1. CONSISTENCY is the key.
2. ALWAYS leave enough behind for tomorrow's session!
3. BUILD up your base - Add miles in bank, not speed.
INJURY PREVENTION is EVERYTHING!
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Let's Go!
1. CONSISTENCY is the key.
2. ALWAYS leave enough behind for tomorrow's session!
3. BUILD up your base - Add miles in bank, not speed.
INJURY PREVENTION is EVERYTHING!
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
The Art of Souplesse - The importance and joy of good pedaling form
A rider with good souplesse appears to spin beautifully instead of hammering away at the pedals.
A rider with good souplesse will seem to dance up a steep hill with the bike just like an extension of his own body.
Souplesse is about fluid motion, without wasted effort. Efficiency, power and style blended together.
The 3 performance training parameters that I often look at are: Endurance, Power and Economy. Endurance and Power have been the core of many a training program and there are many articles and books that can help you structure a training plan to help improve these. Economy is however a more abstract sort of performance ability. Some of us call this "cycling form" or "technique"or "cycling efficiency". Economy to a cyclist means exactly the same thing as economy to a car driver: the ability to do a certain amount of work using as small amount of energy as possible. You want to conserve petrol in your car. You want to use a lower percentage of your VO2 max at a given cycling speed. Both examples represent economy.
In my opinion, economy is probably the most important determinant of success in competitive cycling or for that matter, even recreational cycling...
"If two cyclists have similar VO2 max profiles, the most economical cyclist will win most races. Even if a cyclist has a relatively low VO2 max, he can often defeat other cyclists, because he may ride at a lower percentage of his maximum at any given speed." Physiotherapist, US Olympic Cycling Team.
In other words, if two cyclists are riding at the same speed, the more economical cyclist uses less oxygen to ride at this speed.
I often regard myself as a lazy cyclist. If possible, I would rather ride and go for events without training. Unfortunately, I am not blessed with natural talent, and I think my proportion of slow and fast muscle fibre are in the worst possible ratio. Hence, I need to train to enjoy the sport. I have put in some effort in training for power and endurance, but in today's time strapped environment, I find it hard to improve these tremendously without going full-time haha. I have to be more economical or more efficient! This is when I started looking at improving my pedaling mechanics. Making your equipment or bike lighter, use of ceramic bearings, more aerodynamic positions, may also help improve performance economy but these are for another post (hee…). For today, let's talk about the art of pedaling in improving efficiency. Learning to pedal smoothly and correctly can help your pedaling be more effective. In other words, improve your pedal force application from top dead center, through the bottom of the pedal stroke. Practice pedaling smoothly and learn how to spin rather than pushing big gears. Learn to be more economical on the bicycle.
This is where the art of Souplesse comes in.
Noun
Souplesse (French)
-Definition: suppleness, softness, flexibility, adaptability, fluidity
Its hard to describe the concept of Souplesse. This article tries to explain it --> http://tri-alliance.com.au/tri-101/2013/05/07/understanding-the-pedal-stroke/
Red Kite Prayer sums it all up pretty well.
"As we get older, and top end speed ebbs away, souplesse becomes a new pleasure and a way to distinguish ourselves. How steady a line do we hold? How neatly do we skirt obstacles? How still are our hips? How easy our grip? Do we mash, or do we stroke?"
"Souplesse connotes style, but it also hints at a deep-lying efficiency, an elimination of non-essential movement. Much has been made in recent years of incremental improvements, the sorts of time gains made in wind tunnels and in customized nutrition plans. Souplesse has that same incremental value, except that it comes from within the athlete."
I profess I am not an expert in the art of Souplesse, but it is one of my goals. Many strive but never ever attain this cycling style or form. To me, Souplesse is not about speed, speed is over-rated! haha.. It's about being economical, being efficient, it is about finding the sweet spot, its about looking effortless and looking pro.
"Souplesse is the ability to ride smoothly, to keep a straight path and maintain composure. No wobbly clip ins, no mashing on the pedals, no unneeded movement on the bike. Just stylish efficiency."
It is not my intention in this post to define or determine the best technique or style that epitomizes Souplesse, this only you can determine yourself what suits you the best. There are so many articles and arguments about the best pedaling style and technique that its hard to determine what's best. I just hope that by looking to be more efficient or economical, we can have more fun cycling. This video by Joe Friel is probably the best example I can find. Global Cycling Network has another useful video. There is also an old video here, but still very relevant. This video shows that even without elliptical rings, the pedal stroke is already not fully circular to be efficient.
