Training Routes for Mountain Ultracycling Event

This is the target:

300 Miles x 17,000 Feet of Climbing

These are the training routes:

46 Miles x 4,300 Feet of Climbing

56 Miles x 4,300 Feet of Climbing

100 Miles x 8,100 Feet of Climbing.

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. 

 

 

 

 



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.  

Ride With GPS Data Here

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

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: 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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."

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

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

`Training Season'

Tomorrow starts outdoor training season for mountain road cycling. 

 

When I returned from Sebring in mid-February I dove into long neglected work duties and various other things given short-shrift while I focused on Sebring. 

 

Then my wife and I spent some R&R on a week in New Orleans. 

 

During that time I was changing up the gearing of my bikes from flatland riding (Sebring) to the local mountain road cycling. 

The Ti Aero has a double (50/34) up front with an 11/36 in back.  My `climbing' gear set up.  The CA2 has a 58/42 up front with an 11/36 in back.  The bigger cassette up front is to accommodate flats and long descending routes.

 

Though it remains unseasonably cold (30F) and windy (40 mph gusts) `up here' all seems to be in working order to begin a concerted outdoor training plan. 

 

Because mountain road cycling is dramatically different (easier in some ways, harder in others) than flatland cycling the body has to be eased into it.  The biggest issue is attending to smart strategies.  Low gears, high cadence on extended (6 - 17 miles) climbing.  Though it is important to build up power and strength it is equally important to build endurance.  A gradual increase in time and distance, interspersed with careful intervals, on the inclines both avoids injury and improves speed. 

 

Another key training goal has to do with bike handling skills on the long descents and fast descending switchbacks.  By `fast' switchbacks I mean just that.  Competition and performance goals require building muscle memory training.  Time, effort and calculated increases in demand. 

 

Tomorrow I'm off to do some shakedown work on the Ti Aero on nearby and reasonably level road.  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12834889

 

This is a good local out and back training road.  Ten mile section of rollers.  Park the car at mile 5 in the event of an unrecoverable mechanical problem.  Just enough vehicles (3 or 5 per hour) that might give me a lift to my car in that case. 

 

Then, in a few days, I'll do some fairly sedate long (9.4 miles) climbs with no descents: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12834961  The actual climbing is great training.  The only downside (pun) is the return to the starting point.  I can easily hit 45 mph on the descent.  And if I'm wet with sweat I have to be careful to dress right to avoid wind chill.  A very real threat.

 

Maybe five or seven training sessions on these routes before I start intensive mountain road training on these local courses: 

 

20 miles 2000 feet of  Steep Ascents and Descents

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12250476

 

40 miles 4000 feet of Steep Ascents and Descents

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12250527

 

50 miles 4300 feet of Steep Ascents and Descents

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12250594

 

And then these:

 

100 miles 7800 feet of climbing and descending

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12265508

 

Skull Valley Loop

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/11306232

 

All these training routes are either right from my front door or within a 30 minute drive. 

 

Good to get back to consistent outdoor training. 

 

 

TRAINING ROUTE FOR THE HOODOO 300

If all goes well I'll want to do two simulation / training events for the Hoodoo 300 in late August. 

 

There is limited value, physically, in doing long distance simulations of competitive events.  But there is significant value as it relates to equipment, nutrition and psychology. 

 

Living in the AZ mountains makes it doable and practical to locate these simulations right at home. 

 

The route I've designed is a series of loops, mountainous, low traffic volume and has good to excellent road surface. 

 

With some planning I can stash various supplies along the route so that I can do it without vehicle support.  As well, there is enough traffic so that if I have an unrecoverable mechanical problem I can hitch hike to a local town or gas station. 

 

I'll probably do the training rides on the Ti Aero.  A double (50/34) upfront with an 11/36 in the back.  SRAM R2C levers, tiller, Railgun seat.  Given that it will be an unsupported event I'll use a Norback bag to carry essentials between `stash' locations. 

