This blog is supported by Cadence's cadre of professional coaches and staff, and occasional input and pro-peloton insight from some of the pros we coach. We hope you will find, research, and discuss, the topics addressed and also provide your own insights. The blog is open with the requirement that all posts are respectful and void of profanity.
Every year around this time, I get a lot of questions from athletes about what to wear on rides. In summer, it is pretty easy for the most part. Jersey and bibs, maybe a base layer, a rain cape and cap if it's raining. Out the door in 5 minutes. On the other end of the spectrum, dressing for cold winter days might be time consuming, but it is pretty simple: wear the warmest stuff you have: winter tights, winter jacket, winter gloves, balaclava... maybe even some hand warmers or heated insoles.
Fall and spring seem to be a little trickier. What do we wear if it is 45 at the start of the ride but it's going to be 65 at the end? Or how about if it's 60 degrees with scattered showers? Wear too little and we risk at least a miserable ride and at worst getting sick. Wear too much and we overheat, which leads to lost power, dehydration, and feeling really cold when we start riding again after a rest stop. Yet we can't prepare for every contingency either. We only have so many pockets in our jersey and we don't want to weighed down by a bunch of clothing that we won't wear or that we will take off in the first 5 minutes.
The simple act of dressing yourself to go riding on some days can be a daunting enough task to keep many riders indoors on what I consider to be some of the nicest weather of the year. So, with the aim of helping you get outside and enjoy the fall weather, here are some tips:
1. Check weather.com. This may sound like a no brainer, but the weather changes fast in the spring and fall, so it's important to check the weather often. Now, with 24 hour weather TV stations, weather apps for our iPhones, and desktop weather on our computers, there's really no excuse for knowing what the weather is going to be. Always look at the hourly schedule, because what it's like now may not be what its going to be like in 2 hours. If you have the freedom to schedule workouts at different times, you can use these tools to make sure that you ride during the nicest times of the day.
2. Use removable clothing. If the weather changes quickly, wear clothes that can be easily removed, placed in your back pocket, and put back on again if needed. A pair of knee warmers, a pair of arm warmers and a wind vest are the 3 most important articles of clothing you will have for the fall.
3. Dress in layers. Wearing many light layers instead of one or two heavy layers ensures that sweat will wick away from your body, which keeps you from overheating, and in turn freezing when you start riding again after a rest stop. Always wear a wicking base layer in the fall and winter as your first layer. There are many different options with base layers: some are lighter, some are heavier, some have wind block material, some have sleeves. Ideally, it is nice to have a few options, but start with the basics.
4. Factor in rain and wet roads. If the forecast is for scattered showers and you are riding, chances are high that you will get wet. Even if it never rains on you, you are bound to ride on some wet roads and have water spray up at you off of your wheels or the wheels of others that you are riding with. It may look silly, but a simple fender over your back wheel can keep your butt clean and dry on days like this. Anyone riding behind you will appreciate it too!
If you need to gear up for fall and winter riding, stop by Cadence and ask to speak with any of our retail associates. We are fully stocked with Assos, Castelli, Capo, Rapha and Zoot, and we'll have you ready to ride in any conditions.
Every Saturday morning from mid April through late August at 7 AM, David Harwi organizes a free time trial out and back on West River/Martin Luther King Drive. It is a great opportunity to practice your time trialing skills on a (relatively) closed course. Because the road is fairly flat, the wind is usually light and the other conditions are fairly constant, it is also a great opportunity to gather data. David has been kind enough to provide times for every rider that has done the time trial since 2002, along with the weather conditions and any other notes for the day (e.g. course shortened by 0.45 miles...)
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion on the West River Time Trial yahoo group (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/WestRiverTimeTrials) about how best to improve your time. Many have offered excellent advice about training, equipment, pacing strategy and bike fit. All this discussion piqued my interest about how different factors influence your speed on the bike. Of course, I am by no means the first one to investigate this question. People like John Cobb and Steve Hed have spent their careers developing aerodynamic bicycle equipment. Zipp, Cervelo, Trek, Felt and BMC as well as many others have created products with heavy utilization of the wind tunnel. It is no accident that in the last 15 years, Pro Tour time trial speeds have gone up and up, despite more and more restrictions on equipment by the UCI.
