It was dark, no reason to slow down... so i cranked...hit the bottom of the hill coming down from the parkway and drilled it - i could make out a blinky light up ahead and knew it was a fellow commuter, probably one of the slower ones...
So with a slight cross wind i gave it a bit, thinking not too hard - keep it in the threes, don't let it dip below 250... (i can see the display in the drops from the blinky light i have on the chest strap)... and i crank... keeping cadence around 90 for a while...
The dip in the power/cadence is from cleaning tires... i paused in the pedaling for a few seconds, long enough to run a glove over the tire to brush off any shells from the "mine" field the flying sea rats have been making... and got back into it...
Started feeling a bit juiced but noticed i was gaining ground on the cyclist up ahead... shifted up a gear, kept speed up and just boosted cadence... this time i was shooting at keeping it around 100 or more... Then i made the ID on my target, two blinkies, one on each pannier, and one on the helment, casting a lot of lumens. It was MarkyD - the fast commuter (well there is another mark that commutes even faster but since separating his shoulder... he ain't riding as much).
Damn... no recovery once i catch him...
But i dug a bit deeper used a bit of power to boost the cadence up above 110 as i was coming in for the
Was a great ride home. Also without the trailer tho. So speed was higher by a big margin relative to riding w/o the trailer. I stuck an image of the whole ride up here too... it took a bit of time for the HR to recover but i kept the cadence and speed up... And really, while i can do these intervals w/o the 'tap... and i can and have gotten a good judge of the cadence w/o out it... and i can look at instant HR (if i replaced batteries) but... the way my stupid brain is wired... this thing really does help me. Maybe in a couple years i'll move on to other things... follow some egotistical know-it-all's advice (meaning a coach) and move on to other ways to train... Right now it really is helping... and i can see if potentially helping even more in race situations, based on some of the stuff mr garber has said in praise of riding/racing/training with power. While some folks get overwhelmed and bored with all the numbers... I think little pony girl is just jealous...
I salute and honor a friend today. Someone I feel extremely fortunate to call a friend, fortunate to have been given the opportunity to begin to get to know this individual. Thanks to all that you've done. You are an inspiration Sir!
Off the wire:
But promoter Kelly Cline dropped a bombshell when he quietly announced that his “Wissahickon Cyclocross” in Ludwig’s Corner Pennsylvania was stepping up to UCI C-1 status.
Sweet... C-1 status. That kicks ass... along with:
Last year’s race featured international racers from seven different countries, live music, free beer and free admission. Many, if not all, of those amenities are being planned for this year’s edition.
Wait...
did i read that right?
FREE BEER?
damn...
advertise that in the papers in Phili and you are FO SHO gonna boost attendance!!! N.F.W!
ah well...
Eco-cross was almost free beer. $3 ticket for all you can drink... pretty damn close if ya ask me...
With the beer flowing and the brains working... Cross can't come soon enough.
Although... it can...
Why can't the USA Mo Fo Promos keep the sh!t rolling in the USA? Eh? Frickin Europe even has cross races AFTER WORLDS.
We are so ass lame that the promoters would rather add dates in Fahkin SEPTEMBER for cross racing than January...
Oh and maybe the Woolly Bears were right!?
peace
G
20 comments:
From the looks of the graph, PT cadence does not drop the stopped/coasting time out of the calculation. That pretty much makes the avg cadence useless.
Make the power go up while the torque goes down. Old time bikers like Il Bruce call this "caressing the pedals" or souplesse.
Yup...
same as average power...
referencing the numbers over the same
'course' where ya stop pedaling over the same stretches (down hills and what not) the avg numbers can be usefull...
also it's short work of sorting the data in excel and getting better averages... but it is still work...
would be nice if the software ignored that - maybe that newer power software does that - it won't work so well on the laptop (old java maybe) so i stick with the old link 1.04... almost like it better than the latest that i have on the machine here...
oh and the ride home data (stuff listed, avereages and all that) is from the slow ride in as well as that displayed data... i have the ride data tab clicked not the View Data clicked (which has higher numbers)...
and actually the force doesn't go down that much (if it did the power would have decreased)...
Would not the pedal force at 50 rpm have to be 2x the pedal force at 100 rpm for equal power?
yeah?
whats your point?
look at the end when the graph goes from 100-110... force went up a bit instantaneously but smooth it way the hell out and it doesn't change that much...
meaning some how i was keeping the same force going over a shorter duration... roughly - actually increasing the force... and the cadence, and holy crap wouldn't you know! Power went up...
amazing
Put another way, if speed, position, wind, etc stay constant on a flat road, then the power requirement does not change. Obviously you could do 20 mph at 51 rpm in your 55x11. Or you could do the same speed in a 39x16 at 104 rpm. The torque requirement is far less at 104 rpm, because there are twice as many pedal strokes in the same amount of time. The same relationship holds true if you compare pedaling at 80 rpm at force x, or 100 rpm at .9*force x. Force is 10% less, but power is 10% more.
Herein lies the fundamental flaw in many rider's style: they only push the pedals hard at low rpms. They only spin at low force, like downhill. The good ones don't just push a big gear or spin an easy one, they spin the big stuff. It takes years of practice, which is why most people don't do it. That, and you can still get by turning a "natural" cadence of 80 rpm at high torque, and do quite well if you're strong.
