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Aerobars on Group Rides = Bad Idea

11.17.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

It seems that whenever I show up for an organized ride, the pre-ride announcements always include a caution not to use aerobars in a group. And then, a few miles into the ride, I usually get passed by riders down on their aerobars. That’s not a great idea, as this video illustrates:

In the slow-motion replay, it’s pretty clear that the rider who crashed was on his aerobars. They gave him a little edge in speed, and he was about to pass the second rider in line when the second rider moved slightly left, to pass the lead rider. Aerobar man couldn’t control his bike and grabbed the drops, but his momentum caused his front wheel to overlap the second rider’s rear wheel, and they touched. The rider behind always comes out worse in these situations than the rider in front.

In this case, Mr. Aerobars almost saved himself. It looks like he got things back under control until he veered off onto the gravel shoulder and did an endo. But that’s not the whole story.

In the slow-mo, we see that the two bikes touched wheels not once, not twice, but three times before the rider slowed enough to separate himself from the other bike. And the force of those touches — especially the third — was enough to do serious damage to the front wheel. Half the spokes on one side of the wheel had broken. In a blowup of the video, we can see how the third touch knocked the wheel askew. The rim is clearly out of line with the hub.

So, two no-nos are apparent after watching this incident:

1. Don’t use aerobars on group rides (or in a paceline).

2. Don’t overlap the rear wheel of the bike in front.

A couple of my biking friends also noted that riders should consider sturdier wheels, too. One suggested 36 spokes on the rear and a minimum of 32 on the front. I don’t know how many fast roadies would go for that, but after seeing the video, I’ll continue to be happy with my relatively heavy rims.

It looks like the rider was not seriously hurt, I’m glad to see.

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Categories // Safety, Technique Tags // aero bars, endo, overlap

It’s Zone 2 Time

11.15.2011 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

Okay, here we are in November. In most of the country, it’s pretty chilly now. Lots of bikers are moving to their basements, setting up their trainers, and starting the winter ritual of putting in stationary miles.

For those of us in milder climes, the cooler weather is welcome after a blistering summer. But even though we get to ride outdoors year round, it’s time to start thinking differently about riding.

It’s time for Zone 2.

For those not familiar with training zones, they’re based on heart rate. Zone 1 is the easiest, at about 55 to 70 percent of lactate threshold heart rate. Your lactate threshold is the point at which you realize you’re working hard, with heavy breathing and a burning sensation in the quads, according to cycling coach Joe Friel. Zone 2 is roughly 70-85 percent of max. These percentages vary depending upon where you get your coaching advice, but above 85 percent you’re in Zone 3, and Zone 4 can run from 94-99 percent of max. Zone 5 puts you in world of hurt territory, where you’re riding at 100 percent or more of your lactate threshold heart rate.

Now, why would we want to train in Zone 2, a relatively easy pace? Because we’re at that time of year where speed doesn’t matter. Most of us aren’t training for a race, or an organized ride, or even an extra long ride. What we’re really doing is building our base for the next season’s riding. In addition, the slower pace will have your body burning fat rather than glycogen.

Heck, that’s the kind of riding I tend to do most often anyway. In Zone 2, I have to remember to shift into really easy gears when climbing hills, because I don’t want to reach the top huffing and puffing. In fact, when I’ve done Zone 2 training in the past, I’ve always pedaled in easier gears, because I can spin at a higher cadence that way.

In another sense, Zone 2 time is a relief, because I know I don’t have to push it. I just have to get out there and put down some miles. The more I can do that, the better prepared I’ll be come spring, when it will be time to start pointing at some riding goals.

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Categories // training Tags // training, zone 2

The Mileage Obsession

11.13.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

Barbara on a ride earlier this year.

On an almost summer-like Hill Country ride this morning, I caught up to my friend Barbara with several miles to go.

“I want to do 100 miles this weekend,” she said. “I’m at 91 right now. It’ll be close.”

I knew she had done a 60-mile organized ride the previous day. I thought our ride today would finish at something less than 40 miles.

With about a mile to go, I was in front of the group. I turned into the circle drive in a park where we start our rides, and stopped at my parked car. Our ride leader, Debra, was right behind me.

As I loaded the bike into the back, it occurred to me that something was odd.

“Where’s Barbara?” I asked Debra. Then I saw her.

She had ridden past the circle drive entrance and headed out to the highway. Then she turned around and headed back. Once again, I watched her ride past the circle drive.

“She’s trying to get her 100 miles,” said Debra.

Barbara came back to our circle drive, but rode past our cars and did another lap. Then, with thumbs up and a smile on her face, she pulled up to her car and dismounted.

“Got it,” she said.

She showed me her computer. It read 40.6 miles for the day’s ride. My computer showed 39.6. She squeezed one more mile out of the ride to reach her goal.

“I wanted to ride 5,200 miles this year,” she said, “but I’m out of town several weeks, so that’s not realistic. I’ve got 2,500. I want to see if I can get to 4,000 by March 1st. I think I can do it.”

I looked at Debra. “She’s mileage obsessed,” I said.

We all went out to lunch together after the ride. Barbara and Jerry, another member of the day’s group, compared ride data from their smart phones. She uses an app called My Tracks. Both were upset that they had forgotten to turn off the app at the end of the ride, and it was still registering data during their drive to the restaurant.

“Top speed, 51 mph,” Barbara said with a grimace. “That’s no help.”

I asked if they log their mileage apart from their phone apps.

“Well, it’s on the cyclocomputer,” she said. “That’s how I know what I rode this weekend, and how I’m doing at reaching my yearly goal.”

“I enter my ride data on Bike Journal,” I said.

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” she replied. “Then, if my cyclocomputer goes haywire, I still have the data.”

“And then I enter it into a separate Excel spreadsheet,” I added, “because Bike Journal doesn’t record everything I want.”

Everyone around the table looked at me.

“Who’s mileage obsessed?” Barbara asked.

 

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Categories // Records & stats Tags // mileage, stats

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