I've been rewriting my personal record book left and right the last week. Last Sunday I did all but the warm-up part of my ride at LT, Tuesday I rode hard, but still had enough left in the tank to set a new PB between Hazel and Sunrise racing, and dropping, a 2-man team on TT bikes.
Yesterday I set a new PB going upstream on that same stretch chasing a pair of strong riders, and later shattered my personal best on the Beal's climb - taking almost an entire minute out of my time while dropping a good, strong, kite in the process.
I could point to a lot of factors to account for this, but I think the obvious one is just putting in more miles. For some reason, I'm also eating a LOT less ride fuel on these rides - typically less than a half a PowerBar and one bottle of Gatorade. I'm eating sushi rice before and potato after, but my appetite in general has dropped off, and at a time of year when it's usually on the increase. I have also lost 3-5 lbs in the last 3 weeks. All good things.
My quads were pretty sore today after all of the hammering yesterday, mostly from chasing down faster riders and red-lining for long stretches, but I should be good to go tomorrow or Sunday, depending on weather.
I'm not crazy about the new gear ratios (although I LOVE the smooth, fast shifts), and my new Easton E70 Zero seat post keeps slipping down, but at least the lower seat position spared my calves last night. I clamped the Profile Designs seat post mounted water bottle rack tightly about 3mm up from the seat post clamp, and they were touching after my ride last night. I might also try carbon paste, a double clamp, or even some kind of glue! :-O
The 52/39 gearing paired with the 12-23 out back makes for awkward shifts when approaching hills. I might try mounting the stock (total crap quality) 12-25 in back and see if that helps. It just seems very difficult to land on the gear I want when shifting through tight rollers, which we have a lot of coming back from Folsom on the east side of Lake Natoma.
Issac told me about a novel fix for the seatpost - toothpaste. I found some with silica and am giving it a try, wiping some on the seat post under the clamp area. If that doesn't work I might try some rouge cloth facing inward to engage the seat post. I don't want to scuff up the inside of the seat tube on the frame.
So, after a rest week, and a sub-par one last week due to interviews and matters attendant with the sale of a car, I've been hard at it and very happy with the results. I'm looking forward to riding in fall weather.
Cheers!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Techie Tuesday - Cyclists Lighting System
Learning to fly in Los Angeles at night, if nothing else, is an education in lighting. Once off the ground, and out of the TCA, the familiar disappears into an endless carpet of lights with some random dark spots - defined only by the hard dark line of the ocean. Lighting on aircraft is well-specified by the FAA, so you'd think it would be easy to spot aircraft, but it's anything but easy.
Most commercial airlines now require you to raise the window shades when landing so the cabin windows are lit. They have almost universally taken to brightly lighting the tail of the airplane too. (which G.I.T. requirements would this satisfy?)
When I took up riding bicycles seriously a few years ago, and this time of year rolled around, I got to thinking of all the lessons I learned about lighting moving objects for identification and collision avoidance. It turns out, many of those lessons apply.
This system is focused on helping others see and react to you. It doesn't cover your being able to see the road, but of course, that is not only important, but a legal requirement too. Without further adieu then, I'll present my recommended lighting scheme.
The highest priority in lighting is to GRAB someone's attention. Until then, they're incapable of responding or reacting, because they're unaware there is anything around that requires it. Strobes and flashing lights are excellent for this task. Both allow a light source to be much brighter than if constantly on, so be sure to buy a bright light. In any case, the battery drain will be dramatically reduced for flashing or strobing lights, so go big, and as they say, "take two, they're small".
Noticing flashing lights is much, much easier - relying on the very primitive part of our visual system that senses motion (remember Jurassic Park?), and there's evidence they appear brighter than constant-on lights.
The next highest priority is making sure you're easy to IDENTIFY. Every object has unique properties and behaviors. Motorists rely heavily on knowledge of what they're looking at in order to react appropriately. A jogger, cyclist, and motorcyclist all share some characteristics, and differ dramatically in others.
A jogger you might expect to be facing you, and if lit, to have the light bobbing up and down. Their feet would also be moving in a much different way than the circular motion of a cyclist. A cyclist may be facing you, or may not, but they will be going 3-5 times as fast, so reaction times are compressed. Wheel reflectors will also be making their characteristic roundy-round motion. You wouldn't expect a motorcycle to be facing you, or make quick or radical moves like a jogger or some cyclists.
You would expect a motorcycle to have a powerful lighting system, more powerful than a bicycle and much more powerful than a jogger. It will also be going faster, and can be expected to accelerate faster. If you think about it, even if something grabs your attention, you don't really know how to react until you know what it is.
