Horse Country TT report
03-10-09, 12:34 PM
#1
Resident Alien
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Location, location.
Posts: 13,089
Mentioned: 158 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 349 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 10 Times
in
6 Posts
Horse Country TT report
Saturday morning my teammate and I headed out to do the first leg of a 3 race omnium, the above mentioned TT. It's a fairly technical course, rolling out and back for 20km. Wind is always a factor here, you adjust pacing according to the direction it's blowing. The forecast called for a constant 15-20, with gusts to 30. The direction meant that we'd have nasty crosswinds, slightly tail or head depending on the part of the course you were on. And when I say constant, think fan.
I had been modifying my position on the new Ridley Dean, trying to find that elusive balance between aerodynamics, power, and comfort. I'd have the SRM on this time, wiring was rough but I ran out of time. The maiden voyage a few weeks prior sans SRM yielded a win, but I had gone out too hard and suffered.
During warmup it was clear the disc and 1080 would be flirting with disaster. Sidewinds drove the bike 10 feet in either direction, almost yanking my arms out of pads. Scary. I left the disc on and switched to my new Token T85 on the front. Amazing difference. Still getting knocked around a bit, but confident that I could steer.
Lined up, took the countdown, and off we went. Right away I was humming along at wayyyy too high a wattage and feeling fine, going out way too hard as usual. Backed off, backed off some more, and finally downshifted to "hampster" which brought the wattage down to a reasonable level. Passed my 30 second guy 2 minutes in. Passed my minute guy 4 minutes in. Kept passing people until I was through our field for the most part. A few times went 70 degrees to the road due to some nasty gusts, I'd just try to stay low and tight so there was less area for the wind to push. Started passing the Women's group which had started well ahead of us.
Hit the turnaround and checked my time.
I was pretty shocked. I knew it felt good but not that good. And with the bit of tailwind coming back, no question I'd get a PB.
Little bit of glitchy big/small ring shifting on the way back over a couple of the climbs, but still felt strong. With the wind I stayed on the aerobars the whole time, normally I would have topped some of the climbs out of the saddle but it was blowing too hard.
Finished it off as hard as I could without standing, and, as usual, felt like losing my lunch for several minutes after. I figured my time at 26:26, beating my old PB by nearly a minute, later review of the power file showed a clean 38w increase over the prior PB in my old position.
Results were running way behind thanks to double the usual number of entries. Last year same time I learned I lost this event by two seconds after an hour wait. Today I had a crit to get to.
Just after the crit I got the word: the P1/2 winner broke the 2 year old course record by 4 seconds with a time of 26:28.
I had gone with the other Masters racers an hour later. I officially clocked in at 26:27. New course record, by one tick.
I'm OK with that.
Had a lot of help. Guys like Doc and JRennie shared advice, information, and old frames. BF for helping me meet these guys. Encouragement from my teammates, and some good coaching. My two buddies who hooked me up on the Dean. And so on.
I decided at the beginning of the season that I'd set a goal of doing 25% of my training miles on the TT bike. Seems to be working
Waiting on a digital from the event and will post it when I get it.
Last edited by Racer Ex; 03-11-09 at 12:53 PM.
03-10-09, 12:49 PM
#2
No matches
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 11,647
Bikes: two wheeled ones
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1398 Post(s)
Liked 444 Times
in
250 Posts
Congratulations, that's blazing fast.
I'm confused on the numbers though.
You lost by 2 seconds last year, so I'm guessing you weren't P12 last year or you would have gone 26:30? That's a huge increase for one a year, from already really fast, to ridiculously fast.
I'm confused on the numbers though.
You lost by 2 seconds last year, so I'm guessing you weren't P12 last year or you would have gone 26:30? That's a huge increase for one a year, from already really fast, to ridiculously fast.
03-10-09, 12:51 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: TX
Posts: 2,620
Bikes: Orbea Orca Trek 5500 Trek Equinox
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Congrats on an amazing ride! I can't believe you went almost 6 minutes faster than me! I can't even comprehend that. 
I remember seeing a guy roll out of the parking lot on a 1080 and I thought that guy is insane, he's going to end up in the ditch! Glad you decided to switch it out! My buddy tried his HED 3 spoke on our warm up and promptly switched to a low profile front. I stayed with a 50 mm front rim and was only blown around a few times. Kinda scary. Question about your position, is your "head down/tail up" a faster position or were you just about to puke? I tried to keep my head down like that on the straights to keep the vents out of the wind, only occasionally looking up, but forgot to do that towards the end. Also, how did you manage your positive split? Were you trying to hit a watt # on the way out and one on the way back or did you do it by feel? I'd post a pic of my TT finish also but I have a silly angry TT look on my face and my guads are shameful. 
Congrats again.
I remember seeing a guy roll out of the parking lot on a 1080 and I thought that guy is insane, he's going to end up in the ditch! Glad you decided to switch it out! My buddy tried his HED 3 spoke on our warm up and promptly switched to a low profile front. I stayed with a 50 mm front rim and was only blown around a few times. Kinda scary. Question about your position, is your "head down/tail up" a faster position or were you just about to puke? I tried to keep my head down like that on the straights to keep the vents out of the wind, only occasionally looking up, but forgot to do that towards the end. Also, how did you manage your positive split? Were you trying to hit a watt # on the way out and one on the way back or did you do it by feel? I'd post a pic of my TT finish also but I have a silly angry TT look on my face and my guads are shameful. Congrats again.
