project 40/41

peter kern

did some active holiday in morroco as the first feeler what to do 2016

Massively enjoyed it

all goals where almost all achieved ( apart from the goal totally getting rid of that cough I have now for 4 weeks,but almost there now ,and luckily i just got well enough before i left)

i got mental stimuly, physical stimuly , and taste buds stimuly ie good food as well as losing weight.

mental stimuly was that I got the training in while cycling and running around and through, desert, snow (in the high atlas which was my favorite day as the white mountains and the green backdrop was just stunning ) fantastic rock formations in the anti atlas and gazing at stars at night whcih you can only find cleaner in the chlilean argentinian border also important sometimes enough nothingness to reflect and just focus on the task of moving and getting in the zone.
visiting some cool cities towns and kasbas is something i love and generally just taking in the atmosphere is just great
off the 1500k there was about 500k i had never cycled on before and its always great to mix what you have seen before with new stuff.

physical stimuly was also good some good intensity on the bike ( short and long) and certainly the first 7days were close to 10 out of 10 what i wanted to get out of this.

running while the miles were a bit more as losely planed and i got in good hill running , I did not do one key session i had planned.
and rather than 165 k off runing I would have prefered to run a bit less and get this session in but thats sometimes how it goes ( ie my travel partner having so many punctures that we often cycled into night and then its not that easy to get that one high qualiy run in that was planned but tempo runs were good ( once i met a morrocan runner and a few times got nicely paced by cyclists ) and strenght wise iam also v happy . so still 9 out off 10

swim I only swam once but totally loved it as there was a great surf and found 2 new swimming pools which i will incorporate the next time )
food as usual stunning and i lost in between 1,5 and 2 kg which was prob my main goal to devolpd the dicipline to lose weight ( the scale said 2.6kg) I was quite diciplined 2 cokes in and 3 tinny slices of cakes in 10 days the rest all good quality stuff with loads of beans fish lentils advocados dates olives etc . overall I ate fantasically well and was every day very satisfied never going empty but also finishing the days with a decent calorine intake deficit .

I spend 70 euro overall in morroco in 10 days and ate like a king and had some fantastic spots to sleep .

concorde (bike ) after giving me grieve on the way to work on the day of the departure andconsequnrtly in need of a pacemaker ( rear dereilur) as usually did not miss a beat ( only 1 puncture but that was off the road and the fault off the dumb owner to park the bike in a place with 100s of thorns)


overall very pleased but I am a good bit behind scedule especially on the run and to get where i want to get i need not only 10 good days i need i need 5 good month ....at the same time the bike and swim i would get on track v quickly. and for the run the basics are there too,i just need to turn on the intensity screw( which so far i wasnt willing to do despite it was planned ) only the weight which obioulsy influneces the run is still in the red zone

there is no shortcuts .... and i have not done enough consitency yet but it was a first step and we are still hanging in there.

davmurpla

Really good work pacing me as I was sucking the wheel pretty much for the whole trip, less a few times on the first stage of 194Kms.

Honestly, highly surprised how well fit you became in 10 days. Keep this up.

Coach Gordo

Bambaata

Sounds fantastic Peter! Im always very jealous reading about the cycle trips you go on, what do you generally bring along and i assume you're well setup with panniers etc?

peter kern

Bambaata wrote: »

Sounds fantastic Peter! Im always very jealous reading about the cycle trips you go on, what do you generally bring along and i assume you're well setup with panniers etc?

i promised myself -and already started- to write a packing list
as I always seem to forget one thing and without fail take to much clothing with me. ( i hate packing and usualy get it done in 20 min but this time i forgot the sun screem and and that was a bad move )

peter kern

I guess my packing varies very much on duration and location
when i cycled 2 years in south america i had 4 panniers ( usually some 6 books that i would exchanges from time to time and a few times i had to carry food for 2 weeks )
to 2-4 dasy trips were i would fit all the gear on the bike and a small back pack not using paniiers ( the softride was a great bike for that the p3 less so)

so the bellow list would be for 7 -14 days trip


for the concorde ( gear ratio for morroco was 53 39 and 12-31 and 11- 28 would be also a very good ratio if you are a solid cyclsit. i never used the 31) i used one of those carriers with a seat post clamp
and used two big ortlieb panniers. ( one should use a a handlebar bag to keep the bike more balanced.but i did not)
the ortlieb paniers is the only thing i never change if i use panniers its always ortlieb.
its one of the very few brands ( and thermarest) i am 100% loyal too as they relly stand behind their product Thermarest send me once a matrace to south america when it was not a warranty case and
and ortlieb repacled my first generation paniiers with new ones as they felt the first generation velcrot wast good enough ( i only asked them to repair it which was a minor issue)
I would at least make sure panniers are waterproof.


