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Sorry for disappearing, I really should do this at least monthly, weekly is better. I've seen some daily bloggers out there, have to admit I'll never have that kind of energy. So this is mainly to let any readers know I've taken a lickin' and keep on tickin'. This was a good year, I had a decent run of form in late May into June except, of course, on the Championship dates when things just didn't gel. I got my Cat 3 upgrade in CBR, but haven't yet done the USAC (they claim to have reciprocity with CBR). The USAC category doesn't matter though, since essentially all Master's races are 1-4 and I have no desire any more to race with eighteen year olds.

The highlight for me was at the regular Tuesday night Eldorado Park race where I finally scored a win (pic1, pic2) and also a second place finish (damn you Allan Crawford!). In case you're wondering, the guy on my wheel in the race I won could have beaten me. The only reason he's with the Master's pack in these races is to pick up the pace when the organizers want to keep the packs from mixing. Toward season's end I could comfortably race in 50+ and turn around and either do the CBR 40+ (1-3) or SCNCA 45+ (1-4) with at least middling results. The only race left is Labor Day, when CBR holds Championships. Time to throw down, no more mister nice guy!

Ontario GP Course

There are generally five or six Ontario races each season, spaced out from February to August. This year it appears three of them are on the "Grand Prix" course, two on the "Crit" course and the remaining one is (I think) on the "Airport" course. The Crit course is just the southern segment of the GP, I've never ridden the Airport. The good thing about this course is that it's much less boring than the typical four-corners-flat we get most of the time. The GP course is south of Ontario Airport, east of Archibald in an industrial park. Plenty of warmup room on the other side off Archibald, parking is adequate.

A warmup lap has always been offered, so do this if you've never ridden the course. You go south 200m from the S/F line to an easy, wide lefthander. The wind is normally in your face between turns one and two, and this seems to be where a lot happens. For one thing, there are usually lots of primes (hint: the Sette minipump is piece of junk, but you may want the Schwalbe tires) so post-prime couterattacks get launched. Experienced riders know that they'd better be reasonably close to the front on the last lap before turn three so I'd say this 450m stretch of pavement is associated with lots of pain. It's a quick run between turns two and three, watch out for the lane dots and a persistent pothole near the middle of the road close to turn three.

I see more pedal-clipping in the exit of turn three than anywhere else on the course so beware. For some reason the 250m run from three to four usually sees the pack slow down and people are already looking for sled-dogs to pull them to the finish line. Not good, since turn four is a little tight in the exit. Three across is okay, but if you're on the wide line look out for getting squeezed into the far curb. The inside line is not much better and there are manhole covers. I've never witnessed a crash at this point, but have seen cleanup from earlier incidents.

So here's the scoop on the last lap. Turn four is one kilometer from the finish. From this point you go up a 1% grade to turn six followed by a 1% downhill to the finish. Mid-race, the run from four to five is usually pretty easy. Near the end, things are getting downright urgent. Speaking from my own variable results, I'd say the inside line on turn five is just a bad idea. If you have to brake, or even coast, you lose  more ground than you can possibly make up later. Spend some energy and carry speed through the following crooked straight. The finish order of this race is usually hammered out between six and seven since someone's always willing to turn it on and just go like hell. Turn seven is a powerful filter. The exit is a nasty little chicane with a half right turn onto the straight.

At this point there's 300m of slight downhill - things happen fast. This is a very wide street, but the far left and right lanes are closed to accommodate spectators and the announcer's booth. Crashes happen, keep your head up and remember it's just a bike race. If I had to say, being slightly to the left is probably safer, since that's the announcer's side and spectator behavior is less predictable.

Friction Bad, Power Good

Finally I've stumbled on something truly amazing. Even my wife, who frequently rolls her eyes at my equipment priorities, agrees that the VCRC ceramic bottom bracket is just freakin' cool! Bear in mind, I've ridden on this apparently friction free BB for fewer than 100 miles but - well DAY-UM! After the missus installed it I spun the crank (with the chain off). That was two days ago and I think if I hadn't stopped the crank myself it might still be going around. She's getting one.

Skeptics will tell you that the amount of drag produced by a crank just isn't enough to matter, but I disagree. Most people who care about such things put the absolute mechanical efficiency of a racing bicycle at around 95%. For what it's worth, here's my opinion based on degrees in engineering and physics, and a lifetime of bicycling. I'd rank the friction penalty of components in the following order: bottom bracket, deraileur pulleys and wheels last. This is not a statement about the importance of the component perse, but rather that manufacturers have actually paid some attention to wheel friction, and not the other factors. Even moderately priced wheels spin pretty freely, but some really pricey cranks don't.

