tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84173083377376069122024-03-14T02:49:40.596-07:00My World From a BicycleMy goal is to capture on video my world from a bicycle, which includes, fun, friends, racing, occasional pain and frequent periods of pure joy! (and share my massive *a-hem* knowledge about cycling)David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-28865562794807973792012-04-28T14:53:00.001-07:002015-06-29T08:26:47.423-07:00High Intensity Interval Training<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Some time ago, I wrote an article called <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/do-this-and-you-will-win.html">"Do This and You Will Win"</a>. In that post, I suggested performing interval training as follows: "ride absolutely as hard as you can for one minute, then soft pedal as easy as you can for three minutes, repeat 5-8 times or until you think you see Jesus." Assuming that the rider also raced on the weekends, these intervals would be done once a week. <br />
Since writing that article, I have read numerous critiques of interval training, and heard talk from fellow racers about what they think is the best interval training method. This made me wonder what <i>is</i> the best interval training protocol or if there even<i> is a</i> <i>best </i>method. As I think back, I can not even remember exactly the source of my High-Intensity Interval Training (HIT) method. It certainly didn't come from Lemond's "Complete Book of Cycling." Nor did it come from Edward 'Eddie B' Borysewicz's "Bicycle Road Racing: The Complete Program for Training and Competition." And it definitely did not come from Joe Friel's "Cyclist's Training Bible" (<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/p/recommended-books.html">though all are recommended books</a>). My best guess is that I adopted my interval protocol from an article that I read in <i>Bicycling Magazine</i>, probably a couple decades ago, and it probably was written by Edmund Burke (who was well known for writing science-based training articles). <br />
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So my current question is two-fold. First, is my previously recommended method for improving cycling performance good advice? And second, are there other HIT protocols that are equal or better? Or to put it another way, is there an ultimate interval?<br />
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<b style="color: red;">The importance of intervals</b><br />
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Before I go straight to the answer, I should first explain the importance of HIT, and why it has value. It is well established among exercise physiologists and others, that any amount of exercise followed by recovery will increase fitness for sedentary (unfit) individuals. For beginner and moderately-trained cyclists, increased duration and increased frequency of riding combined with recovery is all that is required to further increase fitness. Unfortunately, this method of increasing fitness has a ceiling and once this threshold is reached, no amount of increased typical or ordinary riding (aka sub-maximal exercise or below threshold markers) will continue to improve a rider's fitness. As <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/adis/smd/2002/00000032/00000001/art00003">Laursen & Jenkins</a> state, "in the highly trained athlete, an additional increase in sub-maximal exercise training (i.e. volume) does not appear to further enhance either endurance performance or associated variables such as maximal oxygen uptake (VO<span style="font-size: x-small;">2max</span>), anaerobic threshold, economy of motion and oxidative muscle enzymes". In citing <a href="http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/1997/06000/Effect_of_training_on_lactate_ventilatory.16.aspx">Ben Londeree's research</a>, the authors note that "it appears that once an individual has reached a VO<span style="font-size: x-small;">2max </span>>60ml/kg/min, endurance performance is not improved by a further increase in submaximal training volume." This is not meant to downplay the importance of high-volume training, but to highlight that there is a fixed limit for improving fitness by this method alone. </div>
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Interestingly, not only is adding a HIT program to your training necessary to reach your full cycling potential, but it can also dramatically speed up the rate at which fitness is achieved. It is generally believed that it can take several years to go from being an unfit to a highly fit bike racer; however research suggests otherwise. For example: <a href="http://jap.physiology.org/content/42/3/372.abstract">Hickson</a> showed that after just 10 weeks of HIT, VO<span style="font-size: x-small;">2max</span> could be rapidly increased (+44%; p<0.05) and four of his subjects approached or exceeded 60ml/kg/min in this short time frame. This does not mean that any cyclist can become an <b>elite rider</b> (>70ml/kg/min for men and >60 for women) in a very short period, though many can become <b>"highly fit"</b> (>60 ml/kg/min for men, >52 ml/kg/min for women) in a relatively short period of time. Fitness gains initially occur rapidly and depend on the volume, intensity and frequency of training; as greater fitness is achieved, it appears that the development of the physiological capacities witnessed in elite athletes does not continue to come about quickly. It may take years of high training loads before an individual reaches his or her full athletic potential through vascular and muscular adaptations. Outside of developing one's physiology, it can also take years to fully master the sport by developing racing and psychological skills (<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2011/09/bicycle-racing-tactics-and-strategies.html">tactics</a>, <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2011/01/zipp-1080-front-wheel-tubular-for-sale.html">equipment</a>, <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-when-and-how-to-eat-for-cycling.html">diet</a>, <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/04/hermann-criterium-17april2010.html">technique</a>, <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/10/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html">psychology</a>, <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/11/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html">etc</a>). <br />
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Another interesting and valuable fact about HIT is that, to a significant degree, when compared to aerobic (submaximal) training alone, it can reduce the exercise time required to achieve or maintain a particular level of fitness, as illustrated by <a href="http://jp.physoc.org/content/early/2010/01/20/jphysiol.2009.181743.abstract">Johnathan P. Little</a>, and especially by <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18845781">Iaia FM, Hellsten Y, Nielsen JJ et al.</a> In short, if you have limited time to exercise/train, then interval training is even more important and efficient for the gaining and maintaining fitness. <br />
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I have mentioned <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2_max">VO<span style="font-size: x-small;">2max</span></a> quite a few times in this article, so it is important to understand a few basics points about it. VO<span style="font-size: x-small;">2max</span> (also maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake, peak oxygen uptake or maximal aerobic capacity) reflects the physical fitness of the individual; it is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and use oxygen during incremental exercise. While there certainly are other measures of fitness, maximal oxygen uptake (VO<span style="font-size: x-small;">2max</span>) is widely accepted as the single best measure of cardiovascular fitness and maximal aerobic power. In this article, 60 ml/kg/min is used as the critical minimal threshold number for defining a "highly trained cyclist". For perspective and to see the full spectrum of comparative VO<span style="font-size: x-small;">2 max</span> measurements, classified from unfit (32 ml/kg/min) to world class cyclists (90 ml/kg/min) see my article<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2011/09/comparative-measurements-of-maximal.html">"Comparative Measurements of Maximal Outputs for Cyclist"</a>. </span></span><br />
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There is a reason why I emphasize the distinction between "highly fit cyclists" (VO2max >60ml/kg/min) and lesser-fit cyclists (including sedentary individuals): research shows that "highly fit cyclists" do not respond to exercise stimuli in the same manner as unfit and moderately fit cyclists. Highly fit cyclists typically will not improve from further increased training volume (with enough volume they will actually get worse), whereas lower fit cyclists will almost always improve with increased training volume. Also, unfit and poorly fit cyclists can dramatically improve their fitness using nearly any HIT protocol, whereas highly fit cyclists not only exhibit considerably smaller gains, but in many cases they will not make any improvements at all with a HIT protocol that is not correctly designed for them (intensity level, repetitions, rest duration, and frequency). <br />
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<b style="color: red;">Research findings from HIT studies</b><br />
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Below (Table One) are some findings from high intensity interval training studies in sedentary and recreationally-active individuals. (Source: Laursen & Jenkin's, <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/adis/smd/2002/00000032/00000001/art00003">"The Scientific Basis for High-Intensity Interval Training: Optimizing Training Programmes and Maximizing Performance in Highly Trained Endurance Athletes."</a> ) The findings are organized by year of publication, and each study is referenced with links at the bottom of this article. Collectively, they show that lower fit riders respond well to a wide range of interval protocols - and importantly, many of these studies are the foundation for later research that looks for the best HIT protocols for highly fit cyclists. The general trend seen in these HIT protocols is to lower the
work duration as the intensity is increased. The studies also increase the number
of repetitions as the intensity level is lowered to a specific work
duration. Rest between intervals tends to increase in proportion to the
amount of work that is done as the intensity increases, and the total
number of repetitions is typically determined by fatigue. Tabata's design is a bit of an exception to this trend with a 20 second work duration and a 10 second rest, but his protocol could be described as one 4 minute intermittent high intensity interval. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y-jDuD--fEk/T4D_zqvr3eI/AAAAAAAAAlw/yiC4imUCrms/s1600/intervals+on+beginners1b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y-jDuD--fEk/T4D_zqvr3eI/AAAAAAAAAlw/yiC4imUCrms/s640/intervals+on+beginners1b.jpg" width="502" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fkPp7QHLPVA/T4HTbPHRyaI/AAAAAAAAAmI/ulCHEkc6qvs/s1600/key+to+terms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fkPp7QHLPVA/T4HTbPHRyaI/AAAAAAAAAmI/ulCHEkc6qvs/s640/key+to+terms.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">key to the abbreviations used in the charts</td></tr>
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<b style="color: red;">Surprises</b><br />
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One of the biggest surprise findings for early researchers (and for myself
while researching this topic) was that short 20-30 second HIT could
improve both VO2max and 40k time trial results. By training with short, intense intervals which use primary anaerobic energy (see figure 1 below) a person can achieve significant
improvements in long sustained efforts, which largely rely on aerobic energy such as 40 kilometer time trialing. This isn't exactly intuitive.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QX535KCpQ2M/T5wbTjQXwaI/AAAAAAAAAn4/g1iMlCnwJ5A/s1600/aerobic+contribution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QX535KCpQ2M/T5wbTjQXwaI/AAAAAAAAAn4/g1iMlCnwJ5A/s640/aerobic+contribution.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="color: red;">The Ultimate Interval</b><br />
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So, what is the ultimate interval? First we must ask what is it we are trying to enhance? As we can see from Figure 1 above, short intense events such as track racing require very high anaerobic capacities and endurance events such as 40k time trialing require very high aerobic capacities. However, for the purposes of this article, I avoid the topic of "sprinting" (5-15 maximal bursts) and focus on HIT for longer time frames that are commonly used in time trialing and criterium racing. (Sprint training could be discussed in a future article). With this in mind, I present a collection of findings from high-intensity interval training in highly trained cyclists, below in Table 2. These are currently the best and most cited studies that I could find on the topic. It is also important to reiterate that these studies are on highly trained cyclists; as mentioned previously, they respond to exercise stimuli differently than unfit and recreational cyclists.<br />
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So, which is the best? Let me quote one of the lead researchers, Paul Laursen,: "It is not possible to unequivocally state that one HIT group improved to a greater extent than the other HIT groups." ("<a href="http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2002/11000/Interval_training_program_optimization_in_highly.17.aspx">Interval training program optimization in highly trained endurance cyclists</a>"). However, he does go on to pick out the HIT protocol performed at the intensity of Pmax and a duration of Tmax with a 1:2 work-recovery ratio, as being superior by a small margin to the others. Ian Dille published an excellent article in <i>Bicycling Magazine</i> titled <a href="http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/training-fitness/ultimate-interval?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-Bicycling-_-Content-Story-_-ultimate-interval">"The Ultimate Interval"</a>, in which he describes this particular HIT protocol in understandable terms. But to call this particular interval the ultimate interval is a little bit premature. It is extremely effective, but when we look at the last HIT study in table 2, in only 2 weeks, a group of higher fit cyclists (higher starting VO2max) improved nearly as much as the supposed ultimate interval group did in 4 weeks, while using dramatically different protocols. <span style="font-size: x-large;">And <b>CRITICALLY</b>:</span> <span style="font-size: x-large;">t</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, stixgeneral, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 21.9987621307373px;">he importance of sample size calculation cannot be overemphasized. The studies that I have cited all have extremely small sample sizes ranging from only 5 to 23 subjects, with most studies having fewer subjects than fingers on my hands. Size matters, and confidence in research findings goes up considerably with increased sample size, and down with smaller sample size because of variability between subjects (some test subjects may respond </span><b style="line-height: 21.9987621307373px;">VERY</b><span style="line-height: 21.9987621307373px;"> different to protocols than others). Therefore, one should be very cautious to pick out one of the studies as definitely the best or ultimate over the others in my post.</span><span style="line-height: 21.9987621307373px;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 15.9990997314453px; line-height: 21.9987621307373px;"> </span></span></span><br />
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So, what we see is that there are likely MANY different HIT protocol designs that are equally effective. The general rule for an ideal HIT protocol appears to be to lower the work duration as the intensity is increased, and to increase the number of repetitions as the intensity level is lowered to a specific work duration. Rest duration between intervals tends to increase in proportion to the amount of work that is done as intensity increases, and the total number of repetitions is typically determined by fatigue.<br />
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<b>HIT applied in the real world</b></div>
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I would generally advise executing a HIT regimen based on research and not on intuition or hearsay. Any of those shown in table 2 are satisfactory. However, it can be difficult if not impossible to follow these protocols if a person does not have power meters and access to lab equipment for calculating precise PPO, Pmax and Tmax. Even if you have a power meter, it can be very hard. For example to determine PPO, you need to find your highest 30-second power output completed during an incremental test where resistance is increased by 15 watts every 30 seconds, starting at a workload of 100watts. Your Pmax is calculated by finding the corresponding power output that is measured at VO2max during a progressive exercise test, and Tmax is time to exhaustion at Pmax. Laursen deemed test subjects fully exhausted when they could not keep their cadence above 60 rpm. Sounds simple? No, it's not.<br />
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You may be able to estimate a PPO by testing yourself on a stationary trainer and using a powermeter device. After lightly warming up begin riding at 100 watts.
Increase power by 30 watts every minute (you will have to control your <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2012/02/ideal-cadence-for-competitive-bicycling.html">wattage by cadence</a> primarily) until you reach exhaustion (failure to maintain a 60 rpm cadence). Wattage at PPO is going to be higher than at Pmax by a small unknown amount. Pmax can only be determined accurately in a lab environment that can measure VO2max with it's corresponding watt output. However, you can estimate you Pmax by taking the average wattage produced over a 5 minute maximal effort and multiply that by .934 (based on writings from <a href="http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/power-profiling.aspx">Andrew Coggan</a> and only applies to highly fit cyclists).<br />
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Without a power meter you could just simply follow my simple "no tool" method (other than a watch). I can not unequivocally state that this protocol is as good as the proven studies below, but based on the principles of HIT it should produce comparably similar results. All you have to do is ride as hard as you can for one minute and rest three minutes or until you subjectively feel recovered and do it again and again until exhaustion or you see Jesus. When you see Jesus, that's when you know it's time to stop.<br />
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<b style="color: red;">Training volume considerations with HIT</b><br />
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All of the highly trained cyclists in the studies cited maintained a high-volume low intensity (submaximal) training ranging from 285 kilometer plus minus 95 kilometers (177 miles plus minus 59 miles) per week, both before and during the study. In a review of HIT research Laursen (see 23 below) states that, "a polarized approach to training, whereby about 75% of total training volume is performed at low intensities, and 10-15% is performed at very high intensities, has been suggested as an optimal training intensity distribution for elite athletes who perform intense exercise events." <br />
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For cyclists who race every weekend, I would suggest doing only one interval session per week in order to avoid over-training and consider the weekend races collectively as a second interval. There are a number of bike racers who use racing to get themselves into shape. This is tried and true, but I speculate that controlled intervals, bi-weekly as described in Table 2 (below) may be superior. This may be because while racing will certainly produce stress that can trigger fitness, the efforts produced during a race may not be as completely exhausting as an ideal interval session or with the optimal amounts of intensity and work duration. And because racing has little to no rest opportunities, most cyclists are likely to race more strategically-minded than HIT-minded. <br />
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1. Hickson RC, Bomze HA, Holloszy JO. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/838658">Linear increase in aerobic power induced by a strenuous program of endurance exercise</a><br />
2. Henritze J, Weltman A, Schurrer RL, et al. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4018061">Effects of training at and above the lactate threshold on the lactate threshold and maximal oxygen uptake</a><br />
3. Simoneau JA, Lortie G, Boulay MR, et al. <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/1137px7x66667132/">Human skeletal muscle fiber type alteration with high-intensity intermittent training</a><br />
4. Simoneau JA, Lortie G, Boulay MR, et al.<a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/tptg827jr3q36217/"> Effects of two high-intensity intermittent training programs interspaced by detraining on human skeletal muscle and performance</a><br />
5. Green HJ, Fraser IG. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3343917">Differential effects of exercise intensity on serum uric acid concentration</a><br />
6. Nevill ME, Boobis LH, Brooks S, et al. <a href="http://www.mendeley.com/research/effect-training-muscle-metabolism-treadmill-sprinting-5/">Effect of training on muscle metabolism during treadmill sprinting</a><br />
7. Keith SP, Jacobs I, McLellan TM. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1425631">Adaptations to training at the individual anaerobic threshold</a><br />
8. Linossier MT, Dennis C, Dormois D, et al. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8299612">Ergometric and metabolic adaptation to a 5-s sprint interval training</a><br />
9. Burke J, Thayer R, Belcamino M. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1332151/">Comparison of effects of two interval-training programmes on lactate and ventilatory thresholds</a><br />
10. Lindsay FH, Hawley JA, Myburgh KH, et al. <a href="http://www.mendeley.com/research/improved-athletic-performance-in-highly-trained-cyclists-after-interval-training/">Improved athletic performance in highly trained cyclists after interval training</a><br />
11. Tabata I, Mishimura K, Kouzaki M, et al. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8897392">Effects of moderate intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity</a><br />
12. Westgarth-Taylor C, Hawley JA, Rickard S, et al. <a href="http://www.mendeley.com/research/metabolic-and-performance-adaptations-to-interval-training-in-endurancetrained-cyclists/">Metabolic and performance adaptations to interval training in endurance trained cyclists </a><br />
13. MacDougall JD, Hicks AL, MacDonald JR, et al. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9609810">Muscle performance and enzymatic adaptations to sprint interval training</a><br />
14. Ray CA. <a href="http://jap.physiology.org/content/86/5/1583.full"> Sympathetic adaptations to one-legged training</a><br />
15. Green H, Tupling R, Roy B, et al. <a href="http://www.mendeley.com/research/adaptations-in-skeletal-muscle-exercise-metabolism-to-a-sustained-session-of-heavy-intermittent-exercise/"> Adaptations in skeletal muscle exercise metabolism to a sustained session of heavy intermittent exercise</a><br />
16. Rodas G, Ventura Jl, Dadefau JA, et al. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10985604">A short training programme for the rapid improvement of both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism</a><br />
17. Parra J, Cadefau JA, Rodas G, et al. <a href="http://www.mendeley.com/research/the-distribution-of-rest-periods-affects-performance-and-adaptations-of-energy-metabolism-induced-by-highintensity-training-in-human-muscle/">The distribution of rest periods affects performance and adaptations of energy metabolism induced by high-intensity training in human muscle</a><br />
18. Harmer AR, McKenna MJ, Sutton JR, et al. <a href="http://www.jappl.org/content/89/5/1793.full">Skeletal muscle metabolic and ionic adaptations during intense exercise following sprint training in humans </a><br />
19. Laursen PB, Shing CM, Peake JM, et al. <a href="http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2002/11000/Interval_training_program_optimization_in_highly.17.aspx"> Interval training program optimization in highly trained endurance cyclists</a><br />
20. Laursen PB, Blanchard MA, Jenkins DG <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442351">Acute high-intensity interval training improves Tvent and peak power output in highly trained males </a><br />
21. Laursen PB, Shing CM, Peake JM, et al. <a href="http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/16095414/reload=0;jsessionid=xiVItn3ioNr3QLK2NdwQ.136"> Influence of high-intensity interval training on adaptations in well-trained cyclists</a><br />
22. Spencer MR, Gastin PB <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11194103">Energy system contribution during 200- to 1500- m running in highly trained athletes</a><br />
23. Laursen PB <a href="http://kif.hr/_download/repository/High_intensity_versus_low_intensity_high_volume_training.pdf">Training for intense exercise performance: high-intensity or high-volume training? </a><br />
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David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com68tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-63745982203701879962012-02-05T17:03:00.000-08:002013-03-01T16:28:56.342-08:00The Ideal Cadence for Competitive Bicycling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Some time ago I wrote <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/08/dude-your-crank-lengths-fine-you-just.html">an article about Myths in Cycling regarding crank arm length</a> and cited Dr. James Martin's powerpoint entitled, "<a href="http://www.plan2peak.com/files/32_article_JMartinCrankLengthPedalingTechnique.pdf">"Myth and Science in Cycling: Crank Length and Pedaling Technique"</a><br />
As a result, I touched upon the topic of "ideal cadence", which has lead me to pursue this topic more thoroughly.<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: red;">Sprinting:</span></b></i><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XpEEuQfijiQ/Ty9wqQlhedI/AAAAAAAAAks/ixseSalDEfs/s1600/sprint+cadence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XpEEuQfijiQ/Ty9wqQlhedI/AAAAAAAAAks/ixseSalDEfs/s400/sprint+cadence.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Based on Dr. Martin's research and others, an ideal cadence for sprinting is around 120 rpm. This isn't too surprising or controversial. Sprinting is pretty straight forward. Just pure power in a short burst of usually 5 to 15 seconds. The side graphic shows this. However, the myth that he busts isn't on cadence's effect on sprinting; it's on standard crank arm length's effect on sprinting (basically there's very little difference between standard crank sizes on performance). <br />
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<div style="color: red;">
<i><b>Gear Choice:</b></i></div>
Another interesting point about gear choice (which affects cadence) for sprinting is that for longer sprints such as 30 seconds versus 10 to 15 seconds, a bigger gear choice is desirable. Research shows that the reason for this is that muscle fatigue occurs more due to the total number of muscle contractions than by the duration of the contractions during extended maximal efforts. Basically it's more ideal to grind a bigger gear on a long sprint than to be "spun out", especially when another gear choice is available.<br />
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Below is a gear chart of speeds (<a href="http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/">via Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator</a>) produced using a 52 and a 53 front chain ring and a 10 speed cassette ranging from 11 teeth to 21 teeth. On a flat course most riders would sprint well in a 53/52 x 14 or 13. Professional riders may sprint in a 12 rear cog, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A9vin_Sireau">Kevin Sireau</a> may use an 11 to sprint with. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2gf_jTN-rk/TzCiolKH-HI/AAAAAAAAAlE/l9KoNzqmQ2I/s1600/sprint+cadence+gears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2gf_jTN-rk/TzCiolKH-HI/AAAAAAAAAlE/l9KoNzqmQ2I/s640/sprint+cadence+gears.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<i><b><span style="color: red;">Cadence:</span></b></i><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W_A824nBcCM/Ty2FkcakSkI/AAAAAAAAAj8/Vu0kXU0kKP8/s1600/background.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W_A824nBcCM/Ty2FkcakSkI/AAAAAAAAAj8/Vu0kXU0kKP8/s400/background.jpg" width="400" /></a>The information about crank-arm length from Dr. Martin is pretty clear. Standard sizes are nearly equally efficient, but the topic of ideal cadence came up and it generated a bit of controversy among my peers. I posted a data graphic that illustrated that 60 rpm cadence (pedal revolutions per minute) was more efficient than 100 rpm. The myth that this busted was that higher cadences are better for performance than lower.<br />
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This flies in the face of the dogma that higher cadence is better, something that I have been told since I began cycling competitively. I was concerned about this contradictory information to the point that I contacted Dr. Martin via email for clarification. He confirmed the facts as such: "The effect of pedaling rate on metabolic cost is pretty well established. Heart rate generally tracks well with met cost but its not the same thing. Also, there is individual variability in responses so you may be a bit different than the mean." (Cool, Dr. Martin!)<br />
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But hold the door, this isn't entirely settled. Several of my peers have challenged this idea. They point to examples of Lance Armstrong time-trialing at 100 plus cadence and beating the competition and the fact that <a href="http://www.wolfgang-menn.de/hourrec.htm">The Cycling Hour World Record</a> has been set with cadences above 100. Add to that the fact that most professional and elite athletes will generally ride at higher cadences (90-105) while racing as well. This naturally leads one to think that these riders must be riding at the ideal cadence and that lower cadences such as 60 is just wrong. <br />
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So I set out to resolve this, and here's what I found: Both are true. Basically. I looked at dozens of research papers (see sources below) on the effects of cadence and efficiency and found over and over that Dr. Martin was right, but with a caveat. Lower cadences are more efficient for the vast majority of <i>normal</i> riders who do not have huge aerobic capacities and can not sustain large power outputs. <br />
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Two possible explanations for why efficiency and higher cadence numbers go up as power output goes up for elite and professional riders. One is heat generation within the muscle fibers and the other is muscle composition. Cyclists across the board are generally only about 24% efficient when pedaling. <a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/mechanical-efficiency">Efficiency</a> is a measure of work performed for energy used. Or for cyclists we'll say, less oxygen used, less fuel burned, means more efficient. <br />
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Net mechanical efficiency for muscle movements is generally low for all cyclists due to the loss of free energy as heat. As power output increases, so does the temperature within the muscle. This temperature factor may have an effect on efficiency with the speed at which a muscle contracts (or cadence). Additionally, it matters which type of muscle fiber that is contracting. Fast twitch and slow twitch fibers have different contractile properties in terms of efficiency and optimal speed of contracting. As work load (or power output) goes up, more and more muscles fibers are recruited to do work. As a result of either-and-or heat build-up in the muscle fibers and the type of fiber being recruited, both efficiency and cadence go up as power output increases. <br />
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Take a look at the graphic below. It's a great illustration of how elite riders become more efficient with higher cadences at greater levels of power output. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WU_-5aN5mgI/Ty2bkBwFJBI/AAAAAAAAAkE/4kgW9o-fIjY/s1600/efficiency+with+cadence+adjusted2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WU_-5aN5mgI/Ty2bkBwFJBI/AAAAAAAAAkE/4kgW9o-fIjY/s640/efficiency+with+cadence+adjusted2.jpg" width="482" /></a></div>
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This data comes from Øivind Foss and Jostein Hallén's article, <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/bl1yjutdhrf9fkyg/">"The most economical cadence increases with increasing workload"</a> It is extremely important to note that the six rider's in this study are elite cyclists with a VO2 max of an average of 69 ml/kg/min which puts them far outside of <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2011/09/comparative-measurements-of-maximal.html">the power output of most cyclists</a>. These elite riders are capable of sustaining 350 watts for an hour (time trialing around 29mph) whereas a cat 5 or untrained rider can only sustain from 130 to 200 watts for an hour (time trialing around 20-23 mph). Big difference.<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: red;">Cadence During Races</span></b></i><br />
