Yesterday I did my longest ride ever! Usually Monday is my off day, but Sunday was cold and rainy so I did my long ride a day later. I planned to do my first 4 hour ride on a big loop that I thought was 70 miles, but it turned out to be 76 miles, which took 4 and a quarter hours. During that, I did 2 and a half hours of tempo. After about an hour and a half of tempo I started to get real tired and just gritted my teeth through the rest of it.
Here are the numbers:
76.32 miles
4 hours 17 minutes 18 seconds
17.8 avg. mph.
1991 Kilojoules, a new record!
Peak Power Records
5 min.: 164 watts
10 min.: 154 watts
30 min.: 149 watts
60 min.: 145 watts
120 min.: 144 watts
180 min.: 129 watts
Including 128 minutes at threshold power! (not continuously)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Stats from the Sunday Group Ride
In my last post I described the local Group ride, and I finally have gotten a chance to download my power meter. Here are the statistics:
59.63 miles
3 hours 32 minutes 9 seconds
16.86mph
121 avg. watts
1535 Kilojoules
Peak Power Records:
5 minutes: 195 watts
10 minutes: 175 watts
30 minutes: 158 watts
60 minutes: 152 watts
120 minutes: 144watts, tying my record I set on 1/08
59.63 miles
3 hours 32 minutes 9 seconds
16.86mph
121 avg. watts
1535 Kilojoules
Peak Power Records:
5 minutes: 195 watts
10 minutes: 175 watts
30 minutes: 158 watts
60 minutes: 152 watts
120 minutes: 144watts, tying my record I set on 1/08
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Sunday Group ride
Today I did my local Sunday Group ride, a staple of my training year round, but especially at this time of the year because it is some of the only race simulation I get. Although the group is usually only 5 to 20 people, all the local hammers show up, including cat. 1's, 2's and 3's and a lot of other strong riders. Today, 11 people started out but after an hour or so 6 people had turned off or been dropped. That made a group of five left including: My Dad, a strong cat. 4, Greg Combs, a strong masters rider and cat. 1, Justin Beard, also a 1, and myself.
After warming up it became apparent that today wasn't going to be the hammer fest I had hoped for, but rather a steady, not-super-hard tempo ride. None of the remaining 5 got dropped until the cool down when me, my Dad, and another person chose to hold off warming down as we were going to ride for 20 more minutes than the other 2 were.
After my Dad and I got back to the bike shop where we started, we still had another 30 more minutes to go until we completed the goal of 3:45 total ride time, so we rode around for a while in downtown Southern Pines and then raced up the Connecticut Road Hill, the longest climb in my area at 260 feet of elevation gain. When my Dad pushed the pace at the base of the climb, I thought he had the win but somehow I stayed with him and attacked on the steepest section. Surprisingly I stayed away and won the race to the top.
After that we cooled down for 10 more minutes and then drove home, ending a nice long group ride. I don't have all the power stats yet since I haven't downloaded my Power meter but I do know we rode for 3 hours 35 minutes, and went 62 miles.
After warming up it became apparent that today wasn't going to be the hammer fest I had hoped for, but rather a steady, not-super-hard tempo ride. None of the remaining 5 got dropped until the cool down when me, my Dad, and another person chose to hold off warming down as we were going to ride for 20 more minutes than the other 2 were.
After my Dad and I got back to the bike shop where we started, we still had another 30 more minutes to go until we completed the goal of 3:45 total ride time, so we rode around for a while in downtown Southern Pines and then raced up the Connecticut Road Hill, the longest climb in my area at 260 feet of elevation gain. When my Dad pushed the pace at the base of the climb, I thought he had the win but somehow I stayed with him and attacked on the steepest section. Surprisingly I stayed away and won the race to the top.
After that we cooled down for 10 more minutes and then drove home, ending a nice long group ride. I don't have all the power stats yet since I haven't downloaded my Power meter but I do know we rode for 3 hours 35 minutes, and went 62 miles.
Monday, January 5, 2009
My Bikes
My first road bike was an orange Trek 1000. It came with Shimano Sora components and is heavy compared to my current road bike, but I loved how fast and light it was compared to the mountain bike I had previously.