Back in the late 70s an engineering grad student told me that derailleur pulleys were most important (bear in mind, this was in the day of cup-and-ball BBs so they were much slicker than today's sealed models) and the difference could be about five watts or more. Thing is there are fairly cheap ball-bearing jockey pulleys for $10-15 which eliminate most of the friction compared to the ones with bushings. That's the way I've gone, mostly because my wife would surely believe me insane for blowing $80 on derailleur pulleys. I crunched some numbers and concluded that in a 15 second sprint over 800W that every five watts translates to 0.5 meters at the finish line. That's why basically every pro has ceramic bearings in their cranksets and I suspect in other components as well.

MicroShift Redux

Since MicroShift has generated more interest than other things I've blogged about, I'll try to keep current. The shifters still work. There are two real issues: the shifting of the front derailleur and availability of the product itself. These are clearly four position front brifters. So you can trim on both the large and small chainrings. That's good, and it worked at first. Then, to facilitate racing, I asked my my mechanic (AKA my wife) to change it such that trim on the big ring was effectively defeated. During a race it's kind of hard to tell if you're chain is rubbing, you don't want it to, and you REALLY don't want to look down to see if it is. That's all well and good, but now the front derailleurs requires fiddling so it won't rub on the fourth cog from the inside (a combination I'd like to have for racing). Now the bad thing: no matter what is done at this point, there is no way to trim down from the fourth position to the third. It's as if the spacing between the two stops has gotten larger. On the other hand, this is immaterial for me since I can reach the third cog on the cassette from the outside position on the fron derailleur.

Gripe number two, availability. In the USA it appears to be Nashbar only and the cool new components shown on the MicroShift website (Arsis system and MTB stuff) aren't there. In fact, I can't find the Arsis series anywhere. Some UK sites have something they call the MicroShift 2x10 which looks like the Nashbar offering. The MTB stuff appears to be available in Australia, NZ, Malaysia, the UK and South Africa. Usually a product website will point you to either distributers or retailers, no such luck. So bottom line, Nashbar has two versions of the basic 10s. The more expensive one is clearly the SB-R102Band the cheaper one can't be found on the microshift website, but appears to be the same thing only with the large paddle made of plastic rather than forged aluminum. Pricing appears to be random, I've seen the expensive ones marked down to $150 from $200 and the cheaper ones at half price ($100) on occasion. Imagine that, 10s brifters for $100.

I'd have to say these things are a buy at $100. Compare that to over $300 and up for Ultegra SL and so on. Give me a break, who the hell in his right mind lays out $800+ to shift gears? My wife thinks I'm kind of a kook because I'll lay out $100 for a bottom bracket, but try to save money on brifters or derailleurs. I'd argue that this makes sense since the BB is directly in the power transmission sequence and, as long as the shifting works reliably, it's less critical.

As far as the slightly more expensive model is concerned, I may give it a try. A small improvement may be realized from the use of aluminum rather than plastic on the structure which bears the largest load.

Dominguez Hills Crit Course

This is the other CBR course where they generally run four or five crits per season. This differs from the Hughes Park course in that it has what some crit monkeys call "terrain". That's about thirty feet of altitude gain per 0.9 mile lap. Although it doesn't sound like much, this is going to add up to 600' of climbing in a 45 minute crit which will wither the chunkier riders pretty well (unlike Hughes Park which may actually have zero altitude gain.) The course is run both clockwise and counter-clockwise (CBR generally alternates). The start/finish is on Broadwick (see link)

Clockwise: Turn one is never very problematic, but you may find yourself braking on the inside line. The run between one and two is generally gnarly on the last lap or primes. Trying to move up on the inside is chancy because people nowadays seem to think that all corners should be ridden from outside curb through the apex and exiting wide. Turn two is sharper than 90 degrees, off camber and comes after a downhill. In Men's 4/5 and Women's 4 this is where riders pile up.  Crashes tend to happen on the entrance while riders brake too much going in.  The outside line is technically more difficult as it is off-camber in the apex, but I use it precisely because others avoid it. Turn three is structurally messy and the following straight necks down since that's where the coned-off car traffic is allowed on one lane. There are gutters and a few small fissures in the asphalt/concrete interface which can screw you up. It's slightly downhill going in. A little bumpy. Turn four has lots of space on the exit and the sprint is uphill. The dicey moments tend to happen on the short straights late in a race.

Advice: I like the inside line more when near the front and going fast. Back in the pack you'll find people slowing inordinately when they're on the inside. There are two distinct "humps", between turns 3&4 and to the finish. In spite of how things look, it's the little uphill from 3 to 4 that really seems to make or break the finish. I have actually seen the pack come apart at this point on the last lap. Be there or be square!

