Beasty's objectives for 2010

Race report here

Time 27m 8s, placing me 20th of 39 starters
Speed – 35.4 kph average, 60.4 kph max
Power – 286w average, 290w pedalling, 297w normalised, 576w max
Work – 468kj
HR – 170 average, 179 maximum
Cadence - 86

CP Curve

The pleasing thing about the curve is I created a new maximum between 21m 30s and the race duration of just over 27 minutes, being pretty close to the CP curve throughout that period.

I posted elsewhere earlier today that I only looked at the power readings throughout the ride, with a couple of glances at the speed also. I also checked the time as I was coming up to the finish to try and make sure I finished less than 1 minute behind “aeroman”

In terms of the spread of effort throughout the TT, averages were as follows:

First quarter 302w (normalised 313w)
Second quarter 286w (normalised 292w)
Third quarter 266w (normalised 272w)
Fourth quarter 295w (normalised 305w)

This confirms everything was pretty much to plan – keeping power just around/under 300w for quarters 1, 2 and 4.

What happened in quarter 3? – I had just taken my minute man turned into the wind, and guess my attention turned to the final hill, and conserving a bit for it. It was only when aeroman overtook me that I realised I should still be pushing harder, and picked up the pace again. In fact, having him in my sights on that final hill was a bit of an incentive, and I probably only lost 10s or so to him up the hill.

Basically for that third quarter I was at least 20w less than perhaps I could have been. What difference would that make? – maybe 10s or so, and it may have curtailed me a bit on the final hill. Hence although I think I could have pushed a bit harder, I am not sure it would have made a massive difference. Another 5w throughout the ride gives 10-15s off the total time.

This also confirms I was reasonably constant in terms of effort. Interestingly I only dropped below 60 rpm cadence for about 40s throughout the ride and most of that would have been on corners, again suggesting I was pushing most of the way. The benefit of the power readings was I was able to make sure I did not push too hard at the start (I was sorely tempted), left enough for the end and delivered a reasonably consistent power throughout. I guess in an ideal world the power curve would actually be horizontal, but where you have to negotiate corners and hills there are bound to be peaks and troughs - my actual curve is, I think, reasonably flat.

What can I do to improve my time?

· The overall times were not particularly fast, which may have been down to the hill at the end, but is probably also heavily influenced by the headwind in the second half. Hence maybe I can go a bit faster in more benign conditions
· Up the power will help, but not by that much, as shown above
· Get more aero:
- I need to experiment a bit more – perhaps raising the saddle, and lowering the bars a bit to see if I can stay reasonably comfortable
- More aero gear – a TT bike and specialist wheels will clearly help, but these are expensive options, perhaps worth considering if/when I do a few more TTs. In the meantime, the pointy hat is on order – that alone may save me over a minute on the 25m TT in a couple of weeks time!

Race report here

The hardest race I have done so far. I think here are a couple of reasons - the course is very hilly, with 2 decent climbs and a drag to the finish line each lap. The roads were also poor in places. Although we did 3 and a half laps the hills were in the second half, so we did each of them 4 times. In addition, as I mentioned in the race thread, our group probably pushed too hard in the early stages. However overall I am pleased with my effort, as I felt I pushed hard, and was still pushing at the end.

I'm not sure if it was due to the intensity of the ride, but I did feel discomfort in my wrist for the first time for a few weeks, and my back was playing up a bit

CP Curve:


I was close to peak power in the up to 5s range, and set new PBs between about 29s and 54s, and also for the full race time of 1hr 14m

I hit the 1m to 10m peak power in the first lap, and as mentioned in the race thread normalised power was abolut 350w for the first half lap (10 minutes) or so

Power average 250w, pedalling 288w, max 828w
Normalised power 295w, splits Lap 1 317w, Lap 2 279w, Lap 3 291w and last half lap 281w
Total work 1,133kj (over 1hr 15m)
Cadence average 75, pedalling 85, max 121
depending on which computer/software I use total climbing was between 500m and 700m

Total distance this week 203.6km at average speed of 30.4kph
Average power 231w (normalised 254w), 5,200kJ
2,000m of climbing

YTD - 4,582 km at 29.1 kph (281km ahead of schedule). Total climbing 30km+

Next week should see my first 25m TT on Wednesday - I've dropped the bars 10mm, upped the saddle 5mm but have yet to try the new pointy hat. Hopefully my back will survive the ordeal!

