Posts Tagged ‘Quarq’

« Older Entries

The planets have realigned

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Late last evening I looked out my front door to find a small box that had been delivered by UPS. I instantly knew what it was, but as I opened the door to grab it I hoped it wasn’t a Christmas present ordered by the Beautiful Redhead for one of the Things Three. Ah, joy, it was what I thought it was… my refurbished Garmin Edge 705!

I’m really thankful that John James has let me use his PowerTap for about three weeks now. Frankly, I think he has enjoyed not having the computer connected to him when he’s riding. I’m glad to get him back on the ball-and-chain.

Me? I’ve been out of sorts because my Garmin busted right as I was starting a serious attempt at training with power. That is why John’s generosity was so important. Thankfully I didn’t miss a single session.

Still, it was weird using a system that I didn’t understand. It took me a while to feel comfortable with the PowerTap computer. I was always afraid that I would clear it when I went to set an interval. It was also very different from large display Garmin.

As soon as I got the box open, I cranked up the computer and configured it. Then it was down to the office where my Giant with its Quarq CinQo was sitting in the trainer. I popped the 705 into its mount and then spinned the crank. Nothing happened at first so I started to go through the 705 settings to rescan. Before I could get there the alert popped up that the powermeter had been found!

Hurrah!

Today I’ll swap out the PowerTap rear wheel with my own and return the PowerTap wheels, wires, and head to John. Things will now be back to normal. Sure, it is a small thing, but when you are starting out on something new — something you are not sure of — it is good to have something comfortable be part of the process.

I do have to say that after using the PowerTap, I am very happy with the Garmin display. With eight possible configurable panels on the display (and a possible 16 with a simple switch)  it is very easy to have as much or as little information as you desire. That is going to be nice!

On the PowerTap I would have to scroll through the selections in order to see the cadence and the time elapsed. Since one of the things Jim is working with me is my cadence (yes, it is too low) I need to be able to keep an eye on it. At the same time, I need to keep an eye on the time elapsed for my intervals. The PowerTap head made that a challenge.

My Garmin screen will be configured with three display panels: 1) watts, 2) time, and 3) cadence.  On the second display that you can access by tapping the joy stick will have other information such as time of day, average watts, average cadence, etc.  Not only that, but a single push of a button will start my intervals.

Once again I find myself very pleased with the CinQo-Garmin combination. It isn’t that the PowerTap did not do the job. The data I received was not noticeably different. However, the ease of use and configurability of the former wins out in my experience.

Finally, once again, a big thank you to John James and Sunshine Cycle Shop. They have been taking care of me for over ten years now and I know they have my back. They can have yours too!

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Review, Training | 2 Comments »

Learning life lessons

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

I don’t believe in fate. I believe everything in my life happens for a reason and is directed by a personal, good, and great God. That means the “good” things that happen in my life and the “bad” things are from him and are good. Where I struggle sometimes is with trying to understand the message in the circumstances.

This has been very true when it comes to my training. It seems that ever since I signed up to have a coach help me reach a higher level, I have been having all kinds of issues come up that make the training a challenge. Is the message that I am heading down the wrong road? Is God trying to improve me — not just physically, but mentally and spiritually — through the challenges I have to overcome?

A theological point here. Some may say, “If God is a good god, then why does he allow these bad things to happen to you?” Well, understand that man is an eternal being. While the body may last for decades, the soul is immortal. So, what might appear to be “bad” in the here-and-now can actually be something that is “good” in the greater reality of eternity.

God is always more interested in the eternal that the temporal. His actions regarding my life that seem to be roadblocks are either to arrest me from going down a road that will bring me harm, or he is placing me in a crucible to make me stronger. Sometimes the answer comes in the here-and-now as you see God’s plan work out in real time. Some struggles you don’t know the answer to until you see eternity.

So, what am I to take from all that is happening to me right now? First there are the physical issues. I won’t go into all the detail because I have already brought it up in past posts. All I will say here is that it has been bad enough to cause me to question whether I will be successful. It is going to be hard to improve if I am continuing to have these nagging pains.

Second there is the scheduling stuff. Adding this training to my schedule is really putting some pressure on me. It is one more thing to fit into an already busy schedule. When that happens, something has to give. It is very important for me to make sure the important things in life don’t!