Counterclockwise: You go downhill into turn one which is narrowed (see above) on the exit but generally smooth. Turn two is bumpy, but less trouble this way because of the wide exit and (very) slight rise on the straight into it. Turn three and the straight that follows tend to cause the most trouble. The reasons must be purely tactical because anybody who races much should fly through without significant risk. It amounts to this, on a prime or finish lap I'd say you're about 40 seconds from the line when you enter his turn. The straight after the turn kicks uphill pretty quick. I've nicked a number of primes by getting a teammate to put me in front and accelerating at this point. Anyone who's going to try to take the prime from you at this point had better be on your wheel because a committed racer can quickly open a gap on the uphill. At the finish lap this tactic is suicide, because everyone's going to be going about 33MPH coming out of this and opening any gap is near impossible.

Advice: Crunch time comes on the backstraight - period. There will absolutely be an all-out sprint from turn 3 to 4 up the hill in every race, so you need to be placed high and going fast into turn 3 in my opinion.

Digression on the curb-apex-curb cornering technique: This would work great if (and only if) you are the only rider on the course. I've raced about 50 crits in the last year or so. In round numbers, that's about 1000 miles of elbow-to-elbow wheel-to-wheel hammering and I have not crashed in that period. I make that out to be about 5000 successful corners at speed. Any idiot who tries to take the whole road to complete a corner would become fatally unpopular pretty quick. Unfortunately there are bloogers and youtube bike racing professors who teach this. In most races you'll find yourself at least three across in any corner. Follow the guy in front of you, don't change your line or brake suddenly. Relax.

Racing at Hughes Park Long Beach

Lots of racing goes on at this course, some of it sanctioned. SoCalCycling lists this as a training ride Tuesday and Thursday evenings year round. Anyone who rides those regularly will have evolved into an official CritMonster and should be feared. I race there about four times a year at sanctioned events and the scary stuff I see just boggles the mind. I've been touched, bumped, leaned on and just downright pushed but have stayed vertical through about a dozen events. I've watched at least ten crashes, some of them quite impressive. My best finished was eighth in a 40+ 4/5 event. My biggest prize was a prime I got by TTing away after a crumbled breakaway and holding out for a pound of coffee (expensive coffee I'll have you know).

So here's a course map. The start/finish is on Via Oro heading north about halfway between the corners. The announcer's trailer is normally on the right. The one used by CBR is just huge and that affects how the pack maneuvers down the stretch. More on that later. Turn one is normally uneventful, but the streets are crowned so don't get too wide. Almost all crashes on this turn are caused by pedals touching down as racers try to maintain speed. They tend to pile up on the outside.

Last time out there was a big crash in the 30+ 3/4s early in the race on the exit of turn two toward the inside. This suggests that it resulted from people squeezing to the inside in the corner. Turn three isn't a turn at all, the road bends and things go on at full speed. Don't get wide though as the course narrows slightly on exit. Turn four is sharper than ninety degrees and has Bot's dots in abundance. Frequently one or two riders will hit them an go down here, but pileups are rare. In the last 50+ race the average speed was 25.5MPH until two to go. Kind of lazy. The next two laps went off at a hair over 27MPH. Last lap was 31MPH. Moving up with less than three to go is awfully tough.

Here's a general comment: everyone's going to want the inside line everywhere on the course. This minimizes potential for pedal touching as the crowning of the roads makes the inside line look "banked". On a small, but mostly wide course running along the gutter also shortens things. Finally, if you're outside on the last corner on the last lap you'll lose three places in an eyeblink. If you're on the inside you might get chopped. Good luck.

Poor College Kids' Road Race

Held on Jan 31st, 2009 start near Los Olivos CA. This is a 34 mile out-and-back (17 each way) course and the 50+ group did one lap. Here's the scoop: sit in until the climb on the return. The total climbing was 1800', which is neither trivial nor particulary much. It starts with a steady uphill for about four miles. A word to the wise, if you race in a big group (over 75 riders) you'll really want to be near the front at the beginning and the turnaround. The road is sufficiently narrow that team tactics can come into play. The 50+ group kicked up the pace in the last part of the outbound climb and and a few folks tried to ride off the front. We were all back together before the turnaround.

The road is narrow at the turnaround and if you're more than ten riders back you'll find yourself queueing up at 2MPH while a bunch of guys sprint back the other way. This is both ruthless and reasonable. The 50+ category is small enough that organizers don't care if you're a CAT5 rider. In particular, the race entry fee on this occasion included a one-day license (you are welcome for the subsidy, really!) The whole topic is enough for a separate blog, so more later. With about 5 miles to go you hit the real climb, even though it's only five minutes, it shatters the group. The finishing straight is way too narrow for any kind of group, so the way to deal with this is to go like crazy on the climb and hammer it home.

The Good:

• Nice location.
• Organized.
• It's a road race!

The Bad:

• Parking (suggest taking spot soon after turnoff and sign reading "park off road").
• A long way from civilization (2.5 hours from LA area).
• Gnarly full-stop turnaround.

The Ugly:

• Narrow road for a field sprint.

