Fred D Mentor Group - Part II (Page 70)

Just got back from Vegas.  What a tough tough day those racers had.   Unfortunately one of my friends didn't finish, gave up on the start of the third lap, he had been vomiting all day and couldn't keep anything down.  I was waiting there to meet him and walk with him if need be when he showed up and pulled the plug.   Tough break, but he's fine with the decision.   Said he was seeing Baby Jesus at the last aid stations...      The race also ran out of water for later age groups (so I read) and ice (from my friend), which is inexcusable (1) at a WC, (2) that you know is going to be hi 90s (3) where no aid station is less than 2 miles from the finish/T2 and easily accessible. 

Med tent was a disaster area.  Very crowded, people passing out, puking, crying.  I worked the med tent at IM Coz and it wasn't nearly this bad

Temps as I was loading up my friend read 99 degrees, and it was fairly humid for Vegas.  Walking on blacktop areas was much hotter than that as the heat reflected up.

Was interesting to be there though, as I will never qualify for such an event.  I went for a 6 mile run while waiting for my friends on the bike. The difference in temps when I started my run to a little less than an hour later was striking.  Ran the last 3 miles of the bike and back, the leader came by me on the bike about 2 miles in, then several minutes later the group of Crowie, Potts, et al.  Was amazing watching them ride by.  But they were running as I ran back, and it's more amazing watching how fast they run.   Matty Reed came by me like I was standing still (which is pretty close to my run pace....)  

ugh - good luck drying out - hope it did not cause too much damage.

Hey Kim - happy to have you in the group!

And Mike Pigg, now that was one hard woking dude. It is really too bad (and unbelievable, frankly) that he never got a kona win. There is a great interview with him earlier this year on Legends of Triathlon. It was always fun to read about Allen, Scott, Molina, Tinley, etc. but it was folks like Mike Pigg that made us think that anybody could be good at this sport if they only worked at it hard enough.

How old was your friend ?

Last year I was 2nd to last wave (45-49). This was a significant disadvantage. You are starting almost 90 minutes after the pros and a good hour after the first AGers.

You get a lot more heat and they ran out of water at one station. Other stations did have water until the end.

I saw a volunteer scoop water out of the tub. I took a drink at that station and was puking 10 minutes later.

That was the most brutal run of my life. I will never forget it. 2 Miles up, no break, a constant grade that seemed to last forever. 3 times....I swore I would never do it again.

Ooops forgot about that. Damn, I knew I forgot something...

It's been great reading everyone's excellent race results as I slowly crawl out of about four weeks of what was probably walking pneumonia.  Operational, but zero exercise.  Finally got out for an easy-ish group ride last night for about 30 miles and survived, but could definitely tell the difference.  Hopefully this means I can get back to it.

Welcome Kim!

Question: can someone fill me in on tire pressure.  I've always gone to 110psi because that's what I was told when I bought my first road bike.  It seems like that might be high from what I read, but I'm not sure.  170lbs, CAAD10, Gatorskins w/ butyl, roads are pretty good condition and rolling (no long climbs or descents).  Any suggestions on what I should be running?  Thanks.

Not gatorskins...

I actually changed my tire pressure down to 95psi this year based on a chart someone posted in TT a few months ago, but don't remember the thread.

I usually ride around 120.  For some of the chip seal roads I end up on, it may be a good idea to drop that a bit, but on the smooth roads it seems good.  I don't deviate too much whether I use butyl or latex either.  Been riding Conti GP4000s but even on the Vittoria Open Evo Corsa's I used that pressure too.  Using same pressure on my road bike now with cheap tires that I don't even know what they are or how I got them...It seems to work well for me.  I weigh in somewhere in the 18x lb range...for now...

110 probably isn't too bad.  Shane had a good link a while back with a graph but I don't know where it is.  Essentially plots out rolling resistance at different pressure I think.  

Actually curious what others think.  I sort of locked on to 120 and stuck with it because I didn't want to overthink it.

My friends at the race all struggled - tears, vomit, all of the above - showed some serious HTFU, and came out with times ranging from 30-60 minutes slower than their qualifying times. Luckily, most of them achieved their big goal just by qualifying - so no major disappointments on race day.

Real tough conditions out there. I cannot believe they ran out of water. I probably would have gotten to the aid station that was out and just broke down...

I used to be a 120 guy but based on some threads I read, I dropped down to around 110 (165 lbs).  On my FLO wheel which is a wider rim, I am more around 90-95

Oh. So you're saying I should let Joerg back in Bali despite his crap performance?

Yeah, I heard it was really brutal, and not just in the sense that everyone says everything is brutal, y'know? He was in one of the later waves as well.

I do just love being in races or attending races and watching the pros go from so close up! I mean, they are really right there, and hey, word has it you even got a FB message from Chrissie once

That's about where I'm at, Marsh--off three very light/nonexistent weeks with multiple resp infections. Glad you're feeling better. Take it easy coming back.

