It has been a super long time...

It has been a super long time since I blogged. Life has been busy-crazy (cycling life and 'real' life) so have had precious little time. A few things to share:

Club Racing: I have only raced at club level twice since my last report. A combined handicap race on the Bunker's Hill Circuit (2nd) and a Twilight Criterium at Glenvale (5th). I love, love (love) combined handicaps and this is something that all three of the local clubs should be running more often. 

Australian Masters Road Titles: I was supposed to take part in the road race and the time trial in the week of 24 September. Regrettably, I had to withdraw before the start after getting knocked over by an especially nasty sinus infection. As well as working hard to recover from my two shoulder operations this year, I have had a very bad run of colds and sinus infections. Now we are in the warmer months I am hoping for a slightly better run. I am also in the early stages of exploring some immune system issues I may be experiencing as a result of prolonged raised cortisol levels. Prolonged high cortisol levels can suppress the immune system making you more susceptible to illness. I apparently have the 'triple threat' for this situation. Busy job + endurance athlete + wound up personality = raised cortisol levels. 

DRP Coaching: The coaching thing is going from strength to strength. I have a great bunch of riders working with me on monthly plans and many other people who 'come and go' on some of the other plan types I do. I am also very pleased to be finalizing the very first order of DRP Coaching kit:

You can order the kit here if you are interested: DRP Coaching Kit

Track Cycling: This is far and away the most interesting thing to have happened in my cycling world for some time. I have been keen to get back on the track for a while and am also looking for something to focus on in the warmer months. I purchased a beautiful Fuji Track Elite from iRide in Toowoomba and off I went. I thought I would throw myself in the deep end and do the State Titles Omnium for Masters 1 - 4 as my first race back. I really enjoyed myself and somehow managed to pick up the silver medal. I had a crack at the Elite State Titles Points Race a fortnight later. This was a tough affair. After picking up quite a few points early on I faded and pulled the pin a little after half way. The next day, Bikeline Racing rode the Elite State Titles Team Pursuit. This is what I posted on the DRP Coaching Facebook page after that event:

For the past couple of months I have been a part of the Bikeline Racing Team Pursuit Team. The team has been me, a current Masters QLD pursuit champion, a current Masters QLD sprint champion and a very keen roadie who was completely new to the track. My three team mates had never ridden a team pursuit before. Amazingly, we managed to win the Elite QLD Team Pursuit title yesterday. This is the classic case of the 'a champion team beats a team of champions every time'. I don't believe we were anywhere near the strongest team on paper, but we understood that technique, efficiency, aerodynamics and a well-measured effort, all combine to make a winning formula in one of the most technically difficult and tough events in cycling. Congrats to us!

Needless to say, I am very happy to be back on the track!

Race Report: Mooloolaba 70.3 (Half-Ironman), Male Open Teams, 13 September 2015

A 90 km individual time trial is a fairly rare event for a bike rider, but this was exactly what awaited me in the Mooloolaba 70.3. I was in a team from Dalby (with the very creative and inspiring name of 'Team Dalby') with Robert Onfray (swimmer) and Tony Nolan (runner). I am pretty sure the average age of our team was about 47 years old. There was no Masters category available so we competed in Male Open Teams. 

Robert had a solid swim and put me onto the road in good position. I was really hoping to do the 90 km in under 2 h 10 min. With 20 km to go (the last turn around) I was looking good for my goal. However, the last 12 km or so was into a very stiff south-easterly that had sprung up late in the race. This slowed me right down to 36 km/h in places and of course my time was knocked around. I ended up 2 h 12 min. Average speed of 41 km/h which I am fairly happy with over 90 km. Tony had a solid run to finish off the team effort.

What happened next? A few coffees, some nice lunch, a bit of a walk around Mooloolaba and then the drive home. It never occurred to us to go to presentations, because we never (ever) expected that we would be anywhere near a place. It wasn't until we made it back to Dalby and checked the results online that we realized we had placed 2nd in open teams and I had managed the fastest cycle leg of all teams on the day. Surprise is an understatement ! One for the old (ish) guys !

Thanks to coach Mark Brady for doing a good job of prepping me for this one.

Race Report: Club Criterium, 8 August 2015

I didn't expect a lot out of this race. I am still well and truly battling to get back into form. My arm is progressing well, but my power numbers are still a long way off and even though my weight is falling, I'm still nowhere near a decent race condition. I have also been struggling to shake a persistent head cold that has been annoying me for weeks. 

There were nine of us at the start of the A Grade Toowoomba Criterium (45 minutes + 2 laps). Seven of the nine have been racing Queensland Road Team Series (QRTS) regularly this year and some of those riders have been in great form. I was going to have a tough time. My realistic race plan was to follow wheels and hopefully finish in touch with someone. I rarely enter a race believing that finishing in last place would be a good ride...but. 