-duct tape and cable ties are never missing either and are in a way the backbone of everything
-as a a few pairs of shoelaces etc to tie stuff togheter or fix on the bike .
- basic bike tool set
( chain opener, spokey, crank opener, pliers and alan keys and adjustable wrench
-1-2 spare tubes puncture repair kit and a little pump ( for longer tour 2 pumps as it is very anoying if one pump stops to work )
-chain oil and
-a bit of grease
( when i was in south america i used three chains which i would replace every 1500k or so and you get so much more live out of the drive train , never ha to change it in 2 years )
an repalcement spokes should never be msiiing
-a break and gear cable for longer tours
-very light cycle lock ( you hardly ever use it but its still useful


-I had the flysheet of a tent in morroco ( but never had to use it -i dodnt really lke to sleep in a tent and travelled 2 years in south america without a tent)
-2 thermarest matraces ( i value my sleep confort ;-)
-a light 3 season sleeping ( bag is the best compromise for me ussualy i like 600 grams of solide downy ( solid downy is 600-650 cum ) and idealy as skin that is water repelant. I prefer downy as it improves my sleep quality and packs small - the downpart is that when downy gets wet insulation is poor but i have done many winter tours and never had a prolbem with it .



checklist ( as it should be) note this can be very different for differetn people for temperature range from -5 -30 and usuallly 3-25 degree

passport
pen and paper
sun screem
tooth brush past
soap
degenerable washing powder
vaseline
sunglasses
bandana
a hut
world receiver radio
earplugs
ortlieb 2 liter water bag ( great cushion)

map
and guidebook
another book
and chess figuress ( not even used in morrocco ...)

2 cycle shorts
2 cycle jerseys
4 pair of socks
arm warmer
leg warmer
rain jacket
pair of running shorts
1 running top
3 underpants
1 long top
1 light rain jackest
1 jacket perefeably downy
one city shirt
and a light city short
and often i bring a wetsuit

-1 pair of cyling shoes
-pair of runners and
- flip flops

always too much closes see bellow that i think it should be ( someting that never has changed in 25 years I know people that have bacically 2 cycle shorts and 1 t shirt 2 pair of socks and 2 underpants as gear )
usually cooking gear for trips over a week ( always a petrol stove as the easiest fuel to find )
but for morroco i decided not to bring it its has pros and cons. ( it is nice to cook in the evening and in the sommer when days are longer for lunch but you do add quite a bit of volume ( especially myself who does not use "astronout food")


I am usualy very fast with packing but i always forget one or two of the minor things like sun screem and always pack to many cloth
iam usualy not a light packer and when i travell for longer i have most of the time 5-6 books with me and in 25 year of travelling i have run out of food twice


cooking gear ( if i bring it )
stove
petrol bottle
pots
knive spoon
salt peper oregano paprika garlic ginger soy sauce
oil

for morroco i had 4 gels and used 1
and used 1.5 zero tablets a day on average.
a knive and spoon
salt and peper.





to pack the bike
i use the Poul buoy or 2 1.5 literes waterbottle to protect the fork and rear deraileur
I use the 2 matraces for protection for the bike I usually use black plastic foil to put around the bike
and cling foil to fix the matraces and cling foil outside (the cling foil outside a bit lose so the luggage handler thinks the package is about too fall apart ;-) .
for me its so much simpler to cycle to the airport and then from the airport at arival. if i fly back form the same airport i either hide the stuff close to the airport or it costs aobut 7 euro to buy again.



quite a few people have asked me if i was worried aoubt radical muslims . the numbers here are very very clear their is more radical right wing pople in germany right now than radical muslims in africa and morroco is the most moderate of any muslim country.
**** can happen anywere but the risk would be higher in cities like berlin or munich than in morroco right now.
most peole are very friendly.
it is overall a save country and there is approx 50 000 retired french people with their campervans over their winter and they all seem to be happy ...