Fast forward to 2009 and I use my Trek 1000 for training. Most recently it is equipped with the Powercranks I have borrowed for a few weeks. With the Powercranks and pedals it weighs about 23 pounds.
My current bike is a 2006 Motobecane SL Le Champion. I got it in August 2006 and it was certainly an upgrade from my previous bike which was 5 pounds heavier. My Dad got it for $1,300 dollars which was a great deal given it weighed only 15.6 pounds. It has a 2.7 pound aluminum frame with Shimano Ultegra components and 10 speed compact FSA SL-K MegaExo Carbon Cranks.
American classic 32mm deep wheels came stock on the bike, but when I am training I use a DT Swiss back wheel equipped with my powermeter while keeping the American Classic front wheel. During most races I use Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels, except in time trials when I use Bontrager deep dish tubulars.
Fast forward to 2009 and I use my Trek 1000 for training. Most recently it is equipped with the Powercranks I have borrowed for a few weeks. With the Powercranks and pedals it weighs about 23 pounds.
My current bike is a 2006 Motobecane SL Le Champion. I got it in August 2006 and it was certainly an upgrade from my previous bike which was 5 pounds heavier. My Dad got it for $1,300 dollars which was a great deal given it weighed only 15.6 pounds. It has a 2.7 pound aluminum frame with Shimano Ultegra components and 10 speed compact FSA SL-K MegaExo Carbon Cranks.
American classic 32mm deep wheels came stock on the bike, but when I am training I use a DT Swiss back wheel equipped with my powermeter while keeping the American Classic front wheel. During most races I use Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels, except in time trials when I use Bontrager deep dish tubulars.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Youngs Road Time Trial
Today I did the Youngs Road Time Trial (YRTT), a 10k out and back TT that I do once every couple of months to gauge my fitness. The first half of the TT has an average grade of 1 or 2 percent, and then after you turn around you climb back up to where you started. I was pretty optimistic about putting out a pretty good time today mainly because I just set a 10 minute power record last Tuesday.
Once I started the TT I realized it wasn't going to be easy. I was hoping for a time of 16:30 or 17 minutes although I didn't know what to expect. I got a time of 17:24, which was a little dissapointing although it was a cold day here in North Carolina, 42 degrees, and cold air is more dense than warm air thus creating more resistance. Also, the actual measure of how good (or bad) I did would only come when I got back home and downloaded my Powermeter.
Suprisingly I averaged 193 watts, and even tied my 10 minute record I set just two days ago. I beat my old record of 187 watts too, but I weigh a little more now so the moment of truth would come when I calculate my watts per Kilogram (WPK). To find out your WPK you take your weight in pounds, divide it by 2.2 to find your weight in Kilograms, then take your average watts and divide them by your weight in Kilogams.
For me, that would be: 193 avg. watts/(87 lb./2.2)= 4.82 WPK .
But what you want to do is calculate your lactate threshold (LT or TH), which is pretty much the pace or power output you can sustain for 1 hour. If you've ever done a hour long Time Trial you know it isn't that fun, but fortunately there is an easier way to calculate LT: times your max ave. power output for 15 to 20 minutes by .95 to find LT power output.
For me that would be: (193 avg. watts x .95)/(87 lb./2.2)=4.64 WPK
Anyways, here are the numbers from the entire ride including the TT:
28.71 miles
1 hour 37 minutes 54 seconds
17.8 avg. mph
116 avg. watts
681 KJ
Peak Power Records:
5 minutes: 206 watts
10 minutes: 198 watts
17 minutes 24 seconds(YRTT time): 193 watts
30 minutes: 159 watts
60 minutes: 132 watts
Once I started the TT I realized it wasn't going to be easy. I was hoping for a time of 16:30 or 17 minutes although I didn't know what to expect. I got a time of 17:24, which was a little dissapointing although it was a cold day here in North Carolina, 42 degrees, and cold air is more dense than warm air thus creating more resistance. Also, the actual measure of how good (or bad) I did would only come when I got back home and downloaded my Powermeter.
