Training Log Archive: veinbuster

Sufferfest: the best thing ever

Repeating with new power settings. Long warm up and 2 13:30 races with a 3 minute recovery. Heart rate was noticeably higher in the second race. Average heart rate 10% lower, average power 10% higher, max power about the same. I did notice the cadence drift low a couple of time, so I haven't got the adjusted levels mastered yet.

Power: avg-186, max-362

C • Why 13:30? 4

Day 2 soloflex, free weights, pushups

Day 3 soloflex with a few bonus sets.
Dips a bit weak, likely do to a bit of stress in the right elbow.

Oops, wrong work out.
Day 1 soloflex.

Returned the super light fat and set out to try two more, only one of which I ended up riding.

The second was an alloy frame, normal front suspension, XO rather than XX1, and a seat dropper. I have XO on my mountain bike and didn't see any benefit to the XX1. The slight weight advantage isn't significant to me.

I had enjoyed the Luft suspension, but prefer the extra travel, tunability and lock out option on this one. The seat dropper is very cool and I could see the odd time I might want the seat out of the way. There was a huge weight difference - probably 3-4kg, but the only time I noticed was lifting the bike over the railway tracks to get to the terrain park. Also, less than half the price of the first bike.

The second bike is a near perfect match for me, so I didn't take out the lower spec build. Well that and the wind shifted from south to north and the temperature dropped 7C so my fingers were getting chill, and the rain was starting to feel like it would cool the rest of me.

The ride was fun in spite of the rain. The tires held pounds of mud and flung it everywhere. Mrs. made me take my outer layer off before getting a ride home.

C • N+1? 6

C • Seat droppers are awesome 3

Picked up a Brooks saddle in Austin. They say the break in period is 1000 miles. It is already more comfortable than the 30 year old saddle it is replacing. It is much more sensitive to the position. I had to stop and adjust the seat angle by a couple of degrees pretty early - the seat is too slippery for that not to be perfect. I might shift it back a few mm - I have to decide if it would be better to let the leather form to my bum instead.

The ride was very windy and chaotically wet. It wasn't supposed to rain until much later in the day, but I went in and out of it every 10 minutes or so. Never very heavy, but enough to get the road wet and maybe draw some of the dye out of the seat.

Scored a loaner of what is probably the lightest fat bike on the planet. Carbon everything, including wheels. Luft suspension, which was surprisingly good on top of being a very cool looking front end. XX1 rear. 4.6 rubber. Tubeless and under 11 kg. This should be as good as it gets.

I nay had recovery compression on my right leg, so toured as much as I could in an hour. I was surprised how fast it started out, then noticed it was already on the 11 of the 11-42. Still it was a good enough top speed for me on a trail. Quite good at jumping curbs and dealing with mid sized features. Brilliant in the terrain park. But...

Substantial pogo effect under power. I didn't buy my mountain bike until that got tuned out of the rear suspension, but there aren't a lot of options for tuning it out of the tires. It was also bumpier over roots than I expected - based on this one ride I would say good at features < 4 cm or over 10 cm, not as good in the middle.

I told Mrs. not to buy it for my birthday. But I will probably run it to the south end while I have it.

C • Interesting! 4

Day 1 free weights

A bit slow getting up this morning. Perfect sleeping temperature.

Sufferfest: to get to the other side

Did the 6 climbs with the new higher power levels and my adjusted cadence (lower) levels. Even with the 20% power increase, my heart rate was dramatically lower than 2 weeks ago. This put the video much more in the tempo/endurance effort it is billed to target.

I did use the video cadence targets for the sprints at the end and expect to do the same with the other videos. It appears I neglected to record the power numbers the first time I did this video, so I can't compare the actuals but in round numbers: 20% more power with 10% lower heart rate.

Power: avg-161, max-249

Day 3 soloflex
Dips and chin ups surprisingly strong, except for wide underhand ups

A bit late today. The dark let me sleep a bit longer and I had to catch up on ARWC.

C • ARWC 3

Pre winter storage ride along the river. I tried wearing ski clothes on the upper body. My Fugo jacket is perfect for this weather (0C), but the sleeves are not ideal for the recumbent. It worked out pretty well but I'd have to adjust the layering for more effort because this didn't seem to breathe great on the little up hill bursts. I also noted that the booties are less effective when it is your soles that are breaking through the cool air. Proper boots would probably get a lot of use so I'll watch for some.

The ride was pretty quite: 1 fast walker and 6 runners. My neighbour has a very unique arm motion so was recognizable from a good distance away. Quite a bit of small tree parts along the way and a bit of snow after 10km - not enough to influence the ride, just enough to know winter is coming.

Now off t put the Greenspeed under covers for a few months.

A few laps before my last meeting of the day.

Most of the way home it was warm enough to think about running from the house to my favourite sushi place, but the temperature dropped to 1C when the sun went down so I wimped out...just on the running part.

