Trials and tribulations

Well, more trial than tribulation.....

Here I am in pursuit mode
(this one's from the team pursuit titles earlier this year)

Last night I was scheduled to ride a trial individual pursuit - to set an early benchmark as I progress towards State & National Masters track champs in March. For me this means a 3,000 metre effort from a standing start on a velodrome. Fortunately I have good access to a world class indoor facility - the Dunc Gray Velodrome. And given that, along with John "JB" Beatty, I supervise the Monday night track training at DGV, I pulled coach's privilege and had a ride myself.

The individual pursuit is a funny event - it plays with your mind. But that's a whole other story.

So after a warm up I get the track to myself and decide on a schedule to ride a 3min 50 sec time.

Here's the result:

The power and speed graph from my trial pursuit last night.

And the numbers:Pursuit Trial:
Duration: 3:14
Distance: 2.496 km_________Min_____Max_____Avg
Power:___346_____892_____433 watts
Speed:___8.3____48.5____46.2 kph
Temp:_____________________24 C
Air P:__________________1016 hPa
Cruise speed:_____________47 kph
Gear:___________49x14 (94.5")
Cadence at cruise________107 rpm
CTL:____________________93.4
TSB:___________________ +1.5

The more astute reader will notice I pulled the pin with 2 laps to go. Maybe that was the wrong thing to do but it was the decision I made on the spot - I just wasn't ready to dig a big hole for myself. I was going slower by that stage and speed wasn't great to start with.

An all time 3 min power PB though. By quite some margin so the training on the engine is working fine.
Hmmm. Don't really understand the slow speed for such power?

I started out pretty conservatively for me, peak power under 900 Watts and I didn't overshoot the target speed by much (if at all). So all I can conclude is that I need to work more on the aero position. I have a new frame in mind which will provide a far greater opportunity to improve my aerodynamics. On my current rig I am using a Look Ergo stem and it is just about already at full downward tilt. I'll just keep playing with it.

'til next time....

Next weekend is the Central Coast track open. Should be a hoot.