Film Fetsival

Pre Race Warm up Technique For Tour OF Bright.

Monday's Ride

After a number of consecutive carb loading (beer loading) sessions I was keen to get out and hit the dandy's for some serious km's. Short sleave jersey and knicks seemed like a good idea until about 10mins into the ride, but I battled on and then dealt with a less than convenient punture, but it would take more than rain and a puncture to stop me.
It was cold and cloudy in the dandy's with no other cyclists about, 1 in 20 was a nice warm up before shooting across to Belgrave in search of Terry's Avenue. Admittedly I was a bit shocked as I turned into Terry's, and instantaneously was questioning the the 23 I had on the back. It's a tough couple of climbs; the first section peaks at about 19% and lasts for about 600m before a flat section and short descent afterwhich you hit the second section which is about 1.3 km long and averages 12.8% (pictured).
In attempting this climb, I would recommend possibly taking something larger than a 23, especially if you're riding hills like I am at the moment (which can only be compared to a brick trying to roll up hill). In addition I rode Terry's in the wet, this is not recommended, I was millimetres away from eating a face full of handle bar when the rear wheel slipped and nearly put me on my arse. Starting off on such steep grades ain't great.
Throw in a loop of the Wall and it makes for a quite a productive ride, too little too late for TOB.
[Warning: Riding Terry's Avenue may develop confusion amongst cyclists as to why The Wall is called the The Wall]

Every second counts - part 4

OK - this one's a little creepy but for the purest it is just another string to the bow.

In a game where every second counts we look to all aspects of riding fast, from training to equipment. Under the banner of equipment we look at weight and also aerodynamics. In fact, it is aerodynamics that deservedly gets the most attention.

So for this little hint we look at the magic of the skinsuit. Take this one for example: it's so thin it's scary. Made of a material than is so much like our real skin, it can only go towards the makings of a go fast TT.

Remember - if it's good enough for Lance, it's good enough for me.

Note that only one Lance skinsuit has been made - the wearer of this is able to gain well over the standard goal of 1 second per kilometre.

I hear that the Schumacher skinsuit is readily available but you'll need to delcare it at customs.

Track Training

The People's Front

Every second counts - part 3

OK - TOB is drawing closer and while some of us have gone ballistic by investing in some serious carbon based machines I will continue to provide 'little' tips to help shave seconds and minutes from your TT times.

When setting up at TT bike it's important to think about gear ratios. Nice straight through combination on the back helps you get in exactly the right gear, while the right number of teeth up front will help you punch out some pretty big power figures. Take my advice and stop mucking around with 43, 54 or 55 teeth. These granny gears don't cut the mustard so take my advice and get one of these little rippers!

You can see that this is a pretty old photo (this is one taken of my grandad as he was about to head for a training ride in 1952). Now that you have proof that these monster chain rings are not new it's surprising we don't see more of these around. At 124 teeth this baby will easily save you 'one second per kilometre'.

Our tally to date:

• 1 second per kilometre for 'aero head'
• 1 second for throwing yourself
• 1 second per kilometre for massive chain ring.

All up you'll be travelling 33 seconds quicker at Bright's TT!

Pain Men

Where's the finish?

Unigames week was over.
Hard riding and partying leads to good form.
Sunday Glenvale Crit on the horizon.
Hopes are high, might be able to pull something out.
1 hour plus 3 laps - simple stuff.
Set the pace hard from the start.
Sit in for the rest and save the legs for the finish.
50 mins in move forward ready to make a move.
Good position and feeling relaxed.
Pace is hard and think nothing of it.
Round corner 4 everyone starts jumping out of the saddle.
Someone must have tried to move off the front.
I don't see anything.
100m from the lap line it comes to me.
I've missed all the lap calls.
I missed the bell call.
That was the final lap.
Look at my clock, says 56 mins.
Sooo frustrating . . .

Ps. In my defence I wasn't the only person who didn't see or hear any lap calls or even know that we were on the final lap.

Magpie Attacks!!!

Where's the good news???

With these in the headlines:

1. Missing Aussie
2. Tumbling market
3. More EPO in TDF winners

I think I need to get out for a ride.....

Have Your photo taken while you ride.

I love doing the right "hook" turn into Balwyn Road at the Whitehorse road intersection. The Traffic Cameras are very easily triggered by the movement of the bike over the sensor.

Fool me once

If ever I need some clarity I play this!

Unigames RR 2008

Details: 70 riders, Lancefield course 120km (4 x 30km, some undulations and windy.

Starts off pretty fast; belting it out very hard for the first few kms, different riders trying breakaways and so on. My plan and my teams plan: sit in do little work and see how things go. Eventually a break gets away, 3 riders I think, but none of Melbourne Uni’s three Drapac Porsche riders are in the move – thought to myself they’ll chase eventually. 15km in I was quite happy with my position about mid-‘peleton’, turned around and to my shock I’m at the back - half the field dropped in the opening 15km.

From the start line for the next 10-15km we race through a tough head/cross wind and on the second lap I was on the absolute rivet along here, with my only chance that they would back off the throttle soon. Fortunately made it through the bad patch only to sit through the next lap just below the rivet and sitting at the back. Scrambling for shelter from the wind most of the riders spent very little time on the left hand side of the road, it was a battle.

At approx the 80km mark, in probably the toughest section, Daniel Braunsteins (I think) and his bro apparently, make a move together to chase the break. They move off the front quite quickly and at about the same rate, I move off the back of the bunch. I pull up at the end of the 3rd lap pretty buggered, a bit disappointed but I just didn’t have the legs.

To some up: It felt like I’d just done an 80km TT, only there was nothing in the tank for the final 2km draining of the tank. Feel good today though.

Great Race. Good effort from all the Victoria University riders and GO VU!!

