"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Racing with 40 lbs in the rear tire

I would guess that would slow you down. Bailed in the PP race today not too far from the end, rear tire felt mushy, looked down and it was very low to the point where I saw no point in continuing (this was lap 8 of 10 in Prospect this AM). I was actually fearful of the 35mph+ descent on a tire with <50lbs of air.

I would guess that semi flat would go a long way towards explaining why that race felt so hard for me today, although I think it was a fast pace, I'm pretty sure no breakaways succeeded. I would imagine it's harder going 30mph with 50lbs instead of 160 in the rear tire. I was even more fearful of trying to continue and losing all remaining pressure on my pricey Zipp rim at the wrong time. That would suck. Oh well.

Pcad's Bag of Excuses always has room for one more.

Its psi not lbs when talking pressure.

Its psi not lbs when talking pressure.

You know what I'm talking about. Don't piss me off or I'll start posting in Celsius and Metric.

You know what I'm talking about. Don't piss me off or I'll start posting in Celsius and Metric.

Don't do that you'll have the entire BF community running for the calculators.....

You know what I'm talking about. Don't piss me off or I'll start posting in Celsius and Metric.

As you well should, old boy.

Its psi not lbs when talking pressure.

Actually, it's psig. - TF

I thought he meant 40lbs in the 'ol derriere?

Actually, I didn't understand the headline. I thought you heard about some idiot who did training races with a tandem rear wheel filled with lead or something.

Actually, I didn't understand the headline. I thought you heard about some idiot who did training races with a tandem rear wheel filled with lead or something.

Same here, I saw the headline and thought that the idea of filling someone's back tire with mercury before a race would be pretty comical, aside from the entire toxic bit.

Naw, with your weight on top of it, I'll bet it was up to 110psi. Did you measure when your fat a55 was off the bike? ;)

;)
I would guess that would slow you down. Bailed in the PP race today not too far from the end, rear tire felt mushy, looked down and it was very low to the point where I saw no point in continuing (this was lap 8 of 10 in Prospect this AM). I was actually fearful of the 35mph+ descent on a tire with <50lbs of air.

I would guess that semi flat would go a long way towards explaining why that race felt so hard for me today, although I think it was a fast pace, I'm pretty sure no breakaways succeeded. I would imagine it's harder going 30mph with 50lbs instead of 160 in the rear tire. I was even more fearful of trying to continue and losing all remaining pressure on my pricey Zipp rim at the wrong time. That would suck. Oh well.

Pcad's Bag of Excuses always has room for one more.

Couldn't be bothered to watch the finish after you DNF'd? What must your sponsor think?

;)

Couldn't be bothered to watch the finish after you DNF'd? What must your sponsor think?

I am the sponsor and I think I suck. But I did take the early exit opportunity to drive the 70 miles back to Chester, pick up my wife and daughter, and chauffeur them all the way to Kennedy Airport for their flight to Italy tonight. I got the Almost Five Borough Tour of NY City today (no Staten Island). I would have normally watched the end of the race, but I had some serious running around to do today, all on $4/gallon gas. Sometimes it can't be avoided.

My Zipp has been re-treaded and is ready for further action. I'll try this again next Saturday and barring a fatal collision resulting in a 5AM road closure on the NY Thruway (last race) or a puncture (today's race) I'll be hammering with the 35+ kids again.

Actually, it's psig. - TF

If we're going to talk metric, it's Pa or bar, isn't it? I can never remember which.

Race on!

Dude, I pump up my tire to 120 lbs or 160 lbs. and so does everybody else in NY. You know what you can do with your psi mumbo jumbo.

That sounds like a good name for a shrimp appetizer. psi mumbo jumbo shrimp.

Yikes, probably pretty squirrelly in the corners too.

I am the sponsor and I think I suck. But I did take the early exit opportunity to drive the 70 miles back to Chester, pick up my wife and daughter, and chauffeur them all the way to Kennedy Airport for their flight to Italy tonight. I got the Almost Five Borough Tour of NY City today (no Staten Island). I would have normally watched the end of the race, but I had some serious running around to do today, all on $4/gallon gas. Sometimes it can't be avoided.

