Riding the Hills on Fixed Gear with Younger Stronger Riders

The wheelsucker has read somewhere that one way to get better at something is to do it with people who are better at it that you are. It is easy for the wheelsucker to do this with cycling because there is no shortage of riders better than the wheelsucker; most of MABRA is stronger than wheelsucker!

As per his coach, the wheelsucker has being doing fixed gear rides out of Ellicott City on Sundays. The route is from Ellicott City to near the airport, and back to Ellicott City, apparently routing through as many climbs and descents as possible on the way there and back, followed by –– you guessed it –– more climbs and descents in Ellicott City. The first climb –– Bonnie Branch –– is the longest.

The wheelsucker goes hard up Bonnie Branch mostly because no one else does; nine minutes into the ride they are still trying to warm up so the wheelsucker figures it is his best chance of winning a climb. On this occasion the wheelsucker had a gap half way up, but Jay Murphy stopped chatting with the other riders and became serious for the last few seconds of the climb and sped by as the wheelsucker was 20 seconds from the top.

After being told by his coach that he had "a good ride" the previous Sunday but that he had conserved energy by sitting in the wheelsucker was determined to get a workout and avoid sitting in except when necessary to recover. He pushed hard on the climbs to stay with the strongest riders, who were Jay and Chris Harshman. The wheelsucker even rolled off the front a few times.

This worked for a little while, but then the others grew stronger, or maybe it was the wheelsucker tiring. First he was being gapped on climbs by Jay and Chris. Then one or two other riders were able to gap him on the climbs; then it was only Marc behind him at the top of the climbs. The wheelsucker was getting to the top of a short climb gasping for air, his legs burning and the gap in front of him opening. Then his left calf and right quad started to twitch, ready to cramp.

But the wheelsucker kept trying to hold on wondering if he could make it up one more climb or if he would be the first to cry "Uncle!" And then to the wheelsucker's relief Marc called "Uncle!" as Jay steered the group right from River onto Thistle for yet another climb, and Marc peeled off on River for the parking lot. A little while later, after the group had climbed Thistle to route 144/Frederick Road, Rich decided to stay on route 144/Frederick Road and head for the cars, while Jay led the dwindling group up Oella.

Jay turned left at the stopsign onto Old Frederick Road (to go back to Frederick Road). The wheelsucker was trying to keep Jay in range on the descent when his chain jumped off the rear cog (the chain had somehow become too loose). Fortunately the wheel did not jam and the wheelsucker was able to coast to a stop, advise the rider behind him that he could fix it OK, loosen the wheel nuts, slide the wheel forward, put the chain back on, slide the wheel back to tighten the chain, and tighten the nuts (this is why one carries a wrench when riding a fixed gear without quick releases). But now that he was alone, the wheelsucker called it a day and rolled down the Frederick Road/Main Street hill into Ellicott City, ignoring further climbing opportunities. The third rider was already at the cars.

Jay had not had enough of a workout and did several more climbs, meeting the others later at the local coffee shop.

Wheelsucker Data:

Ride time	02:08:31
Distance	36.41 miles
Energy (trainingpeaks estimate based on HR	1821 calories
	Average	Max
HR	142 bpm	168 bpm
Cadence	86 rpm	177 rpm
Speed 16.9 mph	35.1 mph

Advance Review Of The New Kit Bib Knickers

I hounded Dana mercilessly last week (we work in the same building) and managed to pry my new kit from his strong grip, with the agreement that the "real" kit would stay under wraps until the kickoff party this Friday. However, since I was the guy who was pushing to have the Aspen Thermal Bib Knickers added to the store and Saturday's conditions looked to be the sweet spot for them, I was really wanted to try them. As they are typical of our winter training gear with just the ABRT branding, he was fine with that gear getting into the wild.

