2013 – The year of the Beasty? …

Beasty

I was suffering a bit on Monday's commute following last Sunday's race combined with the after-effects of the cold. However I still managed to take advantage of a tailwind and take a podium position on a Strava segment on the way home. It was particularly pleasing as the steering on the Cayo is clearly kaput. I de-gunged the bike over the previous weekend and discovered the crown race had started disintegrating - having replaced it and the headset I discovered on the inward commute the fork was grinding on the head tube which made steering very dodgy, making getting out of the saddle nerve-wracking (so I didn't try)

I just had a couple of short Wattbike sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday to keep things ticking over than managed to get out on the racing bike on Friday, with another couple of Strava "achievements" bagged.

Then it was the IVCA race today to bring the weekly total to 193km, with total distance for the 3 months to the end of March standing at 2,363km.

Hopefully I'll be in a fit state to get out some time tomorrow (depending whan the Night Nurse wears off). Not sure about the rest of the week - I'll see how I feel but certainly won't be commuting on the Cayo

Hopefully I'll have some "bike news" some time during the week;)

Beasty

Not too much to report this week. The after-effects of the cold took a bit more out of me than usual, and the lack of a second bike meant I only managed some evening sessions before the sun set on the main racer. Still I managed a few Strava PBs then had a Wattbike session this evening when I was relatively fresh.

I have been improving my Wattbike PBs all winter by reducing gearing and increasing cadence, but tonight I tried something different - basically a kilo out of the saddle in a high gear. I really struggled towards the end but still improved my previous best by 3 seconds - not only that but I improved my best 750m time on the way to it. My 1 minute power output was 574w, 15% better than I've managed on the road bike

Total distance for the week was only 129km, with YTD now standing at 2,491km.

Beasty

Missed last week's update (busy with dispute threads IIRC!)

I did a couple of commutes and a Wattbike session that week, for a total of 142km, then in the past week I did 3 full commutes together with a shortened one (as I was dropping the car off at the garage) and then today's Coombes Connor race. Total distance for this week 265km which brings the YTD to 2,899km at 31kph

I'm heading off to Manchester tomorrow - no track time, but should hopefully be a very enjoyable occasion regardless;). Maybe get a Wattbike session in on either Tuesday or Wednesday, with a first outing for the new TT bike the other evening (weather dependent). I might then get one or two commutes in - it depends on whether I get a chance to race over the weekend - I usually need a day or so's rest before a long race

Beasty

Managed to have a great time in Manchester on Monday then spent a lot of the rest of the week on matters pertaining to a thread we have in the main forum;). Still I managed to get on the Wattbike for half an hour on Tuesday when I got down to exactly 30s over 500m and also got within 31w of my peak power best, at 1,290w. Another Wattbike session followed on Thursday and then I managed a couple of KOMs on the return leg of Friday's commute

Yesterday I was testing the TT bike, and managed to lose a cadence magnet when the chain came off. Fortunately I had replacement, but spent most of the time adjusting the gearing. That meant I got another half an hour on the Wattbike when I knocked another 0.25s off my 500m time with a 20w power improvement (now 760w over 30s).

I finished the week with a proper road test of the TT bike today, taking in a local circuit of 19km. I was just outside my best, but averaged 37.3kph on a hilly circuit - there were times when I had to ease off a bit as I was descending hills at 50+kph with gusting sidewinds blowing me about a bit (with a disc wheel and 808 on the front). Anyway I think it's just about set up right for my first TT of the year - a 10m IVCA event on Tuesday when I should also have the benefit of an aero helmet and skinsuit ...

