Beasty's objectives for 2010

Beasty

This week's excuses:
Bit of a head-cold
Couple of trips to the UK (2 nights, 4 flights, 4 train journeys, 4 London Underground journeys and I was also in the local Paddies Day Parade - a bit of a hectic week all-round)

Hence I only managed a couple of turbo sessions, totalling 103km

YTD total 2,208km, averaging 28.8 kph, leaving me with only 16km headroom against target.

The good news is I have just about hit my target weight for the WW200. Hence I will now aim at dropping another couple of kg for the ride. The interesting thing is I have only really started dropping the weight since I commenced the extended turbo sessions following my accident. I suspect it is because I am training in the evening, and can easily resist the temptation to gorge myself before bed, unlike when commuting when I'll have breakfast when I get to work, and an evening meal when I get home.

I'm now starting to look forward to getting back on the road, hopefully in a week or two's time. If I find it reasonably comfortable, I will be looking to head down to Sundrive for an accreditation session over the Easter weekend.

In the meantime, though, I will try and do another 2 or 3 sessions on the Tacx this week.

Lumen

You might like this.

Beasty

Lumen wrote: »

You might like this.

Hope it's not this bit you are referring to:):

"Jayson was knocked from his bike by a car while on a ride by a “hit and run” driver. Knocked unconscious and very, very nearly run over by another oncoming car, who’s driver managed to stop with the bumper bar over Jayson’s head, he is lucky to be alive"

Got to say, I've lost interest in the 35-39 World Hour Record - I'm more focussed on the 50-54 one (which is considerably shorter than the 55-59 record!). Only need to do around 44km or so to get there:D

Beasty

But it wasn't all me:)

Just had a 1h 45m session on the Tacx at work - I decided to bring it in to let anyone who wanted have a go (for charitable contributions) - it's basically been in use since 6 o'clock this morning, and will keep running for nearly 12 hours, clocking up getting on for 300km in total. I did just about 53km in total. A few tried it for an hour and some are having 30 minute sessions. In total 16 members of staff will be giving it a go, and so far everone has enjoyed their sessions (although one or two are feeling it a bit:))

Beasty

Total distance on the turbo this week 167km, giving a YTD total of 2,375km, at an average speed of 28 kph.

I have now slipped 9km behind target:eek:

Hopefully I'll get some good news on Wednesday, and should then be able to get back to some road kilometres (I'm starting to get a bit bored of the turbo, with the last 4 weeks and 635km being exclusively on the Tacx), and get back ahead of target

Assuming everything is OK, the plan is to head off to Sundrive on Saturday to try and get some track accreditation (with a few others from Swords CC). I might also get a commute in, then see how I feel with a view to getting out on the roads over the Easter weekend.

Raam

Beasty wrote: »

Assuming everything is OK, the plan is to head off to Sundrive on Saturday to try and get some track accreditation (with a few others from Swords CC). I might also get a commute in, then see how I feel with a view to getting out on the roads over the Easter weekend.

Accreditation for you? Haven't you been belting it around Manchester for ages now?

Beasty

Raam wrote: »

Accreditation for you? Haven't you been belting it around Manchester for ages now?

Yes, but I only participate in "taster" sessions. I obtained accreditation at Manchester about 10 years ago, but have never been to any formal training sessions. I think I may need separate accreditation for the Sundrive track. Even if I don't formally require it, I need to refresh the basics, but also learn how to ride a fixie in a group in the wind!

Beasty

FS

2nd hand cast in red with white trimmings – one careful* owner. Excellent condition – only used once.

Fits left hand (although a contortionist may be able to fit it to a right hand). Ideally suited to someone with a small injured wrist, or a larger non-swollen arm. Use this to impress your work colleagues with your dedication, or alternatively get a few weeks off work with an “arm injury”.

Can be used in conjunction with turbo trainer (although ideally needs a few minutes in the spin drier after a turbo session).

Offers invited

*well, OK, I might be slightly exaggerating with the careful bit

Lumen

Gis a sniff.

Beasty

Lumen wrote: »

Gis a sniff.

Fortunately I have very little sense of smell.

If you're interested I can bring it along to the hill climb next week:)

The doctor took a look at the wrist and was a bit surprised at how well it was doing. Before I asked he said I could cycle, but had to be careful with racquet sports (I don't play any, although I guess there will be no Nintendo Wii for me for a while!). I suspect the fitness I have tried to maintain on the turbo has assisted the general healing process.

