SBR Utopia ~~~~ Permanently OPEN!! (Page 31)

I was thinking more of someone who acquires it as an adult.  Those former swimmers have years and years of a foundation to draw on - it's something I never really got as I sucked so bad at it (relative to my peers).

Raced another sprint today.  This one had a much stronger field.  I finished 12th OA out of 100 and that only got me 8th in my AG - tough crowd!  First out of the water again which was worth a $50 prize!  I worked this swim much harder than last weekend and it paid off (literally).  Even though I finished much further down in the OA results, I'm much happier with the execution of this race.  For one thing, I didn't turn around on the bike.    Still gotta work on that run though.  Full RR to come.

Tab raced the duathlon.  Fastest bike split for the women!

I was able to get just over 12k feet of climbing this weekend.  I had to cut Saturday's ride a tad short as I was getting my azz handed to on the steeper climbs and the temps getting above 90.  Today was much better on slightly lower grades and slightly cooler weather.

On a more troubling note, yesterday a training friend of mine was assaulted while on his bike.  Some guy (passenger) in a truck pulled up next to him while he was in the bike lane and hit him on the head with a bat.  Cracked his helmet and the follow through hit his arm causing bruising.  Thankfully he didn't go down and is relatively okay, but he was not able to get the license plate...so nothing will come of it.  It was around 6:30 am so not too many other cars out on the road to witness.  I simply cannot fathom how someone decides to do something like this and sickening that they can actually get away with it.

That's just unbelievable.    So scary out there sometimes.

On a related note, we got a local volunteer reserve officer fired (well, resigned) after posting a video last friday advocating running over cyclists.   It was supposed to b a joke.   Not so much

Congrats Arend!  And Tab 

Had a good training weekend and got shelled.   Went out with that roadie group Saturday, I had 4 hours so spent the first two hours with them.  They friggin drill it from go, what a great workout that was.   No PM as it's busted but 'd love to know what that showed.   Basically I have a lot to learn.   I held my own with the MOP though and wasn't an embarassment.   Had to follow that up with 2 more hours of climbing, not Jason's numbers but 5300 over 65 miles

3050 yd swim in the afternoon

This morning swam 2 miles OW, while walking down to the pier we swim back from (and, basically, right in front of where the swimmer got bitten over the fourth), and a paddleboarder came in, excitedly telling her friend how stoked she was to have seen her first great white!   Than getting to the pier and another friend we met there telling us he had one swim under him yesterday (a baby 3 footer).  Head was n a swivel for that 2 miles.... 

Afternoon 9 miler with 10:00 interval at HM race pace.

Dead tired!

Wow!  That is absolutely unreal.  Glad your friend is mostly ok - it's amazing he didn't go down!

Hmmmm, I have an optional 25 x 100 kick pool workout on my training plan this week....

Congratulations.

"Optional", hehe.

Masters ended up getting cancelled last night because we were locked out of the school. They had reset the access at the beginning of summer (which they always do), but hadn't put our coach back on because we hadn't been swimming there (we split between two schools). Well, we hadn't been swimming there because they'd been work on the pool and told us not to come! Ended up going to one of the after practice places instead. Most everyone was kind of bummed. One was very enthusiastic, the sprint specialist.

*edited to fix broken link.

Nice job guys!!!! I'll get into those reports when I get a chance. 

I did Ragnar this weekend. Between run #2 and #3 I got food poisoning. Me, the one with the iron stomach. Sighhhhh I can't catch a break this year!!! Ironically our team name was, " Show me the honey (bucket)" So, I guess that means I get the spirit award?

Anyway, I did that third run COMPLETELY depleted. I would prefer to never have to do that again! Good thing it was just Ragnar and not a real race.

Overall it was a lot of fun though, as Ragnars usually are. 

That stinks Jason - very glad your friend is relatively OK. No sense in trying to fathom it - nothing in the world will allow you to understand how crazy peoples brains work.

That is crazy. Why in the world?? 

I sure am glad he is relatively ok....but seriously w t actual f

Yuck Adrienne  - glad you seem to be none the worse for wear. Yeah, in a funny way that kind of stuff just makes Ragnars even better. They are fun for the camaraderie and the stories, not the racing. I love 'em!

Yeah, when I read a bit of that thread I honestly thought "Man, I am glad my coach doesn't read BT....."

Nice work, Chris - that sounds lek a great weekend! Yeah, us triathlete types normally aren't spec'd out to hammer out of the gate like some group rides do. and you might actually be surprised how low your AP is a tie like that - I usually am. Your Vi can be through the roof though - and that is what always gets me!

OK, I gotta ask.... is there something specific that you are working on?  That doesn't sound like a "shane" workout.....

I think it was inspired by a workout TJ posted in the "Swimming Arms or Legs?"  thread....

Great - thanks Marc! I believe I have been able to wring a whole lot of watts out of my current setup, position. and equipment. The one thing I would like to check is my wheel/tire setup. I am racing on a set of Enve Smart System 6.7 carbon clinchers with Conti GP4000s II tires and Vittoria latex tubes.Based on a conversation between my LBS and an engineer at Enve, I a running 25s. Their feeling is that even the setup is slightly less aero,  the lower Crr (and comfort) would make up for the slight aero deficit. The setup seems to be very fast, and they do roll like butter.

As I am sure you know, Enve only sells their wheels as a pair, or "System." in their setup the front wheel is actually wider than the rear, and as a system they help create a more continuous airfoil from the front to back of the bicycle. I don't know how legit their claim is, but it is their thing. The front width is 26mm, the rear is 24. with the 25s the front is nice and round, but also flush and inline with the face of the wheel. the rear is also round, but slightly "light bulbed" from the faces of the wheel. So I am wondering what is faster:

A) Setup as-is with 25s front and back
B) Conventional wisdom of 23s front and back
C) 25 up front and 23 in the back

Do you think that is even testable with a power meter? If so, what kind of protocol would you set up to test it?

Given those rim widths, my gut feeling is I'd want 25s on both front and back.  23 back might be ok but that's also where most of your weight is, so the comfort difference will be more noticeable.

Yes, but I'm guessing there won't be much of a difference.  Ideally you'll want either a velodrome or a flat out-and-back to test on.  Since this is a tire change, you're really looking at both CdA + Crr.  The easiest thing to do is set this up at a short-ish distance, say 4 miles.  Ride it at a steady wattage of your choice.  Record your time.  Repeat it a few times if you want, and average them out.

Do the same thing with the tire change and compare.  Make sure both sets of tires are broken in so you have an apples-to-apples test.  Be attentive to keeping your head, hands, body position, and everything EXCEPT the tires the same on each test.  And do all this on the same day if possible, so you don't have much change in weather conditions.

You might want to practice with an obvious test so you can verify that you're seeing the time difference you'd expect.  Like one run on the aero bars, one run upright.  Then try out the tire thing.

The other option is to lock in a steady *speed* and then record your average power at the end of each ride and compare those values.  I find this a little harder to do, though.