Other factors waste energy without propelling the bicycle forward will affect economy. Fighting the bicycle, holding the handlebars too tightly, using a lot of upper body energy while climbing and riding is an unaerodynamic position during time trials or break-a-ways will affect your economy. Finally, you can improve your economy by increasing your interval and tempo training. The theory behind this is that by practicing fast cycling, you naturally become more economical and relaxed while riding fast. Once you've trained your body to respond economically at these speeds, it will most likely be even more efficient at the slower speeds during long road races.
Use of rollers
I'm hoping that my recent purchase of rollers will help me attain this goal. So far I've managed to increase the time spent on the rollers without support, and I think it will be 2 or 3 weeks yet before I become confident at this rollers thingy. Rollers are excellent for increasing cadence and fluidity in the pedaling stroke because the primary resistance to keeping the wheels moving is the friction between tire and roller, and there is very little mass to store the energy of the pedaling. In other words, its very very road like. This combination results in immediate feedback to the rider in the form of a smooth whirring sound if the stroke is smooth, and forces you to work at your core muscles and balance, all essential in Souplesse nirvana.
The Q ring
Despite my recent rant about the oval rings being inefficient or akin to "pedaling in squares", I do advocate them to riders to help improve their pedaling stroke. The ovalised rings do help you to understand the concept of the dead spot when you pedal, hence it forces you to apply force on the pedal at the appropriate part of your pedaling stroke, a crucial concept in performance economy. Unfortunately, for me I find that these rings hinder the progress towards Souplesse, simply because the so-called "dead spot" is not static.
A rider with good souplesse will seem to dance up a steep hill with the bike just like an extension of his own body.
Souplesse is about fluid motion, without wasted effort. Efficiency, power and style blended together.
The 3 performance training parameters that I often look at are: Endurance, Power and Economy. Endurance and Power have been the core of many a training program and there are many articles and books that can help you structure a training plan to help improve these. Economy is however a more abstract sort of performance ability. Some of us call this "cycling form" or "technique"or "cycling efficiency". Economy to a cyclist means exactly the same thing as economy to a car driver: the ability to do a certain amount of work using as small amount of energy as possible. You want to conserve petrol in your car. You want to use a lower percentage of your VO2 max at a given cycling speed. Both examples represent economy.
In my opinion, economy is probably the most important determinant of success in competitive cycling or for that matter, even recreational cycling...
"If two cyclists have similar VO2 max profiles, the most economical cyclist will win most races. Even if a cyclist has a relatively low VO2 max, he can often defeat other cyclists, because he may ride at a lower percentage of his maximum at any given speed." Physiotherapist, US Olympic Cycling Team.
In other words, if two cyclists are riding at the same speed, the more economical cyclist uses less oxygen to ride at this speed.
I often regard myself as a lazy cyclist. If possible, I would rather ride and go for events without training. Unfortunately, I am not blessed with natural talent, and I think my proportion of slow and fast muscle fibre are in the worst possible ratio. Hence, I need to train to enjoy the sport. I have put in some effort in training for power and endurance, but in today's time strapped environment, I find it hard to improve these tremendously without going full-time haha. I have to be more economical or more efficient! This is when I started looking at improving my pedaling mechanics. Making your equipment or bike lighter, use of ceramic bearings, more aerodynamic positions, may also help improve performance economy but these are for another post (hee…). For today, let's talk about the art of pedaling in improving efficiency. Learning to pedal smoothly and correctly can help your pedaling be more effective. In other words, improve your pedal force application from top dead center, through the bottom of the pedal stroke. Practice pedaling smoothly and learn how to spin rather than pushing big gears. Learn to be more economical on the bicycle.
This is where the art of Souplesse comes in.
Noun
Souplesse (French)
-Definition: suppleness, softness, flexibility, adaptability, fluidity
Its hard to describe the concept of Souplesse. This article tries to explain it --> http://tri-alliance.com.au/tri-101/2013/05/07/understanding-the-pedal-stroke/
Red Kite Prayer sums it all up pretty well.
"As we get older, and top end speed ebbs away, souplesse becomes a new pleasure and a way to distinguish ourselves. How steady a line do we hold? How neatly do we skirt obstacles? How still are our hips? How easy our grip? Do we mash, or do we stroke?"
