Saturday, April 30, 2016

Sweet Spot

Over the years I've experimented with many ways to `perform well' on a recumbent in the mountains.  Climb well, navigate fast descending switchbacks, controlled and fast descents on the straightaways.  Wind. 
 
Although front wheel drive movable bottom bracket recumbents can do well on the flats (if the rider can master the push-pull by pedal force against steering) I found that they are not suited to my terrain. 
 
I spent 2015 customizing the seat and the steering so that the recline was less than 4%.  While I gained `aero' I gave up power.  This does not, axiomatically, mean that there is an inverse relation between power and aero.  In 2014 Matthias Konig set a new Adult Male World Recumbent Racing Association record in the Non Faired Class by riding 100 miles in 3:26:54.  Average speed 28.999.  He is clearly at a sub 4% recline. 
 
 
There is a great advantage to having a very, very high gear when descending long distances.  The more teeth in the biggest front ring the longer it will take you to `spin out' and just coast.  That advantage turns into a severe disadvantage on the flats and climbs. 
 
My training bike (Bacchetta Ti Aero) used to have a 55/42 front ring and 11/32 ten speed rear setup.  Even at the 42/32 combination I found myself `grinding' up hills. 
 
Recently I changed out the front rings to a traditional `double' of 50/34.  That was a big help but it still had me `grinding.'  Over the weekend I installed a new SRAM PG-1070 rear cassette: 11/36 ten speed. 
 
I seem to have stumbled upon the perfect combination: 50 upfront and 36 in back.  `Sweet Spot.'  I can climb a 7% extended grade at 6 mph at a 65 - 70 rpm cadence without feeling a `grind.'  Plenty left over for short accelerations, upshifting for overtaking another cyclist. 
 
THIS is yesterdays 25 mile, 2,118 ft of climbing training ride. 
 
I'm really looking forward to more training on the hills. 
 
 
 
 


Sunday, April 24, 2016

Utah Gran Fondo on the Bacchetta Ti Aero

I rode the Planet Ultra Zion Gran Fondo in Utah yesterday.  My primary purpose in this event was to assess the characteristics of the road (chip seal) and general terrain in preparation for the Hoodoo 300 in August.  


The Planet Ultra folks put on a very well supported and well routed event.  I plan to do more of their events this year.  As usual, I was the only recumbent cyclist.  As well as the oldest rider.  

In all respects it was a worthwhile experience.  Good road quality.  Terrain (climbing, i.e.) not a problem.  Though I'll make some gearing changes for the Hoodoo 300 I was more than well prepared on the Bacchetta Ti Aero with the double (50/34) up front and ten speed cassette (11/32) in back.  

Fortunately no flat tire(s).  Michelin ProRace 3s with a tire liner.  

I will likely use both the Bacchetta Ti Aero and Bacchetta CA2 in the August event.  Gearing on the CA2 will be 58/42 up front with a ten speed 11/36 in back.  The bigger chain ring setup in the front will allow faster descents before I `spin out' (around 120 rpm). Tiller, R2C levers and Kent Polk Railgun seat on both.  


Bacchetta Ti Aero

Saturday, April 16, 2016

A Collection of Videos of Cycling in Prescott Arizona

I live in an incredible location for challenging bicycling amidst beautiful country. 
 
I've collected several videos of some of my cycling in what is called the `Skull Valley Loop.'  The SVL is my usual training route: some or all of it. 
 
This video is the longest (28 minutes).  The 12.2 mile descent down Iron Springs Road to Skull Valley.  Descent Down Iron Spring Road. 
 
This is a short video going north on the White Spars from mile post 305.  Descent north from MP 305
 
This is a short video going north on the White Spars from mile post 298.  Descent north from MP 298
 
This is one of my favorite descents into the city of Prescott on the White Spars.  Great road, minimal traffic, turns and speed.  Descent to Prescott
 
Going south on the White Spars from mile post 298 to just past Wilhoit.  Very twisty and fast.  I was still early in learning how to operate the Garmin VIRB XE camera.  Descent south from MP 28
 
I've spared you any videos of me ascending the hills out here.  Watching paint dry would be more exciting. 
 
On my latest cycling I've ridden the Bacchetta Ti Aero: 
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Always Something To Learn

Yesterday I travelled south about 70 miles to train on relatively flat terrain.  The training plan called for the following:
 
  • heat acclimatization
  • increased time cycling
  • aerobic training
 
While I achieved these goals I noted the effect of `ramping up' into challenging physical demands.  56 Miles on Vulture Mine Road
 
I started the training ride at 11AM so as to experience early to mid-afternoon desert heat.  I was not disappointed.  The course was a 56 mile out and back, with the out leg of 28 miles of descent and a return of 28 miles of modest climbing (1 - 3% grades).  The temps were in the late 90's and early 100's on the way back.
 
A few things I `relearned' along the way:
 
  • I should have had something to eat before I started;
  • Bring more water;
  • Don't lay the bike down with the water bottle bite valve `open.'  3/4 of the water just drained out;
  • Just as you find an out of the way private place to take a dump expect a train of four-person ATVs to drive right past you, gawking
  • Make sure the spare tubes have a valve that is long enough to accommodate the wheel rim.
 
Though I had planned to ride about 75 miles it was safe and prudent to just do one out and back (56 miles).  The heat was harsh.  I didn't have enough water.  I didn't eat enough.  I got a flat tire and used one of two spare tubes.  The other spare tube had a valve that was too short (32mm instead of 48). 
 