 

The Hoodoo 300 route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/5022326

 

The Prescott 300 route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10204487

 

The biggest differences are:

 

Altitude: Hoodoo (10,600 ft.) v. Prescott (6,100 ft.)

• I crewed for a DF rider on part of the Hoodoo route and the high altitude makes for very, very cold nights.  These are made more challenging when the rider is wet with sweat and has to deal with fast descents.  Good wind shell clothing (and plenty of it) is essential. 

 

Climbing: Hoodoo (17,000 ft of climbing) v. Prescott (22,700 ft of climbing)

 

Meaningful Work v. Empty Distraction

The current American `culture' has been reduced to an `entertainment' culture. Everything is about distraction, preoccupation, vapid and empty addictions. 

 

We are flooded, overwhelmed and buried with things to waste our potential, our capacity for meaningful work.

 

This is deliberate. And it is perpetrated by the rich against the poor.

...

Hopeless, oppressed and depressed millions are provided with `games,' `movies,' `reality shows' that require of them NOTHING but to stay awake in a zombie-like zone of distraction. `Soma.'

 

Real work gives us a sense of engagement, meaningful expression, satisfaction. We are punished for real work.

 

"Soma." A drug for the masses.

 

Read `1984` by George Orwell.

 

"Nineteen Eighty-Four, often published as 1984, is a dystopian novel by English author George Orwell published in 1949.[1][2] The novel is set in Airstrip One (formerly known as Great Britain), a province of the superstate Oceania in a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and public manipulation, dictated by a political system under the control of a privileged elite of the Inner Party, that persecutes individualism and independent thinking as "thoughtcrime."

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

The Plight of The Veteran

Sending people off to fight wars results in death, destruction and .... too many veterans. When you `do' a lot of wars you `get' a lot of veterans.

When you have lots of questionable wars the guys coming back as veterans feel used and defensive ... and pissed off. 

As they get older, and when the society to which they return treats them like shit, they're angry.

That is, they rally around other pissed off guys, they romanticize their shame and they seek simple targets for their hurt and anger. 
 

Easy pickings for little hitlers like Trump, Cruz and Rubio.
 
The plight of the veteran.
 
Too many decent men and women thinking that they did something noble only to discover they were played for suckers.
 
Draft 40 year olds to fight the wars.
 
Send 18 year olds to schools, good jobs and the Peace Corps.
 
Return this nation to the principles upon which it was founded.

Cross Training (When You Don't Really Want To)

Three weeks ago I pulled a muscle (left gluteus medius) by `sitting too much.'  (Don't ask). 

 

Wisdom is knowing when it is not smart to try to `work through it.'  Even though I sort'a tried.  The onliest way to get this behind (pun) me is with rest and consistent exercising of the affected muscle.  (Just `rest' is like shutting down the power plant while you change a bulb). 

 

In this blog post I'm describing a few workout variations with the elliptical machine.  They have more to do with balance and gait than `power.' 

 

Next time you're on the elliptical consider trying these.   

1. After a few minutes of easy `walking' remove your hands from the elliptical `arms.' 
2. First hold on to the vertical bars for a few minutes and get used to holding your upper body stationary. 
3. Then keep your eyes focused on something stationary while you remove your hands from both the `arms' and the vertical bars. 
4. Hold your arms at your sides, ready to grasp the vertical bars or `arms' if you feel unsteady;
• Clasp your hands together behind your back;
• Clasp your hands together and hold them over your head;
• Let your arms move back and forth at your side, as if you were walking on the elliptical.

Doing this recruits little muscles in your legs and hips, improves the `connection' between those muscles and your brain.  The more you are able to use the elliptical in this manner the more improvement you may expect in terms of gait and balance.  In my situation it is gentle rehabilitation of the muscle while it heals.  Stress and strength training comes later. 

Another variation: The Elliptical Moonwalk

Holding on to the elliptical arms or vertical bars start `walking backwards.'  You will find that this is both somewhat odd and difficult.  Be gentle and take your time.  Don't push it if you feel any pain in your legs, knees or hips.  Keep at it for a few minutes, extending the time you `moonwalk' in successive training sessions.  Your legs will strengthen, balance and gait will be improved.