"Souplesse connotes style, but it also hints at a deep-lying efficiency, an elimination of non-essential movement. Much has been made in recent years of incremental improvements, the sorts of time gains made in wind tunnels and in customized nutrition plans. Souplesse has that same incremental value, except that it comes from within the athlete."
I profess I am not an expert in the art of Souplesse, but it is one of my goals. Many strive but never ever attain this cycling style or form. To me, Souplesse is not about speed, speed is over-rated! haha.. It's about being economical, being efficient, it is about finding the sweet spot, its about looking effortless and looking pro.
"Souplesse is the ability to ride smoothly, to keep a straight path and maintain composure. No wobbly clip ins, no mashing on the pedals, no unneeded movement on the bike. Just stylish efficiency."
It is not my intention in this post to define or determine the best technique or style that epitomizes Souplesse, this only you can determine yourself what suits you the best. There are so many articles and arguments about the best pedaling style and technique that its hard to determine what's best. I just hope that by looking to be more efficient or economical, we can have more fun cycling. This video by Joe Friel is probably the best example I can find. Global Cycling Network has another useful video. There is also an old video here, but still very relevant. This video shows that even without elliptical rings, the pedal stroke is already not fully circular to be efficient.
Other factors waste energy without propelling the bicycle forward will affect economy. Fighting the bicycle, holding the handlebars too tightly, using a lot of upper body energy while climbing and riding is an unaerodynamic position during time trials or break-a-ways will affect your economy. Finally, you can improve your economy by increasing your interval and tempo training. The theory behind this is that by practicing fast cycling, you naturally become more economical and relaxed while riding fast. Once you've trained your body to respond economically at these speeds, it will most likely be even more efficient at the slower speeds during long road races.
Use of rollers
I'm hoping that my recent purchase of rollers will help me attain this goal. So far I've managed to increase the time spent on the rollers without support, and I think it will be 2 or 3 weeks yet before I become confident at this rollers thingy. Rollers are excellent for increasing cadence and fluidity in the pedaling stroke because the primary resistance to keeping the wheels moving is the friction between tire and roller, and there is very little mass to store the energy of the pedaling. In other words, its very very road like. This combination results in immediate feedback to the rider in the form of a smooth whirring sound if the stroke is smooth, and forces you to work at your core muscles and balance, all essential in Souplesse nirvana.
The Q ring
Despite my recent rant about the oval rings being inefficient or akin to "pedaling in squares", I do advocate them to riders to help improve their pedaling stroke. The ovalised rings do help you to understand the concept of the dead spot when you pedal, hence it forces you to apply force on the pedal at the appropriate part of your pedaling stroke, a crucial concept in performance economy. Unfortunately, for me I find that these rings hinder the progress towards Souplesse, simply because the so-called "dead spot" is not static.
Monday, 11 November 2013
Reflections 2013
Time for me to reflect and take stock of the milestones for
the cycling year and to look ahead to the new season. The cycling season, at
least for me, has but ended with the culmination of Tour de Bintan. I’m sure
many are glad to hear this cos, here comes the smelly flower rides haha.
The cycling year began in November/December 2012 around
which time the conversion from PCN to regular road cycling began. During this
period, I started joining the Joyriders morning 5am rides, which was really
timely cos we had started to get real serious into cycling. At that time, most
of us were still on foldables and our only serious foray into joining events
was participating in LCSG’s annual KOH on November 4 2012. That was perhaps
evoLV’s first serious event participation and thus bringing the hobby from
recreational to serious cycling.
2012
Nov – LCSG’s KOH. This gave us our first encounter with the
Southern Bumps. Learnt much from this event. Hill climbing technique. Cadence
vs force on pedals. The spinner vs the masher. Weight as a penalty in hill
climbing. Importance of using appropriate equipment and leveraging on
technology.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.454388691268966&type=1
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.454388691268966&type=1
Dec – A recommendation by David Low saw me joining Joyriders
and their morning 5am rides from LH.
This greatly improved my weekly mileage and knowledge of riding in a
peleton. The bunch of riders that meet
in the early mornings are so highly motivated and willing to train day in day
out. Joining these rides really inspired me. The training certainly brought me
to another level of cycling. Subsequently, Vincent and Richard joined the rides
and were quickly promoted to JR newbie leaders.
