Race Report Thread

[toolonglegs]

Nick... you did alright to walk away from a TT crash!.
Your a brave man Twiz... no way would you ever catch me entering a climbing TT .

Quick report for me... last CX of the season. Didnt feel great... had my tooth repaired on Tuesday and it is still bugging me, plus I just feel a bit tired and off form.
Anyway rocked up with my Canadian mate, we did one lap warm and a little bit on the road... but I was cold and not feeling great.
Good turn out... maybe 50 with all the big names. Got a front row start but could not get up to speed, into the red straight away... WAY into the red. Basically had to back it off and hold the best I could.About 2/3rds of the way through I realized I was catching a group of 3 in front of me... basically I caught them easily, BUT I went to deep doing it... had a great tussle getting past them all in the deep gravel, deep mud, grass with zero traction and through the tunnels of the fort we were racing around. But the next lap I faded, not an explosion but they all pulled away from me. I was a bit disappointed in that but there was nothing I could do.
On the last lap I tried to hold it steady but was making a lot of mistakes, no one was anywhere near behind me so I cruised the last half lap.
Last year I got lapped by the leader... they didn't get close this year... next year I really will try and crack the top 10. Think I finished somewhere between 12-16th today... would have been nice to squeeze ahead of the 3 in front!.
Any my 9 race CX season is over... kinda sad!. Finished 8 race, 1 DNF ( first race with a puncture )... bike worked like a dream today even with the slight muddy / gritty conditions .


Next race report will be first road race of the season... end of Feb or 1st Sat if March depending when I start!.

[twizzle]

Mt McDonald 5km hill climb time trial. 12:54, first in B grade, 4'th outright, 20 seconds down on the winner who is a rocket. No data yet 'cause I haven't been near the computer. But I was on the TT bike with aero helmet unlike the guys who finished ahead of me. I think next year I'll run the roadie so it's more comparable.

I still need to lose 8kg.

Edit: And I think my time was about 30 seconds quicker than the last time we ran this, but I'll have to check.

Sent from my iThingy...

2009 : 421W average at 27.4kph in 14:09. But a longer distance by ~400m because we started at a different point that year.
2010 : 419W average at 27.1kph in 13:26.
2011 : Wasn't run.
2012 : 393W average at 28.7kph in 12:54. What??! 393W? NOT HAPPY!

I was hoping that the average was low because I had to slow down in two corners near the end, but in 2009 I averaged 428W for the main part of the climb vs. 406W this year. Not Happy? Screw you, Jan! The reality is I haven't had any intensity in my rides since early December, I'm just not as "race fit" as I should be at this time of year.

[twizzle]

Nick... you did alright to walk away from a TT crash!.
Your a brave man Twiz... no way would you ever catch me entering a climbing TT .

re. Nick +1, it takes a lot more than a coupla-hundred k's to get "comfortable" riding out on the bars. I still can't descend on my TT bike despite roughly a third of my hours being on that bike.

Awwww.... come on TLL, it's an endurance event, you know it's fun to annoy the sprinters.

[jules21]

I was hoping that the average was low because I had to slow down in two corners near the end, but in 2009 I averaged 428W for the main part of the climb vs. 406W this year. Not Happy? Screw you, Jan! The reality is I haven't had any intensity in my rides since early December, I'm just not as "race fit" as I should be at this time of year.

nice work Twiz. do you have a VAM for it?

TLL - those pics are ridiculous, you can't tell me the gears would change when caked in that much mud!

[twizzle]

nice work Twiz. do you have a VAM for it?

Nah - I don't use training peaks. In fact, I don't really use the Garmin data much these days, just the Powertap head unit.

[Ross]

Mt McDonald 5km hill climb time trial. 12:54, first in B grade, 4'th outright, 20 seconds down on the winner who is a rocket. No data yet 'cause I haven't been near the computer. But I was on the TT bike with aero helmet unlike the guys who finished ahead of me. I think next year I'll run the roadie so it's more comparable.

I still need to lose 8kg.

Edit: And I think my time was about 30 seconds quicker than the last time we ran this, but I'll have to check.

Sent from my iThingy...

Belated congratulations to you for that ride.

I thought the course was too hilly for a TT bike so used my roadie. Was going to use my "A" race bike with the 404s but it started spitting slightly as I was getting ready and I'm not a fan of riding with carbon wheels in the wet (actually not a fan of riding any bike in the rain...) so I did a quick change back to the "B" bike with the alloy wheels.

