The first race is this weekend at Iola, Wisconsin. The weather this spring can be summed up in one word: WET. Fortunately, the Iola course is very sandy and so water usually helps this course.
I feel that I have prepared about as well as I could given the weather. The one thing I have not been able to do is ride off road with the single speed. So tomorrow I'm going over to Iola to pre-ride the course with a guess as to gearing. Many people have recommended I start with a 2 to 1 ratio. I'll be close to that using a 34x18 combination. Since my bike is a 29er that combination works out to be a little taller than a 2 to 1 on a 26 inch bike.
I had the PowerTap record from the Iola race last year and I think that the 34x18 gear should work on that course. The pre-ride should give me a good indication if I'm right and, if not, I can change the gearing before the race Sunday.
Mike
Friday, April 29, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
A Good Endurance Ride
The weather this spring has been cold and wet; not a good combination for badly needed endurance training. When it is cold out, in the 30's or 20's, I do more short intense rides such as intervals or short tempo rides. That way I stay warmer and don't feel the cold as much. But getting ready for the race season means you need to do some endurance work, in fact you need quite a bit. The heart of a cross country race is endurance.
In April the weather has been terrible and I've only had a few good endurance rides. I think of a good endurance ride as one that is more than an hour and a half in length. This weekend the weather improved with the temperature in the upper 40's Saturday and in the upper 50's today.
Saturday I managed to do an hour and forty minutes at a good pace through some hills. Then today I was able to do a two and a half hour ride on one of my hill courses called Crystal Lake. The course leads south from New Holstein, through the Village of Elkhart Lake, then around Crystal Lake and returns to New Holstein. The total length is 36 miles.
Last year at this time I did this course on my geared bike, so I was able to compare the PowerTap records of the two rides. There are some lengthy flat sections between the hill sections, so overall I would think that a geared bike would be faster. Surprise, today's ride was just as fast as last years ride. On closer analysis, I found that on the flats I was faster on the geared bike, but in the hills I was faster on the single speed. One of the hills is long and very steep at the top. On that hill I was about 5% faster on my single speed. On the other hills I was as much as 10 to 15 percent faster.
I can't explain why I seem to be able to climb better with the single speed, but that is what the data is saying. I have found this to be true on other rides too.
One week to go to the first race.
Mike
In April the weather has been terrible and I've only had a few good endurance rides. I think of a good endurance ride as one that is more than an hour and a half in length. This weekend the weather improved with the temperature in the upper 40's Saturday and in the upper 50's today.
Saturday I managed to do an hour and forty minutes at a good pace through some hills. Then today I was able to do a two and a half hour ride on one of my hill courses called Crystal Lake. The course leads south from New Holstein, through the Village of Elkhart Lake, then around Crystal Lake and returns to New Holstein. The total length is 36 miles.
Last year at this time I did this course on my geared bike, so I was able to compare the PowerTap records of the two rides. There are some lengthy flat sections between the hill sections, so overall I would think that a geared bike would be faster. Surprise, today's ride was just as fast as last years ride. On closer analysis, I found that on the flats I was faster on the geared bike, but in the hills I was faster on the single speed. One of the hills is long and very steep at the top. On that hill I was about 5% faster on my single speed. On the other hills I was as much as 10 to 15 percent faster.
I can't explain why I seem to be able to climb better with the single speed, but that is what the data is saying. I have found this to be true on other rides too.
One week to go to the first race.
Mike
Friday, April 22, 2011
Correlations
Because of my teaching schedule, I usually take Wednesdays off. So this Wednesday I didn't ride and then returned to training very rested on Thursday. I managed two rides on Thursday, first about an hour doing hill repeats and then later an hour and fifteen minutes at a fast, steady, but comfortable pace. The day off made me feel great and both rides were strong ones.
This got me to thinking. If one day off results in really good training rides then what if I took 6 months off? Maybe I could win "The Tour". Then I remembered back when I was a college Junior at Oklahoma State University. That fall semester a friend and I took a beer break each night at 9:00 pm. We each consumed one beer. At that time in Oklahoma beer had an alcohol content of 3.2%. At the end of the semester I earned a 3.2 grade point average. The correlation was obvious.