Sufferfest: fits like a rubber glove

This is there fitness test. A long warm up followed by a 20 'time trial'. I did the warm up at the power prescribed by last year's result. As it ramped up to 7/10 it was pretty clear that those numbers were low. In the 4 high cadence runs after the main warm up, I noticed that my heart rate ramped up quickly at 100+ rpm by the end of the minute. Consistent with cadence observations in a recent session.

I started the TT at 20 watts higher than last year's prescription and bumped it up by 20 every 4 minutes (versus every 5 in the video). Heart stayed in the 150s throughout so I bumped it another 20 watts for the last 2 minutes. It made the math a bit harder for the average, but still within my capabilities.

My heart rate didn't touch 160 until 280 watts at about 80 rpm (versus the same rate in the warm up at 140 watts and 100+ rpm). A pretty dramatic statement regarding my cadence limits. At 300 watts for the finished the heart rate creeped ever so slightly. Since I know I have held a heart rate average over 160 on the road for 20 minutes, I clearly could have managed a higher average power - probably another 10%, maybe as much as 20%. For now I'll just round up for my new power levels...unless I get bored enough to retest.

Power: avg-151, max-300, TT average 242 - puts FTP 20% over a year ago

Day 2 free weights and push-ups

Sufferfest: do as you're told

I was a bit curious if a 45 walk immediately before jumping on the trainer would have an impact. Apparently not, at least for a short session.

Two sets of 11 intervals. Intervals mostly 8/10 to 10/10. I did the 10/10 at 350 watts which I find easily sustainable for the 20 sec intervals. The middle of the second set with only 10-20 second recovery after 50-60 seconds did ramp the heart up. I really liked this video and could see doing doubles of it.

Power: avg-146, max-362

Perfect riding weather after work, but not enough daylight...so I a November cleanup on the Pennsylvania bikes.

Day 1 free weights

Day 3 resistance bands and pushups

Sufferfest: to get to the other side

This is billed as a tempo session, but was a bit more than that for me with 6 climbs. For the first 3 I followed the prescription of power and cadence. This got my heart rate to the alarm about mid way through the 3rd climb and steadily ramped up to the peak for the day. I did, however notice that my heart rate was more dependent on the cadence than the power level. Specifically at 4/10 power with cadence of 100, my heart rate escalated and with power 6/10 and cadence of 60-70 my heart rate eased off.

For the next 2 climbs I managed the cadence variations in 5 rpm steps rather than 10 rpm steps. This kept my heart rate out of the alarm zone. I thought the 5th climb was the last, so I went back to the prescribed cadence for the last couple of minutes and the heart rate moved as noticed in the earlier climbs. I did cuss when I saw there was one more climb, but managed it with my cadence plan and the heart rate stayed nicely in the 150s...so maybe adjusting my cadence targets would make it a tempo ride.

It was a great lessons for my next trip to the Rockies: ignore the fast cadence is easier on the knees bit and keep the cadence in the 65-80 range to manage the heart rate.

About the video: beautiful footage climbing the mountains. The last bit with Mike Cotty climbing Mount Sufferlandia was like watching Flight get her QOM climbing to Glacier View...except she didn't quit when it kicked up the last time.

Warmer than forecast at 7C, but the wind was fierce: 30-40 km/hr with gusts I couldn't begin to guess at. The sky was very dark, but the weatherman said no chance of rain so I braved the wind in what could be my last chance for a decent road ride in Pennsylvania.

I wasn't sure if I would take the country loop or the time trail run and didn't decide until about 100m before the commit point 8 km into the ride. The country loop won out in part because a big gust would push me into a mail box or the ditch rather than into the middle of the lane. The wind was a battle for all but about 4 km of the ride. I switched to the small chain ring at about 5 km to encourage a higher cadence and at least a psychological advantage fighting the cross winds. I will have a much better appreciation for the echelon in next year's Tour de Franice.

Very slow ride, but as nasty as the weather was it was satisfying to be outside. One runner seemed to agree. The one cyclist, who could have been Santa Clause in a yellow vest, was less convinced.

Day 2 free weights and push ups

Sufferfest: The Best Thing in the World

A bit of reorganization was required during the warm up: getting the angle right to monitor power accurately; positioning the Playbook on the bars so I could watch the video without banging my knees; getting the Garmin in a place where I could see it. The there was getting the right gear to meet the power setting with the right cadence.

I'll probably adjust a bit more in the next session.

This video is basically two short race simulations, each with a very different profile. It is a good starter for the trainer season. I used last year's FTP and will get new numbers after a couple more sessions to get settled in to trainer mode.

Power: avg-167, max-355

Day 3 resistance bands, push-ups, semi annual tire toting

It appeared like someone may have tried to take my bike off of the roof during an overnight stay. It was locked with a heavy cable and a Kryptonite, to the rear cross bar that is locked onto the car. A real thief would have had no problem with it, but it is a decent deterrent for an opportunistic thief. When I went out in the morning, the front wheel was well out of the bike rail - the bottom of the tire clearing the rail by 3-4 cm. It was as if someone thought 'well maybe I can take the front wheel'. Not worth a lot, but the rubber is new and it has a decent disc. It couldn't clear the guide for the tire, so I just had to reset it before heading out again. A bit odd though.