Granfondo KL/Ampang. My baptism of fire! Having conquered
the previous month KOH, and becoming a regular JR rider, I was brimming with
confidence and so decided to join Kaye for a Granfondo event in KL. Wah!..this
one suffer haha. I managed to complete the route but was really taxed, during
which I had a puncture after riding across a deep and giant pothole while going
downhill!! Thankfully I didn’t fall and managed to continue after a quick
change of the tire. You can see my strava here à
http://www.strava.com/activities/32642817
2013
Jan – OCBC KL. Probably the last time we took the foldies
out for an event. We had already registered to take part in this the previous
year with foldables. Also at this time, most were still on foldable bikes. This
one was a bit of a disappointment as roads were poorly maintained and there
were many crashes. Thank goodness we came out of this unscathed. A nice
experience but unlikely to go again. http://www.strava.com/activities/38093586
Feb – CycleFest Guiness World Record at ECP. A total
disaster of an event. Got up very early and waited such a long time. Organised
by people who weren’t cyclists. Most disappointing event for 2013. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.504262466281588&type=1
During this period, I was still doing my weekday/weekend
rides with JR 3-5x/week clocking about 10hours a week. Team evoLV’s weekend rides also kinda became a regular
feature around this time.
Mar – Cameron Highlands with JR. This trip practically made
all evoLV members JR members as well lol. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.507701715937663&type=1
We had been preparing for this the past month with rides and loops at Telok Blangah and Mt Faber. http://www.strava.com/activities/41796894
I think David did 15 loops one siao day on his own. This trip leveled everyone up. I was particularly impressed with Francis who overnight became a hardcore cyclist. With the experience of Ampang behind me, I was prepared for this Tour de Cameron and enjoyed the trip. I think the others suffered a bit haha. Experience does matter for cycling! If no experience, it helps to simulate in training too!
http://www.strava.com/activities/42924336
http://www.strava.com/activities/42924384
http://www.strava.com/activities/42924316
We had been preparing for this the past month with rides and loops at Telok Blangah and Mt Faber. http://www.strava.com/activities/41796894
I think David did 15 loops one siao day on his own. This trip leveled everyone up. I was particularly impressed with Francis who overnight became a hardcore cyclist. With the experience of Ampang behind me, I was prepared for this Tour de Cameron and enjoyed the trip. I think the others suffered a bit haha. Experience does matter for cycling! If no experience, it helps to simulate in training too!
http://www.strava.com/activities/42924336
http://www.strava.com/activities/42924384
http://www.strava.com/activities/42924316
Apr – Barelang. Together with Team Cyclenauts, we made our
first trip to the famed 6 bridges. Braving the most severe of thunderstorms, we
came back with many stories and well-earned battle scars!
http://www.strava.com/activities/49930433
OCBC Singapore. Prepared for this by doing more trainer workouts to simulate race conditions. The sufferfest videos are great for these. Unfortunately, I went into this race with a gastric flu. After the first 20mins, adrenaline kicked in and felt good enough to finish respectably.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.528764927164675&type=1
http://www.strava.com/activities/49930433
OCBC Singapore. Prepared for this by doing more trainer workouts to simulate race conditions. The sufferfest videos are great for these. Unfortunately, I went into this race with a gastric flu. After the first 20mins, adrenaline kicked in and felt good enough to finish respectably.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.528764927164675&type=1
May – Tour de Kulai. The first Team evoLV organised trip.
This was a training ride for The Kuantan Century Ride in June. Overall a nice
ride despite missing a turn on the way back and having to battle the JB city
traffic!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.538822712825563&type=1
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.538822712825563&type=1
http://www.strava.com/activities/55964318
Jun – Highlight for this event was the Kuantan Century Ride. Having trained on Barelang and Kulai, I went into this event comfortable and confident. Enjoyed the ride throughout.
Jun – Highlight for this event was the Kuantan Century Ride. Having trained on Barelang and Kulai, I went into this event comfortable and confident. Enjoyed the ride throughout.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.543868168987684&type=1
Steven Cheng was the star rider at this event. Levelled up by leaps and bound while training for and taking part in this event.
Steven Cheng was the star rider at this event. Levelled up by leaps and bound while training for and taking part in this event.
Jul – Tour de Frasers Hill. Another JR organised trip. I was
having a lull in my training program bringing my weekly totals down from
10hours/week to about <5h/week. So I went into this trip a bit less
conditioned than I would have liked. Although I managed to complete the tour, I
suffered a bit, as Lim Wee How will testify. Arguably, perhaps also because I
was pedaling in squares! Haha.
Aug – The lull in my training continued. Training trickled
down to 1 ride a week. During this period I put on like 5kg over a month! Lol.
No events this month.