Now lets discuss cadence in practical terms regarding racing. Cadence should largely be <b><i>ignored </i></b>during criterium racing. No more thought should be applied to cadence in criterium racing than to what your respiratory rate is (that is zero). The focus should be staying close; tight in the draft of the cyclist in front of you at all cost. The reason for this is that the efficiency of drafting can be upwards to 36% energy savings whereas ideal cadence may only be single digit percent savings of energy. With that said, it is also worth mentioning that the nature of criterium racing is very much "gas on- gas off" (<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2011/02/this-american-bicycle-race.html">full power and zero pedaling</a>), high cadences are easier for accelerating and a bit easier on your connective tissues in your knee and leg (especially with long riding without rest or variation). Again, for criterium racing, focus on drafting and let cadence take care of itself. <br />
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Ideal cadence is more important for time trialing, where every second counts, because it's a race against the clock. In the case of the elite cyclists above, clearly an 80 cadence is the most efficient to ride at (coincidentally 350 watts happens to be their average <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-determine-your-lactate-threshold.html">lactate threshold</a>). Time trialing at a lesser efficient cadence of 60 or 100 would cost approximately 9 watts of power (my estimate) and would result in about a 30 second time difference over a 40 kilometer time trial. (my calculations come from the <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2011/09/comparative-measurements-of-maximal.html">American College of Sports Medicine formula </a>and the <a href="http://bikecalculator.com/veloUS.html">bike calculator</a>). So an ideal cadence is important.<br />
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But here's the problem. It is not possible to maintain exactly 80 rpm while time trialing at a maximal effort in the real world for several reasons. Firstly, there is a fairly big change in the power requirement between gear changes at a fixed cadence. See <a href="http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/">the gear chart</a> below to see what I mean. There's about a 2.1 to a 2.8 mph difference between gear changes, which translates to a difference of nearly 100 watts of power in the upper gear sizes. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H-NRbEVClw4/Ty7DcnbdmrI/AAAAAAAAAkM/VXKm-ptopns/s1600/gear+chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="466" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H-NRbEVClw4/Ty7DcnbdmrI/AAAAAAAAAkM/VXKm-ptopns/s640/gear+chart.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Additionally there are several other factors beyond power that affect you on the road, such as wind changes and road grade changes. As a result, cadence (and often gearing on hilly courses) must constantly be adjusted for these factors.<br />
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The elite riders studied in Øivind Foss and Jostein Hallén's article, <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/bl1yjutdhrf9fkyg/">"The most economical cadence increases with increasing workload"</a> (first chart) have an average VO2 max of 69 and a weight of 78 kg (or 171 lbs) and as a result we would expect them to ride a 40k time-trial at about 28.65 mph (full aero equipment, flat terrain, zero wind, 100ft elevation). There's no data point on the above gear chart for an 80 cadence gear combination that gives us this exact speed. However the 90 cadence gear chart (above left) does put our riders very close to the speed of 28.65 with the gear combination of 53 x 13.<br />
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Of course, we know from our earlier discussion that 80 rpm cadence is around 9 watts and 30 seconds faster for our riders than a 90 cadence. So what can be done? The best that can be done (for our elite riders) riding with a 53 tooth chain ring is to select a 12 rear cog and pedal at a slightly elevated cadence of 83 rpm. The 9 watts and 30 seconds advantage will be reduced proportionally (est. 6w, 20s). This is far easier done in a lab than in the real world!<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: red;">A Real-Life Example:</span></b></i><br />
A good example of real world riding is illustrated in the SRM data from my 2010 State Time Trial, which was raced on a flat course. I did not focus on cadence, but instead focused on my effort, shooting for an average of 345 watts. Because of the changing wind conditions, my speed and cadence would go up and down, but I maintained a fairly consistent power output. Looking at this graph with my current knowledge, I may have had a bit of a benefit from a slightly higher cadence in the later half.<br />
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[It is worth knowing that it is generally best to be the first rider to start on an out-and-back course in the morning, and the last rider to go in a time-trial in the late afternoon, because the wind tends to pick up in the morning and tends to die down in the evening. Time trials with large numbers of competitors with one minute intervals in between, can lead to hours of differences in start times that will likely have different environmental conditions. Zero wind is the most ideal for performance for out-and-back time trials.]<br />
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Below: The purple is speed, blue is cadence and green lines are wattage. The drop down spike in the center is the turn around point. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RjMZKzHN1IY/Ty8KX5wpPpI/AAAAAAAAAkk/w5LCHP3XOds/s1600/State+time+trial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RjMZKzHN1IY/Ty8KX5wpPpI/AAAAAAAAAkk/w5LCHP3XOds/s640/State+time+trial.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">click to enlarge view</td></tr>
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Efficiency can be rather complicated to determine on the fly. Happily, heart rate tracks very well with efficiency (see graphic below) for work done. Therefore, one should try to maximize power and speed output with the lowest heart rate possible so as to achieve the best efficiency and greatest production (fastest time trial)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G1CIa5cbX4Q/Ty7mhyu72mI/AAAAAAAAAkU/vzuDQ8_gNkg/s1600/heartrate+tracking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G1CIa5cbX4Q/Ty7mhyu72mI/AAAAAAAAAkU/vzuDQ8_gNkg/s400/heartrate+tracking.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The above graphic shows the relationship between cadence, heart-rate and power and comes from the same study of the elite riders as <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/bl1yjutdhrf9fkyg/">mentioned above</a>. <br />
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I looked at several more studies regarding ideal cadences for cycling and they are worth mentioning and looking at and include:<br />
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<a href="https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/sportsmed/doi/10.1055/s-2005-865654"><span class="schriftd">Effects of Altering Pedal Cadence on Cycling Time-Trial Performance</span></a><br />
<span class="schriftd">Found that low cadence 83 was both faster and more economical than preferred cadence of 92 </span><br />
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<span class="schriftd"><a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/gx6tyemaqt8bwfde/">Cadence and performance in elite cyclists </a></span><br />
<span class="schriftd">Found that elite cyclists performed best and was more efficient time trialing at 80 cadence</span><br />
<span class="schriftd"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="schriftd"><a href="http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2001/08000/Preferred_pedalling_cadence_in_professional.18.aspx">Preferred pedaling cadence in professional cycling</a></span><br />
<span class="schriftd">Found that professional riders spontaneously adopt higher cadences (around 90) during both time trialing and group riding, but tend to adopt a more economical pedaling rate of approximately 70 rpm during hill climbs.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="schriftd"> <a href="http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2000/09000/Effect_of_cadence,_cycling_experience,_and_aerobic.17.aspx">Effect of cadence, cycling experience, and aerobic power on delta efficiency during cycling</a></span><br />
<span class="schriftd">Found that little difference exists between trained and untrained cyclists concerning efficiency (usually around 24%) regardless of cycling experience or fitness level</span><br />
<span class="schriftd"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="schriftd"><a href="http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2004/06000/In_Professional_Road_Cyclists,_Low_Pedaling.19.aspx">In Professional Road Cyclist, Low Pedaling Cadence Are Less Efficient</a></span><br />
<span class="schriftd">Found that professional road cyclist riding at power outputs greater than 360 and 420 watts are more efficient at 100 rpm than 60 and 80 rpm</span><br />
<span class="schriftd"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="schriftd"><a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/w01lh456m74q6nwg/">Cycling efficiency and pedalling frequency in road cyclists</a></span><br />
<span class="schriftd">Efficiency increases in scale with pedaling rate as workload increase.</span><br />
<span class="schriftd"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="schriftd"><a href="http://www.mendeley.com/research/cadence-performance-elite-cyclists-2/#">Cadence and performance in elite cyclist</a></span><br />
<span class="schriftd"></span>This study demonstrated that elite cyclists perform best at their most efficient cadence which was 80 rpm, despite the maximal energy turnover rate being larger at a higher cadence.<br />
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In short, you should choose a cadence that mirrors your power output; unless you’re an elite rider, it’s unlikely you’ll benefit from using cadences exceeding around 80rpm. However, world-class athletes can push into 100 rpm range for the most efficient cadence that will produce the greatest performance. <br />
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To see where you stack up in the field of competitive cyclists, see my post: <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2011/09/comparative-measurements-of-maximal.html">Comparative Measurement of Maximal Outputs for Cyclists</a>.<br />
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David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-82735381367358895432011-09-20T09:29:00.000-07:002012-02-01T09:53:18.687-08:00Comparative Measurements of Maximal Outputs for Cyclists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><script type="text/javascript">
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<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Below are two data charts that both show a wide spectrum of differing abilities of cyclists as athletes with different possible predicted output measurements. Not only do these charts give a snapshot view of the full range of power output of cyclists, but they can be used to help an individual realistically see where they fit into the big picture and help identify what "type" of rider they are (i.e. sprinter, time trialist, pursuit rider, kilo rider, all arounder) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> The source of my data comes from "Power Profiling"<i><a href="http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/power-profiling.aspx">by Andrew Coggan, Ph.D</a>. (data can not be copyrighted, please feel free to copy and share!), </i>and the <a href="http://bikecalculator.com/veloUS.html">Bike Calculator</a>. A few important points to understand about the first chart (top): The four data columns of 5 second, 1 minute, 5 minute and FT (aka: functional threshold or lactate threshold, which is the maximal effort that you can sustain for one hour plus), and all maximal expected values for that particular level (pro through non-racer). Every individual cyclist will produce a measure for each timed maximal effort that will chart them at different levels for that result. For example: a world class sprinter can not also be a world class time trialist. This is because of the physiological make up of individual athletes, where sprinters tend to have higher ratios of fast twitch muscle fibers comparative to slow twitch fibers, which favors time-trialing. <br />
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In other words you may have a category 1 sprint, but a time trial of a category 4 or vice versa. And that's fine, but it would be very helpful to know your strengths and weakness so that you can race tactically correct. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">To see where you personally stand in the field of competitive cyclists you must know a few data points. Namely your maximum sprint effort as described below in terms of speed or wattage, and your 40 kilometer time trial effort in terms of speed, time or wattage, or your 5 minute maximum wattage output or laboratory measured VO2 max. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UHO30HSQx6E/TngUJ7Bv0VI/AAAAAAAAAe4/Teq2AS4CqlU/s1600/watt+chartcoggin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UHO30HSQx6E/TngUJ7Bv0VI/AAAAAAAAAe4/Teq2AS4CqlU/s640/watt+chartcoggin.jpg" width="585" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/power-profiling.aspx">Maximal Power Output (W/kg) via Andrew Coggan, Ph.D</a></i><br />
<i>Click image to enlarge. </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s0Yuz-hb07E/Tnf92-Vay9I/AAAAAAAAAew/FUSiJi8J4MM/s1600/final+watt+chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s0Yuz-hb07E/Tnf92-Vay9I/AAAAAAAAAew/FUSiJi8J4MM/s640/final+watt+chart.jpg" width="612" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My adjusted data chart with additional estimated maximal cycling outputs<br />
Click image to enlarge. </td></tr>
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This makes the first chart very valuable because it not only allows comparisons between all levels, it also helps an individual to use their scores to identify their natural strengths and weaknesses, and to thereby train and race accordingly.<br />
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Understandably, many cyclists do not use watt meters and may not be familiar with what wattage they can generate, especially on a watts/kg scale. I created a second chart (bottom) as a variation of the first to show speed produced from these differing outputs and an estimate of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2_max">VO2 max</a> across the spectrum of abilities. These 4 other data fields help illustrate the differences between cycling abilities (or levels).<br />
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I used the <a href="http://bikecalculator.com/veloUS.html">Bike Calculator</a> to predict a maximum sprint speed and a 40 kilometer time trial time result in minutes and also average speed in mph for that distance for each wattage per level. Again, I think speed is an easier measurement to understand than wattage. <br />
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From personal experience, I have found the Bike Calculator to be very reliable (within several seconds) for predicting 40k time trial results when using full aero gear (helmet, wheels, and bike). <i> </i><br />
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<i>Note: For my chart above, I used the following values, bicycle weight: 15.5lbs, tires: tubular, position: aerobar, grade and headwind: 0, distance: 24.85miles (40k), temperature: 75F, elevation: 100ft, and transfer efficiency: 95%. </i><a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/aerodynamics-in-cycling-and-how-to-be.html"><br />
</a><br />
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In order to produce a sprint number that matched my personal experience, I used results from the "bar end" position on the calculator, rather than the "drops" position because the later produced a much too high speed number. I'm sure that this is simply because it takes much much longer than a 5 second maximal burst to reach the maximum cruising speed of that wattage.<br />
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Instead I found that the "bar ends" position matched very well (within a few 10ths of a mph) to my personal experience of doing 200 meter sprints, with a starting speed of around 20mph and sprinting as if 200 meters was the finish line. However, it's noteworthy to mention that the world record for sprinting, the flying 200 meters, is actually 46.7mph (9.572seconds; <b>much</b> faster than the top of my chart's world class level) set by Kevin Sireau from France, set in Moscow, Russia, 30May2009. Still with that said, I would guesstimate his speed would be closer to my chart numbers with the conditions I have previously described.<br />
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The bottom chart also has an estimated VO2 max calculation value for each cycling level. I used the American College of Sports Medicine formula:<br />
<div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">VO2 (L/min) = 0.0108 x power (W) + 0.007 x body mass (kg)</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">I used the wattage produced from the 5 minute maximum for my calculation of VO2 (L/min) and then </div>divided that result by the riders weight in kilograms to produce the result in ml/kg/min, which is a standard comparative measurement of VO2 max.<br />
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There are several ways in which my method for calculating VO2 max can produce error. For example: an unfit cyclists may only be able to ride for 3-4 minutes at their VO2 max and not 5 minutes, whereas fit riders can ride anaerobically above their VO2 max during a 5 minute effort <br />
(most athletes can sustain a power that would elicit 105-110% of their VO2max for this duration). The first would give a falsely low number and the second would give a falsely high number.<br />
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With that said, I still think that this chart has value for guesstimating one's own VO2 max. The only way to get an accurate measurement is in a laboratory setting and measure oxygen consumption during different work loads. <br />
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It is ideal to know your physical abilities and where you stack up against your competitors. And of course it is desirable to have the physical advantage in a competition, but proper strategy and tactics typically (almost always in fact) trump the physical advantage alone. To learn more about <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2011/09/bicycle-racing-tactics-and-strategies.html">bicycle racing tactics and strategies, click here. </a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/aerodynamics-in-cycling-and-how-to-be.html">To learn more about aerodynamics in cycling click here.</a><br />
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</div></div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-75034459926919681202011-09-03T22:26:00.000-07:002012-05-12T09:02:07.101-07:00Bicycle Racing Tactics and Strategies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There's <i><b>not</b></i> a lot of good material out there on tactics for bike racing, so I thought this would be a good a place as any to provide some, plus this format is ideal in that readers (and myself) can comment and add or correct points made here.<br />
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My first introduction to bike racing tactics came from Greg Lemond's Complete Book of Cycling (no longer in print), then later by teammates, reading countless race articles in the cycling magazines, books, watching many hours of race footage on television and over two decades of personal race experience with hundreds of races completed.. Needless to say, I've learned a thing or two and I'm more than happy to share.<br />
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The importance of race tactics can not be understated. Typically race tactics determine race outcomes far more than just physical ability alone. The fantasy of beating your opponent by pure brute strength alone is just that.... a fantasy. One reason for this is that bike racing is organized by ability (categories), and the other is that proper race tactics will typically trump a physically stronger rider with poor tactics, because of nature of bike racing (particularly aerodynamics).<br />
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It is critical to understand the role that aerodynamics play in bike racing in order understand race tactics. For this article I am going to assume that you understand the specifics of aerodynamics and bicycling. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/aerodynamics-in-cycling-and-how-to-be.html">(If you don't, please click this text-link to read my comprehensive article on the subject).</a><br />
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Here's a few definitions that the beginner/novice must know to understand cycling tactics:<br />
*<u>Attack</u>: A swift acceleration designed to separate a rider from the pack<br />
*<u>Breakaway</u>: An individual rider or a group of riders who have created a significant gap between themselves and the main peloton or smaller group of riders<br />
*<u>Bridge:</u> The act of closing the distance to a rider or group of riders when they have created a gap.<br />
*<u>Chase</u>: When the peloton or small group of riders is working to close the distance to a rider or group of riders who are out ahead of the group.<br />
*<u>Counterattack</u>: The act of attacking from within the chase group immediately after the group has caught the rider or riders whom they were chasing down.<br />
*<u>Drafting</u>: a position behind or to the side of a rider that enables another rider to stay out of the wind.<br />
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*<u>Wheel Sucker</u>: Competitor who stays behind other racers in their draft and will not move into a lead position and share the work load in order to gain a competitive advantage.<br />
* <u>Operation Drizzoppl</u>e: Procedure for getting rid of a wheel sucker by collective gaping off the paceline and sprinting back on until the wheel sucker fatigues and falls off the pace, or begins pulling. The word drizzopple playfully comes for a Snoop-Dogg-like blend of the words "dropping" and the beverage "Snapple". It is always nice to serve a wheel sucker a nice cold bottle of drizzopple.<br />
*<u>Pacelining</u>: A practice where a group of cyclists are organized to efficiently take turns riding in the wind and sitting in protected from the wind (drafting)<br />
* <u>Echelon</u>: technique to make maximum use of another rider's slipstream in a crosswind, typically diagonally stacked in a line (variation of pacelining)<br />
*<u>pulling through</u>: to move into a vacated lead position from second in a paceline or pack. <br />
*<u>Lead out</u>: The act of riding hard and fast at the front to provide shelter for a teammate and set him up for a sprint to the finish.<br />
*<u>Blocking</u>: Disrupting the competitors from chasing riders (teammates) up the road. This can be a subtle art. Typically it is done by being physically between the breakaway riders and the chasers and simply going a little slower than the lead riders which allows greater separation between the two. It's subtle because if blocking is done too aggressively (as in riding too slowly), the riders being blocked will simply come around and chase. (It is illegal to purposely impede the forward progress of a competitor, especially by swerving). Another form of blocking is by setting on the lead chasers wheel and not pulling through (wheel sucking). This form of blocking disrupts the pace and helps the breakaway gain distance.<br />
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There are multiple and interactive types of tactics in bike racing, namely psychological and physical, which can be divided into categories of individual and team tactics. Bicycle racing is typically a team sport (some exceptions may include track, mountain, bmx), but can be done as an individual without teammates. <br />
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Bicycle racing, like most sports, is like warfare without the killing. All racing tactics can be discussed in the context of Sun Tzu's masterpiece work, "Art of War". His principles and philosophies can be applied beyond warfare to many areas of life, but here I will apply it to bike racing specifically. <br />
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<b>The principles from Sun Tzu's "Art of War" applied to bicycle racing:</b></div>
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The first principle is "Winning Whole". The idea is to win with your resources and objective intact. This is accomplished by, one, removing your competitor's hope for victory, two, using all of your advantages, three, exploiting your competitor's weaknesses, and four attacking along an unexpected line.<br />
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Applied to bike racing, your<b> <i>resources</i></b> includes items such as your physical and mental being, finances, and even relationships, while your <b><i>objective</i></b> is winning. I like to equate the idea of "winning" in this discussion with the idea of <span style="font-size: large;"><u><i><b>"respect"</b></i></u></span> because it's one of the fundamental measures of what true or complete "winning" is really about. Winning by using any means possible, may be prohibited by the first principle of Sun Tzu. Specifically cheating, which may lead to a victory, but an incomplete or false victory; one that's absent of respect (both from self and others). There is a similar moral code to both warfare, bicycle racing and life in general. <br />
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Below I will go chapter by chapter and point by point how the philosophies and tactics from "The Art of War" may be applied to bicycle racing. <br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">1. Removing your competitor's hope for victory.</span></b> <br />
Examples in bike racing: a.) Gaining a great enough lead that your competitor gives up, such as lapping the field in bike racing. b.) A lesser example is for a break-a-way group to have enough advantage that they are not visible to the chasing group. c.) another example is sitting on a competitors wheel when you have a teammate in a break (you (almost) never chase your own teammate). By sitting on a chasing competitors wheel, you remove some of his/her hope for victory because they know that not only will you not aid them, but you are in a drafting advantage using less energy than them, and you will counterattack them when the opportunity arises (this can have a crushing effect if done repetitively). Hennie Kuiper put it this way, "Racing is licking your opponent's plate clean before starting on your own." <br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">2. Using all of you advantages.</span></b><br />
Examples in bike racing: (Too many possibilities to list all here) a). Great hill climbers attacking up long climbs, b.) great sprinters sitting in for the finish, c.) superior bike handler attacking a technical course, d.)large dominate teams sending riders away on breaks and then blocking for them, and then counterattacking the chase group if they catch their teammates e.) ability to learn the course by preriding, especially when your competitor can't. f.) getting a great starting position on a technical course because of hometown connections.<br />
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<b style="color: red;">3. Exploiting your competitor's weaknesses.</b><br />
Examples in bike racing: a.) if your competitor has no teammates, and you do, use your teammates to block (position themselves between) him/her in and send your riders away, cover your competitor as he/she chases and then counter attack if he/she catches the group. b.) attack if you see that your competitor has fallen off or is struggling to maintain contact with the group. c.) if your competitor is an inferior sprinter, try to make sure the outcome is decided in a sprint finish. Tim Krabbe' (author of "The Rider") put it succinctly, "When you see an enemy lying on the ground, what's your first reaction? To help him to his feet? In road racing, you kick him to death." <br />
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"Know your enemy and know yourself", Sun Tzu warns. If you do so, then you will win a hundred out of a hundred battles, Sun Tzu promises. <br />
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<b style="color: red;">4. Attacking along an unexpected line</b>.<br />
Example in bike racing: Making a run from behind, not off the front in plain sight. Using tactical variations. If you typically win by sprinting, try a breakaway win or the opposite (this can work very well if you are good at both disciplines of sprinting and time trialing)<br />
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Another principle of Sun Tzu is "Way of Life". Engaging in battles you cannot win is a waste of time and resources and not in accord with the Way of Life. Applied to bike racing, one should generally seek out races that one is capable of winning or at least at being competitive in. Going to a race above one's ability (happily races are ability/experience based) and getting spit out the back is a waste of one's time and resources. Getting beat up is not really character building. Do not let pride overrun good judgement. <br />
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To win whole, you must find the means to keep you and your teammates morale high while you destroy your competitors morale or make it easy for them to quit. In bike racing this is done by competing in races you can do well in and doing well; winning. As for making it easier for your competitor to give up, sugar goes much further than vinegar. Meaning that being courteous and respectful to your competitor takes some of the steam out of their sails; reduces their will to fight. Remember, in bike racing we tend to race the same people repetitively over time. Nothing motivates a person more than the chance to defeat an arrogant jerk. In bike racing it is far easier to ruin another racer's chance for winning than it is to help someone win. It's far easier to sacrifice one's chances for winning or placing well by pulling the peloton up to an unliked rider who's in a break-a-way and ruin their chances for a victory than it is to slip away from the peloton for your own or teammates victory. Again do not let pride overrun good judgement, and don't be a jerk. <br />
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Sun Tzu says to defeat your opponent quickly so that won't become fatigued and lose your strength.<br />
In bike racing the best application of this tactic is in the development of breakaways. The early efforts of a breakaway should be very near 100% effort so as to either lap the field or at least get out of sight.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Chapter 3, "Attack by Stratagem".</span></b><br />
This is the art of winning without giving the appearance of trying or winning with the least effort required to do so. This is done by drafting when possible and racing technically correct, such as not pulling competitors up hills or into headwinds, remaining hydrated and fueled, and timing effort correctly, etc. In bike racing, timing is everything! Starting a sprint too soon will turn into a lead-out and victory for a competitor. On the other hand, starting a sprint too late will give a good view of the winner. <br />
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Deception can be a major part of strategy, such as appearing strong when, in fact, you're weak, or appearing weak when you are strong. In fact deception forms the basis for all warfare. This premise from Sun Tzu applied to bike racing would be as such: Absolutely never tell your competitor that that your legs are starting to cramp up, or that you are dying (when this is the case). Instead present a good poker face and stretch and hydrate at the end of group out of site. Conversely when you feel strong do not show it by taking long hard pulls. Do the opposite, take short pulls, and feign fatigue (hang-dog facial expression, shaking out your quads, head low, verbally reporting fatigue, etc).<br />
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Keep in mind if you lie to your competitor that you are unable to take your turn to pull and then later attack, they will of course never believe you again (unless you later convince them that you recovered) and they will have a good reason to spoil your future races if possible. Deceit should be used sparely and convincingly. A bluff should generally never be revealed if possible.<br />
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<b style="color: red;">Chapter 5, Energy (or "Directing")</b><br />
Sun Tzu's book focuses on the use of creativity and timing in building an army's momentum. This is equally true for bicycle racing. Pacing oneself and using the proper timing of one's energy leads to success. For example it is critical to close gaps quickly in order to stay in the energy saving draft of the group, bridge up to critical breakaways, and time one's efforts in the closing kilometers and final sprint finish. (this generally requires experience). A poorly calculated effort can result in "blowing up" and having to dramatically reduce your work load just to complete the distance. Timing one's effort is extremely valuable in advancing one's position within the field of other riders. It is best to advance in bursts, typically when the pack is starting to bunch up, as opposed to being stretched out single file. <br />
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Creativity often comes into play with bike racing, as being able to look for new ways to solve a problem that kills momentum. For example if hills are an Achilles heel for you, <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2012/04/high-intensity-interval-training.html">try altering your training</a>, riding position in the pack, reviewing and preparing for a specific course. Short punchy hills may only require maintaining one's speed to carry over the top, whereas long hills may require the strategy of starting near the front (drafting going into hills should not be ignored), and pacing oneself even if drifting backwards in pack position occurs. Try <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/10/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html">visualization.</a> It is a very valuable and creative tool for improving performance.<br />