Much ado about..........

I have finally worked out what it is that I need to do when out riding for petrol money (ie. trying to earn $30 in an envelope). Simply put - all I need to do is bugger all. I just sit on the back all day, all through the flat sections, all through the mild undulations.

When it comes to the last 50 metres of the climb get out of the saddle and dance on those pedals.

Under no circumstances will I look around or acknowledge those that towed me up - in some cases I might even continue on into the horizon knowing the group with make a turn at the next intersection. Brilliant eh?

As a seperate note - I have been hitting the refresh button all day waiting for Gaz's post. He has a great story about some cycling guy who had some info about some cycling thing.

Every second counts - part 2

OK - time to get hardcore! Here is a tip that won't gain you one second per kilometre because you only get one shot at it.

Do the maths and this means that the total gain over the TT is 1 second but in a game where every second counts this tip can only be to your advantage.

Tip 2: Throw yourself as well as the bike.

Most books will tell you to throw your bike but they never mention the most obvious method to gain precious time.

Perfect this and you've gained yourself 1 second!

NB. For those 'i' dotters and 't' crossers I checked with UCI on this one and the time stops when your head crosses as long as your bike is less than 3.065 metres behind you. No TT rider in the red zone will throw themselves further than the allowed distance.

No Ride Today

There is no riding today, and what do the people think?

A BIT OF TRIVIA, MY LOST REMOTE CONTROL

After a hard ride home I went to turn over the TV Channel to watch "two and a half men", and do you know I couldn't find the TV remote Control. What was I supposed to do? I certainly wasn't going to walk over the Rug and change the channel manually. So I scanned the coffee table, and the Floor. Had Daniel hidden it in his pile of Toys?No. I was getting a bit stressed as this had happened once before, that time I was forced to make Idle chit chat until the much loved remote was found. But this time was serious, "Today Tonight" was now winding up with their last dodgey builder story. Hang on, is that Col on TV with a hidden camera in his jacket framing the dodgey Builder?

Megs had now joined the hunt for the absent remote, then suddenly I heard the cry "Found it!", "Where was it?" I replied, "Under the cussion", came the response. Boy that was lucky I had better be careful now whilst I am not superstitious loosing it a third time would be stretching my luck.

Every second counts

I often get asked "How do I shave a second per kilometre of my time trialling"?

It's a great question and the real answer is that there are many ways that can be done. I get asked this question so many times that over the years I have compiled a list of sure fire methods to help you on your way to the podium. Over the next few weeks I will disclose some of my most successful attempts at 'Going sub 1 s/k'.

For my 1st entry I suggest that the fundamental goal is to get yourself as aero as possible, and today's tip is about streamlining your body surface. Skinsuits take care of most the issues but the often forgotten wind barrier is the head. Each time I watch the TDF (or Giro or Vuelta) I cringe at the lack of attention that these riders put on streamlining the one thing that is going HEAD ON INTO THE WIND.

Tip 1: Shave all your facial hair, including eyebrows.

For those that are serious enough, go to your local BMC (Body Modification Clinic) with your helmet and get them to match the profile.

To give you an idea of what you are trying to achieve have a look at one of my earlier efforts at ‘Going Sub 1 s/k’.

Get this right and you’ll save one second per kilometre.

Secret Weapon

Bright TT - Prep.

Tour of Bright TT has always been considered, by myself, to be a winnable stage, well at least for a bit of pride among mates. I had intended on sneakily trying to steal this from the fellas however in light of some very impressive performances from the boys, I am clearly going to have to make so more obvious changes to my preparations.
So rather than solely relying on training harder I will be dropping the aluminium Giant TCR and adopting the services of Cadel's 2009 Canyon SPEEDMAX (pictures below).

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Crikee there's been a lot of bicycle sponsoring deals going on between the protour teams. Looks like those who like to participate in the weekend 'cycling' fashion parades will have to head out and purchase some new teams kits to match there bike brands soon.

Avast, there!

Avast, there!, today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, So I'm having the day Off. But of course Col, Damn ye , yellow-bellied sapsucker, was waiting again for a Ride, I told him to "Walk the Plank".

Fifteen men on the dead man's chest -- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

Anti Magpie Escape Device

It was just superb weather to ride to work today.

Col and I deviated from the normal path and got dive bombed by a magpie who was travelling at about 100k an hour.

Not wanting to be defeated Col and I have developed a new secret weapon against the magpies, ( sending Col up the road as a decoy doesn't work). Col tested the new anti magpie device, here is a video of Col testing the AMED. (Anti Magpie Escape Device)

Too Wet And Windy.

Boy was it wet and windy yesterday, decided to retreat to the sanctuary of the rollers, as it was bit wild outside, and the house took a bit of a battering.

Col wasn't happy.

Yours in Cycling.

Fridays Ride.

Well I was suppose to stretch the legs over this morning on the trainer in preperation for tomorrows race. Due to the late night and being slightly hungover thanks to Dazza, I'll have to do it tonight.

Col wasn't happy.

Oh here is a running photo taken in park Avenue New York.

Yours in Sport.

Tuesday's ride

Got up this morning at 7.30am and thought 'mmmmm.. I might go for a ride tonight'. It's time I learned how to ride faster so why not head down to the velodrome. If I'm really lucky I'll catch up with the old blokes so they can teach me a few tricks. It's also a great chance to shoot the breeze. I love hearing their old stories about how they used to train and who was faster than who.



Anyway, I was stumbling across some old pics and found this one which was taken at last year's 1 in 20 Hill Climb. I love that amateur cycling can capture runs to 1/100th of a second, it makes it so much easier to to record PB's. At 14 minutes, 12 seconds and 3/100ths I was pretty happy with my effort. Certainly gives me a good target for this year.