of course in terms of equality morroco leaves a lot to be desired, at the same time if you are lucky enough to be invited into a house you see that it can be better than it appears to be

travelling as a sole female can be a bit tricky but south of the atlas it would be ok as well and i know quite a few females that have travelled alone in morroco ,and liked it a lot if you are a bit smart like a ( fake ) wedding ring and dress a bit conservative.


its always good to aske to agree on the price for anything before you buy or order food.

towns with absolute 0 hassle facorts are essauira and taraudant ( both fantastic places).
the only 2 places that have become wore over the years are marrakesh ( way too many tourists ) and suprisingly tafroute which has fantastic landscape around but has also become a major sport for retried french and while 8 years ago it was one of my favorite villages i did not enjoy it this time . Agadir or as coach gord calles it torremolinos you can happily miss ( apart from the beach which is quite good )

you can travell on as little as 5 euro a day but you can also travell at european standart close to european prices ( if that takes your fancy ( in smaller villages european standrd accomondation is sparse but maybe in 10 days you would not find 1 night a hotel of european standard . In bigget towns their is many upmarket hotels

for whom would morrocco be a good destination ?

I guess if you have done some backacking in asia etc and liked it you would like it. especially if you have been too many times at the canary islands than it might be a good change. yes at times it can get a bit tiresome at times , and it even takes me a day to get adapted , but overall its a very refreshing country and it will stimullate your mind even if you go their mainly for training and the food even in cheap places uses usually ingrediants that taste better than what you will find in ireland in the most expensive shops.

when in mooroco you could often be in arizona the andees or himalaya ( in fact Martin scoresses kundun was partly filmed in the atlas) a european canyon
the landscape changes every approx 200k . I guess many people epxect the south of morroco to be sand dunnes but the sahara especiall in morroco is very little sand dunnes.neverthelass sunsests are pretty stunning .
And the old markets are pretty cool ( the one on marrakesh is quite fake though now and traudant would be a much better alternative)

I hopes that helps a bit

peter kern

last 9 days have not been bad and i did get another bit more serious.

weight came down a good bit
bike was very decent as well and no complaints there.(i have kind of visulized the 4.32 h for 180k and feel like iam on track for that)

itwas oneof my best swim weeks in a while (still not good but better)
and a good swim with tango and to my suprise a 5.25 for 400 p +ns which felt solid ( i have not really broken 6.30 for 400 for a good while as my mind is really not in a swim mood yet its more like keeping the feeling for the water . but good to know that if i really want its still there.

run still not so great but i got again decent volume in . this Speed) is something that will have to be tackled this week . but i have 10 more days till i either want to hit full training or ....

peter kern

another good week
first good swim week ( with a short wed swim as i manged to trick my chief whip cracker with a sub 33 sec for 50 m ;-) i had not broken 38 sec this year but did some fast stuff on tue and felt good on wed and said if i swim sub 33 i leave the pool... i think he was sure this would not happen ...and i was quicker out of the pool than bolt out of the starting blocks;-)

400+ k on the bike with 2 good intensity sessions and a nice trip to the giant causeaway
and my first fast run !!!!

but the best i managed to achieve my weekly main goal and be first in the pool friday morning in rathmines.
some good work before we fell apart - too early ...

peter kern

Another solid week
A good brick sesion to see where we are ( or better not ) wasn't that bad,apart from feeling to need the whole road during the run as I was all over the shop.

2 good swims.
One of my better wed swims good mix of easy and fast .some very surprising times towards the end of the session a 2.30 and 2.26 for 200 paddle and pull ( that felt like swimming )
Friday was just tough ,both tango and I were in the hurt box ,but we finished the session .
Paddies day cycle out to laragh ,nice long hilly run and home on the bike

weekend cycling and running in connamara no complaints here

Last30 days block

Goal to get miles in without realizing it worked well in fact even better than planned. And the few times where I really focused worked also reasonably well. But with training at so many different places it didn't feel like training when away.
Stats of last30 days
Swim 37 k. No complaints here
Bike 3000k, 2000 with luggage.
quite happy good mix of miles and intensity.
Approx 365 krun Sound prob better than it is .the only good thing here is I got enough strenght sessions in ,and last 10 days saw a good start with serious run training nevertheless the next 8 weeks I really have to focus more on the run
At the same time with no niggles I do think I can make a serious gain in the next 5 weeks.

