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