The Option: (noun) the pace at which one rides when followed by an unknown rider. This pace is calculated to:
The actual pace may be adjusted as the above category becomes apparent by surreptitious observation of the chasing rider. It is important that the chasing rider is not aware that one has observed his/ her approach.
Please no cycling books, I’ve read almost all of them and need a break.
So far I have:
I’ll add more as they arrive.
Monday
CZ 8min Power x2
30min HIT#1
CZ Stretch (15min)
Tuesday
1.5hr ride
Wednesday
off
CZ FTB
CZ Stretch
Thursday
2.5hr ride
CZ Stretch
Friday
CC Resistance Training 1-3
30min HIT #2
CZ Stretch
Saturday
2.5hr ride
CZ Stretch
Sunday (Starting Spring Break @ Beach)
off
CZ FTB
CZ Stretch
[Rant On]
Lord knows I hate being on the side of our incompetent, bumbling UCI but I’m in favor of banning radios. I don’t like them in any sport. Back to pit boards for motorsports, screaming coaches & hand signals for ball sports and cycling the old fashioned way.
Sport should played within specified rules and boundaries. The beauty of sport is that, unlike nearly every other aspect of life, we have the choice to keep it pure and simple. Obviously in a sport like road cycling that is played outside in the public it is harder to insulate, but it’s worth trying. Understandingly in a sport that is increasingly obsessed with what they like to call technology, the temptation is even greater to incorporate every new thing you can stuff a battery in. I thought it was about pedaling hard.
The safety argument is mostly posturing by the directors and crusty old riders who want to be directors. I get why they want radios, they want more control and they want more info. If my job was to lead a team, I’d want more control and info. I’m not sure that equates to better racing. We need rules to restain these urges to take our sport out of the realm of competition.
The radio/safety argument is just a cheap “why do you hate the riders Mr. McQuaid?” kind of trick. Vaughter and especially Voigt should be ashamed of themselves. Despite that, rider (and spectator) safety is a significant concern. Course selection, preparation and marshalling are the primary methods for maintaining race safety. If those things are taken care of, radios add very little. (Yes, I’m ok with the marshals having radios)
What coach/DS wouldn’t want to chase their athletes around screaming at them? Imagine the joy of the boxing coach who has the rare fighter that can both listen and respond to instructions while having his face re-arranged. Tough, coaches are supposed to be angry and frustrated, it’s the job.
Imagine the rider who can think and react, read the peloton and sniff out the good moves. It’s certainly a more appealing image than the DS telling people when to attack based on watching the TV feed (or a HRM/Powermeter feed for that matter). It’s what the more knowledgeable fans live to spot. It’s one of the reasons we watch.
We want to understand why rider X decided to go at that moment and why it either worked or didn’t. Do we want the answer to be “JV told me to go, but Riis told his zombies to chase so it didn’t work”? Do we want JV or Riis to get up on the podium? I don’t.
What do we, the fans, gain with the use of radios, a few sound bites? Is it worth complicating the sport even further? Is it worth compromising the beauty and excitement of perhaps the greatest, most difficult sport?
We the fans want great racing and we ultimately drive the economy of the sport. If we don’t watch, read or care about the sport, you can bet the sponsors won’t either. The fans really own any professional sport, not the UCI, not the riders, not the directors and not the promoters. If we don’t care, they have to go get jobs and become amateurs too.
The question is: How can the fans’ wishes be heard over the current bickering?
-Wielsucker
[Lest you think I’m just a luddite (and I’ve been accused), I dig helmetcams (they report, not pollute) and think that they can only add to the fans’ understanding and enjoyment but I like them most in amateur races like those found at: http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.com/]
[Rant Off]
I’ve been flying for 15+ years and have never had any in-flight failure other that baulky radios, fussy door latches and broken sun-visors. I’ve had military pilots try to run into me w/ a B1 and a Chinook (they were in the wrong) but neither was really that close. Other than that and a little aerobatics, my flying has been just exciting enough for me, which is not very.
Saturday I lost the alternator during a local flight. Fortunately it was an easy choice to do the smart thing and land immediately. It was easy because I was 10nm from home. I like to think that I’d have done the same if I was 100nm from home. I hope I learned a lesson that will ensure that.
