Polar Power & Resonance

So the program my coach has me on is power based. This meant I had to get out that damn Polar power meter and install it on the bike I'd use for most of my training. It only took a couple of hours and things seemed to work great, until I noticed that in one, and only one, gear combination the power went through the roof. So my wonderful wife suggested I try using her chain (wipperman connex, rather than my cheapie SRAM). Lo and behold the problem went away!

So we took out one of her spare chains to put on my bike. In life there are these moments when something tugs at the back of your brain and asks for your attention. I had one. As we're prepping the chain my wife asks "Should we leave it the same length as mine?" The obvious answer was "Yes!", but I said "Gee, it should probably be the appropriate (shorter) length for my bike. How could the overall length possibly matter?" Bzzzzzzzzzzzt, wrong answer.

What happened was that the resonance (that's what must be going on, because clearly the pickup is reading the wrong, higher frequency) moved from one gear combo to another (less bothersome) one. Crap! By the way, Polar will absolutely disavow any knowledge of this phenomenon. I'm having trouble getting my head around it, since the source must be in the static chain tension. I don't know if a longer chain length throws the resonance onto a gear combo you'd never use (say, 50x26) or just in between two existing ones. It doesn't matter, when my new chains come in I'll set one up as long as I can and test it. If the resonance is still there, then I'll cut it down and hope it falls into limbo between two gears. I'll let you know.

Hiatus

I'm making several entries today, catching up and keeping the topics distinct. Much has transpired. First I noticed after returning from DC that, in spite of taking four days off the bike, my knees were still somewhat stiff. Following my usual habit of ignoring all possible warning signs I did the following during the next week:

• The Rose Bowl Ride
• Shakedown cruise of the cyclocross bike
• Cool Breeze Double Metric

Guess what? In spite of all this nice exercise the knees didn't improve. It would have been better had they hurt like hell, instead they were just somewhat bothersome. Then I found myself thinking about an upcoming GMR ride. I realized I'd have to strategize based on protecting my knees. Maybe something's wrong, ya think?

A solid week off the bike. Limited walking. Lot's of ibuprofen, glucosamine, MSM, icing, elevation and swimming seemed to help. Now, I think I'm just a wee tad arthritic. This is not the first time middle age has jumped on my chest and laughed at me, but maybe the worst. Everyone thinks their own passion is just the coolest, but cycling has to be special. So many aspects, so many people, so many places. The thought of giving it up was a bit much.

So things are manageable. A month of limited activity has played hob with my LT and maintainable power levels, so back to work. With a coach this time.