CB is Promoting a BIG Stage Race: The Giro de Fred

Well, maybe its not quite a race. But it is an event. While this will compete for cycling traffic with my new favorite website, therollercam.com , if Ryan Kelly sucks up enough, I may be able to arrange a webcam feed of the event. How bout comping my upcoming banner ad big guy?

I am getting ahead of myself. The Giro de Fred is an indoor stage race that will take place at the Bikes Not Bombs Hub at 6:30 am on Tuesday February 15th. The promoter will be using a video from TheSufferFest, CB's newest sponsor. I wish that my day job didn't start so early in the am, or else I'd be there kicking ass and taking names.

In order to race you will need a bike,

a trainer, $5 to donate to Bikes Not Bombs and perhaps a towel and some water.

I have it on good information that GG Bavolar will be in attendance.

Either way, you should get your lazy self to JP and sip the sweet nectar of victory.

Why Shave the Legs in Winter?

I was just in the shower shaving my legs after spending 2.5 hours sweating on the trainer. I was considering the absurdity of shaving in winter. No one is going to see your legs. Even on a group ride, you will be wearing tights.

My usual schedule is to shave my legs on Tuesday and Friday evenings. I maintain this same shaving schedule while in training, in winter and summer. I allow my maintenance to lapse when I am injured or otherwise spending time away from the bike.

Then I thought a little harder about it, while shaving of course. And I concluded that it makes sense to continue shaving, even when no one will see that you are. I came up with a number of reasons to shave, which I will list so that you can cart them out if you are confronted about your winter shaving or if you have doubts about whether to shave or not.

First, I am a competitive cyclist and I try to keep that at the front of my thoughts. In the winter when racing is 75 days away, as it is right now (as Kyle Smith recently pointed out), a person can forget that the competition will be fierce, that we need to train hard, that we need to maintain the diet and the discipline if we want to be at the front of the pack. What we do now determines how our season will be. Shaving is a subtle reminder that we are racers and a step in maintaining discipline when our target races are many months away.

Right now, I want a big bowl of ice cream, but my resolve against having it is firm, since I just got done training and shaving. I really feel like my resolve could slip if I still had the stubble. I am serious. As many of you know, I am in an all in or an all out kind of person.

I use embrocation in the winter. Ever tried to apply embrocation to hairy legs? It gets wasted in the forest, coating the trees instead of the floor so to speak. Even worse, how the hell would you remove said substance with all of the hair mopping it up. Your legs could be on fire for weeks!

Ladies like it. Just don't be a dufus and leave hair shorts behind, that they don't like. On that note, mind as well keep all the other areas clean while you are there.

I went to my soignier last week for a massage and she was very pleased that I was maintaining. Also, if you massage your own legs or talk your significant other into doing it, it is much better without the hair.

Riding on the trainer is hot enough, you don't need hair causing you to retain warmth. Also I towel off while I train to minimize the size of the puddle on the training mat. It's easier to dry shaved legs.

People can see your legs when you cuff your pants to ride around the city. You have nice legs, show off your muscle definition.

Surely there are other reasons to shave. Perhaps some of you disagree with my logic. Please feel free to comment on this important matter. I am interested to hear my reader's thoughts on this subject.

PowerCranks—Failed Bid at Riding 20 Minutes Straight Through.

It has been 3-4 weeks since I started riding the PC’s. I have been making progress in all areas concerning the cranks themselves, but it is still unclear whether this progress is going to translate to increases in power output on a regularly outfitted bicycle.

Due to inclement weather, I have not had the opportunity to ride my PC equipped bicycle on the road since my last PC post.

It is getting easier to pedal the PC’s. It is no longer mentally taxing to keep my rhythm.

I have continued my strategy of steadily increasing the length of time that I pedal the PC’s for. As you may remember, when I started, I could only keep them moving for 1-2 minutes at a time with rests in between. At the end of every PC workout, I set a “breakthrough” goal, where I attempt to complete a pedaling interval that is significantly longer than I have been doing during the body of my PC workout.
My current interval length is 10 minutes of straight pedaling. Generally, in the last minute of each pedaling interval I increase my power output and cadence. I have continued with the 30-60 second rests.