There are also those nagging little things that come up. For instance, I rushed home last night leaving the office at 5 PM. By 5:30 I had the mountain bike loaded on the car and I was backing out the driveway to do my first night ride of the year at Paris Mountain State Park. No sooner had I pulled out onto the road and the rain started pouring on my windshield.

I don’t mind riding in the rain. I love riding at night. However, I was not going to chance doing my first night ride in the rain. Turns out it must have been a passing shower, but I ended up spending an hour and a half on the trainer. There went my cross training.

Third there is the issue with my powermeter. I chose to train with power. I believe it is the best method of training for me and I had all the equipment I needed to make it happen.

Then my equipment failed. One day about a week after starting my training I started out for a ride. I turned on my Garmin 705 and then started to spin. Typically the Garmin would recognize my Quarq CinQo after the first spin. This day it didn’t.

I started scrambling to 1) find another way to get my power numbers, and 2) find out how to fix my own system. Thankfully, John James at Sunshine Cycle Shop loaned me his Power-Tap. I really appreciate him letting me use it until I can get my own issues resolved. That was my answer for number 1.

The second issue is more complex. Which one was broken — the CinQo or the Edge? I noticed that my Garmin was picking up the HR strap (which uses an ANT protocol) so I figured the network chip was okay. It must be the CinQo. So, I sent it off to Quarq. Turns out the CinQo was working just fine. The Garmin 705 Edge uses two ANT+ chips — one protocol  for the HR strap and another for other ANT+ devices.

Now I’ve got to get the Garmin fixed. How long is that going to take? What is it going to cost?

All of this leads me to the question… Is all of this worth it?

I think it is. There have been many other circumstances that have been encouraging as I’ve started this process. Besides, I’ve only been at it for two weeks! (I have to admit sometimes it seems much longer.) I have the whole year ahead of me and it is good to have some of these issues taken care of now instead of later.

At the same time, I believe questioning my motives is good. If I allow this one aspect of my life to get out of balance with more important ones, I could be headed for trouble. These little issues that come up are reminders to check why I am doing what I do.

God is good. I know that what he brings into my life is for my good – always. God is great. There is no circumstance — or powermeter problem — for which he does not have the answer. This is path I’ve started down. Until God takes away friends like John, has people stop calling me to offer their help with my physical issues, and closes the doors to the great support I’ve gotten from people like Jim and Mieke at Quarq; I’ll keep going.

Perhaps I’ll see why I’ve gone through all of this at some point in the near future of here-and-now. If not, it is still important that I learn some eternal life lessons that I may learn in the here-after. Maybe God is using this training to train more than just my body!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Life, Training | 3 Comments »

Your compact Quarq CinQo is waiting for you

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

I’m a fan of the Quarq CinQo powermeter.  I have a compact crank sitting in my basement right now that I bought specifically to deck out with the unit.  However, by the time I got around to affording a powermeter, I had graduated to a standard crank.

Well, now the CinQo is available for anyone interested in putting one on their compact crank… as long as it is one of the cranks that will take the unit.  Come to think of it, if there is anyone out there that would like to start measuring their power output, I have a very nice SRAM S900 crank I will sell you.

I don’t believe I will be switching out my cranks.  If I need to get some easier gearing, I’ll do it on the backend instead of at the bottom bracket.

Anyway, here is the announcement from Jim Meyer – the originator of the Quarq CinQo power system:

We now have a limited quantity of the 110 BCD CinQo Saturn Compact for SRAM S900 cranksets.   The wait is finally over for those of you wanting to run the 50/34T compact ratios with the CinQo Saturn powermeter.

You can place your order via our webstore: www.quarq.us/store. Orders will be filled in the order in which they are received.

We have plenty of SRAM S900 cranks in stock (including 177.5mm length). You are also welcome to send us your cranks and chainrings to us for the CinQo assembly and calibration.

We’ve received many inquiries regarding the use of Rotor Q-rings with the compact CinQos. In order to use Q-rings on the compact CinQo, you must use the “OCP3″ 110 BCD outer ring. The inner 110 BCD Q-ring requires modification in order to fit properly. We can do the necessary modification here.

Please keep in mind that there are a limited number of these CinQos available. They are on a first come, first serve basis. We will start shipping these CinQos on August 17, 2009.

We will continue to add additional inventory to the webstore as we have it ready.

