Heathpack 

First 40K TT for me in over a year, I had several planned this spring but life somehow always got in the way. I was on the fence about racing this one too, because there was a 40% chance of rain on the course and I didn't really want to go down 2 weeks before the State TT. Finally decided to just do it. @Cleave took one for the team and decided not to race due to the forecast- thereby ensuring that it would not rain.


I wasn't expecting a huge turnout but was stoked when I arrived- lots of cars and several women with tri bikes. Alas, it was a local tri club, just meeting up for a training ride, not realizing there was a TT that day. Tried to talk some of the women into racing but they were having none of it. So it was just me and around a dozen men, most of whom I know by now and mostly they were doing the same as me- getting ready for the SoCal State TT.


Ex suggested that I race this one with no data and I thought long and hard about how literally I wanted to take that recommendation. I knew what he meant- 'less focus on numbers and more of the fundamentals of pacing, please'. But no data is a handicap in these things. So in the end, I did display the data but I just made a point of only an occasional glance.


This course is two laps of the 20K course, which is 10k out and 10k back. Slight downhill going out and today with a slight 4-6 mph headwind. So the split times would be more even than they can be on this course, and no splits which you can use as rest. A little tougher conditions than my previous PR, which was a tailwind/downhill on the outbound legs, giving you two legs of "rest" and two of hard efforts. Easier for me. It also was humid, making the course slower.


I had one jacked up turn (didn't realize that there was an asphalt curb and expected to be able to turn an inch or two past the fog line, had to do a figure eight in the end- doh!). On a power basis, I did not pace it well. Went out too hard, then had declining power throughout. But a really helpful data file to have going into States, will help with pacing for sure. And a pretty good power and time PR for me on this course. Overall I'm happy with it.


Heart rate pacing was really good. Pretty much had my HR pegged exactly where it should have been for the entire race. HR trace is red and power is purple. I love to look at pleasing data traces.





Also, the last race in the SoCal TT series is next week at Santiago Canyon. My goal has been to go sub-32 minutes on that- mostly because one of the first times I ever chatted with Nemesis was at Santiago Canyon and she told me it took her 5 years to get below 32 min on that course. So I want to do it in 2. Looking pretty good power-wise to make that happen, although that's a tricky course and you can't count your chickens before they are hatched on that one.

revchuck 

Good report and great job, @Heathpack!

Hermes

@Heathpack Booyah. Black booties may look more stealthy and badass.

echappist

well done. looks quite slippery

globecanvas

Bleh.

8
DNF
2
7
8
DNF
2
DNF
8
DNF
3
7
14

revchuck 

As they say in Germany, «Sheiße passiert».

Heathpack 

@globecanvas, look on the bright side: at least there were (presumably more than) 14 people in your race!

echappist

btw, what disc are you using in that photo?

Heathpack 

All my TT wheels are made by FLO.

echappist

gotcha; and you are running that disc tubeless courtesy of @Racer Ex, correct?

I'm thinking of getting a disc myself and am contemplating options.

Heathpack 

Yep, everything is tubeless on all my bikes.


The FLO disc is a huge bang for the buck. The wheels are well made, the company is great to work with.


The only negative is that they are a little heavy. As hard as it is for me to wrap my head around, my fitter assures me that this is irrelevant at the weight difference we are talking about vs other disc options I was considering (which were all far more expensive).


I actually have two FLO discs because the first one I got had a minor manufacturing defect. We were able to jury-rig a solution but FLO still replaced the wheel. We bought the jury-rigged one back for I think $75 or so, just to have the back up. The FLO guys are great to work with, good people making a great product for a great price.

globecanvas

(front-running the race report)

Nice job, @Heathpack!

revchuck 

Damn right!

Heathpack 

Thanks @globecanvas and @revchuck.


Great race for me today, went out and just executed very well.


