Addiction XXXVII
07-29-14, 11:28 AM
#5602
Mostly Harmless
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How else do you think she's gonna tranquilize and elephant?
Until I heard this, I was only mildly intimidated by this climbing animal who understand how to anesthetize an elephant, but now that I know she's packing heat, too........!
07-29-14, 11:29 AM
#5603
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07-29-14, 11:31 AM
#5604
Mostly Harmless
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Most PMs hop fairly easily from one bike to another. Moving my PowerTap between my road and tri bikes is a matter of switching the rear wheel. Sure, it's convenient to have one on every bike to save you those 2-10 minutes, but that gets to be a really expensive convenience.
I personally think that a PM is a great tool for pacing during training and racing, and probably most importantly as a tool to show you that you're not always working as hard as you think you are.
I personally think that a PM is a great tool for pacing during training and racing, and probably most importantly as a tool to show you that you're not always working as hard as you think you are.
07-29-14, 11:33 AM
#5605
Dirt-riding heretic
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
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Bikes: Lynskey R230/Red, Blue Triad SL/Red, Cannondale Scalpel 3/X9
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Or you could go for a Garmin Vector, or find a crankset that would work with both and go for a Quarq or SRM.
__________________
"Unless he was racing there was no way he could match my speed."
"Unless he was racing there was no way he could match my speed."
07-29-14, 11:33 AM
#5606
Mostly Harmless
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07-29-14, 11:34 AM
#5607
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...just to revisit briefly my expose in the recent cabron fiber dustup thread, in which I completely blew the lid off
the conspiracy to keep the origin of these bikes secret, and in an internet journalistic tour de force revealed their
manufacturing center as a space within the hollow earth, populated by a race of dark dwarves:
.................................
the conspiracy to keep the origin of these bikes secret, and in an internet journalistic tour de force revealed their
manufacturing center as a space within the hollow earth, populated by a race of dark dwarves:
.................................
07-29-14, 11:35 AM
#5608
Mostly Harmless
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07-29-14, 11:35 AM
#5609
Mostly Harmless
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07-29-14, 11:36 AM
#5610
Mostly Harmless
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07-29-14, 11:37 AM
#5611
Has a magic bike
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Los Angeles
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Thanks everyone for all the help/comments.
I actually don't work hard on the bike. Really. I am the master of the easy ride. I just have a lot of endurance and very good cardiovascular conditioning. I can amble along semi-forever at my easy pace. Last weekend's ride was hard for me because the Gibraltar and La Cumbre climbs (and that horrible one afterward that made me so angry) were steep, so I couldn't just take it easy. I had to work hard, which was a shock to my system. Even that crazy 20 mile climb in the Ride Around the Bear was not that big a deal for me, it was only a 5% average and I can do that at an easy pace, it will just take me a long time. The one big misimpression people here seem to have, though, is that I'm fast. I'm actually pretty slow. But semi-fine with it, I'm faster than I was/
I love to ride my bikes but really the thing I like the most about this whole cycling thing is figuring out how to improve, for some reason I find that part very interesting and rewarding. For me at this stage, every day's ride has a specific purpose and a game plan as to how I'm going to do that ride. For some people that would be bleak, and I'm happy for anyone who wants to ride their bike in some other way. But for me right now, how I'm riding is very enjoyable. I set up a plan and follow it within reason. Today, for example, I went out for a ride with some faster people and my game plan was to chase them around. But my legs were tired so I just did an easy ride and went home. No big deal.
So for me, a power meter would probably make sense. First, it will make my training plan more accurate and precise. I would enjoy looking at the data and trying to understand it. Second, it will probably make me work harder. I could probably accomplish the same thing by climbing harder hills, I totally get that, and its not like I don't have plenty of hills around to climb. But still I think I'd like the PM. I might not get it for months because I've spent a lot of money recently on bike stuff, I have to be reasonable at some point. Now I have the book @Hermes recommended, so I'll probably start by reading that.