Seriously, though, I do have one of those S900 cranks in very good condition.  Whether you plan to do the powermeter or just want to upgrade to a nice, light weight, crank with carbon arms, let me know.  We can work out a deal.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in News | 1 Comment »

Figuring out my WKO+ Power Profile

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Once I started using my Quarq CinQo power meter, I ended up with a lot of data.  How was I going to collect it all?  Once I had it collected, what did it all mean?  These are questions to which I’m still finding the answer.

I have two applications I use most often.  There is Ascent – which I use primarily because of the really cool integration of the data from my Garmin and CinQo with mapping software.  I have found I do not use it as much as I once did.  The down side of the program is that it is not as useful as a training tool.

Enter my TrainingPeaks WKO+.  This is my program of choice for analyzing my ride data.  It has taken me a while to learn – and I’m still picking up on how to apply some of the graphs.

Today, I’ll just point out the one that is the most frustrating one – if you take it literally.  It is the Power Profile graph.  At first glance, it appears to be a graph that tells you where you fall in your ability as a racer.  The little vertical bars will show you how you would fare against the competition in the various racing categories.

My power profile... for now.

My power profile... for now.

I have competed in a number of category 4 races since moving up from my category 5 season last year.  If I might say so, I have done pretty well.  So, when I was looking at the Power Profile earlier this season and seeing myself in the “Untrained” section of the graph, I was a little upset.

What exactly is the graph telling me? Basically it is telling me how I compare to myself and others at my peak power outputs.  It graphs my best 5 second, 1 minute, 5 minute, and 1 hour peak power numbers from the last 28 days.  Using my best output, it then tells me how I would do in a race with racers in the various categories – putting technique and strategy aside.

Now, this confused me at first because for several months I was showing up as an untrained racer.  I knew that wasn’t true.  I was at least a category 5 racer!

Of course, the data doesn’t lie, so what is happening here?  Well, when I was showing up as untrained it was because I was riding for base miles.  I didn’t have any high peak periods.

In the last 28 days that has begun to change.  You can see that my 5 minute graph is moving into the category 3 range.  All the other graphs are finally moving into the category 4 range.

So, wouldn’t I know this anyway?  How is this helpful?  What can I learn from it?

According to what I have been able to read about this type of method, I can consider myself to be an “All Rounder” with a little lean toward “Time Trialist.”  This basically means I probably should avoid trying to make my way in the racing world by sprinting! The advantage of this graph is that it helps you determine you strengths and weaknesses in the various aspects of racing. You can then tailor you training to hone your strengths and improve your weaknesses.

I’m pretty certain that by the time the next 28 days have cycled through, I will be in category 4 level in all of the areas.  It will be interesting to see what TrainingPeaks’ Power Profile will say about me then.  That is where the system helps — it gives me motivation to improve.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Training | 1 Comment »

More on the Garmin 705

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

I know I gave my final word on the CinQo and Garmin a couple of posts ago.  However, I had some follow up questions come my way from someone interested in the combo.  His questions centered around the Garmin rather than the power meter.

Since I took the time to craft the e-mail, I figured I would put it out on the blog just in case someone else has similar questions.  If you have any questions about the devices or the combination of both, I will be glad to try to get the answers for you.

The only issues I have had with the Garmin is when I have tried to put a que sheet on it and follow it on a long ride (we’re talking ride lengths of 4+ hours).  It is as though the computer can’t handle it and it freezes.

I have had no problems at all with the CinQo and the mapping conflicting.

The reason I like the Garmin is:

1.  the point-to-point directions
2.  the ability to use the mapping function to follow rides afterwards
3.  the fact that it collects data from my HR monitor and power meter
4.  the way you can configure the screen to show different fields of data

Your friend had something happen to him that has happened to me.  When you use the Garmin with the speed sensor on the back wheel, sometimes the connection between the two gets broken.  This happened to me mostly if I had not been on the bike in a day or two.  The way to avoid it is to make sure you pair the devices before you get to the race location – or at least 30 feet away from other riders.

Anyway, if you do not pair the two together before you go into a group situation, you can end up picking up someone else’s speed sensor.  However, that is alleviated when you use the CinQo.  You don’t have a speed sensor in that case.  CinQo becomes your cadence sensor and the Garmin uses the GPS for measuring your speed.  You don’t have to have the little speed sensor on the chain stay.

Obviously, everyone has their personal habits that are different from others.  Perhaps you would want to use the combo in a way I have not and therefore could experience an issue.  However, I can say that I have reached the point where I don’t even think about it.  It is second nature.