Sep – Suddenly the thought of TdB looming up in a couple of
months struck me! Started to increase my mileage again and get on the trainer.
Boy! Its easy to lose fitness quickly and slow to build it up again. It is said
that for every time you lose fitness, it takes double the time to get into condition
again. Good thing I could ride the F1
circuit to motivate me.
Kulai. Our 2nd trip to Kulai was a good primer
for me to get back in shape. Loss a bit of steam halfway through the ride. Here
was where I realized how lacking my long distance stamina had become.
Oct – Barelang. 2nd Tour de Barelang for Team
evoLV this year. This one fully in-house arranged. Good training for TdB, the
elevations and tyoe of terrain correctly simulates TdB. I tried also to put in
more long distance rides this month to improve stamina, but I think too little
time too late.
Nov – The climax of the year Tour de Bintan. This event is
the closest a non-pro cyclist can experience to UCI like event. It was a
difficult race, and I had cramps in the last 35km of stage one, but overall I
enjoyed it. Perfect as a end-season race.
The Year Ahead
I write the blog to hopefully inspire and motivate those who want but dare not try. It helps when you join events as it levels you up as you train. It is of my contention that, it is the training that you undertake for an event that levels you up and not the event in itself. Anything can happen as you work towards the event, an unexpected injury, a sudden illness, or something even on the event day itself. For example, a crash or puncture that disables you from finishing the event/race. So many unforeseen things can happen, but the training consistency levels you up to fight another day. I personally think cycling is one of the most comprehensive
and rewarding hobby you can dwell into. For health! For fun! For gear
acquisition syndrome! For technology geeks! For the serious athelete! Unlike
many of the other sports like golf,
tennis, football etc where a high degree of skill and talent is needed, cycling
allows the ordinary person with the correct aptitude and mental toughness to
perform relatively well within the realm of a reasonably structured training programme, as in all
endurance sports. Unfortunately, in all endurance sports like swimming and
running, the ability to endure some form of suffering, and hence mental toughness, is a hallmark of the sport.
Joe Friel, in his book, The Triathlete's Training Bible, said, "athletes continue to improve for about ten years, no matter
what age they start training". Age is not an advantage! Hahahaha...
I haven't given much though exactly about my year ahead yet but some things are pretty much on my mind already. So as a rough estimate, my initial objectives are
1. Tour de Cameron
2. Tour de Taiwan or elsewhere untested
3. One event a month...Kulai, Barelang, Ipoh, Kuantan etc
4. Dualthlon
5. Sprint Triathlon
6. Tour de Bintan
Jan-Mar
Foundation / Endurance Training. Long steady distance. Training will be progressive and intensity will be low. Objective is to build a strong base to build on. During this period will work on some weaknesses, maybe incorporating gymwork for strength building.
Apr-Jun
Strength Training. Increasing intensity of workouts. FTP improvement.
Jul-Sep
Consolidation with endurance/intensity workouts.
Oct-Dec
To be cont'd
To be cont'd
Monday, 3 June 2013
Gearing up for Kuantan
Enjoyed my century ride yesterday. The unplanned and unexpected recent purchases did definitely make the ride more enjoyable haha. I felt good, relaxed and comfortable throughout the ride. Happy.
First, the wheels. By some stroke of fate I discovered two spokes of my current Mavic front wheel had splintered. These were proprietary carbon spokes and had to be replaced. Time and cost to replace these may not be worth the while. Whatever the case, this was a reason to look at a new set of wheels, perhaps with a more aero design. These new wheels are by far the most expensive and aero wheels I have used to date. When I first upgraded my stock wheels to the Mavic R-sys, I thought that the power transfer and effciency improvements was already tremendous. It felt like I had changed to a faster and smoother ride immediately, almost 3x better than the stock wheels. Perhaps, then I was a weaker cyclist haha. Guess what, changing to the Enve 3.4SES gave me that same feeling over the Mavic!! The power transfer, smoothness and "addictive" buzz of the CK hub makes the ride just delicious..hot knife on butter is the feeling mates! LOL.