Total distance for the week was 151km with YTD npow standing at 3,049km

In addition to Tuesday's TT the track league kicks off on Wednesday - the weather forecast looks decent, so I guess this week will perhaps give some clues as to whether the winter training has paid off

I may then do a couple of commutes. I'll be heading away for the weekend with no training opportunities

Beasty

The midges were having a feast on ageing cyclists at Black Bull this evening where sign-on for the first TT race of the league was taking place

Thia was to be the first race in anger for the new TT bike, the Monster. I had only been out on it for an hour on Sunday and knew there was still some fine tuning to do, so tonight was more about trying to get close to my PB (24:04 on this 10m out and back) rather than improving it

I probably overcooked the warm-up a bit by doing the whole course at a reasonably respectable 32kph. I was going to regret the effort and well as the after-effects of Sunday's spin. I knew I wasn't going to be on top form but wanted to see how I could do on the new bike

Having mounted the Garmin between the aerobars I rolled up to the start line and started it, only for the auto-pause to fail to kick in, so I quickly stopped it and deleted the ride, re-setting the Garmin for the impending start. However it never dawned on me that I had not started it this time and when the countdown came I was too busy getting up to speed to notice. It took me getting on for a kilometre to realise by which tiime I was hitting the high 40kphs and therefore trying to adjust to turn on the timer proved a little challenging. Anyway I managed to get it going then settled into a steady rhythm. However I knew the timing would be a bit messy - I had the autolap set to 4km but it was over a minute behind "schedule"

My average speed was hovering around 37.5kph during the first 4km, but the power was a very respectable 320w or so, and I assumed the slight incline and wind direction was counting against me. This continued through the next 4km, but on the turnaround I managed to get a bit more momentum. It was only when getting back to Batterstown that I realised I had not calibrated the Power meter, making it's absolute figures pretty meaningless. I was unable to claw too much time back and finished in a time of 25m 14s, a disappointing 70s outside my best

Interestingly my power output was consistent throughout - only varying by a maximum of 5w between the 4 x 4km "segments", Even better Normalised Power was only 2% or so higher that average, emphasising how consistent I was (although thsi ignores the first few hundred metres of getting uo to speed)

So why was I so slow? The conditions where a bit deceptive - it was certainly cool enough and the wind was a bit faster than had been forecast. I also need to work on my aero position. I may have gone too low and will think about flipping the stem over next time to see what difference it makes. I was trying a new helmet and maybe had it too far forward on my head.

Anyway, I'll have a chance to make some adjustments and try again next week when we'll be doing another 10m TT on the same course and hopefully I'll be a bit fresher

Beasty

There have been a few things keeping me busy over recent weeks, meaning I've neglected updating this log for over a month. Anyway I'm now sat in a hotel room in Sao Paulo with a bit of time to kill, so here goes. There's a bit to cram in here, as although I've not been doing any road racing I've still been trying to get out on the bike as much as I can.

W/e 5/5/13
In addition to the TT mentioned above I did the track league on the Wednesday. Not much joy for the first meeting of the season, although I was just outside the points in a couple of races

W/e 12/5/13
Another disappointing 10mTT - I used different helmet, moved the bars and saddle slightly and changed the front 808 for the tri-spoke, but to no avail. I recorded a slightly slower time although the power was there. I just need to experiment further with position. No points again in the track league, but again coming close in a couple of races

W/e 19/5/13
Just the track league in terms of racing this week as the IVCA Tuesday night road races are cancelled for the forseeable future. Finally I delivered some results. In the 12 lap progressive one guy got away and had a significant lead but I managed to close him down to take second. I followed that up with a win in the Kierin. I guess I was benefiting from not having raced the night before. I also managed to hit a new power peak on the commute at 1,129w, an improvement of 8w

I finished the week off with a Wattbike session, improving my best "Flying 500" by a 20th of a second to 29.7s

W/e 26/5/13
Again just the track league with a couple of third places in the 1k dash and kierin. I managed to get out on the TT bike having made some positional changes and did a local circuit I had tried shortly after getting the new TT bike. For some reason Strava decided not to give me the 2 KOMs I beat, but the good news is that the positional changes seem to be going in the right direction now (although there remains plenty of experimentation to be done)

W/e 2/6/13
No racing this week as I was marshalling on Wednesday. A few commutes through the week though and then another Wattbike session yesterday. This time the 2k pursuit was my target. My previous best was just inside 2m 30s and I managed to improve it by 2.3s to 2m 27.27s. Unfortunately that does not accurately reflect "real life", as I would lose 7s or more getting up to speed, and the impact on power in the aero position needs to be considered. Still my average power was 425w, an improvement of 15w and way ahead (about 40w actually) of anything I've achieved on the road bike.

