I have create some altitude analysis of the Eugene to Florence and back ride from the data captured by my CicloSport HAC4.

Day One - Eugene to Florence:

Day Two - Florence to Eugene




If you notice that they could be mirror images, that is because we did the same route, but backwards on the second day.

Posted 9:58 PM by John Henry

The two day credit card packdown from Eugene to Florence and back with Keith and Pat lippy back was great! The weather was fine, nice on Saturday and again on Sunday after the morning coolness.

We left the Eugene airport at 10:00 am and headed out on the route. But, the first thing we saw was closed road signs. Pat had checked on the web for closed roads, but this was an Army Corp of Engineers project and was not listed on the county road closure list. So, with a slight detour we found our way to the Oregon Coast. Our first stop was a short rest stop at Joe's Cafe. Then, we took on the last major climb up and over the Coast Range to the Triangle Lake Store where we stopped for snacks and fluids. Lunch was in the town of Mapleton, where we came across three other cycle-tourists, also heading to Florence. We arrived at our motel at 4:30, showered and went out to Dinner at the Bidgewater Restaurant. After dinner, bedtime came early and we were asleep by 9:00 pm.

The alarm woke us at 6:00 am and we walked to breakfast and were on our tandems by 8:30 am. It was cool, in the mid-forties, but the sky was clear; there was no fog. The sun warmed us, when we were able to ride in it. Our route back was the same as yesterday. This meant that our descends of yesterday were the climbs of today. Joanne and I were not as fast as yesterday. In fact, we were popped! Joanne is coming off of a cold and I am still recovering from last week's Knoxville Double. However, Keith and Pat were nice and slowed down so we would no be left behind. Again, we had snacks at the Triangle Lake Store. In the afternoon, traffic picked up, but never was a hazard. We returned to our cars at the Eugene airport at 2:30. We then ate an early dinner at steeled Brewery in downtown Eugene. Photographs are here.

Stats:
Day One - Saturday
Avg: 17.5
Dst: 73.28
Alt: 1893

Day Two - Sunday
Avg: 15.8
Dst: 72.28
Alt: 2217

Totals: Distance: 155.56 and Altidue GainL 4110.

Oh, by the way - Flats:
Team Lippy: 3
Team Maurice/Heilinger: Zero!

Posted 6:20 PM by John Henry

We are packing for a short, two-day, credit card packdown starting in Eugene with an overnight in Florence. A map of our route is here.

I have to get moving, or I will be late, but here are some other distractions...

1) An article on Portland Bicycling - Cyclist fatalities shift attention to mean streets -? and how to avoid them.

2) The folks at CampyOnly took my photo while I was at Rest Stop One (I'm on the far left). A highres copy can be viewed here. Yes, it can get foggy in Napa Valley.

3) Lastly, here is a photo of us on the 2005 Northwest Tandemrally.

Posted 6:54 AM by John Henry

I have just returned from the Knoxville Double Century. I did very well this year - total time was 15:35, down from 17 hours last year. I met my goal of getting to rest stop 6 before sunset. It was the first time that I have seen that rest stop in daylight. Stats are:

Dst: 203.68 miles
Avg: 14.8 mph
Time on the bike: 13:42
Time off of the bike: 1:53

I did not forget my Helmet this year, so I was able to start at 4:45 am. I used my NiteRider Flamethrower headlight with a Helmet mount. This is the first light I have owned that provide enough light for me to see hazards, even at descending speed. This is one bright light. On the way to the first rest stop, I had number of cyclists ride with me just because of the light. I used it for the first two hours of the ride and it still had battery life for me to use at the end of the ride.

Napa valley was not as cold this year, but it was foggy in places. As I rode along, water droplets formed on my glasses forcing me to ride without them. Things were fuzzy, but I could see.

After leaving the first rest stop (now paved!), I saw five hot air balloons floating above the vineyards as I rode toward Howell Mountain Rd. Just one problem, I turned too early onto Hwy 128 due to a bad road marking. Someone added a right turn arrow to the Knoxville straight marking, so I turned left and added bonus miles. After two miles I knew I had made a wrong turn as the road was flat.

The Howell Mountain climb was not as difficult as in years past. This is true for all of the climbing. Losing ten pounds has really made climbing easier. I should continue my weight lost for another fifteen pounds.

I rode Knoxville Road with Foster and his wife Janeene. I met Foster on the Devil Mountain Double. I really enjoyed the twenty fives of climbing we did together. They worked me so hard, I had to stop at the water stop while they continued on to the lunch stop.

