Hermes

Tetron, It is a measure of human perseverance and courage to excel in the face of adversity. You came back from injuries and excelled on a personal level. Bravo.

tetonrider

<deleted....weird...post from another thread got posted here.>

tetonrider

thanks for the kind words.
haha...he's also a trainee. he set a PR by 5' on that day and he held more than his 20' power for nearly 35 minutes. i was totally stoked for him. actually meant more to me than my own result!

glad you liked the read. i try to tell the human side in my reports...otherwise why would anyone care about some little hill climb here in wyoming?
you're absolutely right: faster = better. TTs, HCs, RRs and crits are not scored based on power.

drafting was about the same as last year. ambient conditions were about the same (non-existent wind = perfect). PM was calibrated (slope reset after switch to the single ring; ZO checked before and after), so that was good. total weight was lower, so that's really the difference.

thanks, sara. i think that when i type up a story i dwell on parts that i think make the story. for this it was the missed goal and the lost power. i think perhaps that gives a reader the thought that i spend more time thinking about the downside--my fault. i'm pretty amazed by what i was able to do in a relatively short period of time. i'd have loved for the time to work out a bit different, but now i get a year to plot my revenge.


thanks, cleave.

the bike came in at 4.8 or 4.9kg, so ~10.75#. i did a bunch of things i wouldn't do for normal racing:
* TT base bar instead of drops
* single chainring, so no FD and no front shifter
* one di2 TT brake lever/shifter hooked up to the front brake and RD -- no rear brake
* aluminum cassette; recommended by @Hida Yanra .. shifted fine even under power, but i wouldn't run this every day nor would i even run it for regular racing
* i used silly light wheels, but i'd have no problem racing them -- except that i'd mounted some fast TT tubulars (~180g per tubular...so not something i'd run in most races)
* the lightest kit i had, which was a SS skin suit with no pockets
* no bottles/cages
* a garmin 500 instead of my SRM PC7, for weight...wouldn't normally do that!
* no HRM

the rest of the stuff included some light parts, but i don't really go so light that durability at my weight is compromised.

i rode a light setup last year, so this was quite a bit of improvement. not much room to go from this point.

tetonrider

thanks for the kind words, hermes.

it's funny you mention courage. i don't often think of racing a bike in most circumstances as "courageous." i was pedaling on my trainer post-clavicle surgery in march; i'd written off going to san dimas--how could i race ~4 weeks after breaking my clavicle? well, after about 2 weeks i realized i *could* race if i wanted to...or i could hide out on my trainer all spring and summer and just train for nationals. no one would question the latter at all, but it would be cowardly (for me).

lining up for that RR at san dimas was hard.

lining up for the crit at cascade (where i got dropped) was probably even harder for me. in comparison, racing the hill climbs was easy.

glad i could entertain, even for a minute. (hell, let's face it....reading my post was more like an hour. ;-))

valygrl

Anyone else race this weekend?

I did the Littleton Twighlight crit, SW3 -Sr Crit Champs. I had high aspirations for this, it was my first Cat3 only crit and it's the state champs, and crit racing is what i am better at... It was pretty fast but I was hanging mid-pack pretty comfortably, then I was caught behind a crash late in the race. I didn't go down but somehow in my emergency stop my chain came off the outside of the crank and tied itself into a loop. It took forever to get it back on, and by the time I made it to the pit to see if I was eligible for a free lap, free laps were over. So I TTed in to at least get a workout, finishing last ahead of the sweep moto. FOr some reason, they didn't put me last in the results, I guess I got a virtual free lap.

Shovel - how does the free lap work? Is my chain falling off a free-lap-eligible mishap? My coach told me that I should go directly to the pit, not worry about getting the bike working... which makes sense if you get a free lap for that, but for some reason I thought I was not eligible b/c I didn't actually crash.

sarals 

Valygrl, crapola. Of course I'm glad to hear you remained upright. Once again, smart racing.

chasm54

Under BC rules, which I think are the same as USAC rules, any mechanical - lost chain, puncture, whatever - gets a lap out to fix it until a specified number of laps from the finish. You don't have to crash. We'll typically specify no free laps once there are five or less laps remaining.