The physio tested my grip - the injured hand had a reading about 25% less than the good hand, but apparantly 10% of that is explained by the fact I am right handed, and he thinks I will quickly get the strength back.

Went out for 30mins this evening. It actually felt a bit strange steering the bike after 5 weeks on the turbo. I wore a wrist support, and it felt fine, although I guess I will have to build up to longer spins.

Beasty

Four of us from the Skerries area planned to get accredited at Sundrive today. In addition to myself, there was shaungil, RobFowl and someone called "Clubber"

The plan was I would take Robfowl and Clubber in my car and shaungil would make his own way from his Wicklow retreat

10.23 last night, and I received a text from RobFowl, crying off. Apparently he had problems with his "plumbing". This made me slightly nervous, as I did not have any background on Clubber, and in particular how he got the name. I therefore hastily removed any blunt objects from the car (better safe than sorry:))

4.25 this morning, I received a text from Clubber - he's going to make his own way "sure I'll see you over there". He also sent a message to shaungil at the same time - it turns out he was only just in and unlikely to see the light of today.

Hence it was down to me and shaungil. I got there a bit early, as I was not sure about parking (it turns out was on-street parking was available).

10.30, shaungil has turned up (with the wrong cleats unfortunately, meaning he had to wear straps) and the coaches are there. We get the right sized bikes (€5 to hire). A handful of other regulars (including a couple of kids - they actively encourage children to take up track cycling, and I will probably take mine along when they are old and able enough) were also there. There were probably another 7 or 8 novices, looking for accreditation.

2 of the novices had ridden on tracks before (myself and someone who had travelled down from Belfast - apparently the track in Belfast is out of action at present as they have bolted some steps to help access to the football pitch in the centre of the track:eek: - pretty ridiculous really as the track is not that steep). The pair of us were allowed to join in with the regulars straight away. We did some lapping and then changing with the rider at the front pulling up the track at the end of the straight, and rejoining at the back of the line. We then did something similar, but in pairs. Next was some sprinting for the length of the straight (we were spread out, about 20m apart, so there was no overtaking).

The other group went through basic safety instructions, and then did some slow paced lapping to get used to the track, and then moved on to changing.

After a while both groups were brought together to do some "snaking" around the track. Basically you follow the guy in front, everyone keeps about 2 bike lengths apart, and the idea is to follow the line like a snake, controlling the distance, moving up and down the track (the bigger guys have more momentum going down, and the smaller ones can keep more pace going up, so it is quite a discipline trying to keep the distance)

Shaungil was promoted to the main group, and we did some more sprinting, this time in pairs or threes, trying to chase each other down.

After another session of line-lapping, our 2-hour session was up.

Accreditation is not really about cycling ability, it is all to do with being able to ride the track safely - being able to start and stop, move up and down the track, ensuring you look over your shoulder to make sure it is clear before moving position on the track. Shaungil did particularly well, given he had never ridden a track (or fixie) before. We both received our accreditation, and plan to get back down to the track some Wednesday evenings when they do racing. I also plan to take part in the IVCA championships later in the year (probably in pursuit or other timed events).

In terms of comparing the track with Manchester, the main difference is clearly that Sundrive is outdoors and therefore subject to the elements. Fortunately there was little wind and the rain stayed away today (the track cannot be used in the rain). Sundrive is nearly twice as long as Manchester (460m v 250m), and the track is tarmac as opposed to wood. I think the Manchester track is slightly wider also. The bends at Sundrive have an incline, I would guess, of up to about 20 degrees, whereas the one in Manchester is 43 degrees. However none of this detracts from Sundrive - clearly it is more susceptible to the weather, but it is an excellent facility, and I would recommend anyone who has an interest in track cycling to give it a go.

Beasty

I had about 80 minutes on the turbo on Monday. As I was given the green light at hospital on Wednesday hopefully the Tacx can now be mothballed for a while:)

I took the opportunity to try out the wrist support I intend using on the road during a short spin on Wednesday evening. It allows me plenty of grip, while minimising wrist movement. The main issue is I have struggled a bit to move onto the big ring using the left shifters (I need to give it a couple of clicks, but can't yet do them both in one movement)

On Thursday I had 90 minutes doing mainly intervals with one of the Swords guys, and on Friday I did a couple of circuits around the area for about 50 minutes.

