New Conti Terra Trails arrived, hoping for some traction on loose hills above 10% incline.
Didnt go full go on an aggressive tread pattern, but this is better then my SS GK. These tires are only going to be used for 2 local races.
Next weekend I am mounting up my Unbound tire set up and testing on a local gravel course.
Yeah, my wife is from Harrisburg PA so it gives her some time with old friends while Iâm getting dirty in the fall foliage of central Pennsylvania.
Gonna be a long drive from South Georgia.
Oh and new bars just arrived. 42cm PRO Discover Carbon. Iâm gonna like these once I get them mounted and the cables/brake lines routed (internal). The subtle sweep back and nice flatter section on the underside really feels good initiallyâŚwas going to wait until Di2 to mount them but screw it, any additional damping they may provide Iâll take.
Well I threw down yesterday in a bike race.
6000â of climbing
53 miles
3 hours of racing
Avg 81% of my ftp or .97 IF, wonder if my ftp is off.
I was able to get top 15. I could not have gone any faster or placed any better, my mass and steep climbs do not go together. I road the course earlier and determined a race strategy to suit me. Goal was to attack first climb and stay with the leaders, and limit loss on the 2nd hill and bomb down hills to make up time. I was able to execute half the plan, but the slow up hill grind in the transition to the 2nd climb got me, someone didnt come off the gas and I pulled the plug prior to climb 2.
The 2nd climb was even steeper and I lost more time. I attacked the down hill and was solo after the down hill, 30 minutes into the race I was the lone wolf. I kept the head down and pressure on the pedals. I chose to use my aspero for the ride opting for more gear then my Kanzo fast, any time we had a down hill I was smashing watts to make up time. 80min in the leader and 4 others caught me, they started 4 min back. I stuck with them till the race winner left the group and it was me and one other guy the rest of the day. We would catch someone, they would sit on, and then fall off pace.
Pre riding the race course helped so much.
I determined this pacing is not able to be utilized for UNBOUND.
Things to review, maybe a bottle cage. Will review more in the next 4 weeks
I did have one of my bottles eject on the course costing me 30 sec at a aid station as I was out of water and still had an hour to go. I was able to chase and bring everyone back in this small group. Need to review why the 32oz bottle left the Bat Cage, its the first bottle I have ever lost.
Saturday I will be putting together my UNBOUND tire and wheel combo and doing 120 miles and focusing on UNBOUND race pace. 4 weeks to to sharpen the sword
You seem like a very thorough, detail oriented person. I donât know why those numbers donât stand out to you as being flawed, and you donât find the problem and address it so you can work off real, correct data going forward in your training instead of numbers that are clearly wrong.
If you can actually hold 97% np of your ftp for 3hrs, then your ftp is way too low and you it needs to be adjusted so that the rest of your TR workouts are sufficiently difficult to stress the correct energy systems and create adaptation.
If your PM is that far off or not counting zeros or whatever, then you should find where the discrepancy is and correct it so you get accurate TSS data and can actually pace a race like unbound correctly when it comes to that day.
If youâre 100% convinced your FTP is set correctly and your power meters are all accurate within 1-2%, then you should submit your body to science so we can all understand how you can hold a historically high percentage of your FTP for hours on end and try to replicate your genome for the benefit of humanityâŚbecause none of the best athletes in the world are capable of doing what youâre doing.
I dont know what to do. When I pull my best 8min effort and my best 20min effort from the race, it lines up with my ftp. I did calibrate power meter prior to the race. When I did my efforts on the trainer this week, I failed half way through my 8th vo2 interval.
I have thrown the bike on the trainer and everything was with in the error allowed.
Did a solid 60 mile gravel solo effort today. Learned a few things.
donât put untapped syrup packets in an unzipped pocket camelbak vest. They fall out
I really like untapped lemon Mapleaid and donât think Iâll get tired of it for the day
itâs hard to drink enough to stick to my hydration plan
always have 3 COs and 2 tubes for each section. Had three flats today. Only 2 COs and one tube. Had to limp in the final 6 miles on a fully flat rear tire
itâs all about the pace, about the pace, no trouble (as long as I donât get too excited at the start)
Youâre doing 20min efforts at 105% of ftp, followed by 8mins at 110% during the middle of a 3+ hr race?
Have you done a dedicated ftp test outside on the bike youâre riding 3hrs at ftp with? Do you have a number of fans in a sufficiently cool room when doing workouts/ramp test inside?
Might have missed something but why not go out and do your ftp test outside on the bike you will be riding in the race?
Actually, scratch that. Personally Iâd recommend leaving that for another time and just focus on your lead into the race. Youâll end up racing on rpe anyway. We always do!
Nice ride! Well done on top 15.
What tire did you run? I currently have pathfinder pros on my bike and like them for road/lighter gravel. Probably will use them for SBT GRVL. But always good to get more ideas.
These two numbers are not consistent - not sure how to reconcile them.
â## Intensity Factor (IF)
This is how intense a ride is. A ride with an Intensity Factor of 1.0 would equal an all-out effort for an hour. If you did an hour at .8 IF that means it was about an 80% effort.â
I went with the Continental terra trail. I ran 38psi. Me and the bike weigh 225lbs. I ran a 25ID wheel. I was able to keep traction on the whole race, even when out of the saddle on the steep climbs.
For Unbound I am going to run Pathfinder Pros in a 42 with Tire inserts. I have not ridden this tire and plan to test it out this weekend.
I figured I would see some good data when I looked at the race data to see if I saw new records. The more I read about that idea the dumber I sound for stating it.
I have not done an out door FTP test. If I get the time I will try to get one in. I only ride outside on the weekends, and most of the time its only 1 day due to family. This week does not appear I will be able to get outside till my practice pace/equipment check ride saturday.
Its prob a good idea for me to bring in my race rig and put it on the trainer and log the rest of the 30 days on just that bike even for my normal trainer rides. My training room is in the basement and I do have a lasko fan 1â from me.
Maybe the rig I raced saturday is off. I have tested the bike I raced on the trainer and found the power meter and erg to be less then 2% different. I am counting zeros on the Garmin also.
Training
Pisgah +5 I failed this work out Tuesday.
Plummer +3 I had no issues with on Wed and felt like I should turn up the final two intervals. I didnt turn it up since I just came out of a rut that took 2 weeks of rest.
I did ride the race course back to back weekends. Its funning to look at the data as the NP is almost the same on race day as training day.
I have done an 8hr 120mile ride with 12000â of climbing had my .IF at .76. I will try to keep my numbers closer to that ride this weekend.
Do you use NP or AVG Power for pacing?
One thing that is scaring the crap out of me is SUNSCREEN. I am so pale I got sunburned in an hour.
Look for small sticks of sunscreen and carry that vs trying to apply liquid sunscreen.
It looks like small stick of deodorant. Easily fits in a jersey pocket or pack. Very small and convenient.
Thanks
Iâll pick that up, and chapstick
I have 38s and run them 30/35 psi Front and rear. I like the tire for mixed road and gravel riding. The next set will be the 42s.
I also have 45mm WTB radlers. The bigger volume is nicer when the trail gets chunky, but my next big volume tire Iâll try with be the 50mm gravel kings. Want to see what the biggest tire is that I can fit.
What bike you running?
I want more volume but both aspero and kanzo fast are 42cc limited
Have you tried inserts?
Route is out. Is there really only 5000â of elevation.
No and I canât tell if garmin is trolling or not.