Weight :4 kg less which is good .4 kg more needed till end of May but a good start .

Next week I will sort out a few races
The only ones Iam pretty much sure is hardman and podersdorf. the third full I need to decide .
Lanza 2016 still my preferred Hawaii quali race . Anyway my main race will be podersdorf. Hardman is a race I always wanted to do

Dory Dory

HaPpY BiRtHdAy PeTeR!!!

MD1983

peter kern wrote: »

Next week I will sort out a few races
The only ones Iam pretty much sure is hardman and podersdorf. the third full I need to decide .
Lanza 2016 still my preferred Hawaii quali race . Anyway my main race will be podersdorf. Hardman is a race I always wanted to do

i am interested in Hardman myself, a lovely location for a race and it could be done with little travel, next year maybe..!

peter kern

no patience = no results.

before we get to the positves this was a bad recovery week. as it did not work ( not a suprise to be honest)
and maybe i will write out the full week to remind myslef not to do it...

i did my first and third best run session since october . my 2nd best long run .
my best swim session since october but I did not do what i was supposed to do RECOVER...

sunday 4.5 hours

sat 4.5 hours inc 2.40 running 2 .03 and a 37 min run.

friday 3.5 inc train pain swim I guess my fastest rathmines session ever ( send off times a bit too long but everybody was barely hanging in despite 3.10 and 6 min and 3.15 send off times
247 average time for 200s 5.16 for 400s 2.45 for 200s
this was the most i have lead out on a friday session .

thursday 3 inc 40 min tempo run really enjoyed that and got a bit carried away after 20 min.

wed 3

tue 2 inc fast 400 swim and run intervals

mon 3

total 23 hours approx and approx 40 fast min over the week on the bike.

the good thing is at least i can justyfy it somehow... sunday and monday i had a small food crisis . weight loss is 2nd highest priority behind runing right now the plan was to be out of the red zone before i turned 41. because of sunday and monday this was not going to happen and I got p.... off. over the last 6 weeks i changed my diet and i was driven not to let this small crises get into my way and got myself on track and was by half kg out of the red weight zone on monday
5 kg since feb the 17th. maybe 3 days late but I got it.( and that after a birthday and easter week. I guess in tennis this would be called a big point and it was an important one to "win" ( this weight loss stuff aint comming easy ) iam back on track with the weightloss and just have to adapt a few things this week to recover a bit more.
At the same time I do need to look at the bigger picture , not getting cought up in little battles.

to finish with a positve, i suprised myself a bit with the friday swim. and with the weight finally at an ok level and having mastered a crisies thats 2 things a bit less to worry about, and i think i see the light at the run tunnel finally, its still a good distance to get out of the tunnel but i see the exit ,but need to be careful to not overdue it, and turnover still resambles more that of a duck than a runner )

the next few days less is more.

pgibbo

Belated birthday wishes Peter

peter kern

nothing special last week had an easier thursday (still good temporun )and friday
weekend
the light of the run tunnel came quicker than i thought ( or at least i was allowed to get out of it for 1 run)

the first long run I really enjoyed ( apart from one in france last year around carcassonne but that was more the landscape than the run itslef ) it dosnt happen very often that i cover 29k in 1.59 and especially not when it feels easy. Iam sure this wasnt the last word spoken on the running "front" but at least its good to see it happening.

good weekend 1 hour cycling 7.5 hour turbo 52k running.
overall 11k swim 13h cycling 95k running

good turbo monday
and solid hill reps run today happy how it went

peter kern

almost a copy of last week only difference most key sessions a bit faster (bare 2nd turbo) and 120k running in total
first 42k run day on saturday
the 34k run was off a harder 2 hour turbo session than last week and was 4-5 or soec per k faster
I was pleased with that and going a bit faster and 7.5min longer each way meant a good bit more hills as i ended up going around and on top off kilyney hill

small mental note most focus a bit more on 2nd bike key session
was meant to add another turbo on friday but ended up adjusting some stuff on the bike and it wasnt really a session.( still pleased as i managed a better elbow positon whhich should be a bit more aero but also more confi)

looks like i got the last slot for joey hannon last friday so i guess i will reduce the running down to 85 k this week swim a bit more
and do the long bike on sat.and switch around the tue and thursday run session
looking forward to race its been 6 month i did the last race.
not expecting any magic but I also know where iam right is not bad either.