Day 1 free weights plus a couple of bonus exercises on the hotel Precor FTS Glide.

Mrs. and I are on our own again, so stopped early to explore a bit of Texarkana - her first time in Arkansas.

Drive west from Austin it looked like hill country was going to be pretty demanding for the single speed, but it levelled out just before we got to our destination and wasn't remotely demanding.

I planned to go to the end of the country road we were on. It was about a lane and a half wide and just a connector for active farms. It ended after 6 km so I took the highway into town and took a tour of it. Practiced a few one leg stretches for entertainment.

Rainy Austin morning. Rainy enough for a flood watch.

Lots of practice not buying a bike. The coolest bike I didn't buy (yet) was a titanium carbon, cross-gravel, mountainish bike by Foundry. Lots of places to add stuff like a mad scientist. Set up to accommodate digital shifting. And my size.

Also I nice deep metallic green gates drive for Mrs.

A really nice half fat. 'Bent has mentioned these a few times and I can see the appeal for anything other than the snow I want to be able to ride in.

There might be too many nice bike shops in Austin. Back on the SS tomorrow.

Knees were feeling the effort of climbing on the single speed so giving them a break, at least until we get to Austin.

Lake Jackson loop with proper navigation.

Not quite as damp and a tiny bit warmer today at 17C, but still barely a hint of sun. I took one town area short cut to bypass a couple of busy intersections and noticed one more opportunity for the next trip.

When I got to the missed turn from yesterday I realized it was right at the top of the most punishing outbound climb, so I made a point of sighting the angles to see if I should have picked up the marked yesterday. There was no chance. It was behind trees and not remotely visible until you had already made the turn...so I feel vindicated.

It was a bit more active around the lake today with lots of dogs being walked along the road and the light it of traffic appropriately calm - though they were still a bit wild on the highways. I think I can cut 5-7 km of highway out of the loop by adding 10-12 km of lake road on the far corner.

I was noticing on the lake roads that it would be a great place for a Kodiak.

C • Kodiak 2

The plan was a loop around Lake Jacksonville. I had a cheat sheet with road name but no map. I'll download the Garmin after resting my legs. It died near the end so the numbers above are the last I saw.

The first 5km on the lake road was very wooded, very narrow, twisty and hilly. Here the hills were mostly up and down the same 20m. There was quite a bit of tree parts on the road and the few pickups, all white, seemed to just drive over them waiting for them to break down. The biggest I had to ride over was about 10cm thick. Near the end I saw someone putting up new road markers - all you get here is one same green plate with a number on it. I hoped he had already done the other side of the lake because I had never been there so would be dependent on seeing the marker riding by.

Then 5km on a state road around the bottom of the lake. 2.5 km through town to the state road up the other side. This side of the lake had much bigger hills - up and down about 60m. There was quite a bit of traffic and some of the trucks swooped down the hills like rocket ships. This wasn't ideal for a single speed. To the point where when the longest hill kicked up to 12% and my heart rate up to 172, I opted to walk until it tapered. Cell service was dodgy and I new Mrs. Rarely had reception on the lake so best not to push it to the point of needing help.

I was looking for CO3110 to get back to the lakeshore. The problem was the 31xx counted up to 3107 and then the numbering changed to 18xx. I was getting suspicious and came to an unmarked road just before some old high voltage power lines. Maybe the dam at the top of the lake was big enough to generate power - some the the drops were decent. So I carried on to see if my road was on the other side of the power lines. Great big down hill so rather than U turn quickly I played it out on the flat and came to the end of the road.

I was about two hours, so I left Mrs. a message she could eventually be notified of and looped back. Mrs. messaged me about 1/4 of the way up the hill, so dead stop to reply. Another message half way up the first steep part, so another stop. Then I walked until it levelled a bit (back to about 5%). Pedalled until half way up the next steep part which was on a big curve so I opted to walk in the mushy pine needles on the side of the road and not worry about not bein seen by a truck.

Then back on the bike to the unmarked road. I thought I could burn 1km in case it was the one I wanted and save 20km back through town. After about 500m the road became deep sand, I gave it another 500m then bailed on that and headed back towards town. In this direction there was an early warning for CO3108. Not the 3110 I was looking for...but about 15m in there was a CO3110 sign, so back on track. Down to the lake to finish the loop. Garmin died just before the dam and I could see my destination around the top of the lake.

This was a very long time on a traditional bike, but after my routine leg elevation they feel fine.

C • Wow! 2

Finishing the ride. Time is accurate. Distance is 3-4 km, maybe another 50m of elevation.

Ignoring the time change for a day.

Day 2 plus wrists superset missed yesterday.
Free weights in what appears to be a brand new hotel gym, including an increasingly rare recumbent stationary bike. I found it a bit funny that even though most hotels don't have bikes any more, as I was doing my last set a guy walked in and hopped on it. I guess he is ignoring the time change today too.