More Single Speed Fun

Due to the President's Day holiday I was able to get in 44 miles of mountain biking this week on the single-speed. I went to Ft. Yargo State Park both times to ride in both directions. The park is pretty nice although the trails are a little monotonous. But the trails are very well maintained and offer a perfect place to ride the single-speed.

It is hard to gauge the power effort for a SS ride since I cannot use the Powertap. The general rule I have seen is that you assign 1 point of "training stress score" per minute of riding. I have found this to be a little low compared to the percieved effort and recovery of these rides. I basically view single-speed MTB as XC BMX for adults and it is comparable to lifting weights with your legs for the duration.

This was a tiring week due to the TT last Saturday and then the MTB and intervals I did. I still came up a bit short on time but hopefully I can get out for a brief spin tomorrow.

The SS Championship race will be hard since the course is much easier than last year and I am sure there will be plenty of bunching which makes the hole shot that much more important.

This is a rest week coming up.

2007 Tundra Time Trial

Today was my 4th attempt at the Tundra Time Trial held on the Silver Comet Rail Trail in Hiram, GA. It was 25 degrees when I got there and about 28 at my start. The course was an out and back of 9.5 miles total. Although it is a rail trail, it is not flat and going out it is initially down hill (slightly) and on the way back uphill (slightly). My main goal was to try and tie or break my time of last year (when I used aerobars) on a regular bike this year. Last year's time was 24.48.

My warm up was good and at the start the wind had begun to kick up a little. Off the ramp I did a half sprint up to speed and then quickly settled in to a groove. My 1 minute power was 487watts and that is a little too hot at the beginning. For the ride I was able to average 308watts which was more than I expected. However, my time at the finish was 25.53, 65 seconds slower than last year. This translated to about a 1mph difference in speed. So, I did not come close to breaking my time but I did gain some valuable information about my fitness right now and that is that since January 3 I have elevated my FTP (CP60) from 290W to 297W, approaching the 300W mark where I want to be. Of course right now any power over 25.53 is an estimation since I have not done a 60 minute TT. For comparison, my FTP in the fall at my peak was 300W and that was enough to win some races.

I was really impressed by all of the time trial machinery. Even with the UCI regualtions as they are, the bike companies are being very innovative. The riders continue to be very fit in February and some of the top times were under 23 minutes. In some respects it would be nice to have a tricked out TT bike and see what I could do on it, but I also think it is pretty cool to strip away as many aero advantages and see where you stack up.

Anyway, I don't know the results yet but I am sure I did not podium or have a top time, which was not my goal. It was also my first race in which I was able to wear the HUP United colors and represent the team in the southeast. That was fun too and many folks did not recognize me in the skinsuit.

The Tundra Time Trial is a fun event and you can really take it as seriously as you want. The top guys are all looking at each other trying to figure out if they are ahead or far behind in February. It is also nice since much of the US is either freezing or knee deep in snow. We are pretty lucky down here.

<> I managed 10th in the TT, 3 minutes behind the winner. Even with bars I probably would have only managed 8th. Not bad though.

Here is a graph of my power for the ride:

Here are my stats:
Time: 25.53
Average Power: 308.2W
Outbound Split: 13.20 and 309W
Inbound Split: 12.32 and 307W
Average HR: 167bpm
Average Cadence: 88rpm
Weight: 79.5 kilos
Watts/KG for the effort: 3.87 (yikes!)

Dan's Macabre Part 2 and Singlespeeding FUN

Thursday was AP night at school which meant that I had to stay until 9pm to convince kids to take my classes next year. It also meant that I had about 1 hour to squeeze in some nice single-speed riding at Big Creek. Big Creek is about 1 mile from my school and even though the trails are not long, I can usually get in a good hour of fun. Having a single speed is sort of like surfing and I totally enjoy it more than geared MTB riding. My only crtiticism would be the long grinding forest service roads in N GA, but isn't that what my 'cxross bike is for in the off-season?

Here is a picture of my bike now complete: Klein Pinnacle (1990), Rockshox Judy XC fork, White Industries Eccentric rear hub, chain, crankset (34x17), Easton Monkey Lite XC bars, Thompson tem and a vintage Shimano Deore XT seatpost with WTB Devo saddle.

Dan's Macabre--Part 2

The Powertap does not lie. This ride is way too hard for me considering the Cat 2 and up company. I was lucky to hang onto their wheels and Theron's lead out on the final sprint was about all I could take. Nasty. No wonder he was pro!

The numbers are only exciting to me, but the biggest surprise was the time spent above threshold. I spent 43 minutes above 296W. I have no business doing this ride again until I make Cat 2. Right. It is absolutely too hard for me unless I was in some sort of crazed intensity stage of training. I basically can't hold these guy's jocks although I did finish in the lead group. It was fun though.


Entire workout (215 watts):
Duration: 2:43:24
Work: 2102 kJ
TSS: 236.8 (intensity factor 0.934)
Norm Power: 262
VI: 1.22
Distance: 53.898 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 994 215 watts
Heart rate: 87 214 153 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 90 rpm
Speed: 2.4 40.5 19.9 mph
Pace 1:29 25:25 3:01 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 419 80 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 919 205 lb-in