Indoor Time Trial – Part II

February 2nd, 2010 by Patrik 2 comments »

So Dave and I (and a few other Bay State Tri Team members) raced the Harpoon Indoor Time Trial. Boy was I in for a surprise. We arrived at about 11am and it was 9 degrees outside. Fortunately we raced inside. The staging area was in the beer warehouse. So we grabbed some trainers, with views of some Harpoon UFO beer and claimed our warm up spot.

The race was held inside the bottling area. Fast Splits was the race organizer and had set up 3 groups of 8 Computrainers. Each group with it’s on multi large screen setup where they can view how they fared against other racers, where on the course they were, how fast they were going and how far behind a rider they were. Very slick. Dave compared it much to a carnival game where you squirt your water gun and try to be the first man to finish.

Come race time, we set up, got calibrated, which was a combination of weighing (so heavier riders got more resistance), and warmed up some more waiting for the race to start.

3.2.1… and the pain starts. My goal was to keep my PowerTap pegged at 315 (what I thought was my FTP). After about 3 minutes of pedaling I was in 3rd place in my group of 8, and falling behind. So the competitive side of me threw the plan out the window, upped my wattage to 350 and put my head down to catch up. As I approached, fellow Bay Stater, Frank moved into first and I moved into 2nd so now I had to chase him down. I was able to pass him and move ahead a few hundred virtual feet. As I pulled ahead, I noticed Dave moving into 3rd. We had a good group! Then the hill hit. Ouch. 1 mile of uphill pain. My lead diminished to 0. Frank and I crested the hill neck and neck and it was a 1 mile all out effort to the finish line. We climbed up to 30 mph, 35… maybe more. Neck and neck, 0 feet, 1 foot, 0…. We cross the finish line… unofficially 0.02 seconds apart. A fraction of a second? Are you kidding me? Reviewing my power file… 180 max HR, 336 watts avg.

We await official results… Dave quietly finished 3rd… just 28 seconds behind. Any longer and I’m sure he would have got us both! It was the hardest 8 miles of life. I was a sopping wet sweaty fool.

We’ve already signed up for a 3/20 team race at the Multisport Expo at MIT.

UPDATE: The official (unofficial?) results are in. There was some talk that the weigh-ins were inconsistent which could have led to strange timings… Regardless. The overall winner finished in 18:37.01. Basically an ass whopping if there ever was one. Your faithful bikers finished as follows:

Patrik – 96th – 22:06.77
David – 110th – 22:30 – unofficial, as the official time had him at 28:00 something…

Other Bay Staters:
Frank – 97th – 22:06.92 – 0.15 seconds!
Brian – 172nd – 23:54
Jeffrey – 238th – 28:15

2 comments »

Posted in news, racing, training

Tags:

Indoor Time Trial

January 20th, 2010 by Patrik 1 comment »

Coming up January 30th, David and I (among some other BayState folks) will be participating in the  Harpoon Brewery Indoor Time Trial in Boston. It’s an a 10km (6.2mi) 8 mile all out effort on computrainers. Heats will be running all day starting at 1:00PM. The last heat goes off 9:45PM. 15 riders are pitted against each other in each heat. I’ll update post race and report how it went.

Update: Apparently the race is held in the warehouse / brewing area of the building which has no climate control. So, due to recent cold weather, temperatures inside are expected to be 40-50 degrees F. At least there’s no wind!

Go!

1 comment »

Posted in news, racing, training

Tags:

Fueled by Cheerios

January 17th, 2010 by Nathan 2 comments »

Early Sunday morning, I met up with 20 or so riders for the weekly Sports Basement Group Bike Ride. Our ride that morning took us from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge through Sausalito to Mill Valley where we turned West and headed almost straight up to Four Corners. Crossing the Panoramic Highway at Four Corners, we headed down through Muir Woods to Muir Beach, then back up again on PCH for the second big climb of the ride to cross back over the Panoramic Highway a second time to get back to Sausalito and finally back home to San Francisco for 35 miles of good brisk riding.

I managed to finish, but just barely.

I didn’t really fuel up properly for the ride. I started the morning with a large bowl of Cheerios figuring that would be enough to get me through a moderate ride. I didn’t bother with any type of sports drink, snacks, or energy gels for the ride figuring a full Camelbak would carry me through the ride. Turns out a bowl of Cheerios will buy you about 25 miles of moderate tempo riding. That’s pretty good for one bowl of goodness, but for a 35 mile ride that creates some problems.

Next time, I’ll start with the Cheerios but continue with a something more substantial, and pack some Gatorade and a Clifbar. I also won’t ride on by Mike’s Bikes thinking, “hmmm… I’m running on empty… I could stop for 5 minutes and fuel up… no, I’ll keep riding.”

2 comments »

Posted in training

Tags:

Outfitting the Road Bike for Commuting

January 2nd, 2010 by David No comments »

I have added a few things to the Trek to make commuting more enjoyable.  Things like panniers, a head light, an Adamo seat, and fenders.  Take a look.  Now I just need this snow to go!

No comments »

Posted in Uncategorized

Cold Weather Cycling Tips

December 22nd, 2009 by David 3 comments »

Cycling in New England (or anywhere it gets cold) is tough over the winter months.  You must deal with the cold, the rain/snow, the wind, and the ice.  Not sure what to do about ice, but I do have tips on the prior three.   Here is what I have learned so far:

Tip #1: Goggles!!!  Scrap the sunglasses and try your ski goggles.  I find they keep my eyes and head warmer.  The goggles fit well with my standard helmet.