Let me know what you end up doing!

Glad you enjoy the video.  I am hoping to get out there tomorrow night at Donaldson Center and get some there.

Of course, I am simply giving my experiences with these devices.  Other user experiences may vary.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Review | No Comments »

My final word on the Quarq CinQo & Garmin 705

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

I’ve had several different contacts recently concerning my Quarq CinQo and Garmin 705 combination.  It finally drove me down to the basement to do some testing to see if there is a lag in the processing of the data.  I also had to ask myself that if there is a lag… do I really care?

Quarq CinQo Saturn

My SRAM S900 Quarq CinQo Saturn

Some information about me so you understand where I am coming from as I write this.  I am a Category 4 racer.  I do not have a training plan or a coach.  I have a power meter because I love playing around with data.  I am also interested in building a power profile for future training.

Why this power meter?  I was drawn to the Quarq CinQo because of the price, Quarq’s innovative approach to application development, and the fact it would work with my Garmin 705.  Since I already owned my Garmin, it made the price point on the CinQo very attractive.

I do not regret getting my Garmin 705.  I know that there are people who down it as a power collection computer because of some of the algorithms used.  However, as a cycling computer it is pretty stout.  I’m not just talking about the GPS portions.  If I were to buy another cycling computer, it would be another Garmin.

So, what about the two of them together?  What about this lag that people are complaining about?  I went to discover what was up.

First, I have been riding with my new CinQo power meter and Garmin 705 computer with updated firmware for several rides now.  Second, I have gone into my “lab” to test and see if I could isolate a consistent delay in data making its way to my Garmin.  I’m now ready to give my opinion.

In real life, I have to admit that I just don’t notice it.  My approach to data is to go out and ride.  When I’m done, I move the data to my laptop and then analyze what I’ve collected.  I notice no lag at all in that case.

Yes, there have been times when I will bottom out at the end of a downhill and then kick up a new incline.  I will look down at the computer and then start pedaling.  I came to notice that I would not see the data appear on the screen until I had completed one full revolution with each crank arm.

So, I moved it into the lab.  I put the bike on my stand, held the Garmin in one hand, and then started turning the crank with the other.  Let’s see what happens.

I started the crank at dead top center.  On the Garmin I saw a blank line where the power would be displayed. I turned one revolution.  The Garmin registered a zero, but no number.  Hmmmm.  I tried it again and this time did two revolutions.  After the first revolution the zero appeared and after the second the power reading came up.

Wow.  That was a delay.  Now, that didn’t seem to be consistent with what I was seeing out on the road.  Then I stumbled on something.

After bringing the crank to a stop, I started the revolution more quickly.  This time the Garmin was registering a zero before I started to turn the crank.  No sooner had I finished one revolution than I saw the power data appear on the Garmin.  I repeated this several times and could not even time the delay with my stop watch.

What appeared to be happening is that the Garmin would “go to sleep” after a time of inactivity from the CinQo.  When this happened, there was a more substantial delay (we’re talking around 1.5 seconds).  However, when the Garmin was “awake” I couldn’t get the watch started and stopped fast enough.

Quarq tells me that the CinQo starts sending the data at the conclusion of the first revolution.  This will always be the case as long as they are using the ANT+ protocol.  So, if you want power data collection as soon as you move your foot a fraction, I guess the CinQo isn’t for you.

The Garmin 705 appears to take about a half second to display the data (when it is awake – as it would be in most cases when on a ride).  If you take that half second and a quarter second for the CinQo to calculate and transmit, you will be looking at the potential of three-fourths of a second delay.

So, what is my opinion?  If I were to go out to buy a power meter, I would do the same thing again.  The cost of the CinQo is a big factor to me, but so is the fact that they are building their system for growth.  If I don’t like the Garmin, there are other computers I can connect it with — even the iBike.  There will be even more to come.

I ride with friends who have Powertaps.  One particular riding buddy is a very similar rider to me (a much more experienced rider, but very close in build and riding style).  It is very interesting to see how similar our data is in WKO+ following a ride.  I am confident my system is doing as good of a job as the Powertap system.

What about the SRM?  Well, they aren’t letting me test their meter and I can’t afford it.  I do like the SRM for one of the same reasons I like the CinQo over the Powertap – it is crank mounted and not part of the rear hub.  However, I cannot say that I have compared the two in any way.