 

 

 

Not Worth It

IMPORTANT CAVEAT

The context of these comments refers to open road cycling, in general.

The RAAM organization is a  source of outstanding venues for endurance road cycling.  They continue to advance and promote the interests of the sport of ultraracing.  I have both experienced and observed a strong receptiveness to `user' feedback on the part of RAAM management.  Some of the events they offer are among the safest and well-managed cycling events in the sport. In no way should the reader interpret my comments as detracting from the RAAM organization.  In no way has any party or organization influenced the personal opinions noted below.  

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God knows I have done and continue to do things for `glory' and ego satisfaction.  

But I read something the other day (about a scientist who won a Nobel Prize) that brought on one of those `smack my forehead' moments.  

When asked about how he felt about winning the Nobel Prize - the money and prestige - he said it didn't even cross his mind.  In fact, he didn't enjoy the trip to Stockholm to get the Nobel Prize and preferred to stay "back home, in the lab, doing my research."  

"I love doing difficult things because I learn so much.  The knowledge is what makes it so valuable to me.  I think I make a difference in other people's lives.  It's important.  But I don't manage the money very well, anyway.  Never could.  I don't use it."  

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Think of all the people who get hit, injured and/or killed on a bike. 

It is simply a dangerous sport, recreational activity.  We get hit by trucks, cars, motorcycles, animals (hitting critters when we're screaming down hills), dogs, junk on the road.  

I'm o.k. with taking these `reasonable' risks.  I love cycling.  Even though I've got scars, broken bones and probably hearing loss (motorcycles) because of it.  

But I won't do most long distance open road cycling events.  No matter how safe I attempt to be there is no protection from texting drivers, hostile drivers, impaired drivers.  

In the heat of race competition I saw too many people taking stupid, stupid, stupid risks.  Risks that put their own lives in jeopardy.  Worse, risks that put other drivers and crew members in jeopardy.  

I didn't know that before I was an ultracycling race official (2012) or an ultracycling crew chief (2013).   I was excited about it.  I thought I was `important.'

Risking my life like that is just not worth it.  The `glory' of it ... nope.  

What `knowledge' is gained in such an effort?  Not much.  Not worth the risk.  

There have been medical personnel measuring every conceivable aspect of ultraracing `over public roads' events.  One or two papers may actually have been written and published in journals.  But, to my knowledge, there is no money being spent by medical or psychological research entities on it.  

So.  Plenty of `glory.'  Almost nothing new in the way of `knowledge.'  And one giant heap of death and danger for it.  

Helps me make thoughtful judgments about my own cycling challenges ahead.

Demands of Climbing on the Body

I rode the CA2 on a continuous and long 4 - 9 percent incline on a 20 mile course yesterday.  The steepest incline I've ridden in the past few months was 3 percent and then only for a short distance.  So this was a big change in riding terrain.

• I awoke this morning with a sore lower back.  I attribute this to the steep 8 percent degree of recline of my carbon fiber hard shell seat. 
• My front and rear chain ring combination is too severe, as well.  Front is 58/42 and the lowest ring in back is 34.  My rpm was way too low, probably around 75.  I have a lot of training to do the get the right muscle development that permits a higher rpm. 

Changes:

1. Decrease the angle of recline of the CFHS seat to about 22 degrees;
2. Switch to the Ti Aero with a triple crank up front (55/39/30) so I can get back to 95 rpm.

=========================

 

April 2, 2016:

 

I modified my Ti Aero for climbing.  Double (50/34) up front with the 11/36 in back.  Decided against the triple up front.  Just don't need that low of a gear. 

 

Perfect gearing, though the relatively small big ring up front means that I spin out faster on the steep descents.

Steep Climb - 2016 Cycling Events

I really enjoyed flatland riding and training since the 12-24 Hour World Time Trials in Borrego Springs last November.  Borrego Springs is on the calendar again for 2016.  So many good things going for it.   But I doubt I'll do Bike Sebring next year.  Decent challenge but just too far away and too many logistical demands.  Sebring - A Road Too Far

 

Twelve days back from Sebring and today was my first time out on the bike since then.   Spent the time off the bike catching up on things I neglected. 