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<b style="color: red;">Chapter 6, Weak Points and the Strong (or "Illusion and Reality").</b><br />
"Strike the weak and avoid the strong" , wisely advices Sun Tzu. In bike racing being the first to attack may put you in the stronger position because you lead the way according to how you have chosen. Sometimes in bike racing it is better to dish out the punishment rather than to be on the receiving end. Specifically being in the front of a race that has a technical course with lots of turns. The lead riders are able to choose their lines and generally can go through them cleanly without breaking (slowing), whereas riders in the back tend to bunch up and break into the corners and then have to sprint maximally out of the corners in order to keep up (this is progressively fatiguing) , like a giant accordion. This effect can lead to gaps and riders getting dropped from the group. Other times it is best to not be the first to attack. Especially if your competitor is equally your match or your superior. The advantage goes to the drafting rider. So if the course is not technical, and the finish line is not near, then it is best to feign weakness or just simply try to exhibit more patience than your competitor. Try to out wait them to make the first move, latch onto their wheel and once they show weakness from their effort (letting off) counter attack their move with full effort. If they are able to ride into your draft, then your counter move will typically be a failure unless their first effort was too long. It's best to place your move with a cross wind or a section that plays to your advantages, such as being a better technical bike handler in a technical section. <br />
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As a rule, it is typically best <i><b>not</b></i> to attack early in a race because everyone is generally still strong. It's best to get into breakaways and attack near the end of the race when your competitors are at their weakest. Remember to not start your plate until you have first licked your competitors clean!<br />
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<span style="color: lime;"></span> <br />
Riders who will not "pull through" in a breakaway paceline are called wheel suckers. These racers often are sprinters and they are conserving their energy at the expense of their breakaway mates and greatly increasing their chances for victory by using their advantage of sprinting abilities.<br />
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The most ideal method for dealing with a rider who refuses to take a turn pulling is for everyone in the break to take turns drifting off the paceline with the "wheel sucker" on their wheel and then sprinting hard back onto the group If everyone does this repetitively, this will eventually cause the "wheel sucker" to fatigue and not be able to claw their way back onto the group (also called Operation Drizzopple) <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZgIs91ggFGM/TmLPiOEv8sI/AAAAAAAAAeo/f4erOV712TQ/s1600/echelon+yellow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="483" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZgIs91ggFGM/TmLPiOEv8sI/AAAAAAAAAeo/f4erOV712TQ/s640/echelon+yellow.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Chapters 10 and 11, The Nine Situations and Terrain (also known as "Situational Positioning")</b></div>
Use the best position and tactics in relation to the environment and to your opponent. One of the best tactics in bike racing is to "attack" with a team into a crosswind as pictured above.<br />
Riders 1 through 4 represent a team that have created an echelon, and riders A and B would be competitors for this illustration. Riders 1, A and B are essentially all exposed to wind and are riding maximally. Riders 2, 3 and 4 are in the draft and are using considerably less energy (30-40% less). Rider 4 is the gate keeper. His job is stay as far right as possible so that rider A can't get any draft behind him while communicating to rider 3 to adjust left or right accordingly for his draft (helpful because the cross-drafting rider <i>may</i> not be possible to see). 3 tells 2 the adjust as well, who in turn, communicates the same to rider 1. All riders "hold their line", meaning ride relatively fixed lines with the road (no swerving). After a short period of time (30-60 seconds), riders 1, 2, and 3 take turns in the lead position by rotating in a counter-clockwise position. Rider 4, the gate keeper, holds his position to prevent non-teammates from entering the draft. <br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0195014766&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br />
Gate keeper's are not always necessary for echelons to work, but it makes it easier for rider 1 to assume rider 3's position, otherwise there can be some difficultly with rider A, who will be fighting for a drafting position.<br />
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Tactically, rider 4 is also in a good position to block for his teammates by slowly drifting off. Or he could drift off and sprint back on to see if they can create a separation.<br />
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Another good tactic is to attack before a technical turn. It's even better when you have a teammate subtly block in response. The confusion of the peloton in the turn will give you much needed time to establish a break off the front. <br />
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<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1582342903&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>Additionally, breakaway groups have a slightly better chance of success in wet conditions (the peloton tends to not draft as effectively because of water spray and navigates corners slower). And breakaways and solo riders have slightly better chances of success with cross-winds and tailwind conditions (both reduce the effects for drafting with larger numbers, as opposed to sections with headwinds and downhills because a large group maintain a higher speed by rotation of fresh riders. <br />
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Breakaway groups with all the major teams represented have a much better chance of success (compared to riders from just one team or a weaker team), and especially so if the team leaders are present in these breakaways. <b>These are breakaways that you should try to be in.</b> Not only will their teammates not chase, but in many cases they will actively block for them. <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1931382301&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>To learn more about Sun Tzu and The Art of War applied to sport click <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Apply-the-Art-of-War-in-Sports">here</a>. Or better yet, buy the book and read it for yourself. There are more principles that can be applied to both bike racing and your life in general.</div>
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To learn other helpful cycling and racing tips <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/p/tips-and-coaching.html">see my page above</a> for topics such as what and when to eat for competitive cycling, psychology for competitive cycling, how to be faster with no additional effort, how to effectively high speed corner on a racing bike, and more. </div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-77932748788542341992011-07-30T11:39:00.000-07:002011-11-12T09:19:00.749-08:00Bicycle Trainers are good for you.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="316" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_jm9p21="305">A reader recently suggested that I write an article about bike trainers. I had never thought about this topic for a blogpost before, but I think it's a great one for several reasons.</div><div closure_uid_jm9p21="305"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1307032085"></a> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1307032085"><img border="0" height="242px" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PxflefMIsTk/TjJPpWHrOgI/AAAAAAAAAec/ChkVUKIwn4w/s320/CycleOps.jpg" t$="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" closure_uid_hvmfdl="584" style="text-align: center;"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="585"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="773"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/CycleOps-Fluid-Indoor-Bicycle-Trainer/dp/B000BT7HWY?ie=UTF8&tag=myworldfromab-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The trainer I use.</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1px" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=myworldfromab-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000BT7HWY" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1px" /></div></div></td></tr>
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<div closure_uid_hvmfdl="277"><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="281">First, I feel that new riders need to know the value of having a trainer. Many of the "old timers" in my cycling community really hate trainers and speak negatively against them (for reasons that I will address). Some of them wrongly suggest that riding a trainer isn't helpful for conditioning. As they are set in their ways, I'm afraid it's too late for them, but perhaps I can put some new riders on the right track with some good information. </div></div><br />
<div closure_uid_jm9p21="353"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="283"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="314"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="739">Actually bike trainers are a great training tool for a serious cyclist. It allows a cyclist to pedal their bike any time of day or night, for as little or as long as they would like and avoid any kind of negative weather condition such as extreme heat, cold, wind, snow, etc. Plus the pedal time is 100% car free, there are no worries of traffic, stop lights, road hazards, dogs, etc, that can alter or halt a workout. It simply eliminates all geological and environmental conditions that can interfere with a planed workout. </div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="314"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="314"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="740"><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="283"><div closure_uid_a88set="283"><div closure_uid_lftjal="288">And the workout can be extremely controlled concerning effort. Trainer workouts are ideal for specifically timed interval training at specific efforts. Plus they can be used for warming up for races or used to maintain fitness while recovering from an injury that would ordinarily prevent road riding, and stretching legs out after traveling. It's also an ideal way to burn more calories and reduce body fat (especially upon waking before eating). Most importantly it allows a rider to use a stationary <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/lemonds-sizing-chart.html">bicycle that is properly fitted</a> specifically to the rider (far superior to a gym-cycle).</div></div><div closure_uid_a88set="283"><br />
</div></div></div></div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="283"><img alt="" border="0" height="1px" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=myworldfromab-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000BT7HWY" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1px" /></div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="469"></div><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="304" closure_uid_a88set="285" closure_uid_hvmfdl="469"><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="319"><div closure_uid_a88set="303"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: lime;"><b>Before I lose my readers, let me share 3 extremely important facts/tips about bicycle trainers:</b></span> </span></div></div><div closure_uid_a88set="284"><br />
</div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="469"><div closure_uid_a88set="304"><div closure_uid_lftjal="290">1. You must protect your bike from sweat! Specifically the stem and headset area. Human sweat is <i>extremely</i> corrosive to metal parts and will destroy your bearings and such over time. This can easily be prevented by covering these parts with a dry cloth (change as necessary). Blam! I just saved you a few hundred bucks! (depending on your equipment). You're welcome!</div></div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="469"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="469"><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="312"><div closure_uid_wr83hu="281">2. Riding a trainer is harder than riding a bike on the road. Literally. The primary reason is that you hardly ever coast (not pedal for a period of time) on a trainer, but you often do when road riding (5-20% of the time depending) This means that your muscles do more work, and as a result have less time to recover. This can be hard on knees (tendons typically), if they aren't adapted properly over time and/or allowed to periodically rest and be stretched during a workout. A secondary reason is inertia. This topic can become rather long winded. In short, a trainer punishes a rider with a poor pedal stroke compared to a poor pedal stroke on the road. (It's related to the dead-spots of a pedal stroke and drive-train drag. I'll discuss it in more detail later along with other considerations).</div></div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="469"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="469">3. You need a fan. A very good fan. Riding a trainer releases a lot of energy in the form of heat. Much of that is from your body captured in sweat. Do yourself a favor and run a fan or two on you as you ride. You'll be MUCH more comfortable and ride longer as well. </div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="481"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="481">"So why do old timers hate riding the trainer", you ask? Well, the primary reason that they report hating riding the trainer is boredom. And that's legit. Riding the open road is much more ideal typically. Nothing can replace the joy of real biking. I would never suggest trading it for trainer riding just for the sake of it. </div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="481"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="481"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="771">I've already covered reasons for choosing a trainer ride over outdoor riding. Now, let me discuss how to make it enjoyable or at least bearable: First prepare your trainer workout. Set up the fan, get some towels to capture sweat, set up a side table for storing items in easy reach, such as cell phone, music player, tv/stereo remote, bottled icewater, etc. Watching cycling related videos or upbeat shows can help pass time (for non-intense riding) Gadgets such as powermeters and or heart rate monitors are ideal. They not only provide something to focus on, they help quantify one's efforts, which when applied correctly to training can help a cyclist improve their physical conditioning. </div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="771"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="771">Keep it short or break it up. An hour is pretty long on a trainer, but that is an fairly ideal workout period (10 minutes still beats zero though) . I don't recommend longer unless suffering is one of your goals. Periodically stop and stretch your muscles and ligaments. Also ride the trainer standing and or change positions frequently. This lets blood flow back into your nether regions and makes you more comfortable. Add intervals to your workout (there are too many combination/variations for this post). <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/10/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html">Mentally rehearse</a> bike races or just meditate about different life issues. The trainer is a great place to contemplate life issues, especially one's that trigger you autonomic nervous system.<br />
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As a general rule, intensity of an exercise is more valuable than duration alone (this is a future topic to be discussed, a balance is required). For a specific set of intensity exercises on the stationary bike trainer see Selene Yeager's article, "<a href="http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/training-fitness/how-ride-inside-indoor-trainer-workouts-cyclists?page=0,0&cm_mmc=Facebook-_-Bicycling-_-Content-Training-_-IndoorTrainer101">How to Ride Inside: Indoor Trainer Workouts for Cyclists</a>".</div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="481"><br />
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</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="659"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="772"><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="326"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B001S0RU86&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Without a doubt, the greatest tool for making a stationary trainer ride more enjoyable is music. However, one problem with trainers and music is being able to hear it. Many trainers become progressively louder. I've used some that sounded like a jet was taking off (or at least a mower). The solution is to use noise isolating earbuds. I have used many including the top of the line by both <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bose-327279-0020-Bose%C2%AE-audio-headphones/dp/B003XU6H8I?ie=UTF8&tag=myworldfromab-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Bose</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1px" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=myworldfromab-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003XU6H8I" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1px" /> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shure-SE115-K-Isolating-Earphones-Microspeaker/dp/B001TDMVO0?ie=UTF8&tag=myworldfromab-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Shure</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1px" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=myworldfromab-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001TDMVO0" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1px" /> (both are good but pricey) and I can tell you that the absolute best sounding earbud for it's price is the Koss KE29S Steel Isolating Earbuds, who's slogan is, "Hearing is Believing" and they got that right. They are freakin' awesome! </div><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="326"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="326">Unfortunately, I have destroyed every earphone set I've ever owned. Riding on a trainer is one of the ways, particularly due to sweat. Happily, the Koss earbuds are nearly waterproof. I've even machine washed and dried a pair that was accidentally left in a jersey pocket and they still worked! Do yourself a favor and buy one. I'll help you out...... just click the Amazon ad and they'll send it you to. You're welcome!</div></div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="659"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="659"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="774"><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="327"><div closure_uid_a88set="282">One reason that "old timers" list hating trainers is that they don't provide a real road feel. This is true and is mainly due the laws of physics. This is largely because the trainer is more difficult than the road due to inertia differences. Specifically, the trainer produces a more constant drag on the wheel/chain as the cranks rotate. Whereas a bicycle on the road will continue to move forward when power is removed, whereas on a trainer the wheel will come to a stop rather quickly (the trainer/wheel has less inertia). This becomes a big deal if a rider has a poor/inefficient pedal stroke. Specifically poor muscle firing (or contracting) during the revolution of the crank. The top and the bottom of the pedal stroke is the point of particular concern. An ideal pedal stroke should have a small amount of push over the top and pull at the bottom. Just the right amount, not too much, and should feel natural. Lemond describes the bottom stroke as wiping your feet off on a carpet. I would describe the top stroke as a floating slide. Please do not over exaggerate either, as doing so will become inefficient, the pedal stroke should feel natural. Dr. James Martin has done research showing that pulling up during a pedal stroke is not efficient (oxygen use for watts generated) for cycling. An exception would be sprinting, in which case you should use every muscle fiber in a properly timed fashion all the way to your facial expression. </div></div></div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="659"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="659"><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="329">I should probably mention the subject of cadences (crank rotations per minute) regarding trainers. It has been shown that lower cadences are more efficient (oxygen used per watt generated) specifically 60rpm is superior to 100rpm (this is going to upset the old timers). But I am going to throw the old timers a bone. Higher rpms such as 90 are much easier on the knees. Sprinting cadences are best in the 120rpm range. I would suggest mixing up rpms as you ride to keep things from getting boring. Also periodically stop and stretch your muscles and ligaments. <a closure_uid_hvmfdl="722" href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/08/dude-your-crank-lengths-fine-you-just.html"> (You can read more about proper crank length and cadences here)</a></div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="659"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="659"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="659"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="729"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="730"><div closure_uid_7jeqy3="330"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000BT7HWY&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>I embedded the below video for a couple of reasons. One it is informative about several good trainers from the industry leader in trainers, and the other is that it is narrated by <a href="http://www.visionquestcoaching.com/robbie.php">Robbie "The Rocket" Ventura</a>. I've actually raced him a few times . Plus the trainer I purchased came with a dvd video of Robbie racing at Downers Grove. It was meaningful to me because I recognized several riders in the video (Joe Hill namely). The video was clearly pre GoPro era because Robbie was wearing a backpack just to film the race. Pretty funny from today's perspective. </div></div></div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="729"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="729"><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="731">Anyway, these are great trainers and I highly recommend the CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer. It's an extremely good trainer and is the quietest one that I am personally aware of. </div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="731"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div closure_uid_p4096i="283"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="394" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1Lc47uPYsgk" width="640"></iframe></div><div closure_uid_p4096i="283"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_p4096i="283"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_hvmfdl="732"><div closure_uid_rl1ndc="295"><div closure_uid_p4096i="282"><span closure_uid_7jeqy3="331" closure_uid_hvmfdl="733" style="font-size: small;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B004L9D3RI&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Below is another video that Robbie Ventura is in (sorry CycleOps), discussing the Lemond Revolution Trainer:<br />
I find the design of this trainer to be nearly ideal. The rear wheel is removed in order to connect the bike directly to the trainer. This is ideal because this method doesn't wear out tires like traditional trainers do and will not produce any slippage from jump starts like some trainers can. Additionally it eliminates the potential damage that can happen with certain skewers (or just poor clamping) with traditional designs. My only hesitation on giving it a perfect rating is that it is not quiet when in use. In fact it becomes pretty loud during higher efforts. Still it's among the best. </span></div></div><div closure_uid_rl1ndc="295"><br />
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</div></div></div><div closure_uid_rl1ndc="294"><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="394" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bbbcel8TL8M" width="640"></iframe></div><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283">Of course the "old timers" probably wouldn't forgive me if I didn't mention rollers. Instead of describing them in great detail you can watch the below embedded video that shows some exceptional riding on rollers. </div><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283">Riding rollers is pretty cool if you have never done it before. The primary advantages of rollers are that they are not so boring. It is necessary to pay attention so that you don't fall off, and they replicate a more realistic road feel because of the inertia of the wheels. </div><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283"><div closure_uid_dnkyk6="282">The down side is that is very difficult to stand and pedal (which is important in my opinion) and very difficult to do a good sprint effort. And of course you can fall off and go boom (sweat can make the rollers slick).</div></div><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283"><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="295"><div closure_uid_owzntn="282">I can both ride rollers no handed and one legged (probably not combined). I've also ridden rollers on a ship that was rolling (best to line the trainer forward/aft against the ship's rolls), and on a flat bed trailer pulled about in a parade with nothing to grab ahold of (I had to have help starting and stopping). </div></div></div><div closure_uid_k6b9dk="283"> </div></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MiCdm5FsJpg?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_k6b9dk="294"><div closure_uid_lftjal="395">If for some reason (superflurous use of parenthesis) you want to purchase rollers, here you go: <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000BT5780&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div></div></div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-38525509151269693192011-05-25T14:02:00.000-07:002011-05-25T14:26:39.333-07:00Time lapse from bicycle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="394" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/999AtIkzEdE?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<br />
I'm just finally using one of the cool features on my GoProCamera HD Hero. Namely the time lapse photography mode of the camera.<br />
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I find it fun to experiment with. It's as if I have a new camera again.<br />
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I think this format would be cool to quickly showcase an area or capture some interesting scenes such as a sunset, rapid weather scenarios, low tide/high tide, etc.<br />
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I look forward to experimenting. <br />
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The above video was shot with the settings of photo ever 2 second mode and mounted to the handlebars of my mountain bike. I rendered the video at 7 frames per second.<br />
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I rode at a fairly slow pace of maybe 5-7 mph along the MKT trail in Columbia Missouri and traveled through campus and ended in front of a water display and tiger sculpture at the Mel Carnahan Quadrangle.<br />
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Below is a video produced by some students from the University of Missouri that briefly discusses some of the history of many of the buildings that I passed by in my time lapse video. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="394" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6NOwh5EwNI4?rel=0" width="640">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;d&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe><br />
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The below video isn't time lapse, but it was made by me.<br />
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I must say, that I find the campus to be beautiful. <br />
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The campus has seen tremendous improvements over the last decade. Averaging about 100 million dollars per year in improvements, or 1 billion dollars total. Not too shabby.<br />
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Of course all of these improvements where done after I graduated :-( <br />
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The forward aft camera perspective gives a unique mobile view of parts of the campus.<br />
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The music is Beethoven (btw). <br />
Symphony # 7 in A major, OP 92 II. Allegato , Artist: Philharmonic Cassanova<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="394" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TJlGm1EvAs8?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-45780687882370082512011-02-20T10:08:00.000-08:002012-02-04T13:33:08.278-08:00This American Bicycle Race<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This post is all about "classic American bicycle racing". Ladies and gentlemen, My World From a Bicycle presents for your viewing pleasure, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterium">"the criterium"</a>.<br />
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This type of bicycle racing is by far the most common form of licensed/sanctioned road bicycle racing here in the States. It's the easiest venue for race promoters to produce/organize. Criteriums are born from the necessity of having to operate many different categories of races (juniors (under 18), women, men, ranked categories (professional thru level 5 amateur), and masters (typically 30, 40, 50, year + ), and obtaining permits for race operation and street closure, combined with safety concerns of securing the course from cars entering, and placing crowd barriers and covering fixed objects (such as fire hydrants and electric poles) with straw bails etc. All racers are licensed and insured through the governing body, <a href="http://www.usacycling.org/">USA Cycling</a>. The rules of the sport can be read <a href="http://www.usacycling.org/forms/USAC_rulebook.pdf">here</a>.<br />
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I would like to point out that the below series of videos were actually made possible from a sum mountain of technology. Beginning with digital technology of computers, internet, YouTube, Blogger, HD Hero cameras, SRM wireless watt meters, several computer software programs, carbon fiber, etc. And get this........ it's free to view, pause, rewind, jump around and skip, share with others (please do), comment on, or........... *gasp* ignore.<br />
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It's my thinking that this race is particularly worth viewing (in part or whole) because of several reasons including: 1. The forward and aft camera perspective gives a more complete view and understanding of the race activity. 2. The embedded speed, wattage, and cadence data. This information really shows how much a criterium is a "gas-on/gas-off" style of racing. (for the non-informed, this is fast and hard racing), 3. The level of competition is very high. In fact, unusually so. This particular race is typically a regional amateur/professional level race, but on this day it was very much a national level race. In fact, this race had at least 4 current National Champions including <a href="http://parklandcyclists.com/interview-with-national-criterium-champion-david-henderson/">David Henderson</a>, Jonathan Jacobs, <a href="http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Eric+Young">Eric Young</a> and <a href="http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=5308">Daniel Holloway</a> (current USA Professional Criterium Champion - he's wearing the yellow leaders jersey), and other former National Champions and at least one former World Champion (<a href="http://stevetilford.com/">Steve Tilford</a>). 4. This race is viewable in it's entirety, and to my knowledge, this is the first and only place that this has ever been done (in this viewer friendly format) <br />
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This race took place on <b>Saturday Sept 4th, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri</b> and was the 2nd race of a 4 day race series.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_978190102" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ejaEDdlZ5mU/TWFTLajPywI/AAAAAAAAAa0/bFs9NueWwG8/s640/race+website.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gatewaycup.com/">click here to link to the race site</a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4fBj7-CIOC8/TWKJ3fidqbI/AAAAAAAAAa8/x4zZxvQOMFQ/s1600/Race+flyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4fBj7-CIOC8/TWKJ3fidqbI/AAAAAAAAAa8/x4zZxvQOMFQ/s1600/Race+flyer.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.usacycling.org/results/?year=2010&id=2873&info_id=29440">Race results can be found here. </a><br />
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I would like to point out that I have a music player device that you may activate at your liking (located on the right column, 2nd item from the top). The embedded video's audio can be muted or the volume can be controlled with the tool bar settings under the video. Additionally the video can be "full sized" by clicking on the expanding arrows on the toolbar and the video quality level can be controlled as well.. <br />