Second, Power Meter. One thing always leads to another and in the bicycle world, this is no different. I have been using the Cycleops Powertap Pro for some time now. This is a power meter that is based on the rear wheel hub, as a result of which, if I were to use this power meter, I will be obliged to use this "training" wheel exclusively. This makes the purchase of the Enve pretty obsolete haha. However, I was prepared to forgo the Powertap for Kuantan 160 contrary to popular belief heh, as in OCBC Singapore where I also did not use a power meter. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Lim Wee How and Serene Gan had time to meet me for lunch on Friday and the rest is history lol. For some reason, Wee How was in a buying mood. The Power2Max is one of the newer crank-based power meters in the market. It is made in Germany and is a direct competitor to the Quark system. First time using it in Kuantan, I felt the power readings pretty uniform, consistent and fairly quick. It also measures cadence. In addition, an advantage of this system is the ability to read left and right crank separately, making use of your Garmin's latest firmware upgrade. I am happy with it and in so save some money from getting the SRM system hahaha.
Lastly, the most important upgrade discovered by chance - the Rotor Q-rings!! The Power2Max system comes packaged with the Q-rings, although u can buy either separately. I have been reading a little here and there about them but haven't really researched much into them. So when it came packaged with the Power2Max, it was the deal clincher! Here, I was with a chance to test two systems out, yeah! go for it!...Wee How was but all too eager and didn't help lol..Did it help for Kuantan? I'd say hell ya!..the Q-rings work by eliminating or reducing your dead spot during the pedaling execution and this is really evident when climbing hills. I found the climbing more easier, some of which also contributed by the new wheel I guess, but significant from the ring. On flats, the feeling is like you are on a 0.5% decline. I'm convinced they work and would advocate all of us to try them out. They however, do come in various sizes and settings for which I am still trying to figure out. As such, I cannot recommend the best size or setting for u and I myself am not convinced I have the right size or setting. A little more rides over the next couple of weeks I should be clearer. This is one upgrade I think will help most of us here, not only for the more efficient hill climbing pedal stroke, but also to help improve your pedal form and technique.
Here is an article on the Q-rings which is pretty close to how I feel about them. Knock yourself out guys!--> http://bespokecycling.blogspot.sg/2012/07/rotor-3d-and-q-ring-review.html — with Lim Wee How.
October 2013 Update:
After using the asymmetrical rings for the past 4 months, i found it was inefficient...the "square" rings depend a lot on applying the pedaling force on a sector/phase of the ring whilst relaxing in the other phases, but I realized when I accelerate or attacking a hill, this particular sector of the ring changes for me so become inefficient lor....haha....its good if your pedaling technique still not ideal cos it forces you to learn how to pedal but if you have good pedaling technique already then it restricts you pretty much....again in my opinion only..I've given up on them literally and I think the round ring is perfect shape liao, no need to be square
i want to pedal in circles not pedaling in squares hahaha
First, the wheels. By some stroke of fate I discovered two spokes of my current Mavic front wheel had splintered. These were proprietary carbon spokes and had to be replaced. Time and cost to replace these may not be worth the while. Whatever the case, this was a reason to look at a new set of wheels, perhaps with a more aero design. These new wheels are by far the most expensive and aero wheels I have used to date. When I first upgraded my stock wheels to the Mavic R-sys, I thought that the power transfer and effciency improvements was already tremendous. It felt like I had changed to a faster and smoother ride immediately, almost 3x better than the stock wheels. Perhaps, then I was a weaker cyclist haha. Guess what, changing to the Enve 3.4SES gave me that same feeling over the Mavic!! The power transfer, smoothness and "addictive" buzz of the CK hub makes the ride just delicious..hot knife on butter is the feeling mates! LOL.
Second, Power Meter. One thing always leads to another and in the bicycle world, this is no different. I have been using the Cycleops Powertap Pro for some time now. This is a power meter that is based on the rear wheel hub, as a result of which, if I were to use this power meter, I will be obliged to use this "training" wheel exclusively. This makes the purchase of the Enve pretty obsolete haha. However, I was prepared to forgo the Powertap for Kuantan 160 contrary to popular belief heh, as in OCBC Singapore where I also did not use a power meter. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Lim Wee How and Serene Gan had time to meet me for lunch on Friday and the rest is history lol. For some reason, Wee How was in a buying mood. The Power2Max is one of the newer crank-based power meters in the market. It is made in Germany and is a direct competitor to the Quark system. First time using it in Kuantan, I felt the power readings pretty uniform, consistent and fairly quick. It also measures cadence. In addition, an advantage of this system is the ability to read left and right crank separately, making use of your Garmin's latest firmware upgrade. I am happy with it and in so save some money from getting the SRM system hahaha.