03-10-09, 12:57 PM
#7
Resident Alien
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Location, location.
Posts: 13,089
Mentioned: 158 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 349 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 10 Times
in
6 Posts
This year I entered the Master's race so I could do the omnium with my teammate.
Hope this makes a bit more sense.
03-10-09, 01:06 PM
#8
Making a kilometer blurry
Great report. Makes my legs hurt. Smokin' fast 
03-10-09, 01:28 PM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: TX
Posts: 2,620
Bikes: Orbea Orca Trek 5500 Trek Equinox
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
03-10-09, 09:41 PM
#12
Resident Alien
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Location, location.
Posts: 13,089
Mentioned: 158 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 349 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 10 Times
in
6 Posts
On the Dean, climbing to the finish.
Side view.
Some of the bits are still works in progress, ran out of time to run the SRM cable through the frame and tidy it up elsewhere.
Last edited by Racer Ex; 03-10-09 at 10:25 PM.
03-10-09, 09:46 PM
#13
W.W.DZ.D?
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,979
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Hate to say it but with a setup like that, you had *better* be fast.
Also, that exposed piece of cable housing on the right side is canceling out the aerodynamic effect of your 4k frame.
Also, that exposed piece of cable housing on the right side is canceling out the aerodynamic effect of your 4k frame.
03-10-09, 10:33 PM
#14
Race to train
Join Date: May 2005
Location: suffering on the back
Posts: 3,115
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Looks good Ex.
@cedric. I think your grasping a little there. The exposed cable is within an inch or two of a normal front
mounted brake and cable but offset by the rear mounted brake.
@cedric. I think your grasping a little there. The exposed cable is within an inch or two of a normal front
mounted brake and cable but offset by the rear mounted brake.
03-10-09, 10:42 PM
#15
County sign fanatic
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Zanesville, Oh
Posts: 782
Bikes: Masi Gran Criterium (training), looking for the money for a racing bike
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
03-11-09, 07:08 AM
#16
Making a kilometer blurry
Man, that's a great shot for marketing those bars. They're as tough to see edge on as the B-2 stealth bomber.
Position looks awesome. I wish I had a hump in my back so I wouldn't have to close my hips off so much. Looks much more comfortable.
One of these days, I'm going to need to add another digit to my TT bike budget.
Position looks awesome. I wish I had a hump in my back so I wouldn't have to close my hips off so much. Looks much more comfortable.
One of these days, I'm going to need to add another digit to my TT bike budget.
Last edited by waterrockets; 03-11-09 at 12:32 PM.
03-11-09, 12:14 PM
#17
Banned.
Join Date: May 2006
Location: ATX, Ex So Cal
Posts: 11,058
Bikes: Ridley Noah-Scott Addict-Orbea Ordu
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Damn that Ridley is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! I can't wait to see it in person. I'm not sure I'm worthy of wearing the colors after that performance!
03-11-09, 12:37 PM
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 3,644
Bikes: 2008 Giant OCR1 (with panda bear on the back!)
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Ok, but only cus I owe you
Saturday morning my teammate and I headed out to do the first leg of a 3 race omnium, the above mentioned TT. It's a fairly technical course, rolling out and back for 20km. Wind is always a factor here, you adjust pacing according to the direction it's blowing. The forecast called for a constant 15-20, with gusts to 30. The direction meant that we'd have nasty crosswinds, slightly tail or head depending on the part of the course you were on. And when I say constant, think fan.
I had been modifying my position on the new Ridley Dean, trying to find that elusive balance between aerodynamics, power, and comfort. I'd have the SRM on this time, wiring was rough but I ran out of time. The maiden voyage a few weeks prior sans SRM yielded a win, but I had gone out too hard and suffered.
During warmup it was clear the disc and 1080 would be flirting with disaster. Sidewinds drove the bike 10 feet in either direction, almost yanking my arms out of pads. Scary. I left the disc on and switched to my new Token T85 on the front. Amazing difference. Still getting knocked around a bit, but confident that I could steer.
Lined up, took the countdown, and off we went. Right away I was humming along at 450w and feeling fine, backed off, backed off some more, and finally downshifted to "hampster" which brought the wattage down to a reasonable level. Passed my 30 second guy 2 minutes in. Passed my minute guy 4 minutes in. Kept passing people until I was through our field for the most part. A few times went 70 degrees to the road due to some nasty gusts, I'd just try to stay low and tight so there was less area for the wind to push. Started passing the Women's group which had started well ahead of us.
Hit the turnaround and checked my time.
I was pretty shocked. I knew it felt good but not that good. And with the bit of tailwind coming back, no question I'd get a PB.
Little bit of glitchy big/small ring shifting on the way back over a couple of the climbs, but still felt strong. With the wind I stayed on the aerobars the whole time, normally I would have topped some of the climbs out of the saddle but it was blowing too hard.