Saturday was Sundrive (see report above). I liked it so much I took the fixie down today and did another 117 laps (just under 55km)

So far there have been no ill-effects from the wrist (it's a bit stiff, and starts aching a bit after a while on the bike, but nothing I can't live with, and even after a few days it's feeling better). I suspect the exercise it is getting is doing some good:)

Total distance for the week = 216 km

YTD total = 2,591km at an average speed of 29kph, meaning I am now back ahead of target (albeit only 15 km). I have also gone some way towards one of my objectives by getting accreditation to ride the track at Sundrive

Next week's plans are to do some timekeeping on Tuesday's hill climb, probably back to commuting for a couple of days, with some additional work on Thursday evening. I may also get out on my first Swords spin on Saturday as the wife and kids are away and do not fly back until Saturday afternoon.

Beasty

2 x 2hr spins this week, a solo effort on Monday and my first Swords spin on Saturday. In addition I did 3 commutes, making my total distance for the week of 302km at an average speed of 28.5 kph and 214w.

A couple of interesting points:

– in the past I would have suffered towards the end of a hard week, but I felt nearly as strong today as I did at the start of the week. In fact, my second commute home (224w) was 4 minutes faster than the first (215w), and the third (229w) was another minute faster still (I was probably taking it a little easier on the first as it was my first commute following the accident, but the second and third were both personal bests for the route I took)

– I was surprised with my power output today. I averaged 214w, but it felt more like 180-190w (indeed Monday’s effort at 188w felt harder). This was only the second time I have used the Powertap when riding in a group. I am not used to group riding and I tend to be on the brakes a lot, although I also felt as if I was hanging off the back a bit while I was sussing out the roads and what was going on. Even then, I did feel the pace was comfortable, and I was able to freewheel much more than normal. I had a similar experience with the power output the other time I rode in a group, and I guess it means that when I do put the effort in I push harder than normal (scrutinising the power records suggests this), but that I recover quite quickly, leaving me more scope to push again.

I did feel the wrist a bit particularly on the longer spins (there were some pretty dodgy bits of road), but it seems to be coming along OK. All the turbo work is certainly paying off, as I feel just about as strong now as I did before the accident (this may be partly explained by the good weather and opportunities to get the shorts out and wear thinner tops).

YTD total now stands at 2,893km, and I have just hit the 100hr mark (100hr 18s to be precise), making the average speed 28.9 kph. I am now back ahead of schedule (74km)

Next week will hopefully see 3 more commutes (and who knows what else;))

Captain Havoc

Good to read you're back in full swing again :cool:

Beasty

So today marked the day of my return to competitive sport, after an absence of (well over) 30 years. Rugby had only just been introduced at our school, and I suspect my size was the main reason I was chosen to play lock forward. We probably only played 3 or 4 matches and lost them all by large margins. Actually we did win one match – it was against the teachers – I suspect the fact we put 2 of them in hospital with broken collarbones (one of whom was the sports teacher) had something to do with it though - in fact, some of the teachers were probably nearly as old then as I am now:)

I have certainly never cycled competitively, and tonight was the start of the Swords League. Mercifully short (1.8km TT), but up a hill. Hence my size would definitely count against me

I have done the hill in question many times – it’s only a couple of km away from where I live. But there are also a number of other locals taking part who know this hill well. My best time was 5m 49s, and I knew the likes of Shaungil were faster than me.

48 riders signed on. I picked up my race number for the season – 666 was not available this time, so I went for 57, not that I like beans, but at least I’ll remember it.

Shaungil was first off. I was probably about 7th or 8th. I didn’t know at the time that Shaungil had posted a time of 4m 35s – well over a minute faster than my best.

My tactics were simple. When doing my best time I had averaged just under 360w. However I had pushed over 450w on the first minute, before the steep bit came in. I had then lost my power up the steep bit, and picked it up again when the slope started levelling off. The plan was to try and keep the power consistently between 360 and 400, until the worst of the climb was over. Then I would just push as hard as I could. It didn’t quite work out. I was still higher in the first bit, and lower in the steep bit. But there was less variation, which helped push me to a time of 5m 21s – a 28s improvement on my previous best. Interestingly my average power was still only 362w, but I think I did use it a bit more efficiently, and there was also a tailwind to help.

Shortly after I finished someone posted a time of 3m 45s!

I am not sure where I finished in the end – there were plenty out there that were faster than me, but not many of them were older and fatter than me:D

I’ve said a few times on here that I am not seriously into racing. TTs probably suit me best (I am used to riding alone, and very wary of riding at speed in bunches). So the idea is to do a few TTs to see how it goes. However it’s a while before Swords put another on. Next week I’ll be away, but who knows, maybe the week after I’ll try a proper race!