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<span style="color: lime;">This is a lot of video time (the entire race is about 90 minutes) and I know most people won't have time to view the entire series, so I plan on writing a summation of the key points under each clip with a time point, so that viewers can skip to or choose which section might interest them.</span><br />
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The above video (first of 12 part series) opens with all of the racers at the line and the announcer calling up the top race leaders of the omnium series to the line, including 4th place <a href="https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?compid=141654">Chad Cagle</a> from team Park Place Dealerships, 3rd place <a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/international-cycling-classic-ne/racine-criterium/results">Brad Huff</a> from team Jelly Belly (professional cyclist), 2nd place <a href="http://www.velobios.com/riders.kenda2010.bush.htm">Rob Bush</a> from team Kenda Pro Cycling Team, and onmium race leader <a href="http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/08/news/daniel-holloway-theresa-cliff-ryan-win-u-s-criterium-titles_134601">Daniel Holloway</a> from Bissell Pro Cycling.<br />
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1:10 officials race instruction, 2:20 message from City Alderman Donna Barringer and introductions to <a href="http://www.kcstarlight.com/common/cms/documents/Press%20Room/Les%20Miserables/Les%20Miserables%20-%20Cast%20Bios.pdf">Jimmy Mcevoy</a> @ 4:10 who sings the National Anthem (well done btw). The race starts at the 6:00 minute mark. <br />
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(above video 2nd of 12 part series) I quickly advance around the pack @1:12 and bridge up to 3 riders @1:43. Daniel Holloway (in yellow leader's jersey) can be briefly seen returning to the field @2:25 (? possibly returning to the field after taking a flyer for a prime?)<br />
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I briefly take the race lead @2:41. Jonathan Jacobs pulls by me (too fast in fact) @3:30 and the peloton recaptures me @4:09.<br />
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This clip above (3rd part of 12 part series) opens with me advancing to the front of the chasing peloton (there are 6 riders off the front and out of camera view. This is noteworthy because the previous video footage doesn't show that riders have gone off the front of the field because of me riding in heavy cycling traffic. I am aware of a break-away because I can not see the lead pace motorcycle). I make a full pass @0:52. Daniel Holloway blows past me @ 1:01 (note how fast he blows past me. I'm at full throttle). I claw my way back onto his wheel @ 1:40 and I slide off his wheel to draft off the 3 riders who were drafting off of me (James Stemper #111 Kenda Pro Cycling, Jonathan Jacobs #61 Nuvo Cultural Trail, and Eric Young #131 Nuvo Cultural Trail.<br />
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I am completely red-lined (suffering hard) and I try to recover by skipping a few pulls. My next pull is @3:16. My chase group of four catch the lead break-away of 6 riders @ 4:09 Colton Barrett #120 Texas Roadhouse, Nicolas Coil #22 Tradewind Energy, James Stemper #111 Kenda Pro Cycling, Alex Wiesler #119 ISCorp Cycling Team, Robert White #106 Kenda Pro Cycling, and Josh Ginningham #122 of ISCorp Cycling Team. <br />
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From 7:40 to 8:00 is a good view of the newly formed winning break-away group. Note that we are riding single file and absolutely flying. This is the most ideal way for a group of this size to motor. <br />
The effects of aerodynamics is HUGE in road racing, time trials, criteriums, and even sprinting. Drafting can reduce oxygen costs by 25 to 40 percent. Here's a great illustration of the effects of aerodynamics and drafting: a world class track team time trial riders can produce the following average wattages in a pace-line. First rider will produce around 607 watts, 2nd rider 430 watts, 3rd rider 389 watts, and 4th rider 389 watts. Notice that there is a decreasing advantage drafting in 3rd position over 2nd, but no further advantage after 3rd position. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/aerodynamics-in-cycling-and-how-to-be.html">(See my post on aerodynamics for more information on the subject.)</a><br />
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The most interesting occurrence in the above clip (number 4 of 12) is @1:47, when James Stemper (#111) of Kenda Professional Cycling, sees me falling back, out of the rotation so that I can skip my turn pulling (I'm suffering pretty badly at this point from earlier efforts and I'm trying to recover a bit. I'm not certain that I am going to be able to hang.)<br />
<br />
Mr. Stemper informs me that if I try to just sit on and not take my turn pulling, he is going to ride me off the back.<br />
<br />
Perhaps because he knows that I'm filming this (I don't know), he is extremely polite about how he tells me this and I acknowledge him accordingly, and we do a sort of low "five hand" in a sporting gesture of acknowledgment. Based on his smile, I think he finds the whole thing amusing.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;">Note: The most ideal method for dealing with a rider who refuses to take a turn pulling is for everyone in the break to take turns drifting off the paceline with the "wheel sucker" on their wheel and then sprinting hard, back onto the group. If everyone does this repetitively, this will eventually cause the "wheel sucker" to fatigue and not be able to claw their way back onto the group.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;">I don't believe there is yet an official name for this procedure, so for the sake of discussion, hence forward, let's all agree to call this activity of getting rid of a wheel sucker, <a href="http://onlineslangdictionary.com/definition+of/operation+drizzopple"><span style="color: red;">Operation Drizzopple</span>!</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;">So if you hear someone say, <a href="http://onlineslangdictionary.com/definition+of/operation+drizzopple"><span style="color: red;">commence operation drizzopple</span></a> on rider so-and-so, you will know exactly what to do. </span> <br />
<br />
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In the above video (number 5 of 12) I skip a couple pulls, still trying to recover and begin pulling again (too hard from the looks of it).<br />
<br />
Meanwhile @2:26 Holloway is trying to commence operation drizzopple on the Kenda rider James Stemper. In my reviews I was surprised to see how many times these guys were bumping heads. Also I now see the irony of Stemper warning me not to wheel suck. <br />
<br />
@ 1:20 Texas Roadhouse rider, Colton Barrett gives a friendly hello wave. <br />
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Above video (number 6 of 12) is fairly routine. Most notable items are at 3:10 when Holloway jumps hard around Nicolas Coil who allowed a gap in front of him in the rotation (probably due to fatigue). Also the rider James Stemper is not only just sitting on, but also screwing up the paceline when riders are trying to get on the back of the train after taking a pull. This is evident at the end of this clip and running into the next below. <br />
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There is some cool moto/cameraman action @ 6:26 (above video, number 7 of 12).<br />
<br />
Some riders get gaped off @ minute 7:32 by one rider slipping off the pace and causing a gap. Two of which are Nicolas Coil and Colton Barrett; they don't make it back onto the lead group.<br />
<br />
James Stemper of Kenda Pro Cycling starts pulling. <br />
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Everybody is pulling hard. Very hard, and fast. <br />
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(Above video is number 9 of 12). @6:16 I sprint for and win a prime. I didn't plan on going for it, but I was in the lead position coming out of the final corner because of the natural order of the rotation. I went as hard as I could go and won the prime prize. I thought it was either $100 or $200, but it turned out to be a free night in a studio suite at The Residence Inn, Marriot, in St. Louis (I haven't used it and most likely never will).<br />
<br />
Even though I was dying from the prime effort, I kept my speed up so that they wouldn't surge past me and drop me.<br />
<br />
Incidentally, Josh Ginningham (#122) of ISCorp Cycling Team was dropped from the surge during the prime.<br />
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(Above video is number 10 of 12). I skip a couple rotations in this clip because I am way over threshold and I was feeling like I was about to die.<br />
<br />
The rotation is quite smooth otherwise and of the group there are two teams with team-mates, Kenda Pro Cycling and Nuvo Cultural Trial. They almost always stay together in the rotation order, which is advisable. If an attack or opportunity to attack occurs, they can work together. <br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
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Above is the last video of this series; also the last 5 minutes and 51 seconds of the race for me. By the completion of this race we've covered 70 kilometers or 43.496 miles in 1 hour and 25 minutes and 35 seconds, averaging 46.884 kph or 29.1 mph. I averaged 317.5 watts. With out a doubt my personal best effort in my entire bike racing experience. I;m super glad that I was able to record this race as I have.<br />
<br />
@ minute 2:15 of this video with 1.75 laps to go Jonathan Jacob takes a monster pull with me on his wheel and the rest of the remaining members of the break-away in tow. The riders include myself, followed by Daniel Holloway (Bissell Pro Cycling), Eric Young (Nuvo Cultural Trial), James Stemper (Kenda Pro Cycling), Alex Wieseler (ISCorp Cycling Team), and Robert White (Kenda Pro Cycling)<br />
<br />
@ 2:46 I pull out of J.J's draft because of his monster pull. I didn't want to have to immediately "pull through" with the finish being so soon (especially after his surge). I wanted to get back in the draft. As a result, this created a gap that nobody closed and J.J. was gone for the win.<br />
<br />
Keep in mind that J.J. had a team-mate, Eric Young, in the break and he's an outstanding sprinter. Eric certainly wouldn't pursue his own team-mate I wouldn't pursue for the previous reasons mentioned and additionally J.J. is personal friend. Other than me winning, I would choose him to win every time (and Brad Huff...... he's super cool). Daniel Holloway certainly didn't want to give chase and pull Eric and the others with him, only to be beaten in the final sprint. He probably thought as I, that J.J. wouldn't hold us off for the finish (which of course he did). <br />
<br />
@ 3:25 Holloway makes his bid in response to the Kenda Pro Cycling rider James Stemper's attack (just before the 1st turn). We quickly make the catch and I produce a classic textbook counter attack @ 4:18 by launching a full effort through the inside of the 2nd corner of the course.<br />
<br />
I cross the finish line @ 5:31 with riders quickly closing my gap, but not in time for the finish line. <br />
<br />
<br />
To learn more about the camera that I use to film from my bicycle <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">click here</a>.<br />
<br />
To learn more about the bike telemetry that I use <a href="http://www.biketelemetry.com/cms/node/1">click here. </a></div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-91151736810078127892011-01-29T12:04:00.000-08:002011-02-20T08:34:24.021-08:00Zipp 1080 Front Wheel Tubular<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0019VKQRG&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURo4eOUoRI/AAAAAAAAAaI/0uX7SK77-CI/s1600/photo-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURo4eOUoRI/AAAAAAAAAaI/0uX7SK77-CI/s640/photo-1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURo_gc50vI/AAAAAAAAAaM/cDgRfA8K7-8/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURo_gc50vI/AAAAAAAAAaM/cDgRfA8K7-8/s640/photo.JPG" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURpTtlP77I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/ngDk3Sr-OLc/s1600/photo-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURpTtlP77I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/ngDk3Sr-OLc/s640/photo-2.JPG" width="478" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURoPyPzzlI/AAAAAAAAAaE/XuiGFneqO9A/s1600/1080+vs+hed3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURoPyPzzlI/AAAAAAAAAaE/XuiGFneqO9A/s640/1080+vs+hed3.jpg" width="544" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hedcycling.com/aerodynamics.asp">Comparing the H3 to the Zipp 1080</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Update: January 31, 2011: I was researching the Zipp 1080 tubular front wheel on Google so I could answer an Ebay buyer's question and surprisingly I found this very post to be ranked pretty high in the search results. So as a result I have decided to take this opportunity to change this post's primary purpose of being solely as supplemental to selling this wheel on Ebay, to a site that informs my readers about this amazing wheel (Apparently I am biased, but at the same time I try very hard not to make crap up).<br />
<br />
To read about the details/specifications of this wheel <a href="http://www.zipp.com/wheels/1080-tubular">see Zipp's website here.</a><br />
<br />
To learn even more about the history of this wheel and it's manufacturer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipp">see wikipedia's information here.</a> <br />
<br />
Now here's my experience with this wheel. It is a fast wheel period. Under certain conditions it is the fastest front wheel ever produced (no single wheel is the fastest in all conditions) Yet it is a specialized wheel. It's sole purpose is for speed through aerodynamics. Aerodynamics can not be understated in the sport of cycling. To be sure, read my post on the <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/aerodynamics-in-cycling-and-how-to-be.html">effects and the variables related to speed and aerodynamics here</a>. <br />
<br />
Realistically this wheel is only valuable for the discipline of time-trialing (it's rim is too deep for the quickest accelerations and best bike handling comparatively). The 1080s single biggest Achilles heel is strong, gusty cross-winds. I would like to say from personal experience this wheel handles very much like a tri-spoke wheel. Both are spooky to time-trial on with gusty cross winds. For strong gusty cross winds I would advise running a shallower rim depth such as available by any of the major manufacturers such as Easton, Bontrager, Hed, Ritchey, Campagnolo, Lightweight, Zipp, etc. I've seen recent performance studies and they are nearly all a wash, with Hed and Zipp being slightly superior to other brands. That being said, Hed's website<br />
claims/shows that their Stinger 6 being superior in aerodynamics ($2100 per pair) compared to Zipp's 404 ($2,400).<br />
<br />
I'm throwing in this link because it has some really really cool graphics of what air looks like as it is passing <a href="http://www.wing-light.de/CFD/wheels.htm">this wheel when moving at 40kph</a><br />
<br />
I'm throwing in this link because it has <a href="http://www.a2wt.com/Bicycle.htm">some really cool images of some time trial machines, wind tunnels and top riders</a> (otherwise it's a bust from my point of view).<br />
<br />
Here's a link to Zipp again, only this one is about <a href="http://www.zipp.com/support/askjosh/aerowheels.php">the dimpled surface of the wheels and it's effects</a><br />
<br />
You might notice that I have a sell ad at the top of this post to Amazon.com for a Zipp Tangente tubular tire.<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zipp-Speed-Weaponry-Tangente-Tire/dp/B0019VKQRG?ie=UTF8&tag=myworldfromab-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Zipp Speed Weaponry Tangente Tire - Tubular One Color, 700c/21mm</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=myworldfromab-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0019VKQRG" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> A couple of things about that: Many bike shops don't carry them, so that is why I installed a Vittoria on my wheel, but <a href="http://www.zipp.com/support/askjosh/aerowheels.php#">Zipp says their data shows that this tire is the best for performance. </a> At anyrate, I always recommend buying from your local bike shop if possible, but if not, then you should buy off the links from this site. (Hey, I have my own Amazon.com store at the bottom, y'all!)<br />
<br />
<br />
<i style="color: lime;">Now back to the selling post</i><br />
This should be a fun post. I'm going to share with everyone all the fun that goes with Ebay and the questions and answers that come from it when selling an item.<br />
<br />
Be warned all correspondence related to the sale of this wheel will be public knowledge. <br />
<br />
First my actual ad, it can be found <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180618818308&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT">here</a>: Basically it's the above wheel for sale.<br />
<br />
Here's my first two responses in the first few minutes:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURsUWg-5EI/AAAAAAAAAaU/ipyF6iI4Jz0/s1600/Tenterilli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURsUWg-5EI/AAAAAAAAAaU/ipyF6iI4Jz0/s640/Tenterilli.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Pretty funny Mr. Tenterelli! This is an inside joke. A friend of mine who I'll allow to remain anonymous, suckered me with a joke with the punchline "tenterelli". <br />
<br />
The joke is as such: I saw a dent in a bike frame and asked my friend about it. He said the dent was actually caused by a bullet. <br />
Incredulously I said, "No way. You're joking."<br />
Sincerely he says, "No, I wish I was." and then he goes on with this long detailed elaborate story about how at some recent bike expo thing that was held outdoors behind the Hearnes Center (here in Columbia) under tents, there was a bizarre incident involving some thug kids who got into it with some vendor and next thing you know, shots were fired! It was a bizarre thing and one of the bullets actually ricocheted off the top tube of his bike.<br />
<br />
He went into great detail, and even seemed to be a little upset recalling it. <br />
He even had evidence. The top tube of his bike looked exactly like what I would imagine a small caliber bullet might do to a bike tube, with a glancing blow (I used to target shoot as a kid, so I had supportive experiential reference).<br />
<br />
So he goes on with his story and says that during a police interview about the shooting he learns from the police that this incident is related to a group that travels around the country harassing and trying to extort money from venders, specifically outdoor venders that operate under tents. <br />
<br />
I was hanging on his every word until he told me the name of this group of thugs.<br />
<br />
"They call themselves, the Tentarellis."<br />
<br />
I'm going to guess that Mr. Tentarelli isn't going to be the final high bidder.<br />
<br />
Here's what I've gotten so far on facebook:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURxpmZ9YjI/AAAAAAAAAac/G5n7YvuF1Mw/s1600/facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TURxpmZ9YjI/AAAAAAAAAac/G5n7YvuF1Mw/s640/facebook.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I'll update as I go. I may or may not delete this post after the auction. It depends on how good this gets.<br />
<br />
The auction will end @ February 5, 2011 12:34:25 Central time (United States)<br />
<br />
Good luck buyers!<br />
<br />
Quick update: Sat. 29th, 6:20pm and I'm up to $5.50. Lookin' goooooood!<br />
On my ebay description I clearly indicate no international shipping, but I've just received a request for me to reconsider.<br />
<br />
It's not that I'm against international shipping because I'm a xenophobe. It's that international shipping is very expensive and I feel my risks go up concerning having a bad exchange.<br />
<br />
Check out the image below of some Specialized Tri-spokes that I sold overseas (Hong Kong) last year.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TUSyEub-u-I/AAAAAAAAAag/qU1WSMjQpGw/s1600/photo+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TUSyEub-u-I/AAAAAAAAAag/qU1WSMjQpGw/s640/photo+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
You are probably thinking, "Why in the heck, did he package them like frozen pizzas?" The answer is shipping costs. If the box was even an inch wider, the shipping cost would have doubled from $50 per wheel to $100 per wheel. <br />
<br />
I find it a huge hassle to ship large items overseas, the boxing, the long time shipping, and thereby long time clearing of PayPal fees. It's not my cup of tea.<br />
<br />
With that said, I recently sold my sub-nine wheel, got the same question (during auction) to allow international shipping, saw that the buyer had a perfect feedback score, so I said sure. Of course he didn't end up with the final highest bid. I've noticed that folks who ask questions almost never end up with the final highest bid. I don't know why, but it's just something I noticed.<br />
<br />
My suggestion: If you really want to win the auction <strike>don't ask any questions</strike>, just bid really high (waiting until the last 5 seconds doesn't always work out). <br />
<br />
Update January 31,2011 11:46am: Here's my latest questions and I provide my answers immediately following:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TUb5escUKuI/AAAAAAAAAak/BYqngtC-QA4/s1600/ebay3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TUb5escUKuI/AAAAAAAAAak/BYqngtC-QA4/s640/ebay3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>ski4ever: As per my Ebay ad: I bought this wheel used. My research tells me that it can not be older than 2008 because Zipp did not manufacture them before this date.<br />
<br />
Really the manufacture date is inconsequential for several reasons. 1. It isn't a perishable item (time/age has zero effect on it's performance) 2. The manufacturer hasn't made any changes in it's design since releasing it <span style="color: lime;">[correction: the 2008 model had internal spoke nipples and therefore my wheel is a 2009]</span>3. How the wheel was treated/used is the critical factor as to it's value, not age of manufacture.<br />
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As I've said in my ad, this wheel is pristine and hardly used. A wheel of this quality can literally be ridden for tens of thousands of miles before the bearings have significant wear. I've ridden it around a hundred miles and have given it the highest care. Typically timetrial wheels like these see very low use and mileage because they are so specialized to just time-trialing. <br />
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I would like to make the point that my used wheel is literally superior to a brand new one. Why? Because the wheel is of the exact performance and quality of a new one (possibly better with "broken in bearings".... not quite as tight) and most importantly it has a nearly new tubular tire already glued on. My wheel is ready to race right now! Not only does it's buyer not have to purchase a $100 plus tubular to ride it, but mine is correctly glued on with the most ideal valve extension. To be sure see my link on <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-glue-on-tubular-bicyle-tire.html">how I glue on tubulars</a>.<br />
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To a1950fan: I never sell items that I put up for auction outside of Ebay's policies. In other-words, I will not stop an auction so I can cheat Ebay out of fees. My ad does have a buy it now price, so I've already indicated what I'm willing to sell the wheel for. Good luck bidding. </div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-7397624277635293602010-12-31T09:43:00.000-08:002011-01-08T07:37:35.640-08:00IT'S OVER!!!!!!The year known as 2010 will be officially history in a matter of hours.<br />
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It has been quite a year for me concerning "My World From a Bicycle"<br />
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It's all pretty well documented here in the contents of this blog.<br />
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In fact, I have a post called <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/10/best-of-gopro-and-best-and-worst-of.html">"The Best of GoPro and the Best and Worst of David Henderson"</a><br />
This post is really my best and worst video experiences related to biking and bike racing (I tried to be heavy on the "best", but that is of course subjective).<br />
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Yet I feel that have I evolved this blog into a bit of a free coaching blog as well. I would say that my top <strike>ten</strike> thirteen posts related to coaching would be as follows:<br />
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1. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/10/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html"> http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/10/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html</a><br />
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2. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/11/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/11/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html</a><br />
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3. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/do-this-and-you-will-win.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/do-this-and-you-will-win.html</a><br />
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4. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/question-of-day-week-uh-year-concerning.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/question-of-day-week-uh-year-concerning.html</a><br />
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5. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/lemonds-sizing-chart.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/lemonds-sizing-chart.html</a><br />
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6. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/heat-management-or-how-to-race-when-its.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/heat-management-or-how-to-race-when-its.html</a> <br />
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7. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-care-for-or-treat-road-rash.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-care-for-or-treat-road-rash.html</a><br />
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8. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-glue-on-tubular-bicyle-tire.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-glue-on-tubular-bicyle-tire.html</a><br />
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9. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-when-and-how-to-eat-for-cycling.html"> http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-when-and-how-to-eat-for-cycling.html</a><br />
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10. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-determine-your-lactate-threshold.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-determine-your-lactate-threshold.html</a><br />
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11. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/08/dude-your-crank-lengths-fine-you-just.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/08/dude-your-crank-lengths-fine-you-just.html</a><br />
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12. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/08/bike-safe-my-survival-tactics-for-road.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/08/bike-safe-my-survival-tactics-for-road.html</a><br />
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13. <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/aerodynamics-in-cycling-and-how-to-be.html">http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/aerodynamics-in-cycling-and-how-to-be.html</a><br />
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I have also learned quite a bit about the HD Hero camera and how to edit, share, and archive high definition video. For reference see <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-produce-video-from-adobe.html">this</a> and <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/11/problems-with-roxio-2011.html">this</a>.<br />
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With that covered, I should announce that not only is the year over, but so is my racing career. And that's ok.<br />
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I am proud not only of my racing accomplishments for 2010; I am also proud of the contents of this blog. Yet, they don't pay the mortgage or any other necessary living expenses (although I've tried... believe me). <br />
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<span data-jsid="text">It's all good. I just need to focus on work and my kids. If anyone has raced at a Pro 1-2 level you know how racing is. If you are going to be serious about it, it is necessary to devote your life to it. I've done that. Blood, sweat, and tears. <i><b>Literally</b></i>. And now it<span class="text_exposed_hide"></span><span class="text_exposed_show">'s time for a new chapter for me (I'm no spring chicken). I'll always love all things bike related though. </span></span><br />
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I plan on still doing more posts on this blog over time. I will probably do a bit more coaching stuff. I do have a large video project in the works currently. (It's a completely new idea and I don't think it has been done before as I plan to).<br />
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My primary goals for 2011 is to develop contents for a new blog. <a href="http://superhandydave.blogspot.com/">This one.</a> And of course ride my bicycle for fun whenever possible.<br />
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Oh yeah, if you are thinking about getting a video camera that can film both above and below water, shoots 5 MP stills, time-lapse photography (2,5, 10, 30, 60 seconds), several different video resolutions/sizes, and high-speed 60 frames/second, and can even record your biking adventures, click <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">here</a> to learn more at my blog post:<br />
http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html<br />
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Happy New Year everyone. PEACE AND LOVE!David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-42480427650833968252010-12-24T11:03:00.000-08:002010-12-27T10:43:50.753-08:00The Giro Della Montagna CriteriumI have produced two videos for this blog post (actually 3, I just added a new one at 9:20 Dec 26, 2010). The first is my "short" version at 1 minute and 51 seconds and my second video is my long version at 5 minutes and 7 seconds. The 3rd video is 8 minutes and 3 seconds and is without any transitions/interruptions and no background music. <br />
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I'm posting all three and adding a request from viewers for their opinions as to which is best, and what I could do to make them better. Feedback would be valuable for me for future video projects. I really would like to make videos that not only capture the excitement of bike racing, but are actually worthy of viewing. <br />
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<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/azuQt1cahPI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/azuQt1cahPI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
A little about the race: <a href="http://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?permit=2010-2874">First here's the race results.</a> (This race is the Pro 1-2. results near the bottom of this link. I, David Henderson was officially 14th.)<br />
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Here's my watt data. First a race overview below: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRgnOM_LUlI/AAAAAAAAAYU/o_DZ2AAbL3U/s1600/Giro+race+watt+chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRgnOM_LUlI/AAAAAAAAAYU/o_DZ2AAbL3U/s640/Giro+race+watt+chart.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>And an image of the finish data from the last 8 minutes and 28 seconds of the race below:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRgoUmGskWI/AAAAAAAAAYY/gJFUh02eexQ/s1600/finish+watts+of+the+Giro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRgoUmGskWI/AAAAAAAAAYY/gJFUh02eexQ/s640/finish+watts+of+the+Giro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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And here's the course below (St. Louis, Missouri) <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRThGoUAa5I/AAAAAAAAAXo/kCymqh0_ArU/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="492" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRThGoUAa5I/AAAAAAAAAXo/kCymqh0_ArU/s640/Untitled.png" width="640" /></a></div>Here's the race flyer below: (My videos on this post are from the Giro Della Montagna Criterium which was held Sept 5, 2010).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTindEP2_I/AAAAAAAAAXs/zXFUsddTXrA/s1600/Race+flyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTindEP2_I/AAAAAAAAAXs/zXFUsddTXrA/s640/Race+flyer.jpg" width="524" /></a></div><a href="http://gatewaycup.com/">To learn even more about these races, click here to be taken to the website that is pictured below:</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTkp_q6PgI/AAAAAAAAAXw/bXQxH22WzIc/s1600/race+website.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTkp_q6PgI/AAAAAAAAAXw/bXQxH22WzIc/s640/race+website.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>It has been requested that I give a bit of supplemental commentary to the above videos and direct my comments to the topic of race tactics and the like. All righty then.<br />
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The most valuable thing that I can say about the 1st video is my quick field position change (:47 to 1:10). I went from almost the back of the field to the front in a matter of 23 seconds. I did this tactically correct. I used the timing of course location, point of the race (in duration/time), and physics to know when, where, how and why. <br />
