Speedplay pedals

 

Probably not an equivalent problem on recumbents, but ...

A few weeks ago a buddy (a physician) told me about a serious injury he received when clipping into his Speedplays on his DF.  The cleat didn't completely clip in, he pushed down hard on the pedal to get started.  Instead, his foot slipped off the pedal, he literally catapulted over (to his left), landed hard on his head and his left shoulder.  He was knocked unconscious for more than 20 minutes.  Given that this was a concussion he suffered proximate memory loss and serious shoulder injury (but, fortunately, no broken or separated bone).  Wisely, his own physician recommended against open road cycling for several weeks to be certain that there wouldn't be sudden dizziness or disorientation.

Yesterday, I was starting out on a training ride with a few buddies and the exact same event happened.  Fortunately there was no loss of consciousness.  BUT my buddy's helmet was cracked in half.  Imagine if he hadn't worn that helmet.

My own issue has more to do with the SIDI shoes I wear ... when I wear them.  (Another reason I wear sandals or shoes with recessed cleats).  The `plastic' bottom of the SIDI shoes slips on the pedal when I try to clip in.  In very hilly terrain, when starting uphill trying to clip in ... I have to be very, very careful not to slip off the pedal with the shoe.  If I `miss it' I usually tear some skin on the ankle and have to scramble fast to recover my balance on the bent.

Mountain `Road' Racing on the Bacchetta Carbon Aero 2.0

The Skull Valley Loop Challenge for 2014 takes place on Sunday, September 21. 

  

This is a short (53 miles, 4,000 ft of climbing) `ride' that many of us use as a `race.' Some screaming descents and witheringly long climbs. (vid of descent)

 

My current training schedule is probably too aggressive. (below).  But ... I can revise it as things evolve / develop.  

 

I had earlier planned on using both an upright bike and the recumbent on this year's race.  But, as it turns out, I am climbing faster on the recumbent.  So it'll be just the Bacchetta Carbon Aero 2 recumbent.  Gearing is 58/49 upfront and 11/36 (10 spd) in back.

  

Most of my training is done with my two good friends and neighbors, Forrest Holly and Dave Dornbush.  We've formed a `mutual annihilation society.'   

 

I'm also attaching the training routes, miles and climbing feet for each training route.

 

TRAINING SCHEDULE: Aug 28 - Sep 19: With Ridewithgps.com links

  

I've not assigned discrete training tasks for each day but I'll use the Bacchetta Ti Aero to train on for all but one Skull Valley Loop circuit and I'll incorporate the following training methods: 

• intervals
• tempo
• strength training (climbing in high gear, keeping HR Zone 3 or below)
• low and slow (aerobic)
• bridging
• ankle pedaling
• bike handling on fast descents

Given that my `ready to ride' weight is currently hovering around 175 I'd like to get it down to 165 on race day.  Dicey.

 

Annie, my wife, will meet me at the top of Iron Springs Road (MP 7.5) with a bottle of water with electrolytes.  Then she will meet me at MP 298 (mile 40) again with another bottle of water with electrolytes.  I'll `preload' with a liquid formula of maltodextrin and protein powder.  During the race I'll consume Hammer Gel from a 4 oz plastic squirt vial.  No solid foods for two days preceding event.  External catheter (oh, get over it!). 

 

I don't intend to stop during the `race.'  I'll be using the `blue bike,' i.e., the CA2.  I'll be carrying no tools, no extra tire, no extra clothing.  If I get a flat or a mechanical ... I'm over.  Cooked.  I'll sag it to the end.   

 

My PB on this course is 2:49:00 in 2012.  I'm going to try for 2:30:00 this year.   

 

As you can imagine I'm over-involved in this craziness.  Why else would I be cathexing like this in such a public manner?

Goal # 1

175 lbs.

Accomplished.

Am I a cynic? Or what?

The more I attempt to improve my performance the more I find I have grimy little pockets of self-deception that I have to deal with. 

Only recently have I conceded that I have to drop to no more than 165 lbs to cross the barrier from `finisher' to `wiener' (uh, I think I mean `winner').