Warming up I was feeling ok, not good, not bad but probably better than average considering I had ridden a hilly 112km with Strava PRs the day before. As soon as the flag dropped though I suddenly felt crap. The road felt dead, I was in the small chainring and felt like I was getting nowhere fast. I passed a few slower riders which gave me a confidence boost but I still seemed to be struggling. It was like there was a headwind but all the trees seemed to be still. It wasn't hot which was good, only about 20 degrees. Had enough left in the legs (as I should only being a 5km course distance) to sprint down the hill to the finish. If only Twizzle had done the same time as last race I may of beaten him...only about 30 secs difference.

[twizzle]

but probably better than average considering I had ridden a hilly 112km with Strava PRs the day before.

Goose. If your weren't out killing youself the day before every race, you might go even faster!

PS - dreaming. If I'd done the same time as last time, I'd still have beaten you by ten seconds.

[toolonglegs]

Jules, they changed no problems at all... but that is one of the reasons I went back to 9 speed, 10 speed wouldn't have worked so well.

Twiz, didn't you have a problem with your data before you had that training camp with Alex?... I thought you mention your PT was reading high.

OT... reading Wiggo's book at the moment, he mentions his power numbers a fair bit. He quotes his TT power at 460-470w at 68kgs ... this makes me wonder how much Fab puts out ( I have never seen his TT numbers quoted ) seeing that he weighs in around 80-82 kgs .

[jules21]

OT... reading Wiggo's book at the moment, he mentions his power numbers a fair bit. He quotes his TT power at 460-470w at 68kgs ...

that's over 6.7 W/kg....

[toolonglegs]

OT... reading Wiggo's book at the moment, he mentions his power numbers a fair bit. He quotes his TT power at 460-470w at 68kgs ...

that's over 6.7 W/kg....

Yeah, insane... maybe a bit of inflation for literal purposes... but he does shoot from the hip so maybe not.

[jules21]

Yeah, insane... maybe a bit of inflation for literal purposes... but he does shoot from the hip so maybe not.

isn't anything about 5.5-6.0 well into doping territory though?

[toolonglegs]

Yeah, insane... maybe a bit of inflation for literal purposes... but he does shoot from the hip so maybe not.

isn't anything about 5.5-6.0 well into doping territory though?

No fair bit higher than that I think.

[twizzle]

Twiz, didn't you have a problem with your data before you had that training camp with Alex?... I thought you mention your PT was reading high.

Not until late 2010, and I went back and corrected the the torque offset for all of the data involved - it was my "race" wheel, so not too many rides.

Sent from my iThingy...

[toolonglegs]

The reality is I haven't had any intensity in my rides since early December, I'm just not as "race fit" as I should be at this time of year

Then I wouldn't be worry about a little 5 or 6 % drop then ... look at the power to weight improvements .
What are you aiming for weight wise in the end?... 85?.

[twizzle]

85 kg would be nice, it's do-able, but I've plateaued on the weight at the moment. I made the mistake of cutting back on the food, so the metabolism has slowed & I just want to sleep. I've absolutely hammered it today, though, so I made up for yesterday. I finished reading "The smarter science of slim", so that's changed how I'm going to work on the weight loss.

If you look at TSS scores, I'm the fittest I've been since Jan 2011, but if you look at Daniels points I'm nowhere near as fit as I've missed too many events. FTP Is down by ~10W, 10 minute is down by about 20W. Weight, however, is down by ~10Kg compared to 2011.

Sent from my iThingy...

[mikesbytes]

Mt McDonald 5km hill climb time trial. 12:54, first in B grade, 4'th outright, 20 seconds down on the winner who is a rocket. No data yet 'cause I haven't been near the computer. But I was on the TT bike with aero helmet unlike the guys who finished ahead of me. I think next year I'll run the roadie so it's more comparable.

I still need to lose 8kg.

Edit: And I think my time was about 30 seconds quicker than the last time we ran this, but I'll have to check.

Sent from my iThingy...

2009 : 421W average at 27.4kph in 14:09. But a longer distance by ~400m because we started at a different point that year.
2010 : 419W average at 27.1kph in 13:26.
2011 : Wasn't run.
2012 : 393W average at 28.7kph in 12:54. What??! 393W? NOT HAPPY!

I was hoping that the average was low because I had to slow down in two corners near the end, but in 2009 I averaged 428W for the main part of the climb vs. 406W this year. Not Happy? Screw you, Jan! The reality is I haven't had any intensity in my rides since early December, I'm just not as "race fit" as I should be at this time of year.