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First, I choose to advance myself near the end of the race (this is when it is clearly critical). Secondly I choose the uphill side of the course because I would get more purchase for spending energy going up a hill vs going down a hill (speed from power related to aerodynamics and gravity). Third, I began my advance immediately after the corner. I was already going near full hard coming out of the corner. Instead of letting off and staying in the draft I remained full throttle (a body in motion tends to stay in motion) and charged up the left side. I could see that the pack wasn't all strung out in a straight line (this meant the pack was not at full speed. It is best not to advance when a field is single file). Lastly I tried to reinsert myself into the draft with ease before a turn. I try not to advance through turns, but racing sometimes requires this. <br />
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The most valuable thing that I can say about the 2nd video is <u>toilet paper</u>. It's one of the primary reasons that I started from the back (I was late to the line). Let me explain. I arrived at the race with just enough time to prepare for the race, which included "heaving a Havana" or "taking the Browns to the Super Bowl" (also known as "putting one through the hoop" or "pulling into defecation station"). <br />
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To my chagrin all of the port-a-johns were out of toilet paper except for possibly one. A lady had entered it just before me. I had determined that all the others were sin paper. That particular stall was my only hope. All I had to do was wait for her to exit to find out. <br />
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So I waited. And I waited. And I waited. More than 10 minutes later nothing. I even knocked a few times just to make sure that she hadn't fallen in. I couldn't believe that she hadn't come out! It was near 90 degrees outside...... and the smell! Good God man! <br />
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Well, she never came out (as far as I know, she's still in there). I did come up with a solution, but I will leave a little mystery here. My advice to all (including myself) bring you own toilet paper to races. It is not uncommon for port-a-johns to run out of paper. In fact, it's probably a good idea to hit a public restroom somewhere just before arriving at the race site if possible. <br />
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Finally, the third and last video shows the last eight minutes of the race. It might of have been nice to show the last ten minutes because basically I was following Brad Huff (pro- Jelly Belly). He told me to stick with him and I did, which lead to us getting into a break-a-way. <br />
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I made at least two errors. One, I was touching my breaks on the lower two turns. This actually wasn't necessary. A few times I was ok, but overall I was poor in my confidence. The other error is a bit more forgivable. I didn't see the field catching us just before the last 2 turns. I wasn't looking back at all. I was just concentrating on making it through the last 2 turns.<br />
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You can see in the video that Brian Jensen bridged up from the field to us and then attacked my group just before the bell lap. Brad Huff reeled him back in and countered him. All I could do was keep my speed up and reattach gradually. Brian did eventually surrender, and my group of three were quickly swallowed up in the turns and following sprint. <br />
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After the race Brad said that if he hadn't been in the break that probably the field (several pro riders) wouldn't have chased quite so hard and Brian said that we all would have had a better chance had he not attacked us and instead we all worked together. <br />
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Who knows, it's not terribly important. There were two riders up the course who were successful, and we all gave it a good try. <br />
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For another perspective of the race read <a href="http://stevetilford.com/?p=5947">Steve Tilford's account.</a><br />
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Here's a few still images (more can be found from the link above).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTqZ8ohSEI/AAAAAAAAAX0/4xehX5pRpuw/s1600/Giro3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTqZ8ohSEI/AAAAAAAAAX0/4xehX5pRpuw/s640/Giro3.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTrEZyfNxI/AAAAAAAAAX8/DUzZ_JLCPNg/s1600/Giro+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTrEZyfNxI/AAAAAAAAAX8/DUzZ_JLCPNg/s640/Giro+photo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTq1DbAU-I/AAAAAAAAAX4/ckK2WBzE9H0/s1600/Giro2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTq1DbAU-I/AAAAAAAAAX4/ckK2WBzE9H0/s640/Giro2.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTredCcXWI/AAAAAAAAAYA/kcG1wz9bd6M/s1600/photoshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTredCcXWI/AAAAAAAAAYA/kcG1wz9bd6M/s640/photoshop.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>The above image is a frame grab from my HD Hero camera that was mounted to my bike. This image can be seen in the longer video clip above around 4:35, which is the last corner of the race leading to the final sprint. Pictured here is <a href="http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Eric+Young">Eric Young</a> who won the field sprint.<br />
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Some other notable riders in this video include<a href="http://www.bradhuff.missingsaddle.com/"> Brad Huff</a> @ 4:00, <a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-the-battenkill-ne-1/road-race/photos/114894">Brian Jensen</a>@4:10, <a href="http://stevetilford.com/">Steve Tilford </a>@ 4:33, <a href="http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/08/news/daniel-holloway-theresa-cliff-ryan-win-u-s-criterium-titles_134601">Daniel Holloway</a> @ 4:36. <br />
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Of course there are many other fantastic racers beyond my short list, including Jonathan Jacobs who actually won the race! He's not in my video because he was to busy winning this race with his break-a-way companion, <a href="http://www.velobios.com/riders.kenda2010.bush.htm">Robert Bush</a>. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTuNTQ5mKI/AAAAAAAAAYE/Tly81rUDVfs/s1600/Giro4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TRTuNTQ5mKI/AAAAAAAAAYE/Tly81rUDVfs/s640/Giro4.jpg" width="546" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">Click here to learn more about the camera I use to video my races.</a> They can do much more than just record cycling!</div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-53221578487475473832010-12-02T19:19:00.000-08:002010-12-20T11:05:28.985-08:00Stuff you need so that you can ride in the winter<div style="color: red;"><b>I generally love cycling. The cold.... not so much. Some additional gear is required to survive the cold when cycling. </b></div><div style="color: red;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: red;"><b>In this blog post I list a few items that I think are necessary or will at least help you survive Jack Frost nipping at your you know what. </b></div><div style="color: red;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: red;"><b>The cool thing is that you can click on the image and actually buy the product from a highly respected distributor at a price that will be very difficult (if not impossible) to beat. </b><br />
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<b><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">Consider buying from your local bike shop first if possible (preferably <a href="http://cyclex.com/">Cyclextreme</a>) . </span> </b></div><div style="color: red;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: red;"><b>Oh yeah, and the operator of this blog is rewarded by here-within linked to companies with rare gemstones, emeralds, exotic trips (or maybe that was exotic animals) and I think somewhere in the fine print there was something about my own private island (or maybe that was, I must indenture myself as a pirate on an island). Whateve....... just buy this stuff and go ride in the cold. By making a purchase, you'll feel all warm and tingly, whenever you think about how you single-handedly stimulated the economy.</b><br />
<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=1717061707010&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D1717061707010%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D1717061707010&usg=AFHzDLuAMSm5zn53MVSL0zAIp7SZTmrkJw&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/1717061707010-2T.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: red;"></div><div style="color: white;">This is a North Face Cable Fish Scarf (proximal to a "A Giant Neck Sweater"<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sorry that was the closest I could find</span>) It's not traditional cycling winter wear (as I know it), but I just learned that for a select few it is. <a href="http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2010/12/bsnyc-last-minute-holiday-gift-guide.html">If there is any doubt click here to see the evidence.</a> </div><div style="color: red;"><br />
</div><div style="color: red;"><br />
</div><div id="ProductDetail_ProductDetails_div">Wrap the Cable Fish Scarf around your neck for reliable warmth on cold, wintry days. It’s fashioned from a blend of wool and acrylic for a perfect mix of insulation, breathability and durability, leaving a scarf that will defend against the cold while keeping you itch-free. Match it with the Cable Fish Beanie for a great look and warmth that will stem the flow of heat loss from a key area of your body. $35</div><div style="color: red;"></div><br />
<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7732062411102&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7732062411102%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7732062411102&usg=AFHzDLvIYnqjpuLQzQGEHMEY2Lao_I0CCA&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7732062411102-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b><span style="color: red;">For the Ladies: </span></b>The Pearl Izumi Women's Select Thermal Tights are designed for maximum warmth and comfort for cold weather running or riding. $70<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7728062411211&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7728062411211%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7728062411211&usg=AFHzDLvgyV4kRb8NAWbWIKUJJE6RSVzZMw&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7728062411211-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b><span style="color: red;">For the Men: </span></b>The Pearl Izumi SELECT Thermal Tights is designed for maximum warmth and comfort for cold weather activities. $65<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Pro-Gunde-Short-Black/dp/B0011V5CM8?ie=UTF8&tag=myworldfromab-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TQQEWiSJmAI/AAAAAAAAAVk/kHWmlQxYpEw/s400/wind+stop.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Pro-Gunde-Short-Black/dp/B0011V5CM8?ie=UTF8&tag=myworldfromab-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Craft Pro WS Gunde Short Lg Black</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=myworldfromab-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0011V5CM8" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> $32 (Also called Gore Wind Stop Gunde Boxer)<br />
The ultimate base layer for cold and windy conditions. Our Gore WS Gunde Boxer features Gore’s lightest ever windproof, 4-way stretch fabric panel to date. Gore WS is strategically applied to Pro Zero fabric in order to maximize protection where you need it and ensure moisture transfer from the skin. Minimize your layers while protecting your core with our new Gore WS Gunde Boxer.<br />
<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000000425997&pid=PZW312&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadrunnersports.com%2Frrs%2Fproduct-detail%2Fproduct.jsp%3Fid%3DPZW312%26sc%3DCX10Y006&usg=AFHzDLu5SFDTV1I4RL09_tM0KUmFeO5ntg&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/PZW312?wid=500&hei=500" /></a><br />
<b><span style="color: red;">For All: </span></b> <span class="">Pearl Izumi Barrier Skull Cap - Featuring our PRO Barrier fabric, the Barrier Skull Cap provides maximum wind and water protection for cold weather runs in inclement weather. $29.99</span><br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7725062419305&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7725062419305%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7725062419305&usg=AFHzDLuNZ-v0rmqZy8idtwD4mEbTUfq1eQ&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7725062419305-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b><span style="color: red;">For All: </span></b> The Pearl Izumi PRO Barrier Balaclava is made with a combination of windproof Barrier fabric along with wicking Transfer and UltraSensor fabrics that keep the elements out while you stay dry. $35.<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7725062419301&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7725062419301%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7725062419301&usg=AFHzDLuBQXUL-nXqAc4sLe8rSFaPkm6U7Q&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7725062419301-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b><span style="color: red;">For All: </span></b>The Pearl Izumi PRO Transfer Headband is the headwear of choice when you need your ears covered but anything more is overkill. $20<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7725062413810&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7725062413810%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7725062413810&usg=AFHzDLtFo8iIm1ICv36m1e_GpdVQ35zLBQ&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7725062413810-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
The Pearl Izumi Elite Thermal Cycling Toe Covers are a classic must-have toe covers set the benchmark for cool weather protection and have been updated with reflective logos. $20<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7725062411005&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7725062411005%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7725062411005&usg=AFHzDLtRjg0gFRaZb9UGmwFAjRzDmtvUTQ&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7725062411005-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
Pearl Izumi's Thermal Knee Warmers feature PRO Thermal Fleece fabric on the front for warmth and a lighter fabric on the back to vent excess heat. $35<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7725062419294&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7725062419294%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7725062419294&usg=AFHzDLubEP8eW_nTZHig2lirY9nB3K6JMw&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7725062419294-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
The perfect balance of protection and insulation you need for milder winter conditions. $49.99<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000000425997&pid=PZW351&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadrunnersports.com%2Frrs%2Fproduct-detail%2Fproduct.jsp%3Fid%3DPZW351%26sc%3DCX10Y006&usg=AFHzDLs9p2NtGiHDDJyLuSuNElttQfS3PA&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/PZW351?wid=500&hei=500" /></a><br />
Pearl Izumi ThermaFleece Arm Warmer - The soft plush ELITE Thermal Stretch fabric of the ThermaFleece Arm Warmer provides warmth and comfort to keep the arms protected and warm in cold weather. $29.99<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7733062416533&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7733062416533%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7733062416533&usg=AFHzDLtLMfrC6cXs1ebLGzWMLEidJjrlgA&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7733062416533-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">For the Men: </b> The versatile Pearl Izumi Men's Elite Barrier Convertible Cycling Jacket is a wind and water resistant shell jacket quickly converts to a vest, and features connected zip-off sleeves $100<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000000425997&pid=PZW361&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadrunnersports.com%2Frrs%2Fproduct-detail%2Fproduct.jsp%3Fid%3DPZW361%26sc%3DCX10Y006&usg=AFHzDLtKs5vZy_nxk4KatnaQ0mJ0mDQkVw&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/PZW361?wid=500&hei=500" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">For the Ladies:</b> Women's Pearl Izumi Elite Barrier Convertible Jacket - This jacket converts to a vest, the zip-off sleeves are connected for the ultimate in convenience, packability, versatility and protection from the elements. $99<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7733062411113&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7733062411113%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7733062411113&usg=AFHzDLuX5nMX-BomEiz2M0JPRk53y5vUAw&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7733062411113-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">For the Men (a little warmer):</b> The Pearl Izumi Men's Elite Thermal Barrier Jacket is a classic that returns with new materials and design. We strategically place Barrier fabric over the Thermal Fleece body to resist wind and water. $120<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7734062411012&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7734062411012%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7734062411012&usg=AFHzDLsRlvgBWWBwwL7AILzgyL7njy28yQ&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7734062411012-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">For the Ladies (a little warmer):</b> The Pearl Izumi Women's Elite Thermal Barrier Jacket is windproof and water resistant, the comfortable and highly breathable W s ELITE Thermal Barrier Jacket provides lightweight core and thermal protection. $120<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7725068251912&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7725068251912%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7725068251912&usg=AFHzDLtGsOQc1mOpJGxXjP0JeHu0r3EKNA&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7725068251912-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">For the Men (this may also work for women with 5 fingers):</b> The Descente Wombat Cycling Gloves offer protection for your hands when the weather isn't working with you. Their articulated knuckles, pre-curved finger construction and non-slip silicone. $27.93<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7725062411008&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7725062411008%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7725062411008&usg=AFHzDLuc3IARCh-7vVwe50NZABsnVUDbTA&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7725062411008-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">For All:</b> The Pearl Izumi Select Softshell gloves are our warmest wind proof, water resistant running gloves, keeping you comfortable and warm on the most blustery of days. $45<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7725062411006&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7725062411006%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7725062411006&usg=AFHzDLuXO8HOZt8bmnl9JJJHiIw2aXdbow&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7725062411006-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">For All:</b> The Pearl Izumi PRO Thermal Leg Warmers offer full coverage with our anatomic fit to eliminate bunching through your full range of motion. $45<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=4041054057325&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D4041054057325%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D4041054057325&usg=AFHzDLt7Q55sWZ8RBJc4v7U_qKlnfkXXEg&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/4041054057325-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">For All with 2 feet:</b> As the 'original air-flow design sock', the Aireator is the sock that kicked off the air-flow rage years ago. Today, the Aireator still leads in durability, wicking, drying, and air permeability. $6.93<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=0084061780811&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D0084061780811%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D0084061780811&usg=AFHzDLvfoyppPe11HVsSXk6huORaH_t0cw&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/0084061780811-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">Sunglasses are necessary in the winter. These are my favorties:</b> Oakley sunglasses define a mixture of art and technology. $110<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7756061616561&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7756061616561%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7756061616561&usg=AFHzDLvtD7R8QiiVw13Gpr5k---vWW4w1A&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7756061616561-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<div id="ProductDetail_ProductDetails_div"><b style="color: red;">This is a serious light. The more the merrier:</b> The new Minewt.250 Cordless raises the bar of what a one-piece, modular bike light should be. This compact light features best in class lumen per dollar ratio, tool-less quick release mounting, and with 250 lumens on tap, punches out enough light to hit the trail. The 250 Cordless optic design incorporates a reflector and Borofloat lens custom tuned for bike riding. This combination delivers a superior beam pattern when compared to total internal reflectors. Three light levels plus flash mode and USB charging round out the Cordless 250’s features. $129</div><div id="ProductDetail_ProductDetails_div"></div><div id="ProductDetail_ProductDetails_div"> <a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7756061615071&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7756061615071%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7756061615071&usg=AFHzDLvcK31l4VhU9RERaeJ5X12BwEqkAw&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7756061615071-2T.jpg" /></a></div><b style="color: red;">Do not ride at night without this (or one like it)!:</b> High powered LED's and a proprietary collimator allow you to be seen over a mile away. Internal reflector provides visibility even when the light is off. $24.99<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000000425997&pid=NYTWT7032&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadrunnersports.com%2Frrs%2Fproduct-detail%2Fproduct.jsp%3Fid%3DNYTWT7032%26sc%3DCX10Y006&usg=AFHzDLsOLEIvZuE11rgaQU8eRjVbbxdBnw&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/NYTWT7032?wid=500&hei=500" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">When it's real cold out, this is what I ride:</b> <span class="">If it's important to you to make every workout count, the Fluid2 trainer is the most valuable weapon you can add to your indoor training arsenal.Our engineers designed the Fluid 2 to capture real road feel through the use of a 2.75 lb individually precision balanced flywheel for more momentum and stability of your rear wheel. We've also adjusted silicone fluid levels for better resistance and improved the position of sealed cartridge bearings for better inertia and an ultra quiet. $299.99</span><br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7754063204004&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7754063204004%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7754063204004&usg=AFHzDLtJnvPB7nvdACZXGsJUnBEejUDq8w&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7754063204004-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
The Trakblock II is a wide, stable platform to level the front of the bike when riding a trainer. $11.93<br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7763060160707&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7763060160707%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7763060160707&usg=AFHzDLtHRKZORmuet6VPjoqUaWowggAyFA&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7763060160707-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
<b style="color: red;">If you have been a really good girl or boy, Santa might bring you this:</b> Light, fast, stiff durable. All carbon rims and R2R spoke design provide excellent strength and stiffness. 40mm profiled rim, profiled carbon spokes and hub flanges provide optimum aerodynamics. Lists at $2,999.99 and is on sale right now for $1899.99<br />
<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000027644953&pid=7763060160942&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunandski.com%2FProductDetails.asp%3FProductCode%3D7763060160942%26Click%3D33357%26ci_src%3D64119933%26ci_sku%3D7763060160942&usg=AFHzDLu9s4ACdsMwmMsjv51XQ4fRLmr7tw&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://www.sunandski.com/v/vspfiles/photos/7763060160942-2T.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b style="color: red;">Or if you been mostly good and only a little naughty you might get these instead:</b> Directly inspired from the Ultimate, the Cosmic Carbone SLR is quickly becoming the wheel to beat for aerodynamics clincher wheels. The optimized 52mm carbon/ aluminum rims are extremely light and flow perfectly onto the profiles R2R carbon spoke design. The perfect blend of aerodynamics, lightweight, stiffness and ease-of-use. Pictures just don't do these wheels any justice! Once you get your hands on them, you wont let them go!<br />
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Well, I better stop listing stuff because I'm thinking about buying one of each item. Well....... I've already gotten most of these, but it's always nice to have a spare. *wink* *wink*<br />
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<span class=""><b style="color: red;">I almost forgot (and Santa most likely will too because he hasn't biked in years.... hence his big gut), you'll be needing some tires for your sweet new wheels!</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000000425997&pid=NYT312&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadrunnersports.com%2Frrs%2Fproduct-detail%2Fproduct.jsp%3Fid%3DNYT312%26sc%3DCX10Y006&usg=AFHzDLto-wGp2O3-u1HcQ88WIJZm6O-YXg&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/NYT312?wid=500&hei=500" /></a><br />
<span class=""><b style="color: red;">I have never used these particular tires, but they are a great brand name: </b> GP Attack & GP Force - NEW and faster than ever ! Front and rear tires have different tasks. Steering and braking forces are transmitted on the front, while the rear transmits the driving forces and bears the majority of the cyclist's weight. Subsequently, the two tires in the Continental tire positioning system (TPS) have been designed differently. GP Attack Front Tire The tread compoundis designed for excellent grip, both on dry and wet roads. $112</span><br />
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<span class=""> <a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000000425997&pid=NYTOPCRCX&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadrunnersports.com%2Frrs%2Fproduct-detail%2Fproduct.jsp%3Fid%3DNYTOPCRCX%26sc%3DCX10Y006&usg=AFHzDLsUseXjOGpj03BA9hT_IC_hdzzy_g&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/NYTOPCRCX?wid=500&hei=500" /></a></span><br />
<span class=""><b style="color: red;">I can verify that these are excellent racing clinchers:</b> Corsa CX has proved successful in road races all over the world, but the new EVO version is bound to even greater success. With a handmadetubular structure for superior performance and comfort, it has also got a special latex inner tube that increases its elasticity and puncture resistance. Further features are the Kevlar SiO2 3D Compound with added silica - for reduced rolling resistance and better grip in the wet Our new high density casing - a true 320 tpi $64.95</span><br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000000425997&pid=NYTTANGENTTUB&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadrunnersports.com%2Frrs%2Fproduct-detail%2Fproduct.jsp%3Fid%3DNYTTANGENTTUB%26sc%3DCX10Y006&usg=AFHzDLvr00RNOVCgu6gR3bcufRwFa5P-Fg&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/NYTTANGENTTUB?wid=500&hei=500" /></a><br />
<span class=""><b style="color: red;">I can also verify that these are excellent tubulars:</b> The Zipp Tangente, the first tire developed in the wind tunnel. In its tubular incarnation, this tire simply flies. To cut through the wind, we've used our patented ABLC dimples to mitigate the "un-aero-ness" of a round shape at the wheel's leading edge. $89.95</span><br />
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<span class=""><a href="http://www.blogger.com/&pubid=21000000000324582"><img src="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/NYTMASRIMCEMTBEA?wid=500&hei=500" /></a></span><br />
<b style="color: red;">Musten forget the tubular glue:</b> Rim cement for gluing tubular tires. 30 gram tube. Enough for 1-2 tires. $3.95<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>Below are special discount links. They are time limited and only available by clicking the the link specifically.</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">30% Off Clearance Cycling Apparel. <a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000033717235&pubid=21000000000324582">Offer Valid 11/24/ to </a></span></div><div style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000033717235&pubid=21000000000324582">1/2/11</a></span></div><div style="color: magenta;"></div><span style="color: orange;"><a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000028955781&pubid=21000000000324582"><img alt="Free Shipping on All Orders" border="0" src="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_impression?lid=41000000028955781&pubid=21000000000324582" /></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000029430911&pubid=21000000000324582"><img alt="SunAndSki.com" border="0" src="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_impression?lid=41000000029430911&pubid=21000000000324582" /></a>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-9512116146664969652010-11-26T00:49:00.000-08:002012-08-14T12:36:38.061-07:00Psychology for Competitive Cyclists part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/10/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html">Please read part 1 first. Or last. Or whatever.</a><br />
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<b style="color: red;">Anxiety Control or Thought Control</b><br />
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Many people believe that we have complete control over our thoughts and thereby control our feelings and beliefs, which in turn help set our values and following behavior. In short, we have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will">free will</a> and we are our own master. The popular conception of free will seems to rest on two assumptions: (1) that each of us could have behaved differently than we did in the past, and (2) that we are the conscious source of most of our thoughts and actions in the present.<br />
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I do not believe that this is <i>completely</i> true for many reasons. There are many factors such as: knowledge, attitude, beliefs or core values, perceptions, personality, etc. and many external factors such as: environmental stressors, socio-cultural, economic, biological or physiology, etc. that largely determine not only thought, but also behavior. In short, we may have some degree of free will some of the time, but not complete free will all of the time. <br />
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How much free will? I don't know. If we accept the ramifications of Einstein's theory of relativity which suggests that <b>time</b> is an illusion such that there is no actual distinction between past, present and future (all things ARE) other than our human perception of it as an illusion, then free will must also an illusion. <br />
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Let's ignore that argument and allow freewill to exist since it certainly <i><b>feels</b></i> like it exists. Yet we must acknowledge that our freewill is variable, conditional and changing. Here are just a few examples of what I'm talking about: Your arm is lopped off. Now think happy thoughts. It's not going to happen in the present, but given time, perhaps in the future. Or you are informed that your home and possessions have been destroyed in a fire. Now think happy thoughts and conduct yourself according. It would be impossible to think happy thoughts under these conditions initially. It is also equally impossible for an individual with severe schizophrenia to "will" their thinking such that audio hallucinations disappear. And the list goes on; are you free to do that which does not occur to you? Of course not.<br />
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Now picture a giant elephant with long smooth ivory tusks facing you directly. It's huge ears flapping repetitively so as to cool it's massive body.<br />
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Did you choose this image in your head or did I?<br />
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Our thoughts and behaviors are constantly being triggered or influenced by external sources in an endless stream of cause and effect. Examples of internal and external factors that influence behavior (often determinately) are far too many for this post. What is important to understand in regards to freewill and the psychology of cycling and the human psyche in general, is that we do not always have complete control of our thoughts. There is a window of freewill that opens and shuts conditionally and provisionally based on the many factors previously mentioned. <br />
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The good news is that there are methods to increase one's self-control. "Although we can certainly influence our minds and emotions, often we
have little or no direct control over our thoughts or feelings, which
are temporary and rise and pass like weather fronts. We do however,
have significantly more control over our behavior - despite what we are,
or are not, thinking or feeling. In fact, our behavior (how we move
our arms, legs, and mouth) is the only thing we can directly control.