This one starts with a gradual 1-2% uphill on a bike path, through a tunnel, then a 2 mile climb at 4%, a brief descent, a 2nd 50-sec climb, then a 1ish min descent and then 5.5 miles of rollers but gradual downhill to the finish. Once you get over the hill, the road is susceptible to unpredictable wind gusts, plus it has high speed traffic (but a good bike lane and mostly-wide shoulder) so it gets a little dicey sometimes. Its been tricky for me to ride as a newby, you really want to put out more power in the first half of this TT on account of the first half being uphill (without overcooking yourself) and then really try to stay on the power for the downhill section, ignoring the gusts and the traffic. And because of the downhill sections, you actually get some rest periods, so you can recover a bit more than you can in most TTs.


I sat down last week and figured out what I needed to do to go sub-32 minutes on this course, which has been my goal since the first time I raced it. On each section of the course, I was able to exceed or stay on my power target, a first for me. Also managed to stay in aero 100% of the time, despite almost being blown over by a freak gust of wind once and almost being sucked into the vacuum of a garbage truck that passed me at 60 mph. For some reason, neither of these things even freaked me out today, I just kept going.


From the start to the tunnel, I exceeded my power target by 10 watts, up the first hill by 8 watts, up the second hill by 29 watts and when I got to the top of that second hill, I looked at my time and knew it was good to make the sub-32 finish goal. Haha that's the only time I've ever been happy at the top of that hill.


Once I got past the descent, I finished the rolling section at the upper end of the wattage range I had planned. My Garmin beeped at my go-point for my final minute and I managed 145% for 49 seconds. Why only 49 seconds? Because I ran out of race. I guess I was going faster this time cause my 60 seconds shrunk to 49.


Total victory, just paced it well, made a good plan, executed the plan. Can you tell I am happy with it?


Time for me was 31:39, which is about a minute PR. Power PR on this course by 10 watts. I came in 3rd behind Nemesis, who was about a minute off her PB. Second place was a woman 18 years my junior. So I'm happy with 3rd, it was a good finish for me. And awesome in that I was 5 seconds ahead of 4th place.


Next Sat is the SoCal State TT. I'm not going to kid myself that a 40K TT will ever be easy. But I'm feeling ready for it for sure. Bring it on.

Bandera

Well done!
Dedication to the hard of work of a dedicated training plan and a growing experience of a highly technical discipline of the sport is paying off.

-Bandera

echappist

well done. i'd have said eff it and threw in the towel after the close pass by the truck

sarals 

Freaking awesome, HP. Ex and I talked about your race at VSC yesterday, and notable was your steady UPWARD progression over time. You're a rock star! Congratulations!!

sarals 

This is from my race report to my team, so there is a lot of technical gobbledegook in there.

Race: LAVRA Time Trial Series #4
Course: Velo Sports Center Velodrome
Events Contested: Flying 200 Meter Sprint; 500 Meter Time Trial; 2K Time Trial
Teammates: None

It has been a long time since I swung a leg over a bike in anger. The last time I actually raced was in February for the Winter Bump. Since then, I've been working on my strength and fitness, working out at Hellyer, learning the craft and art of track racing, specifically track sprinting. Today I finally raced the bike on a track for the first time ever. Because I am building towards the UCI Masters Track Worlds, to be held at the Velo Sports Center Velodrome in Carson, I needed to get track time and competition on the VSC boards. My strength is my sprint. Where am I with that? I have promising numbers from some cursory training efforts, but you never know where you really are until you jump into the fray. So, I entered this weekend's LAVRA sprint races, picking the flying 200, the 500 meter TT, and the 2K TT as my races.

I arrived early, staked out a spot to set up my trainer (space is at a premium in the VSC infield), and then did a partial trainer warmup, completing the warmup by doing a twelve lap ride on the track. My coach loaned me his "fast wheels", discs front and back, making the bike was as ready as it's ever been. I selected fairly low gearing, because my coach and I decided to be conservative and opted for cadence rather than slow starts trying to spin up a big gear. So, I was riding 85 gear inches.

The bike setup varies for the effort. For the 200, I used my sprinter handlebars, and for the 500 and 2K, I used my aerobars. I was dressed in my PV skinsuit and full TT helmet for all of the efforts.

