FROM JEFF CLARK - RACE MECHANIC:
Dan,
I want to check on some things while we we are still 44 days out from the start of RAW. You had mentioned that you where going to have a 56t chain ring installed and I wonder if that was working out for you . How old is your gear housing? It can become brittle over time and split a part, a failure of this nature would be catastrophic. If you have bar tape on your bar peel it back a little to see if there is a little white powered that is aluminum oxide. Allan is a sweater an he has this type of problem. He even had a brake lever brake break due to this. I went to replace a gear cable and the lead end of the cable entered acted with the alloy shift lever and would not come out I tried drilling it but finally had to replace the entire shifter! Please have local bike shop go over the bike/recumbent with a fine tooth comb looking for this type of stuff.
What spare parts/tools are you bring with you for the race?
- Jeff (Mechanic)
FROM DAN:
Jeff ...
Just got up from 6 hours on Igor (indoor CompuTrainer) and I'm hurtin'. Worser when on the trainer.
I'm shooting your questions to Joe Reichert (owner of Amlings Cycle and Fitness and home-base mechanic) so that he can respond. He knows what you're talking about and can handle anything we need.
I'm requesting that we include all the Team members in these emails so that we all know what is happening and don't have to catch one another up.
- `done' dan!
FROM JOE REICHERT (LBS owner and Home Based Mechanic):
Hi all,
Jeff, the 56t chainring seems to be playing nice with the old scholl LX derailleur. All of the housings were replace on a recent overhaul. My guess is that we may do another cable and housing replacement about 2 weeks before the event. That will give everything a very good chance to shake out before the ride.
We had discussed earlier that if Dan needs to go to the back up, the quickest option would be to swap the whole seat assembly as opposed to removing everything from the seat and transfering all that over. 4 bolts and you're done. If the seat happens to be the problem then ths won't work, but for any other issue I think it's a good solution.
Take care,
Joe Reichert
Amling's Cycle & Fitness
http://www.amlingscycle.com/
8140 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Niles, IL 60714
Ph. 847/692-4240
Fx. 773-894-0376
FROM DAN:
Jeff ...
I'm more `conscious' now than I was yesterday after the training so I'd like to add to a few things Joe notes below.
Joe has a Bacchetta Ti Aero of his own that he's lending me as a backup bike. We'll be outfitting it to replicate the equipment on my Ti Aero. My cranks are 172.5s and Joe will be putting a 56/39/30 triple in front. Not sure how he's going to handle the FD but he and I will get that straightened out a few weeks before I leave. Likely I'll take his bike out for a long set of hills in SW Wisconsin (15% grades, spikey moraines) to confirm things. Larry Graham, a solid rider from Ohio, said he'd give me one or two of his FDs that he knows handle the 56/39/30 spread this weekend at Calvin's Challenge.
Your question about what tools I'll be bringing is what I've been noodling on the past week. I'm going to collect all the tools I think I'd be needing and list them on a spreadsheet. I'll share this spreadsheet with you and Joe. Hopefully, this will mean that you won't have to think of bringing any of your own tools (unless you want to).
- d
FROM JEFF CLARK:
Dan,
The crew will make a difference to your success. Reading the crew spread sheet about estimated speed and time to the Time Stations on RAW have you ever taken a bottle from a moving car or someone standing on the side of the road? The first couple of times with Allan (Duhm) on his state record ride were -- let us say --- interesting: the van weaving, the bike weaving trying to get close enough to make the hand off. Many times while driving ( I drove all but 3hrs.) my mantra was DON'T RUN OVER AL. After awhile we could pass off a partially peeled banana. Will you be using the water bladder in the "trunk" of the recumbent like Al does?
With Al and I being from Florida and able to ride virtually year round we have a hard time understanding and total respect for the indoor training you do in your basement in Chicago. Do you use music or videos to occupy your mind. I think after awhile I would have to get a white jacket with wrap around sleeves and a soft room to lay down in -- if you know what I mean.
FROM DAN:
The rolling bottle handoff will be done with a reaching tool. It extends the reach of the crew member by 3.5 ft and is firm and solid. I've attached a .jpg of the reaching tool.
Rolling bottle handoffs will take place only when we're on relatively flat terrain. On the mountain climbs we'll be doing pedestrian handoffs because I won't be going faster than 8mph and the mountain roads have only two narrow lanes with no shoulder.
I've always known that when done properly indoor training is far more effective for the time spent than outdoor training. Six hours on the CompuTrainer (like I did last Sunday) is far more of a physical challenge and workout than 9 or 10 hours on the bike outdoors.
I spent an hour on the CompuTrainer yesterday morning before I went to work. A steady grind of 3% climb with no let up, no rolling hills, no stops, no tailwind, no fan blowing me cool. Pushing 175 - 180 watts with an rpm about 75 - 80. Heart rate got up to the high 130's with a few low 140's for a while.
These kinds of indoor workouts can't be simulated in the Illinois flatlands. And I'm convinced that it was these kinds of indoor workouts that allowed me last March to go from my Chicago basement to the most demanding mountain climbing on all of RAAM / RAW with no cramping, no stopping, no resting.
Consider that on Sunday I did 11.2 miles of 7% incline in 2 hours and 3 minutes on the indoor CompuTrainer. That equates to 4,140 feet of climbing.
Last March I rode from Prescott, AZ, to Flagstaff,AZ, over two mountains, for 91 miles in 9 hours and 9 minutes. That worked out to 8,100 feet of climbing.
Two hours and 4,140 feet of climbing (with no breaks, no downhills, no flat sections) in my basement v. 9 hours and 8,100 feet of climbing (with lots of flat sections, significant downhills, half a dozen 2 - 5 minute breaks to get water and change into dry clothing).
I listen to `house' music when I train indoors www.podrunner.com on my iPod. I don't use the iPod when I train outdoors.
This weekend I'll be doing several hundred miles over 3 days. Last year I rode a 200 mile course that had over 10,000 of climbing in May in 12 hours (Balltown Classic). No recumbent ever did that before.
This Saturday I'll be at Calvin's Challenge, right outside Dayton, Ohio, doing the 12 hour race. I'm asking myself now: if I did 200 miles and 10,000 of climbing in 12 hours last May when I was in half as good shape as I am now what can I expect on a flat course in the same time with no climbing? We'll see.
- Dan
Honestly, I don't know how I am able to bear the basement training. I certainly don't do it as entertainment; neither do I consider it like I would if I were going to "ride my bike." Living in the middle of a metropolitan area with 6+ million people, the nearest open roads for training are a 50 mile one way trip, and the weather is cold and wet 7 - 8 months a year .... So, I do the indoor training to meet my goal of being fit, strong and ready for the `real' biking season. This year I've been even more dedicated to indoor work so that I, frankly, don't disappoint the crew when doing RAW. Jeff ... you point out important issues.
I'm attaching a list of items that somebody on the UC list sent out a while back. Looking it over it seems nice and thorough. I used it for my trip to Arizona a few weeks back and had what I needed.