2019 Cruzbike Summer Time Trial Challenge

[ElyDave]

really, really crappy weather this week with successive lows running right over the UK. Yesterday was windy and rainy, tomorrow is windy and rainy, Saturday and Sunday just as bad. Today was just a 20mph sustained westerly with 30mph gusts, but no rain. Best day of a bad bunch to get a time in. No reals prospect of a PB, fighting the bike on one side of the course, headwind on another, but not bad on the remaining two.

Result, no PB, but still a decent enough time. PB so far is 35:40 or 32.5kmh; today 36:40 or 31.6kmh, happy with that under the conditions

 

[McWheels]

Well, there's your stinking ROAD CLOSED impact. I was on for a good one. Estimated 1m 15s lost, and had recovered 19s of those to be only +42s at one point.

 

[LarryOz]

Well, there's your stinking ROAD CLOSED impact. I was on for a good one. Estimated 1m 15s lost, and had recovered 19s of those to be only +42s at one point.
That is a bummer - but nice graphic. Do you know when it will be open?
If not soon - I would suggest you scout out another course, or even run it backwards for 6 miles and then turn around and come back.
If you want to do that - ride it early in the week (like you would TT effort) to get a baseline for me - Then ride week #10 for me at the end of the week. I will work out the details in my spreadsheet.

 

[LarryOz]

Cruzbike 2019 Summer TT Challenge- week #9 results

A tough week for some of us who had events this weekend!
20 people participated for week #9.
Only 8 from the Thur night TT as rain was threatening and many bailed at the last minute
Out of the 20 people for this week, 8 of them set new PB's - fantastic!
Rob Lloyd took top honors with an astounding 232 second betterment of his PB from 34:11 down to 30:19! Wow - 4+ minutes.
Many more are close to breaking that 30 minute barrier, but none closer than GB Bowen (a member of Alvin's Thur night TT) - he rode exactly 30:00 this week - So close it hurts! He dropped his PB by 40 secs this week too!
Dave Zinke continues to lead the points race with 150 points
Andrew Thompson lost a little ground this week but is still a firm 2nd place with 137.5 points
Larry moved up into 3rd position with 120.5 points, but only 4.5 points separate 3-6 place - so a very close race for that 3rd place spot
Keep up the great work everyone. This is week #10 - of our 15 week challenge. Hard to believe only 6 weeks left.
Ride hard but be safe on the road!

Also: Don't forget to sign up for the Cruzbike retreat which is the week immediately after this challenge ends.
Friday October 4 through Monday October 7, 2019 at the beautifulAll Saints Episcopal Campin Leitchfield, KY.
In my opinion this is the penultimate Cruzbike event of the year! I have been to all 3 of them and they just get better and better every year.
It is not about racing or speed - It is mostly about hanging out together and soaking up the joy of Cruzbike with a couple dozen other like minded folks!
Hang with the Tribes, eat lots of great food, and ride your Cruzbike - or someone else's if you don't have one but want to try! (always lots of extras to share)
No where else in the world will you see 20+ Cruzbikes all at the same time!

I am planning a special handicapped TT event for anyone in this challenge that comes to the retreat - so sign up!
Here is the link to sign up: https://cruzbike.com/products/2019-cruzbike-ride-retreat
See you there!
Larry

 

[NeaL]

I’ve been wondering, with the distances or times of races, do people tend to experience similar stages of mood?
Like, say the first couple miles of riding, the first 5 minutes maybe, we have to get over this hump of our body not wanting to do anything. But then something kicks in and we feel more eager to keep going.
Does there tend to be a pattern beyond that? Like “Stages of Grief,” do cyclists tend to go through a sequence of stages in their mood?
This is related to the Time Trial because during the final quarter, I keep finding myself in a mental state of road rage. Then I stop and dismount, load my bike onto the rack, and feel stuck in this violent mindset. I’m wondering if I were to push on further if that will snap me out of it.

 

[LarryOz]

I’ve been wondering, with the distances or times of races, do people tend to experience similar stages of mood?
Like, say the first couple miles of riding, the first 5 minutes maybe, we have to get over this hump of our body not wanting to do anything. But then something kicks in and we feel more eager to keep going.
Does there tend to be a pattern beyond that? Like “Stages of Grief,” do cyclists tend to go through a sequence of stages in their mood?
This is related to the Time Trial because during the final quarter, I keep finding myself in a mental state of road rage. Then I stop and dismount, load my bike onto the rack, and feel stuck in this violent mindset. I’m wondering if I were to push on further if that will snap me out of it.

