Cervelo's released a second video documenting the testing of their new R5ca (code-named Project California). Pretty cool walk-through of the composite fabrication process and Brett Lancaster's demo of the bike.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Project California Update
Cervelo's released a second video documenting the testing of their new R5ca (code-named Project California). Pretty cool walk-through of the composite fabrication process and Brett Lancaster's demo of the bike.
Race Report 1: Rev3 Quassy
Just wrapped up my first race of the season, the Revolution3 Quassy. In general, I'd say I'm a little disappointed with my result. But, I learned a lot from the race and it was definitely good preparation for Lake Placid.
Saturday:
I headed up to Middlebury, CT with my girlfriend Posie the afternoon before. Complications with the rental car and my bike saw us get underway a little late which was unfortunate. Rolled into Middlebury around 6pm, dropped Posie off at the hotel and headed over to the race site. I only had 40 minutes to register for the race, get my race wheels on do a short spin and check-in my bike before the 7pm cut-off. I had wanted to do a short pre-swim, bike and jog but bad planning on my part screwed that up.
I had eaten a huge breakfast and lunch so I just snacked all afternoon and evening and went to bed well-hydrated and slightly hungry.
Sunday Pre-race:
Woke up at 4am, threw done a bottle of Ultragen, a bagel covered in jam and two bottles with salt pills. Had a quick shower and got dressed. I laid out all my gear the night before so I was ready to roll at 4:45. Posie and I drove over to another hotel to pick up one of my training buddies and then we headed to the race site.
I checked on my bike, met a few guys in my division and prepped my transition gear. Did a short run-through of swim-exit to the bike, bike exit and bike-off to the run. Then I just tried to relax with Posie away from the other racers. Put down a lot of fluids--it was already getting really humid--and had 2 GUs.
Swim:
Men's 25-29 left in the first wave at 7:03. I seeded myself on the inside in the second row and this really burnt me. I tried to power through the first 600m as my coach had recommended but just couldn't get around the mass. There was a lot of head clubbing and people swimming all over each other. I couldn't get any rhythm and it was probably the worst open-water swim I've ever had.
After about 10 minutes of swimming I finally got on someone's feet and cruised the rest of the swim. Unfortunately, this guy wasn't that fast and the lead group had broken away. I probably made the wrong decision to stick behind him rather than try to break away.
Came out of the water in 33 minutes which was really disappointed. I've really worked on swimming this year and was hoping for something more like 29 or 30 minutes. You can see me checking my watch... and not being particularly happy.
Bike:
I made a smooth and quick transition to the bike which I was happy with. Once on the bike, I cruised steadily for the first 20 minutes through some steady rolling hills. As always, the disc and deep front gave me a little boost.
I didn't bike as well as I had hoped, but felt pretty happy given a number of mishaps. I kept my power around 220-230W. The first half of the bike was manageable because the descents were straight and long and the climbs were steady and long. The second half of the bike was tougher because of all of the rollers. I either spiked too high or lost momentum. I think I need a better strategy for handling rollers.
Anyway, from a power perspective I was reasonably consistent given the course. I had a number of zeros I didn't want, but the roads were slick and I didn't want to go down--there were a number of crashes. Was disappointed that my power wasn't higher, but my legs felt reasonably heavy from the past few weeks. I need to work on hitting downhills even harder.
And, the problems I hit:
All I can say is that it was a very, very tough run course and it was very, very humid. I'm disappointed that I didn't push myself harder on the run, but I was drained from being low on calories on the bike and just cruised the run course to the best of my ability. I had lots of kick in the last mile and obviously left stuff out on the course. I'm mad with myself for not pushing harder, but am glad that I was at least able to keep everything in control on the run. I reeled in a bunch of guys--20 or 25--and think I looked pretty good throughout.
Post-race:
Hit the chute with a lot left in me. Sat down, kicked back a bunch of waters and put some ice in my hat. I hadn't realized how humid it was until this point... my heart rate took a long time to come down and I was absolutely drenched.
Posie patiently waited as I ate a little and got a post-race massage. The therapist was hilarious and really fixed up my legs and back nicely. Two young girls--5 years old at most--were sitting near me and just stared as I got worked on. Just as I was starting to doze off a bit, the therapist asked me how old "my daughters" were. That brought me back pretty quickly.
Take-aways:
Saturday:
I headed up to Middlebury, CT with my girlfriend Posie the afternoon before. Complications with the rental car and my bike saw us get underway a little late which was unfortunate. Rolled into Middlebury around 6pm, dropped Posie off at the hotel and headed over to the race site. I only had 40 minutes to register for the race, get my race wheels on do a short spin and check-in my bike before the 7pm cut-off. I had wanted to do a short pre-swim, bike and jog but bad planning on my part screwed that up.
I had eaten a huge breakfast and lunch so I just snacked all afternoon and evening and went to bed well-hydrated and slightly hungry.
Sunday Pre-race:
Woke up at 4am, threw done a bottle of Ultragen, a bagel covered in jam and two bottles with salt pills. Had a quick shower and got dressed. I laid out all my gear the night before so I was ready to roll at 4:45. Posie and I drove over to another hotel to pick up one of my training buddies and then we headed to the race site.