So tonight I finished off the week with an hour on the gym bike, and it's going to be more of the same until I get back on Saturday, then I'll probably be catching up on some sleep

YTD distance now stands at 3,916km

Inquitus

Out of interest, is the cancellation of the IVCA Tues races resulting from similar issues seen by other Club leagues in recent times?

Beasty

Inquitus wrote: »

Out of interest, is the cancellation of the IVCA Tues races resulting from similar issues seen by other Club leagues in recent times?

"Unforseen circumstances" was the reason given

Read into that what you will;)

Beasty

6 hours in a non air-conditioned hotel gym in Sao Paulo followed by a Wattbike session last night when I improved my best 750m time by 1 and a quarter seconds to 47.75s. Power was up over 30w on my previous best at 632w average

Today I managed to get out in some fresh air, trying some slight adjustments to the TT bike - still some more work to do on that!

Total distance for the week was 214km bringing the YTD to 4,140km

Next week I'll be back to commuting hopefully in short sleeves ....

Beasty

It's been a bit of an odd season so far as racing opportunities have been limited to a handful of RRs/TTs and a few evenings of track racing. Basically family and work commitments together with holidays and tbe problems with the Swords League have severely limited my racing when compared to earlier seasons. Indeed I've only done one road race in the past 3 months, and I suspect my endurance has suffered as a result (compounded by the fact I am just back from a 2 week holiday).

The good news is I now should have a month or so of fairly uninterrupted cycling/racing to get back up to speed. That will hopefully allow me to re-focus my season, with my sights set firmly on the World Track Masters in Manchester in October.

The work I have been doing, particularly on the Wattbike together with the track racing I have been doing may turn out to be an ideal base for this event. Don't get me wrong - my aim will be to try and avoid coming last, but just being able to compete against some of those guys will be an achievement for me. It's as much about gaining experience in this event for me at this stage - hopefully I will see more of the benefit in future years

Looking at the schedule I'm looking at entering up to 4 events. It starts with the 500m TT on the Sunday (where my abysmal start will definitely count against me!), then the pursuit (and hopefully an improvement on last year's time) and then the final timed event, the sprint (it will be interesting to see what time I can set in the flying 200 on the indoor track, although as soon as it goes head to head I would expect to be eliminated). There is then an "over 50s" scratch race that will be on the same day as the second day of sprinting - I'm assuming it would otherwise be a free day for me, so maybe an opportunity to try a bunch race on the indoor track.

In terms of structuring the rest of the season, I will try and continue to focus on shorter events - a few more track league evenings and maybe the Leinster Track Championships towards the end of September, supplemented by a few TTs and a couple of Masters Races in Ulster. Interspersed with this I will be planning to get more Wattbike sessions in, concentrating on sprints and pursuit events to see if I can improve my times in the build up to October

Beasty

The aim of this week was to get back into the swing of things and I've done a few Wattbike sessions to at least get the legs turning over.

I had intended doing a vets 25m TT on Tuesday and turned up in the expectation of decent weather although when I got there the clouds were building up and the rain started. Everyone stayed in their cars before the sign-on was opened and then it cleared up, so I decided to give the new Casco Speed helmet a go. That turned out to be a big mistake as the rain returned as we made our way to the start just outside Batterstown. There was persistent rain (albeit warm rain) when my time came and a few minutes into the ride the visor on the helmet started fogging up, Then the sun managed to break through the clouds and pretty much blinded me due to the diffusion caused by the fogged up visor. My vision just got worse and I was forced to abandon not much more than 6km into the course

Today was a vets age CP on the hilly Newbridge GP course near the Curragh. I knew I did not have the endurance or climbing in my legs to do well but hoped to hang onto my group at least for the first lap. I managed a couple of turns but the pace was very high and I managed to get dropped just before we crested the first main drag (I wasn't the first dropped from my group though). I then spent the next lap and a half largely alone, but overall was satisfied with the workout and abandoned to watch the finish (which I've posted details of in the Camper Van)

Total YTD distance now stands at 4,932km

Next week will involve building further with the Track Masters ultimately in mind. Hopefully I'll get some track training in on Monday and then there's a 20km vets TT (over the Mullagh course) on Tuesday - hopefully I'll get the right headgear this time. Wednesday should see either a Club league race on a kart track in Co Louth or the Track League at Sundrive, and then on Saturday I'm hoping to head up north for my second Masters race of the season.

nilhg

I was watching the Vets race go by this morning from my vantage point up on the Combine, it seemed to have split up very quickly, unless there were lots of very small groups let off separately. You wouldn't be the first to suffer on the NGP course and a quick look at the strava segment times shows the pace was hot especially with a head wind up Dunmurry.