Neal, If any of us could truly answer this we would be famous coaches! haha - because that is everyone's question - and the subject of endless books on the topic
I think people vary in many ways in what allows them to perform their very best and different races (short, long, spring, ultra long, etc) will also need different solutions.
I have only been racing for 5 years and am just learning. There literally dozens and dozens of factors that come into your decision. (training load, resting load, sleep, lack of sleep, diet, temperature, humidly, relationships, is your dog happy with you, the list goes on and on and on.
Most people agree you need to at least be well rested and appropriately warmed up to perform your very best. Tapering is also recommended, but that is when you are coming off a high level of training and you are straining you body to the max to get everything out of you can.
I think we each have to learn how our bodies react to different things, and when you think you have it, try and duplicate it. Even then, suddenly you will be doing "everything wrong" one day (from the standpoint of what you think you need to do to perform optimally) and then suddenly you will perform better then you ever have. Times like that drive you crazy! That has happened to me many times. I would be training really, really hard, then go to the track and ride 100 miles (hardish), only to break my current record not even rested, not even having the optimal fuel etc. Of course this makes you feel like you should be able to go even faster when "all the stars align" , but sometimes that never happens. Then you drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what you were doing that made you perform so great! You might never find out and it is a little maddening sometimes!
For me on something like this TT challenge (a 30'sh min effort) - I usually need a pretty long warmup period - maybe 30-40 minutes at a medium effort with a couple quick hard efforts thrown in, and then some brief spinning. I can also do pretty well on these "quick" efforts with only a day or 2 of rest. As an example, since I have not had much time to really ride or train since this series began, I usually ride 1-hour hard on Tues morn, 1-hour hard on Thur morn, and then do the TT on Sat morning. My Tues and Thur rides are usually just as hard as Sat. I do not have tons of time, so I am only warming up about 15-min on Sat. This leads to what you described above (taking 5 mins to acclimated to the hard effort). I generally feel pretty crappy for the first 4 of the 12 miles. By the time I am done I am really warmed up, and almost feel like I could go at it again. I have tried that and have never gone faster the 2nd time, but sometimes pretty close (within 30 secs or so).
I think if you pushed on through it you would have the same experience as I described above.
The "stages of grief" thing: haha - When you do 12-hour or 24-hour hard efforts, then you go through all kinds of "stages" - usually it is your brain telling you body you cannot do it and trying to convince it. Baring any physical injury, or if you fueled so badly that you bonk, it is usually wrong! OH yeah - for anything under an hour - you don't even really need water - and definitely I would not eat or drink anything that you body would need to metabolize.
Hope this helps. I am sure others will chime in with their words of wisdom and what works for them

 

[Bill Wightman]

Neal, I am not the fastest out there but for this effort, I ride 11 miles out to the course and 6 miles around the course (a two-looper) to check for obstacles (and trains stopped on tracks) and see how the wind feels. Then I stop briefly, set up Strava, and go. I can remember in the past riding harder to the point that more breathing did not help and I still have some margin in that respect. That usually indicates to me that I am close to redline. Other than that just make sure you have a good long warm down. Afterward, I always ride about two more miles, stop to chill out and drink some water, then ride 13 miles to get back home (total ride length about 44 miles). It seems I will have to dip into the crazy blinding anaerobic sprint pain on the intermittent straight sections to go any faster. That is tempered however with the need to remain clear-headed and watch for traffic at all turns. In the past, I knew I put out max effort if my whole body was tingling immediately after a hard sprint (Nitric Oxide?). Perhaps I will try that between intersections in the last six miles (all turns are RH). You mentioned "stuck in this violent mindset", I think perhaps a good long warm down distance of 5 to 10 miles will fix that.

 

[McWheels]

That is a bummer - but nice graphic. Do you know when it will be open?
If not soon - I would suggest you scout out another course, or even run it backwards for 6 miles and then turn around and come back.
If you want to do that - ride it early in the week (like you would TT effort) to get a baseline for me - Then ride week #10 for me at the end of the week. I will work out the details in my spreadsheet.

It's fine. I've got a route and can tell I'm getting fitter. Two thirds of the way down each thigh I'm seeing 2 separate and slightly more pronounced bumps, what I believe the vernacular calls 'bent legs'. Would love to try this on a proper fast bike.

 

[NeaL]

No where else in the world will you see 20+ Cruzbikes all at the same time!

There is a Sofrider, three T50s, and a S40 at my house.

What do you call five Cruzbikes in a garage?
A good start.