Anything that lights you and your bicycle well enough so it can clearly be seen as a whole at some distance is best. A headlight mounted on the back of your bike that shines on your backside is excellent. No guessing required. Failing that, highlighting some behavior that only a bicycle can exhibit is good.
Those spoke-mounted reflectors we all remove 10 minutes after we get the bike home, and legally required pedal reflectors - which no clip-in pedal I have ever seen has - are both excellent, but who uses those? I don't (my Sidi shoes do have a quality reflective patch on the heel though).
Clothing with reflective piping that creates a distinctive silhouette is very good, as are helmets with silhouette reflective tape. Illuminite type jackets and vests are very good as well.
I have Velcro-ed a Planet Bike BRT strap's internal optic fiber ribbon onto the back of my helmet. It curves around behind the back of the helmet, and is visible from the front, back, and both sides. It's at a motorist's eye level, and when I turn my head to clear a turn it cues motorists where I am looking.
A better variation on this would be optic fibers arranged like the plumage of a Roman helmet, but I have not been able to find one. A unique symbol, similar to the very successful slow moving vehicle triangle is certainly begging to be introduced, but to date, has not been.
Once motorists notice you, and figure out you're a cyclist, they need to be able to TRACK you, or more likely, your lights, to determine course, speed, and proximity. Tracking requires constant on, non-flashing/blinking/strobing lights, and powerful ones. These are primarily rear-facing red lights mounted on your frame or seatbag, but could also be helmet mounted. (assumes you already are using a good headlight, which shows you the road, and allows others to track you when head-on)
Strobing or flashing lights are incredibly difficult to track at night, and since tracking requires constant visual acquisition, it's very demanding of the motorist's time and attention, and perceptually appears dimmer, so this light must be very bright. At long distances, it is likely that you will not yet have been identified when tracking begins. It is by tracking your speed though that the motorist will first begin to form an opinion as to what you are - once you've grabbed their attention.
While your tracking light will rarely be able to identify you, it can, and sometimes does, grab, the motorists attention. It just isn't very efficient at grabbing it, since flashing lights don't consume nearly as much power, produce as much heat, and for any given power source and bulb, can therefore can be pushed much harder to produce more light. Trade them off.
Have two lights that provide fail-over for each other in either role, as you are trusting life and limb to a battery or few, and a few cents worth of plastics and electronics. This also effectively doubles the battery life of the tracking light. Bringing spare batteries is also an excellent idea for these power-hungry lights, which I always mean to do.
If forced to chose, favor a strong flashing light paired with a dimmer constant light. It's possible to track a strobing light IF it is paired with a still-visible constant light source. Aircraft strobes were designed for years to dim, but never completely turn off for this reason. IIRC, the standard was a repeating pattern of 100-20-100% intensity.
Better to not be forced to compromise, but sometimes fate intervenes. Unfortunately, in LA there is so much ambient light you still lose aircraft between strobes, but not so in rural areas. It's very important that the dim part of a strobe-cycle be bright enough to stand out above the ambient light level. (again, strobes aren't 0% and 100% but 20% and 100%)
Of these three requirements, the IDENTIFY one is the hardest to satisfy. You can be glowing like a Christmas tree, but if the guy can't tell what you are, you still run a pretty high risk of an accident. One promising development here are tires that have reflective sidewalls. From the side, this would make your identification instant and trivial. Worth looking into this winter.
.
Most commercial airlines now require you to raise the window shades when landing so the cabin windows are lit. They have almost universally taken to brightly lighting the tail of the airplane too. (which G.I.T. requirements would this satisfy?)
 |
| Ghosts of lighting past (photo courtesy of Javier Arroyo) |
This system is focused on helping others see and react to you. It doesn't cover your being able to see the road, but of course, that is not only important, but a legal requirement too. Without further adieu then, I'll present my recommended lighting scheme.
The G.I.T. LIT lighting system
- Grab
- Grab
- Identify
- Track
The highest priority in lighting is to GRAB someone's attention. Until then, they're incapable of responding or reacting, because they're unaware there is anything around that requires it. Strobes and flashing lights are excellent for this task. Both allow a light source to be much brighter than if constantly on, so be sure to buy a bright light. In any case, the battery drain will be dramatically reduced for flashing or strobing lights, so go big, and as they say, "take two, they're small".
Noticing flashing lights is much, much easier - relying on the very primitive part of our visual system that senses motion (remember Jurassic Park?), and there's evidence they appear brighter than constant-on lights.
The next highest priority is making sure you're easy to IDENTIFY. Every object has unique properties and behaviors. Motorists rely heavily on knowledge of what they're looking at in order to react appropriately. A jogger, cyclist, and motorcyclist all share some characteristics, and differ dramatically in others.