I have no desire to either repeat, replace or negate the studies that others have done, but I did have some questions that I was curious to answer.
Question #1: How does power affect speed in a TT?
Answer: If you want to go faster, you can have 2 choices: either produce more power or reduce the forces that slow you down (aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance, gravity, drive train resistance and braking force). How you might go about increasing power output is subject to opinion, and varies greatly from one athlete to the next depending on their strengths, weaknesses and constraints. I won't get into the details here, but I will say that you can read all the books and articles you want but nothing will replace the value of a good coach. With risk of seeming prejudiced, time trialists tend to be very regimented people and often hesitant to give up control. Getting the most value out of a coach means letting go and trusting them, even when you might not completely understand why they are asking you to do certain things. As the old saying goes, an idiot is defined as someone who repeats the same behavior and expects different results. Without a coach, or without trusting the coach, we tend to work most on what we are already best at and least on what we most need to work on to achieve our goals.
So, let's say you hired a coach, everything has went well and your sustainable power has gone up. If nothing else has changed, how much faster can you expect to go? To answer this question, I used Tom Compton's http://analyticcycling.com/, which allows you to calculate speed at a given power, or power at a given speed. For a flat course with no wind, a 5'10" 156 lb. rider with a 20 lb bike and an "average" aero position (I assumed a cdA of .27) can expect to go about 24.5 mph at 250 watts, which comes out to a time of 20:26 on the 8.35 mile West River Drive TT. If this rider is able to increase his average wattage over that distance by 10% to 275 watts, their average speed will increase to 25.4 mph and their time will decrease to 19:43. Not bad...
Question #2: How much do aerodynamics affect speed in a TT?
Answer: On a flat course, about 85% of the opposing force that riders fight is from aerodynamic drag, so it's pretty significant. There are 2 key components that determine how much aerodynamic drag you will have at a given speed are: 1) Frontal area and 2) Drag coefficient. Frontal area would be altered by the position you hold yourself in and the shape of your body. If you ride in the drops instead of the hoods, or on TT bars instead of the drops, you will reduce this area. For a visual demonstration of this, check out this video I found on YouTube:
Drag coefficient is a little tougher to measure without a wind tunnel, so we have to rely primarily on studies done by others. Luckily there are quite a few companies with a vested interest in ensuring that their products are as "slippery" as possible. Drag coefficient is influenced by riding more aerodynamic wheels, a skinsuit, aero helmet, booties, or time trial frameset. However, one factor that complicates things here is yaw angle, or the angle that the air hits the rider and bike at, which is a combination of the rider's forward velocity and wind velocity in other directions.
Most of the time, wind tunnels are used to study airplanes and automobiles where wind direction is minimal if not negligible. A 5 mph direct crosswind would mean a 0.6 degree yaw angle for a jet moving 500 mph, 5.2 degrees for a car moving 55 mph and 9.6 degrees for a bike moving 30 mph. Different equipment will perform better or worse under different yaw angles. Does anyone remember the final time trial in the 2005 Tour de France, where Lance Armstrong had people out on the course measuring the wind conditions so that he could choose the right wheels? Due to the high crosswinds, Lance chose to ride a Hed 3-Spoke rather than a disc wheel on the rear because of it's better performance in high yaw angles. When choosing aerodynamic equipment and fitting a rider an aerodynamic position, it is important to realize that different conditions may produce different results in terms of what is "optimum". In addition to wind conditions, rider size and shape and course profile may all be influences.
I said earlier that I assumed a cdA of 0.27, which is an "OK" aero position for a 5'10" 156 lb rider. This same rider probably has a cdA of around 0.31 on his road bike, riding in the drops, which would result in a speed of 24.3 mph on a flat course at 275 watts, or a time of 20:37 over 8.35 miles. Getting into a "Really good" aero position might bring his cdA down to 0.23, resulting in an astounding increase in speed to 26.6 mph, or 18:50 over 8.35 miles at the same wattage! For a great article about how aerodynamic changes affect power and speed, check out http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/how-aero-is-aero-19273.
Question #3: How does weight affect speed in a TT?