Tip#2: Pay up for gloves.  I admit, my first couple attempts were on the frugal side.  Tried the snowboarding gloves in the closet…no good.  Tried multiple layers of running gloves….no good.  The issue was wind and water getting in.  Finally made the purchased that changed everything about my cold wet hands.  The Barrier Lobster Gloves from Pearl Izumi are wonderful.  I couldn’t be happier.  Hands are toasty and dry.  The “lobster” fingers allow easy shifting.  They are also a bit long, which helps keep the wrists and forearms comfortable.  I like them so much I just bought their Barrier line shoe covers.  I will come back with a review on those.

Tip #3: Layer Layer Layer.  You can always take one off.  Start out a bit on the cooler side though.

Tip #4: A head sock with a neck warmer for the real cold days.

Tip #5: Stay Dry with Gortex shells!!!  Sounds like a no brainer, but any body part wet will destroy your ride when the temp get low.  For now I have been fine with my Gortex Snowboarding jacket and pants.  Over time I will buy some Gore gear for cycling.

Tip #6: Avoid a motorcycle helmet and goggle combination when biking in the cold.  To warm in my view.  I experienced sweat-ice build up inside the goggles, which was a pain.

Hope this helps my fellow winter cyclist!

Ride Safe,

David

WeBikeUS

3 comments »

Posted in Uncategorized, training

100 runs in 100 days

December 22nd, 2009 by Patrik No comments »

Time for the annual 100/100 Run Challenge (login required) on Slowtwitch.com. Now in it’s 4th year, the challenge is to run 100 times in 100 days. The rules are simple, run a minimum of 30 minutes and it counts. Once a day for 100 days, or double up a day and earn yourself a day off – or finish over 100.  The challenge started 12/15. Nathan is also participating!

Last year I managed 88 runs, 529 miles.  This year, I’m shooting for the full 100 runs. Today is Day 8 and so far I’m getting my runs in. The first 7 have been on the treadmill, and today I finally got one in outside, 4.14 miles along the Charles River. It was cold, windy, snowy, but glorious to be off the treadmill. As an added bonus, I’m 41 miles away from hitting 1500 running miles on the year. Go me!

No comments »

Posted in training

Tags:

High Above the Golden Gate

December 21st, 2009 by Nathan 1 comment »

Since I’m stuck without my bike for two weeks, I thought I’d post a picture of a recent ride up above the Golden Gate Bridge into the Marin Headlands.

I have a goal to make it all the way out to the Marin Headlands Visitor Center and back to San Francisco. On this particular ride, I only made it part way. But the views were still fantastic.

1 comment »

Posted in Uncategorized

Tags:

Rites of Passage… Flatting on the Golden Gate Bridge

November 25th, 2009 by Nathan No comments »

It wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t raining. I wasn’t stuck on the shoulder of a major highway. I even had a view of Alcatraz and San Francisco. All while I changed my flat tire.

I guess that’s why I carry my mini-pump, spare tube, and tire levers. I hadn’t changed a tire in several years, but apparently I still know how to get it done. Sorta like… riding a bike.

Aside from the one look of pity from a walker who I passed as I flatted, I didn’t get a lot of love from fellow cyclists. I guess when they see you have a pump out, they know you’re all set.

Speaking of getting some love from fellow cyclists, why not follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Then you’ll always be in the know when one of us gets a flat, puts 100 miles on a brand new Specialized Tarmac, or ditches his car and commutes to work by bike.

No comments »

Posted in Uncategorized

Tags:

Signs of Progress

October 20th, 2009 by Nathan 1 comment »

I’m going to talk about me (Nathan) for a minute. To monitor my progress as I get back into running, I started using a GPS and heart rate monitor to monitor my speed and heart rate. I’ve notice my heart rate gets going at about 180-185 BPM at a 9:30 pace. At that pace, I can hold a conversation, I can speed up if needed, and I seem to be able to sustain that pace for a few miles.

At 31 years of age, I’m pretty sure my max heart rate is supposed to be somewhere around 189 BPM (220 minus my age) and I shouldn’t be able to maintain anything above 90% of that which puts me at about 180 BPM. But, 180-185 BPM seems to be where I find myself running.

Until today.

Today I went out and my feet were pounding the pavement a little faster and my heart was pounding in my chest a little slower. On a 3.75 mile run, my pace averaged 9:07 with a heart rate of 172 BPM. I dropped 10 to 20 seconds off my pace and 5 to 10 BPM off my heart rate. Nice. Love seeing progress.

Maybe one day I’ll be as fast as Patrik and Dave. I have all winter to catch up. For now, I’ll just be a little proud of a little improvement.

1 comment »

Posted in training

Tags:

New Bike

October 12th, 2009 by Nathan 2 comments »

Nathan’s new bike arrived this afternoon. After jumping up and looking out the window anytime a truck drove by and one false alarm when a UPS driver delivered a package to the neighbors, my bike and pedals showed up in a couple boxes. The UPS driver loaded the boxes onto his dolley and said, “Oh. These are light.” Yeah. They better be.

The new bike is a 2006 Specialized Tarmac Pro. Obviously, it’s not a new bike, but it’s new to me. So I say that counts.

Next step is to put it together for real. Right now the bolts are tight enough to hold it together but not to ride. I also need some handlebar tape, a chain pin, and a quick tune up. Then I need shoes, a helmet, and shorts and a jersey. Plus a floor pump, a frame pump, probably a spare tube, a seat pack…

2 comments »

Posted in news