort. I thought I would bring these guys back on the run in to Bitterwater but they kept pulling away.  I actually caught a few teams and many solo riders in the next section up to the highest elevation and even passed a few on the climbs.

The drop down to the first checkpoint at Bitterwater was a miserable affair with strong winds and driving rain. My inner monologue consisted of thoughts of bailing out or just carrying on as everyone else must be suffering too. Even though it was wet and windy, my legs felt good and I was pretty warm, so I decided to press on. I had a pretty good speed going down but I could feel the winds tugging at my disk wheel so it kept my concentration up. I slowed down to shout out my number at Bitterwater check point (Mile 32) but didn’t stop as the next few miles are amongst my favorite on the course.

The section between the Bitterwatter CP and the turn is a mixed bag consisting of fast open roads followed by rolling hills which get progressively worse as you near the turnaround. The hills are just big enough to loose your momentum and cause you to have to shift chainrings. The rain actually let up for this bit and I managed to catch quite a few more people and one team but I didn’t catch the three man team that passed me at mile 9.  There was a bit of a tailwind but I didn’t push too hard as I knew the way back was going to be really hard.  I probably wasn’t drinking enough but I got to the 50.5 mile turn on one drinking bottle and half a Cliff Shot block packet so I decided I was going to push on through without refueling.

I was pretty slow on the outbound leg with a split time of 02:27:00 (20.8MPH) in 5th place. The quickest rider was Peter Merril in 02:21:00 (6 minutes quicker than me). In hindsight perhaps I should have pushed harder on the outbound leg (particularly the first 5 miles).

The return leg to Bitterwater was really windy and I started to push harder as I was a bit worried I hadn’t gone hard enough on the way out. I could see a few people ahead and finally managed to catch the team of 3 who were not enjoying the headwind. The funny thing was that on this section I was catching people on the climbs which is contrary to what you would expect on a recumbent.  Despite my best effort my average speed was beginning to slowly ebb away and I began to realize my goal of beating 20MPH was out of reach.  I felt really sorry for the guy working the Bitterwater CP as on the return leg it was still raining hard and blowing a gale.  I slowed and shouted my number but again opted not to replenish my fuel.  It was very wet here and I needed the bathroom but I didn’t want to get off the bike. I caught Peter in his Mango velomobile on the long climb out of Bitterwater and he gave me some great words of encouragement.

Up the Bitterwater climb I had a cyclist in sight so I concentrated on keeping a good tempo on the smallest chainring with a view to blasting away on the descent afterwards. All went to plan and I thought I was going pretty well but was caught and passed by a team of very strong triathlete guys on full aero bikes and we exchanged pleasantries about the weather.  Little things began to start niggling me after that like the fact that getting to my Cliff Shot Blocks was really difficult with a windvest and soaking wet gloves. I finished off packet number One but couldn’t get packet 2 open.

Although the last 20 miles are supposed to be predominantly down hill they certainly don’t feel like it. I think it is a combination of the wind and rough roads that makes this section so tough. The miles seem to creep by incredibly slowly and for the first time I started to feel some fatigue in my legs. I was also getting a bit of a headache which was probably the onset of dehydration.  I finished up my second and last bottle just before the killer descent with about 11 miles to go.

This final descent was horrendous, my brakes simply weren’t working and my glasses were badly soaked by the driving rain so I couldn’t see very well to miss the potholes.  The roads were also very wet so what should have been a chance to get some time back actually became an ordeal.  I could see that Bill was behind me in his van on this descent and was really grateful that he gave me loads of room.  I hit some big holes on the way down and was shouting loudly at the road and the foul weather.

[Thanks to Bill Bushnell the Electric Assist recumbent master for his kind permission to use  the above Picture]

As the clock passed my goal of 5 hours at somewhere around mile 95 I began to feverously calculate in my head what average speed I needed to achieve to beat my personal best. It’s funny when you are tired how hard even simple maths can be.  The roads were completely deserted for the last 5 miles with the exception of hardy motorcyclists and I pushed hard to try to keep my average speed up. The head wind uphills were particularly challenging and I started to feel the miles in my legs (especially on the last few rollers) but the finish finally came and I could at last relax. My return leg was 02:45:45 which was the fastest by just under a minute.

My overall time was 05:12:45 which beat my previous PB by 6 minutes and was good enough for second fastest solo overall. Despite the rain it was a really good event and I am impressed that just two bottles of Hammer Perpeteum and a packet of Cliff Shot blocks was enough to fuel me. It was a risky strategy and one which would no doubt of left me in a sorry state if I was riding a double century.  Next year sub 5 hours

Results:

1. 2012: Bacchetta Corsa: 5h12m45s
2. 2011: Klein Quantum Pro: 5h18m54s
3. 2010: Bacchetta Corsa: 5h28m50s
4. 2008: Catrike 700 Trike: 6h24m40s

Strava: Link Here

By the way the new Citrus Shot blocks are awesome tasting.

Am I a Distance Rider ?

There is a thread on BROL discussing what earns a person the label “Distance Rider”. I certainly don’t class myself as such a person even though I ride double centuries and other fairly long distance events and manage to get pretty good results too. The truth is that in normal life I am happiest riding  less than 60 miles as fast as I  can. This is not say that I don’t enjoy the challenge of longer rides but all I can think about when I ride them is to finish them as quickly as possible.

I have a huge amount of respect for people that can ride double centuries , taking in the scenery and spending long times at rest stops, ending up being happy just to finish within the 20 hour time limit. After all, they are having to spend perhaps as much as 8 hours more on the road than I usually do. I have several friends that fall into this category and they all put in way more preparation miles than I do. Weeks before the event they are turning out 130mile plus climbing extravaganzas and such like whilst I am going out for a 60 mile hammer with my race team or one of the local fast rides. These people are distance riders. I rarely ride over 100 miles when training for doubles.

I have another friend that I definitely class as a distance rider and that rider is Bill Brier. Bill rides miles that  I simply couldn’t contemplate and he rides them fast. He can seem to ride 100+ miles whenever he feels like it with amazing regularity.  He won the California Triple Crown stage race a few years back and was second in the recent Strava base mile blast with 2336 miles in 26 days and he can ride me into the ground on a double century.

Ok then, I am not a Distance rider but what am I ?  I think I am an obsessive that puts quality miles way ahead of  volume of miles. I ride pretty much every day regardless of the weather and the only things that stop me riding are bad sickness or business travel.  Every time I ride I have little goals in my head for what I want to achieve and when I am riding with a Garmin GPS I am a complete slave to Strava.  I have quite a few KOM’s to prove it and I blame it for me getting burnt out so early in the year :+) See Link here.

I love riding off road and I am not a slave to any one type of bike. I am just as happy mixing it up in a road race as I am flying round a track on a recumbent trike or hammering away on a 200 miler in Death Valley. I have pretty much competed in every type of bike racing you can think of including  some racing in World cup mountain bike events.

So I am not a distance rider but I reckon I could safely call myself an all rounder.

Mega Monster News:

Two days to the mega monster and I had my last shakedown ride on the Bacchetta today. I had to ditch the HED 3 front wheel as I discovered the bearings were totally shot but the stock wheel still feels plenty fast enough. I have had an easy week as I totally killed my knees on Sunday trying to keep up with the FFBC race team on my 42×18 fixed gear cyclo cross bike (more information on why I was doing such a stupid thing to follow soon).  They are still really sore but getting better.  A light spin tomorrow should hopefully help.