Rocket Man

Phew - I'm kinda surprised to see the thread still going but there's obviously some interest here, thanx to both Doc and BikeMax. I'll toss in another penny's worth: How many of you out there have a track specific SRM? No matter what you think of power training this thing gives you info that you wouldn't believe: 1. You can measure how much wheel spin you're getting on your standing starts and so adjust your body position for maximum traction and acceleration. 2. You can find "hesitation dips" in your flying 200s where you have accidently let the power fall off during acceleration or in the tight turns. 3. You can record specific events (like points races) and duplicate the power profile during training to make sure that you are doing the right kind of workout at the right intensity. 4. You can measure your own power vs cadence profile to select the right gears for each type of race. 5. You can accurately measure the effect of changing the length of your cranks. 6. You can easily see the difference in rolling resistance of different types of tires - dramatic change from average clinchers to good tubbies. 7. You can accurately determine the effects of pursuit bars and body position on TT times. Actually the list goes on and on... The point is that accurate information is useful in making you go faster. And if that is your game then you really need one of these things.

Excellent Doc, thanks for taking the time to respond. I deal with research into machine performance and that's got a whole lot fewer variables than humans....just love this kind of stuff tho'.

BikeMax, for amateurs like me can you explain the acronyms that u'r using?

Hold the phone Doc! Are you saying that inspite of greater VO2max and PPo the actual riding performance of the subjects (40km TT) wasn't significantly different? It kinda' begs the question as to how much belief each subject had in their selected training method - that alone could account for a 2% improvement! Also, I think it's easier to recover from a constant heart rate workout than from a constant power one - maybe the power guys showed more signs of fatigue... The questions are endless - are you going to make this paper available for us to see?

Cool stuff Doc. Here's a few other variables to throw in - (HRM plus SRM). 1. An interesting measure of "fitness" is the ratio of power over heart rate. It correlates with how bad it feels at a given power output. Without exception early morning training produces a significantly lower ratio than afternoon (ie lower power for the same effort). 2. There is a strong negative correlation between cadence and power irrespective of the duration - lower cadence produces more power (peak and average) for the same heart rate. 3. The ambient temperature has a significant impact on sustainable power. 4. The load characterisitcs of most trainers change as the exersise progresses so performance can either appear to increase or decrease. 5. The load characteristics of most trainers changes with ambient temperature so you may find better performance on colder days. 6. With carefull planning you can always set a PB - cool day, low cadence, high loading, operate at high heart rate etc... It seems to me that the number of variables that affect performance make it very difficult to measure your current state of readiness for a race. Of course basic things like overtraining do show up easily but to be certain that you're 5% fitter/faster/VO2maxed or LT'd since a previous measurement is very difficult to achieve...

I second that assessment Ricycle. We really had a blast and enjoyed both riding and watching the races. Congrats to the organizers who coped well with the variable weather conditions and managed the events and different categories fairly. It would be cool next year if we could organise live results (an active display) as well as still and video footage available for sale on the day. How about slow motion shots of the finishes? Some of them were really close... Whilst we may not have world class riders in every category this is an entertaining sport where like minded people can have fun competing.

did the first Panorama. my partner hit a pothole 10kms into stage one. it took out one of the other teams and blew both his wheels. we patched him up and after loosing 40mins on the bunch (four punctures, broken shifter cable) finished way back. I crashed on stage two but we TT'd back into the pack. Won stage three and finished fourth overall. Important lessons - carry plenty of spares. Ride the biggest gear you can (the tandems clocked 110kph down the passes) I made a special cluster running 25/11 and still ran out of gears at both ends. Never, never, never give up!!! It's a great event - enjoy!

hey 234 i'm a techno junkie with all the toys. it's not what you buy it's how you use it. forget long sessions - not necessary. but always warm up for 20min and cool down after a session rollers rock because they work the core - try one leg peddling and high cadence work (not at the same time). or 30min at 120rpm will make the argus feel like a warm up. or try max speed - >190rpm for 10secsx12. IDT's are great for strength intervals - 5mins at >300W x 3 (use a heavy load setting) or max power - 6sec at >1000W x 12 there's a ton of different and fun exersizes that you can do - many specifically to raise LT and improve peddling efficiency. all time favourite - playing the guitar on the rollers (concentration training) also, to avoid boredom split training into am and pm. - aerobic am, strength or speed pm. 45mins tops. get your long aerobic (and recovery) on the weekends.

hey Sheldon, watch the track video whenever the pain gets too much - it sure perks me up on a bad day... http://www.laserm.co.za/temp/Can u keep up.wmv <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Rocket Man2008-02-26 08:27:49

As far as I know Pilditch is open most daylight hours. If you want lights you have to pay extra. There is an entry card that cyclists can buy to get access to the facilities (you need two passport photos). Or, I know that last year you could just pay a small entry fee each time to get in. If you want more details why not take a look at the Wed racing (7pm) where Sheldon or Ilsa can help you?

Sheldon has been doing great work at Pilditch Velodrome with Wednesday night races. He has put together a program that develops skills in many types of track racing and includes events for beginners and schools level riders as well as some cool Keirin and other stuff for A and B cat. Unfortunately he doesn't get to ride his own events and was "elliminated" from the Keirin at HNP. I spoke to him last night and he said that he hoped to back up to speed for SA's. For riders who are not too clear on why track racing is such a rush even though there are quite a few minor crashes take a look at: http://www.laserm.co.za/temp/Can%20u%20keep%20up.wmv Please note that this is for private viewing only and there is copyright protection on the music.