The next semester in a earnest attempt to improve my academic standing, I tried a bolder approach. At the end of the semester I fully expected a 76 grade point average. Sure enough the correlation was perfect. I made a 0.76 average. I spent the next four years in the Navy. I then returned and repeated that semester drinking only water, no salt please.
I think the only things I'll be taking off are Wednesdays and derailleurs.
Mike
This got me to thinking. If one day off results in really good training rides then what if I took 6 months off? Maybe I could win "The Tour". Then I remembered back when I was a college Junior at Oklahoma State University. That fall semester a friend and I took a beer break each night at 9:00 pm. We each consumed one beer. At that time in Oklahoma beer had an alcohol content of 3.2%. At the end of the semester I earned a 3.2 grade point average. The correlation was obvious.
The next semester in a earnest attempt to improve my academic standing, I tried a bolder approach. At the end of the semester I fully expected a 76 grade point average. Sure enough the correlation was perfect. I made a 0.76 average. I spent the next four years in the Navy. I then returned and repeated that semester drinking only water, no salt please.
I think the only things I'll be taking off are Wednesdays and derailleurs.
Mike
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
What's All This White Stuff?
April 19th and it is snowing! I was hoping the trails might open this coming weekend; but, today it has snowed several inches and more is expected tonight. That means my first off road ride will probably be the pre-ride for the Iola race the following weekend.
My main concern is gearing. Since I don't have any experience choosing cogs for a race, it would have been nice to be able to ride some trails to get an idea about gear ratios. So what is my plan? Use a 52x11 gear and a cadence of 80, then all I have to do is miss the trees to win. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?
The really nice thing about single speeding is that you always have a good excuse. Humilliating defeat? "Well, I was on a single speed". Huge win? "And I was on a single speed". You always look good no matter what the outcome. No front, rear, middle suspension, 68 speed, $10,000 carbon marvel can do that for you.
Looking for the Sun,
Mike
My main concern is gearing. Since I don't have any experience choosing cogs for a race, it would have been nice to be able to ride some trails to get an idea about gear ratios. So what is my plan? Use a 52x11 gear and a cadence of 80, then all I have to do is miss the trees to win. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?
The really nice thing about single speeding is that you always have a good excuse. Humilliating defeat? "Well, I was on a single speed". Huge win? "And I was on a single speed". You always look good no matter what the outcome. No front, rear, middle suspension, 68 speed, $10,000 carbon marvel can do that for you.
Looking for the Sun,
Mike
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Headwinds are Good.
If you want to feel like Superman then ride with a good tailwind. You cruise along at a high speed with little effort. It is quiet and comfortable. So what could possibly be good about a headwind? Headwinds offer a constant resistance to your efforts especially on flats or slight downhills. These are places where you tend to "spin out" on a single speed. Right now I am running a 33x16 gear until the trails open so I spin out around 22 mph.
Today the wind was from the northwest at about 25 mph. It was in the lower 40's and sunny. There is a bike path between my home in New Holstein and the city of Kiel to the southeast. The path is about 2.5 miles in length, lightly used and fairly flat. It starts just a block from my door so I use it for interval training and for getting to various routes on the other side of Kiel. Today I rode easy, with a high cadence, downwind to the end of the path and then returned into the wind as hard as I could. The strong headwind kept my speed down around 11 mph so the return trips took about 10 minutes. Then I returned to Kiel with a high cadence and repeated the hard effort five times.
A great training ride that combined fast pedaling with hard efforts thanks to a good headwind.
Mike
Today the wind was from the northwest at about 25 mph. It was in the lower 40's and sunny. There is a bike path between my home in New Holstein and the city of Kiel to the southeast. The path is about 2.5 miles in length, lightly used and fairly flat. It starts just a block from my door so I use it for interval training and for getting to various routes on the other side of Kiel. Today I rode easy, with a high cadence, downwind to the end of the path and then returned into the wind as hard as I could. The strong headwind kept my speed down around 11 mph so the return trips took about 10 minutes. Then I returned to Kiel with a high cadence and repeated the hard effort five times.
A great training ride that combined fast pedaling with hard efforts thanks to a good headwind.
Mike
Monday, April 11, 2011
Is a Single Speed Slower?
Each year I try to compare my training with where I was at the same time last year. In the past, I have used such things as time over a certain route or average speed for the same route. However, these are not a very good indicators as they are highly dependent on weather conditions.
