Great Lakes - Indoor Time Trials

I'm surprised there's not more interest in these. For all of you bored of the trainer (already), all of you who've even thought of giving racing a go, and all of you even remotely curious about training numbers, I'd highly suggest giving one a try! A little sample of the upcoming schedule:

Jan 11 - ABD
Jan 18 - VQ
Jan 25 - VQ*
Feb 1 - ABD
Feb 1 - EI
Feb 8 - VQ*
Feb 15 - EI (2 man)
Feb 22 - ABD
March 4 - EI (2 man)
March 14 - ABD
April 5 -ABD

The ABD ones are for a set distance and are held in Winfield. The VQ events are at the ultra-awesome Vision Quest facility in Highland Park, and are for 30 minutes (over a rolling course). * denotes events listed on their flyer but not their web page. The ones marked EI are at "Endure it" in Naperville.

So, whose willing to try what? I'll probably hit one or two more. Depending on how things go.

And, if you're thinking about trying one but you're just not sure, do it to get stronger. Let's have Colorchange wondering why so many people are trashing him when the real ouside racing starts.

Cleveland area guys:

Bike Authority in Broadview Heights is having a TT series starting in mid-January. The 3 mile TT's on a Computrainer will be held on Thursdays. Call the store for details.

MJH2 and I have done 2 of them so far at VQ in Highland Park. MJH2 won the last one. I think he's just recruiting souls to crush.

MJH2 and I have done 2 of them so far at VQ in Highland Park. MJH2 won the last one. I think he's just recruiting souls to crush.

Man, that's not true at all. I'm really having a hard time believing that so few people have been to these things. There's a good chance I won't hit any more as TT's really aren't going to be a focus of mine (other than when I beat Colorchange in a sub-hour 40k).

Competitive cycling can be a really difficult sport to "break" into. I think these are a more friendly way to do that. And, also, a good way to break up winter training.

Oh, I think you'll go to a few more. +1 about it being a great entry into the sport. I agree about the surprise at not more people. Well...ABD's series is a more established series that has been around for a few years. I have seen it pretty busy before when it was at the Chicago Bike Show, but i have never ridden one of theirs.

OHHHHH MAAAANNN!!!!

I've got to be honest, your motivating me to ride more, Thanks MJH2.

PS, I am so gonna whoop your arse!!!!!!


I've hired Captain Falcon as my TT coach :).

OHHHHH MAAAANNN!!!!
I've hired Captain Falcon as my TT coach :).

this guy?

You know he means this guy :rolleyes:

How do these things work? Bring your own bike and hook it up to some kind of Official Resistance Unit(tm)? I might do one of these. If the coach doesn't think it would disrupt the training schedule of course. :) Do they take body/bike weight into account? Should I bring my aero booties? Can I cut the course if I crash?

They are all run on computrainers. You weigh in for their Cda calculated drag and gravitational effects, etc...I think...They are calibrated throughout your warmup and everything is overseen by a USAC official. Then they throw a virtual course at you. Tons o fun.

Niets, what the hell is wrong with you even having a picture like that. LOL

They are all run on computrainers. You weigh in for their Cda calculated drag and gravitational effects, etc...I think...They are calibrated throughout your warmup and everything is overseen by a USAC official. Then they throw a virtual course at you. Tons o fun.

that actually sounds like a ton of fun. must consider. later.

that actually sounds like a ton of fun. must consider. later.

You will go. I await your call.

it was just a quick google image search for captain falcon ;)

OHHHHH MAAAANNN!!!!

I've got to be honest, your motivating me to ride more, Thanks MJH2.

PS, I am so gonna whoop your arse!!!!!!


I've hired Captain Falcon as my TT coach :).

You're going to have to ride more, weaksauce. Today I'm going to pick up my new TT rig. I might name it "ColorchangeKilla".

You're going to have to ride more, weaksauce. Today I'm going to pick up my new TT rig. I might name it "ColorchangeKilla".

:roflmao2:

....CC...he's going to keep doing that all year. I will say he might dial it back a bit if you join the team, but no promises.

Oh boy am I going to have to take you behind the woodshed MJH2! :)

I'm riding my bike tomorrow, covered ice or not.

There's no amount of cold weather riding that can save you now. My new ride is a monster. It's made of a space-aged material called Aluminum. It's got to weigh in at around 22 pounds.

And, you want to know what the best part is? Do ya? It's got a 9 speed drive-train. Why is that good, you ask?

IT'S 8 MORE GEARS THAN I'LL NEED TO WHIP YOUR CANDY A**!

Why aren't any of these in Madison? I don't know if I'm going to be able to trust my car to make it that far. Cylowe knows what it is.

I guess I'll need a car before racing season.

Uh... first link on Google:

http://www.madisonverve.com/calendar/?ID=5744

Wow...MJH2 you are convincing. I may try for Jan 25 or Feb 1st. I heard good things about the ABD event so I'm leaning towards that.

lolz. i suck at the tubes.

Darn, ya'll bike geeks talkin so much trash, you makin me sweat!

Wow...MJH2 you are convincing. I may try for Jan 25 or Feb 1st. I heard good things about the ABD event so I'm leaning towards that.

Do it. You'll be miserable the whole time and love every minute. I haven't done one of the ABD ones. I assume, though, that they're like everything else ABD organizes... A simple, good time.

ColorChange: the new rig is here. She's a little small, but she'll do the trick. I've given her a temporary name until I settle on a permanent one. For now, we shall call her "57 Minutes".