When I taxied in the G1000 avionics started flickering. The usual assumption is that your battery will keep it lit for 45+ minutes. Glad I didn’t find that out in flight. I recall starting was a bit difficult but it’s a new aircraft for me so I assumed it was my hot-start technique. I suppose the battery was in a marginal state at takeoff. The alternator passed the runup checks but after a few touch and goes and then leaving the pattern to do some maneauvering the “low volts” annunciator came up.
Back to base Joe! Like I said, easy call when you can see home.
No, losing the G1000 in flight is not going to kill you in VFR conditions and the system does have an emergency backup battery. The engines don’t care, they get spark from the magnetos. All that is more comforting to consider when on the ground than in the air. I’ll try to remember that.
[for you non-aviators, the Garmin G1000 is a comprehensive avionics suite w/ dual computer screens and all kinds of gadgets & features. It’s pretty awesome but a G1000 equipped aircraft’s panel is pretty sparse when the G1000 takes the dirt nap.]
Last night’s hour record tribute was a series of complications. I’d originally intended to use my track bike but I forgot it doesn’t have speedplays yet. My old shoes have Look cleats but who knows where the cleats are positioned. I was forced to compromise. I rode the road bike but intended to hold one gear once I’d settled in.
My hour attempt was begun at roughly 11:30pm so I chose to omit the lengthy warmup. Up to about 24mph in less than a minute and held between 24-25mph for 20, 30, 40, 45 minutes at 95-100 rpm. Hard enough to be work and I’m not one for steady effort. I’m jumpy, ask anyone who rides with me. I get a wild hair and bolt occasionally. After a while it took concentration to keep the pace, not because of the effort as much as I craved a change of rhythm.
At 45minutes it happened: A slow flat on the rollers. I was starting to think I was just pedaling choppy but gradually I started feeling bouncey up front. Then I realised the tire was going soft. Henri Desgrange was safe for now. It was about 12:15am and I wasn’t going to bust tires and start over. I averaged 23.6mph for 45minute and could’ve made the hour at that pace. My HR average was only 156bmp. Don’t tell the UCI that I used a HRM, cyclocomputer anda laptop playing videos and loud music.
Ok my 320tpi Vittoria Corsas were at the end of their rope. I bought some replacement 220tpi Diamantes today. When I took them off they felt as thin as paper. I’m suprised I was able to get that much even wear.
I’ll try again, perhaps after (or while) watching the Impossible Hour or The Final Hour. Maybe I’ll make it a recurring workout and see if I can climb up the recordbook to at least the 20th century. Even though the rollers are considerably easier than the road or track, I think Merckx is safe for a while.
Just finished The Hour in two evenings. I’m not sure a non-cyclist could fully enjoy it but they should all buy it anyway.
As a birthday present, Brother#2 ordered two (all?) of Michael Hutchinson’s books for me off my wish list on Amazon. Missing the Boat, came first so it was quickly consumed.
Hutchinson is apparently only capable of writing about his failures, the bigger the better. Fortunately he’s a good writer (& cyclist & sailor) and can pull it off with humor and style. Missing the Boat is about his attempt to recapture his childhood dreams of big-time sailboat racing and to do it right this time. The Hour tracks his failed attempts at breaking the only record that counts in cycling.
I enjoyed and recommend both. As a tribute to The Hour (book & record) and as a way of getting back on track with my plans for world/local scene domination, I will now ride the rollers on my nearly record-legal track bike (steel & simple but w/ 30mm rims) for one hour at a pace that would at least better that of Henri Desgrange’s initial 1893 record of 35.325kph (22mph). I never really liked that bastard anyhow.
Please don’t point out how much easier it is on the rollers, I’ve only been preparing for this attempt for a few minutes but already feel the pressure. Alert the media and @UCI_overlord.
The Ancestral Home
So the plan is to go to the legendary ancestral farm w/ my family, my folks, my grandmother and my two brothers’ families. It was a joint birthday celebration for myself (39.9973) and my neice (7.0082).
I borrowed a Caso (a mexican wok-like thing) from my amigos de trabajo and did my best to replicate the great food they make at our mostly-monthly cookouts. I think it came off rather well. My steak fajitas were more popular than mom’s hamburger & hot dogs. Take that mom!
So we hiked all over the 300 acres, rode motorcycles across rivers, shot all manner of weaponry at stolen scrap steel, listened to my brothers and my knuckleheads play all manner of guitars, ate too much and did some light repairs on the old (1800s) place. The weather was fantastic. If it was just our immediate family, it would’ve been hammock and book time.
