Anmore Tour - L3/SST

Had to run out today and get the car through AirCare ($45 bucks to let my car tell them through the OBD connector that it isn't polluting...) I was a nice day and tomorrows forccast was rain, so that even though it was getting late I decided to do a fast SST ride. Aka, Anmore Tour...

Back home in exactly two hours. Which is a little on the slow side. But I was taking all of the downhill bits really slow. First there where a lot of spots that where wet (melting snow). And hitting some of the downhill hairpin corners fast when they are wet is no fun... Second my rear brake started making a lot of noise. I suspect (havn't checked yet) that one of the pads has worn down. So I was just using the front brakes. Works, but you don't want to go too fast just in case...

Anyway, only five minutes slower than a mid Feb ride from last year. And I think most of that in the second half (was getting cold too.)

BVC Friday Racing - 1st in 30 Lap Scratch

Three races tonight. First was a 4x5 Win and Out Race, then a 30 Lap Scratch and finishing with a 50 Lap "Exponential" Points Race.

I tried going out really hard for the 4x5 Win and Out. About lap 3 Anthony King went over me and while trying to put out some extra power to keep out I got some "speed wobble" (Scott Jutson later said he saw my bike moving from side to side, it certainly felt like it...). I think this is from hitting a bump in the track on the side of the wheel, which sets up a harmonic. Very distressing at 50+ km/h... Anyway, very in-oppourtune time, it let Tony get a small bike length gap which I just couldn't cover. And the fun thing about a Win and Out is that if you come 2nd you get to keep racing... Didn't catch my breath until the last sprint, and then still couldn't do much. Was racing a strong 4th going into the bell lap going over the lead rider, but the person whose wheel I was following pulled up on the finish line with one lap to go. I suspect he got confused and thought that was the finish.

The air must have been very dry tonight, even with the puffer I still ended up with a bad cough after the first race and there where a bunch of other people standing around coughing... Almost didn't start the second race, thought it might be too short and the 50 lap "Exponential" Points race (which we had no idea would be...) might be a better chance at fame and glory etc etc...

But still started, better to at least use the short race to stay warmed up. Stayed at the back for the first 20 laps, then realized that my lungs and legs felt reasonably good, so moved up to see who was the best wheel to follow. Found Ben Cowburn and more or less marked him for a few laps. Anthony King got to the front with (I think) 4-5 laps to go, and led a small group of us out. I managed to get over him and another rider and get a reasonable gap to take 1st... Quite unexpected given my starting plans..

It was lucky that I managed to turn around a 1st in the 2nd race. A few people went home and with smaller numbers in both the A's and B's we ended up running the last race with the A's... :-)

This was a new race invented by the ever resourceful Jeremy Storie, billed as an Exponential Points Race. Standard Points Race rules and scoring. First sprint after 5 laps, second after 10 laps, third after 15 laps, final after another 15 laps... A bit bizarre, we had to remember that the "bell laps" where at 46, 36, 16 and 1.. 

With the A's and the short sprints at the beginning it was just a fast sufferfest... I did manage to get towards the front for the final sprint, but still only managed to get a 6th in that sprint (I think to Ben Cowburns 5th.)

Race Insurance - pays off...

You pay your hundred (plus) bucks a year for a race license. Locally, from Cycling BC... And one of the benefits is insurance. This is mostly 3rd party liability in case you run over some bystanders while racing etc... 

But it also has some limited benefits to help cover expenses if you get injured competing. Today I finally got a payout for my crash last year at the 6-day (broken collarbone..) I was out of pocket about $2600 for various expenses, mostly physio and paying for an MRI. The physio was capped at $1000, but I still got a payout just under $2000. 

So, apperently, the race insurance does have some benefits.

Just remember, you have one year, from the date of the injury, to submit all of your expenses. Keep track of everything and don't loose any receipts. You'll need to forward copies to the claims adjuster.

BVC Structured Workout - Motorpacing

BVC workout, motorpacing tonight.

Then 2 sets of 20 laps @ VO2Max, about 46km/hr.

Computrainer - VO2Max Ramp test and L2/L3 2kloop

I did the VO2Max ramp test (start at 100watts, increase load 30 watts every 3 minutes until you fall over...) and then 2kloop with L2+ high and low cadence drills on the hills

Last October I was able to finish the 300 watt section, 

Today got through the 330 watt load. Pavg for that section was 344 watts. So that is estimated VO2Max wattage. 

That agrees reasonably well wtih Coggans table that estimates VO2Max from FTP (102-120% of FTP... 1.2 * 290 is 348...

Finished with 1.25 hours L2/L3 using my 2kloop, with the high and low cadence drills (18 laps.)

Ford Road - long and cold L2

About 3C but sunny, did Ford Road and then climbed up and over Westwood. Arrived home just after sunset with temp down to 0C. Other than a few bursts (like over the Pitt River bridge) this was L2 all the way. Maybe more like L3 for the last hour climbing over Westwood.