This is a great secret of success." - <span style="font-size: x-small;">Dan Millam 1999</span><br />
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Interestingly, behavior can influence thought and feelings as much or more than the other way around (thoughts and feelings determine behavior). In short, doing becomes being. It may be difficult to impossible to choose what we will choose to do, but we can typically or often do that which we choose. This takes us back full circle to the topic of interest: anxiety control or thought control. <br />
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I really like Nike's slogan, "Just Do It". The slogan put into action is a simple and powerful method for altering our thoughts and feelings from "Just Do"ing a behavior. We have all experienced this phenomenon where doing an activity completely changes our mood and thought patterns. <br />
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Another variation of behavior determining thought and feelings is the phenomenon of <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Develop-Confidence-by-Acting-As-If&id=2623484">"acting as if"</a> . An example would be to make yourself smile and/or laugh out loud. Soon you will find "as if" becomes "I am". <br />
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Although we can certainly influence our minds and emotions, often we have little or no direct control over our thoughts or feelings, which are temporary and rise and pass like weather fronts. We do however, have significantly more control over our behavior - despite what we are, or are not, thinking or feeling. In fact, our behavior (how we move our arms, legs, and mouth) is the only thing we can directly control. This is a great secret of success - <span style="font-size: x-small;">Dan Millam 1999</span><br />
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Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you the power of ........ "Just Do It!"<br />
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So with this in mind, as an athlete we need to focus heavily on our behavior (which can determine our values, feelings, beliefs and thoughts). Controlling one's thought <b>should not</b> be ignored, but (In my opinion) should be considered less reliable than controlling one's own behavior for determining our mindset. <br />
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Now let's talk a little about how and what to think about briefly and return to ideal behaviors for competitive cyclists later. It has been said that you get more of what you think about, and if you think you can do something, you may. If you think you can't, you won't. Henry Ford put it this way, "Those who believe they can and those who believe they can't are both right." (this is also known as self full-filling prophecy).<br />
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Here's what to think about as a competitive athlete: In general it is best for an athlete to <i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>NOT THINK!</b></span></i> (particularly during competition). Yogi Berra put it this way, "Think! How the hell are you going to think and hit at the same time?"<br />
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Ideally a competitive cyclist (or any athlete) should be so rehearsed and practiced that conscious thought is almost unnecessary for the activity. Movements, actions and decisions are ideally instantaneous for optimized performance. An elite athlete should be able to operate on a near instinctive level in order to perform at the highest level. This is often referred to as being "in the zone". <br />
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For a cyclist to be able to get "in the zone" or race instinctively, they must practice cycling skills repetitively (both physically and through visualization) until they become instinctive. They also should learn a series or list of rules and responses to different scenarios and be able to automatically (or instinctively) react when these events occur.<br />
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Allow me to list just a few of my rules for racing that reduces my need for deep thought and thereby allows me to ride more "in the zone". Keep in mind that there are occasionally exceptions to these rules, but again decisions are best to be made on instincts and rapidly in order to increase cycling performance. <br />
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1. Never half wheel. 2. Stay very close to the wheel in front of me (stay in the draft). 3. Do the least amount of work as necessary to stay in the race (conservation). 4. Never chase down a teammate. 5. Never attack down hill or into a head-wind. 6. Attack or expect an attack up hills and with cross-winds and tail-winds. 7. Expect the 1st lap of a crit to be hard and fast. 8. When I am tired while "sitting in" (just drafting) alarm bells should be going off for me to get up near the front because a winning break could establish. 9. Expect a break away after a "Prime" (prize lap). 10. Expect a counter attack after a break is caught. 11. Hold onto a wheel (draft) no matter how hard it becomes or how long it lasts.... it will let up eventually 12. The inside line has the best survival rate during a crash in a corner. 13. When the peloton slows/groups move up to the front and be weary of crashes. 14. Bridge up immediately to break-a-ways that have the major teams represented. 15. If a break is being caught by the peloton group that I am in...... sit in and prepare for the counter attack. 16. Try to be in all break-a-way attempts during the last half of a road race. 17. Solo riders do not usually ride away. Go in groups. 18. Be up front during technical sections. 19. Expect to produce a maximal effort and suffer at the end of a race. 20. Break-a-ways survive best when out of sight. <br />
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The list goes on and on, but these are a few of my rules for racing, that I have adopted on a learned instinctive level. I do not have to debate in my mind what to do when these scenarios present themselves to me during a race. My best race performances are when I respond instantly and instinctively. <br />
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"Think! How the hell are you going to think and race at the same time!" - David Henderson <br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">If by chance you are looking for the best video camera (for cycling, skiing, paragliding, skateboarding, ski-diving, scuba diving, motorcycling, race car driving or just general high definition hands free videoing) please click here, and read my post about the camera that I use.</a></div>
David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-80070272819329717792010-11-14T10:47:00.000-08:002010-11-18T07:47:36.159-08:00An Epic Bike Ride<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rP7gfBm-u2Y?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rP7gfBm-u2Y?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
I have found that pretty much all trips with my two daughters tend to be somehow (or at least feel) epic. <br />
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The above video pretty much illustrates this and at the same time, sticks to the theme of this blog........ bicycles and my world from it. <br />
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The below video is the same video, but in 3-D. So grab your special glasses and check it out. <br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pjB8LPrrcbE?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pjB8LPrrcbE?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> <br />
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Here's a couple of video editing points that I think is worth sharing. The first of which is that that Adobe Premiere Elements 8 (the software I use) has a <i style="background-color: blue; color: #073763;">substantial</i> music library and also contains <i>special</i> software that edits the music to the <i style="color: blue;">exact</i> length that the user requires.<br />
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Actually the music software is created by "Smart Sound" which has existed for 10 years or so. Many different video editing software products use their technology. APE8 comes with it and has about 26 royalty-free musical selections. There are literally thousands of other musical compositions available from "Smart Sound's" library for purchase from the internet.<br />
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It's pretty amazing really. The only slight negative is that you have to pay a fee for a tutorial to learn about how to use the "Smart Sound" on the video editing software that I use.<br />
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Below is a few images that show how to find and open "Smart Sound" for adding cool, customized musical compositions to your videos.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TOAnt_AIvZI/AAAAAAAAAUU/mlNa1wSzrA8/s1600/music+editing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="342" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TOAnt_AIvZI/AAAAAAAAAUU/mlNa1wSzrA8/s640/music+editing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Simply click "<u style="background-color: #0b5394;">Click here to select music</u>" and then pick one of the 26 different compositions that comes with the software or order something off the internet library ($14.95 per track). Then you can customize the composition in the "SmartSound Quicktracks". Each composition has several variations (depending on the length you select, also the variations are quite different) and you can preview/listen to them before you select.<br />
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A simple click and <span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">POW!</span> the music lands exactly where the time-line indicator is positioned. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TOAoYkc7glI/AAAAAAAAAUY/tLQvphMSb8g/s1600/musical+clip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TOAoYkc7glI/AAAAAAAAAUY/tLQvphMSb8g/s640/musical+clip.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
The video software that I choose to produce a 3D video with is Roxio 2011. It can apparently produce several variations of 3D rendering that is viewable with different 3D viewable sources.<br />
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Below is an image of the screen where the 3D source selection is made.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TOAurFLHADI/AAAAAAAAAUc/iM_VFnEmhMg/s1600/Roxio+3D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="344" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TOAurFLHADI/AAAAAAAAAUc/iM_VFnEmhMg/s640/Roxio+3D.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This software also boasts stabilizing capabilities for editing shaky video footage. I tested it and was not impressed. It certainly works to some degree, but my shakiest footage did not fully correct. In fact, I would estimate a half-assed job. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Technically I could fix the shaky footage myself by arranging each individual frame and then cropping the final product to clean up the perimeter, but this would take a <b style="color: red;">DAMN LONG TIME! </b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have been alerted to some software that will do it and it is supposedly free, but I can not imagine why it would be free. I'm to nervous to download such an item. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My dad told me years ago that if something sounds to be too good to be true, then it probably is. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn more about the camera I use click here. </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also have a video tutorial and blog post about <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-produce-video-from-adobe.html">editing with Adobe Premiere Elements 8 here. </a></div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-89046980155148306392010-10-31T10:31:00.000-07:002012-08-09T09:46:31.945-07:00Psychology for Competitive Cyclists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The psychological aspects of cycling should not be ignored, in fact, you can not. Simply put, athletes are not pure <a href="http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/incredible-human-machine-3077/Overview">machines</a>. We have thoughts, emotions, feelings, beliefs and values which in turn effect our behaviors. As a result, athletic performance can be greatly connected to psychological or mental factors. My intent in this article is to discuss psychology for bike racing and identify several skills and techniques, including anxiety management, attention and concentration control (focus), imagery, visual mental practice, and self talk, that can improve performance.<br />
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Let's begin with visualization, or the technique of using one's imagination to picture or imagine specific behaviors or events that have or can occur in one's life. It is important to note, that the act of visualization can significantly improve an athlete's performance. The value of visualization or mental practice is well established in research.<br />
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One such study used sixty beginning basketball players split into three groups of twenty each. The first group practiced shooting baskets from the free-throw line, attempting a specified number of shots in a specified time for a period of two weeks. The second group was asked to do the same thing, but only as a visualization or in their "mind's eye". The third group was a control group and performed neither mental or actual shooting practice.<br />
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Each group was tested at the beginning and end of their two-week practice. As expected, the third group didn't improve. The group who only used visualization, or mental practice, however, improved almost as much as those who physically trained. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Dan Millman 1999) </span><br />
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In another well known study on visualization in sports, Russian scientists compared four groups of Olympic athletes in terms of their training schedules:<br />
Group 1 = 100% physical training;<br />
Group 2 = 75% physical training with 25% mental training<br />
Group 3 = 50% physical training with 50% mental training<br />
Group 4 = 25% physical training with 75% mental training<br />
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Group 4, with 75% of their time devoted to mental training, performed the best. "The Soviets had discovered that mental images can act as a prelude to muscular impulses." <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Scaglione & Cummins 1993)</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.suite101.com/content/what-happens-in-the-brain-during-visualization-a168879">The Brain Cannot Tell The Difference Between a Real and an Imagined Action</a><br />
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"According to Lynne McTaggart in her book <i>The Intentional Experiment</i>, electromyography (EMG) has shown that the brain does not differentiate between the thought of an action and a real action. In an experiment with a group of skiers, EMG discovered that when they mentally rehearsed their downhill runs, the electrical impulses sent to the muscles were the same as when physically engaged in the runs." <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Chadwick 2009)</span> This illustrates the power of visualization. <br />
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This information is <span style="font-size: x-large;">HUGE</span> in it's potential impact on athletic training and performance.<br />
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A few clear advantages of mental practice versus physical practice is that it's safe, you can do it anywhere, anytime, it produces no physical bodily wear, and because mental practice can be error free, there's no fear of failure. For competitive cyclists it's an ideal way to rehearse hairy field sprints, or dangerous mountainous descents, and high speed cornering, etc.<br />
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Here's how I personally applied visualization to my goal of winning a National Championship. Among many details, well in advance of the race, I used the internet and Google mapping to inspect the course that I would be racing on, and later I rode the actual course before the race. Throughout my training and racing season, I visualized the course and the riders that I had raced against the previous year repetitively in my mind. I also mentally re-raced the finish of the previous year's National Championship races in my mind with several variations of possible tactics and with as much sensory detail as I could muster. Always, I would be victorious in my visualizations. I would imagine myself riding flawlessly, no errors, just perfection. I would imagine myself calm, collected, confident, calculated, and alert, exhibiting perfect drafting, bike handling, and apply perfect tactical racing. I would think keywords such as: smooth, invincible, strong, smart, patient, focused, etc. I did this over and over again throughout the year, on my stationary trainer, on long rides, sometimes before sleep and also during travel to races. In races, I would recall the keywords (smooth, focused, confident, etc) to boost my confidence and performance. This virtual training combined with my actual training lead me to believe that I could win and become a National Champion, which in fact, I did. <br />
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I have added <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/11/psychology-for-competitive-cyclists.html">some more material to the topic of "Psychology for Competitive Cyclists". It can be found and read by clicking here.</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here. </a><br />
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<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0743276965&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1932073205&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-68512543104622081992010-10-16T09:32:00.000-07:002010-12-31T08:33:07.786-08:00The best of GoPro and the best and worst of David Henderson<div style="background-color: #444444;">I have a "Music Player" gadget, 4th down to the right. You may run audio from it or the video as you see fit by pausing the music player or muting the embedded video. Enjoy!</div><br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yo3M6EB8kmk?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yo3M6EB8kmk?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
Buy your very own GoPro HD Hero Camera buy clicking the link:<br />
<a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3934056-10701011" target="_top">GoPro® Helmet Camera</a><img border="0" height="1" src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/image-3934056-10701011" width="1" /><br />
<iframe class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/T72h8JC3SSo" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe><span style="color: purple;">The Giro Della Montagna Criterium </span><br />
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<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XKzp9fqUWoA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XKzp9fqUWoA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/10/national-champion-forevermore.html">National Champion Forevermore!</a><br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xt3l69fXl-g?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xt3l69fXl-g?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/masters-national-road-race-championship.html">Masters National Road Race Championship</a><br />
<object height="505" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qrStKbW9UBY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qrStKbW9UBY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/mountain-bike-fail.html">Mountain Bike Fail</a><br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HgAVhmPHZoI?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HgAVhmPHZoI?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/08/state-criterium-and-state-time-trial.html">Missouri State Criterium Championship</a><br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-n1NmWBaw5I?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-n1NmWBaw5I?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/07/ozark-mountain-highroad-time-trial.html">The Benji</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/mid-town-alley-grand-prix-aka.html">Mid-Town Alley Grand Prix (AKA: The Hipslapper)</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/winning-and-losing-at-same-time.html">Winning and Losing at the Same Time</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/05/university-of-missouri-campus-split.html">University of Missouri Campus Split Screen</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/04/hermann-criteriuim.html">Hermann Criterium or a View from My Spleen</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/04/look-out-sucka.html">Look Out Sucka!</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/04/2010-hillsboro-rr-finish.html">2010 Hillsboro Finish</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/03/finish-of-froze-toes-race-feb-2010.html">Froze Toes Finish</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/01/rhetts-run-frozen.html">Rhett's Run Frozen </a><br />
<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here. </a>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-11729246344073899642010-10-13T13:28:00.000-07:002011-01-10T08:57:49.030-08:00National Champion Forevermore.<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XKzp9fqUWoA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XKzp9fqUWoA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
This is my Men's Masters Criterium National Championship video. The race was held at Jeffersonville, Indiana on August 7, 2010.<br />
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The best part is........ that I WON!!!! I Won a friggin' National Championship!!!! I'm a National Champion forevermore! It's in the record books Dude! <br />
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Now, I know there are plenty of people who would say, "Big deal, you beat a bunch of 40 year-olds at some bike race". Well, that's true, but that same kind of attitude can be applied to all achievements. For example, "You climbed Mt. Everest? Big deal, all you had to do was go up an incline." Or, "You walked on the moon? Big deal, try Mars, now, that would be impressive." Some people think this way. <br />
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For me, this National Championship win, was my crowning achievement for my entire career of racing bicycles. It was something that was very difficult to achieve and many others would like to do the same. I've had friends tell me that if they won a National Jersey, they would "sleep in it", and have "sex with it". It means that much and it's that good. <br />
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So here's my cliff notes from the race. First I must give a shout out to my friends Bob Cummings and Maurice Hessel. They both treated me like a true team-mate even though we aren't officially (it's not uncommon for local competitors to become allies while abroad). Both Bob and his wife treated me like family and offered me shelter and great company during the "off-times". Maurice played a key role in giving me critical information during the race. <br />
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Critical indeed, for most of the race I was hanging in the back (as per usual for me). Maurice let me know what's up from the side-lines. Actually, at one point I thought my race was all but over. About half-way into the race, a break-a-way of several riders had gained over 24 seconds on the field. Maurice's split times eventually told me another story. The gap was closing; the break-a-way was going to get caught. Game back on!!!!! And the rest was timing and pure effort on my part. It is well documented in the video above.<br />
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In my video, I should point out that at minute 2:34, I came up quickly on a group of riders while I am trying to bridge up to the winning break-a-way. These are lapped riders! At first it freaked me out. I had to be patient and wait to pass (@3:05) because of a series of turns. This allowed my chasers to reattach, but I went again. To some degree the lapped riders helped to slow my chasers, but not much.<br />
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I caught the lead break-a-way at minute 4:05 (in this video) and attacked at minute 4:21 and took Dan Martin with me. The peloton was closing on the break-a-way as we went.<br />
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According to my video time-line from my raw footage: At 63minutes and 45seconds Dan Martin and I took off from the break-a-way group with about 4 laps to go. We finished about 5 minutes and 30 seconds later with a gap of ...around 7 seconds. The race lasted approximately 69minutes and 19seconds. (I'm glad I have this on video).<br />
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Speaking of video: I wanted to show the entire last nine minutes, but the YouTube limit for video size is 2GB (and I'm right there). So I removed about one minute of me and Dan Martin during our final effort. <br />
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I should also mention that the music in my video is "Plastic Flashing Lights" by Professor Kliq and the last song is "Roller Coaster" by JCRZ. I have aquired licenses that allows me to legally use both tunes for my videos. (I don't want to anger "the man".)<br />
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The below image is a graph of my watt/speed from my SRM data (1% smoothing). As you can see, the race average speed was 27.47mph with an average of 272.4 watts. The last nine minutes I averaged 28.42 mph and 368 watts with a peak of 1262 watts and 35.7mph max speed (with some cross wind). The course was approximately one kilometer long. My data indicates that we raced for 50.81km for a total of 1hour and 58seconds or so. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TLYNFvrqevI/AAAAAAAAAUM/2W7jTEHcCHU/s1600/National+Criterium+watt+chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TLYNFvrqevI/AAAAAAAAAUM/2W7jTEHcCHU/s640/National+Criterium+watt+chart.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>One fact that I should mention is that the front camera video appears very shaky. This is because a piece of one of the extensions to my camera mount fractured during the race. This happened for a couple of reasons. One I added two extensions to the bar mount, in order to place the camera forward of the brake/shift cables. This made the mount a little weak and bouncy. So, in order to stabilize the camera, I added a heavy metal wire that dropped from the handle bars to the extension for support. I then added some rubber-bands for pull-down tension. Apparently, the repetitive road shock (from this and several others) combined with the multiple extensions, resulted in a fracture of the mount. Happily my support device kept the camera on the bicycle and filming.<br />
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The image below shows my forward mounting system.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TLYSoHmD7-I/AAAAAAAAAUQ/88XmTfTVvXk/s1600/front+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="410" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TLYSoHmD7-I/AAAAAAAAAUQ/88XmTfTVvXk/s640/front+2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>The rest, shall we say is history! :-)<br />
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Wait a second..... did I mention that the race was close. I mean <b><i>REALLY</i></b> close. Check the below pictures and you'll see just how close.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TSszojEAGqI/AAAAAAAAAZc/Hduo1VJPNno/s1600/master%2527s+nationals+sprint+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TSszojEAGqI/AAAAAAAAAZc/Hduo1VJPNno/s640/master%2527s+nationals+sprint+-+Copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TSszxB4i7zI/AAAAAAAAAZg/Z4pKxTr_Td4/s1600/photo+finish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TSszxB4i7zI/AAAAAAAAAZg/Z4pKxTr_Td4/s640/photo+finish.jpg" width="410" /></a></div>I would say about 3 inches. But here's the weird thing, I knew I had won (or at least I had guessed correctly).<br />
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Interestingly, I thought <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/masters-national-road-race-championship.html">I had lost the National Road Race Championship</a> by about this same distance last year. <br />
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<a href="http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/08/14/david-henderson-biker-columbia-national-champion-criterium-biking/">Oh, and here's a nice article written by Tom Carbone for the Missourian about my National Championship achievement. </a><br />
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<a href="http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/aug/12/henderson-knows-how-to-kick-it-into-gear-columbia/?sports">And other nice article written by Joe Walljasper for the Columbia Daily Tribune.</a><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here. </a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National Champion!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-4638720920525865532010-09-27T23:17:00.000-07:002013-02-03T16:01:16.258-08:00Aerodynamics in cycling and how to be faster with no additional effort<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There are a number of factors which determine how fast you can ride. The biggest, of course, is your power output, followed by your position, your riding equipment (bearing friction and tire resistance for example), and your weight. Additionally the road grade, wind speed/direction, temperature and even elevation all play factors in determining your velocity on a bicycle.<br />
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Becoming as aerodynamic as possible is by far and away the best way to improve your cycling velocity with the least amount of effort. The below chart (Figure 1) illustrates how a velocity is affected by a cyclist's power output and body position on the bike. Hopefully we all know that the relationship between power and speed is not linear (straight line). Rather, it takes progressively greater amounts of energy (watts) for each mile per hour gained. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKNnLwZlRKI/AAAAAAAAATA/XPsG-V9PbvQ/s1600/power+position+speed+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKNnLwZlRKI/AAAAAAAAATA/XPsG-V9PbvQ/s640/power+position+speed+-+Copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 1: Relationship between Power, Body Position, and Velocity</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKFzXNxIUsI/AAAAAAAAASo/EHGEByEIQLM/s1600/aerobar+vs+hoods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="418" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKFzXNxIUsI/AAAAAAAAASo/EHGEByEIQLM/s640/aerobar+vs+hoods.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Figure 2: The Effect of Hand/Arm Position on Power and Velocity</td></tr>
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Figure 2 illustrates the effects of aerodynamics due to body position. Two important points: (1) again the graph lines are not linear (as mentioned above); and (2) the bike speeds start close together at lower speeds and progressively separate. With each additional watt, the more aero-position (aerobars) becomes increasingly faster than the less aero-position (hoods). </div>
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<b style="color: red;">Does Equipment and Weight Matter? </b></div>
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Having aerodynamic equipment is typically far more important than having light equipment. For example: two kilograms of weight savings for me would only drop my 40K TT by 3.6 seconds on a flat course. Yet just adding an aerodynamic fork vs using a standard fork can mean a decreased time of about 30 seconds or even more for an over-sized round fork - up to 50 seconds.</div>
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Weight does play an important role for climbing, and accelerating and for rotating parts such as wheels, shoes, pedals and cranks. In a nutshell, lighter is better. But keep in mind that once your equipment is up to speed its weight becomes <strike>significantly</strike> incredibly less important (including wheels). Once you have broken the 10 mile per hour speed (16 kph) barrier (no wind) aerodynamics is again king for determining ultimate velocity. At speed below 10 mph (16kph) aerodynamics are generally not in play. See Figure 3 (below) for an illustration of road grade, speed, position and aerodynamics. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKF6iaE1agI/AAAAAAAAASs/oi3DGMYeFtE/s1600/speed+grade+position.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="450" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKF6iaE1agI/AAAAAAAAASs/oi3DGMYeFtE/s640/speed+grade+position.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 3: road grade, position and aerodynamics v. speed</td></tr>
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The funny thing about cycling and hills is that you can not recapture the loss of speed from climbing by going down the same hill. Let me give specifics to illustrate this: I can ride 10 miles (16.1 km) on a flat road, in my drops, at an average speed of 26.18 mph (42.1 kph) in 22.92 minutes at 340 watts. With the exact same effort and position, I would travel up a 5 mile (8 km) hill with a 6% grade at an average speed of 12.59 mph (20.26 kph) in 23.84 minutes. Going downhill, I would average 41.94 mph (67.5kph) and complete the descent in just 7.15 minutes. The combined incline and decline results would give an average speed of 19.36 mph (31.15 kph) and a travel time of 30.99 minutes. In short, this hilly course (the same total distance as the flat course) would slow my average speed down by 6.82 mph (10.97 kph) and add 8.07 minutes total travel time compared to a flat course. Incidentally, if I didn't pedal at all on the down hill section I would only lose another 0.76 mph (1.2 kph) average speed and add 1.25 minutes to the total travel time. There is not a good performance return for pedaling down steep hills. </div>
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<b style="color: red;">Do Tires Matter?</b></div>
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Figures 4 and 5 (below) provide additional support, and are followed by real treat for readers who are techno geeks like myself. The figure 4 shows that narrower tires have greater rolling resistance, but yet are still faster because of aerodynamics! Figure 5 shows that tubular tires have less rolling resistance than clinchers. (So tubulars are lighter, faster, and corner better.... yes they cost more).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKGCpRGUtJI/AAAAAAAAASw/3Tn4d9Wfkr0/s1600/rolling+resistance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKGCpRGUtJI/AAAAAAAAASw/3Tn4d9Wfkr0/s640/rolling+resistance.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 4: Effect of Tire Width on Rolling Resistance</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKGDNbId43I/AAAAAAAAAS0/71lcZES9uZM/s1600/tubular+rolling+resistence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="474" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TKGDNbId43I/AAAAAAAAAS0/71lcZES9uZM/s640/tubular+rolling+resistence.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 5: Effect of Tire Width on Power Output</td></tr>
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<b style="color: red;"> Bike Calculator</b></div>
