40 Goals

Ok, so I got my withings wifi scales today and got all interneted up. Really cool gadget. They're pretty accurate too, I tested with me holding various weights to see if it calibrated correctly and it was spot on. But as accurate and cool as they might be, my numbers are all off the scales ... and not in a good weigh (hehe) ! Ride more, code less. :-)

Well, it has become a bit of an obsession over the last 3 or 4 days, but the video above shows a new tool I've developed for visualising cycling power data in 3d. Well actually, its 3.5D because you can also use colour to visualise different data. Aw, and I forgot to show the grid, surface and arrows (normals) plot. I'm pretty pleased with the outcome but there are still a few bits of polish needed - gridlines would help enormously and a colour legend!

Woohoo, Sean has announced the code has been accepted and pushed to the Golden Cheetah repository. So, in 2 months we went from the impossible to the possible and its done. Wow.

A 270k (!) patch to include this stuff in the Golden Cheetah codebase has been pushed across to Sean. Hopefully this will get released to the world soon. Really excited about it. In the meantime, here is a screenshot of it running on Linux. I wasn't pedalling at the time :-)

Its gonna take me a while but I'm onto it. I need to; 1. decode the Computrainer's serial protocol (see image above). 2. Write CompCS for the Mac. Simples. I reckon by 2010 I should have something worth downloading. UPDATE 8th NOVEMBER. Its done.

I've been having fun getting back into coding and one of the things I've always wanted is a visualisation of my critical power profile as it changes over time. The visualisation above is a working prototype and (hopefully) will find its way into the excellent Golden Cheetah software. I've made some small contributions recently and am fizzing with ideas and energy. No more wishing WKO did certain things ... just write them yourself and hey presto!! I'll update further but as you can imagine with a bit of sumamrisation (the above is ALL rides) and a few other tricks I have planned it could become a good tool for visualising training and outcome ... more later! Edit: I've now integrated into my local GoldenCheetah codebase... time to start 'polishing' and making it usable rather than a hacked up prototype!

I'll let it lie eventually.... Used same protocol as previous day 20 mins, 110 psi, 2.7lbs after warmup. Then did a 2 hour tempo ride and Computrainer gives AP of 209 whilst SRM gives an AP of 196. Not good enough. I have checked tire pressure after the workout and it was still 110 psi. I set the zero offset of the SRM at the start and end and they were almost identical. I will try again with a higher press-on pressure of 3lbs to see if that makes a difference... My dilema is which number to use and how much faith I have in previous CT numbers... annoying. Data files are here if you're interested.

A bit more conclusive this time, I was very careful to warm up the CT thoroughly, with 15 mins of effort from 100w through to 5 mins at 260w. Tire pressure was 110psi and cadence was maintained at around 94 and speed around 25mph. As you can see the SRM and CT tracked very closely indeed - the SRM gave average power for the hour at 221w whilst the CT had 217w. Thats pretty darned close and drivetrain power loss can account for the difference.  Trouble is the calibration I performed last time was 20 mins at 160w and should have been good enough. I'll be using the SRM from now on to capture power data whilst on the CT since it is not so sensitive to calibration. If you want them the data files are here .

I took the plunge and shelled out for some Ergvideos to go with my computrainer. They duly arrived about a week later, which is pretty good given they came all the way from Canada. I didn't even have to pay import duty ... which makes a change cause every other frickin cup or t-shirt I've ever ordered from overseas has usually cost me. I guess the fact that its a slim letter sized package helped to sneak it past the beady eyes of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise leeches. Anyhoo, since you licence them to a specific computer I chose to get the whole shebang setup on the media center PC we have in the main room. That way I get the oomph of the multi-core CPU and the wow factor of the surround sound and big TV. But I can't take it on the road, I can only ergvideo at home ... I concluded that was fair enough, www.cyclefilm.com DVDs and www.thesufferfest.com video podcasts are fine for sessions run from the laptop. Installation Since the HTPC is running Vista and I had bever...

Not a hugely scientific test, I rode an hour tempo with a bit of monkeying around with cadence and resistance in erg mode. Calibrated CT and SRM after 20 minutes warm up at 150-170w. Outcome? The SRM was consistently less than the Computrainer, but only by about 3%. Average watts for the workout from CT was 206 vs 200 from SRM.  The complete dataset is available here (edge 705 download into wko vs CT CDF import into wko then both exported as PT CSV and spliced together using the zero watt markers I placed in the workout when stretching etc). And here is a chart.... ( hi resolution version here ) I'm planning on a more scientific comparison tomorrow since the forecast is for rain and I may end up indoors :-( The geek in me wants to look at the peak power and high/low cadence variances ...

810g compared to 768g for the R700s (yes I did weight them without pedals to check, sad I know). But do they look cool or what?

What a depressing moment - taking off the conti gp4000s summer tyres and replacing them with a set of spesh armadillos. Winter training has arrived. Mind you, its flooded out there and I've picked up the flu so bike maintenance is about all I can look forward to. winter is well and truly here

All setup for base training ... ok, so it will all get shipped up to the pad in Brum tonight but you get the general picture. Nice bit of kit the computrainer ... lots of new things to learn. It doesn't do the workouts for you though - so that'll be the same as last year!