The pace was very tough. A lot of attacks from the start and generally very aggressive racing. Within the first few laps the field split with five going forwards and four going backwards (I was in that group). The front five quickly established a ten second or so lead and it was looking like being all over. Then that thing in my head kicked in. That little voice that said 'come on you fat old slug...you can get across that gap'. So I did... Man oh man did that hurt. Just as I made contact with the front group, Trent West kindly attacked up the finish straight hill, forcing me off the back. I chased back on again with a heart rate for sale at $1.90 and lactic acid turning my hair grey. 

From that point onward, It was just a matter of chewing my stem and trying to hang on as there were more and more attacks. The front group whittled down to four riders and somehow I was still there. Tom Gough attacked with two laps to go and held on for the win and I hung on for fourth in the chase group. 

Fourth place. I don't think I have ever been so happy with a fourth! This is hopefully a good sign for racing ahead. I'm taking it one race at a time for now with the Scenic Rim Tour next weekend being next on the agenda. 

Here is a picture of me with a mouthful of stem (credit Fixdgear Photography)::

Race Report: Club Individual Time Trial, 28 June 2015

It has been a long, long (long) time since I have blogged a race report...November last year in fact. 

I am still recovering from two shoulder surgeries in February and March of this year. I have been back on the bike for around six weeks but still have a long way to go. My arm movement and strength is returning, but I am still unable to put much pressure on standing up, which makes it hard for me to do any steep climbing, accelerate hard on hills, sprint or attack, making road racing a bit out of reach at the moment.

A 16 km individual time trial though, is a slightly different prospect. I was also looking for a solid effort in the thirty minute zone to have a look at my power levels. I had to race on my road bike as I am still unable to ride on my time trial bike, even with the arm pads relaxed outwards.

My cunning (and in hindsight, slightly mad) plan was to ride to the race at Kingsthorpe, do the time trial and then ride back (a touch over 200 km). A good day of endurance with a little race in the middle. My plan came slightly unstuck when the ride up turned into a headwind slog and I got nice and wet from a rainstorm at Oakey. I arrived at the start line late, tired, wet and just a little pissed off.

All in all though, it went okay. With tired, unfit and slightly chubby (I'm still at least 6 kg over race weight) legs, I managed 6th in a solid field of nine A graders, with a time of 25 minutes 35 seconds for 16 km on a very windy day with a solid hill right in the middle (which I would have loved to be able to charge up out of the seat). 

I was looking for some power data from the race and I 'kinda' have that now, but I was really a little too tired from the ride up to make it really meaningful. In any case, I have a lot of work to do!

The ride home was exceptionally hard and it ended up being 215 km by the end. The time between 190 km and 210 km was a very dark place indeed!

Not sure what's up next for me in terms of racing. My arm will decide that for me. Longish term I am doing the Mooloolaba 70.3 Half Ironman in a team in twelve weeks time, so will need to sneak some races in between now and then.

It's good to have a number on my back again. 

Giro Musings: Time Trial Helmets

I know that professional riders have to wear what they are given by sponsors, but I stumbled across three pictures in a row of the Giro Time Trial that was completed overnight that really caught my attention. This is especially related to the recent trend of short tail time trial helmets that are seemingly so popular now. There are many reasons for this, mainly because if you are a rider who moves / bobs / swings your head around, then the short tail might be faster for you. However, if you read the research by most aerodynamics gurus (which I am not, for the record) like Xavier Disley (find him on Twitter, he is a great follow) you will see that a long tail that sits in the right position is still normally the fastest option.

First picture is Jurgen Van den Broeck, His helmet 'choice' looks almost perfect. See how the long tail connects almost seamlessly with his flat back:

Second picture is Rigoberto Uran. He has a medium tail helmet, but as you can see from the picture, he often likes to put his head down, sticking the tail up into the air like an aero anchor. Far be it for me to criticize Rigoberto, but he needs to keep that head down, or get a short tail helmet:

Finally, Vasily Kiryienka (who won the stage). He tends to keep his head very steady in the position you can see. He has a short tail helmet here but doesn't need it. He would be better off with Jurgen's helmet or Rigaberto's:

The point of all this is that the same helmet that is perfect for you can be an aero brick for someone else. Do your research, work on your position and make an investment that will actually make you faster. The helmet is still one of the most economical ways to get some speed in a time trial. 

No Blogging?

This has been an especially lean spell of blogging for me. Typing has been tough with my two recent shoulder surgeries and I have been a little busy getting into the world of coaching. More content to come soon...

DRP Coaching

For a long time, I have been considering becoming a cycling coach. I have finally decided to do it. I have already completed some formal qualifications in cycling coaching and am scheduled to do more. I am looking forward to combining this new knowledge with my background and experience in cycling, to become a successful coach. Please take the time to check out the new Dean Russell Performance Coaching blog site: http://drpcoaching.blogspot.com.au