171km at 30.1kph and average power of 223w this week

YTD now 4,753km at an average speed of 29.1kph, 287km ahead of target

My original weight target was 92kg by the time of the WW200

This was subsequently reduced by a further couple of kg and I am pleased to report I have now hit 90kg, just in time

Unfortunately however I will not see the benefit of this on the WW200, as I will be up at 4 o'clock in the morning to catch a flight to Miami, where I will spend most of the week on a beach at a conference. Hence it will be back to the hotel gym bikes for most of this week, with hopefully some real bike work at the weekend

18 hours travelling, an average 4 hours sleep over the last 3 nights, an aching back and sore hamstrings from a game of beach volleyball on Tuesday (with a 1m diameter ball!) - not ideal preparation for my vets debut today.

10m TT at Moy Valley starting at 9.15 this morning. I go there early and had 20 mins warm up and then stretched the hamstrings before setting off. My only other 10m was with Swords a few weeks ago, when I clocked 27:08 on a hillier course. Today's course was quite flat (less than 50m climbing/decent) although there was a blustery northerly crosswind that was a bit troublesome on the open stretches of road.

I probably pushed a little too hard for the first couple of km, then settled down into a reasonably steady rhythm. I passed my minute man during the first 5km or so - can't claim too much glory for this, as he is about 30 years older than me! Only one rider passed me with about 3km to go. I could also see my 2 minute man ahead but did not manage to close the gap too much.

Time was 25m 39s, which is just 11s outside my age standard. My target was 26m so I am pleased with this time. I think with calmer conditions I should be able to crack 25m.

Average speed - 37.6kph
Power - 286w average and pedalling, 290w normalised, 649w max - pretty similar to my only other 10m TT
HR - 168 avearge, 177 max
Cadence - 91 average

Pleased to see I am not the only old fogey around here. Nice to meet you Planet X

Only time was on the gym bike until yesterday's vets 10m TT

Total "distance" for the week 126km at about 26kph, bringing the YTD total to 4,879km at 29.1kph

CP chart for the 10mTT:



This reflects further PBs from about 17m 30s to 27m (the length of the TT plus another minute or so). This means that for all 4 TTs I have now done (1 x hill climb, 2 x 10m and 1 x 25m) I have pushed the curve up at the full distance/position mark. I guess I must be doing something right, as I am pushing beyond my previous bests. The other interesting thing is my power output in the aero position is not far below the equivalent normalised power in the races I have done, suggesting either I am not losing much power in the aero position, or I may have more to give on the drops

Next week it will be a bit more of the same, as I will be away in London for 3 days, so the gym bikes beckon. I hope to get in a couple of commutes also.

Plenty of time on the gym bikes again this week - 2hrs 40min in London, and another 40mins tonight in Disneyland Paris. Add to that a couple of commutes and total distance this week was 229km

My back has been playing up quite a lot following the London trip. It seems to be a bit better this evening, and hopefully will now settle down. I am slightly concerned the changes I made in lowering the bars for the recent TTs have contributed to this. However the amount of travelling I have been doing certainly hasn't helped. I'm going to leave the bike as it is for a bit longer - if the back doesn't get better I guess I'll have to raise the bars back again

Total distance YTD now stands at 5,109km at an average speed of 29kph

Next week I'll be in Paris until Wednesday, but then hope to do a couple of commutes at the end of the week. I'm unlikely to get any time on the bike the following week, as I'll be holidaying in Cornwall for the whole week. I'm now 232km ahead of schedule but expect to lose most of this over the next couple of weeks.

ROK ON wrote: »

Disneyland Paris. Possibly the worst food experience in all of France. Other than that the place aint exactly that bad.

Just back from the Wild West Show, where you get the worst food of all - normally the vegetarian option is an improvement on what everyone else gets, but not here

In the park the kids fancy a freshly made pancake - we go up to the counter and the "seller" pulls out a pre-packed one (the type you can get over with a 2-month sell-by date at Tesco) and proceeds to "cook" it on the hob, then dollop some Nutella on it - et voila - une crepe au chocolat

The good news is that although I'm not getting much time in the gym, I'm not putting too much weight on either! All the walking, queueing, carrying the kids around and rides are not doing my back much good though

A couple of twists which led to reassessments of my goals for this year, although I think I remain on track for some of the original targets. The first “complication” was the crash in February, but the Tacx then came into its own, and I managed to maintain much of the fitness I had gained over the winter. The second “twist” was joining Swords and starting my racing career. It was originally with TTs in mind, but I have actually mainly done races, with a hill climb and a couple of Swords and one vets TT.