Answer: On a flat TT, weight doesn't affect speed too much... directly. With all other things being equal, our rider would only add about 6 seconds to his time if he gained 20 lbs. or take about 5 seconds off if he lost 20 lbs. So, with all the effort required to lose weight, the risk of bonking, missing workouts or getting sick probably outweigh the benefits for most. It would only take a 3 watt power loss to negate the direct benefit of 20 lbs. of weight loss. There is, however, one complicating factor: a thinner rider is usually more aero than a fatter rider, so losing 20 lbs. may actually help more because of the aerodynamic benefits than the gravitational benefits.
Question #4: How does temperature affect speed in a TT?
One of the things that I was intrigued by about David's records was that he recorded the temperature each day. Temperature affects air density, which affects aerodynamic resistance. This year, the temperatures at 7:00 AM on Saturday morning have been consistently in the mid 60's since early May, but in past years, the temperatures seemed to range from 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. For every 5 degree increase in temperature, air density reduces 0.0007 lb/cubic foot, which means a 0.089 mph speed increase. This may sound minimal, but a 20 degree increase results in a 0.36 mph increase, or almost 30 seconds over 8.35 miles with all other things being equal. Not taken into consideration, though, is the effect of temperature on the human body. Certainly, extremely cold or hot temperatures will result in significant power loss for those not acclimated.
Though not a variable in this model, altitude change has a similar affect. All other things being equal, if West River Drive were at 5000 feet, average speeds would be about 1.6 mph faster, which equates to an average time savings of over a minute over 8.35 miles. It is no accident that the majority of the all time U.S. track records were set at the Colorado Springs Velodrome, which is 6000 feet above sea level.
Congratulations to everyone that participated and high fives to everyone that accomplished their goals! Nice work and great effort! Is it too early to ask, "when is your next race?!?" On the day after the race, if you did everything right (or wrong!), I'm sure you'll be a "little" tight and have heavy legs going up and down the stairs! So, let's discuss recovery. But before I do that, don't forget my advice from last week; do something special for your significant other and family. They have sacrificed (and supported) along with you.
Recovery:
How many of you had a recovery drink or food within 30minutes to 2 hours after your race? For those of you that did excellent. This will speed up your recovery. For those of you that didn't, remember how you feel right now and compare it to how you feel after your next race when you DO replenish correctly! 30minutes to 2 hours after your event is the "recovery window". Your body will absorb the nutrition quicker and help transition your body from a catabolic state (breaking down) to anabolic state (building, repairing).
Light muscle massage will help aid in recovery. Treat yourself. You earned it!
Adding some new technology to the mix in the form of compression socks, tights, and tops are a good way to aid in recovery. They work by increasing the blood flow through your muscles, which flushes out waste and delivers essentials nutrients. There are specific forms of compression made for recovery, so shop wisely.
Enjoy the Monday rest day. "Recovery days" and "Days off" are the days you strengthen, grow and improve as an athlete. Everyone thinks it's the hard training days that build the fitness. Quite the contrary, it's the days in between that make the difference!
The Pro's and Elite's recovery days will probably consist of a technique, easy day in the pool or recovery "coffee shop" ride. These rides help flush out all the waste that has built up in the muscles during the race.
It's been fun for us to help out and assist you in making your experience as rewarding as possible. Take care and I hope to see everyone at Cadence on Main Street Manayunk in the coming months. Parking is free for all our customers. If you want more information on equipment, personal swimming, running or cycling classes, triathlon camps and coaching please e-mail info@cadencecycling.com or call (215) 508-4300.
Thanks! Brian Walton VP of Performance, Cadence Cycling & Multisport Center 2003 USA Cycling Developmental coach of the Year 2004 USA Triathlon U23 Executive Cycling Coach
You have done the training and now it's time to put your taper into place. "LESS IS MORE" I can not stress this point enough. You will not get stronger this week by adding an extra workout.
Important FYI... If you don't read anything else here, read my most valuable suggestion...
"If you taper correctly, you'll be a little short fused with everyone and especially your loved ones! Your body has been in "training mode" and now you have this extra energy that should be used at the triathlon and not on your family or coworkers. Compound a little nervous energy in the mix and you have the recipe to explode! Plan something special next week. Make it unexpected. Trust me; this will go a LONG way. No one can succeed without family support."