Intervals.  I've avoided them.  I actually restricted my cycling to `ultracycling' so as avoid intervals.  Intervals are uncomfortable, hard and sometimes just really scary. 

Sandbagging.  I'd carry the kitchen sink on training rides.  The deceptive rationale was: "I can't go fast because I'm carrying too many tubes, tires, clothes, tools, too much water, food, etc."  And then I'd find cover in "but I'm an ultracyclist and you don't want to be caught out on the Mongolian Steppes without at least four gallons of Hammer shit." 

Today I read about a fellow who managed to do a sub-4 hour 100 miler.  I'm purposely going to not name the fellow or the bike because I'm trying to be less of a prick these days.  Most of the time. 

The sub-4 guy attributes his accomplishment to the wonders of the bike he rode (he owns the company, as it turns out).  Claims the bike is special, remarkable, brilliant, etc. 

It's not.  But it is different. 

`Different' is like the right shoe is different from the left shoe. 

`Special' is when the right shoe also works on the left foot. 

His bike ... it's good on the flats, with few intersections, with little vehicular traffic, with a tailwind, is really aero ... and is mechanically reliable as long as you have a pro mechanic or two to keep it working. 

Hype. 

So. 

• I'm a inveterate rationalizer. 
• A wiener (I mean `winner'). 
• I procrastinate. 
• I make up excuses. 
• I'm not as much the prick I used to be. 
• And I have less patience with creepy generalizations. 
• Maybe, too, I'm a cynic. 

Nah.  I'm not a cynic.

I'm a sharp-eyed, no-bullshit skeptic. 

BOOJWAH!!

(Boojwah: Something distasteful. A replacement for the swearword "bullshit" Can be used to describe something stupid or annoying.  Source.)

Be suspicious of things when they go well. 

The `addiction' voice says: Wow!  If you've made such progress with the current level of effort think what you could do with 2  X the current level of effort.  

--- 

What is the definition of a fanatic? 

A fanatic is a person who redoubles his effort as soon as he loses sight of the objective. 

But what is the `objective?'

---

Only through error, mistakes and wasted effort have I learned that the effort to `be the best that I can be' regarding cycling .... it isn't worth it. 

One surefire way to live a life of thin gruel is to `hide out' in the few areas in which we excel. 

And then we find `WHAMMO!'  Life has passed us by while we've been diligent in burying our head, seeking blindness, numbness and order.

---

Standing near that precipice, that slippery slope of `doubling up' my training I'm chuckling now and saying:

"Oh bullshit!  Ha!  This is just another trap."

Boojwah! 

Life's too short. 

Screw pouring all of my energy into `performance.'

Too many other interesting things.

• Friends
• Family
• Reading
• Napping
• Work (not `job')
• Things I haven't tried yet.
• Especially things I haven't tried yet. 

TURBO TECHNIQUES: Full Power Circle Pedaling and Ankle Pedaling

Yesterday I completed an out-and-back 100 mile course with 7,300 feet of climbing.  "Double Trouble Century"

I was the only recumbent cyclist among the nine of us.  Since it was a circular out and back course riders had the option of just doing one loop (50 miles).

This course is a very difficult climbing course.  Even more so given that we rode it counter clockwise.  The last half included 19.5 miles of unremitting climbing with the grade of climb increasing (7-9%) the last 4 miles. 

Physics and aerodynamics give the advantage to the recumbent on descents.  Less wind resistance.  Somewhat the same on flats but a very good upright bike cyclist can reduce or even eliminate these advantages (especially if several upright cyclists form a paceline and rotate taking the lead). 

I chose to live in this terrain (Prescott, AZ) because, in fact, it is mountainous.  Perhaps a consequence of my personality (adversity builds resilience and capacity) it is an even more demanding cycling terrain for recumbents.  Hence the fact that I am the only recumbent cyclist out here.  (There are a few other recumbent cyclists but they stick to the few flat areas and ride short, short distances for recreation). 

It is an oft referred to prejudice that 'bents can't climb.  To challenge this popular premise I've spent the past 3 years doing almost nothing but climbing (650,000 feet of climbing with 7,000 miles in '13).  The assumption on my part was that my climbing speed would improve the more climbing I did. 