How much did you weight 2009, 2010, 2012 ?

[twizzle]

It would have been 103 - 105kg, sitting around 92.- 93kg at the moment. Given I started off back in 2006 at 127.5kg, I'm not doing too badly... it's just taken me a while to get there.

And that should have been 2013. It was supposed be be 23'rd Dec., but they moved it.

Sent from my iThingy...

[vander]

OT... reading Wiggo's book at the moment, he mentions his power numbers a fair bit. He quotes his TT power at 460-470w at 68kgs ...

that's over 6.7 W/kg....

Yeah, insane... maybe a bit of inflation for literal purposes... but he does shoot from the hip so maybe not.

At the tour his TTs were apparently a bit over 6W/kg. Most to the main climbs were done at a bit less than 6W/kg. He is also on elliptical chain rings which artificially inflate his power numbers. From the analysis I have looked at.

6.7 is well into the doping territory. 6W/kg during a grand tour is still very suspect.

If you look on training peaks at their analysis, there was a guy (Janez Brajkovic) that was finishing in the lead group or close to it most the time that was doing 5.5ish W/kg most the time.

[vander]

Twiz you have had problems with your powermeter measuring high in the past can you trust those numbers 100%? Also was it on a roadbike? Generally you usually lose a bit on the TT bike.

[twizzle]

Twiz you have had problems with your powermeter measuring high in the past can you trust those numbers 100%? Also was it on a roadbike? Generally you usually lose a bit on the TT bike.

Twiz, didn't you have a problem with your data before you had that training camp with Alex?... I thought you mention your PT was reading high.

Not until late 2010, and I went back and corrected the the torque offset for all of the data involved - it was my "race" wheel, so not too many rides.

Yes, first two times on the roadie, Sunday was on the TT bike. HR went up pretty quickly as well, and didn't peak as high.

I guess it doesn't matter - I was still 30 seconds quicker.


PS - how's the hip?

[Ross]

I guess it doesn't matter - I was still 30 seconds quicker.

I reckon the course was a bit shorter....serious. I seem to recall going past Uriarra settlement last time.
Courses are never measured, marshalls are just given vague instructions where to set up - "up there, over the hill and around the corner, near the bush with the purple flowers".

[twizzle]

I guess it doesn't matter - I was still 30 seconds quicker.

I reckon the course was a bit shorter....serious. I seem to recall going past Uriarra settlement last time.
Courses are never measured, marshalls are just given vague instructions where to set up - "up there, over the hill and around the corner, near the bush with the purple flowers".

In 2009 (13'th Dec) they started near the bridge because the normal carpark was closed, and the course was 6.5km. The last two times (12.12.2010 and 13.1.2013) it's been 6.1km. At 55kph (my finish line speed for '09 and '10), it's 15.2m/s, so 30 seconds is ~ 450M. Which also explains why my time for 2009 was 43 seconds slower than for 2010.

[twizzle]

Feck, my evil plan to go back to racing B grade for Crits until I got some race fitness back went out the window. No way I will be allowed to leave A grade after taking third place tonight.

I jumped to a solo break by one of the quick guys, took one other rider with me and we had a third of a lap on the bunch at the end. I managed to avoid lower back failure by riding on the drops and tucked in to keep the back curved, but couldn't feel my hands for about the last five laps. At least, with the ISM saddle, I could still feel my nuts.


Sent from my iThingy...

[jcjordan]

I guess it doesn't matter - I was still 30 seconds quicker.

I reckon the course was a bit shorter....serious. I seem to recall going past Uriarra settlement last time.
Courses are never measured, marshalls are just given vague instructions where to set up - "up there, over the hill and around the corner, near the bush with the purple flowers".

We do have specific points marked on the roads but in a number of cases they have been overlayed. Quite a few, kike in this csse, have had to be adjusted to deal with traffic changes

[toolonglegs]

Feck, my evil plan to go back to racing B grade for Crits until I got some race fitness back went out the window. No way I will be allowed to leave A grade after taking third place tonight.

I jumped to a solo break by one of the quick guys, took one other rider with me and we had a third of a lap on the bunch at the end. I managed to avoid lower back failure by riding on the drops and tucked in to keep the back curved, but couldn't feel my hands for about the last five laps. At least, with the ISM saddle, I could still feel my nuts.


Sent from my iThingy...

Good stuff Twiz, how many do you get in your races there?.

I am reading race reports to try and get motivated to get on the rollers or mag trainer ... 6 weeks without racing now totally sucks, slushy snowed in roads sucks even more!.