What I did to prepare for Sebring 2017 ---today

[Bill K]

(weirdness in my power is my pedals started fading (low bat I think), so I switched to KICKR only power - which is super smooth as you can see.

Just a heads up for those of you that have power meters with Bluetooth and are using erg trainers.
I have a Stages PM and Teax Neo trainer with "power match" turned on and it completely drained a new PM battery in about 5 weeks.
Normally the battery should last 6 months or more.
It looks like the Teax keeps its bluetooth connection to the Stages alive 24/7, not just when you are pedaling on the trainer. So the Stages PM never goes to sleep like it should when you are not using it.

So, those of you that are racing at Sebring, consider putting new batteries in your PM and unplugging the trainer when not in use.
(I have no idea if this is specific to the Neo or could happen on other types of trainers...).

 

[LarryOz]

Road Mount Blackburn today.
It was a slightly challenging workout (after riding Laconte yesterday) that would normally be a rather easy but long endurance ride.
Most of you guys on the schedule get to do it tomorrow.
Like Ratz said, after this we are all probably doing something different based on what we are riding and where we are in the plan. (Thanks Ratz for the individual taper plans)
14 days from right now the 12 and 24 hour riders will be riding! Yeah!

 

[CruzLike]

It is do-able though, remember you had a nice rest day yesterday. Just push through the pain and keep going. Your body had been training for this - Your mind will tell you to quit - don't do it!

Sebring is only 2 weeks from tomorrow - almost down the home stretch! Can't wait to see everybody!
View attachment 4104

Thanks for the encouragement. LeConte was mentally challenging. I had to remind myself what you said. To not give up. I made it through. In another 30 minutes I will begin Mt Blackburn. I've been eating well and drinking well the last 24 hours. I'm as charged up as can be. We'll find out at 10pm
I have a Monster truck jam and a IU basketball game to watch.

Last night Mrs CruzLike and I went to my office party. It was at the Colts Stadium. We got an interesting tour of the press box, locker rooms and field. Check out that new hairdo.

 

[LarryOz]

I had to remind myself what you said. To not give up. I made it through. In another 30 minutes I will begin Mt Blackburn. I've been eating well and drinking well the last 24 hours. I'm as charged up as can be. We'll find out at 10pm

Great job Ken - Can't wait to hear your feedback on Mount Blackburn! Go Go Go!

 

[CruzLike]

No need to start shopping for an elect-assist. I successfully cruised through Mt Blackburn. My biggest challenge is still hydration. I feel like I'm slowly loosing water even though I drink regularly. I finished the ride drained. When I think of extending the ride for another 20 hours I begin to wonder where the additional 15 hours of energy will come from. I will be in the ground at 9 hours at that pace.
I've done 200 miles in 24 once. I've also done 163 in 11 hours 4 times. When I compare how I feel after 4 hours on the trainer, I wonder how I will do during the competition.
I'm looking forward to next weekends long ride and simulate some food and supplements (Hammer Endurolytes).

I'm sad to say, the highlight of the entertainment while riding was definitely the Monster Jam. IU is really struggled against a pretty good Northwestern team.
In NASCAR news. (also watched last night) They are changing the way drivers score points during the race and in the playoffs. Should change things a little.

 

[LarryOz]

No need to start shopping for an elect-assist. I successfully cruised through Mt Blackburn. My biggest challenge is still hydration. I feel like I'm slowly loosing water even though I drink regularly. I finished the ride drained. When I think of extending the ride for another 20 hours I begin to wonder where the additional 15 hours of energy will come from. I will be in the ground at 9 hours at that pace.

Great job on Mount Blackburn! For one thing Ken, you would probably not want to try and ride 24 hours at the intensity level you just rode Mount Blackburn. This intensity level is more suited for a 12-hour ride, and even then you would try and minimize any big spikes in effort (like those 5x10 min intervals) and try and keep as constant wattage output as you can for the duration of you ride.
That is the hard part - coming up with a good wattage value to shoot for based on your ride length. Good luck.
Are you doing the 24 at Sebring?