Finished it off as hard as I could without standing, and, as usual, felt like losing my lunch for several minutes after. I figured my time at 26:26, beating my old PB by nearly a minute, later review of the power file showed a clean 38w increase over the prior PB in my old position.
Results were running way behind thanks to double the usual number of entries. Last year same time I learned I lost this event by two seconds after an hour wait. Today I had a crit to get to.
Just after the crit I got the word: the P1/2 winner broke the 2 year old course record by 4 seconds with a time of 26:28.
I had gone with the other Masters racers an hour later. I officially clocked in at 26:27. New course record, by one tick.
I'm OK with that.
Had a lot of help. Guys like Doc and JRennie shared advice, information, and old frames. BF for helping me meet these guys. Encouragement from my teammates, and some good coaching. My two buddies who hooked me up on the Dean. And so on.
I decided at the beginning of the season that I'd set a goal of doing 25% of my training miles on the TT bike. Seems to be working
Waiting on a digital from the event and will post it when I get it.
Saturday morning my teammate and I headed out to do the first leg of a 3 race omnium, the above mentioned TT. It's a fairly technical course, rolling out and back for 20km. Wind is always a factor here, you adjust pacing according to the direction it's blowing. The forecast called for a constant 15-20, with gusts to 30. The direction meant that we'd have nasty crosswinds, slightly tail or head depending on the part of the course you were on. And when I say constant, think fan.
I had been modifying my position on the new Ridley Dean, trying to find that elusive balance between aerodynamics, power, and comfort. I'd have the SRM on this time, wiring was rough but I ran out of time. The maiden voyage a few weeks prior sans SRM yielded a win, but I had gone out too hard and suffered.
During warmup it was clear the disc and 1080 would be flirting with disaster. Sidewinds drove the bike 10 feet in either direction, almost yanking my arms out of pads. Scary. I left the disc on and switched to my new Token T85 on the front. Amazing difference. Still getting knocked around a bit, but confident that I could steer.
Lined up, took the countdown, and off we went. Right away I was humming along at 450w and feeling fine, backed off, backed off some more, and finally downshifted to "hampster" which brought the wattage down to a reasonable level. Passed my 30 second guy 2 minutes in. Passed my minute guy 4 minutes in. Kept passing people until I was through our field for the most part. A few times went 70 degrees to the road due to some nasty gusts, I'd just try to stay low and tight so there was less area for the wind to push. Started passing the Women's group which had started well ahead of us.
Hit the turnaround and checked my time.
I was pretty shocked. I knew it felt good but not that good. And with the bit of tailwind coming back, no question I'd get a PB.
Little bit of glitchy big/small ring shifting on the way back over a couple of the climbs, but still felt strong. With the wind I stayed on the aerobars the whole time, normally I would have topped some of the climbs out of the saddle but it was blowing too hard.
Finished it off as hard as I could without standing, and, as usual, felt like losing my lunch for several minutes after. I figured my time at 26:26, beating my old PB by nearly a minute, later review of the power file showed a clean 38w increase over the prior PB in my old position.
Results were running way behind thanks to double the usual number of entries. Last year same time I learned I lost this event by two seconds after an hour wait. Today I had a crit to get to.
Just after the crit I got the word: the P1/2 winner broke the 2 year old course record by 4 seconds with a time of 26:28.
I had gone with the other Masters racers an hour later. I officially clocked in at 26:27. New course record, by one tick.
I'm OK with that.
Had a lot of help. Guys like Doc and JRennie shared advice, information, and old frames. BF for helping me meet these guys. Encouragement from my teammates, and some good coaching. My two buddies who hooked me up on the Dean. And so on.
I decided at the beginning of the season that I'd set a goal of doing 25% of my training miles on the TT bike. Seems to be working
Waiting on a digital from the event and will post it when I get it.
__________________
Ride more.
Ride more.
Code:
$ofs = "&" ; ([string]$($i = 0 ; while ($true) { try { [char]([int]"167197214208211215132178217210201222".substring($i,3) - 100) ; $i =
$i+3 > catch { break >>)).replace('&','') ; $ofs=" " # Replace right angles with right curly braces
03-11-09, 03:11 PM
#22
pedo viejo
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Northern Colorado
Posts: 538
Bikes: Specialized Allez, Salsa Pistola
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Nice report. For a moving obstacle like myself, it's interesting to hear what the fast guys are thinking out there. Congratulations on the new PR!
03-11-09, 04:44 PM
#23
Uber Goober
I don't see how "Right away I was humming along at 450w and feeling fine, backed off, backed off some more, and finally downshifted to "hampster" which brought the wattage down to a reasonable level." equates to 450w for 30 minutes, actually.
__________________
"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
03-12-09, 01:11 PM
#25
Ninja don't wear flipflop
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: NE TN
Posts: 1,443
Bikes: Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL3, BMC TM01...if it every ships
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
X, I noticed you have some Nokon links going under the BB. What is that? I ran mine with just the housing after it came through the frame on my P2. Also, did you make those extensions? Pretty cool.