When my turn came, I took the track for the flying 200 sprint. This effort is three laps, the last lap is timed from the 200 meter start line to the finish line, and that portion is ridden all out. The protocol is to launch the sprint from the balustrade coming out of turn four, diving through turn one into the sprinters lane by the 200 meter line, which is located roughly at the beginning of turn two. I rolled off easily, worked up to a moderate speed, enough to keep from slipping in the turns, and made my way up to the rail on my second lap. I used momentum coming out of the turns to carry me into the following turn in order to conserve energy. At the bell lap, I accelerated through turn three, out of four, and by the time I reached the start/finish line on the front straight, I was at full speed, and on the verge of over spinning. I was seriously undergeared for the effort! I held what I had, and drove hard around the track at my max cadence, 128 RPM. My time was better than I expected from the feel of the effort, it was 14.989. Mid pack, not terrible for my first attempt.

My next race was the 500 Meter Time Trial. This is a standing start from a launch gate two lap (on a 250 meter track) full on sprint effort. The start is critical in this event. Botch the start in any number of ways and time can be lost before you even get through the first lap. I attended a Lee Povey gate clinic Friday night, and got five gate starts and some great instruction. I was confident I could manage a good start. My power profile favors the 500, and even though it really hurts, I like the effort, a lot.

I used the time just prior to giving my bike to the starter to be mounted in the gate to concentrate on the effort, calm myself, and step my way through the start sequence. Once on the bike in the gate and ready, the countdown starts. The last five seconds of the countdown are audible tones. At two, I was up, at one I was back, and at zero, I hit it. I started the effort just as the gate unlocked, that part was good. Next, I needed to get the bike up to speed quickly and drive for the pole line before I got to turn one. That part was good. Then, I had to continue to accelerate off the saddle, all the time driving hard while keeping the bike low on the track. When I came out of turn two, I realized I was going pretty fast and I'd had a good start. Next, I took the saddle, and immediately went to the aerobars. That part could have been cleaner, but I don't think I lost any time there. I drove the bike down the back straight, into turn three, concentrating on pedaling through, keeping the power on, the cadence up, and the line tight on the bottom of the track. Stable and smooth. Out of turn four, I was still driving hard, and did all the way down the front straight. Through turns one and two, for the start of lap two, I was still going strong, and as I came out of turn two, I had the thought that I felt better than expected, there were matches left, and they needed burning. Into turn three I started to feel it, and out of four I was running out of gas. When I hit the line, I was going on guts and instinct, and really suffering! My time was 44.831, almost a second faster than what I did previously. This was a good time, and put me pretty much in the middle of the women. I was pleased, but yet, there is improvement to be had.

Next came the 2K. It was several hours before that event got underway. This eight lap (of a 250 meter track) event is too long to sprint, but too short for a true endurance event. However, it favors endurance riders with big engines, and that's not me. My coach and I feel that it's a good technique event for me to do, and I probably would do okay in it. The start is a standing start from the gate, once again, but it is not an all out effort type of start. It's much like a road time trial, but the launch is a little harder, and you're riding a fixed gear. I decided to approach the effort as I would a time trial, settling on a sustainable power number, and being as smooth and technically proficient as I could. Concentrate! When my turn came, I got another good start, got up to a sustainable speed and settled in for eight laps. I rode the pole line and tried to keep the bike low in the turns. Overall, I succeeded. With two to go, I felt I had enough in the tank to ramp up, so I increased the effort. Coming out of turn four for the finish I still had some left, so I ramped up as much as I could, and hit the line delivering a 3:26:600. Not bad. Not horrible, not really good, but not bad.

I now have a good feel for a track race. I'd like to stick my nose into a mass start event, either a points race or an elimination (miss n out), just to get it out of my system! I truly am a track sprinter, and I will continue to work to get better at that. It's technical, it's hard, but oh my, is it fun, and is it satisfying!

revchuck 

Great report, Sara! You've got me thinking...

Heathpack 

Nicely done, @sarals! Good showing for your first set of track races!

Heathpack 

You know, one thing that I've noticed: good results are intrinsically good, right? You work for them because you want them personally and they really are the reward in the end.

But enhancing the intrinsic pleasure you get from good results is knowing the impact it has on people around you who understand what you're doing and what it took to achieve the result. In short, it make people around you who care about it happy. This sounds a little wrong, like maybe you're doing things for the wrong reason, to gain others' approval. Nope that's not it at all. It's actually a happiness multiplier.