I have felt that I could pedal for longer than 10 minutes at the end of many intervals, but have not attempted it since my plan is to steadily increase my pedaling intervals in such a way that I won’t ruin the rest of my workout or make myself too sore to have a quality workout the next day.

As one of my weekly training goals, I wanted to complete a 20 minute work interval on the PC’s. Since Sunday is the end of my training week and Monday is a rest day, I attempted the 20 minutes yesterday. I failed. I went out too hard, with too high a cadence and after 14 minutes, I was unable to pedal anymore. My heart rate was approaching race levels and I was breathing very hard. I probably could have continued for another minute or two, but it seemed that my goal of pedaling for 20 minutes was going to interfere with my greater goal of getting faster on the bike.

I am sore today. My legs are dead feeling. Luckily, this is a rest day.

Frustration

So I strap my Basso into the trainer to do 1.5 hours of base miles. Shortly after starting to ride, I try to shift into the big ring. The front derailleur wouldn't move far enough over to the right to move the chain on the big ring. I accept this and continue pedaling. 7 minutes into the workout, I realize that I am not going to be able to continue in the little ring; I wasn't working hard enough.

I happened to have my Hex keys and a screw driver nearby, so I tried to adjust the front derailleur. I messed with the set adjust screws and retentioned the cable. After 7 miutes, it's all set, I rode in 3 more minutes, this time in the big ring.

After getting my heart rate into the right place, I hear this scratching which quickly turns to grinding. The chain is rubbing the inside of the front derailleur cage. Now I know something is wrong. I dismount the bike and check the drive side crankarm. Loose. I assumed the the crankbolt had loosened, then I remembered that the Basso has an Italian threaded bottom bracket that unscrews in the same direction that you pedal. Italian engineers are brilliant.

Lacking the patience, time and tools to fix this, I went down stairs to get my race bike to put in the trainer. Only problem is that months ago I poached the seatpost and saddle from my road for my cross bike.

I take down the cross bike and loosen the seatcollar. I try to gently remove the seatpost. Stuck. I start twisting. Still stuck. I start bashing the saddle to break it free. No dice.

Luckily, I have a brand new seatpost waiting for the roadbike. I remove it from the packaging, grease it well and install it. I mount a Specialized saddle that I borrowed to test and dial the whole mess in, which is tedious. There was track standing, a plumb bob and a caliper involved.

When I get the bike upstairs and try to put it in the trainer, I realize that the rear wheel has a lightweight skewer that is incompatible with my trainer interface. So I remove the skewer, lean the bike against the wall and go downstairs to get a suitable skewer. I find an old Campagnolo skewer that I think will work, but once I get it installed on the bike, I find that it is not a good fit. The bike is able to move laterally while torqued into the trainer and, in addition to being unstable, it could result in frame damage.

I repeat the whole rigmarole. I end up making a trainer skewer from a vintage Shimano skewer body and the previously used Campagnolo end piece.

One hour after originally swinging my leg over the Basso, I begin my now abbreviated workout on my IF. Immediately, I figure out I hate the Specialized saddle. It irritates areas that you'd rather not consider and digs into my sit bones. The shape is actually fine, but I need a different width (indeed Specialized saddles come in 3 widths).

Sometimes you are just not meant to get in a good workout. I wish that I could accept this when it happens instead of messing about and half assing my way through repairs and fixes in order to squeeze in the workout.

PowerCranks Update: Week Three Breakthroughs

I have been incorporating the PC's into every other workout, if not more often. Since, the weather has deteriorated here in 02139, I usually shoot for half to 2/3's of my base workouts to be completed on the PC's and then I switch over to a regularly equipped bicycle. I am starting to embrace the Colin H. Murphy approach to winter training, and I am using the trainer even when I could get outside. Scary.

I am now up to 5 minute work intervals with 30-45 second rests between intervals. My personal record is 13 minutes of straight pedaling (accomplished at the end of the PC portion of my workout yesterday). I foresee being able to stop resting in the next couple of weeks. As I increase the interval length and decrease the length of the rests, I expect to get to a point where it will be obvious that I no longer need the rest. I am using care not to push too hard, as I don't want to ruin a 3 hour workout, by trying to pedal straight through in the first half hour.