Suprisingly I averaged 193 watts, and even tied my 10 minute record I set just two days ago. I beat my old record of 187 watts too, but I weigh a little more now so the moment of truth would come when I calculate my watts per Kilogram (WPK). To find out your WPK you take your weight in pounds, divide it by 2.2 to find your weight in Kilograms, then take your average watts and divide them by your weight in Kilogams.
For me, that would be: 193 avg. watts/(87 lb./2.2)= 4.82 WPK .
But what you want to do is calculate your lactate threshold (LT or TH), which is pretty much the pace or power output you can sustain for 1 hour. If you've ever done a hour long Time Trial you know it isn't that fun, but fortunately there is an easier way to calculate LT: times your max ave. power output for 15 to 20 minutes by .95 to find LT power output.
For me that would be: (193 avg. watts x .95)/(87 lb./2.2)=4.64 WPK
Anyways, here are the numbers from the entire ride including the TT:
28.71 miles
1 hour 37 minutes 54 seconds
17.8 avg. mph
116 avg. watts
681 KJ
Peak Power Records:
5 minutes: 206 watts
10 minutes: 198 watts
17 minutes 24 seconds(YRTT time): 193 watts
30 minutes: 159 watts
60 minutes: 132 watts
Asheville
Last Tuesday, my family and I went to Asheville to meet some of our friends who came from Topeka, Kansas (where John Funk, current 13-14 yr. old national champion in the TT and criterium lives). After we were done visiting, we drove through downtown Asheville, and then drove to the top of a mountain with around 1600 feet of elevation gain. However we did not go all the way to the bottom. Where I live the biggest hill is about 300 feet high so it was great to have the chance to climb something much bigger.
After we got to the top we pulled into the parking lot of a nice hotel and my Dad and I changed into cycling clothes. We descended down the mountain and warmed up for about 15 minutes, then raced up the hill. It only took 10 minutes but was still really hard as my Dad and I attacked each other and were both pushed to our limits. In the end I was the first to the parking lot. Once
we got to the top we realized we had a lot more time so we descended down the hill again, turned around, and raced back up. My Dad attacked right from the start but I let him get a small lead of around 5 seconds. A couple of minutes later, I caught back up, and started to push the pace. I went from 200 to 220 to 250 watts and held it for a little while, then focused in at a steady pace, about 200 watts. The hill seemed to go on forever but finally I reached the parking lot. We cooled down in the parking lot for a little while, then changed back into regular clothes and began the drive back to Pinehurst.
We got back at 9:45 and I was too tired to download my Powermeter. The next day when I downloaded it I was very happy with the results especially given it's still the off season. Here are the statistics:
13.01 miles
57 minutes, 58 seconds
402 KJ (Kilojoules)
13.44 ave. speed
116 ave. watts
Peak Power Values:
5 minutes: 207 watts
10 minutes: 198 watts, a new record, beating my old record of 197 that I set in April!
30 minutes:149 watts
After we got to the top we pulled into the parking lot of a nice hotel and my Dad and I changed into cycling clothes. We descended down the mountain and warmed up for about 15 minutes, then raced up the hill. It only took 10 minutes but was still really hard as my Dad and I attacked each other and were both pushed to our limits. In the end I was the first to the parking lot. Once
we got to the top we realized we had a lot more time so we descended down the hill again, turned around, and raced back up. My Dad attacked right from the start but I let him get a small lead of around 5 seconds. A couple of minutes later, I caught back up, and started to push the pace. I went from 200 to 220 to 250 watts and held it for a little while, then focused in at a steady pace, about 200 watts. The hill seemed to go on forever but finally I reached the parking lot. We cooled down in the parking lot for a little while, then changed back into regular clothes and began the drive back to Pinehurst.We got back at 9:45 and I was too tired to download my Powermeter. The next day when I downloaded it I was very happy with the results especially given it's still the off season. Here are the statistics:
13.01 miles
57 minutes, 58 seconds
402 KJ (Kilojoules)
13.44 ave. speed
116 ave. watts
Peak Power Values:
5 minutes: 207 watts
10 minutes: 198 watts, a new record, beating my old record of 197 that I set in April!
30 minutes:149 watts
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