Brooks B17 Honey

More in this series:

• Brooks B17 Honey
• Brooks B17:  First 100 miles
• Brooks B17:  Second 100 miles
• Brooks B17:  Adding Laces

Put >800 miles on the bike this winter in my first real training/endurance program.  Went through a spell where a new saddle was starting to seem like a medical necessity, but it was decided that new bike parts would have to wait for tax return.  Made a lot of little adjustments, and I think my pedaling form improved, so I was bouncing less, so it's been better the last few weeks.  After 2 hours on the bike, the prospect of a 3-4 hour race this fall has me convinced I need a better saddle.

The original saddle on the bike (Cannondale branded) was shot on my first serious ride- the rails just collapsed (shut up).  I was in Toronto on business with Taku (over from Japan), and popped into a bike shop.  They had this SQLab 611 saddle (don't think you can get it in the U.S.) with thick firm padding, and elastomer things connecting thick chromoly rails to the back of the saddle.  It was a huge improvement, but spending 6-8 hours per week revealed it's shortcomings.

I was convinced for a while that I wanted a Sell An-Atomica, but I contacted them after reading that the saddles sag for heavier riders.  I explained that I was considering a Brooks B17.  They advised that for a mountain bike, the Brooks may be a better choice.  They can "upgrade" a Brooks with their patented slot.  I've read that the Honey leather saddles are a little firmer (probably about right for a big guy) , and if they look anything like my first baseball glove after oiled (I'll stick to the Brooks Proofide or Lexol), then it'll be a beauty. 

So a Brooks it is.  Ordered it from REI, it will be here Monday or Tuesday.  Hopefully I'll get a few hundred miles on it before my first race before March end. 

More in this series:

• Brooks B17 Honey
• Brooks B17:  First 100 miles
• Brooks B17:  Second 100 miles
• Brooks B17:  Adding Laces

Workout Hydration, Carbs, and Electrolytes on a Budget

Based on reading (Chris Carmichael's Food for Fitness, The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week)on workout & recovery, and, I hate to admit, after spending Thanksgiving in the hospital with "severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance" I'm taking pre/during/post-workout nutrition and hydration a lot more seriously.  Not only that, when I follow the recommendations I have more productive workouts, and feel/recover better afterwards.

I'm not discounting the advantages to the "best of breed" products, but I'm not competing at the level where the few extra percent advantage is going to make a difference to my experience or the results.  On workout days I'm going through 3/4 gallon of Gatorade pre-workout, during-workout, and post-workout (recovery).  What the best-of-breed drinks add are proteins, a greater variety of carbs - including more complex carbs, vitamins & minerals, and sometimes caffeine.  I get these from my pre and post workout meals & snacks.

The savings, for me, add up to about $20-25 per month (4 workouts per week x 4 weeks per month x 96 oz. per workout).  Here's my analysis (I chose GU Brew for comparison because I consider it a good value "best of breed" - it's what I would buy if/when I spend more).

	GU Electrolyte Brew	Gatorade G powder
$ per serving	$0.43	$0.17
Price	$14.99	$8.38
Price Source	Amazon.com (35 serv. canister, free prime shipping 1/2011)	Wal-Mart (51 oz. canister, Commerce Twp., MI 1/2011)
Serving (g)	26 (2 scoops)	30 (2 Tbsp)
Servings Per Container	35	48
Calories	100	100
Sodium (mg)	250	200
Potassium (mg)	40	60
Carb (g)	26	28
Sugars (g)	8	28
Order of sugars in ingredients	Maltodextrin	Sucrose
	Fructose	Dextrose

FitDay Account

Been looking for something a little better than a spreadsheet to track nutrition, and found:

http://www.fitday.com/ 

Very cool site.  Lets you log what you eat (choosing from their database, or adding your own food), and totals Calories, fat, protein, vitamins, etc.  Also lets you track your activities (i.e. cycling), and weight loss goals.  Appears to make cool reports & summaries (plots don't look like much with only 1 day's entry).  Apparently it also lets you track your mood & body measurements - I'll track happiness, clarity, and bicep size next year for all the ladies (shhh, don't tell Amy).

Saturday: Used to be a day to sleep in...

That was before kids, and before the older kid said:  "Daddy, when I'm big I want a big tummy like you!"  Now it's a day for 2.5 hours on the bike, with 60 minutes of intervals.

Coming Soon: 1/X Games

T-shirt design coming soon!

First Ride: Kurt Kinetic Road Machine

Good eye!  Yes, those are "The Feynman Lectures on Physics" on the shelf, as well as a book titled "Random Data." 

Wow!  What a difference from the Trakstand Ultra.  Smooth and consistent.  The power curve starts & stays a little higher, but it's a very good fit for my gearing (22-32-44 Front, 12-36 Rear).  My workouts, so far, are done in the middle (32) ring up front, and the highest 3-4 gears in back (12-14-16-18).  With the Trakstand I was jumping into the big ring (44) for intervals, and back down for spinning - without a great chainline in either case.

