agoodale

I was mostly curious if people sat down and did the math one day to find out what they are capable of. I built a spreadsheet the other day and it looks like you did the same at some time. There was some good & bad info in there. Especially what you noted about how big a gap you need in a break to hold off the field on the last lap.

We're about the same in that it would be pointless for me to attempt to bridge if the break has more than 15-20 seconds. Unless I had some help. So if I really wanted to reach a break that was farther off I should take a look behind me after 10 seconds and see if help is coming. If not shut it down.

carpediemracing 

I consider 10-12 seconds the max I can bridge. If there's a hill then maybe a bit more since speed differentials are higher on a short hill. (But there'd have to be a flat/downhill/tailwind after the hill). But in normal, flat out racing, 10 seconds.

One of the "leg breakers" in the first 2010 Tues Night Worlds helmet cam race is Tim U. He got 3rd in Elite Roads in 2001. He's obviously very strong, esp considering that in the 2001 road race he bridged a close-to-minute gap solo in 5 miles, joined the four man break, then immediately went to the front and pulled the break (because Brice Jones told him to) to the line, led out the sprint, and got 3rd out of five. I should point out that Brice pulled his foot out of his shoe, else Tim probably would have gotten 4th. But for him to do a maximal bridge for 5 miles, then pull the break for 3, then lead out the sprint and still beat anyone... that's incredible.

He once held off a field in a local race (New Britain Crit) in a solo break. The field included heavy hitters Jeff Rutter and Graeme Miller, both top notch riders riding for Scott/Bikyle at the time. Them and a few others tried to bridge or encourage the field to bridge to Tim, but Tim held them off. He maintained an incredible speed on his "easy" laps, 28 mph or so. If someone yelled out a lower time gap (I was giving him gaps every lap) he'd go faster for a lap or two. I was besides myself when he won, it was insane, just unbelievable. I asked him about the race later.

"Well, once I got the gap, I figured they'd go about 28. To catch me they'd have to ride pretty hard, like 32, and I know they wouldn't want to go more than 32 or 33. If the gap started coming down I'd go 31 for a lap, maybe two. Then I'd slow down to 28 again. Sometimes the field would ease up so I'd get time. The hard laps were the fast ones but it wasn't too bad."

So that's how he does it. He gets 15 or 30 seconds, holds 28 mph, and then goes 31 mph for 2-3-4 minutes if the field is chasing. He makes it sound easy but that's crazy hard.

He's since gained something like 50-60 lbs but he's still very strong, just not like before.

He has a Masters now and is a teacher. But his approach to figuring out breaks and such is a bit different from what I do. I'm worried about details because that's where I am. He paints with broad strokes because he's so strong.

Grumpy McTrumpy

does anyone assign TSS values to gym/strength workouts?

caloso

Hell, I assign a TSS to raking the leaves. (Unfortunately, it's just a wild ass guess.)

bostongarden

I'm thinking that the cold weather affects the functioning of my srm, or, perhaps, the battery is dwindling. I'm not focused on power at present, but, I'll look down on occasion. I enjoyed very much my 50' ride, but, the power readings were way lower than my estimate based on feel.

Grumpy McTrumpy

when I got back from my ride-workout-ride, the power meter gave me a TSS that did not jibe with my internal legs-o-meter, so I created a new workout and gave it 50.

Grumpy McTrumpy

do you calibrate it?

jwible

I guess I should add TSS for strength training.

Had an EPIC roller session.

Actually first time on the rollers in a looong time. I was surprised at how much easier it was to ride for longer than the trainer. Also I was able to spin up to about 320 watts w/o resistance or over revving the engine. Held 220 watts nicely at a 90-92RPM cadence.

johnybutts

I rested today.

CX races this weekend, and I'll mix in several hours of endurance on top. I felt better today than all my previous days.

mattm

Me too.

bostongarden

Haven't calibrated it at all. Just took what srm did/said. I know there were directions somewhere about calibrating. Is that a wise thing to do every now and then? If so, what length of time does "now and then" equal? Every 6 months?

Grumpy McTrumpy

I think if you really want superb accuracy you should calibrate it more often than that. I haven't calibrated mine since racing season however. What I began to notice when the crank battery was getting close to failure was the zero-offset number kept going down regularly.

bostongarden

Thanks Grumpy. I haven't looked at the offset number for months -- forgotten about it!! I will check it on my next ride and see if it is in the appropriate range.

kensuf

3:45 ride time, just under 80 miles, I was home at 11:30. It was a little brisk when I went out the door, but a nice 58 when I got home. It's supposed to get up to 70 today and I have the whole day ahead of me.

Grumpy McTrumpy

Calibrate your SRM

I have the .xls spreadsheet on the other puter. My process uses a couple of workbenches, trainer, 30 kg bucket of sand (verified) and some rope. It takes a while since I do four tests and average them.

I have also taken to using the rear wheel as a "winder" to raise/lower the weight. this makes it far easier to control the load.

Grumpy McTrumpy

yesterday was the first day of the "strength phase". first squats, deadlifts etc.

today = ow ow ow ow ow ow ow

should I do a nice easy rollers ride? I am thinking maybe yes

Smallguy

yesterday was a day off and today I did some technique work.. tired out spinerval 35.... my one leg drills sucked but the rest was fine finished the hour with some easy spinning and chatting with the gf.

ZeCanon

4:30 with the CSU crew on the current test bike. It's quite awesome.

shovelhd

88 miles today with the club. After four straight days off the bike, doing renovation work 14 hours a day, I feel like a truck ran over me.

Grumpy McTrumpy

roller ride helped. I feel less crappy.

mattm

4.5 hours today with a friend on another team.

johnybutts

CX race today 1 hr, good for like 80 TSS.

bostongarden

About an hour tooling around getting my shifters and new bars set in a position that I like.

The black Arundel bartape that I've had since 2009 -- a freebie that was tossed in when I got my bike -- is annoying.

The brand name appears (repetitively) in white along one-half of the tape. No problem for the most part, as I used it as a guide for overlapping; but, some of it shows around the shifters (hard to wrap and keep the white and brand name out of sight). So, I'm going to call this good practice on wrapping, ride with it a bit and see if I like cork, and then go get some all-black bartape.

Happy to receive recommendations for bartape :-)

Grumpy McTrumpy

cinelli

bostongarden

Transitioning from a recovery period back to putting in some miles, 84'.

Thanks Grumpy; I'm going to check out tapes. I rode with the Arundel today and it may do for the non-race part of the season. I think the tape I took off was Fizik microtex (it had lots of little holes in it).