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And now the real treat (or at least I think it's the bomb) is a bike performance calculator. It is massively cool for allowing you to see the effects of wind, weight, power, temperature, elevation, body position, and even tires on cycling performance. After inputting a few values, this handy calculator will determine your velocity, time, calories, and weight loss. From my real world experiences, I have found it to be amazingly reliable, but I should point out that it is only a model and is not without some degree of flaw. But judge for yourself. </div>
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Figure 6 (below) is an photo image of the calculator , and if you click on the title you will be linked to the site that hosts it. I have also added it to my sidebar as a link titled "Bike Calculator" under "Links to people and things that I like". </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bikecalculator.com/veloUS.html">Figure 6: Bike Calculator</a></td></tr>
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<b style="color: red;">Drafting Aerodynamics </b></div>
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The effects of aerodynamics is HUGE in road racing, time trials, criteriums, and even sprinting. For example, drafting can reduce oxygen costs by 25 to 40 percent. Figure 7 (below) offers a great illustration of the effects of aerodynamics and drafting: a world class track team time trial riders can produce the following average wattages in a pace-line (traveling around 35 mph): </div>
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First rider will produce around 607 watts (+/- 45), </div>
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2nd rider 430 watts (+/- 39), </div>
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3rd rider 389 watts (+/-32), </div>
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4th rider 389 watts (+/-33). </div>
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Notice that there is a decreasing advantage drafting in 3rd position over 2nd, but no further advantage after 3rd position. (From this and other points within this post you can deduce that your front wheel is more important than your rear wheel concerning aerodynamics and performance, yet the rear wheel still matters!)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 7: Drafting Aerodynamics Illustrated</td></tr>
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Ideal drafting greatly reduces a riders energy expenditure (as discussed above) and is a critical component of bicycle racing.</div>
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In order to increase your velocity while sprinting, it is extremely valuable to have a good aerodynamic form. This means producing the smallest frontal area possible, along with a streamlined position. So put your head low, back flat, and ideally keep your elbows in (if power can still be generated sufficiently). Mark Cavendish and all the sprinters <a href="http://www2.lequipe.fr/redirect-v6/homes/Cyclisme/breves2010/20100708_193656_la-strategie-gagnante-de-htc.html">pictured in the photo in this link</a> have perfect aerodynamic form while sprinting. </div>
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<b style="color: red;">Conclusion:</b></div>
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To summarize, an aerodynamic wheel is more valuable than a lighter wheel for <i>most</i> racing applications. Weight plays a larger role concerning velocity during acceleration and hill climbing (especially for rotating parts such as wheels, shoes, pedals and cranks). On flat courses, after accelerating, the weight of a wheel (etc) is almost a non-factor when compared to the performance effects of a highly aerodynamic wheel. </div>
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A rider would be wise to ride in an aerodynamic position at all times where the speed is above 10mph even when drafting in a field (riding in the drops vs sitting up with hands on the bars). </div>
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Pedaling hard down descents is not very productive due to the increasing effects of wind resistance. Average speed can be increased on a hilly courses by careful disbursement of increased effort on uphills and lessening to no effort on descents vs a constant effort over that same distance.</div>
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Consider the information provided here and ride accordingly. Your senses can not perceive the energy savings or the speed increases from good cycling form, but all of the measures devices (speedometer, watt-meter, etc.) can and will. It can make the difference between winning and losing. </div>
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If I can think of any more useful points I will add them to this post over time. Any suggestions are appreciated! </div>
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here. </a></div>
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David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-12835249149880305412010-09-25T19:42:00.000-07:002010-10-31T13:30:02.501-07:00Mountain Bike FailUsually I post my video first and then put the write up after. I think in this case a viewer would be <i>slightly</i> better off reading this build-up first. <br />
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The following video is actually not serious at all, but is meant to be humorous. I admit it's not Jim Carey funny, but more like David Henderson funny. Of course I'm not paid as much as Jim and this video may explain why.<br />
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At any-rate, it is important for my viewers to know that I am <i>trying</i> to be serious and that I am <i>trying</i> to stay focused to accomplish my goal of climbing a steepish rocky climb that's a bit difficult. <br />
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In my defense something distracted me. Damn it! <br />
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This is so <b>embarrassing!</b><br />
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<div style="background-color: #444444;"><i><b>[ Special Note: I have a "Music Player" gadget, 4th down to the right. You may run audio from it or the video as you see fit by pausing the music player or muting the embedded video. Enjoy!]</b></i> </div><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here. </a>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-1649722656657066702010-09-16T13:29:00.000-07:002010-10-31T13:31:33.203-07:00Masters National Road Race Championship<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"></div><i><b>[Special Note: I have a "Music Player" gadget, 4th down to the right. You may run audio from it or the video as you see fit by pausing the music player or muting the embedded video. Enjoy!]</b></i><br />
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The above video of the USA Cycling Masters Road National Championship Men 40-44 was shot at Louisville Kentucky on August 6, 2010.<br />
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Before I can properly discuss this race I have to review last year's National Championship. Several people were affected by it (including myself) and I believe that the results had significance on this year's race.<br />
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Last year Roger Aspholm and I were in the leading break-a-way (leading by something like 20 seconds) on the final lap of the National Championship race. I jumped first with 400 yards to go up a moderate incline and into the finishing chute of the course. Eventually Roger inched up alongside me, until we were neck and neck charging to the finish line. We both threw our bikes at the line and I instantly knew that he had beaten me by a couple inches. It was so damn close! I missed a National Championship title by the closest of margins! Flashing through my mind were all of the countless hours of training, the expenses of equipment, traveling, and entry fees, along with the sacrifices, the suffering, and the hopes and dreams for this one moment, only to be beaten by a nip at the line! I let it out in a roar as I came to a halt.<br />
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But then, things went from bad to worse!<br />
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My friend Fred came up to me and said, "You better go protest."<br />
"Protest?" I said, "I just got beat. There's nothing to protest."<br />
"You guys did an extra lap." Fred says, "They've got it all screwed up."<br />
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It turned out that we had indeed done an extra lap. There were several reasons why. 1. The finish was on an attached chute or arm of the course (not on the main course). The course was never closed for the finish. In fact the pace motorcycle had led Roger and I around for another lap! Race officials said that the course was left open to allow lapped riders (on a 5 mile course) to continue racing. 2. The lap counter was at zero on lap two and one. 3. Roger asked the pace motorcycle/official what lap we were on. The official indicated one more to go (he was also confused, it was bell lap). 3. On the bell lap, there was no bell for Roger and me. Apparently the bell ringer thought Roger and I were not the lead riders, but instead were lapped riders (there were many). 4. The bell ringer did ring the bell for chasing riders behind us (several people told me this).<br />
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So on what was the actual finishing lap Roger and I were clearly in the lead by a significant margin. As we missed the finishing chute, spectators began yelling at us to turn back, but we had already made our turn and their shouting just sounded like cheering. (this next part is from spectators/friends accounts) The next group of three also started to make the wrong turn, but they were able to understand the crowd's pleas and they turned around and started racing to the finish line, but they were caught by another chase group and passed in the sprint.<br />
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My understanding is that what would have been 5th place became 1st place. Roger and I were officially placed at 53rd 54th. They denied our protest and said that, "it is the riders responsibility to know the course." And that was that.<br />
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I took it a bit easier than Roger, mainly because I felt I was only cheated out of second place. For Roger it was the National Title. He swore he would never do another Masters National race again. He wasn't too happy about the whole thing.<br />
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The next day was totally different. I experienced something that I totally didn't expect. In fact, even now, I'm still impressed by it. I don't think I have ever heard of something like it in competitive sports. <br />
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Daniel Casper was officially awarded the second place medal in our Masters National Road Race. He came up to me and said, "This is yours", and handed me the silver medal from the previous days National Championship race. I was amazed and I told him how much I appreciated it (and I really did). In my book Daniel Casper is the true definition of a Champion: first among competitors in honor and integrity. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJJzI730IkI/AAAAAAAAARw/Sm9OOGhUjDw/s1600/Daniel+Casper+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJJzI730IkI/AAAAAAAAARw/Sm9OOGhUjDw/s640/Daniel+Casper+-+Copy.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>So that's the background story leading up to this year's race that is featured in the above video. Some things did change and some didn't. The race officials went all out this year. The course was completely closed off and did not have a special finishing chute. The lap counter was high tech and digital. The announcers were highly professional. The officials even required riders to wear electronic chips to keep track of the riders in the race. I was told (but I can't confirm) that last year's chief official was not invited to return.<br />
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So what didn't change? The course was the same, and the race roster was nearly the same, including one Roger Aspholm. He swore he wouldn't come back! When I saw his name of the list of registered riders, I thought, "Damn it, he's going to be hard to beat!" <br />
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Damn straight, he won again! (Sorry for the video spoiler). I did the best I could, but I was pretty spent after a bridge-up to the lead break-a-way. I never really recovered.<br />
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After the race I saw Roger and I said, "How did you do?" (I really didn't know yet)<br />
He looked at me and smiled, "I won."<br />
I congratulated him. I was really happy for him and said, "Well, that ought to help make up for last year."<br />
"A little." He smiled again. <br />
To which I said, "I'll do well tomorrow. I always race better on the second day."<br />
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Damn straight!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJJ6d4JzrvI/AAAAAAAAAR4/oR4kNBEw0uE/s1600/masters+rr+watt+chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJJ6d4JzrvI/AAAAAAAAAR4/oR4kNBEw0uE/s640/masters+rr+watt+chart.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJIi2-3_NLI/AAAAAAAAARg/aHA0r0EvtNA/s1600/rr+results+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJIi2-3_NLI/AAAAAAAAARg/aHA0r0EvtNA/s640/rr+results+1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJIlF3SB30I/AAAAAAAAARo/9hqnvgI_YOQ/s1600/rr+results+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJIlF3SB30I/AAAAAAAAARo/9hqnvgI_YOQ/s640/rr+results+2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here. </a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJIlF3SB30I/AAAAAAAAARo/9hqnvgI_YOQ/s1600/rr+results+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJIi2-3_NLI/AAAAAAAAARg/aHA0r0EvtNA/s1600/rr+results+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TJIlF3SB30I/AAAAAAAAARo/9hqnvgI_YOQ/s1600/rr+results+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-68133068599917445872010-09-03T09:34:00.002-07:002013-05-27T13:18:49.463-07:00BUY THE BEST HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO CAMERA FOR BICYCLES.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-3934056-10701597" target="_top"><br />
<img alt="Buy GoPro HERO Camera at GoPro.com" border="0" height="250" src="http://www.tqlkg.com/image-3934056-10701597" width="300" /></a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TIEYonMahmI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/3FBQI06IdY4/s1600/chest+mount.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TIEYonMahmI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/3FBQI06IdY4/s200/chest+mount.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The chest mount</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TIEY5xCGK_I/AAAAAAAAAQY/jZ3IQvRI7eU/s1600/attach+to+helmet.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TIEY5xCGK_I/AAAAAAAAAQY/jZ3IQvRI7eU/s200/attach+to+helmet.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">vented helmet mount, quick release</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TIEZPhWi2GI/AAAAAAAAAQg/Q1WiI9KcsgU/s1600/helmet+mount.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TIEZPhWi2GI/AAAAAAAAAQg/Q1WiI9KcsgU/s200/helmet+mount.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">vented helmet mount</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TIEZo3umllI/AAAAAAAAAQo/FBPXgvg5nXA/s1600/head+strap+mount.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TIEZo3umllI/AAAAAAAAAQo/FBPXgvg5nXA/s200/head+strap+mount.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">seatpost mount</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">under stem off of spacer using bar mount</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my front mount with homemade stabilization braces </td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UwkdJ8lmvbE/T8UjxFWFM7I/AAAAAAAAAoc/DNeJpseR1NE/s1600/double+trouble.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UwkdJ8lmvbE/T8UjxFWFM7I/AAAAAAAAAoc/DNeJpseR1NE/s320/double+trouble.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The best camera for videoing your world from a bicycle is without a doubt the HD Hero camera from GoProCamera. Of course proof is in the pudding, or video as they say. Check my humbly submitted video samples at the bottom of this post and scan the information below and decide for yourself. Note: my videos where recorded with the Hero HD camera and since that time the GoPro has released the Hero2 and now the Hero3. While my video quality is quite good - as you can see for yourself - the current Hero3's (soon to be your multipurpose video camera) video quality is significantly better. <br />
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This camera is hands free (or hands on if you prefer) and extremely versatile. It can be used far beyond just videoing and photographing cycling, ranging all the way from scuba-diving to skydiving, standard photography, time lapse photography and beyond. On this post you will find a detailed list of the HD Hero's stats and abilities, and several images showing a range of different mounting methods that I use for this camera (there are many more, especially if you are clever). I also have sample videos that I have produced from this camera using different mounts as references for videoing from a bicycle, and a couple videos showing this camera's ability to do live and wireless feeds, and the latest video display device that just came available. <br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Just click any of the GoPro links to buy</b></i></span></span> the world's most versatile high definition multipurpose camera from the parent company <a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-3934056-10726108" target="_top">GoPro® HD Helmet HERO™ Camera</a><img border="0" height="1" src="http://www.tqlkg.com/image-3934056-10726108" width="1" />. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">At the very minimum I recommend watching the last video on this post. It's absolutely amazing! It's produced by the GoPro folks and it shows a bunch of different examples of what the camera can be used for. </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">U</span>pdate: GoProCamera has just released a new Hero3 camera that includes a built in Wi-Fi<span style="font-size: x-large;"> that enable<span style="font-size: x-large;">s remote control via <span style="font-size: x-large;">remote or live video preview and remo<span style="font-size: x-large;">te control on smartphones and tablets running the free GoPro app<span style="font-size: x-large;">, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <span style="color: red;">high speed high definition recording (1440p48/1080p60/720p120 fps), 30% smaller, 25% lighter, 2x more powerful than previous models (Hero & Hero2). Also the new cameras include Built-in Wi-Fi which enables remote control via Wi-Fi Remote or live
video preview and remote control on smartphones and tablets running the
free GoPro app. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta;">Below is a video produced by the folks at GoProCamera describing some of the features in their latest release of their Hero3 camera:</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xkEr4JGRXFA" width="640"></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">A recent update: GoProCamera has <span style="font-size: x-large;">developed</span> and released an attachable/removable LCD video screen with a built in speaker for live viewing, and instant playback of videos (with sound) and photos. (see below). </span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: x-large;">Another update: GoProCamera has developed and released a battery pac device which doubles the recording time on their rechargeable lithium batteries. </span>(see below)<br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">Another update: GoPro Camera has added a 3D Hero System. It's the worlds smallest 3D High Definition Camera! (see below) </span><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">Another update: GoPro Camera has just added a Wi-Fi bacPac and Remote. This will allow wireless live streaming videos and photos for viewing on the internet or smartphone. And a long range remote control of up to 50 separate cameras.</span></span></b><br />
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<b>I understand that most folks want an awesome cheap camera. Here's the thing...... GoProCamera's are just that. In the last decade a high definition video camera cost literally a couple thousand dollars (or more) and were quite large, and couldn't touch the abilities of the GoPro. The technology vs cost factors are now at a premium for buyers. Inflation will not allow these (or any other camera for that matter) to become any cheaper. So if you are waiting for cheaper you will NEVER buy any camera because they will only rise in price. If you are looking for better, look no further because there honestly isn't anything better than a GoProCamera. The old saying, "You get what you pay for", holds true with GoProCameras.</b><br />
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<b>GoPro's only real competitor is the HD Contour camera and GoPro honestly blows them out of the water. First of all the GoPro is more affordable because they include a waterproof case. With the Contour you have to pay extra. The video quality is the same because they both use the exact same technology however The GoPro is far superior because of their clever design for mounting systems and their expansion bus for accessories. Specifically the expansion port allows the attachment of a LCD video monitor for playback with sound. It turns the camera into a powerful everyday camera. </b><br />
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<b>Currently only the best version of the camera is available (there has been several increasingly improved versions): The Hero 3, that comes in three flavors:</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lDUWejLeIOc/UaOlPGpkoHI/AAAAAAAABss/CkTABO195yg/s1600/gopro+versions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lDUWejLeIOc/UaOlPGpkoHI/AAAAAAAABss/CkTABO195yg/s640/gopro+versions.jpg" width="606" /></a></div>
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<li><b><b>White Edition for $199.99, 5MP camera, 3 fps burst, video: 1080p30 / 960p30 / 720fps, Wi-Fi Built-in, Wi-Fi Remote + App compatible</b></b></li>
<li><b><b>Black Edition for #399.99, 12MP camera, 30 fps burst, video: 1080p60 / 720p120 / 1440p48 fps, </b><b>Wi-Fi Built-in, Wi-Fi Remote included, GoPro App Compatible, Pro Low-Light Performance</b></b></li>
<li><b><b>Silver Edition for $299.99, 11</b><b>MP camera, 10 fps burst, video: 1080p30 / 960p30 / 720fps, Wi-Fi Built-in, Wi-Fi Remote + App compatible</b></b></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Wi-Fi enabled HERO3: Black Edition is the most advanced GoPro, ever. No expense was spared during its development, resulting in a GoPro that is 30% smaller, 25% lighter and 2x more powerful than previous models. Wearable and gear mountable, waterproof to 197' (60m), capable of capturing ultra-wide 1440p 48fps, 1080p 60 fps and 720p 120 fps video and 12MP photos at a rate of 30 photos per second, the HERO3: Black Edition is the world's most versatile camera. Built-in Wi-Fi, GoPro App compatibility and the included Wi-Fi Remote (normally a separate $79.99 accessory) make the HERO3: Black Edition all the more versatile, still.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Record up to 1.5 hours (with the Black Edition; 3 hours with the White Edition) on a single charge and up to 9 hours total on a 32GB SD card (not included). Add the optional battery BacPac and double the battery life (cost: $49.99). </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McZq4fSZsMI/UaOzGerpTyI/AAAAAAAABts/Vp9tJbJH8eg/s1600/battery+time+for+Hero3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McZq4fSZsMI/UaOzGerpTyI/AAAAAAAABts/Vp9tJbJH8eg/s1600/battery+time+for+Hero3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Battery Life for Hero3 video camera at different settings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The Black Edition's camera can also shoot automatic 12, 7, and 5MP photos at .5/1/2/5/10/30 and 60 second intervals during your activity, hands free. Press the shutter button once at the start of your activity and record up to 3 hours (with battery BacPac) of poster-print quality photos of you and your friends, living it up.<br />
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Included are mounts for attaching the camera to three helmets and two pieces of gear or vehicles, as well as a head strap allowing you to wear the camera like a headlamp. You can also pull this strap over helmets for easy camera sharing between friends. One of the above mentioned helmet mounts is a lace-through strap-mount designed for vented helmets.<br />
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The HD Helmet HERO is compatible with all other GoPro Hero camera mounting accessories, so it's very easy to expand the functionality of your camera to also suction cup to vehicles, clamp to bike handlebars and seat posts, mount to surfboards, and even be worn on the wrist or chest.<br />
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Waterproof to 197'/60m and protected from rocks and other hazards thanks to its removable polycarbonate housing. Replacement housings and lens kits are available, making repairs or refurbishing your HD HERO camera affordable and convenient. It's a GoPro... go for it. (TM)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uQjwpl5Xwkg/UaOwMH7M9eI/AAAAAAAABs8/90KxgZzfrnE/s1600/camera+specs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uQjwpl5Xwkg/UaOwMH7M9eI/AAAAAAAABs8/90KxgZzfrnE/s640/camera+specs.jpg" width="622" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera comparison between the Hero3 White Edition, Silver Edition, and Black Edition</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WTJ2CVNTRj8/UaOwVwslsKI/AAAAAAAABtE/jF4oGOXvb6s/s1600/stats2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WTJ2CVNTRj8/UaOwVwslsKI/AAAAAAAABtE/jF4oGOXvb6s/s640/stats2.jpg" width="606" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera comparison between the Hero3 White Edition, Silver Edition, and Black Edition</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t0XCdS9iug0/UaOwVzgdiZI/AAAAAAAABtI/KH3q4CQaTi4/s1600/stats3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t0XCdS9iug0/UaOwVzgdiZI/AAAAAAAABtI/KH3q4CQaTi4/s640/stats3.jpg" width="634" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera comparison between the Hero3 White Edition, Silver Edition, and Black Edition</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PvZXwVNfhVU/UaOwV0_SBVI/AAAAAAAABtM/syhFhd6-5Hs/s1600/stats4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PvZXwVNfhVU/UaOwV0_SBVI/AAAAAAAABtM/syhFhd6-5Hs/s640/stats4.jpg" width="590" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera comparison between the Hero3 White Edition, Silver Edition, and Black Edition</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iyAKF46kyJg/UaOwWAQo63I/AAAAAAAABtU/qfaTY-lN444/s1600/stats5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="516" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iyAKF46kyJg/UaOwWAQo63I/AAAAAAAABtU/qfaTY-lN444/s640/stats5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera comparison between the Hero3 White Edition, Silver Edition, and Black Edition</td></tr>
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<b>What's Included (Black Editon):</b><br />
* 1 HD HERO Camera (12 megapixels)<br />
* 1 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery<br />
* 1 Waterproof Quick-Release Housing (197'/60m)<br />
* 1 Curved, 3M (TM) Adhesive Mounts<br />
* 1 Flat, 3M Adhesive Mounts<br />
* 1 Three-Way Pivoting Side Arm Assembly<br />
* 1 Quick-Release Buckles\<br />
* 1 USB Cable<br />
* Assorted Mounts and Hardware<br />
* Warranty: One Year<br />
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<b>Camera Optics (HD Hero3 Black edition):</b><br />
*2x Better low-light performance<br />
* ultra sharp f/2.8 6-element aspherical glass lens<br />
*170 degree FOV (including 1080p)<br />
*90 degree FOV<br />
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<b>Audio (Standard HD Hero)</b><br />
* Microphone: Built-in, mono with AGC (automatic gain control)<br />
* Audio Format: 48 kHz, AAC audio compression<br />
* Supports optional 3.5mm stereo mic adapter<br />
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<b>Camera Connectors & Cables</b><br />
* PC Connection: USB 2.0 (data connection and battery charging)<br />
* HDTV Out: HD NTSC & PAL (component cable incl.)<br />
* Audio Out: Combo 2.5mm jack with stereo audio and composite video out<br />
* PC Compatibility: Windows Vista, Windows 7; Mac OS X 10.5 and later<br />
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<b>Power & Battery</b><br />
* Battery Type: Rechargable 1100 mAh lithium-ion<br />
* Battery Life: see battery life charts above<br />
* Charging: via USB to computer or optional power adapter<br />
* Charge Time: 80% capacity after 1 hour with optional power adapter; or 2 hours with a computer's USB port<br />
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<b>Waterproof Camera Housing</b><br />
* Depth Rating: Up to 197 feet / 60 meters<br />
* Construction: Polycarbonate and stainless steel<br />
* Hardware: Stainless steel<br />
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<b>Size & Weight</b><br />
* <span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">Dimensions (H x W x D): 1.6" x 2.4" x 1.2" (42mm x 60mm x 30mm)</span><br />
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* Weight: 3.3 oz (94g) including battery / 5.9 oz (167g) including housing</div>
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This blog site is dedicated to road bicycle racing, tips, training/racing information and of course lots of videoing of racing. I am completely blown away at how cool this camera is. The video quality is awesome, the camera is small and mounts in a ton of ways. I still can't believe how smooth the video picture is during rough filming. This camera is simply amazing. (check my videos for proof).<br />
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Below are samples of mounting methods for the HD Hero Camera that I have personally used. <br />
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There are literally too many mounting methods to list here, but I did show my favorites that I use.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TJlGm1EvAs8?rel=0" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe><br />
The above video shows how this camera is excellent to record a bike trip. <br />
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This is a video I shot using the both the seatpost mount and the under the stem mount that is pictured above. The video settings was 960p (1280x960 pixels) on each camera.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q6s3znMlC94?rel=0" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe>This video I shot with the chest mount (also at 960p), oh, and a seatpost mount also at 960<br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-produce-video-from-adobe.html">I have a blog post that describes how to use Adobe Premiere Elements 8 software for editing</a>. I spent many an hour learning this software. If you are <span style="font-size: large;"><b>new</b></span> to video editing, my post can save you lots of time and frustration. Keep in mind, there are many, many other different video editing software products out there. This is just the one that I use and am most familiar with. <br />
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The above video is a good demonstration of the helmet mount while mountain biking. It is also notable that the temperature was only 6 degrees above zero Fahrenheit, and on snowy and icy trails. This was my first video with the HD Hero camera (I have since produced 80 or so more). My biggest lesson was to make sure that the camera is securely fastened. Later in the video the camera angle drops after and sudden and powerful jolt. (not exactly a masterpiece, but it still turned out pretty good)<br />
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To purchase your HD HERO Camera, just click the "Get Yours" button on this page. This takes you to the mother ship. Click on "<b>HD Helmet HERO</b>" helmet camera image (bottom left of the screen) then "<b>ADD to Cart</b>". You can easily pay with MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Paypal. Shipping is usually within 24 hours. Own your own amazing, adaptable, waterproof, bombproof, high tech, high definition camera. <br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RTYouZhepSU" width="640"></iframe><br />
GoPro App Tutorial<br />
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Lastly, below is a video produced by the GoProCamera guys that shows a multitude of other sports that this video camera can easily be adapted to.<br />
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<a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-3934056-10701597" target="_top"><img alt="Buy GoPro HERO Camera at GoPro.com" border="0" height="250" src="http://www.tqlkg.com/image-3934056-10701597" width="300" /></a><br />
Now The HD Hero camera has a handy video monitor with audio that can be attached or removed by your command. It makes this already incredible camera even more incredible. <br />
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I have to throw in this video too because it's soooo much fun to watch and pure GoPro. </div>
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David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-6093913951143065412010-08-31T21:23:00.001-07:002012-04-10T11:30:10.348-07:00Bike safe, my survival tactics for road cycling.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Safety first my friends. I mean that. It's pretty hard to ride injured. Even harder dead. I've had a lot of fun riding this year and happily it has been non-eventful concerning interactions with cars while training. That's pretty darn good considering the amount of time I have spent riding my bike on the roads with cars. This year alone I've spent many hundreds of hours biking on our public roadways. <br />
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If you are a grizzled professional rider or highly experienced rider you may feel that you can't learn anything from my list of survival tactics for road cycling. This may be true, but you might be able to add to the list and save someone some damage or general stress. Please review and add to the comments below. I'll update this list as appropriate.<br />
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I have several survival tactics for staying alive/injury free while bicycling. They are as follows:<br />
1. I try to always wear my helmet.<br />
1.5 <b>Never ride against traffic </b><span style="font-size: x-small;">(this is an update, submitted by a reader)</span><br />
2. I try to maintain my bicycle, gears, chains, cables, brakes, tires and pressure. Cleaning a bike is a good way to inspect for damage. <br />
3. I find that it is safer to know exactly where I'm going to bike ride. This has many many advantages.<br />
a. I know the road conditions such as gravel spots, pot holes, deep cracks, etc.<br />
b. I know where chasing dogs are in advance.<br />
c. I know the idiosyncrasies of certain intersections such as round-a-bouts, lane merges, etc. <br />
4. Concerning dogs: I try to sneak past areas where I know that have dogs that chase. If an escape is not possible first try to vocally command the dog to "Go Home!"<span style="font-size: x-small;">(this is an update, submitted by a reader)</span> If this is ineffective, a water bottle spray to the face may halt a charging/snapping dog temporarily. Just long enough to make the escape. I have found it generally best to slow down and in some cases actually get off my bike. Most dogs are not wild vicious beasts that attack people (even though some love to bite moving cyclists if given a chance). Generally the biggest danger is falling from tangling up with a dog. This can be much worse than a dog bite. If you do have to dismount your bike because a snapping dog is dangerously close and inescapable, keep your bike between you and the dog. The bike can become your shield (and even weapon) to allow you to back out a dangerous dog encounter.<br />