I've learned that that is the `lazy man's' assumption.  My speed did NOT improve.  My stamina for climbing improved, of course, dramatically.  (I would always be the only recumbent finishing cycling events ... and almost always the last to finish). 

In 2014 I accepted the gentle and persistent advice of two outstanding recumbent cyclists: Jim Verhuel and Dennis Johnson.  Both advised me to deal with the fact that there is no way to cycle faster without building power.  And the way to build power is to a) get a power meter, b) do speed intervals and climbing tempo, c) carefully lose body weight (speed is a function of the power to weight ratio). 

Without much surprise my climbing speed has improved using these principles.  A careful training regimen to accomplish this outcome meant that I actually spent less time on the bike.  Instead of taking off for 11 hours every other day on long, slow endurance training events I would do 3 - 4 hours of short, fast and intense training.  The added `pain' of intense workouts was sufficiently mitigated by the fact that I had more time for friends, family and reading.  An unexpected (I don't know why it would have been `unexpected') benefit has been the fact that I'm much faster.  Very satisfying outcome. 

TURBO TECHNIQUES:

Along the way, this year, I rediscovered a `turbo' factor to my training to ride faster.  I call it `turbo' simply because there seems not to be another name for it.  The `turbo' factor is comprised of two pedaling techniques.  The first technique is `full power circle pedaling (FPCP).'  The second technique is `ankle pedaling.' 

Full power circle pedaling is nothing more than `pushing' with one leg while `pulling' with the other leg.  (This can be done only if the foot is attached to the pedal with a cleat or cage).  The `cost' of FPCP is the expenditure of more energy, i.e., increased heart rate and increased respiration.  Makes sense doesn't it.  Almost double the effort is rewarded with improved performance. 

Ankle pedaling seems to add another 10-30% to performance while not increasing the effort (some time in another blog entry I'll discuss this odd fact).  Feels like cheating :)  Getting something for nothing. 

Ankle pedaling recruits the shin and calf muscles.  The shin and calf muscles can be very strong in some people.  Use or overuse of these muscles can also cause painful splints, tendon damage and cramps.  Fortunately for me I have experienced none of these problems; quite likely because I have actively used them (without overuse) in many years of cycling. 

This year I have emphasized both FPCP and ankle pedaling in my training.  Lots of intervals and tempo.  For example, I would engage FPCP for 100 pedal strokes multiple times per training.  As well, I would `metricize' (i.e., 50 ankle strokes multiple times per training) ankle pedaling. 

I can understand why FPCP and ankle pedaling is received with mixed report by ultracyclists.  Anything that stresses or increases steady low-level effort results in compromised performance on ultra events.  Only so much juice in an orange.  Better to roll along at an average speed of 11.5 mph for 20+ hours than to `hammer' at 13 mph and burn out in 17 hours. 

This leads me to an increased appreciation for the accomplishment of Jim Verhuel.  Two years ago he broke a course record (perhaps a world record) for the most miles covered in a 24 hour event (Sebring 24 Hour).  Jim has been both an advocate (coach) and a practicing athlete in the use of the power meter (recumbent).  He has combined both power training and ultra cycling.  In my estimate, this goes beyond having been `gifted' the genes for athletic accomplishment.  It takes dedicated and disciplined training. 

So, on yesterdays `Double Trouble Century' I was able to finish the first lap `first'  (besting second place by 10+ minutes).  The other cyclists having dropped out or been slower.  No small accomplishment, I admit, for a cyclist on a recumbent.  It is more notable given that I was the oldest cyclist among us. 

NOTE: (That others dropped out does not mean they were incapable of being `first.'  They could simply have had something to do or someplace else to be.  Cycling has been, for me, a `humility training machine.') 

This result is attributable almost exclusively to the effect of focused training using the FPCP and ankle pedaling techniques. 

Train fast to race fast. 

On the second (`back') loop I did not have the stamina to maintain such a high level of performance.  I am concluding that with more training I would develop the essential stamina to maintain a high level of performance for the second loop.