CTL is climbing back much faster and easier than last year, didn't hit 60 until almost mid Feb. Of course not having a broken collarbone helps... But still only a modest 5TSS/week climb.  It would be nice to have CTL > 90 for Spring Series, and since that has been pushed back two weeks this year it means I have seven weeks; 7x5 is 35, 60+35 > 90... 

Computrainer - Microintervals, 2kloop etc etc

Looking for some variety... and hopefully get a good workout. Trying Microintervals, aka 30-30.. 150% FTP (est VO2Max) for 30 seconds, then half that for 30 seconds, repeat... The ERG file I setup only had 11 repeats. I probably could have done more. Ended up doing two reps with a 10 minute cool down in between.

Then an hour+ of my 2k loop, 20 laps, most with the high cadence and low cadence drills.

Here is the original description (running oriented though) of the vVO2Max and 30-30 workouts. And here and here for some discussion on the wattage list.

The ERG file is quite simple:

[COURSE HEADER]

VERSION = 2

UNITS = ENGLISH

DESCRIPTION = Micro Intervals 330

FILE NAME = MicroIntervals330.erg

MINUTES     WATTS

[END COURSE HEADER]

[COURSE DATA]

0.0     100

1.0     150

3.0     150

4.0     180

5.0     150

6.0     180

7.0     150

8.0     180

9.0     150

10.0    165

10.0    330

10.5    330

10.5    165

11.0    165

11.0    330

11.5    330

11.5    165

12.0    165

12.0    330

12.5    330

12.5    165

13.0    165

13.0    330

13.5    330

13.5    165

14.0    165

14.0    330

14.5    330

14.5    165

15.0    165

15.0    330

15.5    330

15.5    165

16.0    165

16.0    330

16.5    330

16.5    165

17.0    165

17.0    330

17.5    330

17.5    165

18.0    165

18.0    330

18.5    330

18.5    165

19.0    165

19.0    330

19.5    330

19.5    165

20.0    165

20.0    330

20.5    330

20.5    165

25.0    165

25.0    150

[END COURSE DATA]

BVC Friday Racing - 2 1st's

[pictures fixed...]

Not so hard and fast this week as it was just us B's....

But I managed a 1st in the Elimination, last in the 4x5 Points and 1st in the 50 lap Scratch. I was still out of breath from the Elimination when we started the 4x5 Points and just didn't feel like fighting to stay with the main group after I got gapped... 

The Scratch race was a nice sedate race compared to last weeks A-B 45 Lap Scratch... Only a couple of fast bits, got my wind and pace going about lap 30 and just followed Ben Cowburn into the finish. Jumped with 1.5 laps to go, took the 1st by (I think) a half wheel to Jeese Reams.

Managed to get to the front of the Elimination to 10 lap Scratch, dropping in front of Ben Cowburn and Steph Rooda. After three eliminations, average speed about 44km/h Ben and Steph came over and I moved up track to aggressively maintain my position. Ben pushed the pace up to about 48km/h and we maintained that positioning for the last three eliminations. Got my heart rate down and was well positioned going into the last 5 laps. Jumped with 2.5 laps to go, but didn't get much (any?) gap, but managed to carry through and take 1st.

Finished the night with a 2km Pursuit practice (about 2:40) and a couple of practice flying 200's.. The 2km time is encouraging. Close to the range for the National Track Champs last year (best 2:36) and without any aero-gear and from a standing start (having to clip in etc..)

Computrainer yesterday - track today

Yesterday was a quick hour on the Computrainer doing the 2kloop. Added in some high cadence just before the low cadence work. So in a typical 3:30 loop I was doing 10-12 seconds 130+RPM (> 600 watts) and 30-40 seconds 50-60 RPM (380-420 watts).

Today BVC Structured workout, Take a Lap Drill variations. Then several 10 and 20 laps sets at 42-44 km/h.  Then another 20 minutes L2/L3 cooldown.

Computrainer - TT, Adnans 3 min hills, some L2/L3

About 2.5 hours on the Computrainer... 

Did the 7 Springs 8K TT on the Computrainer again.. with a little more effort and got the time down to 14:10, 20 seconds faster than last week. Still not a gut buster pace though, only 285 Pavg and NPavg the same, which is FTP.

Then did Adnan's 3 minute hills (3 minute ramp from 200 to 290, then 3 minutes rest at 200, repeated 8 times.) 

Finished with some L2 for 20 minutes, then about 20 minutes of L2/L3.

CTL finally starting to inflect up... with luck I hope to maintain an increase of about 6 points per week to get to over 80 by the first week in March (start of Spring Series.)

Computrainer - 2 hrs L2/L3

Two hours on the Computrainer doing L2/L3. Plus 9 minutes high cadence in the middle. Just building base. Pushing CTL back up...