OK. So I'm only coming out of prep phase for next year but now is the time to tool up. I've ordered a Computrainer Lab turbo trainer. I've been hankering after one of these babies since my test at Cyclefit last year and figure I can now justify the expense ... I reckon with an Etape and FWC finish I can now call myself a cyclist. It compliments the Powertap on Bike A very nicely ... but also looking for a new Bike C for the winter training since Bike B is permanently attached to turbo (since it seems to be made from iron girders). Planet X are the current favorites since you can get 'em via Halfords cycle2work scheme that my current employers have signed up to. I've also signed up to trainingpeaks.com for an online diary and plan. Mostly since it integrates with CyclingPeaks WKO+ so nicely and the virtual coach seems quite helpful. Yes, I know, shock horror this year I actually have a plan! You can monitor my training plan via the public interface to see if I...

OK, so I've always buggered around with nutrition and have never got it right. I'm going to take lots with me to make sure and eat eat eat drink drink drink. I've bought 6 Clif bars, 6 power bars, 10 SIS go gels, 10 SIS Smart1 gels a pack of salted peanuts (salt) and enough energy powder to turn the Liffey green as they say. I will be carrying it all. Nah, jut kidding. I'll take as many bags of powder and gels etc that I can fit in my pockets and my top tube bag. I plan on consuming a litre of GO per hour and at least one gel per hour. A clif bar on each descent as a reward. I finally got myself a string vest base layer from Dauphine cycles on Box hill (what a fantastic shop, wall-to-wall Assos and some very,very,VERY nice bikes for sale, suits you sir). I've been hankering after one of those string vests for some time, in fact since I saw Malcolm Elliot wearing one at the Lanzarote thing. I've been wearing it today to make sure it won't irritate me, might ...

Bike needs to go on a diet Its got to that stage where my bike is starting to be a bit limiting. I've been weighing the various components and well, there is a bit of flab that needs to go, here is the inventory; Weight %age Component 1.9 21.8 Powertap Rear Wheel (incl. tyre + skewer) 1.2 13.8 Front Wheel (Bontrager Race X Lite) 0.5 5.7 Saddle Bag (tools, pump, tube) 4.7 54.0 Frame (incl. pedals. groupset) 0.4 4.6 Saddle + Seatpost + Clamp 8.7 100 Total Bike Weight So, it doesn't take a genius to work out where there is the best scope for saving weight. After me of course. I'm not planning on ditching my frame and groupset, certainly a triple is not on the cards - it weighs more and a lot more to go wrong on the day.The saddle and seatpost are relatively lightweight, so we can discount those. Wheels and Tyres So the wheels are gonna have to skinny up. The powertap will not be climbing Alpe D'Huez - the stock Race X Lite wheel it replaces, including cassette and tyres is...

Compact Cranks II Put my replacement compacts on the bike this morning and actually read the instructions. Including the special instructions attached to the left crank arm. It reads: 'WARNING - The two left crank arm mounting bolts should be tightened alternately and incrementally rather than each bolt being fully tightened all at once ... Furthermore after riding 100km (60 miles), use a torque wrench to re-check the tightenting torques ... If the tightening torques are too low or if the mounting bolts are not tightened alternately in stages, the left crank arm may come of during the ride causing the rider to lose control and fall. ' Helps to explain my problem with the first cranks. I didn't alternate and certainly didn't check after 60 miles. Hopefully this time they'll stay on :-)

Power play Got the Powertap setup and working this evening. Had a quick play on the turbo for a few minutes and the numbers coming back indicate that the Tacx is not as optimistic as perhaps thought. Tapping out a cadence of 85-95 the Powertap and Tacx were very similar. I hasten to add that the Tacx had not warmed up and had not been recalibrated since the last time I used it. Far more encouraging than the Tacx accuracy was how I felt pumping out 292w (The sustained power output required to climb AdH in the hour). I'm not saying it was easy but maintaining it for 1 hour is a distinct possibility rather than an absolute impossibility. Of course, I'm assuming the PT is relatively accurate! Lots of long rides this weekend so expect to see reams of boring data over the coming days...

I've got the Power! Just ordered a Powertap SL 2.4 on a Mavic Open pro from Cyclepowermeters.com . Rental for 12 weeks should see me good through to July'ish. Much cheaper than buying one and then flogging it on eBay!

Compact Crankset == Clean Frame I bought a Shimano R700 compact crankset today. Fitted it to my bike and gave it a good test. Blimey, I suspect I'll end up saving them for the Alps and go back to my 53/39 after a couple of weeks. The ratios are nice and I can really kick out a high cadence on some of the steeper climbs around the Surrey Hills. But most of the time they feel a little over-geared. I'm going to keep them on and see if they help me in my quest for a natural 95rpm cadence, which quite frankly feels way too fast to me right now. I figure spending all my time at high cadences will make it 'feel' more natural and I'll get used to it. For £3 you too can clean the other side of your chainrings! As a result of swapping cranks I've discovered that the £3 tool for removing the cranks means I could get my frame really clean behind the chainrings and the bottom bracket cups. And taking off the cranks is no harder than taking the pedals off, in some ways it...