Cycling & Track Racing, Vegan-Style!: Race and New Gear!

Hello, brothers and sisters of the revolution! =)

This is a little update of some of the gear i've picked up in the last few months, all from my fantastic supporter, Oak Bay Bikes! But first, some more racing updates:

Tuesday went to the track and did two sets of 6x30 second intervals (30 seconds 100%, 30 seconds rest, repeat) - nasty type of interval - the first few feel good, by the end i just want to die. Bleh. Good for developing recovery along with intensity, not to mention riding hard when you feel like death! Got a new PB in my 30 second Wattage results: 614w, up 36w from my previous high in March - woot!

Racing

Thursday i continued this trend in the weekly racing. First up was the first Madison of the year, we'll be playing with the idea of opening racing each night with Madies - pairing up A & B/C riders, limiting the gears of the A's (84" that night..gotta get it down to 82", which is what it'll be for Trackfest.)

Malcolm and i were teamed up, he's been fighting an infection, so while he's got great technique and knowledge, he wasn't riding 100%. The first half (20 laps total) was neutralized, to allow us to get used to the format again.

(Madison's are a track race where you've got a partner, and basically 'sling' each other in and out every couple laps - the 'sling' or throw allows the currently racing rider to transfer his/her speed to the incoming rider, and the slinger moves uptrack to rest while the other rider does a lap, and then this is repeated.)

When the sprint bell was rung at the halfway mark (10 laps), i had just been slung back in, and we were well off the front, so easily scored the points. Come the end, it was getting a bit more mixed up, and i misjudged his speed (thinking he was faster), so we didn't get a final sling in. He got close, and i gunned it, and passed one rider to finish 2nd, but since Malcolm was technically the 'racer' (we didn't exchange or even get close before the line for the last lap) his position was the 'final', and we got 4th place points in the final sprint, which put us in 2nd overall, tho the top three teams (of five) all had 6pts, so the race itself was well balanced! =)

I enjoy the Maddies, let's hope more riders come out for them!

Next up was a 42 lap (14km) Scratch race (first over the line wins). There were six of us who started - my main threats were Matt B (nice to have him back!), Cooper and Chris A (see last entry for our matched sprint on Monday! He also raced well last Thursday.) Simon C (who's worked his way up to 2nd in the points league) and Mike C, who's signature move is to attack off the front in the first lap. ;)

The race started, and we kept the pace pretty high off the get-go...my kind of race, but it was starting to feel like a fast pace-line rather than a race....so i attacked! Bam! Picked it up, but everyone was still there. A few laps later, attacked again!! Broke up the pack a bit, could see some peeps tiring...good.. After one or two more hits, people started dropping... Once more, and it was Cooper, Matt and myself - rocket!! A couple times Simon got back in after being lapped, but we managed to shut him out after a few laps. ~10 laps to go, i was fading bad.. I was riding a 90" gear, expecting a Points race that night (and thinking i'd be sprinting more, with more recovery - we switched the format since there were only six of us) which was waaay too big for me, and my legs were getting pretty tired from grinding (or at least what's griding to me....350-400w at 100rpm is 'grinding' to me, i'd much rather be up and over 110rpm. ;)

Short story shorter, with 2 laps to go, Matt guns it, Cooper jumps on his wheel, and i wave goodbye...my legs were drained from all my attacks, and continuing in a big gear. Might have been okay in a hot, fast race, but holding 40kph was starting to hurt... So, finished 3rd, and the rest of the riders were lapped 3 times, or DNF'd - woohoo!

Gear!

Now for some fun stuff! Here's some of the gear i've gotten in the last little bit, and my comments:

PowerTap SL

I keep saying this: the PT has changed my life. It's been insanely informative, giving me hard feedback on my strengths and weaknesses, and making it easy to map out how i need to improve.

It makes pacing in a TT a total breeze, and prevents inefficient training (if i'm not hitting or sustaining certain wattage in intervals, it's a sign that i'm too tired, and am better off stopping, as an example. It's often very hard to tell this 'by feel'...)

Final bonus is simply uploading all my training data, and not having to write all this stuff down every day.

From 07-05-25 - NY...

Bell Sweep XC

Got myself a new helmet, since i'd been riding the other one for a couple years, and picked out this one because....it's orange! (And Bell's are about the only helmet that fits right.) There's a cool green one as well, but i opted for this. It also comes with a detachable visor, which i like for the rainy days.

2007 Campy Chorus

Wow..i've been very impressed. I've read it's actually lighter than Dura-Ace, which is nice, since my bike is prolly just a hair under 19lbs now - lightest bike ever! (Well, not counting the track bike!) The shifting is soooo nice, and the brakes are actually really nicely balanced, with the single-pivot in the rear (to save weight) and dual in the front. Normally i'd lighten up with the rear, but now i feel like i apply about the same pressure to the front and back..pretty nice. Carbon cranks have felt super-stiff as well, i'm still planning to pick some up for the track bike. (Maybe not Campy, but carbon *something*.)

Conti 4000 Tires - Orange

Me likey!! Very light, so far quite durable, and great color. Ride wonderfully in all conditions as well. OBB is gonna hate me when i have to order another pair. ;)

From 07-05-25 - NY...

Specialized Pro Shoes

I had actually planned to get the S-Works shoes, with the dial, but couldn't get my size (41) in the orange, so went for the 'step down'. I thought the dial might be fun, but i've also seen some complaints with failure, so maybe i got the right choice...

Either way, these shoes are AWESOME. First thing i noticed was how comfy they are - they fit my foot SO nicely. Perfect out of the box. And of course ORANGE! =)

The other thing is STIFFNESS of the carbon fibre soles. Holy crap. Unbelievably stiff. When i get out of the saddle, it's like i'm walking up solid concrete stairs. Just a nice, big, solid platform under my feet. Fantastic.

Also, got the new 2007 Ultegra pedals - i noticed i kept wearing through the plastic plates in my older pedals, which leaves them feeling 'sloppy', and the new design has a steel plate instead, which is a big improvement. My feet feel much more solid in these pedals now.

Mavic Ksyrium Elite front wheel

I wanted an upgrade from my Campy Veloce/Mavic Open Pro wheel, and went with this several months ago - i've been very happy. Nice and smooth, low-count bladed spokes, pretty light. Nothing special, but no complaints either!

Specialized Toupe Gel Saddle

Most. Comfy. Saddle. Ever.

The gel doesn't seem to make a difference to me (i got one for the track bike too).

That's about it in the gear world.. I also picked up a Sugoi Tactic T for a base-layer, i like it so far! Very light and breathable, doesn't seem to hold any moisture at all.

My first 'big' event of the year is a week Saturday, being the first Trackfest/BC Cup here - woohoo!! Hopefully we get some good numbers. I'm actually organizing most of this race, which is a bit of a nail-biter, but hopefully it all comes together in the end..!

Group ride with the Oak Bay shop tomorrow, i'll prolly try and get some more intervals on Sunday (go away rain!), and Pursuits on Monday, then will chill Tues, rest Wed, do Keirins on Thu, light spin on Fri, and then the big race....eeeep!

Dave Noisy signing off!