I have found that if I lower my cadence, I can pedal the PC's for longer. Also, when I am putting out a minimum of power; base, aerobic, zone 2; my heart rate is up in the upper levels of what most coaches call base and lower tempo or zone 2, lower zone 3.

Mind you, I am not breathing hard, or pushing hard on the pedals, just my heart rate is high. I attribute this to the increased number of normally unused muscle groups that are recruited to keep the PC's turning. According to the PC literature, this increased number of utilized muscle groups will lead to an increase in my VOMax. Though I am skeptical about this claimed benefit, after making these observations, I could be led to believe that this is true, if my heart rate starts lowering while doing the same work with the PC's.

I plan on installing a 52 tooth chainring on my PC bike this week, as I am spinning out the small ring regularly on the trainer.

I have had the opportunity to ride the PC'c outside again. I found that they are feeling more natural. I am not struggling as much to keep the bike moving and keep the pedals turning. Also, I have significantly lowered my cadence when on the road with the PC's, which makes for a more stable and less jerky ride.

I can also "sprint" on the PC's. If I start in a huge gear and "run" on the pedals, I can get keep them moving while out of the saddle for as long as I am accelerating. Once I hit a high cadence, I get sloppy and it becomes dangerous. I have not really tried any significant climbing on the PC's, but I look forward to it once the weather allows it.

I no longer find pedaling these frustrating and I am not sore after my PC workouts. Nor have I seen any benefits yet. I guess that I am sticking with them due to faith. Others have benefited, so I feel like I will too. I will keep plugging away and updating you weekly.

PowerCranks Update

I have been faithfully riding PowerCranks for the last week. Since my first post, I have completed 3-4 rides, one outdoors and two on the trainer.

I have a number of observations and comments:

First, I find it much easier to use these cranks on a moving bicycle. Pedaling rhythm was problematic in my first couple of PC rides on the trainer. But when you get a PC equipped bicycle moving, you must keep your pedaling rhythm steady or you will find the bike unstable, since your uneven pedaling will cause weight shifts. I also found that I am able to complete longer intervals on the street than on the trainer.

After 4-5 rides, I have found that, while painful, pedaling the PC's seems normal. In fact, when I switch over to a regular bike mid-workout, the attached crankarms feel strange.

When putting out low power pedaling the PC's, my heart rate is in a much higher zone than if I was on a regularly equipped bicycle. I don't have a power meter, but when I in "base 2" my heart rate reacts as if I was in base 3. I have not attempted to put out high power yet, but I plan on building to that.

I still can not pedal the PC's for more than 4 minutes at a time. At the end of 4 minutes, my legs are screaming and I am gasping. Remember, I am not putting out much power.

I have taken the advice of the PC website and am pedaling at a low cadence. Consequently, I am going to have to change my chainring setup. Currently, I am running a single chainring with a 44 tooth ring. Once I am able to put out higher power, I plan on upgrading to a double with an extra large big ring.

I have started learning how to pedal out of the saddle. It was not all that hard to learn. The problem is that I am unable to actually sprint with PC's. The gear is spun out earlier than normal and I get sloppy, which is dangerous, since if you fail to pull one of the crankarms over the stroke, it will fall backwards, which subsequently make the bike jerk. I almost crashed my first few times, but I am becoming more confident.

Apparently, Mark McCormack is a three season PC user (see the comments section of my last PC entry). Once I am able to ride these for 3 hours straight, Mark has offered to take me to the Blue Hills and trash me on the PC's. This is a huge motivator. Its not everyday that an equipment purchase helps you get a workout with a such a distinguished rider.

Lastly, Since there is no neutral standing position with these cranks, potholes and bumps are problematic. On a normal bike, I become light on the bike by sort of hopping a little when faced with an obstacle that I can't avoid. With PC's hopping would cause the saddle the stab me in the...Anyway you hit bumps hard since you have little leverage to pull up on the front end and no leverage to get the bike off of the ground. Obviously avoidance is the best option, but that is not always possible.