Here is the bottom line for me.  I have had absolutely zero problems with the construction or capabilities of my CinQo.  The Garmin is a known item that might do so many things well it isn’t necessarily the best for collecting data.  To me, its other positives outweigh that negative.  I have been given no reason not to be happy with my Quarq CinQo.

The apparent lag?  I know it might be important to some people, but I just don’t care.  Perhaps if I were a professional it might be a bigger deal to me.  However, for an amateur like me, I highly recommend this system.

The Quarq CinQo has given me consistent data for multiple months. I can say that the data I’ve analyzed has told me a lot about myself.  I have adjusted my riding to strengthen my weak points and been encouraged by the gains I’ve seen.

They say that ignorance is bliss.  Perhaps I am just ignorant of some major flaw in the product.  I have not experienced anything close to being what I could call a flaw or failure.  I am a very happy Quarq – and Garmin – customer.  Someone is going to have to have a pretty strong argument to make me otherwise.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Review | 4 Comments »

It was like an evening time one day classic

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Last night I managed to get out on a group ride. Wednesday was a short spin for me, but that was the first time back on the bike since Sunday afternoon. It has been even longer since I had ridden in a group.

This was just an unofficial ride with some friends. Eight of us headed off toward the base of Paris Mountain and over near Travelers Rest. We would turn around out there and then head up Paris and then back home.

John James was out of the blocks fast. Matt Tebbetts, Matt Turner, and I were hanging on. Before long, we were away from the other riders.

Understand, this is not a No Man Left Behind kind of ride. It varies in purpose. Sometimes in the past it has been a conserve and then see if each member of the group can get his personal best up Paris. At other times it is simply a hammerfest to see how many riders are left at the end.

This ride was one of the later. Turns out John was working to keep his average power for the ride over 250 watts. Several times I looked down and saw numbers of 300 to 400. On one section where John and I were pulling up the road together I saw sustained wattage of over 500.

The four of us went looping through some roads between Furman and TR. On the way back, we turned onto the Swamp Rabbit trail and did some rough riding in honor of the classic going on over in Belgium. That was a lot of fun.

As we flew along the road we had John, Matt Tebbetts, and I in POA Cycling kits. Matt Turner was the odd man out with Les Amis colors. John slid back to me once and said, “I feel like we are away off the front in some one day classic.” If so, Mr. Turner was in trouble. Actually, he was riding very well and had put a hurting on me during a couple of pulls.

As we neared the base of Paris for the climb up, we saw Mike, Art, and Blair going toward Altamont on the Frontage Road. By the time we got there, they had already turned up for the climb. Too soon it was going to be our time to follow them.

I knew there would be no personal best for me tonight. My hope was that I could just make it to the top without the other riders creating to big of a gap on me. As soon as we turned up I knew that was going to be tough.

Before long it was just a line of red going up the climb as Tebbetts, John, and I got around Mike and Blair. Art was no where to be seen. I didn’t expect that we would catch him before the top.

Tebbetts kept talking about how he would see us at the top. I was jokingly accusing him of sandbagging. I know he wasn’t. The issue is that he just can’t stand not being with the leading group. He was going to work to stay there regardless of how he felt.

John and I were starting to get put into trouble as Matt just kept tapping out a steady cadence. Then John eased up a little to recover some energy. Then he moved to the front and created a gap between the other two of us.

When we got to the wall, I was behind the other two guys. I could see both guys ahead of me. John was going to get to the top first. Matt had a pretty good gap on me as well. Perhaps if he slowed I could catch him before the top.

I shifted to a slightly harder gear and slogged along after them. Matt beat me to the top, but I had gained on him enough to cross the line close to his rear wheel. Still, it was a bad night with a time of 13 minutes.

After waiting for Turner to join us at the top, we started down the other side. Now the group was larger with Mike, Blair, and Art joining us for the ride down. Blair and John took to lead. The rest of us followed.

Blair then went way off the front. I could tell that most of the riders decided that we were not going to allow him to make it to the bottom first. Turner moved up and started pulling us through the rolling sections. By the time we reached the downhill portion, he had brought us even with Blair.

There were several attacks before the final turns, but then it was just Blair on the front with me right on his wheel. I sat there and let his draft suck me down the road. No need to work here. It was just a matter of waiting for the right moment to go around him.

We made a right turn and then started into the final left sweeping turn. I slipped out of his draft and put the hammer down. My bike went by him with ease. It is amazing what the draft can do for you. I came through the final right turn onto the straight with lots of speed.