In you 100-110 rpm example, what I see is the duration of the effort is so short, the power spike comes when you are accelerating. Accelerating your ample mass takes power and clouds up our example. You will have to develop the ability to maintain a decent cadence for more than 45 seconds in order to experience what I am describing. Maybe an experienced biker like Il Bruce can help you out.
awe get stuffed ya crazy old man...
i know what ya talking about...
numbers from this morning are more 'normal'
slower cause i'm in little ring not big ring...
but see - you are making a killer argument for riding with a powertap...
the 'tap lets ya know if ya just sissyfoot spinning or not... and ya can "train" that spin force
and yes - i may still be luggin the crap out of the engine - dumping huge force loads... at low cadences... for now... but me working to change it... me working hard...
gewilli WANTS to get better... gewilli wants to be able to spin at retardly high cadences like oldman solobreak
;)
I don't think you need that thing to help you learn to pedal, but obviously it helps fill up your day with something other than blog reading.
It could help in a TT. I have tried to coach numerous riders on how to TT, and always tell them to go fast, not hard. You wouldn't believe (ok, maybe you would) how many riders (some WITH powertaps) just can't resist upshifting in order to feel like they are going hard enough. The joke is on them. That "burn" or "feel" they get from being overgeared is exactly what prematurely fatigues them and causes their speed to fade over the course of an event. All I can say is NO, NO, NO! Think like a pursuiter and pedal fast and hard. I may not be able to climb, but I didn't get that box of TT medals by being an idiot.
BTW, your watt/kg numbers are super high for a clown just riding to work. There may be hope for you yet. However, strain gauges are notoriously temperature sensitive, SRM recommend rezeroing for even small fluctuations... Not that it's cold out or anything.
I tried to read this thread but it makes me feel kinda woozy.
I never liked physics and as the great American icon Barbie once said "Math is HARD".
I can offer no scientific advice.
I do find that on the NBW death marches I am constantly telling people to shift down.
Middle aged fatties stay in the big ring ALL DAY, usually at the bottom of the cog, (unless they are cross chaining to get over an overpass) grinding away. Sheesh.
These people should now better but their no pain no gain running past won't let them spin.
Super EPCO Mart, Castorama etc. sell them 18 pound wonder bikes and don't bother to show them how the shifters work.
Did a ride in SoCo with some past prime MIWFWYDs ans one woman was in the same gear the whole ride. A axed her why. She had her bike a year and couldn't find the shift levers.
Measure your power. I don't care. We are all freds, we just have different obsessions.
yeah - gears... who needs em right?
Solo, i understand and generally do try to strive for that same goal, pedal faster, not harder...
brain takes over or i fake myself out...
recording the evidence (even if power and force are off by 10-20% relative numbers for that instance are somewhat consistent) and having it there are helpful for
me
i can know what i need to do
incentive to do it and feeback i find important motivating...
also i geek the fahk out to numbers...
and actually - make graphs and stuff at home... better than watch'n TV (well i do like that NCIS show... 'bout it tho)
But ya know what that spinning fast thing does? It amps ya HR like crazy ;) makes ya breath harder... maybe that's why il bruce the biker's cadre of NBW slugs stick with the 53-12 all the time...
Long (15-20 minute) intervals at highish rpm (95-105) and the biggest gear you can ride and still maintain an HR 0-10 bpm below LT are the cornerstone of my spring training. If I find my HR going up too high, I take an easier gear. If it starts to drop, I take a bigger gear. Think of these as high rpm cruise intervals. They are not too stressful, because you stay under LT, so you can do them twice a week (usually 2 x 15 minutes for me, or when I run out of good road). You should be able to work these into your commute.
These get you ready for harder stuff to come, while conditioning the body to pedal fast under moderate stress. They are really not that easy, as holding 100 rpm for 15 minutes takes some getting used to. These will also help your body learn to breath deep and slow (huh-huh) and keep the HR from going nuts.
Many riders don't think these are hard enough to be of benefit. I say let them think that way.
but then you see - i don't know what my LT is...
need to figure that out before i do the 10 beats below LT range...
You wouldn't want to train by HR anyway. You need to know your power at LT...
I think you can use your average HR from Rehoboth (on a night you were fresh) divided by 1.03 and get close enough. Unless you didn't have an HRM at Rehoboth.
not one that recorded the data...
so basically no HRM at RoHo
i might see about setting up the trainer and doing one of those LT sort of tests minus the Lactate test (read one around somewhere) that might get me close enough...
damn thing about RoHo is the first one i did i was the freshest and tactically the best... at least that's what it seemed like... also the best weather conditions...
You can estimate it from your max. If you start training like a mad dog, it will move anyway.
But there must be someone in that hallowed institution who could do a real lab test for you, ain't there?
Hey G, take a look at the current UCI CX calendar: UCI CX in California in Jan 08! If I don't make the worlds team , I am there!
GeeW
If you want CX post XMass.. PROMOTE IT! There are two absolutely SWEET venues right near you: Roger Williams park and Goddard park (Casters). Round up the troops and make it happen. Doesn't need to be upscale, I'm sure you can run it legally and low key.
Mmm Cali, would be great to go, but...
Molly, isn't that sort of the anti-thesis of Belgium?
and Ctodd...
promote... me? yeah... ya know cause i've got so much time to kill...
seriously tho - maybe our club can make it happen...
"Come down to warm southern New England and race cross in the ocean state in January!"
might work...
hmmmm
http://www.kurtkinetic.com/computer_tech.php
I think I like this method better. It takes out all the spike you see on the PT graph every time you accelerate. Accelerations are obviously a much different (though sometimes just as important) kind of stress than sustained power. I can see where event the 1.7 second sample recording interval of a PT requires all kinds of smoothing from the software to come up with a graph that is even close to readable. Not sure how they calc it, but the "torque spike" that comes from a crank acceleration could be very short, or quite long. I guess the average would even out from the coast time too, but the graphs still are very spikey.
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