Allegheny Jet

valgrl, In our races they usually will state no free laps with 5 to go. I hit a pothole earlier this year racing in Pittsburgh and heard a "crack" that had me worrying about the front CF wheel being broken. I pulled into the pit and told the official what happened. He let me check out the bike then had me restart when the back of the field passed. I had to chase to get back on for 1/2 lap. After the race I determined that it was my bar that made the sound as it turned forwards from my hands pushing down.

sarals 

Valygrl, I'm no expert, but from (limited) experience the RD's usually allow a free lap until 5 to go. After that, no free lap. There was a crash in a women's crit I was watching a couple of weeks ago with four to go, and the riders who went down were not allowed a free lap. The RD was very clear to them and to everyone at the start of each race that there were no free laps inside of five to go. Shovel will be the definitive answer on this.

shovelhd

The rule is specifically written vaguely because they want the pit official to make the call. In races where they are short of officials the pit official is one that will almost always be assigned, even if the CR has to cover it, because it is an advanced skill. The rule is based on the fact that if you could be reasonably expected to have control over the mishap, no free lap. So if your dropped chain was due to mis adjustment of your fancy new Di2 drivetrain, then no free lap. However, if the course is a minefield full of teeth rattling bumps and potholes, I would be inclined to give you a break. However some CR's are very strict and may guide how the pit official rules. As always, it depends.

Allegheny Jet

Did the Michigan State Track TT's this past Saturday. They have yet to post final results but I did set track records for the 60+ Men in all three events, including knocking 25" off the 2K Pursuit record. The track is 200 meters with 40 degree banking. I had a difficult time powering through the turns, and on the Flying 200 had to back off due to a front wheel wobble at full go. I believe part of the turn issue was driver error with me pulling on the bar and part was a dirty/gunky headset that I discovered on Sunday. I switch between aero and sprint bars often and I believe debris in both headset bearings allowed a little play. I would have a good line in the turns then the bike would drift up or down causing me to correct it all the time and not concentrate on "speed". The power files for the 500 and 2k look like upside down saw blades.

chasm54

Are you kidding me? 25 seconds off a 2k record? That's like winning the 1500 metres in track and field by about 300 metres. It's insane.

Absolutely astonishing, well done.

Allegheny Jet

Well the record holder was from Canada, so maybe they used some conversation/exchange. I can't say my ride was spectacular as I wanted to be 3-4" faster. The first Kilo was way too slow at 1:20.10 due in part to bike handling issues. The effort would also have set the record for 55+, 45+ but not the 50+ group as I needed 2" to get that one. The 500 TT time was 2.97" better than the record but would not have set any other younger AG records. Keep in mind that the track is only 9 years old and the record book is not that deep.

AzTallRider

Um, what Chas said. Yowza.

valygrl

AJet. Dude. spectacular!

revchuck 

AJ - File that under "Old fart doing some serious ass kicking." Damn fine job!

nacler22

Way to go AJet. We may have to start calling you Rocket Man!

sarals 

Alleghany Jet indeed! With afterburners. AJ, you da man!

Hermes

That is an understatement. I looked at the record times and they are amazingly slow to the point they look wrong. My wife would have the record for all women all ages. However, props on a great time. See you in Seattle.

Allegheny Jet

You wife is amazingly fast so that is not a fair comparison to all the other women. Perhaps the track is extremely slow? Yea,... I like that answer. Maybe the Michigan people just don't like TT's? The weekend before they had the State Championship Team Time Trails, my 2K would have taken 2nd place of 8 teams in their 2K TTT race.

See you at the track next week Hermes. We begin driving out tomorrow. Plans are to drive a lot then spend a couple days in Glacier NP, then on to Redmond. After the races we will tour the Olympic NP for three days then get on a big boat for a week to see whales, icebergs and Alaska.

Hermes

Absolutely... The track is extremely slow. I like it.

I leave on Saturday morning.

Racer Ex 

Way to go AJ. Have fun and race well at track nats everyone. I'll be with you in spirit.

Hermes

We need you there in person. We have a real pony in AJ for TP or TS. Next year.

shovelhd

Good luck to everyone at Masters Track Nats. Stay safe.

Allegheny Jet

Count me in for next year! I would love to race with my BF buddies.


...and, tip a few afterwards reflecting on how fast we were.