Having done those TTs I still think this is where my strengths probably lie, and I will try and do a few more with the vets over the summer. I hope with the right conditions I can get to around 24 mins for the 10m, and 66 mins for the 25m. The main issue is my back, and I do need to get my bike set up properly, certainly before I attempt another 25m. I have found the Powermeter particularly helpful in pacing myself for the TTs, and now I have done some I think I have a much better understanding of my capabilities.

Distance wise, I am slightly ahead of target, and hope to stay ahead for the rest of the year. I have been cutting down the commuting due to the racing, and this should pick up again from September. In addition I have not done any sportives so far this year, but plan to do a couple over the forthcoming months. I am also expecting to get on a few more weekend spins/races once the family head south for the summer.

Total distance to 30 June was 5,184km at an average speed of 29 kph, leaving 4,816km to do. This was split:

Road – 3,667km at 28.3kph (average power 217w, work = 94,000kj, about 700kj per hour)
Track – 170km at 32.6kph
Turbo – 1,062km at 31.9kph
Gym bikes – 285km at 31kph

The track has been a bit neglected because of my accident and the Swords League (which takes place on the same evening as the Sundrive Track League). Hopefully I’ll be able to redress the balance a bit when the Champions League (and corresponding trips to Manchester) kicks off again. It will be interesting to see whether I can improve on previous track performances given I now have some (admittedly limited) racing and TT experience (I might treat myself to a new track bike once the family head off – hopefully it won’t be noticed by the time they get back;))

Weight-wise I have dropped around 5kg to 90kg, which is in line with plan. I would like to drop another 3kg by the end of the year and will hopefully be down to around 85kg this time next year (which would give me a cumulative weight loss of getting on for 40kg over a 3-4 year period:)).

Nothing much to report - just back from holiday today, and it was 9 days since I had been on the bike - the longest time I have spent off the bike for over 18 months.

Managed to get out this afternoon to try and blow away the cobwebs, doing just over 36km, making the YTD total 5,330km at 29kph. I am now 97km ahead of target.

The exercises I have been doing appear to have led to some improvement with the back - the sciatica is still there, but not as bad as it has been in recent days.

Assuming no adverse reaction I hope to do at least 3 commutes next week, and am also targeting a vets 20km TT on Tuesday - I'm not expecting anything spectacular given my lack of time on the bike in recent weeks, and the state of my back. I am marshalling on Wednesday, so won't be doing the Swords race this week.

After a couple of quiet weeks due to holidays, this week was an opportunity to get further ahead of my 10,000 km target for the year. I managed 369km (which is a PB), including the 20km vets TT, 3 commutes, a Swords spin yesterday, a couple of sessions on local roads, and an hour at Sundrive this morning trying out the new track bike.

YTD total is now 5,699km at an average speed of 29.1kph, putting me 275km ahead of target.

I also managed to set a PB for my power output in the Swords spin - my maximum now stands at 948w, and I managed to push the CP curve up for the first 12s or so:



Lumen has highlighted previously that I may benefit from doing some interval work to push up the curve up, particularly in the 1-3 minute area. Interestingly virtually all of the curve between 5 and 90 minutes has been set in races/TTs, and I suspect this will be where I manage to push up the shorter periods also - it seems easier to me to set these PBs in a race situation.

The results from the TT are up on the IVCA website - they've given me a handicap now based on my previous 10mTT, and this placed me 11th out of 25 starters (14th on a scratch basis). They've also put me (provisionally) into Group C for racing, and I was first in this Group in the TT (there were only 3 others from this Group taking part - however a win is a win!):D

I'm marshalling again in the Swords League on Wednesday, which means I should be able to to my first "proper" vets race on Tuesday - a 40km DMS at Batterstown - if all goes well, there's an 80km vets CP at Warrenstown on Sunday that I may also give a go. With another 2 or 3 commutes thrown in, I should be able to get further ahead of my mileage target for the year.

Lumen wrote: »

If you're hitting your biggest numbers in races (TTs aside) you're not training hard enough. :pac:

The shorter end has (until Saturday) typically been in races - I am hopeful one day I will be in contention for a race and will push all the harder to get there, but as you suggest it must be much better trying to push up the short end when fresh. For some reason, however, I do seem to do better when in groups (I hit the peak climbing out of the Naul on Saturday, and still felt I was not at my limit)

I am encouraged with pushing the longer end up through the TTs though - it suggests my strategy is probably not too far adrift, and so far I have not blown up in one. However I do think I need to start extending my "final push" as I feel as if I am putting in a really hard effort for the last 2km or so, but could probably start pushing it (not quite as much) from a bit further out.