Last year I purchased a CycleOps PowerTap hub for my MTB and now I can compare power over a ride, course, or part of a course such as a certain climb or sprint. So when I switched to a single speed I was very curious if the single speed was slower than a geared bike under various conditions.
So far I have only been able to compare various road rides, as here in Wisconsin the ground has not completely thawed and dried and so the trails are not yet open. Right now I am using a 2:1 gear ratio that seems to work well on the short but moderately steep hills in the area. This ratio gives me a top speed of about 20-21 mph before I "spin out" on flats and downhills.
So what is my overall finding so far? On the average I'm slightly faster on my single speed compared to my geared bike rides from last year. The average power output is slightly higher. That may mean I'm just in better condition than last year at this time, but it is interesting.
One worry I had about the single speed was in climbing, but when I compared specific climbs to the geared bike I have found that I'm just as fast on the single speed and have a similar power output. How about sprints? In a short sprint, 10 seconds, it appears that I am slightly faster on the single speed. On longer sprints I am slightly slower as I spin out after 10 seconds or so. It is encouraging and leads me to think I can compete with the geared bikes in my age group.
In a couple of weeks the trails should be open and I can test the single speed on single track, so keep checking back.
Mike
Last year I purchased a CycleOps PowerTap hub for my MTB and now I can compare power over a ride, course, or part of a course such as a certain climb or sprint. So when I switched to a single speed I was very curious if the single speed was slower than a geared bike under various conditions.
So far I have only been able to compare various road rides, as here in Wisconsin the ground has not completely thawed and dried and so the trails are not yet open. Right now I am using a 2:1 gear ratio that seems to work well on the short but moderately steep hills in the area. This ratio gives me a top speed of about 20-21 mph before I "spin out" on flats and downhills.
So what is my overall finding so far? On the average I'm slightly faster on my single speed compared to my geared bike rides from last year. The average power output is slightly higher. That may mean I'm just in better condition than last year at this time, but it is interesting.
One worry I had about the single speed was in climbing, but when I compared specific climbs to the geared bike I have found that I'm just as fast on the single speed and have a similar power output. How about sprints? In a short sprint, 10 seconds, it appears that I am slightly faster on the single speed. On longer sprints I am slightly slower as I spin out after 10 seconds or so. It is encouraging and leads me to think I can compete with the geared bikes in my age group.
In a couple of weeks the trails should be open and I can test the single speed on single track, so keep checking back.
Mike
Friday, April 8, 2011
Aligning the Rear Cog with the Chain Ring.
In yesterday's post I wrote that you can align the rear cog and the chain ring by sighting down the two sprockets before you put the on the chain. This will get you close to alignment. Once you have an approximate alignment you can easily fine tune it using the following technique.
Put the chain on the bike and spin the crank several times. Then notice the position of the two sprockets teeth in the chain. If the chain ring and the cog are properly aligned then their teeth should be in the middle of the chain. If the teeth on the cog are on one side of the chain and the teeth of the chain ring are on the other side of the chain then the sprockets are misaligned. If this is the case, slip the rear cog over in the direction that would move it's teeth to the center of the chain. This is very easy using spacers on the freewheel.
Now spin the chain a few times and recheck the location of the teeth. Keep moving the rear cog until the chain is always centered on both sprockets after spinning the crank. Now you have alignment. Remember that a well aligned chain has the least amount of friction so spend a little time to get this right. Good alignment also minimizes the chances of a chain derailing.
Good Luck,
Mike
Put the chain on the bike and spin the crank several times. Then notice the position of the two sprockets teeth in the chain. If the chain ring and the cog are properly aligned then their teeth should be in the middle of the chain. If the teeth on the cog are on one side of the chain and the teeth of the chain ring are on the other side of the chain then the sprockets are misaligned. If this is the case, slip the rear cog over in the direction that would move it's teeth to the center of the chain. This is very easy using spacers on the freewheel.
Now spin the chain a few times and recheck the location of the teeth. Keep moving the rear cog until the chain is always centered on both sprockets after spinning the crank. Now you have alignment. Remember that a well aligned chain has the least amount of friction so spend a little time to get this right. Good alignment also minimizes the chances of a chain derailing.