zico10

Seems like a lot of running. What's the reasoning behind it?

peter kern

primarily i want to run faster 2017 ... iam working on a few things and perfect practise makes perfect ( or so is the plan ;-)
secondarily i am going to do an irondistance race end of june.
3rdly its the easiest way to lose weight.
4rtly and most importantly especially the last 2 weks, I really enjoy running again after the slouch of last year.

peter kern

first "powermeter" test on the bike y day.
I was positively suprised
each lap getting faster despite traffic getting worse ( not a suprise really as i had not been on the course for 6 month and had not done a proper warm up but I was even suprised aoubt the slowest lap time)
quite a bit of traffic on the test course and had to stop twice and slow down a bit a few times ( much more than usually ) ,
I was cornering badly as well as being mindful of the traffic. for for first 2 laps but it was still a "2015" pb by 20 sec over 20k and in the traffic free segments i was a good bit faster especially uphill.

we take that , as quite a few time during the test I felt like there was nothing nicer than just going through the motion, usually i just want it to end.
at the same i was seriously irritated ( at myself) during the test as my saddle was 2 mm too low (and its not like i did not know that outddors i like me sadle a bit higher than on the turbo when i go fast)

Fazz

at the same i was seriously irritated ( at myself) during the test as my saddle was 2 mm too low (and its not like i did not know that outddors i like me sadle a bit higher than on the turbo when i go fast)

Hilarious....

I doubt there's a man alive that can tell the difference between 2mm in seat post height:-)

Which ironman Peter?
Austria or UK?

Or should I say for time or Kona? ;-)

peter kern

Fazz wrote: »

Hilarious....

I doubt there's a man alive that can tell the difference between 2mm in seat post height:-)

Which ironman Peter?
Austria or UK?

Or should I say for time or Kona? ;-)

we all have our tics ;-)

i know there is many people that dont realise a 2cm height change and on the road bike i dont care much either.
but in the aero positon when i go fast i do , with the p4 if i dodnt glue the seatpot- which i havent at the moment- its likely to move a tiny bit when you hit a seriuos bump and very often i know when it has moved just a fraction before i look at the tape )
i want my saddle as high as possilbe up to the max and thats way i do notice it at 5.3o when i go fast if saddle is too low as i move very far forawad on the saddle in the aero positon and dont like to move back to compensate . I am ok to planta flex more if saddle is too high but with dorsi flexiion iam extremly finiky.

and of ocurse once or twice out of 10 times it can be in my head and our bodies do change a couple of mm anyway during the day but the probability is quite high that i do feel 2 mm when it goes too low.
it is quit common that i change the height of the saddle nose on race day depending how i feel when I do my builts in the warm up to feel exactly as i want on the bottom of the stroke.
the ankle of the saddle dosnt affect me much at all as long as the height if the saddle nose is right ) which does affect other people quite a bit and i can deal with quite a nose drop change as long the saddle is high enough in the aero position.

mossym

Well done today Peter. Solid across all three.

peter kern

mossym wrote: »

Well done today Peter. Solid across all three.

My description would also be 5 letter word that starts with s
At the same time if I had not known it already ,it could not be clearer that I need a rest week.

peter kern

last week of this 8 week block and apart from 90min yesteday i was not unhappy with it ( i had to remind myslef what i would tell people after a C race...)
In fact overall ithink it was great 8 weeks of training .
tiredness finally hit this week and i guess a bit of a cold as many people around me are sick ( so far i seem to keep it at bay but friday and sat i felt a bit tired ) .
last sat i was flying by wednessday i could feel iam starting to fade and sat and sun i was struggleing .
anyway its enough now and time to relax a bit.

just a bit shy of 600 k this week on the bike ( 400 at the weekend)
decent swim week 16k 2 good swims mon and wed friday was a bad day.
running only 50 k as i decided fri and sat not to run.