Lastly, the most important upgrade discovered by chance - the Rotor Q-rings!! The Power2Max system comes packaged with the Q-rings, although u can buy either separately. I have been reading a little here and there about them but haven't really researched much into them. So when it came packaged with the Power2Max, it was the deal clincher! Here, I was with a chance to test two systems out, yeah! go for it!...Wee How was but all too eager and didn't help lol..Did it help for Kuantan? I'd say hell ya!..the Q-rings work by eliminating or reducing your dead spot during the pedaling execution and this is really evident when climbing hills. I found the climbing more easier, some of which also contributed by the new wheel I guess, but significant from the ring. On flats, the feeling is like you are on a 0.5% decline. I'm convinced they work and would advocate all of us to try them out. They however, do come in various sizes and settings for which I am still trying to figure out. As such, I cannot recommend the best size or setting for u and I myself am not convinced I have the right size or setting. A little more rides over the next couple of weeks I should be clearer. This is one upgrade I think will help most of us here, not only for the more efficient hill climbing pedal stroke, but also to help improve your pedal form and technique.
Here is an article on the Q-rings which is pretty close to how I feel about them. Knock yourself out guys!--> http://
October 2013 Update:
After using the asymmetrical rings for the past 4 months, i found it was inefficient...the "square" rings depend a lot on applying the pedaling force on a sector/phase of the ring whilst relaxing in the other phases, but I realized when I accelerate or attacking a hill, this particular sector of the ring changes for me so become inefficient lor....haha....its good if your pedaling technique still not ideal cos it forces you to learn how to pedal but if you have good pedaling technique already then it restricts you pretty much....again in my opinion only..I've given up on them literally and I think the round ring is perfect shape liao, no need to be square
i want to pedal in circles not pedaling in squares hahaha
Saturday, 2 February 2013
The Power Meter and Hill Climbing
As we approach the final week of our build up towards our epic trip to Cameron, let me share some of my reflections, lessons and experience from hill climbing in Ampang and the recent use of the power meter in my preparation for this event.
We have probably one or at most two more hill workouts left before our ascent next weekend. For those that have been training regularly, I’d suggest doing a brick workout if u can as a last intensive workout. This brick session would comprise an endurance ride with a hill workout, in so simulating Day 2 and also allowing u to be sufficiently fatigued to test your hill climbing rhythm. If however, you don’t feel up to it or have not been sufficiently conditioned or have left training to the last minute or not at all, no fret, just concentrate on finding a hill climbing rhythm should be enough. So hit Mt Faber or Telok Blangah hill and do a few loops just to find this rhythm. The trip next week is NOT a race, so there is no urgency to get yourself super fit or in top form. Find your climbing rhythm, you will find the trip pretty enjoyable liao. All things else, posture, cleats, nutrition, braking, bike handling etc…on job training can la.
I would seriously suggest to end most of the strenuous training by end of this week and taper your mileage next week to recover. The prep over the last few weeks would have caused your fitness to increase but also cause u to be more fatigued. So by tapering, you will lose a bit of fitness, but good news is, if u have been regular with your training, not to worry too much because the recovery of fatigue will more than outpace your loss in fitness. So still continue to ride next week but lessen duration and intensity. My plan is to ride Tuesday and Wednesday but recovery pace only. Recovery pace is actually zone 1 or 2 based on power or heart rate fyi.
Lessons I learnt. Most we have learnt together already. May be quite technical, but if u understand the concepts, I’m pretty sure it will help u:
1. Find your rhythm. Find your pace for climbing hills. This does not mean climbing at a particular speed. It actually means keeping the power used to climb as constant as possible. Most of us will probably not have the experience of the type of hill climbing to be expected. Singapore does not have the length of climbs that these places provide. Imagine inner loop of mount faber 3-5 x as long but with no reprieve of the uphill..ie no gradual flattening out in the uphill segment like the inner loop, just up up up. So its important to find a rhythm or pace that can carry u up..er,... indefinitely
a. Power=Force applied on pedal x Cadence
b. Have a sense of the power you need to sustain climbing indefinitely. For those with a power meter, this is generally at your FTP or preferably less. If you apply more Force, the Cadence need to be lower, or vice versa, to maintain your Power constant.
c. If you are overweight or don’t have a FTP of 4W/kg, throw cadence out the window. Your weight will obligate u to apply a minimum Force on the pedals when climbing anyway, increasing your Cadence will unnecessarily bring your Power output beyond your FTP and make u go into oxygen deficit. So slow cadence is alright when climbing hills for the overweight cyclist.