I checked on my bike, met a few guys in my division and prepped my transition gear. Did a short run-through of swim-exit to the bike, bike exit and bike-off to the run. Then I just tried to relax with Posie away from the other racers. Put down a lot of fluids--it was already getting really humid--and had 2 GUs.
Swim:
Men's 25-29 left in the first wave at 7:03. I seeded myself on the inside in the second row and this really burnt me. I tried to power through the first 600m as my coach had recommended but just couldn't get around the mass. There was a lot of head clubbing and people swimming all over each other. I couldn't get any rhythm and it was probably the worst open-water swim I've ever had.
After about 10 minutes of swimming I finally got on someone's feet and cruised the rest of the swim. Unfortunately, this guy wasn't that fast and the lead group had broken away. I probably made the wrong decision to stick behind him rather than try to break away.Came out of the water in 33 minutes which was really disappointed. I've really worked on swimming this year and was hoping for something more like 29 or 30 minutes. You can see me checking my watch... and not being particularly happy.
Bike:
I made a smooth and quick transition to the bike which I was happy with. Once on the bike, I cruised steadily for the first 20 minutes through some steady rolling hills. As always, the disc and deep front gave me a little boost.
I didn't bike as well as I had hoped, but felt pretty happy given a number of mishaps. I kept my power around 220-230W. The first half of the bike was manageable because the descents were straight and long and the climbs were steady and long. The second half of the bike was tougher because of all of the rollers. I either spiked too high or lost momentum. I think I need a better strategy for handling rollers.
Anyway, from a power perspective I was reasonably consistent given the course. I had a number of zeros I didn't want, but the roads were slick and I didn't want to go down--there were a number of crashes. Was disappointed that my power wasn't higher, but my legs felt reasonably heavy from the past few weeks. I need to work on hitting downhills even harder.
And, the problems I hit:
- At mile 15 on a 35mph downhill, I hit a massive pothole and my nutrition bottle bounced out of my back cage. I only had 2 Gus with me for the bike because I was planning 200Cal Gu, 200Cal sport-drink and 500Cal CarboPro. In retrospect, maybe I should have turned around for the bottle but I was going fast and downhill so I kept going. I expected to be able to throw together enough calories from gels at aid stations. Unfortuantely, none of the aid stations had gels so I had to guzzle as much sport-drink (Cerasport.... disgusting). This killed me.... tasted awful and bloated me heavily. Also, calories weren't marked on the bottle so I just had to estimate each bottle at 100Cal.
- I must have hit some glass or something because I had a slow fat start to leak and didn't notice it until near the end. It killed me on speed in the last 5 miles or so. I didn't stop to fix it--figured I was better to keep rolling especially since the disc was a rental with insurance... Hopefully the right move.
All I can say is that it was a very, very tough run course and it was very, very humid. I'm disappointed that I didn't push myself harder on the run, but I was drained from being low on calories on the bike and just cruised the run course to the best of my ability. I had lots of kick in the last mile and obviously left stuff out on the course. I'm mad with myself for not pushing harder, but am glad that I was at least able to keep everything in control on the run. I reeled in a bunch of guys--20 or 25--and think I looked pretty good throughout.
Post-race:
Hit the chute with a lot left in me. Sat down, kicked back a bunch of waters and put some ice in my hat. I hadn't realized how humid it was until this point... my heart rate took a long time to come down and I was absolutely drenched.
Posie patiently waited as I ate a little and got a post-race massage. The therapist was hilarious and really fixed up my legs and back nicely. Two young girls--5 years old at most--were sitting near me and just stared as I got worked on. Just as I was starting to doze off a bit, the therapist asked me how old "my daughters" were. That brought me back pretty quickly.
Take-aways:
- Open-water swimming.... I need to really work on this. A lot.
- Bike. Pretty happy with this bike given the circumstances. Big thing is that I think I should put my nutrition bottle on the downtube.... this bottle won't bounce out. Then if I ever do lose bottles out of the back they'll be replaceable sport drinks.
- I held things in control here and reeled guys in. I obviously will need to empty the tank completely at Placid but this wasn't a bad run. Did a much better job of handling salt/hydration than in Arizona... even given the humidity.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
First race of the year
I've been training my 
ass off for the past 5 months and it's finally time to get down to business. My first race of the year will be the Revolution3 Half Ironman tomorrow. Since I'm peaking for Lake Placid and have a lot of time to train over the next four weeks--I start a new job at the end of June--so I'm not really tapering. Will just have to give it my best and know that it's going to be a tough day. That said, I'm hoping to place well my first time racing Men's Under-30.
Catch you on the flipside.
ass off for the past 5 months and it's finally time to get down to business. My first race of the year will be the Revolution3 Half Ironman tomorrow. Since I'm peaking for Lake Placid and have a lot of time to train over the next four weeks--I start a new job at the end of June--so I'm not really tapering. Will just have to give it my best and know that it's going to be a tough day. That said, I'm hoping to place well my first time racing Men's Under-30.Catch you on the flipside.
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