 

[ratz]

This was not the optimal weekend; Drove all over the state to get to family gatherings and to get kids back to college. Broke a bottom bracket pre-load washer and reducer; and did several of the final hard rides start after 10:30pm and finishing in the 2am or later range. Now this week time to flip it; and start getting up at 4am and riding early to get use to getting out of bed and riding early same as on event day. Suffer now so it's normal.... (not a morning person). Tested the cold weather gear, which made the basement warm. No Flo wheels and no more time to wait so time to finalize wheel setup and make a big pile of bike parts for the car. Gonna be a busy week of stress so that next week the only stress if the 27 hours of travel

 

[CruzLike]

I planned to ride the 24. I have not committed with a registration but that is just around the corner. Today or tomorrow.

My goal is to ride 322 in 23 hours of pedaling. That will be 14 mph avg. To me it sounds slow but riding it will be different.

Will 140w take me that fast?

When I use http://www.bikecalculator.com/ I get some insanely fast numbers. 140w = 19.3 mph I believe this is configured for a DF w/ aerobars. #190 rider + #30 bike

 

[RojoRacing]

M

I planned to ride the 24. I have not committed with a registration but that is just around the corner. Today or tomorrow.

My goal is to ride 322 in 23 hours of pedaling. That will be 14 mph avg. To me it sounds slow but riding it will be different.

Will 140w take me that fast?

When I use http://www.bikecalculator.com/ I get some insanely fast numbers. 140w = 19.3 mph I believe this is configured for a DF w/ aerobars. #190 rider + #30 bike

my average wattage was 150 for my 510 mile 24hr a few months ago. Depending on him much time you spend stopped, 140 watts should get you at least 400 miles I'd think.

 

[CruzLike]

Thanks Jason. I don't know if I'm over shooting my wattage or underestimating my distance. I would guess 150 of your watts is equal to 120 of mine. I'll plug in some different numbers in the calculator.

 

[RojoRacing]

I think Marco who's 4" taller than me and probably 5-10kg more averaged 218 for that same 24hr and got 5 miles less.

Dial in you pacing method before hand and try not to screw it up right before the event like I did. I had planned to pace at 160-165watts but because I was stupid and uploaded my preride to strava my garmin auto updated my pacer with my new fastest lap which was the pre ride lap I had just done 3 mins faster. I did everything I could to revert it back but without a proper computer it was all unless. I did my best to pace myself to lose 2-3 mins on my garmin pacer each lap but that's a lot harder to do than you'd think. The result was I failed to follow my original plan and it almost cost me a spot on the podium.

 

[LarryOz]

I planned to ride the 24. I have not committed with a registration but that is just around the corner. Today or tomorrow.

My goal is to ride 322 in 23 hours of pedaling. That will be 14 mph avg. To me it sounds slow but riding it will be different.

Will 140w take me that fast?

When I use http://www.bikecalculator.com/ I get some insanely fast numbers. 140w = 19.3 mph I believe this is configured for a DF w/ aerobars. #190 rider + #30 bike

Ken, everyone is different and of course the weather conditions will dictate a lot as well.
My first "and only 24 hour" on my Vendetta (Sebring 2015), which I was totally unprepared for, I rode the first 12-hours at 135 watts and averaged 21.3mph. The last 12 hours I was off the bike for at least 100 minutes due to the cold and other factors (bad fueling, etc) so the last 12 hours I only averaged 16.8 mph. In the end I still ended up with 437 miles, which was well under my 500+ goal, but for a first attempt everyone thought I did fine.
Are you riding a Vendetta?
Whatever you are riding, if you can go out on a nice a flat as possible circuit and ride for an hour.
Set your Garmin so you can look at average watts for the ride (I put a special screen with Watts per lap and use that for a lot of my testing)
Just pay attention to your average wattage as you are riding for that hour and adjust as necessary for it to come out to 150 watts.
This will feel really slow and really easy - but as you mentioned, as the end of 24 hours it will feel "a little bit harder"!
Whatever you mileage is, that will be a good indication of what you can do (your bike, your body, etc) - mph at Sebring.
If you do not have a relatively flat place, then try and find a high school track or other and do the same thing. The speed will probably be about 1mph faster than you are going to be able to do on the open road, but it will still give you an idea.
Good Luck and let us know what you discover!