Good Luck,
Mike
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Building the Bike
Three years ago I wanted a 29er (29" wheels) and decided to buy a Specialized Stumpjumper Comp 29er. After riding the bike for awhile, I felt like I didn't really need all 27 speeds so I removed two of the front chain rings leaving just the middle ring. This resulted in the bike having only 9 speeds. For two seasons I raced the 1x9 setup sucessfully in the WORS series. Then last year I started experimenting on training rides using only one gear. I found that I was just as fast as when using the 9 speed setup. So this spring I decided to turn the bike into a true single speed.
The first problem is dropouts, those slots that the rear axial fits into, are usually vertical and so you can not adjust the chair tension by moving the rear wheel forward or rearward. However on the Comp 29er the dropouts , although vertical, are adjustable so you can slide them to adjust the chair tension. This made the conversion easy.
I bought a conversion kit for the rear wheel that consisted of a set of spacers, a lock ring and a cog that replaced the 9 speed cog. I also bought a new chain opting for a single speed chain which is wider, stronger and has less side flex than a 9 speed chain. Then I bought a single speed 34 tooth chain ring for the front that had no pins or ramps, devices that aid the deraillier in changing from one ring to another. Finally, I purchased a chain guide for the front ring from Mountain Racing Products (MRP) to help insure that the chain did not derail. The total cost was about $150.
The conversion took about 45 minutes to complete. The two things you must be careful of are: First, the rear cog should be directly in line with the chain ring. This can be accomplished by carefully sighting down the cog and the chain ring and adjusting the various spacers provided in the conversion kit. Second, you must adjust the chain tension so that the chain is not loose and flopping around and not so tight as to put the wheel in a bind. This will take a few minutes of experimenting but is fairly easy.
Now the bike is ready and the fun begins.
Mike
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Hardest Training Ride
This afternoon I did my hardest training ride, The dreaded "recovery ride". A recovery ride sounds easy: Ride for 30 minutes to 1 hour at a very easy pace, no sprints, no climbs, don't go fast, just enjoy the ride, smell the roses. The goal is to give your legs a break and time to rebuild from previous hard rides such as intervals, climbing repeats, speed tests, and races.
This past weekend I did hill repeats on Saturday and a 2+ hour ride at a fast pace on Sunday so it was time for some recovery. What makes the recovery ride so hard is that after about 15 minutes you start to feel very good and so you want to go faster and harder. However, it is very important that you continue to go easy so that your muscles are not taxed in the least. This way your muscles can repair tissue and build new tissue, getting stronger. Self discipline is the order of the day. Tonight I feel very good and I'm looking forward to a harder effort tomorrow.
Good riding,
Mike
This past weekend I did hill repeats on Saturday and a 2+ hour ride at a fast pace on Sunday so it was time for some recovery. What makes the recovery ride so hard is that after about 15 minutes you start to feel very good and so you want to go faster and harder. However, it is very important that you continue to go easy so that your muscles are not taxed in the least. This way your muscles can repair tissue and build new tissue, getting stronger. Self discipline is the order of the day. Tonight I feel very good and I'm looking forward to a harder effort tomorrow.
Good riding,
Mike
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The Background and this Blog
For the past 7 years I've been riding in the Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS)mountain bike races. I compete in the 60+ age group as I am now 67. Last year I was getting burned out and after the first race of the season I decided to take a year off. This year I'm back and re-energized but also I want to do something a little different.
Last week I converted my geared 29er to a fully rigid single speed bike. That means it has only one gear and no suspension. Most mountain bikes have 27 gears and at least suspension forks if not full suspension front and rear. My bike is a 2008 Specialized hard tail Stumpjumper 29er which I previously had setup as a fully rigid 1x9. The front wheel is an American Classic and the rear wheel has a cycleOps PowerTap hub. As a single speed, race ready, the bike weighs 20.8 pounds. The original bike with suspension forks and 27 gears weighed over 27 pounds.
My plan is to compete in my regular age group, Sport 60+, with my fellow 60+ riders riding their geared bikes against my single speed. So will I look like an idiot or can I make my buddies question the money they spent on high tech gears and suspension?
Sound insane? It probably is. I plan frequent updates about training and single speeding. The first WORS race is May 1st at Iola, Wisconsin with lots of short, steep climbs each lap.
Stay tuned,
Mike
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