So you bring your own bike and strap it onto a compu trainer? My god, people are going to laugh their ass off when I'm going to unleash my earth stopping 125W of raw power.

So you bring your own bike and strap it onto a compu trainer? My god, people are going to laugh their ass off when I'm going to unleash my earth stopping 125W of raw power.

Yes you do....and no they won't. They are too busy struggling for air.

I'm going to unleash my earth stopping 125W of raw power.

Whoa, that's one big sandbag!

Whoa, that's one big sandbag!



Well he admitted he hasn't ridden basically since the flood. I might even be willing to race him at this point. MIGHT.......nah....who we kidding?

57 minutes .... ohhhh I can name that tune in ...


Actually MJH2 , I'd be damn happy with 57 minutes, don't think I've got that in me, certainly not early in the season. If you can drop that ... my guess is you will be wailin on me.

Yeah but this thread is about the idoor TTs. Specifically the one on Sunday. Who's down.

Yeah but this thread is about the idoor TTs. Specifically the one on Sunday. Who's down.

My weekend schedule looks to keep getting worse and worse (or, as my clients say, "worser"). It's all up in the air right now.

This Sunday ABD, eh? Hell.. I might even have to try that. I can still hold a 15mph avg over 20 miles, so I guess I got a few muscles left to turn the wheel.

Are you guys doing the ABD TT in Winfield IL?

Are you guys doing the ABD TT in Winfield IL?

That's the idea. All stations up to 2pm are basically taken. It's filling up, it seems.

I've been sick for the last two weeks so I don't plan on doing it this Sunday.It's good to know that you're doing ABD's in Winfield,close to my home and it would be nice to meet people from this forum.

Yeah it filled more than I thought it would. It is a popular series though. Registration is locked up so show up early Sunday to register. I will most likely go in at the start, get the lay of the land and then head home and come back closer to my time.

results? how did you guys do?

Tough crowd. I got 15th out of 28. 17 seconds out of the top 10.

Results (http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/5003/deerdo2.png)

Not bad. Congrats! And whats with the deer in the results link?

Not bad. Congrats! And whats with the deer in the results link?

Thanks, but not great either. Their computrainers were off for sure (for everyone). I say Alien2 there. He was working the event. I asked if he was riding it and he said, "no...the drag coefficient they use just favors all the fat guys so what's the point." I figured that meant I would have a fighting chance.

Turns out their power readings were way over mine for the whole thing, and mine were in line with what I have been doing all along (verified by Vision Quests numbers as well). The drag equation/coefficient ABD uses is wrong. That said I came in around the 300W range average for the whole run on their numbers.

Mine show 274 (ish) for roughly 3.5W/kg. not bad but it was only 6.2 miles and obviously I ended up mid pack.

274 Watts for 20 min.? Numbers one can only dream of.

not that i'm a pro with computrainers, but don't you just spin up to 25 mph and the 'set' button?

and yes, psimet, nice power output.

not that i'm a pro with computrainers, but don't you just spin up to 25 mph and the 'set' button?

and yes, psimet, nice power output.

Yes you do when you calibrate it. What I'm talking about is that they use a drag coefficient that is calculated based on weight. They input it into the file before everything starts and that is supposed to modify your resistance, etc.

Something was up because it was showing numbers that were 20-40W higher than what I was reading. Everyone was off by about the same though because I placed about where I thought I would. It's all relative.

Difference was that VQ has you weigh in dressed in kit without shoes. ABD had you weigh in with bike in shoes. It's enough to make a difference. Might bring a lighter setup to the "hilly" TT.

274 Watts for 20 min.? Numbers one can only dream of.

Thanks, but MJH2 would have cranked out 325ish if he had been there. Like I said I got beat by 3 other guys just in our bank of 8 in my time slot.

I got 15th out of 28.

Not bad for winter :thumb:


Alien 2 "no...the drag coefficient they use just favors all the fat guys so what's the point."

Ain't we aliens stinkers :roflmao2:

So you bring your own bike and strap it onto a compu trainer? My god, people are going to laugh their ass off when I'm going to unleash my earth stopping 125W of raw power.

this is kinda what I'm thinking - they got a "fred" classification?

this is kinda what I'm thinking - they got a "fred" classification?

They basically had it. Check out the pictures here (http://www.abdcycling.com/gallery.htm).

I only weight about 135 pds.so if I do one of these is resistance/drag going to be set to high for me?

I only weight about 135 pds.so if I do one of these is resistance/drag going to be set to high for me?

Depends on what you want to do, what you're there for. Put it into perspective.

Everyone has the same factors applied to them. Under the theory you will see less resistaning force when going up a hill than the heavier entrants. You will also not be able to gain as much speed going downhill. Not sure how they use all of that data, but Alien2 was and he claimed the little guy is at a disadvantage in this series.

Really though...are you going there in order to try to win? The guy I was talking to would be. If you're going to try out competing in a non-threating and safe environment to see how you stack up and to get ideas about your poweroutput/ as a power test then go. Regardless of the drag coefficient.

In other words you could look at your question like asking "would I be at an advantage using tire X over tire Y? Which tires should I race with...." when the answer is "the ones that are on your wheels when you toe the line."

Cleveland area guys:

Bike Authority in Broadview Heights is having a TT series starting in mid-January. The 3 mile TT's on a Computrainer will be held on Thursdays. Call the store for details.

I might be racing next week. You going?