Beasty

Riders were let off in 5 year age groups. Single riders in 80+ (who completed a lap before scratch were set off!) and 75+ (he stayed away until the last hill). Then perhaps half a dozen in 70+ and another 6 groups down to 40+, making 9 groups in total set off over 40+ minutes

We dropped a couple before I was dropped on the first lap - indicative of the varying abilities - we had a few scratch riders in the 50+ group who probably drove the pace too hard meaning they shared the load and dropped some of us who could have helped out a little

Having said that, from what I understand the 70+ group stays away in virtually all these events - hopefully the handicaps will be reviewed as the higher age groups are growing in number and retaining a lot more a talent and speed into their old age

Beasty

So as many of you are winding down to the end of the season, my own season is building up towards (hopefully) the World Track Masters in Manchester in October

I've basically been focussed on shorter stuff throughout the year and my appearances at road races has been limited compared to the past couple of years. Since my last update though I've done a couple of track nights, a vets DMS and last weekend's ill-fated A4 Collins Christie race. Basically I think after those road races the endurance is just about where I want it to be - I've not been competing in the sprints but that's more down to safety concerns than feeling I've nothing left in the tank.

One area of disappointment has been the TTs, with the new bike not living up to expectations. I've been experimenting a bit with my position on the bike, but when I did a vets 20km circuit TT a couple of weeks ago I was still not delivering the speed I felt I should be able to for my power output.

Last week, out of frustration, I reverted to the old TT bike to do the West Down 10m TT at Warrenpoint. It was a very windy (and wet) evening, and although I thought it would be a flat course the Garmin showed 80m of climbing - only around 20-30m less than the Batterstown course. Anyway my time was not particularly fast at 24m 42s, but was consistent with prior performances when taking into account my power output and the overall climbing and wind conditions

I was tempted to head back up North last night to do another 10m TT at Woodgreen, but given the abysmal weather I decided to give it a miss, and instead went back up to Warrenpoint tonight to give that course another go, this time on the Cervelo

I had made a couple more adjustmenst, the main one being to move the armrests out slightly (to their limit) - they were now a bit closer to the old TT bike setup.

Weather conditions were much better - sunshine and a lot less wind. I estimate that saved me maybe 10-15s

So off I went at a reasonably consistent pace. Power was hovering round 250-260w, and I went through the first 4km in 5m 55s (40.6kph) - I had the benefit of slight tailwind though

I managed to maintain my speed slightly north of 40kph until the turn when I lost a couple of seconds (compared to last week) due to traffic on the roundabout. On the way back I lost a little time in the 3rd quarter before picking it back up again in the final 4km

My time was 23m 52s, 50s faster than last week, and a time I only bettered last year in the Leinster TT championships in Dundalk (23m 44s, although in a very strong crosswind, but with a virtually pancake flat course apart from a drag right at the end). However the most interesting point was I averaged only 10w more than last week - that's worth around 15s. Hence taking that and the wind conditions into account I seem to have improved my time for the same output by perhaps 20s. It's given me a lot more confidence in the new bike - I may continue to play about at the margins, but feel as if I've got the set-up pretty close to the old bike now

Beasty

Having been looking out for details all year it came as a surprise a few weeks ago when I heard the European Masters Track Championships had been arranged for Newport.

So after some last minute arrangements I headed off for Sunny South Wales last Wednesday. My first event was the Sprint on Thursday. I had never done a flying 200 indoors before and having the lowest ranking in my age group I was first off on Thursday morning. That meant I did not have any opportunity to see how others were approaching the TT element. I had looked at races on Youtube, but the true amateurs probably take a bit of a different line and each track needs to be ridden slightly differently. I did not appreciate that Newport velodrome has slightly wider bends than Manchester.