Lumen

Well done Beasty!

bcmf

Beasty I believe that nxt week is Ardcath-Garristown and the week after is the Bog circuit.

Beasty

bcmf wrote: »

Beasty I believe that nxt week is Ardcath-Garristown and the week after is the Bog circuit.

Is that Garristown one hilly? (currently planning to be away next week anyway, but if plans change I'll try and give it a go)

Raam

Beasty wrote: »

Is that Garristown one hilly? (currently planning to be away next week anyway, but if plans change I'll try and give it a go)

Yes. Nice stinker of a finish too.

bcmf

some horrible little drags on it and as raam says a real stinger of a finish.
Raam any chance of a map of the circuit. I trawled through the Swords site (new and old) and couldnt find one!!

Raam

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/ireland/garristown/860124289655041747

Beasty

The problem with having a hill on your doorstep is it niggles away at you!

I’ve been reflecting a bit on Wednesday’s hill climb.

At the time I was quite pleased with my performance – it was in improvement of nearly half a minute on my previous best, I was only back on the road for 2 weeks since my broken wrist, and it was my first proper experience of competition for a very long time. My time was well ahead of what I had achieved previously. However someone did comment that they thought I could have produced a better time.

On the night, I felt I gave nearly as much as I could. Perhaps I could improve by a few seconds, but a sub 5 minute time seemed beyond me.
I have done the hill twice since, at the end of my commute home. I posted times of 5.41 and 5.48. Given this was at the end of a relatively hard commute (30+km) I was very pleased with the times. Power output was 329w and 322w respectively, compared with 362w on Wednesday.

As I see it, there are two practical ways I can improve my time on this hill. Either increase my overall power or reduce my weight (or both).

The easy(!) one to deal with is my weight. I reckon I could lose 4-5kg without compromising my power output to a material extent (may end up being a material expense on the wallet though, as I would probably drop another size!). Playing about with the bike calculator, I think this could save me 12s or so.

In terms of power, I think I can improve this by cycling more efficiently. One thing that was mentioned on Wednesday is gearing. I think I left it too late to drop onto the 23 and 25 cogs. I found I could spin a lot easier on the Thursday and Friday commutes by dropping gears as soon as I hit the steep bit, rather than doing my traditional grind for a bit than dropping the gears. This leaves me more scope for maintaining higher power further up. I feel I have it in me to increase my average over 5 minutes to at least 380w. This would gain me getting on for 15s.

Adjusting my time on Wednesday for this, I think I do have a sub 5 minute ride in me. It may take me a while to get there but I am now going to make this one of my official targets for the year. In fact, just to ensure it’s a bit more testing, I am going to set the target at 4m 45s, which will be a 36s improvement on Wednesday (to be achieved by the end of the calendar year)

(Now I just need to await a North Easterly gale to give it a go:D)

Beasty

Total distance this week 273km at an average speed of 27.5kph and 196w. As it included getting on for 2,000m of climbing I am happy with this.

The wrist seems OK, although I am keeping a splint on it when cycling (as much to minimise the risk of further damage should I fall as anything else)

YTD total now stands at 3,166km, at an average speed of 28.8kph, and I am now 208km ahead of schedule

Plan for next week was 3 commutes plus a trip to the velodrome, but it looks like Eyjafjallajoekull may scupper my plans to go to Manchester, so I might have to find something else to do on Wednesday evening.

shaungil

hhhmmm Wednesday eh? I wonder is there anything on in Garristown for instance? It's density Rodney.

Beasty

Total distance this week = 213km at 30.3 kph and 220w, all on the road, including 32km at 33.5 kph and 279w in the Swords League race on Wednesday

YTD total = 3,380 km over 117 hours at 28.9 kph leaving me 229 km ahead of target.

Total on the road = 2,137 km over 76hr 21m (28 kph), including 15,000m+ climbing
Total on the turbo = 1,062 km over 33hr 14m (31.9 kph)

Off the bike now until Wednesday when hopefully I will be able to take part in the next Swords league race, and then plan to commute on Thursday and Friday

Lumen

Beasty in February wrote: »

As I keep saying, I am probably a bit too old and fragile for racing

Beasty last week wrote: »

So today marked the day of my return to competitive sport...I’ve said a few times on here that I am not seriously into racing

Beasty last night wrote: »

Off the bike now until Wednesday when hopefully I will be able to take part in the next Swords league race

I look forward to seeing where this is going...

Beasty

Lumen wrote: »

I look forward to seeing where this is going...