20+, ‘eh? Challenge accepted.

 

[Osiris]

I’ve been wondering, with the distances or times of races, do people tend to experience similar stages of mood?
Like, say the first couple miles of riding, the first 5 minutes maybe, we have to get over this hump of our body not wanting to do anything. But then something kicks in and we feel more eager to keep going.

I've found that when doing a time trial, it usually takes me about six miles before I get mentally and physically accustomed to the strain. Before that, it feels like I'm pushing too hard and about to run out of steam. The first four miles of my twelve mile TT are the worst, but by mile 8 or so I'm right in "the groove".

Does there tend to be a pattern beyond that? Like “Stages of Grief,” do cyclists tend to go through a sequence of stages in their mood?
This is related to the Time Trial because during the final quarter, I keep finding myself in a mental state of road rage. Then I stop and dismount, load my bike onto the rack, and feel stuck in this violent mindset. I’m wondering if I were to push on further if that will snap me out of it.

Can't say I've ever experienced anything like that. By the time I'm done riding I'm usually in kind of a zombie state of utter exhaustion. Once I get in my car and start the drive home, the feeling of exhaustion gradually gives way to the "runner's high" from all the endorphins in my system.

 

[benphyr]

@NeaL, @LarryOz, @McWheels, @Bill Wightman,

You guys are crazy! Crazy in a very respectful, honourific way. Unless I miss the mark by a lot @NeaL is a lot closer to me than to you seriously speed and time committed athletes - the TT ride length is probably the whole ride - at the beginning of this Challenge it was probably close to an all out max effort just to complete - and it is probably still inconceivable to think of this length of ride as a warm-up before doing the Challenge.

@NeaL if I missed the mark then I'm sorry - just read it as applying solely to me. If it sounds familiar then..

The answers to your questions could be simpler:
-when one starts cold it takes a few minutes for all systems (muscles, circulatory, breathing, mental) to all get up to maximum operating status.
-amateurs like us start cold so it takes a while for the muscles to warm up what NeaL identifies as 5 min
-that end race-anger is adrenaline, excitement, endorphin high associated with working hard - pushing our limits.
-if you do a cool down then your mindset will cool down
-if you push longer then you quite likely will push through that, especially as exhaustion kicks in but these last couple are highly subjectively my experience.

 

[NeaL]

I'm thinking part of my road rage has to do with the road and traffic conditions. The last third of my TT route is a long, gradual uphill with no thrilling reward of a downhill run at the end of it. Well, a little, slightly, but brief downhill.

In the attached picture, I'm approaching from the East (right side) and traffic along this road is sparse on Sunday evenings until I get to the intersection with the traffic light. Once I pass that intersection, the light releases periodic waves of cars in two side-by-side, left-turning lanes. The drivers are then mostly competing with each other to reach the right-hand turn just before the overpass on the left side of the picture. The remaining traffic then mostly competes with each other at getting to the left turn lane on the far side of the overpass to head South.
And it's shortly after passing this intersection when my shoulder of the road disappears and I'm at a point of exhaustion from the constant uphill, which also starts getting steeper here, and I'm already in my lowest gear, so I have to "take the lane" if I want to stay on the asphalt and don't want drivers doing near-brush passes. I get lots of horns honking angrily at me along here. If I steady my nerves and don't let myself feel intimidated, I get to comfortably use the whole lane. But frustrated drivers get right up on my rear tire while trying to merge into the left lane to pass me. Then drivers get mad wanting to take that right merge lane as I'm slowly pedaling across their access to the exit.

So by this time I've had a few miles of anticipating these confrontations before I get there.

Finally after I have finished my TT ride and I'm returning to where I parked, it's a weird phenomenon at this other intersection not in the picture. I'll be on the right side of the road. Drivers will lower their right side windows to yell something at me from where they're seated on the far left side. I don't know what it is about this one intersection, there's usually at least one driver who wants to do that. But they aren't able to understand that I can't really hear them from inside their vehicles over all of the other noises around me. The tone of voice usually has something to do about how wild or weird my bike looks. At this point I'd rather they just didn't say anything, stay out of my way, leave me be.

 

[Osiris]

I'm thinking part of my road rage has to do with the road and traffic conditions.

Now that's perfectly understandable. My stress levels go through the roof when I have to ride in traffic. I actually started to develop a phobia about going on group rides, finding myself in an already agitated state during the drive to our meeting spot, and it only got worse after the ride started. I ride to relieve stress, not increase it, which is why these days I try to limit my travels to paved trails and quiet country roads.

 

[trplay]

Is there a less stressed place than ones own home? You will never, ever be able to push as hard outside as you do in a Zwift race. No cars, animals, bumps, curves, etc to distract. Meanwhile, the Zwift competition is brutally pushing all riders even harder no matter the ability of the rider. There's a group for everyone. Better conditioning and safer. What a great way to get stronger for the outdoor TT.

 

[LarryOz]

Is there a less stressed place than ones own home? You will never, ever be able to push as hard outside as you do in a Zwift race. No cars, animals, bumps, curves, etc to distract. Meanwhile, the Zwift competition is brutally pushing all riders even harder no matter the ability of the rider. There's a group for everyone. Better conditioning and safer. What a great way to get stronger for the outdoor TT.

I agree - the worst part of it all is having to catch your sweat in something - depending of course on how hard you ride. But if you ride at a TT effort - you better sweat or you are not riding hard enough. Right now it is pretty humid for me. I literally have to put a pan under me - and that is still with me blowing a large fan on myself while riding.

 

[NeaL]

What goes into, say, designing(?) a Time Trial ride? Me, with no prior racing experience, figuratively hopped off the couch and went for a 12 mile bike ride, that first time.
Just yesterday, it suddenly dawned on me that I’ve been biking the distance of almost half a marathon each week. I’m used to thinking of a marathon as an incredibly long distance.
This had me poking around Google Maps for where I could do a 5K bike ride, a marathon bike ride, rides with greater difficulty of hill climbing, and got to wondering if there are long or short distances not suitable for Time Trial rides.

On a side note, I did an eleven mile ride around a high school parking lot last night with no rage issues. I cut it short of twelve miles due to an encroaching thunderstorm.
On a downhill portion I saw a line painted across the road but didn’t realize it was a speed bump until after I was airborne. I had no idea that I could land an S40 and keep on going, until I had to.

 

[Bill Wightman]

What goes into, say, designing(?) a Time Trial ride? Me, with no prior racing experience, figuratively hopped off the couch and went for a 12 mile bike ride, that first time."

Google Maps and some local biking familiarity are a big help. This is my first solo TT effort so the route selection was less than optimum. I just recently found a nice 12-mile out-and-back that is straight, flat and low/no traffic with good road surface and not too far away and in a more rural setting, no dogs or deer. I will start riding that for kicks after this TT series is over. A cute little spotted "Bambi" scared the crud out of me last night. We were headed for a collision at about 26 mph (slight downhill) but he reversed direction and did not cross the road.

 

[benphyr]

...I literally have to put a pan under me...

Is that Lake Oz or is it Larry Lake

...On a downhill portion I saw a line painted across the road but didn’t realize it was a speed bump until after I was airborne. I had no idea that I could land an S40 and keep on going, until I had to.

Been there! Wait 'till you drop down a curb or something large at an angle or some loose gravel you didn't see. Some have posted their tales of woe (many which are truly woeful and painful including broken bones). I personally have always been amazed at the ability of my Cruzbikes/myself to self-correct. The last couple days I have spun a little on some transitions from road to sidewalk. These spins I never even think about any correction - they are just part of riding on those sections if I put down any amount of power a bit too early while the bike is bouncing. That reminds me I better pump the tires up some - they are well below @super slim pressures.

 

[benphyr]

This is related to the Time Trial because during the final quarter, I keep finding myself in a mental state of road rage.

After this Time Trial challenge is complete.. I wonder if riding the route backwards would change anything?

 

[Osiris]

What goes into, say, designing(?) a Time Trial ride? Me, with no prior racing experience, figuratively hopped off the couch and went for a 12 mile bike ride, that first time.
Just yesterday, it suddenly dawned on me that I’ve been biking the distance of almost half a marathon each week. I’m used to thinking of a marathon as an incredibly long distance.
This had me poking around Google Maps for where I could do a 5K bike ride, a marathon bike ride, rides with greater difficulty of hill climbing, and got to wondering if there are long or short distances not suitable for Time Trial rides.

Time trials vary greatly. Typically they seem to be 20K and 40K distances, but I've heard of ones longer than 100 miles. Locally there's a weekly time trial competition down by the Orlando airport. Total distance there is only 7 miles. My own favorite course is a 12 mile long Strava segment someone created just for time trial practice. It's in the shape of a large U, so that if you have a headwind or tailwind on one half, it will be balanced out in the other half where the wind will be blowing in the opposite direction. That ensures that you get pretty consistent times no matter when you ride it.