A jogger you might expect to be facing you, and if lit, to have the light bobbing up and down. Their feet would also be moving in a much different way than the circular motion of a cyclist. A cyclist may be facing you, or may not, but they will be going 3-5 times as fast, so reaction times are compressed. Wheel reflectors will also be making their characteristic roundy-round motion. You wouldn't expect a motorcycle to be facing you, or make quick or radical moves like a jogger or some cyclists.
You would expect a motorcycle to have a powerful lighting system, more powerful than a bicycle and much more powerful than a jogger. It will also be going faster, and can be expected to accelerate faster. If you think about it, even if something grabs your attention, you don't really know how to react until you know what it is.
Anything that lights you and your bicycle well enough so it can clearly be seen as a whole at some distance is best. A headlight mounted on the back of your bike that shines on your backside is excellent. No guessing required. Failing that, highlighting some behavior that only a bicycle can exhibit is good.
Those spoke-mounted reflectors we all remove 10 minutes after we get the bike home, and legally required pedal reflectors - which no clip-in pedal I have ever seen has - are both excellent, but who uses those? I don't (my Sidi shoes do have a quality reflective patch on the heel though).
 |
| Helmet light from a donor BRT legstrap |
I have Velcro-ed a Planet Bike BRT strap's internal optic fiber ribbon onto the back of my helmet. It curves around behind the back of the helmet, and is visible from the front, back, and both sides. It's at a motorist's eye level, and when I turn my head to clear a turn it cues motorists where I am looking.
A better variation on this would be optic fibers arranged like the plumage of a Roman helmet, but I have not been able to find one. A unique symbol, similar to the very successful slow moving vehicle triangle is certainly begging to be introduced, but to date, has not been.
Once motorists notice you, and figure out you're a cyclist, they need to be able to TRACK you, or more likely, your lights, to determine course, speed, and proximity. Tracking requires constant on, non-flashing/blinking/strobing lights, and powerful ones. These are primarily rear-facing red lights mounted on your frame or seatbag, but could also be helmet mounted. (assumes you already are using a good headlight, which shows you the road, and allows others to track you when head-on)
Strobing or flashing lights are incredibly difficult to track at night, and since tracking requires constant visual acquisition, it's very demanding of the motorist's time and attention, and perceptually appears dimmer, so this light must be very bright. At long distances, it is likely that you will not yet have been identified when tracking begins. It is by tracking your speed though that the motorist will first begin to form an opinion as to what you are - once you've grabbed their attention.
While your tracking light will rarely be able to identify you, it can, and sometimes does, grab, the motorists attention. It just isn't very efficient at grabbing it, since flashing lights don't consume nearly as much power, produce as much heat, and for any given power source and bulb, can therefore can be pushed much harder to produce more light. Trade them off.
Have two lights that provide fail-over for each other in either role, as you are trusting life and limb to a battery or few, and a few cents worth of plastics and electronics. This also effectively doubles the battery life of the tracking light. Bringing spare batteries is also an excellent idea for these power-hungry lights, which I always mean to do.
If forced to chose, favor a strong flashing light paired with a dimmer constant light. It's possible to track a strobing light IF it is paired with a still-visible constant light source. Aircraft strobes were designed for years to dim, but never completely turn off for this reason. IIRC, the standard was a repeating pattern of 100-20-100% intensity.
Better to not be forced to compromise, but sometimes fate intervenes. Unfortunately, in LA there is so much ambient light you still lose aircraft between strobes, but not so in rural areas. It's very important that the dim part of a strobe-cycle be bright enough to stand out above the ambient light level. (again, strobes aren't 0% and 100% but 20% and 100%)
Of these three requirements, the IDENTIFY one is the hardest to satisfy. You can be glowing like a Christmas tree, but if the guy can't tell what you are, you still run a pretty high risk of an accident. One promising development here are tires that have reflective sidewalls. From the side, this would make your identification instant and trivial. Worth looking into this winter.
.
Techie Tuesday
...is late, but worth the wait! (I hope)
Blame it on the MOUNTAIN of laundry taunting me from the next room.
....later today, I promise.
Blame it on the MOUNTAIN of laundry taunting me from the next room.
....later today, I promise.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Keeping the Hammer Down
After discovering a SBH climbing ride too late to ride it on Saturday, I decided to do Bread-N-Butter Beals going up on the west side and returning on the east, as I have found that more challenging and like the straight and fast early in the ride, and hilly and twisty late in the ride. I was also reluctant to strike out for Rescue alone after just retaping the bars. That could make for a long ride of misery if my thumb-web injury were re-aggravated.
In doing the TT last month I got a whole new awareness of how difficult it is to keep the hammer down relentlessly, without relief, for long periods of time. Since the TT grew out of a coach's challenge meant to separate racers from touring riders, it reinforced my informal observation that tenacity wins races, as I routinely catch and pass riders late in rides.