The wife tried in vain to get me a new Ipad2 so we had to order it like commoners. I was suprised, we don’t usually spring for big b-day gifts but she figured it was my fortieth… I’d better file that piece of intel for hers eh?
Brother#1 (I’m actually #1 but.. nevemind) bought some of Puerto Ricco’s finest rum (what do I know, I just drink it) for me on a recent business trip. They tried to give it surreptitiously without disturbing the southern fantasy that they think my grandmother still clings to. I give her more credit but went along. My brothers married weirdos but hey, they used to be rock stars.
Brother#2 Bought me some books from my Amazon wish list by Michael Hutchinson (@doctor_hutch). I’d tried to get them on Kindle but they aren’t available in the US in kindle format.
The folks gave me a nice set to steak knives identical to the one I’d been admiring at their house. That, and a nice check that equals several hours of flying time. Grandma did likewise as has become customary since she gave up understanding what we liked.
I’d considered taking the bike and riding the 68 miles home but after my ride yesterday and riding dirt bikes all day, I’d glad I left it at home.
3/12 ~25miles in… I haven’t looked… it wasn’t impresive. Couldn’t do more than plod along.
Glad I didn’t do the local shop ride for several reasons:
1.) I sucked
2.) I ran into 3 other riders (vauguely familiar) who assured me that it didn’t start up until next weekend despite the nice weather.
These were 3 people that didn’t finish the first group and I might’ve changed my route to allow a natural, polite separation after a while but today I was happy to rotate with them for the too few miles they were heading my way. If you don’t have a bit of bastard in you, stay off the bike.
Was it the week of travel, the steak, the few (really, just a few) beers? Maybe the asymetrical pain in my right hip leading to the discovery of the asymetrical saddle sore during post ride main”taint”enence was a clue? The bike inspection revealed a saddle pointed to the right. Goddamn Republicans! Lest you bed-wetting Liberals start gloating, (and because I hate you both) the pain is worse on the left side.
Good chance one of the knuckleheads knocked it over when rumaging in the garage, neither of which (guilty knuckleheads or innocent garage) profess any strong political opinions (not as long as they live in or consititute part of my house).
Real Peloton will not be televised…..
Perhaps my favorite cycling podcast is the randomly released Real Peloton podcast with Matt Rendell and Ned Boulting. Matt’s deep understanding and love of the sport coupled with Ned’s more recent conversion to cycling fanhood provides for excellent, wandering and hilarious discusions of cycling and other slightly related topics.
I find myself identifying with this strange mix of passion for the sport and the full acknowledgement of the complete absurdity of it all. They might go from laughing at the over-hyped marketing of Team Sky (or LeOpard), attempting an abysmal Spanish or Kazakh accent, railing against our all-knowing and benevolent UCI to telling an amazing story of one of the lesser known heros of our sport. They make no apologies for their eclectic tastes in literature, music, Columbia or Chris Boardman.
Both Matt and Ned are gifted in their ability to turn the clever phase, Ned in a blunt matter-of-fact way and Matt (the former educator) in more subtle, comically pretentious terms that occasionally resemble English.
Some of my favorite Real Peloton Quotes:
On Pharm$trong & The Shack:
“…the same old grizzly suspects..I use the word suspects not in any sort of… legally actionable way…” -Ned Boulting & Matt Rendell (finishing each other’s sentences)
On Alejandro Valverde & Piti:
“…the sheer insensitivity of denying your dog’s name…” -Matt Rendell
On Ricardo Ricco & Magazine Covers:
“…leading to the inescapable conclusion that humanity’s greater good can only be served by putting this arrogant, immature, self-deluding cheat on the cover of a cycling magazine with a circulation of diddly squat. More nuanced, considered thought goes into mugging than goes into the covers of cycling magazines…” -Matt Rendell
On Team Sky & Cycling Magazines:
“…Gil Scott Heron & Rupert Murdock are now co-conspirators, manipulating the unknowing talents of Bradley Wiggins to undermine the military industrial complex of the west…the world according to cycling magazines” -Matt Rendell
On Matt Rendell & The World Feed Commentator
“…so two bit and unimportant and rubbish that they can’t afford to have their own commentators, so you are sort of like the the Tesco’s value brand commentator…” -Ned Boulting (apparently irritated that Matt got more quotes)
Episode Four is a must listen: Real Peloton
CyclingTwit
Nick O'Prey
Wielsucker's Training Log 