I’m sure I was hitting close to 50 mph at that point. My WKO+ says I registered 71.8 mph as my max speed. Obviously, the satellites got mixed up on that one! Looking back at my Garmin I see that it registered a top speed of 50.18.  Hmmm, I wonder what makes the big discrepancy?

There was one little sprint to close out the night. Once again I got in Blair’s draft and nipped him at the line. Then John came flying pass me saying as he passed, “I’m not trying to be a pill, I’m just trying to keep my power average high for the ride.” I took a breath and jumped on his wheel.

We finished together and had amazingly similar power averages. He uses a Powertap and I use a Quarq CinQo coupled with the Garmin 705. He is about 5 pounds lighter than I am, but was putting out more at some points. Had we switched power systems, I believe the results would have been the same.

That was a big effort. It was easily harder than any Donaldson Center ride I have been on this year. Come to think of it, that was probably the most effort I have put out in an hour and a half for a long, long time. You know what? It was a blast!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Rides | 2 Comments »

Batesview Criterium revisited

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

Last year I was looking for a ride that I would allow me to stay close to home but still get a workout.  I found it.  What I didn’t realize was that it was right there in my front yard!

I live on Batesview Drive in Greenville.  It is a state maintained road that cuts through from Wade Hampton Blvd. to East North Street.  Believe me when I say it is a cut through!  There are times during the day when traffic is quite heavy.  We have been pushing for sidewalks for years, but there always seems to be some one else in front of us.

Well, the beautiful redhead is in another play.  She is playing the Princess of France in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost.  This means she is at a lot of rehearsals in the evenings.  I get to be the caregiver for the Things Three.  That means I don’t get to do much riding unless I can find a babysitter.

So, last night I remembered my Batesview Criterium.  This is a pretty cool course that is formed by four roads in my neighborhood.  It is just a tad over a kilometer in length and has a pretty tough climb with a 12% grade.

Batesview Criterium

Batesview Criterium

The way it is laid out, you can make all right hand turns.  The sight lines are such that you can make the turns without even slowing down.  Depending on the time of day, you can go multiple laps without stopping.  Last night I did 27 laps and only had to stop twice.

More important to me is that fact that at least once every two minutes I ride past my house.  With the kids playing outside, I can keep an eye on them each time I pass.  If they need me, they can just come out on the porch and signal me.

So, not only do I get a good work out.  I also get to practice my cornering skills.  Believe me!  I need all the practice I can get.  I admit that I hate criteriums.  The reason is they scare me.  Maybe having the wonderful redhead in the play will turn into a good thing.

Last night’s ride was a good one.  I warmed up for about thirty minutes and then put the hammer down for twenty.  I wanted to see what type of data I could compile for that period.  Here is what I got… Max power = 1008 watts / Peak 5s = 949 watts / 30s = 547 / 1m = 415 / 5m = 322 / 10m = 311 / 20m = 299.

Now, I don’t know if that is good relative to other people.  However, for me, that is very good.  I remember last year when Jim Cunningham put me through this routine, I had a peak 20 minute wattage of 240.  The thing that makes me happy is my improvement relative to myself.

Yes, while I was doing some warm up and cool down laps, I played around with the Quarq CinQo and Garmin 705.  What I found is that there is still a lag.  However, it was hard to get a consistent measurement of exactly how long it was.  I plan to move my experiments inside onto a trainer to get a better idea of what is going on.  I’m not ready to give my thoughts quite yet.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Life, Training | 3 Comments »

Just what the doctor ordered

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

I was wrong.  Last evening’s ride turned out to be great!  I didn’t even have that “I’m about to explode” feeling on the second lap.  I guess being a cyclist isn’t all bad.

This time I made it out to Donaldson Center with time to spare.  Everything was in order on my bike – I was sporting my new Quarq CinQo Saturn power meter.  I even had time to ride out on the course a bit before heading to the start to hand over my 5 bucks and get in line.

We rolled out and I counted at least 8 POA Cycling teammates in the group.  Actually, I believe it was nine.  It was good to see the spidey suits out in force.

I dropped immediately toward the back.  I had no idea how my body was going to respond to the effort.  Thankfully, on that first lap, though there was a group that went off the front, things went easily and everyone spun along to loosen up.