 

My criteria for cycling events for the remainder of the year include:

• Don't conflict with work or family responsibilities
• Within driving distance (600 miles or so)
• Not on dangerous roads
• Ultra but not too ultra (300 miles or 16 hours or less) 

This is the tentative 2016 cycling calendar:

• April: Joshua Tree Two Hundred  (Solo)
• May: Davis Double (Davis bike club)
• June: Terrible Two (Santa Rosa Bike club)
• July: Prescott - Congress Two Hundred  (Solo)
• August: Hoodoo 300 (Planet Ultra)
• September: Skull Valley Loop Challenge (Prescott Bike Club)
• November: 6-12-24 Hour Worlds Challenge  (RAAM folks)

Only one event (Hoodoo 300) will require crewing support. 

 

Lots of work ahead.  Drop weight.  Dial in the bikes for climbing events. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bike Sebring 2016

 

Next year I'll crew at Sebring instead of ride.  Logistics is the issue. 

1. Had to disassemble the bike. 
2. Pack up the bike in plastic bike boxes (3). 
3. Schlep the boxes to FedEx. 
4. Ship the bike to Sebring.
5. Unpack and assemble the bike. 
6. Deal with a mechanical problem (broken RD hanger).  (Allan Duhm saved my bacon by getting a RD hanger from Leroy's Bikeworks in Lakeland, FL.  Without his generous help ... I'd'a been a simple, plain spectator). 
7. Ride. 
8. Disassemble the bike. 
9. Pack up the bike.
10. Schlep the bike boxes down to the hotel holding room.
11. Ship the boxes. 
12. Pick up the bike boxes at FedEx. 
13. Unpack the bike. 
14. Assemble the bike again.

So.  Crewing is waaay better.

 

SOME PERSONAL OPINIONS - Not Intended To Piss You Off

I am generally disciplined and attentive to the possibility of drowning out the `signal' with `noise.'  That is, when I offer an opinion on a matter I try not to piss people off. 

If what I say does, in fact, result in a defensive or hostile response it troubles me and I wind up replaying the thing over and over in my head to see how I could have done it differently.

 

These, then, are my personal opinions.  They are as objective as I can make them.  If persons disagree with them I respect that.  Though my opinions may not shed new light on these issues I do hope that they don't generate `heat.' 

If you, the reader, wish to offer a comment to this blog post I will publish it only if it is not `anonymous.'  That is, be accountable.

 

Superman bars v. tiller:  if I were a fighter jet the issue of frontal area might matter.  But I just want to see what is in front of me better without a big riser pipe or handlebars obstructing my view.  Besides ... I wonder if, in a wind tunnel, handlebars and a riser pipe offer more or less frontal area than the tiller position.  `Angels on the head of a needle' thinking.

 

Rear wheel v. front wheel drive:

• FWD is a novelty and unnecessary. 
• In the terrain in which I live it is, in fact, more than unnecessary.  It is dangerous.  The FWD/MBB bikes I've owned (3 of them) were twitchy in steering and handling.  And very, very dangerous at fast (30 mph) speeds ... worse on descending switchbacks.
• The marketing pitch about how FWD exercises the upper body is not accurate.  If a person wants to exercise their upper body ... do some pushups and don't swallow the marketing pitch.    I sold two of them back to the manufacturer and gave one to an old peoples home as a stationary exercise bike.

 

Aero: If a bike is aero ... it is aero.  And that has nothing to do with whether or not it is a FWD or RWD bike.

 

Setting Records: Put a class A athlete on a class C bike and you're likely to get a class A performance.  Especially if the course is dead flat.  Especially if the class A athlete is supported by the class C bike manufacturer crew.  Don't make the mistake of thinking that the bike rode itself.

 

Bikes:  Ride what you like and like what you ride.                             

An Existential Assertion

I offer a different response every time I am asked why I do `the bike.'

