Sunday, January 27, 2008

Conconi

I'm a perverse individual that likes to geek on different tests, thresholds, pacings, etc.

Doing the ramp test is a great way to see response a little slower and clearer.

Noticing Aet has moved up a tiny bit, and putting a wattage number to the HR is good stuff- I could ride a IM right now at 220 watts with no problems, good to know if I decide to tilt at that particular windmill again.

LT is very clear, no real change in that now for years, and wattage is in close relation to the 20 minute test.

Time to start doing some real riding outside soon I hope....
Inlaws have been in town and I've been eating way too much and training way too little, time to get down....

PAskenta next weekend, praying for sun....

J

Saturday, January 26, 2008

20 minute test


Very close to the last Conconi test I took, I'll do that tommorrow, but a very pedestrian 303 watts for the FTP, 318 as the avg, then minus 5% for the FTP.

Last Conconi was 321 for the LT, guessed off the VT while I asked myself how I was feeling and talked mindlessly in the garage, a amusing sight, sweating, nasty, maybe a little mouth foam, trying to write wattages down while at LT is very very hard :-)


Nice pacing on this, the HR rises very very smoothly up and goes over LT in the last 5 minutes, I pushed the last minute, but wanted a accurate FTP for a hour, so a good representation...


Lance and the boys on the garage TV,Tour 2005, yesterday was the gift stage to Basso, watch Overcoming and then watch the old videos of this stage, interesting.

Today was a hard stage when Voeckler loses the jersey, Jens has to wait to help Floyd pull back Der Kaiser, and Lance was just crankin' it up when I shut the TV off for the day.


Good motivation for tommorrow, Lance breaking them down.
Picture is Deep Creek, Big Creek, up thecreek? Can't remember the name, but I remember the pain, Climb To Kaiser 2007.

Friday, January 25, 2008

graphs, figures and numbers

Hit the garage for some pain today, my first whirl at a power profile test, and man......
Thats some rather limited potential I'm a workin' with.

Some quick impressions-

The trainer is accurate, but it seems like I can get way more watts on the road,I can do much more than 500 for a minute, I think.

The sprints are very tough to crank up there as well, I ended up just using my numbers from last weeks' Friday Night Lights at the old crit course.

My 5 minute number seemed about right, at 373.

Tommorrows fun in the garage consists of the 20 minute test, but going off of the last numbers, my profile almost looks like a division sign with a deep V.


My guess is the TACX or any trainer with a electronic brake is much better with the steady wattages, where the tire can't slip a bit.

Update tommorrow, hoping for a meager improvement after the hard work the last two weeks.

Rest week

40 degrees and getting ready to snow up on Skyline and Snake tonight,wind in the 20's already, next big storm rolling in, you can feel it, it should hit around 0400, damn cold even with 3 layers on.

A good time to blow off the calorie restriction a little and pick up some caldo tlapeno from Taco Zamorano on Foothill.

Rest weeks suck cause I love to eat and eat a lot.

But chicken, potatoes, carrots, rice, and corn tortillas are good foods for the soul.

And the soul needs a little comfort on a night like tonight.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Eye Chart

MR DUCKS !

MRNOTDUCKS!

OSMR!
CMWANGS?

LIB!
MRDUCKS!

A afternoon of wind and sufferin' out on the fremont mudflats will make a sumbitch a little crazy...

Friday, January 18, 2008

For Mike and Steve

swiped from the wattage list....



Kind of hard to make out, but I like how it clarifies some of the different language used to describe the same thing.....

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Santa drives a UPS truck

Well, Ive been saving my pennies for a while now, e-baying a few items for fresh new toys, working through a few nights to feed the cycling monster in the garage, and was able to bust it down for these babies

Keith has been a fantastic sponsor for lots of Norcal teams and while I had read the reviews, the term " these (fill in the blank here) are comparable with ( blah blah blah) ones that cost hundreds more is waaaay overused .

But after riding them for a few rides now, I honestly am very impressed.

Sprints friday, very solid, no whippyness at all.
Some interval work during the week on them, but mostly I stayed inside in my little house of pain with a fan and a fixie on the TACX.

Saturday finally came and I took then on one of my favorite rides, Morgan Territory looping around to Northgate and back home, a solid 85 miles.

Hopped on the HOP for a minute at Highland/ Tassajara and got off that bus at MTR, where I waited for the ChromeMan for a spell, then we made our way up.

Going counterclockwise isn't my favorite way to go on this route, the descent was muddy/slimy/holey and needed much care, the winter storms really slammed the canyon back there.
But the wheels, man.
Doing some big gear stuff up MTR they were solid as a rock.
Descending was full of bunnyhopping and basically cross riding, the 30x's were very predictable.
We rode west and then climbed Diablo, again, the wheels were very solid. Keith had told me they would be stiff, with a Powertap hub and DT spokes, there just isn't a lot of spoke with a deep section rim, but I really dug the feeling of the power going down to the ground.
When the 30x's really blew my mind was descending Southgate, though.
Perfect tracking and once they spun up, felt like they held their velocity very well.

I've ridden some pretty good wheelsets,Eurus, Zipp, Kysyriums these are definitely right up there if not frankly better. I don't get caught up in the latest and greatest much,I like steel bikes and steel single speeds more, but the whole package of ceramic bearings, solid build, and excellent rim weight, epecially with the Powertap is kickass.

Taking them up Calaveras tommorrow, looks like a very nice day to suffer........

J

Friday, January 04, 2008

The New Style- DDR



Last weeks' opening up workout on Saturday.....

Damn, I guess I'm not that serious.....

Who, me?