 

[LarryOz]

I think Marco who's 4" taller than me and probably 5-10kg more averaged 218 for that same 24hr and got 5 miles less.

He was also on an upright TT - which is still inferior in aeor-ness to Vendetta.

 

[CruzLike]

I need to be careful when reading the advice or direction from two riders like Larry and Jason. I don't think my abilities are in par with.
I have been training like never before. I don't know if the training will account for a small improvement or will I be on cruise control. That is yet to be determined.
This is my second 24 hr ride. For the most part it will be second first 24hr ride. I have trained for this event, changed my diet, lost 25lbs and changed bikes. I don't have bronchitis this time either. Just to name a few improvements.
I've heard some describe my bike as a turbo Quest. It's hopped up and leaned back.
Not sure if I will be outside before Florida. It has become winter again in Indy. I think on Friday (2/10) I would like to take a lap on the 11 mile course. I have some things to gain confidence with. Others are welcome.
Got to go. 2hr ride calling me.

 

[LarryOz]

I think on Friday (2/10) I would like to take a lap on the 11 mile course. I have some things to gain confidence with.

Many, many people do this. Last year all the "Cruzers" met in front of the hotel by the track for fun and photos. Then we all took off for a couple loops around the 11 mile loop. If I know Jim & Maria they might even want to get a group "riding" photo!

 

[super slim]

Remember to take lots of group, and especially riding photos when going around a large bend!

 

[LarryOz]

I lost my Vendetta today. The story is too long for here but those interested can find it on my blog. Bottom line is I won't be riding it at Sebring.

Great story Hardy - Looks like you should have got another V20 and Neo for Christmas - Well, there is always an early valentine's day present that Mr. Moose can get you (since she has the V now!) - Just through here a couple hints!
What I did today for Sebring. Beside just riding a couple mindless hours at an aerobic pace as a taper that Ratz prescrbride, I finally got my ProOne 25mm tubeless mounted to my CF rims:

Well it was not without effort - first about 3 hours of effort on my part - failure, then stop of LBS #1 - failure, then after a stop over to LBS #2, I finally found someone who was able to mount my ProOne 25mm to my CF "tubeless ready" wheelset. Yeah! Of course the $20 a wheel ended up as a total bill of $95 after they charged me an extra cleaning fee, new 110mm tubeless valves and a whole package of rim tape! Well I guess it will be worth it not to worry riding my GP4000 with latex tubes at Sebring and worrying about a flat. I'm happy to say that I did not get a single flat all last year after riding ProOne 28mm on the same rims. This was even after hitting a huge pot-hole that punched a hole in the tire. I lost psi from 90 to 60 over about 30 miles, but never went flat. I'm sold:


I also had full ceramic bearings put in them prior to this, so hopefully they will fly down the road without much effort.
Hoping to try them out at the track tomorrow as we are expecting mid 60's and sun - Give up lunch for that!

 

[RojoRacing]

I lost my Vendetta rights today. The story is too long for here but those interested can find it on my blog. Bottom line is I won't be riding it at Sebring.

Fixed that for you

 

[ratz]

I lost my Vendetta today. The story is too long for here but those interested can find it on my blog. Bottom line is I won't be riding it at Sebring.

Hmmm sounds like what happen around here 2 years ago but then it was cycleops video rides....not zwift.

Pssst chapter two is when you realize you need frames on the trainers at all times and in the garage ready to roll down the road. Yeah you'll figure that out as when the weather gets warmer.

 

[ratz]

Well I guess it will be worth it not to worry riding my GP4000 with latex tubes at Sebring and worrying about a flat. I'm happy to say that I did not get a single flat all last year after riding ProOne 28mm on the same rims..

You do understand that the ghost Charles Minthorn Murphy......(Mile-a-Minute Murphy) inventor of moto-drafting.... is paying attention and his powers are far reaching.