My Zipp has been re-treaded and is ready for further action. I'll try this again next Saturday and barring a fatal collision resulting in a 5AM road closure on the NY Thruway (last race) or a puncture (today's race) I'll be hammering with the 35+ kids again.

Hence my lame attempt at humor and an ill-placed winky smiley. I'll get it in the right place this time: :o

Yikes, probably pretty squirrelly in the corners too.

No corners in Prospect Park. A bit of a screaming 35mph+ mini descent however.

Those smiley face icons are hereby banned from Pcad threads. Make a note of it.

:thumb:

If we're going to talk metric, it's Pa or bar, isn't it? I can never remember which.

Race on!

Metric it's bar. SI it's Pa.

You know what I'm talking about. Don't piss me off or I'll start posting in Celsius and Metric.

Be absolute and post in Kelvin.

http://www.zapatopi.net/kelvin/

http://www.zapatopi.net/kelvin/regal_kelvin.jpg

:D:lol:;):):roflmao::roflmao2:

:thumb:

Paradoxically, Road Nazis abhor authority.

Its psi not lbs when talking pressure.

psi == Pounds per Square Inch

Nobody's answering me. Does it slow you down much to have 50lbs in your rear tire instead of 150? Wouldn't that absorb a few watts @ 30mph?

I mean, come on fellas, talk me down off the Velo Ledge here.

http://improveverywhere.com/images/sui00.jpg

I wouldn't mind seeing a jump...

I'm leaving my bicycles to Chipcom and my crew socks to botto.

Can I have the Marvin the martian helmet?

The other day I swore I had a low tire (but didn't) or the brake pad was rubbing (it wasn't). Turned out my bag of excuses was empty. today yours was not. But you still suck. Just not as bad as me.

That makes two rides/races this season where the two classic excuses that never pan out actually did occur, the low pressure semi-flat and the rubbing brake.

It's like God patting me on the back and telling me 'You keep giving those excuses Pcad, and every now and then I'll justify them for you so you can keep using them.' It's the Power of Prayer.

I would guess that would slow you down. Bailed in the PP race today not too far from the end, rear tire felt mushy, looked down and it was very low to the point where I saw no point in continuing (this was lap 8 of 10 in Prospect this AM). I was actually fearful of the 35mph+ descent on a tire with <50lbs of air.

I would guess that semi flat would go a long way towards explaining why that race felt so hard for me today, although I think it was a fast pace, I'm pretty sure no breakaways succeeded. I would imagine it's harder going 30mph with 50lbs instead of 160 in the rear tire. I was even more fearful of trying to continue and losing all remaining pressure on my pricey Zipp rim at the wrong time. That would suck. Oh well.

Pcad's Bag of Excuses always has room for one more.

Get your units right and learn to properly inflate your tires.


Nobody's answering me. Does it slow you down much to have 50lbs in your rear tire instead of 150? Wouldn't that absorb a few watts @ 30mph?

I mean, come on fellas, talk me down off the Velo Ledge here.

http://improveverywhere.com/images/sui00.jpg

:roflmao2: That is a great skit. :thumb:

Psig or psia or bar (metric) didn't matter in my last race. I ran the last two miles on a flat tire that stayed on because I slowed down on the corners. Some of these tires that people whine about being too hard to get on will stay on when flat. I went 12 miles on a flat once.

(strictly as a service to the people running for calculators 1.0 psi = 68944 dynes/cm2 = 70.308 grams/cm2 = 703.12 Kg/cm2 = 51.715 mm/Hg = 6.8046 x 10 -2 atmospheres = 144 lb/ft2)

My tires are properly inflated. Sometimes they deflate all by themselves.

You older men know what I'm talkin' about here.