It did turn out to be perfect conditions for this gear. Before I get to how the worked, just a little explanation of what I think perfect is (and your mileage will certainly vary): For 35 degrees and below, I use my standard bibs with a pair of Bellweather tights with windstopper front over them. Very warm and comfortable but bulky; It's worth it when its cold, but much above this it's overkill. At 45 degrees and above, the standard Pactimo bibs and Milano legwarmers are perfect. That leaves this middle ground of mid 30s to mid 40s, where the leg warmers are fine for the legs, but the midsection, upper thighs and, you know, THE midsection, (aka your "junk") is left with scant Lycra coverage. I can remember after a few Haines point lunch rides last year coming back to the locker room at work BRIGHT RED. Not good.

The Aspen Thermal Bib Knickers are perfect for these conditions. They have the milano-like micro fleece in them. EVERYWHERE. But they do not feel any heavier than the standard Ascent bibs, and in addition, they have the same Ascent chamois, so the "feel", if you know what I mean, is exactly the same as with the regular Ascent bibs. This is important to me because these little "feel" differences are greatly magnified when you're having a bad day on the bike. Also, they have good gripper just above the mid-calf.

Riding out of the Park and Ride at 10 am it was about 38 degrees, right in the sweet spot. Even that first downhill spot on Rossback Rd did not feel cold. When it did eventually warm up into the mid 40s I never felt overheated, and did very much appreciate the extra warmth when going through melted snow flowing across the road yesterday. I was a little worried about how the pee stop would go given that, uh, "access" was rather limited. There is no zipper and you can't lift the leg up, but surprisingly it was easier than I thought to "go over he top" in the front. Whew. Having to do the "women thing" at the Dash In could end in a mad chase to catch the group, which is a deep seated fear of mine given that one of the first times on this ride about 6 years ago, I came out of the store to fine everyone had left and I had NO idea where I was - and did not have a fancy PDA with google maps. Of course, as the Wheelsucker would point out, the women would not get left at the Dash In. But I think any guy doing the "woman thing" would be left on purpose. Just sayin...

My only minor complaint on this gear is a general one about Pactimo's sizing. They adjust the sizes to fit the average RACING cyclist (obviously as this is their target audience), but where that has issues is for us regular folk who, in the Pactimo world are considered "plus sized" dudes. In general, I am reasonably trim (very trim compared to the average American!) and wear size L in most clothes, but for Pactimo bibs, I have to go to a XXL, yes DOUBLE XL, to get something that fits well. Sheesh. Once you make this adjustment, and get the right size, it's OK for standard bibs. However, in the case of the knickers, the XXL fit well everywhere except that they are baggy around the knees as the sizing (I'm assuming) assumes that you are XXL everywhere instead of just having a plus sized arse. That said, I was happy that the sizing was consistent between the Ascent bibs and the Aspen Knickers and the baggy knees did not affect the comfort or performance of the knickers, but did look a little odd. And, again as the Wheelsucker would say, it's all about the look, right?

So if you have the same middle temperature issues, I highly recommend getting a pair when the store opens again. I think they will also work very well in the late spring and early fall when it is wet. I wish I had had them on a torrential rain ride last fall.

Oh, and as for the rest of the racing kit... It looks AWESOME, but you'll have to wait until Friday to see that.

Anything but the Indoor Trainer!Be Careful What You Ask For!

The wheelsucker confesses that he does not have the determination to ride intervals on the indoor trainer. Each time he tries, he struggles to complete the first interval, while his legs tire, his breathing becomes labored, his lower back becomes tighter and tighter and he is quite unable to distract himself with new Giro d’Italia and Tour de France DVDs and an iPod. He dreads the start of the second interval, and part way through it rationalizes that maybe rest and recovery are what he needs, and he stops. The same intervals are very hard but doable on the road. Somehow the distraction of the next short climb or the next curve is enough to keep the wheelsucker pushing, and staying within target power numbers.

But record snow falls and unplowed roads have made riding outside problematic. The wheelsucker’s coach is quite unsympathetic, posting a blog entry at: http://midmaryland.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/determination/.
This was not only directed at the wheelsucker, but coach Birner went out of his way to get the wheelsucker to read it. Ouch!