I reckon I have potential. I've crashed at 40 kph, I've crashed at 44kph, and I reckon I have the potential to crash at 50kph

So where's it going - probably back to the Beaumont:)

Beasty

A more considered and serious response:

When I joined Swords I indicated I wanted to give the TTs a go, and this is where I suspect my strengths lie. I think I could give a flat 10mile of 40km TT a good go (the main problem is that flat courses are difficult to find in North County Dublin:))

I also said I wanted to try racing, to see how it goes. I was pleased with last week, and this week’s course should suit me more (although I suspect there is a serious question over it given the state of the road). The great thing about last week was I was in a small group of experienced racers. As soon as we were caught by the main group I deliberately moved towards the back to stay out of trouble. I am also very poor at cornering (I guess you can only really have properly practice cornering in races, as on most other occasions you will naturally slow in case of traffic). Hence as there was a corner just before the main hill on last week’s course, I was quickly dropped. Having said all that, I was comfortable with the pace until we hit the hill.

I suspect I will keep up the racing at Club level. I have no particular ambition to participate in open races, although I may try some of the vet’s races later on in the year (once I have found my feet in the Swords league). The vets also do a lot of TTs, and I will probably try some of these after the Swords 10m TT at the end of May.

The other thing I will try is track racing at Sundrive. This takes place on Wednesday evenings, the same night as the Swords league. I’m mainly interested in pursuit-type events, but will try a few others. My main target is probably the IVCA championships in September.

So where is this really going? Who knows!

Ryder

Good to see an endpoint developing - never liked goals of mileage just for the sake of it. Have enjoyed your posts; from what you say TT and track may be your strengths, but as i understand you have raced very little and this relativly flat country should suit you well. Enjoy

Beasty

Following last night’s race, I’ve been reviewing the figures to see what I can learn from the experience.

The race report and summary stats are here.

The fact the lap is exactly 10km gives the ideal opportunity to break down the figures both between and within individual laps. I’ve basically looked at each 5km segment, and then looked at the first 36km, and last 4km (when I was dropped from the group)

It makes interesting reading (to me at least:)).

The first 5km was the fastest for me, averaging 36.6 kph. However the range of speeds in the first 7 segments (up to 35 km) was relatively small – the first half of each lap varied from 35.4 kph to 36.6 kph, and the second half from 35.9 kph to 36.2 kph. Hence, on the face of it, as a Group we worked very consistently. However the power data tells a different story. My average power in each of the first 7 segments was 295w, 260w, 241w, 238w, 239w, 246w and 264w respectively. Hence in segments 1, 2 and 7 I was working quite a bit harder than in the other 4. The explanation is quite simple – on the first lap I did a lot of work. On the 2nd and 3rd laps I still did more than my fair share, but certainly not as much as on the first.

My heart rate and cadence was also very consistent - after the first 5km my average HR fluctuated between 168 and 171, until the 7th segment when I was pushing to get back on, and the average HR went up to 174 and peaked at 181.

The first half of the last lap started well, but then I was tailed-off, and extra effort was expended trying to get back to the group. This, I suspect, is what caused me to blow-up on the last lap. In fact I kept up the high power for another km, at an average of 280w before I lost touch with Group 4/scratch

The simple message which the racers amongst you already know is don’t lose touch! I was basically pumping out another 40w, while unable to close the gap. This was clearly unsustainable.

Another lesson for me is to use the drops more. I didn’t really use them until I lost touch. If I had used them whenever I went to the front I would probably have reduced my power output by 10-20% while maintaining the same speed. Another area I need to think about is how I move to the front. On a number of occasions the group spread out in single file, and no-one would move up. I found myself happy to take up the lead, but would find myself moving up 10m or more on the outside without shelter - clearly an inefficient use of energy.

Sharing the load is clearly a sensitive point with some racers. My view is I don’t mind doing more than my fair share (at least at present) for a couple of reasons – it’s making me stronger, and there is no way I would (even want to) get involved in a large sprint finish with the faster groups. The only way I will ever achieve any glory is by staying away or making a break from my own group (assuming I have been a bit smarter with my power output earlier in the race).

Of course, if last night had been 30km as originally planned, who knows;) .... (well at least I can dream:D)

In terms of the stats for the first 36km, before I blew up, my average speed was 35.9 kph (35.4 for the 40 km), and average power 255w (251w). Normalised power for the full race was 288w, compared to 298w last week, reflecting the last 4km last night, and the fact the Garristown race was about 10 minutes less.