Transitions:
Make a mental note when setting up your transition area of where you are located in the transition area. You will probably be a little confused after the swim and having a benchmark will certainly help you find your bike. 2000 bikes is a lot of bikes!! Walk from the swim exit to the bike racks. Note the location. How many racks is it? I have seen balloons and signs marking personal transitions, as well as wash basins, towels for convenience. All of this is a matter of personal preference, and whatever you decide to use be sure you've practiced exactly how to use it! It will save you time but more importantly, make your experience just a little better. And of course, please don't forget the transition racks are very crowded -- be courteous to your fellow racers.
Go over in your mind the first transition (T1). How will you dress for the bike? Do you need to sit down to take off your wetsuit? Trust me -- no one will truly look graceful. Be smooth and deliberate when you transition. Collect yourself. Strap on your helmet, cycling shoes, and sunglasses before unracking your bike. And think about your nutrition by consuming some calories with an extra bottle or a gel that you have placed in your transition area.
Walk the transition area to the bike exit. Look at the mount and dismount lines. Plan your second transition (T2) Know where you are going to rack your bike. Where are your running shoes, number? Is your race belt ready?
Don't forget to cross the timing mat and only remove your helmet once you have racked your bike.
Allow your body to get into a rhythm when starting the next leg. Pace yourself and don't go out too hard up the first hill during the bike leg. As you begin the run, it may take you a mile or two to find your legs. Don't panic. If you have done the training, they'll come around!
Note to Experienced Racers: Transitions are one of the places where you can make up the most time. Getting in and out of transition not only cuts time on your T1 and T2 time, but it can put you in a better position on the race course amongst your competitors. Less is more in the transition area. Prepare only what you need. Grab any fuels in transition and start moving. You'll want to get most of your nutrition while on the move!
Final Race Preparation:
Have a bottle of water by your side at all times the week before your race. Focus on drinking 64 oz of water every day. I do not need to tell anyone how important hydration is to performance.
Sleep. It is most important to get two good nights of sleep prior to the race. The day of the race, I prefer getting up early so I am not rushed and have time to compose myself and deal with any possible "what if's!" 30 minutes less sleep is better than rushing around with your head cut off the morning of the race.
Socks? To wear or not to wear? Simple. If you trained with them, wear them. No need to find out if you'll get blisters by not wearing socks cycling or running.
If you are traveling to the race and staying at a hotel find out if they serve breakfast early and the type of breakfast they serve? If you have home field advantage, eat what you normally eat before training on your hard days. I prefer eating 2-3 hours before the race.
Check the weather and plan accordingly. Lars has promised no rain the weekend of the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon. Have fun and look for us the Cadence Tent! We'll have two mechanics ready to help if necessary but please be cautious, there are 2000 competitors!
Enjoy the advice and if you want more information on personal swimming, running or cycling classes, triathlon camps, coaching, and race day equipment and bikes please e-mail info@cadencecycling.com or call (215) 508-4300.
Thanks! Brian Walton VP of Performance, Cadence Cycling & Multisport Center 2003 USA Cycling Developmental coach of the Year 2004 USA Triathlon U23 Executive Cycling Coach
Cadence athletes excelled at the Jersey Genesis Triathlon on June 6th. The town of Port Republic, New Jersey hosted this .5 mile swim, 16 mile bike, 4 mile run sprint triathlon.
The swim was a triangle course held in Nacote Creek. The creek was calm and clean but it was a bit chilly due to the heavy rain from the night before. Cadence athlete Steve Delmonte posted a strong swim coming out of the water at the front of his wave. Steve followed his swim with great bike and run legs taking the 3rd place overall.
The bike portion featured a flat and fast, out and back course. Race officials did a great job keeping the roads clear of traffic for all those racing. Cadence athlete Jeff Roma threw down a great bike split averaging 24.1 mph for the 16 mile ride. This helped Jeff finish on the podium for his age group.
The transition area was well set up for a quick in from the bike and a short 20 meter run out of the transition area to the run course.
The run highlighted a scenic 4 mile loop around Nacote Creek with several water aid stations along the way. Cadence Coach Jack Braconnier averaged 5:43 miles around the creek for a solid run split.