The good news - the new jersey had its first race this morning, the vets 80km (it actually turned out to be less than 70km) CP at Warrenstown. The bad news - it did not get too much opportunity to be admired, as it spent a large amount of time at the back of the field!

It was 3 laps of a 23km course - a little hillier than anticipated, and that caught me a bit by surprise.

I was in Group C again, and the first couple of groups set off ahead of us (there were 6 groups in all). Included in Group C were Planet X and mc2000. There were about 20 or so in total in our group.

We set-off at a brisk pace, with most of us taking our turns. I do think this was a bit less organised than we are in the Swords League - I suspect this may be down to a wider range of ability, with some riders probably knowing their best chance to stick around for the full 2 hours or so is by sticking towards the back.

We then hit a short sharp hill, which took more out of me than I expected. It probably went on for just under 1km in total, mainly at a gradient of less than 5%, but then spiked just before the top at just under 10%.

The rest of this lap and start of the next were pretty uneventful, although I was not taking so many turns as I was feeling it in my legs, and normalised power was approaching 300w - a level I knew I could not sustain for 2 hours.

We caught the slower groups as we hit the hill second time round. I was at the back of our group at the time, and managed to get myself detached by about 70-80m by the time we got over it. I spent the next couple of km getting back on, and managed to reattach myself to the enlarged group. I spent the most of the rest of that lap recovering, but was able to take a couple of turns as we entered the final lap. I managed to keep attached up the hill this time round, but was at the back most of the time - it's more difficult there as you tend to work harder closing down the gaps that arise, particularly after cornering. We probably dropped a few along the way. A couple from our group managed to get away.

With perhaps 5 or 6km to go we were caught by the faster groups. I stayed on until around 2km or so to go, when the combination of my legs, a very large group and the prospect of a bunch sprint "encouraged" me to drop off the back (as a number already had). I caught up with Planet X on the final straight, and we had a little sprint towards the line (which he won!). It turns out that the two riders who got away ended up getting first and second places - the first one also won our race on Tuesday, and the 2nd was one of the Swords guys

Stats:
Distance - 68.5km
Speed - 35.1kph
Total climbing 600m
Power - 225w (average), 253w (pedalling), 264w (normalised), 862w (max)
HR - 159 (average), 177 (max)
Cadence - 84 (average), 91 (pedalling)

Splits:

Lap 1 - 35.6kph, 283w (normalised)
Lap 2 - 35.4kph, 257w
Lap 3 - 34.4kph, 251w

CP Curve



I managed to push up the curve between 1.5 and 2 hours, which I guess is not surprising given this was my first race of this length.

Back to Batterstown tonight for a 10m TT on the same course as the 25m TT last week, just starting further back towards Blackbull, and turning at the first roundabout

The last time I did a 10m I averaged 286w, and the plan tonight was to try and get it between 290 and 300w. There was a slight incline and headwind going out, but the conditions were excellent overall.

14th off and within 5 mins I caught my minute man. There would be no more overtaking, and for the first time in a TT, I managed to avoid being overtook myself

Last week I averaged 281w for the first 8 km, and this week it was 295w. HR was 164 v 161 last week. I could feel I was breathing much harder than for the first 8km last week - I suspect a combination of pushing harder, and the after effects of the Tour de Kilkenny on Saturday - my legs were still feeling it a bit today. Cadence was slightly up this week, but I still think I could have made better use of the gears - I had switched to an 11-21, and there was probably one bit where I may have benefited from dropping to the small ring.

Coming back the speed picked up and I averaged 279w compared to 276w for the last 8km last week. Again cadence was slightly up. Although I felt I pushed hard at the very end (where there was a slight incline), I did not really push it until about 1km to go. I think this was partly because I had pushed harder overall, but with hindsight I think I could have picked it up a bit earlier.

Time was 25m 6s, a 33s improvement on my previious best, and 22s ahead of my age standard time, and so I am pleased with the overall time. It's consistent with my time in the 25m TT last week, by reference to the age standards. I think I could probably go slightly quicker in benign conditions on the Enfield course, which is a bit flatter than this one, and hopefully I'll get below 25 minutes next year.

Other stats:
Power - average 287w, normalised 291w (both an increase of 1 on previous 10mTT), max 521w (649w)
HR - average 167 (168w), max 175 (177w)
Cadence 92 (91)