You get results you're happy with. Knowledgeable friends are happy for you. And then you're more happy.

Anyway, I was thinking that Ex will like the data file from the race and how that made me even happier. Fine line with the coaching thing, you've got to let that happiness be there with it being an enhancement to the endeavor and not part of the goal itself.

That's why these race report threads exist, in sure of it. Happiness multiplier. And that happiness is more meaningful when you share it with people who have an appreciation for it.

Hermes

Recap of weekend training and racing…

The women’s team pursuit camp was a huge success with 21 women showing up for the camp with a couple arriving from Colorado and one from Canada. The camp started with a presentation by Coach, Roger Young on track basics and team pursuit. From there, the women went on the track to ride at the various positions on the track talked about in the presentation to familiarize themselves with the track.

After that was over, the racers did ribbon drills behind a leader in smaller groups riding up and down the banking. That was followed by a 30 lap pace line targeting 24 second laps (23.5 mph) and with one lap pulls and then Roger came out on the motor for another 42 laps at 21.5 second laps (26 mph).

By happenstance, my wife is leading the group when the motor takes over. This was pretty amazing and a credit to Roger and the promoter to get 21 women to the camp and see them all on the track together. The Hellyer mafia would have a fit if a supervisor organized 21 riders behind a motor. However, the women were perfect and it was a fabulous way for the the newer riders to VSC to get the feel of the track and hone their pace line skills.


We did not attend day 2 since we attended the Santiago Canyon Time Trial. However, the day 2 pursuit camp was about breaking up into teams and doing practice racing. We hooked up with the camp in the evening for a dinner and got the skinny on the day. Most of the women did the mass start omnium in the afternoon so there were some tired legs.

I was totally undecided about doing the TT. On one hand, it is a fun ITT and I was there. On the other hand, it will not add any value and in fact make me slower for the LAVRA the next day. I decided to pass and just support my wife. So in that case, she decided to just race to the finish and I would pick her up and then she would have time for other stuff like a mani and pedi before dinner. Hey. I know a mani and pedi will make me faster in my 500 so I was all in.

Here is a pic of her near the start on the bike path portion of the time trial.



On Sunday, I did the LAVRA 500 meter time trial in the morning and a team pursuit in the afternoon. Day 3 of the women’s pursuit camp was sandwiched in between the morning sprint session and the afternoon endurance session.

We had 35 racers in the 500 and the flying 200 was the first event off after they close the track to warmup. It is always more difficult to get a good warmup when there is a lot of time between the closing of the track and the start my race. However, I did some spinning on the rollers and then went on the track and got in a few laps in race gears at higher power. Then I did a flying 85% 100 meters and then a 90% roll up standing start for a few pedal strokes. My plan was to then use the rollers on and off to maintain my warmup as I waited for my event. My main point was to get one good flying effort and one standing start to exercise the ATP-PC system and have it recharge without generating too much fatigue.

My 500 was excellent for me. I do not have the full results yet to see how others did.

Here is the video from my 500.


There are many areas in which to improve and I have some marginal gain tweaks to make on the equipment but I am happy with the effort for the time of year with worlds in October.

My team pursuit went well and I rode with some guys who wanted to use the team pursuit as a warmup for the individual 2K.

All the women’s teams from the pursuit camp did great and there was a new national record set for 3 women team pursuit. The three women raced together for the first time as a result of the camp and set a national record. That is a pretty good day at the office.

Hermes

@Heathpack Great racing and good to see you! @sarals I am very glad you are having such a great time at the track. Keep it up.

Heathpack 

Looks fun, @Hermes! Great to see you both on Sat.

sarals 

@Hermes, it was great to see you and MEA at VSC!! And, yes, that women's clinic looked to be pretty amazing. There was a load of talent in there.

Speaking of that, Molly van Houeling and her pursuit team set a new record (not sure if it was a WR or USA record), BUT, it wasn't recorded because there was only one official on the premises. Boo!

@Heathpack - you are so right about the multiplier!