the good thing was the tt test on , and 265k y'day on the bike when i pulled myslef togheter when i wasnt in a happy mood after joey hannon


the bad thing mentally i was never in the race on sunday and while it was only a c race I was not happy with that.
there was a few positives on the run for the longer distance which is good ( leg speed which was poor is part of the next block).

apart for the first and last 4 k I really pushed on the bike when it did not come easy.and I could not have done more y day for those 30 or so k

i tested a few things ( one test resulted in a broken zipp of tri suit and was clearly a fail ;-)
overall it was a good day out and i got a dry day for long day,
and another great race by limerick tri club.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

peter kern wrote: »

and 265k y'day on the bike when i pulled myslef togheter when i wasnt in a happy mood after joey hannon

Guess you cycled home so. Well done yesterday even though its not the finishing position you wanted to be in.

peter kern

Jared Fluffy Sorcery wrote: »

Guess you cycled home so. Well done yesterday even though its not the finishing position you wanted to be in.

the position is not the problem the bike split is , anything decent on this course has to be sub 58 anthing really good sub 56.30 and a decent bike split was the min goal , and conditions were ok but, i wasnt moving
anyway its history now, but i hate it when i do a good test tt and race badly.
cycling home was good fun (until naas ) and for 30 k i got the best draft of my live behind a trailer i was at my limit each roler or drag but on the flat is was so much fun ;-)

peter kern

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/WHOA!_Andy_Potts_was_on_Gatorskins_and_Butyl_tubes_last_year_in_Kona!!!_P5925555/

that guy certainly has no notion of saddle height changes ;-0 ( at the same time he had until now not much notion about andything regarding bikes.

ps at the same time i doubt there is 7 triathletes that earn more money than he does. he is partly lucky to be american but still doing very well optimicing his finacnces.

Fazz wrote: »

Hilarious....

I doubt there's a man alive that can tell the difference between 2mm in seat post height:-)

Which ironman Peter?
Austria or UK?

Or should I say for time or Kona? ;-)

peter kern

another uneventfull week last week apart form darren really turining the screws ( and then leaving early ;-) for the swim. fastest times for the 200s this year and the first time on 3. was very suprised that i was holding the pace once he left .
sat was one of my fav sessions cycling to glendalough 2.05 run in the hill and cycle home . and another run pm .

anyway the easy trainng is over now . so far it was all about not using too much mental energy for the training . the next few weeks will be more demanding.

Fazz

peter kern wrote: »

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/WHOA!_Andy_Potts_was_on_Gatorskins_and_Butyl_tubes_last_year_in_Kona!!!_P5925555/

that guy certainly has no notion of saddle height changes ;-0 ( at the same time he had until now not much notion about andything regarding bikes.

ps at the same time i doubt there is 7 triathletes that earn more money than he does. he is partly lucky to be american but still doing very well optimicing his finacnces.

I saw that too and laughed...
Poor equipment choices really must have cost him a few mins but those st'er's and their magic watts figures are way too optimistic :pac::pac::D

Being into the bike aerodynamics and gadgets myself I couldn't help but laugh at some of the figures. Still, no doubting there are good and bad choices and Potts was on bad choices!

the tyres is a funny one, had to rush to check what's on my wheels as well but I don't agree in real world that those watts lost are realistic. But perhaps a little time and for a pro, it's unacceptable to be giving up any time at all other than getting paid a fee to use sponsor's gear which doesn't apply to the gatorskins vs GP2's as both by same brand.

It would be great to try and test all these things in the real world but just too many variables to get any reliable info.
Sure, we can all find a straight road, but we can't control the wind, or slight variance in effort, or feeling better that day, etc to gauge any reliable results from testing diff equip other than feel.

PS - you should still change your aerobars though as your ones are a mess... ;):p

peter kern

a wise guys with tones of tim en the windtunnel says , what ever aero testing results come up with divide timesaving by 2 and you should not be far of reality .
and of course never trust a test you havent manipulated yourself .
but any testing gives some indications and the more often you REPEAT it the more useful it becomes there was a great post by ero on a forum not long ago.

but the tyres and tubes are the easiet thing to measure in tests
at least when it is gatorskin butyl vs 4000s latex thats apox 20 watts. and this is certainly something that can make the difference in hawaii ( at the same time it can go horribly wrong like in the case of fodeno 2014 in frankfurt and hawaii.... that tyre choice did cost more money than potts choice, its still a bad choice though )



ps yes bars are a mess as I am plyaing around with them but i built a bridge so they cant slip anymore.but you might still hear from me.

peter kern

since we are on aero this post earns my respect of somebody that really knows what they are doing and cutting the marketing nonesense lingo out.