Desperate to get off the indoor trainer, the wheelsucker rode fixed gear on the route 2 shoulder south of Annapolis on Saturday, with Tom Aga. Some other team members were predicting broken hips, or offering to restrain the wheelsucker to protect him from himself, but the nearly two hour fixie ride went fine, with no icy spots found, though the bike was so dirty it needed a shower afterwards. Rather than do the same ride again, the wheelsucker decided to ride with some of the elite team on Sunday, out of Eric Krause’s home in Middletown MD.

It was cold and windy; the wheelsucker’s chronic sore lower back was tight from Saturday, and he was a little hung over and short of sleep, but the elite guys had suggested a normally-paced ride, so the wheelsucker figured he would be OK.

As soon as the wheelsucker exited from interstate 70 onto route 40 he noticed that the terrain was NOT FLAT!

Eric was ready and once Nat and Stephen rolled up, the four rolled west on route 40 to pick up Brian. The wheelsucker’s first indication that this ride would have its challenges was when he could not clip in due to snow and ice buildup in his cleats. He fixed that and found the long sprint to catch up with the others seemed to help his warm up.

The first part of the ride was OK, but then the climbs start. The wheelsucker struggled on the short climbs and was gapped on the medium and long ones, and would summit – maxed out and nearly cross-eyed – to find the elite riders relaxed and waiting for him.

The wind built and the riders used a rotating paceline. The wheelsucker was told that he was drilling it too hard when at the front. This might have explained why he was tiring rapidly, while the elite guys not even breathing hard (the real reason was harder for the wheelsucker to accept). Soon the wheelsucker was going off the back on short climbs. He started skipping pulls and staying at the back until his HR dropped to 130, and would then jump back into the rotation until he was ready to pop again, but he was still vulnerable on any climbs.

After about an hour and a half of this, the wheelsucker was cold and miserable, all-to-aware that he was slowing the other riders down. He finally took the opportunity to short cut back to Eric’s home down alternate 40, while the others went looking for more hard climbs. The wheelsucker ended up back at Eric’s home with 50 miles, the others ended up with 80 to 102!!!

The next elite team ride is the elite team training camp, and that was advertised as "cat 1 and cat 2" only. Coincidence? The wheelsucker suspects not.

Roller Racing: Round Two

With snow still on the ground, and a forecast for more this weekend, and too much time on the indoor trainer and rollers recently, the wheelsucker needed a good excuse to ride. And a RACE was a great excuse! So off to week two of Roller Racing at Bobby Phillips place!

The group was two riders larger this week, but the format (races are very short) allows for a large group of people to race in one evening.

For some reason the five lap races are done first; that is very hard. Then the 2.5 lap races are done; these are hard but doable. Then the 10 lap races are done after everyone is tired. The wheelsucker found himself having difficulty standing, and having to sit down and hyperventilate, after efforts of about 1:09 and 00:29; that is one minute and nine seconds (which seemed an eternity at the time) and twenty-nine seconds.

Everyone says it is not about who beats whom, but about improving week to week. Who are they kidding? The wheelsucker – at least – checks his times against those of the others.

In addition to thanking Bobby for holding the wheelsucker’s bike on the rollers so that the wheelsucker did not ride off them in his efforts, the wheelsucker would like to thank Dave Bradshaw for arranging the spectacular bang-and-hiss flat on his bike, just as Stu Waring was getting rolling on Stu’s ten lap run. This was enough to put Stu off his game and opened the door for the wheelsucker to set a strong ten lap time. The wheelsucker owes Dave a leadout for this.

This is a lot of fun, absolutely no skill or prior experience is required. You can ride road bikes, road bikes with aero wheels, or fixies/track bikes. You could probably ride a child’s bike with training wheels if that was all you could handle. If one owns a set of rollers, bring them over to warm up on. Bobby makes it all work.

Speaking of Bobby Phillips; the man is unbeatable at roller racing by mere mortals; he makes a ridiculously high cadence look easy. Riding the rollers with no hands? Easy! Changing shirts while riding with no hands? No problem.

Bobby is inviting everyone back for more next week, and reports: Good turn out of 6 riders. See you guys next week at 7 PM. Steve O. and Ace.

The New ABRT Web Site is UP

The newly designed ABRT Web Site is live - check it out at http://www.abrtcycling.com