When I got back to the car I was a bit wobbly.  Heat and dehydration. 
 
That's what happens when you train.  You find out what you do right and what you do wrong. 
 
 
 

Monday, April 11, 2016

FINDING MOTIVATION THROUGH FEAR - The Paradox



This article from the April 10, 2016, issue of the New York Times Business section, hits the nail on the head for me.  

 LINK 

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I was driving with a friend recently and telling him about some projects that really excited me. I mentioned a new book I’m working on, an article I’m writing and this new hobby of adventure motorcycling in the desert.

He interrupted me and said, “How do you stay so motivated and so excited about things?”

It caught me off guard. I hadn’t really considered the “why” behind my list of activities. But as I thought about it, I realized that the one aspect each of these projects had to make me so motivated — the common thread — was the feeling of being in just a little over my head. In other words, doing things despite the fact that, as the marketing guru Seth Godin likes to say, “this might not work.”

Now, that may sound a little bit counterintuitive. It’s easy to wonder how doing stuff that makes you uncomfortable, and might not even work, is a source of motivation.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this paradox, and I could not get my friend’s question out of my head. I wondered whether I’m wired differently. But there’s something about a sink-or-swim environment that excites me.

I posted on Instagram about constantly getting in a little over my head, and my friend Dallas Hartwig told me about this concept called HORMESIS, a phenomenon by which something that could significantly impair or even kill you in high doses can make you stronger in low doses. Or as the National Institutes of Health puts it, “In the fields of biology and medicine, hormesis is defined as an adaptive response of cells and organisms to a moderate (usually intermittent) stress.”

Of course, I thought. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It’s not a new concept. It’s well documented that the way to grow muscle is to rip the muscle tissue, and then give it time to regrow. You give it stress, then rest, and it comes back on the other side stronger than it was before.
So what if we did the same thing in other areas of our lives? In our work, in our family life or in our recreational activities?

It makes sense that the business equivalent of building muscle is trying new things. When you throw yourself into the deep end of something new, you often face a steep learning curve. That forces you to grow, adapt, change and develop your skill set. It’s almost irrelevant if the particular project ends up succeeding. The very act of taking on something new helps you become better at your work over all.

You cannot spend your whole life in the deep end, as that is a recipe for drowning. Muscles get tired. So just like physical exercise, you have to take breaks. You have to calibrate the stress and rest cycle of any sort of entrepreneurial or creative work.

The more I thought about it, the more I began to see these experiences, of diving into the unknown, for what they really were. Some people call them work projects, but I call them adventures. After all, isn’t the definition of “adventure” to set off into the unknown, endure hardships, come back and then rest?

With this reframing, I finally had an answer to my friend’s question about how I stay motivated. It’s because I’m constantly setting off on the next adventure! How could I not?

I know that adventures are not for everyone. I know they can feel scary and intimidating. But making a habit of seeking adventures, in spite of how scary they are, may be the secret to staying motivated about the things you do.

And that, if nothing else, confers a key economic benefit onto anyone who experiences it. Even if we set aside all the tangible benefits that come from stepping outside our comfort zone, it is intuitively obvious that being more excited about your work is a surefire way to improve your performance – and turn your various ventures into adventures.

Note: There is a difference between taking a `reasonable' risk and an `unreasonable' risk.  As it relates to bicycling ... "NOT WORTH IT."

Friday, April 8, 2016

Vid of Vulture Mine Road - Flat and Empty

The linked YouTube video constitutes 6 minutes of one my recent training rides on Vulture Mine Road, west of Phoenix and south of Wickenburg.  The purpose of posting this video is to display the benefits of this road for cycling and training.  

The vid is a bit shakey (I'm working on that).  The road quality is good to excellent (in places).  

The temperature was in the 100's (104 -109F most of the time).  My heart rate was about 20 bpm higher than normal for that kind of effort and speed, on that kind of terrain.  My plan to do 100 miles was abbreviated to 50 miles because of that.  THIS is a link to the training session.  (Note the reference to the `Attack of the Jumping Cholla Cactus').

At the end of the video I pull alongside a little bridge over an aqueduct that carries water from `someplace' to Phoenix.  This is part of the Central Arizona Water Project.  Frankly, I think it is an abomination.  Although millions of people live in Phoenix it is a grim, flat, otherwise uninhabitable obscenity on the face of the earth.  

Much, if not most, of Arizona is unimaginably beautiful.  Not pristine, of course.  Roads and infrastructure blight the land, literally everywhere.  Recreational vehicles, motorcyclists and off-road vehicles swarm, make massive sound pollution.  Active and abandoned mines scar the place.  

Still ... this is the video. 

Vulture Mine Road - 6 minutes - April 6, 2016

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Bacchetta Ti Aero - Setup for Mountain Road Training

 Performer Stem and Tiller
 SRAM R2C Levers
Mini Bullhorn handlebar
PVC pipe and mirrors (essential!)
 Bacchetta CF Hard Shell seat
ADEM headrest w/ Planet Bike Rear Light
Norback bag
Norback bag setup
 Contents of Norback bag
 Norback bag
 Planet Bike headlight
 Pink ribbon
Planet bike rear light (red)
Planet bike head light (white) mounted and flashing
 Rear flashing lights and pink ribbon
Front flashing light