I probably got up to speed a bit to quickly and certainly started my effort way too early compared to later riders. That meant I was struggling a bit in the home straight and my time was a disappointing 14.3s or so - slower than I had recorded on the outdoor track in Dublin and highlighting that I really had not taken full benefit of the available slope

As I was slowest I was then up against the fastest qualifier (and ultimately the gold medallist) in the first round. The result was a foregone conclusion and I was consigned to a repechage against a Hungarian. I was drawn on the outside and my opponent kept me high for the first lap and a half. With 320m or so to go, on the apex of the bend I seized an opportunity to go for a longish one. I believe I opened up quite a gap but he came back in the home straight to beat me. Still his time was 13.7s for the last 200m meaning I almost certainly broke the 14s barrier

Then on Friday was the scratch race - again an indoor "first" for me. There was a comfortably sized field of 13. Again this was about gaining experience in my mind and in particular not taking anyone down!

The first few laps were pretty ferocious then it settled down a bit. About half way through the 30 lap (7.5km) race there were a couple of digs and I found myself behind 2 slower riders at the back. A gap opened up and before I knew it was the length of the straight. I pushed to close it and at one stage had probably got it down to 20m or so, but I could not make it and resigned myself to line lapping with the other 2 dropped riders. With a few laps to go we were caught - I didn't manage to get back into the group so the 3 of us found ourselves a lap down. One guy broke away from the group and having dropped the other 2 stragglers he found himself on my wheel. The commissaires told him to move through and I moved up the track to let him through. I was caught again by the main bunch as they were doing their final sprint so ended up 2 laps down (although they incorrectly say 3 in the "official" result), taking 11th place.

And so onto the pursuit on Saturday. My main event and I was looking to go under 2m 40s. My start was much better than last year in Manchester. The timers were not working properly and I don't know what the time was after the first lap, but I apparently went through 500m in 43.7s, which would have been my second fastest 500m TT time! I at least was then very consistent lapping at almost exactly 20s, but I was probably losing nearly 0.5s a lap by not keeping to the black line. My final time was 2m 43.1s which was disappointing. I had something let in the tank and should probably have pushed a bit harder in the middle 4 laps. Anyway there are a few things I think I can improve so hopefully I will be able to break the 2m 40s barrier before too long (and I wasn't last either!)

Beasty

Penultimate race meeting of the season today with the Leinster Track Championships - two races in the vets category, a 500m TT and a scratch race.

The TT was an opportunity to practice my start. Alas it did not go particularly well with my timing not quite right and the first pedal revolution feeling much slower than when using the starting gate in Newport a couple of weeks ago despite being on a slightly lower gear (93.6 v 95.4). It does seem a bit easier to anticipate the release on the starting gate as opposed to working out when to push out of a held start. After that first pedal revolution the acceleration was fine - still plenty of room for improvement but I stayed out of the saddle for 140m or so which was what I was targetting. Interestingly though the last 5s out of the saddle showed no acceleration but as soon as I sat down I pushed the speed up by around 5kph. If I can work on getting that addtional acceleration earlier it should save me around 0.5s, and I think there's another second or two in the start. Although the rest of the ride was hard I do think I had a bit more to give

My time was 42.4s taking 7th place (although I suspect only one older rider was ahead of me and he took the gold!). I felt slightly disappointed with the time, but now realise it is a 0.5s improvement on my PB, so I can't complain too much. As already indicated it was as much about trying to get the start right and I think I'll gain from the experience

Then onto the scratch race. A couple of riders broke early on and built up quite a lead before another rider went off the front. Everyone was looking round to see if anyone would take up the chase. We knew we have a new entrant to the vet ranks this year who was probably quite a bit more capable then the rest of us, and I guess the onus was on him to take it up, but he never really did. One of the guys in the initial break came back to us but the other ploughed on. The group was so disjointed that he actually lapped us after 8 of the 12 laps and then another broke away. With a couple of laps to go one guy made a break and a couple of us went with him but we never had a chance of getting into the medals, although I did manage to get 5th place which, considering all those ahead of me were quite a bit younger than me, I was more than pleased with.