I wouldn't have finished better than 10th with 50 psi. As it is I finished 9th. Frank Arroyo and I locked bars when the guy to my right moved left forcing me and Frank up against the big orange pylons. Things like that ruin your chances of winning the race but fortunately the rubber side stayed down. I'm finding my a-hole still hasn't unpuckered.

Man that race was ballistic. I just checked my computer on the Cdale and the average speed readout from yesterday says 25.5 mph, which included a 2 mile 17-22mph coast down back to the car. I would imagine that means the race probably averaged about 26 mph. That would make it hard to launch a break. Or to ride in the race with a semi flat tire. Oh well. It was a good workout. I love racing in PP. Looking forward to next week.

This is a tough friggin room. I'm not posting here when I get brain cancer, I'll tell you that.

I met carpediem. I took 2nd. Should have won but had a teamMate who figured mailing in a 15th was better than closing the 4 second gap we lost the race by. Sigh

To the original question.

Yes, it slows you down.

To the original question.

Yes, it slows you down.

Unless the road is rough, like large gravel, then the low pressure lets the wheel roll over the discontinuities. Until you get a pinch flat that is.

To the original question.

Yes, it slows you down.

So essentially you admit that with a properly inflated tire my solo breakaway would have succeeded.

To the original question.

Yes, it slows you down.

This post also makes that My Tire Was Flat Excuse an invaluable addition to the Pcad Bag of Excuses. This particular excuse has the coveted Dr. W. WouldaCouldaShoulda Stamp of Approval. You can't put a price on that weenies.

Where are the power graphs? Duuuuude.

No PT with the Zipp tubies. I need all the help I can get Pablo, I don't need to be dragging around that boat anchor Zipp clincher with the PT. Come on those kids were going 26 mph. Average. Like I said I didn't check my computer until today. F the computer, the HR monitor, the PT. When I'm racing I'm focusing on the wheel in front of me. In those situations all that computer readout crap is not only academic, half the time it simply tells me I should have detonated on the last lap. It is valuable in dosing your efforts in a TT however.

Any loss in speed due to the PTap clincher is in your mind. The hill in PPark is 3% (according to my Garmin), and about .375 miles long, maybe, so you might be losing about 2.8 seconds or so due to the extra weight over the course of a 10 lap PPark race. There is another uphill section, so figure about another second for that. And we are not counting the increase in speed you get in the downhill sections from the increased weight (which would wipe out much of the time gains).
Have fun with weight and hills here: http://www.analyticcycling.com/ForcesLessWeight_Page.html
I guessed a power output of 275 watts and a rider + bike weight of 80kg, and that the PTap clincher is 400 grams heavier than the tubular (I know that is a bit generous). I also upped the slope to 4%.

That wheel is not slowing you down in the slightest, though any placebo effect cannot be discounted.
I am just trying to save you some hassle and expense with the multiple Zipps. And, of course, you should be using that PTap on every ride, logging your data in TrainingPeaksWKO+ and speaking the language of TSS, ATL, CTL and Normalized Power. I don't think I am going to win that one though.

I am just trying to save you some hassle and expense with the multiple Zipps.

That ship has sailed pal.

P.S. Many of the most successful racers I know don't train with power.

Yes, but they have to graph their data the old-fashioned way: right after making it up.

Prefontaine would have made a crappy bicycle racer. He always had to be in front.

here's my power chart from yesterday

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/gsteinb/Untitled-5.jpg

How did the lack of a Power Meter for racing or training hinder you when you were winning the 35+ Spring Series in NY City in March and April Gary?

I'm nearly brain dead so too much data would just confuse me. Spring Series isn't a big deal anyway. Next year I think we'll play in the deep end with the big boys.

Prefontaine would have made a crappy bicycle racer. He always had to be in front.

I'm thinking he would've figured it out. In any case he would've kicked ass as a TT'r. Just needed a different length crank for his bum leg.

P.S. Many of the most successful racers I know don't train with power.

Of course a power meter is not a requirement to be successful, but if you have one, you might as well get the full value out of it.