HI KIM!!!

As for PSI, I'm running some cheapo Schwalbe Durano S (slightly less ghetto than regular Durano which is a high-mileage tyre, you take what you can get here) stating that the max is 145. I usually go with 120 for races (manufacturer recommendation), slightly above for smooth surfaces and 110-ish for the crap roads around here. Seems to work for me.

I did a lot of power vs speed testing at the Formula 1 track here in Montreal and 85 vs 120 PSI made no difference in rolling resistance which would translate into speed.

So I suspect comfort trumps.

So for me, 115 for smooth dry roads, 90 for rougher roads, 90 for wet roads. But I am heavy.

Ooh, and I actually swam today! Wanted to take it easy b/c just coming off illness:

200 IM warmup

3 x (200,150,100,50) @5s/100 rest

1 - smooth moderate swimming
2 - 200: package (deep catch hi-elbow), 150: surfing the bow, 100: clear shoulders, 50: hard, perfect form
3 - 1st half easy 2nd half hard

4x125 25 stroke 100 free focus
breast: hi-elbow pull
back: body rotation
fly: relaxing on recovery

I did go ocean swimming on Sunday but unfortunately came down with a nasty case of sea lice (misnomer, like stomach flu)--actually larval jellyfish. I have big red blistery burning horribly itchy welts in a perfect bikini shape around my chest and bottom! Bad enough to have fever and nausea ... so I've been heavy on the antihistamines and steroids. It's manageable but boy is it yucky and lasts a few days. I hope no scars. I'll be rubbing lots of Vitamin E oil in!

TSimone - 2012-09-11 11:44 PM I'm usually around 165lbs and run 110 rear, 105 front on 700x23 tyres in perfect weather. I'd drop a little, maybe 5 psi on wet roads.

I like how Yanti spells tires better than I do

Heh. This part of the world, it's all Aus/Brit spellings so I gravitate to that when I'm here.

Great to read all about the racing. Well done guys!

I have exciting news..I bought a road bike! Actually, the hubby surprised me. It was a deal we couldn't pass up. I'm now the owner of a beautiful Felt F5. It's my first road bike and I am looking forward to many miles and races on this bike. I will post a pic on my blog later. Its last year's model with the black and green paint. I have been looking at road bikes for months. I ride for a LBS who sells Specialized but I just couldn't get excited about any of the bikes. My hubby has a Tarmac, I have ridden that a few times and they really tried to sell me on their women's specific bikes, but I just wasn't wowed. As soon as I sat on the Felt, I loved it. I already ride a Felt DA and my previous tri bike was also a Felt. I really wanted the AR but it would take me a long time to save up for it, Felt bikes are so hard to come by here in the Phx area and I ride a 51cm. The only thing I didn't like about the bike I bought was the cheap wheels. Luckily my hubby had a nice set of Reynolds wheels (just everyday wheels not race wheels) that he gave me and he took the heavier wheels I'm getting a fit on Friday and can't wait to get out there! 

Yay Fred. I think that Shiv definitely trumps my road bike How cool!

Ooh, I would love a post/discussion on Power. I ride "blind" with no HR or Power info. I have never used anything except good old RPE. I get such a hard time from my fellow riders and triathletes about not using power or HR. With HR, I'm just not sure how to go about it and with Power, it just seems so pricey. Always wondering if it either is worth the time/effort/cost. There's way too much mis-information out there on the inter webs.

Sally - that is awesome - new bike time is the best! My wife also just got a new road bike two weeks ago (first one in probably 15+ years) and she has really been loving it. She is greatly looking forward to our first trip to the mountains, but is probably going to be a couple of weeks yet. She was just talking about how it is funny when you know which bike is "just right."

Having a nice set of training wheels is great - especially on a road bike. My wife went with Ultegra over Dura Ace and the savings allowed her to get a set of Ksyrium SLs instead - she figured the last thing we needed was another set of crappy $200 training wheels. I think the switch to Ultegra was extra smart, as she will be swapping her sram/dura-ace/quarq frankencrank between her road and TT bike anyway and would not be using the spec'd crank much anyway. 

I think in your case, since you have a computrainer for training, losing power on the bike is not quite as big of a change.  And you know how to pace yourself.

Besides, nothing is permanent.  If you find yourself really missing it then you can always add it back on next season or whatever.

I think it will be interesting to see who gets IMC. There are really only a few places to have the race if WTC wants to have a successful race that people will want to travel to from other places. I really think they are restricted now to the TO area and the Vancouver area. I don't think other places have the same pull to create a hype that makes people want to go to a destination race and WTC is ultimately a company who financially profits from a successful event. I think the Banff National Park would be a cool location that most likely could bring in the people...but that would be more about the National Park allowing it than anything.