4.5 Concerning dogs and group riding: Same tips as above with a few amendments. <br />
a. Inform others of known areas with chasing dogs in advance. This allows others to expect and anticipate difficulties, and bike more defensively.<br />
b. try to pass known areas with chasing dogs with stealth (quick and quiet)<br />
c. When a charging dog is spotted yell out to others "DOG!" and direction of the animal missile.<br />
d. large groups can not possibly get away from a chasing dog (the group will be in a line of some sort), so anticipate braking or possible erratic bike handling. <br />
e. It is ideal if an experienced rider would pull out of the line and block/shield the group from the charging dog. This person should vocally command the dog, use water bottle spray to temporarily halt the dog, or a frame pump for defense if necessary. I personally would recommend using full caution, slowing down until a quick escape can be made.<br />
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<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text">I also like the pepper spray idea, but I've never used it. It's probably a good idea to contact the dog owner about restraining a dangerous dog or call animal control. I have contacted a dog owner after a teammate was rendered unconscious from a high-speed tangle with a pursuing dog. I explained that he could be held liable for damages that his unrestrained dog causes. I never saw the dog again.</span><br />
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5. I ride the same roads, the same time of day.<br />
a. This allows me to be able to predict/anticipate traffic conditions.<br />
b. This also allows the traffic to predict me. Often many drivers travel the same routes at the same times. Predictability is usually a good thing. <br />
6. I try to obey all traffic laws. Not only is it the law, but it is much safer.<br />
<span style="color: red;">[Caveat this is written from a US/North American perspective. The rest of the English speaking world (UK, Australia and New Zealand etc drive on the left therefore most of my advice that I have given should be reversed on which side to go down etc]</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> </span> a. On left turns I fully enter a lane behind existing traffic. Wait my turn and signal just as though I were an automobile.<br />
b. When I'm able to ride close to a posted speed limit, I take the entire lane.<br />
c. I take the entire lane on very technical roads where cars should never try to pass anyone.<br />
d. I never try to impede traffic. When I see cars stacked up behind me, I will often pull over to let them pass quickly. I also tend to pull over when I'm aware of semi-trucks and trailers that are pulling big/heavy loads. I do this partly out of courtesy, and especially for my own well being. <br />
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Below is a really good video illustration on when and how to "take the lane" in accordance with the law governing vehicles on roadways.<br />
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7. I look over my left shoulder for traffic frequently. I have found that if I look back at an approaching vehicle, they NEVER buzz me (as in: come dangerously close). Let me repeat that with a slight variation. If a driver sees you look back they will not drive dangerously close to you, they will pass you safely. Strange but true.<br />
8. I tend to ride relatively close to the edge of the road whenever possible. When riding with a cycling partner I tend to ride to the left of my cycling partner (for conversation), looking for cars and moving single file if a car is noticed.<br />
9. When I see an oncoming car, I always check for cars coming behind me. I can't always do it, but I try to speed up or slow down to avoid being passed on my left, just as an oncoming car is passing as well. It may be appropriate to briefly take up a full lane in a situation where roads are so narrow that should a car choose to dangerously and unlawfully pass you, all parties lives are in jeopardy. Riding on the edge of the road in this case may encourage a reckless driver to make a dangerous and unlawful pass. <br />
10. I try to wear bright colors, and avoid night riding. Yes night lights are a must for night riding(especially very powerful front and flashing rear lights), but I think it's safer NOT to ride on the roads at night. (The trail is great for night riding).<br />
11. I try NOT to assume that cars see me at intersections.<br />
a. At intersections with heavy traffic I will often advance along side (but in a bike lane) and at the speed of an advancing automobile. This way the car is shielding me from all other cars except my right side (where both I and the car shielding me are both visible). Care must be taken that the advancing car is not turning right. I do this by not positioning myself in the blind spot of the driver at the stop. I pull full up to the stop line, just off to the right side of the front bumper and make eye contact with the driver. The driver will see me, and signal appropriately (otherwise I let the car lead). <br />
b. When I see a car waiting to pull out, I am on my guard. If I can not see the driver's face look my way, I stop pedaling and begin to prepare myself for that driver to pop out into my path. <br />
c. I am also on my guard when I see a car preparing to turn left in front of me. (this is my least favorite, because it is hard to know if I have actually been seen or if the driver thinks he can beat me).<br />
12. Before passing a parked car, I quickly look back for approaching cars and then move over just outside of a potential door swing (should it open suddenly).<br />
13. I never "flip off" a driver of a car in retaliation. It's my opinion that there's clearly something wrong with this person, and not a good idea to indulge this person. (I haven't been flipped off even once this year..... pretty weird)<br />
14. I almost always try to ride roads with the least amount of car traffic and consider that traffic is increased going away from the city around 4:00 to 6:00pm and less going toward the city at the same time.<br />
15. I think mirrors are very valuable. I bought one and couldn't adapt it to my helmet. Recently my friend Bob C. let me use his that attaches to sunglasses and it was fantastic.<br />
16. When crossing railroad tracks try to do so squarely (as in perpendicular) to the track (or as much as possible). If the railroad track is wet and you do not cross it squarely, expect to kiss the pavement.<br />
17. Learn to "bunny hop" (jumping both the front and rear wheel off the ground at the same time). This skill can save you from crashing when crossing seams or deep cracks in the road, as well as potholes, and many other unavoidable objects that suddenly appear. At the very minimum always pop your front wheel over unavoidable objects. This will tend to keep you upright. <br />
18. NEVER EVER EVER place a wheel on a bike without skewering it on properly. (This happens sometimes when transporting a bike short distances with the intention of removing the wheels immediately, but forgetting or getting distracted. It's a very dangerous action. I know of riders who had severe injuries because of this innocent mistake.)<br />
19. <a href="http://bicyclesafe.com/">Here's a link to Bicycle Safety: How to Not Get Hit by Cars.</a> It restates what I have said in this post (minus a few items on their part), but they have some helpful illustrations.<br />
20. There is evidence that riding in groups may have a safety advantage. <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/more-proof-safety-in-numbers-cyclists.php">Here's a link discussing this topic.</a> I must say that group riding can produce some safety issues, and I have seen riders sometimes less alert to automobiles with a group (perhaps they think others are doing it for them).<br />
a. it is best to ride known planned routes with riders that you know well.<br />
b. If you are riding with beginners take the lead and/or do not draft closely behind them<br />
c. At slower speeds allow room plenty of room for sudden decelerations or erratic bike handling.<br />
d. The lead rider is responsible for alerting following riders of safety hazards (i.e. potholes, roadkill, pedestrian, deep crack, glass, objects in road, etc). This is done by physically pointing at hazard and "yelling out" the hazard to riders behind. They should do the same for following riders.<br />
e. The last rider should alert the riders ahead when cars are approaching to allow riders to adjust as appropriate. Such as get single file or pull over to allow a back up of vehicles to pass or in some cases take the full lane to prevent dangerous passes by overtaking vehicles. <br />
f. Signal and verbally communicate all turns in advance to your group.<br />
g. anticipate a rider to decelerate when standing to climb a hill and ride off center of their rear wheel so that contact of wheels will not occur.<br />
h. All other safety tips listed here apply when riding in groups. <br />
21. Never "bomb" (full speed/edge of control) a blind curving descent on an open road. There could be obstacles in the road or a your bike could have a mechanical and send you into or under an oncoming vehicle (depending on the road curve).<br />
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If anyone can think of additional safety ideas please add them in the comments section. I'll, in turn, add them to this list. Hopefully an idea will save someone some skin.<br />
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My survival techniques for racing are a bit different and they are as follows:<br />
1. I try to never "half-wheel". This is where my front wheel overlaps the rear wheel of a cyclist in front of me. If they move over suddenly while I am half-wheeling, I could very likely crash (they generally won't crash)<br />
2. Inside line (when cornering 2 abreast) is generally best when cornering. Riders that crash will slide outward. If you are on the inside of a turn, you can ride uninterrupted if someone crashes on your outside.<br />
3. Faster races tend to be safer because the riders become single file. When the pack bunches up, I am on my guard for a potential crash caused by half-wheeling.<br />
4. Run good tires with ideal tire pressures. For tubulars: 110/120 on non-technical courses, 90psi front and 105 rear on technical dry courses, and 85 psi front and 95 psi rear for wet courses. (I've heard of running as low as 80 and 80 for wet courses) Clinchers are all different and riders must consult the manufacturers instructions.<br />
5. I personally skip technical courses in the rain. Professional riders can't do this. If you watch my videos you will note that I do sometimes ride in the rain and that I also sometimes crash in the rain.<br />
6. I try to not ride behind someone who has just crashed or has a history of crashing.<br />
7. For road races I tend to ride near the yellow line. If a sudden crash occurs I can potentially go left (assuming there is no on coming car). Riding the edge of the road can lead to punctures and possibly riding off the road.<br />
8. Never cross the yellow line except for safety concerns. (on coming cars are, of course, safety concerns)<br />
9. Look ahead for obstacles, barriers, cones etc. Do not fully rely on the person you are drafting off of.<br />
10. When a crash is unavoidable try to react quickly and aim for the best landing and try to avoid fixed objects. Prepare to tumble, arms out for initial contact and tuck and tumble.<br />
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Again, if anyone can think of additional survival techniques for racing, please add them in the comments section. <br />
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That's it for this post. Safe riding everyone. And fun riding.</div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-35392669287643315442010-08-23T14:36:00.000-07:002012-02-05T17:11:41.410-08:00Dude your crank length's fine, you just need to gear up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.plan2peak.com/files/32_article_JMartinCrankLengthPedalingTechnique.pdf">"Myth and Science in Cycling: Crank Length and Pedaling Technique"</a> by <a href="http://www.health.utah.edu/ess/Faculty/Martin.html">James C. Martin PhD, NeuroMuscular Function Lab, The University of Utah</a><br />
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I am sooo excited about this particular topic. I've been riding for years and I've never been overly confident that I was riding the ideal crank length. After finding this article I am very comfortable with my 172.5mm cranks. Of course there's basically nothing wrong with the other standard crank length sizes either. Dr. Martin's data shows that "170 mm cranks would compromise the power of the shortest and tallest riders by AT MOST 0.5%. For example 6 watts out of 1200."<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLPDftAWtI/AAAAAAAAAO4/emVyoKPerMM/s1600/LegCrank+Length+vs.+Power.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLPDftAWtI/AAAAAAAAAO4/emVyoKPerMM/s640/LegCrank+Length+vs.+Power.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLOVnHIICI/AAAAAAAAAOw/leRRD8SlKYo/s1600/Max+Power+vs+Crank+Length.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLOVnHIICI/AAAAAAAAAOw/leRRD8SlKYo/s640/Max+Power+vs+Crank+Length.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Another important point 120 rpm is close to optimal RPM (or cadence) when sprinting with standard production size cranks. I'm not suggesting that racers observe their cadence when riding, I just want to point out that higher cadences are generally NOT MORE EFFECTIVE. This will become even more apparent with a later point concerning larger gears being better than smaller ones for sprinting. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLTaT4LBpI/AAAAAAAAAPI/41ickne7kks/s1600/power+vs+Pedal+speed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLTaT4LBpI/AAAAAAAAAPI/41ickne7kks/s640/power+vs+Pedal+speed.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLU6_iAn3I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/avg2Huk-jX0/s1600/more+speed+vs+Rate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLU6_iAn3I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/avg2Huk-jX0/s640/more+speed+vs+Rate.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLVq4TM6UI/AAAAAAAAAPY/tJU2kLcXJrE/s1600/more+1+pedal+rate+and+speed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="475" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/THLVq4TM6UI/AAAAAAAAAPY/tJU2kLcXJrE/s640/more+1+pedal+rate+and+speed.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The summary of the above three charts is that 1. effect of crank length is small and significant only at extreme lengths, 2. 170mm cranks will compromise power of the tallest and shortest riders by at most 0.5%, 3. Pedal speed and pedaling rate interactively limit power, and 4th and most importantly: Cyclists can ride the crank length they prefer without concern of decreasing maximal power.<br />
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The next chart is a biggie.<br />
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The above chart shows that cyclists are more efficient pedaling at 60rpm cadence vs 100rpm cadence. This is big news from my point of view, and frankly I think it's a big big deal. So let me repeat the point....... lower cadences are more efficient than higher cadences, specifically 60rpm over 100rpm<br />
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<span style="color: red;">UPDATE: February 5, 2012: The data from the above chart is correct, and has been supported by numerous studies. However, there is more to it and can be found in my article: <a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2012/02/ideal-cadence-for-competitive-bicycling.html">"The Ideal Cadence for Competitive Cycling"</a></span><br />
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This is amazing stuff. I've been told countless times to get my cadence up. Generally 90 is often touted as the ideal cadence. It may still be for speed changes in criterium racing, but I think not for time-trialing. I tend to find myself falling into the upper 70s when time trialing despite trying to remind myself that 90 is better (turns out that it's not necessarily so). I plan on doing more riding with lower rpms and examine my watt data.<br />
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I know that a lot of cyclists will reject the notion that lower cadences are more efficient than higher cadences. I myself had some initial trouble with it. Generally I have found that my heart rate and wattage will stay fairly constant with different gear/rpm combination from the range of 70 to 90s I have noticed an heartrate upward drift as I go upward into the 90s.<br />
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The findings of this research are impressive (in my opinion). I contacted Dr. Nate Means (biology professor), Dr. Pam Hinton (exercise physiology), Dr. John Bowders (engineering) all to discuss this research document (powerpoint doc. actually) and try to understand/discuss the findings and implications. Nate has referred me to another scientist, Pam basically agrees with the Dr. Martin and John and I are going to chat more about it tonight while biking. <br />
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I was concerned to the point that I contacted Dr. Martin via email for clarification. He confirmed the facts as such: "The effect of pedaling rate on metabolic cost is pretty well established. Heart rate generally tracks well with met cost but its not the same thing. Also, there is individual variability in responses so you may be a bit different than the mean." (Cool Dr. Martin!)<br />
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And that's not all! Check out the next three blocks.<br />
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The summary findings are that the "rate of fatigue was greater when cycling with shorter cranks than longer cranks", and "fatigue per revolution was identical for the two crank lengths". And here's the biggie: "Data suggest that a relatively fixed increment of fatigue occurs with each maximal contraction".<br />
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In short, this means a bigger gear is better when doing longer sprints. If anyone has doubts just set up some sprint repeats with different gears and look at the data from your SRM or Powertap, etc. The bigger gear will win on the longer sprints. This is cool stuff my friends.<br />
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Summary: Common crank sizes are nearly all equal in efficiencies. Cranks size can be chosen for reasons such as ground clearance for cornering/obstacles (shorter), aerodynamics (shorter), or rehabilitation/flexibility (longer). Sprinting 120 rpm is best. 60 rpm is better than 100 rpm aerobically (generally lower cadences are more efficient than higher). Natural pedal stroke is best (do not pull up), crank length has no effect on fatigue, no effect on metabolic efficiencies and very small effect on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1282595671_2">maximum power</span>. A big gear sprint is better than a small gear sprint (for 30seconds) .<br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here. </a></div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-10230313250886278252010-08-14T14:31:00.000-07:002012-02-05T14:31:08.618-08:00State Criterium and State Time Trial Championships<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><i>[Note: I have a "Music Player" gadget, 4th down to the right. You may run audio from it or the video as you see fit by pausing the music player or muting the embedded video. Enjoy!</i><i>]</i></b></div>
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The above video is from the State Criterium Championships that was held in Jefferson City on August 1, 2010. The race started at 4:00pm and was pretty darn hot, around 95 degrees. Joe Schmalz won the race, but I won the Missouri State Championship Title because I was the first eligible Missourian to cross the finish line.<br />
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Mostly I just sat at the back of the pack, lap after lap. It was extremely easy sitting on. My average wattage sitting on was only 241 watts even at the pace of 25.88mph. <br />
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Mid-way through the race I made a serious effort to break free. I didn't get very far at all before the entire pack was in my draft. I simply sat back in the draft until I saw another good opportunity to try again. <br />
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I was finally successful breaking free with only 5 or so laps left and I rode nearly full out, with the exception of letting off a little on the bell lap to try and have a good finish. It is notable that I timed my jump to spring up to 2 riders just ahead of me. I noticed my team-mate Ethan Froese was at the front of the group and figured he would slow the corner for the certain chasers. I drafted off the two ahead of me for a bit and just before the pack caught us I launched again, at a full effort. Joe Schmalz bridged up to me very quickly and I knew there would be no way to beat him once he had latched on. He's a much better sprinter than I am.<br />
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I was mainly concerned with winning the State Criterium Championship. Joe told be that he wasn't from Missouri. As a result my main concern was not to be caught by the pack. <br />
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In the video it may look like I was NOT trying to sprint, but in fact I was. I started early just after the final turn. I must admit that this was a poor strategy. A better strategy would have been to use "sprinter's tact". That is to start the sprint slowly and continue to slowly accelerate to the line. The idea is lure the drafter into either waiting too long to come around or to come around sooner so that they no longer have a draft and then go full out while you still have an advanced position. At any rate, I am pretty certain that the outcome would have been the same. Joe Schmalz is quite good. <br />
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A couple points about the course and the watt chart: The course is actually hilly, so it is generally best to charge hard up the hill and coast down the hill (catch a little recovery) on the opposite side of the course. This makes the wattage very jumpy. As a result I had to smooth the data at 1% so that it would be understandable/viewable. With 0% smoothing the graph is so up and down that it looks like heavy and rapid seismic graph. The smoothing only effects the graph appearance and not the numbers averages. <br />
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I also want to include my <a href="http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1616447&perclass=1">State Time Trial results</a> from the day before.</div>
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Andy Chocha won the State Time Trial Championship with a time of 52:48, I was second with a time of 53:04. Great job from Andy! I totally forgot how good he is at time trialing. Now I remember!</div>
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I put a lot of effort into winning this race (it was the only race that I felt certain I would win), but still came up short. I traveled to Jefferson City and did 3 efforts over a three week period just to get dialed in and really know the course. Unfortunately I made some calculation errors and that lead me to believe that I was faster than I really was. (I thought I was doing 40k all under 52 minutes.... which is fantastic!) In particular, I didn't correctly calibrate my wheel circumference into my SRM device. This lead to incorrect distance measurements which lead to incorrect times and speed averages.</div>
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Check this out: my standard wheel measures 2105mm circumference, my Zipp 404 wheel measures 2073 mm, and my 1080 Zipp wheel measures 2040mm. So the differences in wheel roll out is 0, 33, and 65mm. Speed is calculated by magnet passes with each wheel rotation. Over 40kilometers my 1080 will have something like 19,607 rotations. Entering a 404 Zipp wheel circumference, but actually using a 1080 Zipp wheel, will give .647Kilometers farther distance measurement and .42mph higher average speed measurement than if the correct 1080 Zipp wheel circumference is entered. The standard wheel will give 1.27Kilometers farther distance than the 1080 calibration and .82mph higher average speed on the same distance. </div>
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Point is: roll out and measure your wheel that you are going to be riding, <i>THEN</i> enter the correct measurement into your speedometer device. </div>
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One last point that I would like to make concerning time trials: If possible try to be the first to start if the time trial is in the morning and last if it is in the evening. The reason for this is that wind always slows a rider (even on an out an back course). No (zero) wind is best for an out and back course. Wind speeds typically increase in the morning and decrease just before sunset (not always, but usually). Less wind means faster. Faster means better. </div>
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here. </a><br />
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</div>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-85344682472035706252010-08-03T12:46:00.000-07:002010-10-26T08:42:31.271-07:00Queen City Criterium<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TFhkyqzeBGI/AAAAAAAAANw/L6MvIk5Chg0/s1600/photo%2811%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TFhkyqzeBGI/AAAAAAAAANw/L6MvIk5Chg0/s640/photo%2811%29.JPG" width="595" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broken frame, same crit only last year.</td></tr>
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The above photo is from last year at the same crit that this post is about. Needless to say, I wasn't too excited about doing this crit again this year. <br />
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To be fair, last year's crash was just one of those things that sometimes happens when you're racing. <br />
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Still, it was a bitter pill. Last year the <a href="http://www.mobra.org/MOBAR_champions.php">MOBAR Championship </a>was a close race between Justin M. and me. He had attacked and slipped away solo in the race. He ended up winning in fact. I tried several times to slip away as well, but I was heavily covered and forced to sprint. <br />
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I was in the top several racers coming into the last corner. Someone clipped a pedal and set off a chain reaction of crashes. I suddenly found myself on the pavement. Not only did I not place, but my expensive bike frame was destroyed. <br />
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The top tube was cracked all the way through. A swift kick removed the cracked tube entirely. I was able to replace the frame, rear derailleur, and handlebar tape for about a thousand dollars. I shouldn't complain too much. Retail cost for these items is over $3,000. <br />
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</i><br />
<i><b>[Special Note: I have a "Music Player" gadget, 4th down to the right. You may run audio from it or the video as you see fit by pausing the music player or muting the embedded video. Enjoy!]</b></i><object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ygSXulSLwHk&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ygSXulSLwHk&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TFhvUby6QqI/AAAAAAAAAN4/djO0yNaBaQg/s1600/springfield+watt+chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TFhvUby6QqI/AAAAAAAAAN4/djO0yNaBaQg/s640/springfield+watt+chart.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<a href="http://stlbiking.com/forum/index.php/topic/23455-st-johns-powerful-medicine-criterium-results/"> Race results</a><br />
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This race was won by <a href="http://www.bradhuffsucks.blogspot.com/">Brad Huff</a>. Professional rider for Jelly Belly. He, Nick Coil and Adam Miller successfully broke away from the pack and finished in that order.<br />
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I was very nervous about this course because of recent crashes this year plus crashing on this same course last year. So I ended up hanging in the back. <br />
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Late in the race I did make one hard effort to break-a-way, but the pack reeled me in quickly. This course has so many turns that it is hard to keep your speed and power up. The turns come too quickly. I was able to finally escape and finish 4th. I was pretty happy with that. I most certainly didn't want to sprint for a place. <br />
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<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0015T963C&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B001K5F54A&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myworldfromab-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0000WH75Y&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8417308337737606912.post-36094508494426038392010-07-26T22:57:00.000-07:002010-10-31T13:35:19.510-07:00Ozark Mountain Highroad Time Trial<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE50EQ6k_vI/AAAAAAAAANo/TZ-R8rvz_nY/s1600/location+of+tt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="371" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE50EQ6k_vI/AAAAAAAAANo/TZ-R8rvz_nY/s640/location+of+tt.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">approximate location of the time trial<br />
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Note: the below video has music embedded in it that was created by me. It is neither the worst or the best. Because of copyright laws I can not embed cool copyrighted music, so this was the best that I could do. That was until now. Sorta. On this blog you can click the sound icon on the control panel of my video and mute it. Then select one of the cool copyrighted tunes from my ipod gadget that I have embedded on the right side of the blog. It is extremely cool and the price is right....... free. Enjoy!<br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UzkxLveSs6o&hl=en_US&fs=1?hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UzkxLveSs6o&hl=en_US&fs=1?hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
Here's my video clip that shows the time trial course using Google Earth. It gives the perspective that the course was indeed hilly, but unless you ride it, you can't fully appreciate it's undulations. My maximum speed was 50.9 miles per hour. Over all my average speed was 25mph over the 14 mile out and back course. My average wattage was 297 which includes averaging in my zero wattages (or coasting). Basically once a bike is going over 40mph down a hill pedaling is of no real value other than soft pedaling in order to keep the legs loose. I'm going to guess my normalized power would be around 355 or so.<br />
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Oh, I almost left out a critical point. It was damn hot. Around 96 degrees. My chart below shows a standing radiant temperature of 108.7 degrees. Once I started riding it dropped to around 98 or so. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5s5vux-OI/AAAAAAAAANA/iw417hXwGeQ/s1600/watt+chart+springfield+tt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="385" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5s5vux-OI/AAAAAAAAANA/iw417hXwGeQ/s640/watt+chart+springfield+tt.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I placed 2nd to <a href="http://www.bradhuffsucks.blogspot.com/">Brad Huff</a> (pro rider for team Jelly Belly) who put 20 seconds on me. The results are <a href="http://stlbiking.com/forum/index.php/topic/23384-ozark-high-road-tt-results/">here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5uJXsr6WI/AAAAAAAAANI/GqcH9VYWWek/s1600/springfield+tt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5uJXsr6WI/AAAAAAAAANI/GqcH9VYWWek/s640/springfield+tt.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">standard tt position</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5uRNP639I/AAAAAAAAANQ/IgWRZy4VSE0/s1600/Springfield+tt+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="401" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5uRNP639I/AAAAAAAAANQ/IgWRZy4VSE0/s640/Springfield+tt+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turning around</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5ugo9kSwI/AAAAAAAAANY/X17ptOglDlc/s1600/Springfield+uphill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5ugo9kSwI/AAAAAAAAANY/X17ptOglDlc/s640/Springfield+uphill.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">climbing perspective</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5umR2N_1I/AAAAAAAAANg/GIPOqq8A4JU/s1600/climbing2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h1aGYBI4ikc/TE5umR2N_1I/AAAAAAAAANg/GIPOqq8A4JU/s640/climbing2.jpg" width="515" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nearing the finish</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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Lastly I am adding a short audio clip that is to serve as a warning to all who travel with and sleep anywhere within 30 meters of my teammate (and all around good sport) Benji Bockting. Luckily for me I was able to find my earplugs after a wake up call.<br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-n1NmWBaw5I&hl=en_US&fs=1?hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-n1NmWBaw5I&hl=en_US&fs=1?hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
I really don't want everyone who reads this blog to think that Benji is <i>just a snorer. </i>Oh he is soooo much more than that. I can tell you personally that he does a mean interpretation of James Brown. <br />
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Here's what the Benji has to say on the topic: <br />
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</i></th><td class="data"><i>"just to put it simple there is only one me.<br />
i consider myself a unique mix of rural and urban landscapes. i may have a more urban sense of style but i see more cows and other types of livestock in a week than most "cowboys" do all year. <br />
since i rode my bicycle nearly 3000 this year i have a lot of time to think and ponder the realities of life what is in it, what it can become. this may seem strange to many people but my riding has opened my eyes to the world and wondrous beauty of nature and what a perfect world we live (if we don't mess it up) <br />
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and yes i like sheep. ok, some people are into music some are into art some into sports my true meaning of life is with the sheep it is just what i do(in a nonsexual way) this is my calling and they will always be a part of me.<br />
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just remember there is more to me than meets the eye.<br />
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there are a few things that annoy me in this world and they are: driving vehicles short distances, wasting energy, not questioning authority, people that are hateful to cyclist, people who litter, SUV's, rednecks, ignorance, "clean" humor (aka corny crap that is just stupid), people who call lawn mowers tractors, and rodeo.<br />
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also <br />
eat locally produced beef, lamb goat, pasture-raised<br />
poultry and any other food that you consume and keep your dollars within your communities and support the local farmer this will benefit you and your family."</i><br />
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<a href="http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot.com/2010/09/buy-best-high-definition-video-camera.html">To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here. </a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table>David Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17181661646638612881noreply@blogger.com3