Health.  Stress reduction.  It `wears me out.'  Etc.

Yesterday I added another reason.

I registered for a 12 hour `time trial.'  A race against the clock.  To cover as much ground (miles) as possible on the bike within the 12 hours.  

Objectively I did what I had expected.  Subjectively I gained much more than kudos for the numbers on the board.  

In the past I have often ridden the bike much, much further.  Taking more time to do it, with less intensity.  

So, yesterday, after 6.5 hours of intense effort without a break I was physically ready to call it a day.  ("Good numbers, Dan!") I did well, performance wise.  And here is where the `subjective' gain comes in.

I decided that I was going push on for another 5.5 hours, to pedal at a power level far greater than was comfortable.  Recalling my previous blog post on Degrees of Discomfort I was mindful of the fact that my discomfort level was past `soreness,' past `ache.'  But I didn't experience any `pain' that would be my body's way of telling me I was doing physical damage.  Even after the last 1.5 hours of almost maximum effort I just barely scratched `fatigue.'  

I've never pushed that hard, so consistently, for so long.  Every time my mph got below a figure I'd realize I was slacking off in effort and would increase the power and effort in pedaling.  

It was an endless dialogue.

"It would feel so good just to back off the watts."

"But you're only feeling the first two levels of discomfort (sore and achy).  That is not a good enough reason to back off the watts.  You're not risking physical damage or letting your ego talk you into injury."

And then I'd push harder.  

For 12 hours.  No letup.  

The `numbers on the board' mean almost nothing to me.  And the awareness that I have the fortitude to accomplish this `existential' assertion means everything to me.  A reason for living.

Sebring 2016 

Hearing Loss

When we age our `parts' wear out.  Our sense of `hearing' simply diminishes with time.  It is often a slow, barely distinguishable process. 

And then there are motorcycles. 

My hearing loss (left ear) happened fast.  Over less than a few months.  In April I could put my cell phone to my left ear and hear without a problem.  In June I could not. 

One of the local training routes is a mountainous two lane road, thick with ascending and descending switchbacks, that hangs off the edge of the Bradshaw Mountains in the Prescott National Forest.  In the winter there is very little traffic because of ice and snow.  The other nine months of the year hordes of motorcyclists practice suicides on this road.  Over the 17 mile length of the road I've counted more than 20 `road shrines' dedicated to motorcyclists who have careened off the cliff edges or smashed into the rock face. 

Motorcyclists like themselves to be noisy.  Big, blasting tail pipes.  Something between their legs that they otherwise lost many years ago. 

So, the hordes of lemmings on motorcycles that have made misery out of pristine nature have taken another toll: hearing in my left ear. 

Could be worse, I guess. 

Degrees of Discomfort

One of the reasons I cycle is the endless experience of self-discovery. 
 

Over the last few days I've been training on a course that encompasses all the best aspects of terrain.  Flats, hills, steep climbs, fast descents.  A 60 mile out and back course on road that is literally traffic free.  Long and short enough to offer both short time trialing and long distance training when ridden in multiples. 
 

After several hours I began to feel the usual discomfort one experiences when training.  I contemplated the nature of this discomfort.  Was it `pain?'  Was it `fatigue?'  'Soreness?'  `Aching?'
 

No pain.  No fatigue.  But I did experience soreness as I increased the watts of effort in pedal strokes.  Aching, too. 
 

Careful not to overdo it and cause physical damage I concluded that `soreness' and `aching' were forms of discomfort I could accept and keep pushing on. 
 

So, I've constructed a mental template of `discomfort' that will assist me in my training. 
 

• Soreness
• Aching
• Pain
• Fatigue

In competitive situations one certainly experiences discomfort.  And `discomfort' has a way of gnawing away at your consciousness, arguing to limit your effort so as to decrease the `hurt.'  Among the many mind tricks we employ in cycling (break a 100 mile course into ten sections of ten miles, imagining the sense of `victory' when crossing the finish line, etc) the `discomfort' ladder gives me another method to keep pushing.  