BTW, a number of you internet-only friends have warned me that I can't go on like this forever. I totally recognize that. At some point I fully expect to slow down and ride my bikes like a normal person, I'm hoping that won't happen for years. But right now, I'm going with what I'm doing because it makes me happy. If it stops making me happy at any point, I'll do something different.
I actually don't work hard on the bike. Really. I am the master of the easy ride. I just have a lot of endurance and very good cardiovascular conditioning. I can amble along semi-forever at my easy pace. Last weekend's ride was hard for me because the Gibraltar and La Cumbre climbs (and that horrible one afterward that made me so angry) were steep, so I couldn't just take it easy. I had to work hard, which was a shock to my system. Even that crazy 20 mile climb in the Ride Around the Bear was not that big a deal for me, it was only a 5% average and I can do that at an easy pace, it will just take me a long time. The one big misimpression people here seem to have, though, is that I'm fast. I'm actually pretty slow. But semi-fine with it, I'm faster than I was/
I love to ride my bikes but really the thing I like the most about this whole cycling thing is figuring out how to improve, for some reason I find that part very interesting and rewarding. For me at this stage, every day's ride has a specific purpose and a game plan as to how I'm going to do that ride. For some people that would be bleak, and I'm happy for anyone who wants to ride their bike in some other way. But for me right now, how I'm riding is very enjoyable. I set up a plan and follow it within reason. Today, for example, I went out for a ride with some faster people and my game plan was to chase them around. But my legs were tired so I just did an easy ride and went home. No big deal.
So for me, a power meter would probably make sense. First, it will make my training plan more accurate and precise. I would enjoy looking at the data and trying to understand it. Second, it will probably make me work harder. I could probably accomplish the same thing by climbing harder hills, I totally get that, and its not like I don't have plenty of hills around to climb. But still I think I'd like the PM. I might not get it for months because I've spent a lot of money recently on bike stuff, I have to be reasonable at some point. Now I have the book @Hermes recommended, so I'll probably start by reading that.
BTW, a number of you internet-only friends have warned me that I can't go on like this forever. I totally recognize that. At some point I fully expect to slow down and ride my bikes like a normal person, I'm hoping that won't happen for years. But right now, I'm going with what I'm doing because it makes me happy. If it stops making me happy at any point, I'll do something different.
07-29-14, 11:40 AM
#5612
Administrator
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__________________
See, this is why we can't have nice things. - - smarkinson
Where else but the internet can a bunch of cyclists go and be the tough guy? - - jdon
07-29-14, 11:42 AM
#5615
Senior Member
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The answer to that question takes far more effort than a simple forum post warrants. Read Coggan and Allen. Training with power is not just like training with average speed, cadence or heart rate.
__________________
Telemachus has, indeed, sneezed.
Telemachus has, indeed, sneezed.
07-29-14, 11:43 AM
#5616
Senior Member
4 weeks ago, I had surgery for an orbital blowout fracture of my left eye. I was out on the mountain bike and took a pretty minor spill, but after I landed the bike was still spinning through the air and some part of it (pedal or saddle, I think) hit me right in the left eye. My Rudys saved my eyeball from disaster but the eye still took enough force that it fractured a couple of the bones in my eye socket.
And because they have this thing where I need to see to do my job, I'm not messing around and following my surgeon's instructions to the letter. That means no riding for 6 weeks postop, so Aug 16th is the earliest I can ride, run, or do anything else that would be otherwise jarring or require straining. I'm not allowed to blow my nose for 3 months either--that's a fun one. But so far, so good--I've been back to operating for a couple weeks now and things are healing up well.
And because they have this thing where I need to see to do my job, I'm not messing around and following my surgeon's instructions to the letter. That means no riding for 6 weeks postop, so Aug 16th is the earliest I can ride, run, or do anything else that would be otherwise jarring or require straining. I'm not allowed to blow my nose for 3 months either--that's a fun one. But so far, so good--I've been back to operating for a couple weeks now and things are healing up well.