2. Avoid surges. Surging means varying your power output by suddenly increasing your power output and then reducing it just as suddenly. This can occur if u are focused on maintaining speed or trying to overtake. Surging zaps energy and makes you fatigue very quickly.
3. Conserve, conserve, conserve. Cycle smart, save as much energy as u can. As this is not a race, no need to burn any matches. Completion takes priority rather than speed.
a. Coast on the downhill. Remember that for every extra 1km/h you achieve by peddling exponentially increases your power used.
b. Let the terrain do the work.
Last one or two workouts to try these strategies out. I have found out after all these weeks that actually these may be enough to get you through even with just minimal training. So there is hope yet haha.
I am looking forward to the trip next week. All the preparation can never ever make you completely prepared in such trips. Safety comes first. So take it easy guys, relax and enjoy. So don’t care whether ride, take bus or what la, just gonna enjoy. I’m glad so many of our group are going up on this trip and I am sure we will have a great time like in KL.
Huat ah!
We have probably one or at most two more hill workouts left before our ascent next weekend. For those that have been training regularly, I’d suggest doing a brick workout if u can as a last intensive workout. This brick session would comprise an endurance ride with a hill workout, in so simulating Day 2 and also allowing u to be sufficiently fatigued to test your hill climbing rhythm. If however, you don’t feel up to it or have not been sufficiently conditioned or have left training to the last minute or not at all, no fret, just concentrate on finding a hill climbing rhythm should be enough. So hit Mt Faber or Telok Blangah hill and do a few loops just to find this rhythm. The trip next week is NOT a race, so there is no urgency to get yourself super fit or in top form. Find your climbing rhythm, you will find the trip pretty enjoyable liao. All things else, posture, cleats, nutrition, braking, bike handling etc…on job training can la.
I would seriously suggest to end most of the strenuous training by end of this week and taper your mileage next week to recover. The prep over the last few weeks would have caused your fitness to increase but also cause u to be more fatigued. So by tapering, you will lose a bit of fitness, but good news is, if u have been regular with your training, not to worry too much because the recovery of fatigue will more than outpace your loss in fitness. So still continue to ride next week but lessen duration and intensity. My plan is to ride Tuesday and Wednesday but recovery pace only. Recovery pace is actually zone 1 or 2 based on power or heart rate fyi.
Lessons I learnt. Most we have learnt together already. May be quite technical, but if u understand the concepts, I’m pretty sure it will help u:
1. Find your rhythm. Find your pace for climbing hills. This does not mean climbing at a particular speed. It actually means keeping the power used to climb as constant as possible. Most of us will probably not have the experience of the type of hill climbing to be expected. Singapore does not have the length of climbs that these places provide. Imagine inner loop of mount faber 3-5 x as long but with no reprieve of the uphill..ie no gradual flattening out in the uphill segment like the inner loop, just up up up. So its important to find a rhythm or pace that can carry u up..er,... indefinitely
a. Power=Force applied on pedal x Cadence
b. Have a sense of the power you need to sustain climbing indefinitely. For those with a power meter, this is generally at your FTP or preferably less. If you apply more Force, the Cadence need to be lower, or vice versa, to maintain your Power constant.
c. If you are overweight or don’t have a FTP of 4W/kg, throw cadence out the window. Your weight will obligate u to apply a minimum Force on the pedals when climbing anyway, increasing your Cadence will unnecessarily bring your Power output beyond your FTP and make u go into oxygen deficit. So slow cadence is alright when climbing hills for the overweight cyclist.
2. Avoid surges. Surging means varying your power output by suddenly increasing your power output and then reducing it just as suddenly. This can occur if u are focused on maintaining speed or trying to overtake. Surging zaps energy and makes you fatigue very quickly.
3. Conserve, conserve, conserve. Cycle smart, save as much energy as u can. As this is not a race, no need to burn any matches. Completion takes priority rather than speed.
a. Coast on the downhill. Remember that for every extra 1km/h you achieve by peddling exponentially increases your power used.
b. Let the terrain do the work.
Last one or two workouts to try these strategies out. I have found out after all these weeks that actually these may be enough to get you through even with just minimal training. So there is hope yet haha.
I am looking forward to the trip next week. All the preparation can never ever make you completely prepared in such trips. Safety comes first. So take it easy guys, relax and enjoy. So don’t care whether ride, take bus or what la, just gonna enjoy. I’m glad so many of our group are going up on this trip and I am sure we will have a great time like in KL.
Huat ah!
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