Review of MicroSHIFT shifters

Specifically I bought the MicroSHIFT (that's what's printed on the brifters) brifters and rear deraileur. I have a compact FSA system with the FSA front derailleur. As far as installation is concerned, just follow the directions - nothing fancy. Adjustment, same deal - no surprises. The big surprise is that you can buy a brifter that even works at all for the price I paid ($119/pr). Nashbar claims MSRP at $199, but I've never seen them at full price. The rear derailleur was $29 ($59 MSRP). One thing I did do was replace the incredibly crappy pulleys with Shimano ones. Performance pulleys (11T sealed bearing) would be first choice and I'll make that change later.

Shifting is Campy-style, but without the refinement. There are large and small paddles used separately for up and down shifts and the brake lever is old-school and isn't involved with the shifting. The paddles are plastic and the overall appearance is unexceptional, without looking too cheap. With the exception of the 34-->50 front, shifting is precise and quick if somewhat noisy on occasion (clack!) Going from the small to large ring on a compact is never pretty, but this is the only shift I'd rather have my old (9s) Ultegra for. The effort is high and the response somewhat slow and occasionally a second push is necessary. Trimming works, but I seldom use it since I'm set up for racing.

Under racing conditions it's never let me down, but I haven't had to upshift the front under pressure. When you think about it, that doesn't come up all that often in a race when a 50x21 combination is easily obtainable. I'm on the big ring a lot, with the compact you'll find people do that. Unfortunately, there's no way to say anything about durability or reliability at this point. I have to say I like the Campy shifting better than Shimano. It's nice to have a brake lever that doesn't move sideways, speaking as an old-timer I never gotten used to that.

Even though the shifting is Campy-style the appearance is more Shimano-esque. The brake cables are hidden, but not the shifting cables. The pull ratio is 2:1 (Shimano) so the brifters should work. I don't know if Campy is different, but something deep inside tells me that Campy buyers won't be interested.

Tabata!

The latest craze, or maybe it's "so last summer" and I'm behind the curve again? This method is just so...me! My background and education is all science and engineering and Tabata is a real doctor who did actual repeatable studies with the goal of evaluating methods to increase both aerobic and anaerobic efficiency. On top of that, it takes far less time to do and appears to simultaneously increase muscle mass and make you leaner. Magic!

OK, first the protocol. Warm up, some sites say five minutes but I ride for at least 30 minutes prior to interval work. Then do 20 seconds peak effort followed by 10 seconds of rest (I still spin my legs, but with zero effort) eight cycles in a row. Done in four minutes. Of course a cool down is required afterward. Tabata did his research based on five sets (total 20 minutes) per week. One of the problems with the web is that googling "Tabata Intervals" should bring up something like the abstract of the good doctor's publication. Instead, it's just blogs and exercise equipment (Tabata timer only $20!) sites that pop up. Oddly, Wikipedia was no help. Anyway, the reason for the above digression is that I can't figure out if that's one set on each of five days, or say two sets followed by two rest days or whatever.

Since the web seems to think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread, I naturally looked for a naysayer. I found a differing opinion here, which notes several downsides including "Interferes with Resistance Training", "Injury" and (my personal favorite) "Cardiac Event"! This didn't deter me. My son is away at college, my life insurance is paid up, the economy is in the crapper and my job sucks. So, why not try something new and potentially fatal? You might want to consult a physician before trying this. So I've replaced a couple of my anarobic intervals with these and dicovered a few things:

1. Twenty seconds is a long time
2. Ten seconds is a short time
3. Recovery is a mysterious thing
4. I'm not dead yet
   

Let me explain. After three or four cycles (ie only two minutes into it I'd look down and simply not believe that either (a) I still had seven seconds to go on an effort or (b) another one already? The first time I did a set I felt drained. Then after twenty minutes of recovery I began to be aware of my breathing. It felt like my lungs were really having a good time, exchanging that oxygen, sending energy to the muscles. The next time I went into the session already a little gassed from riding Como the previous weekend and slogging through a long week. The next day I had that "beaten with a stick" feeling that brought on an unscheduled recovery day. Bear in mind that I still did a 6x2minute (3min recovery) set 10% above LT power after, so blame could lie with that.

In summary, there are some issues. My feeling is that you can't possibly do these five days of the week. This means stacking two or three days. I'm going to try attacking from another angle and I'll let you know (provided I survive). I find that the limiter to completion of a second set on a given day is specific muscle fatigue. There's no reason why this can't be done with pushups and I'll give that a go to supplement the cycling intervals. Another problem lies in volume. I've managed to buttress my fitness with lots of tempo riding from September through early December. This would be eroded by the huge cut in volume resulting from "interval fatigue". I think I'm going to take a chance on high intensity, low volume training. By doing three weeks on and then a week of low intensity, high volume (AKA enjoyable bicycling) maybe I can race and enjoy life.