None the less, I was feeling good when I reached the lunch stop. I quickly ate a small sandwich and then headed toward the next climb. At the top, I met Tom, who at an intersection and was confused which way to take. We rode together to the next rest stop. I knew I was riding well as last year I had to stop and take a break on Big Canyon Rd, and this year I was feeling good. So good in fact, that my stay at rest stop four was short - just a few minutes.

On my way to rest stop 5, I saw just five other riders, and I passed them all. Then, on my way to rest stop 6, I saw just three other riders, of which two passed me.

I saw rest stop 6 in daylight for the first time. Not much to look at, but it was nice not riding in the dark, competing for the road with the boat traffic.

I finished at 8:20 pm, and feeling quick good. No, I did not want to do more miles, but it is nice when you do not limp up the last hills and suffer the last few miles.

The Quackcyclists put on another great ride. They should feel proud.

Posted 9:18 PM by John Henry

Ten common time trial mistakes
By Andy Applegate
UltraFit.com
August 26, 2005

The time trial is often referred to as "the race of truth" and many even consider it to be an art form. The fact is that it takes a lot of hard training and mental fortitude to excel at the discipline. Below is a list of 10 common mistakes riders make when preparing for and racing time trials.

1. Starting too hard: This is probably the most common mistake riders make during time trials. It can also be one that causes a significant amount of time loss. Work into the effort over the first minutes of the event. Avoid building excessive fatigue early in the race that will cause a necessary decrease in speed. You may never recover to hit your goal pace if you start too hard.

2. Not warming up hard enough: Simply spinning lightly before the start of a TT will not activate and properly warm up the energy systems you will call into play for the event. Be sure to do several efforts at Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (or about CP30 power) to ensure you are ready to go. As a general rule: The shorter the event the longer and harder the warm up should be.

3. Changing position or equipment too close to race day: This sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many riders neglect this rule. Train with the position and equipment you intend to race with. Have the final adjustments made at least several training sessions before the event.

4. Too high or too low a cadence during the event: Race with a comfortable cadence that you've been training with. Race day is not the time to experiment with cadences higher or lower than you've been working with in training.

5. Completing warm-up efforts too long before start time: Attempt to finish your last hard warm-up effort as close to start time as possible. Within 10 minutes is optimum. Make all the necessary preparations before so you can go right from your warm up to the start line.

6. Allowing split times to mentally affect your effort: I tend to avoid using split times unless it's a situation where it will really help. Just because you get behind on an estimated split doesn't mean the race is over. Concentrate on the effort. The very best riders will often ride negative splits and not let competitors' fast early split times affect their personal pacing strategies.

7. Not pushing hard enough from far enough out from the finish: The goal is to use every bit of energy you have and leave it all out on the course to get the best possible time. Learn when you can "open up the throttles" and sustain maximum effort to the finish.

8. Being an absolute slave to the numbers: Power meters, heart rate monitors and cycling computers are all amazing tools that give us feedback about our performance. Don't allow the numbers they give to rule your riding completely. Learn what different heart rates and power outputs feel like. Do some of your interval training on perceived effort alone. Cover up the numbers on your monitors, go by feel and then look at the data later to see how close your estimates were. The most important heart rate and power zone to be able to "feel" for time trials is Lactate Threshold Heart Rate and CP30 power.

9. Not enough training time at Lactate Threshold/CP30 power: Training at or near this important point is essential to develop time trial fitness. The exceptions to this are extremely short (less than 5km) and extremely long (more than 100 km) events.

10. Going out too hard: This one is so important I had to list it twice.

Certainly there are many more subtleties that could be listed here, but this list should give you a few things to think about before you head to your next race against the clock.

Posted 1:00 PM by John Henry

It has been a wonderful vacation, it is really too bad that it is over.

I'm at the Gitche Gumee RV Park. Tomorrow at 4:30 am, a taxi will take us to the airport to begin our trip home. We arrive at Portland at 7:02 pm, if everything goes well.

We have seen a lot of Michigan, and been to many special places, some of which I have learned how to pronounce. Favorites include the dinner in Grand Marias, the Grand Sable Dunes and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Posted 5:21 PM by John Henry

I'm in Shephard, Michigan. We have just completed day one of Dalmac. We did 73 miles with an 16 mph average. While there were no hills to speak of, we did gain 1500 feet of elevation. Tomorrow, we continue our journey north.

Posted 12:54 PM by John Henry