Beasty

Beasty's Lair:




Currently in Manchester - yesterday did the 500m TT and came last. Today did the 2k pursuit and came last. It's people like me that make everyone else look so good! I also think that the "less good" riders are put off signing on when they see my name for fear of the embarrassment of being beaten by me

The TT was my first one indoors and I only really entered to get a practice out of the starting gates. Hence I had my pursuit gearing on the bike which is slightly higher than I would otherwise have used, and probably cost me a fraction of a second (and possibly a place:pac:). My time was not even a PB, having gone 0.4s faster in the Leinster Championships at Sundrive a couple of weeks ago. I think that was partly down to the fact I could not keep a decent line through the bends (probably costing me another second or so)

Then today, as last year, I went off a bit too hard, although did keep better control than yesterday for the first 4 laps, but then it became very ragged. I improved my first lap by about a second compared to last year, but I really should be able to save another couple of seconds if I could get the start right. However the biggest waste of time is the line I am adopting, still veering towards the sprinters line which is 0.9m from the inside of the track (and sometimes going above it). That is costing me over 0.5s a lap, or 4s+ over the full distance. I need to get more practice at riding an indoor track at speed on the aerobars and will be seeing what I can do about this over the next year. Again it appears that most in my age group were very much at the younger end and my target is to improve my times over the next year before moving up an age group in 2015.

The good news is I did at last improve my PB (which was set outdoors at Sundrive last year) - if I can sort the issues identified above I should be able to get well below 2m 40s which wouldn't be too bad for the next age group.

Anyway, the pressure is now off. Tomorrow is the Sprint, where I fully expect to come last, but it's more indoor racing practice.

Beasty

So this morning Australian Geoff Stoker set a new World best for the age group at 11.102s. I'm pretty sure I'm slowest - 2.5s behind him (still an improvement on my PB by over 0.4s so I'm actually very pleased with it!). That means I should be up against him in the first round proper later on this session:eek:

Please be gentle with me Geoff...

RobFowl

Saw the times in the TT and IP and winning riders were well over 50kph, whatever about being last an average of 44kph is nothing to be sneezed at!

Beasty

So we're on the start line. Stoker outside me and an American on my inside.

Stoker turns to me and asks how much racing I had done. Bugger-all was my retort. So he said stay at the back and watch how it's done, and I duly obliged. He was actually giving me tips during the race and came over to give some more at the end. The guy is a legend.

So to the repercharge. Another 3 up with me on the outside. I managed to stay closer and I'm pretty sure I went faster on the last lap than in the TT. Still last place was pretty inevitable but at least it's a bit more indoor racing experience in the bag (and there were guys in the older and younger groups that were a bit slower than me!)

Beasty

Final event for me - a non-championship 50+ scratch race. About 30 signed up, but only 15 actually signed on and 13 turned up. We were informed we would be taken out of the race if we were lapped in the 8km (32 lap) race

Anyway I wasn't the first one called out ...

Actually I managed to hang on for just under half the race but lost a wheel at the wrong time and then the "catch" became an inevitability. I think there were 7 or so left in at that time so I guess I didn't do too badly, particularly as I was a bit de-mob happy.

Now looking forward to next year - my last in this age group so I'm now looking to the year after to hopefully start delivering some significant positional improvements

Beasty

November 2011 - 658km at 81rpm
November 2012 - 786km at 91rpm
November 2013 - 1,087km at 101rpm - that's around 228,000 pedal revolutions in the month.

I'm hoping working at the higher cadence is going to provide a better base for track racing next year - well that's what I'm advised - keeping to 100rpm or so is the target. It took a while to get used to, although I've managed to keep at or above 100rpm for each ride during the month. That's excluding zeros, but they have only been about 7-8% of my time in the saddle, with 100+ rpm for around 70% or so. I've also been doing some "little ring sprints" - basically low power but maximum cadence - I started off the month being able to average about 170rpm for 10s, and ended it with a PM of 186rpm, average 185rpm over 10s

It's been a month of building the base miles - next month I aim to raise the efforts a little while maintaining the cadence - may be a bit of an issue in the short term though as the back's been playing up for a few days. Hopefully it will clear up soon, as currently I'm suffering a bit with sciatica in my lower right leg, particularly over longer spins.