Even the second lap continued to be relatively laid back.  The speed did increase overall, but there weren’t any attacks that had me trying to hang on for dear life with my tongue hanging out.  I was proud of myself for staying about mid-pack to near the rear.  I made an effort to try to work as little as possible.

Coming into the third lap I began to pay more attention to my teammates and tried to stay in contact with at least one of them at any given time.  Since John has always been my “unofficial” coach, I kept an eye on him and basically mimicked what he did.  That was the best way I knew not to have him tell me I did something stupid during the ride.

The fourth lap arrived and I was feeling amazingly good.  It was time to start moving closer to the front – but not too close.  It was not time to start being a hero.  There were still 14 miles to go.

Then it arrived… the fifth lap.  A gap formed almost immediately.  I couldn’t tell exactly who from my team was around.  I thought we had one guy up in the break, but I wasn’t sure.  Louis and I moved toward the front and we tried to figure out how we were placed.

If we did have someone up in the break, I wasn’t in a big hurry to go after them.  They would have a better chance without the group swallowing them up.  Then I saw the rider I figured was out there coming back to us and looking over his shoulder waiting for the group to join him.

As we were going up the climb before the golf course, John really turned up the wick and I followed.  Before I knew it, I was on the front of the chase group.  I sensed I was on the point and people were happy to let me be there.  That wasn’t what I wanted.  I peeled off and sat up to let someone else come to the front.

Then I came up beside Randy and told him, “I’ll be glad to try to go all out and pull you to the break and then drop off.”  I knew if I did it, I wouldn’t be able to stay in the group.  However, I also knew we had no rider up there and Randy could give them a run for their money if I could just deliver him there with fresh enough legs.

Randy responded (sounding rather doubtful), “You can give it a try.”  So, I started up the remainder of the climb with Randy in tow.  This is when I wondered what the week off the bike would do to me.  I was either going to be really fresh and able to pull or I was going to be really weak and croak.

As I climbed toward the turn where the “club house” is two Barley riders came flying past me.  My first thought was that they were wanting to chase as well.  So, I got on one of the riders’ wheel.  He certainly didn’t keep up the pace he had when he passed me.  That should have been a sign.

Both riders kept a reasonable pace, but I wouldn’t call it a chase pace.  From behind I heard Randy say, “Move around these guys.”  I realized too late (rookie mistake) that those guys weren’t chasing.  Most likely they had a guy in the break and they were covering Randy and me.

So, I went around and started to hammer it.  Of course, by this time the entire peloton became the chase group.  Here I was once again asking myself, “What are you doing?”  This was not the plan for the evening!

Just as we reached the bottom of a downhill before starting up another roller, I knew I had to get out of the way or I was going to get run over.  I was out of juice.  As I moved to the left, I saw Randy continue forward.  I felt really awful that I was dumping him right at the bottom of a climb with him pulling the entire field!

As I hugged the yellow line, I kept waiting to see POA riders go by me.  Ah, there went a couple.  Hopefully, they would be able to get up there and help Randy out a bit.  Me?  I had shot my wad.  I did recover enough to jump on the back of the field for a bit, but I started to yo-yo and finally decided to just let them go.

The best part of the night was when I was unloading my bike from the car.  My legs felt sooooo good.  It was that comfortable soreness that comes from a good workout – tiredness that tells you you are going to sleep like a rock!

All those negative feelings from earlier in the day?

What negative thoughts?

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Racing | 3 Comments »

CinQo and Garmin 705 data transfer update

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Nothing much to write about today.  Even if I did have my crank back from South Dakota, I still wouldn’t be able to ride.  It has been a very busy week for me, but the end is in sight.

I do have an update about the apparent Quarq CinQo lag.  It appears that it could be an issue with the interaction with the Garmin 705.  It was not a CinQo issues as much as it was a problem with the way the Garmin filters the data.  It appears this has been an issue with other wireless power meters as well.  The Garmin firmware 2.6 should resolve the issue.

I’m currently using release 2.4.  I’m going to update my Garmin and then once I get my power meter back I’ll test it out and report back to you.  If the blizzard hasn’t gotten the UPS man stuck, the crank should arrive in Spearfish today.  So, it shouldn’t be too long.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the CinQo measures your power with each revolution.  So, let’s say you are coasting down a hill and then as you bottom out before another climb you push your right foot down without completing a full revolution.  That half revolution is not going to register.

Well, off into the rain for another busy day!

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Review | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries