Cruzbike Time Trial Challenge 2020

[ElyDave]

I had a strange encounter on my route today.
I was on a farm road at a good pace (trying to up my power 3-5 watts from last week’s TT) coming up to a tractor in the field beside me. I slowed a bit in case it came up to the road, but it turned right at the edge of the field going the same direction as me. The problem was the spray attachment he had on the back extended wider than the road trapping me behind him at about 10 km/hr until he turned back across the field at the end of his farm.
Apparently I’m not meant to go fast this week.

I'm thinking the same this week, we've had a low pressure system sat over the UK and Ireland all week, with some very strong SW winds. Strong enough to blow one of my bonsai trees off it's stand this afternoon.

It should calm down a little for my attempt tomorrow, but I'm not sure it'ss help much

 

[LarryOz]

Quick video of "fun in the roundabout" - "or how to kill a good PB!"

 

[Veinbuster]

Quick video of "fun in the roundabout" - "or how to kill a good PB!"

I had 4 tractor passes on my country TT today. I'm not nearly as fast as you, so the slowing wasn't as dramatic and traffic was light enough I was able to pass each of them fairly quickly.
My heart recovery in the little bit I had to follow them made me wonder if periodic easing off is a viable strategy. My average heart rate ended up 4bpm lower with a good time gain over my PB. Wind seemed about the same as last week.

 

[ElyDave]

Looking back at my notes, there has been "something" every week since week 10 - roadworks, heatwaves, gales, gales AND heatwaves, storms. Today was the calm between the storms. Last week had a low sat over the UK and Ireland most of the week, Saturday was at least dry, if a howling gale; the next low is due to hit late tonight and the rest of the week is forecast to be an absolute washout with winds of up to 60 mph.

Going out today was the only real option to get a run in therefore, but hardly ideal having had an attempt on Saturday as well. I also ran yesterday, I say ran, but I was pacing my wife on the last run of her couch-to-5K programme, so where she was going flat out, I was in my recovery zone which was probably a good thing.

So, warm, light winds, a bit more traffic than I'd like, but we can't have everything. Cadence lower than usual, seems I was pushing a higher gear than when spinning into the wind.

So how did it go?

PB So far is 34:00.
Today 34:15.

If it ain't happening today, it aint happening. That is only my third attempt this year below my pacesetting lap of 34:19. Seems the cycling gods aligned back in week 4 when I changed my course, and decided to make this my toughest TT year.

My old Al-framed road bike is now on my turbo trainer, stripped of everything that used to make it my audax bike. At some point I'm going to take a run at this course on that one as well for comparison, it's at least 5kg lighter than the S40

 

[Bill Wightman]

Looking back at my notes, there has been "something" every week since week 10 - roadworks, heatwaves, gales, gales AND heatwaves, storms.

Sort of the same for me but really just rising temperatures, humidity, and not wearing the best gear were the drag on the ticket. Last week though was pretty cool. For some reason I decided to put back on my fast TT helmet, my speed suit, and raise the pressure in my 25 mm Conti 4000... tires from 95 to 105 psi. That all felt pretty fast riding out to the TT location. The icing on the cake was a cool night and reversal of the prevailing winds which I have been fighting uphill each time on my two overpass crossings on the route. Last week I flew over the top of the overpass twice at 20 mph instead of 12. Also I think my legs were just stoked (much more than my lungs) because my power was much higher than normal but I felt like I was gasping for air the whole time. I have been tired and stiff all week as a result of that ride (some kind of anaerobic thing I must have done to myself, have to Google that). Now I have a PB that I may not surpass before we are done. I am actively hunting forecast days for those North winds to push me up the overpass. So I think there is a strong element of randomness at work here.

 

[LarryOz]

Rode my week #17 today - Gosh - started late (about 7:30am) and a lot of traffic - It was "pull in front of Larry" day. I got another PB by 7 sec, but this was my hardest effort of the series - avg HR 171. Hope I can keep this up for 4 more weeks!
Here is my video:

..
here is my stupid drivers video from yesterday too:

 

[benphyr]

...stupid drivers video...

The screwdriver is to tighten loose screws right!

Maybe flame throwers from underneath a la mad max. But no that would probably count as another means of propulsion and you would have to redo the time trial.

 

[Rob Lloyd]

here is my stupid drivers video from yesterday too:

And I thought my route was bad. That's a lot of traffic without the stupid drivers...

 

[Bill Wightman]

It was "pull in front of Larry" day. I got another PB by 7 sec, but this was my hardest effort of the series - avg HR 171.

Sounds like you made it happen with that "Iron Will" of yours. Congrats. My two cents is to get some deep, long sleep to let your heart recover quickly. Nothing like a sleep-in day or two to bring you back up to speed quickly. I have only had one driver pass me that close. He was in the 18-25 male demographic, the highest risk takers. I use Dinotte super bright daytime lights in back and front on slow strobe that seem to help drivers behave more thoughtfully. You have to turn down the brightness at night as these lights will blind drivers in darkness.

 

[GetBent]

I seem to have topped out, so time to start swapping equipment.

Replacing this:



With this:



I am surprised that the swap only gives me a 2 oz reduction in weight per foot. It turns out that my cycling shoes are heavier than my high top trail running shoes, go figure. Probably not quite enough to catch Larry....

 

[ElyDave]

That should give you much better ability to get whatever power you have through the pedals.

My thoughts yesterday were turning to how to reposition my rear dyno light to allow me to remove the rack and lose a bit of weight. Would also need to be able to get a saddlebag on the back for my get-me-home kit. And this is before the required adjustments to the rider.

 

[Bill Wightman]

This is why I audit my TT route before each ride...I was catching my Saturday group after taking a pee stop. I entered into an unexpected road work area with a small one-lane paved area. So I am doing 25 mph to catch my group and suddenly there is an unavoidable six foot cutout in the road twice. I hit the first cutout without pinch flats and a few yards later hit the second which was much deeper. I still did not get pinch flats (because my tire pressure was around 110 psi perhaps and 25 mm probably helps) but my chain flew off and I broke some heavy zip ties that were holding up my homemade head fairing/water bladder behind the headrest so it fell down onto the back wheel. I was thirty miles out on a 70 mile ride. Luckily I was able to fix it with parachord I carry enough to get home. Keep your eyes open. You never know what road surprises are out there.

 

[ElyDave]

On my current course, I actually ride out to the start along most of the route, so I'm ready for any surprises, other than massive mobile farm machinery, of course.

 

[GetBent]

For the "weight weenies" in the crowd.

A short part of week 17 from a RunCam 2. It weighs 49 g with the battery. It will run for about an hour. With external power, I got it to run for two hours. Oddly, it will quit after 2 hours, even with plenty of space on the micro SD card. This camera was designed for drones. This will work with Android or Apple devices. I am impressed with the image quality from such a small camera.

Good thing this happened on the way out to my course, rather than during the TT.

 

[Veinbuster]

On my current course, I actually ride out to the start along most of the route, so I'm ready for any surprises, other than massive mobile farm machinery, of course.

I might start doing that. I’ve been parking at a school, and won’t be able to do that anymore with school starting back.

 

[benphyr]

I bet my head wags just as much, but I never noticed. Now I'll notice every ride for a while!

"Good thing this happened on the way out to my course, rather than during the TT."

Ouch.

 

[GetBent]

I bet my head wags just as much, but I never noticed.

Me neither.

 

[ElyDave]

I bet my head wags just as much, but I never noticed. Now I'll notice every ride for a while!

"Good thing this happened on the way out to my course, rather than during the TT."

Ouch.

At least that nail, or whatever should stop all the air coming out

 

[ElyDave]

I went out early yesterday, as it was forecast light winds. Absolutely terrible ride, way off PB with a headwind on the longest section of the course.

By mid afternoon it was almost still, today looks even calmer. Weather fronts coming through the rest of the week.

Bah!

 

[LarryOz]

I went out this morning after taking it pretty easy since my crash/fall on Sat. My right shoulder is pretty messed up. It is basically useless for anything right now. But I figured I would last least give the TT a shot with my right arm against my chest. Only question I had was could my left arm and shoulder handle the 30+ minutes of Threshold effort. It was very tough, but I did make it through the TT, and even scraped by with a 6 sec gain. I just don't know how I can go much fast though without better conditions or more power. Not sure I am going to get much more power. I did put out 5% more power than last week for only a 6 sec gain - so there may be some hope. Here is my video:

 

[Veinbuster]

Fantastic ride Larry.