My goal was simple, and the same as my TT goal - max average HR for the duration of the ride. This not only means keeping the hammer down, but sprinting before known stops, like the stop light at the Hazel Ave Bridge, and since I didn't want to stop at the base of the Beal's climb, before stopping for a few minutes at Negro Bar Pk.
I found a new hold on the aeorbars, which cover the center part of the main bars, which allowed me to climb the top of Beal's upright, and I averaged ~ 12mph. Very happy with that. Might have been a PB. It really helped me breathe and made much better use of my glutes. I can feel that a bit today, but nice that the Syntace bars will support that position.
On the way home I had some great fun riding with a guy on a carbon black Specialized Tarmac. It had what has to be the loudest cassette ratchet on the planet on its aero Roval wheels. I banged on the button, and was waiting for the light to change in Old Folsom when he showed up to wait with me.
Sporting a LiveStrong bodysuit, we had a little conversation about Lance and Contador before heading down the ramp of the Rainbow Bridge onto the ARPT and piling on the power. We rode together all the way to the light at Hazel Ave before he peeled off, and I picked up the wheel of a 2-man team on TT bikes.
They were working together, and doing a decent job of it, so I hung back in their draft and gathered myself. Both were long and lanky, so after flying down the major hill on that stretch under full power, I went around them on the shallow climb out of the river bottom, and dropped them cleanly while averaging 22.50 mph. Pretty happy I still had that in me after 25 miles.
My only food on this ride was half a PowerBar and one bottle of Gatorade. I did bonk a bit the last few miles, but had no appetite even after the ride ended. I was cramping moderately, so I still need to work on timing the pre-ride meal, and its composition, when performing at these high levels, but that will come in time.
Excluding the 3 mile warm-up, my average HR was 143 BPM, which is right at my LT. I also averaged 255 watts for the entire ride, including the warm-up, and did the bulk of the ride between 265 and 280 watts. That's the 2nd highest output I've averaged in 3 years.
Amped on Claritin, I cranked out a 265 average in April, but this ride was all natural. (The first leg in April was done at 290 watts and 96% of max HR. Be careful with Claritin)
My power-duration curve continues to flatten, so I think the focus on keeping the hammer down is paying off!
In doing the TT last month I got a whole new awareness of how difficult it is to keep the hammer down relentlessly, without relief, for long periods of time. Since the TT grew out of a coach's challenge meant to separate racers from touring riders, it reinforced my informal observation that tenacity wins races, as I routinely catch and pass riders late in rides.
My goal was simple, and the same as my TT goal - max average HR for the duration of the ride. This not only means keeping the hammer down, but sprinting before known stops, like the stop light at the Hazel Ave Bridge, and since I didn't want to stop at the base of the Beal's climb, before stopping for a few minutes at Negro Bar Pk.
I found a new hold on the aeorbars, which cover the center part of the main bars, which allowed me to climb the top of Beal's upright, and I averaged ~ 12mph. Very happy with that. Might have been a PB. It really helped me breathe and made much better use of my glutes. I can feel that a bit today, but nice that the Syntace bars will support that position.
On the way home I had some great fun riding with a guy on a carbon black Specialized Tarmac. It had what has to be the loudest cassette ratchet on the planet on its aero Roval wheels. I banged on the button, and was waiting for the light to change in Old Folsom when he showed up to wait with me.
Sporting a LiveStrong bodysuit, we had a little conversation about Lance and Contador before heading down the ramp of the Rainbow Bridge onto the ARPT and piling on the power. We rode together all the way to the light at Hazel Ave before he peeled off, and I picked up the wheel of a 2-man team on TT bikes.
They were working together, and doing a decent job of it, so I hung back in their draft and gathered myself. Both were long and lanky, so after flying down the major hill on that stretch under full power, I went around them on the shallow climb out of the river bottom, and dropped them cleanly while averaging 22.50 mph. Pretty happy I still had that in me after 25 miles.
My only food on this ride was half a PowerBar and one bottle of Gatorade. I did bonk a bit the last few miles, but had no appetite even after the ride ended. I was cramping moderately, so I still need to work on timing the pre-ride meal, and its composition, when performing at these high levels, but that will come in time.
Excluding the 3 mile warm-up, my average HR was 143 BPM, which is right at my LT. I also averaged 255 watts for the entire ride, including the warm-up, and did the bulk of the ride between 265 and 280 watts. That's the 2nd highest output I've averaged in 3 years.
Amped on Claritin, I cranked out a 265 average in April, but this ride was all natural. (The first leg in April was done at 290 watts and 96% of max HR. Be careful with Claritin)
My power-duration curve continues to flatten, so I think the focus on keeping the hammer down is paying off!
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