BVC Friday Racing - 5th in an AB race!

Opening night for the BVC Winter Series....

Combined AB, 5 A's, 12 B's... very fast...

The first race was Elimination to Scratch, which when done with the A's, and with a big field, is about my least favourite race (right up there with Unknown Distance..) If it's B's only I can push up to the front and do something. But that simply doesn't work well with a bunch of A's up there :-( And with my big gear it's really hard to do much at the back.. Tonight I ended up getting locked out on the first sprint... 

Next was a 45 Lap Scratch Race. Crazy fast, averaged 48km/h. I managed to hang in at the back, and luckily was at the right point when the group split. Followed Bruce Denis who followed Ben Cowburn who pulled us back up to the front group. I think about mid-way. There ended up with about 12 riders in the new front group. Again managed to stay with them and get a reasonable position for the final 3 lap sprint. Managed to pull over and get a fifth. 

The last race was a 5x10 Points race. Not quite as fast as the Scratch race... But still hectic. I wasn't able to do anything except hang on for dear life for each of the sprints... My speed was > 55km/h for each of the first four and I was at the end of the group ... But managed to get to the end of the race and would have finished in the final sprint (maybe 7th or 8th), but Mike and Boris had a minor crash on the back stretch and everyone behind them pulled up track. But still a good result for me for this race.

BVC Structured Workout - Points Race Drill

Back to the track!!!!!

Points Race drill, group of 3, 6 laps at 40km/h then sprint and go to the back. All three riders go through 3 times per set, three sets.

Finished with a "tempo" ride... following Matt Potma, who thinks 47-48 km/h is "tempo"...  Mind you he is a junior and races A... so it's possible that it's tempo for him... For me, following, it was 330 Pavg... About what us B's do as a good race pace in scratch or points race..

I finished with 10+ laps with average speed about 45km/h, Pavg 350.. That felt good. Can't remember last time I maintained that pace... 

Computrainer - 1hr@L2, 30m@L3

Easy ride today. L2 for an hour, L3 for last 30 minutes...

Tomorrow, hopefully back to the velodrome...

Computrainer - 8KTT and mucho L3

An old standby today, 7 Springs 8KTT... 14:30 which I think might be a personal best... which was a bit suprising as I wasn't pushing that hard... But apparantly my best time back on 2007 was 14:56 and 14:54.. 

Then did an hour and a half of my 2k loop (22 laps). Non-paced, left the pacer at 175 and lapped him twice. Anyway, the poing was to put a long workout in with high TSS... Only had two hours available so had to do it as L3 instead of longer L2...  The 2K loop has a couple of short "hills" and I did the second standing for most laps.. typically 30-40 pedal strokes, to build strength.

Computrainer - L2 - 2hours

Thursday I did a late hour L4 / SST ride. Today wasy two hours L2 ride. 

Track repairs are apparently complete as it is going to open with normal schedule on Monday, with Friday racing starting next Friday... Now I just have to get my track disk glued up, the new Vittoria tubulars have arrived. The winter series is always harder as I'm instead of riding CTL down with neutral or positive TSB, I'm pushing CTL up with a negative TSB...  So its always harder to do anything.

2kloop - L4

A quick and hard L4 workout on the Computrainer.

Dug up a short 2k loop from the Computrainer website.. Followed Platinum guy... sprinting past him on the short hill. Did it 17 times... averging about 3:15 per loop. With IF at .99 this is very close to 100 TSS points in the hour..

Westwood Nordic

Another blizzard so I went up to the Westwood Nordic Area (Westwood Golf Course...) and had a couple of fun hours on the boards... Its not that its hard, its just not as easy as it looks... Especially if you start going downhill. I am a reasonably good downhill skier, but without the heel being attached, light boots, no edges, its totally different from trying to control downhill skiis.

Back home, another hour and a half chasing the platinum guy on the Computrainer. He was set to 300 watts and staying in the draft zone (2-10 meters) is hard... And if you get out it is hard to get back in. So lots of micro bursts of power, which push the intensity factor up... Its a reasonably good race practice drill.

Back to the Track - L2 Upper body workout

Well, it was a workout and it was at the track... but mostly it involved lifting the plastic floor tiles and rubber underlay, stacking and removing so that they could be cleaned and dried.... That was a fun four hours :-)

Did about an hour and a half on the Computrainer once I got back home. 10k TT as L3 (chase the platinum guy to draft, he was set to about 300 watts...).. Then Adnan's 8x3 minute 200-300 ramps... Sounds easy, and it is for the first 3 or 4 or 5... The last couple require fortitude and broken promises... "Just one more and then I'll quit..."

It's going to take a bunch of work, and with the track closed and multi-feet of snow on the ground, its going to be mostly (all!) on the CT for probably a month.. Boring... mind numbing.