Although the flywheels are similar mass, the Road Machine just feels smoother around the stroke.  Maybe it has more to do with the power curve progression (Road Machine is a little slower than the Trakstand), or a difference in how each type of resistance responds to the acceleration in my stroke.  With the Trakstand, after an interval I'd shift down, and would be bouncing in the saddle and have a hard time doing a smooth stroke.  Needless to say, at my weight bouncing in the saddle leaves my rear-end sore (I just tell myself the pain is a motivator to not be this weight).  With the Road Machine it's nice and smooth (it may be new-toy-bias, but I stood less in the ride to relieve pain, and feel better sitting here now).

Each interval I rode felt the same.  I felt a lot more confident in the number I saw when I looked from my speedometer to my power vs. speed chart taped to the wall by my bike.  On the Trakstand, assuming no glazing was present when I noted power, I was spinning at around 105 Watts.  On the Road Machine, which I place more trust in, I am spinning at 150 Watts (of course there could be some I-want-to-think-I'm-faster-bias).

The Road Machine also seems more stable.  On the Trakstand I always felt a lot of motion in the back, and heard creaking no matter how I adjusted the cones (that clamp the bike axle/quick-release into the trainer).  With the Road Machine it's "in there like swimwear" as long past co-worker liked to say (don't ask what that may mean, I never really got it - it just rhymes).

So, if the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine is correct, today (week 7 of my program):

• Endurance Miles (spinning):  135-155 Watts
• Peak-Fade Intervals:  220-340 Watts

Trakstand Ultra Service

In my previous post you'll see I had trouble with my Blackburn trainer.  I missed most of my Saturday, and all of my Sunday workout & ordered a new trainer so I won't miss my Tuesday (tomorrow) workout.  Their customer service e-mailed the following recommended service.  I had been performing most of these steps, but I thought I'd pass on their advice because it's not part of the manual, but apparently something to be done "periodically." (I've organized/formatted into a bullet-list, and added my comments/observations)

• Unbolt the RU (resistance unit) and clean the surface between the friction pad and flywheel with rubbing alcohol.
• also check the friction pad for any shiny spots that might indicate "glazing" of a high spot that could be reducing friction. If there are any shiny spots, take a bit of medium grade sandpaper and wrap it around something flat and lightly sand them down. 
• (below is what glazing looked like on mine, note the 3 "waves" - more on this later)
• (I used 400 grit on a wood block, and wiped with alcohol after sanding, as well as before)

• Remove the flywheel and clean the axle, and add a layer of grease on the shaft of the RU
• Check the side with the 3 bearings to make sure there is only a light amount of grease on the balls and that they move freely in the ramps. Too much grease could cause uneven pressure, or changes in resistance, as the unit heated up. The balls should only have a light film of grease on them 
• (When I disassembled mine, a second time, I noticed black rings in the ramps, and some black discoloration on one of the balls - I think things got hot, and a ball got stuck, causing the 3 waves of glazing...  I didn't want to apply "grease" if they can really get stuck so I put a light film of 10W-30 on the other set of balls, to use in a 2nd set of ramps to increase resistance, that come with the trainer)
• (I cleaned the ramps with alcohol and a q-tip - I can still see some light rings - you can sort of see this in the picture below)

• Look at the silicone rubber covers on the 3 pins that stick out of the Aluminum drum. The covers should be trimmed so that they are about 3-5mm shorter than the pins and push them on as far as possible.
• (my covers were not 3-5 mm shorter than the pins - I trimmed them with a razor blade)

• Slide the flywheel on and wipe off any excess (be sure not to get any on the resistance pad).  Reassemble the RU  per instructions. This should be done periodically.
• (In my response I asked what to expect "periodically" to be, since the manual does not prescribe any periodic user service)

General notes/observations:

• These are heat-related issues, glazing of the pads, and "scorching" of the bearings/ramps.  The friction plate has a lot less thermal mass than the flywheel, and lacks any heat-sinking (the friction plate is stationary).  I would suspect a 120mm CPU fan aimed at the friction plate and/or some simple CPU heat-sink(s) would help dissipate heat, and be a good work-around.  As far as heat in the fly-wheel - maybe it's reduced if the friction plate is cooler, maybe it needs its own fan.  I hate to re-engineer power dissipation on a product whose primary purpose is to dissipate power.
• Except for the 1up USA Trainer (on which this one is based and/or the RU came from), I can't find other trainers that use this method of resistance.  Blackburn does not currently offer a model that uses this method of resistance.  Perhaps this is why.  You can see "evolution" of the current 1up Trainer's RU, so it seems to me some lessons were learned...