Or ...

 

What is `Metathinking?'

Metathinking is:   

"And just what is the effin' POINT of THIS?!!"

Not Your Ordinary Time Trial

There are some of us who don't really like going for a bike ride.  I mean, just toodling around enjoying the freedom and pleasure of bicycling.  I certainly don't.  

I don't have the patience for it.  I start building `to do' lists in my head.  I get stuck in that `I need to do something PRODUCTIVE' trap.  

Paradoxically, I am almost never bored when I cycle.  Numbers running through my head.  Assessing how much effort I can afford to put into a training session so that it isn't too much or too little.  

Not many cyclists will agree as to what constitutes `ultra' cycling.  For some it is getting in a fast thirty miles before church.  Some consider anything more than one hundred miles in a day `ultra.'  And then some push the pedals for a specific number of hours before they consider it `ultra.'

The term `time trial' is equally elastic.  How fast can you cover 10 miles?  How far can you go in 1 hour?  "A road race set over a specified distance with the riders being timed. Also known as a race against the watch."  Individual time trials.  Team time trials.  You are your own competition.  

Below is a fairly standard description of an `ultra' cycling time trial.

Ultra 12 Hour
This is an Ultra-Marathon Cycling Association sanctioned 12 hour event. Competitors ride as many miles as they can in 12 hours. 

24 Hour Option
This is a non-drafting RAAM qualifying event, open to the public. This event starts at the same time and place as our Ultra 12 Hour event, but doesn't end until the next morning.

Here are a links to just a few of the `ultra' time trial events:

• Bike Sebring 12/24
• Calvin's Challenge 
• National 24 Hour Challenge 
• 6-12-24 Hour World Championships 

I'll be participating in the Sebring event in February of this (2016) year.  And for the first time I'll be doing an `ultra' event without taking it `gravely.'  That is, I'm `serious' about it but not to the point of being my usual grim, gruesome self.  

You should try it.  It's more than a `ride.'  It's a challenge.  It's a social experience.  And it's probably got some discovery in it for you.  


 

Another Learning Experience

Among the myriad cycling diversions of late I swapped out the front 700cc wheel on my CA2 with a 650cc wheel.  I had to change the fork but that was the only real `mechanical' change.

Today I tested it out.  The 650cc wheel up front and a 700cc wheel in back.  I don't think it is of any benefit or advantage except for the fact that I am a smidgen lower to the ground when mounting and dismounting the bike. 

Steering is twitchy.  Imagine that your front wheel is the size of a dinner plate.  Every turn of the handlebar results in a dramatic change in balance and steering.  You get the idea.  A small change, but significant enough if you're screaming downhill or negotiating a pace line.

(Note: I'm linking to one of my regular training rides on the White Spars near my home in Prescott.  An out and back course up, through, over and back again on a series of mountain switchbacks.  At mile 10.3 you'll note a steep 5% descent and a 180 degree turn ... that keeps descending.  If you drill down into the RWGPS ride you'll find many similar descents and switchbacks.  I LOVE this course and it really tests my bike handling skills when I'm pushing it at speed.  Just the slightest miscalculation in steering would put me in the oncoming lane or into the rock face. http://ridewithgps.com/trips/4658466)

Being lower to the ground is not worth the increase in twitchy. 

So ... that was interesting.  I'm glad I did that.  I know more about the `dynamics' of movement on recumbents. 

My `guess' would be that a smaller wheel upfront would be less problematic on a long wheel base recumbent. 

Latest Pics of the Bacchetta CA2 - Jan 16 2016

With:

• Tiller
• Mini Bull Bars
• Garmin 500 on tiller
• Zipp R2C Levers
• Railgun Seat
• Angle of recline `about 10 degrees'
• Modified headrest (foam and PVC pipe ... and, of course, cable ties)
• Three Planet Bike lights in rear
• One Planet Bike light in front (not shown)
• Three bottle cages
• Two FastBack TerraCycle zip bags under seat
• 58/42 double up front
• 11/27 10 spd in back

Other stuff.