Position first, clothing and/or helmets after. Bring what you want to test, though we're beginning to have more and more on hand.

I don't do a lot, if any, public aero testing any longer; I mostly leave that to others though there are times I can't help myself. Most people want to come in and test one thing after another, and get as many things tested as they can. I won't do that anymore. If I run the test these days, you'll test a few things over and over again so we know without a doubt the results are valid, and we'll be mixing in re-baseline runs a few times, too. Not much fun doing it my way, that's for sure. However, if you only test something once, how would you know if rider variability didn't play a part in the results? Small changes in position, the way your place your helmet, or how clothing may have moved as you mount and dismount the bike, and much more can have a significant effect on your results whether testing in the velodrome or a tunnel. If you've tested five changes, but have not re-tested your baseline in between (or on both ends), I put very little weight in your results.

I quietly spent more time in tunnels over the past few months than velodrome testing; mostly with manufacturers helping with product development. I see the same things over and over again. Everybody thinks they're getting answers, and then I'll throw in a baseline repeat. "Whoa! Why is it so different?" Well, even if you haven't made any changes, there's simply no way nothing has changed. Test and re-test if you want to really know the numbers. I didn't always do it this way, but I've learned through experience that one run or sweep does not necessarily give you an answer, so I prefer to test multiple times.

For velodrome testing, I think one of the keys I've learned is to have the athlete spend at least 20 minutes riding the track before any testing begins. You need to get to the point where you're not thinking about it anymore, you're just riding. Otherwise, when a change is made and a positive result is seen, you can't be sure if it's the change or if you're simply relaxing as you get used to riding the boards. I'll give you an example. Matt Hanson was in recently, and we tested a few things: position, clothing, helmets. After awhile we went back to his baseline and he repeated his previous result to .0002. That's pretty darn good for an athlete actually riding, so I was confident in all the results previous to that run. Now, not everyone can repeat like Matt did; however, had his 2 baseline runs not been close, well then I would have to question every result prior to that. I've seen the exact same thing testing in the tunnel. Once you introduce an athlete into the equation, you'd better be re-baselining and re-testing.

Two other keys I've learned: 1. in the velodrome, you must monitor the athlete for fatigue. Once you get tired, your CdA will be adversely effected. Once you're tired, testing is over. This is why it's good to test with 2 athletes, as you'll get longer breaks in between runs as you both alternate tests. 2. In the tunnel or at the velodrome, I no longer provide the athlete with their results during the testing. I've found the athlete will often "try" to be more aero as the tests progress and will actually want some results to be better than others. For instance, if an athlete is hoping a specific piece of equipment or clothing is fast, they'll actually, whether consciously or unconsciously, try to get a little lower or a little narrower. Funny thing is, "trying" to make yourself more aero actually hurts your drag numbers as often as it helps. To be honest, it's sometimes difficult not to discuss the results, but I try.

I think both tunnel and velodrome testing have their place. Certainly, I've seen better results predicting time off velodrome vs. tunnel, but either way you have to be careful that your results are valid by repeating tests to check for consistency. Man, how did I end up writing all of the above? Sorry.
Jim Manton / ERO Sports / ERO Insight

peter kern

good week last week
2 good swims
3 good bikes
3 good runs

12k swim
14 hour bike
125k run
overall buisnes as usual boring repetion. getting faster and longer

3 unusal things things
1=2 missed my first optional easy run in 8 weeks run as calf were a bit tight after the am tempo run thursday
sat bike run 2 hour turbo wu 85 min ironman pace 25 70.3 effort ,run 30k sub 2 hours , 1 hour turb pm 2k swim , run 13k
sunday calves were perfect after 15 k easy.
3 5 k swim on friday done in 1.20. (pool very busy and great open water training)
oh and 4 saw the first time in 10 years 76 kg on the scale