07-29-14, 11:45 AM
#5617
VFL For Life
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07-29-14, 11:45 AM
#5618
Senior Member
07-29-14, 11:46 AM
#5619
Senior Member
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The simple answer is that it is more fun and the technical answer is to keep track of training load. The power meter just measures torque via a strain gage. Torque is converted to instantaneous power by calculation. The information is transmitted to a head unit that records at a time interval, the torque, rpm and power data.
After the ride, the "power data" in the head unit can be downloaded into a computer equipped with special software to manipulate the data. Training Peaks, Golden Cheetah (also a strip club in Atlanta) or Cycling Analytics are software programs that generate graphs and make calculations based upon the recorded data.
A useful feature of that software group is the performance manager. It calculates a daily stress score based upon the ride and time spent in different power zones giving a higher score to power zones above lactate threshold. The score is further manipulated into a 42 day moving average and a 7 day moving average to calculate your short term and long term stress. The difference between the two moving averages is the training stress balance. So the more short term stress one incurs compared to the longer term stress the more fatigue.
Without power, there is no training stress score and the performance manager assumes it to be zero. So if I go on an easy ride, my score will be low and it get counted into my long and short term training stress.
This is useful when planning training blocks where one builds for 2 to 3 weeks and then rests for a week.
Event data from races or charity rides or centuries are very interesting to analyze post mortem and contribute heavily to athlete training load.
I suggested to @Heathpack, that she would benefit from a PM.
She is highly motivated to succeed in her cycling with clear goals, is one very smart cookie, is highly technical in her work and IMO, would benefit from the instantaneous measurement of power and energy during her rides for pacing and post mortem analysis and keeping track of training load. But PMs and electronics are not for everyone. YMMV.
After the ride, the "power data" in the head unit can be downloaded into a computer equipped with special software to manipulate the data. Training Peaks, Golden Cheetah (also a strip club in Atlanta) or Cycling Analytics are software programs that generate graphs and make calculations based upon the recorded data.
A useful feature of that software group is the performance manager. It calculates a daily stress score based upon the ride and time spent in different power zones giving a higher score to power zones above lactate threshold. The score is further manipulated into a 42 day moving average and a 7 day moving average to calculate your short term and long term stress. The difference between the two moving averages is the training stress balance. So the more short term stress one incurs compared to the longer term stress the more fatigue.
Without power, there is no training stress score and the performance manager assumes it to be zero. So if I go on an easy ride, my score will be low and it get counted into my long and short term training stress.
This is useful when planning training blocks where one builds for 2 to 3 weeks and then rests for a week.
Event data from races or charity rides or centuries are very interesting to analyze post mortem and contribute heavily to athlete training load.
I suggested to @Heathpack, that she would benefit from a PM.
She is highly motivated to succeed in her cycling with clear goals, is one very smart cookie, is highly technical in her work and IMO, would benefit from the instantaneous measurement of power and energy during her rides for pacing and post mortem analysis and keeping track of training load. But PMs and electronics are not for everyone. YMMV.
__________________
Telemachus has, indeed, sneezed.
Telemachus has, indeed, sneezed.
07-29-14, 11:47 AM
#5621
Mostly Harmless
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07-29-14, 11:48 AM
#5622
So it is
Join Date: Sep 2008
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07-29-14, 11:49 AM
#5623
Custom User Title
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07-29-14, 11:49 AM
#5624
Mostly Harmless
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07-29-14, 11:49 AM
#5625
Dirt-riding heretic
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Thanks. Just had another checkup and all is well, so I'm happy. Might have to change my Tri/TT position, though, since I may have some residual double vision when I look upward... Oh well. More bike shopping.
__________________
"Unless he was racing there was no way he could match my speed."
"Unless he was racing there was no way he could match my speed."