rubiksoval

Two from last season, both by Yvonne Lydick. First is with two to go at Elite Crit Nats. Second is a night crit in Chattanooga.

echappist

yeah, i hear you. good thing is that you spray it on just before tossing it into the laundry machine, so hopefully the exposure is minimal

no need to lower the bars. Just raise the saddle and see how that feels. IAB is actually easier when handlebar is higher, and as I've found out the hard way, a lower handlebar isn't necessarily a better position

mattm

I think you need a longer stem, or a bigger bike.

mattm

I heard elite Nats last year was brutal.. and wet!

You doing it again this year?

aaronmcd

That's how it looks in photos. But my last bike was 56 and I went down to 54 cuz it was uncomfortable to reach for the bars with my knees coming too close to my chest. And the one time I got fit (for TT) I was told I'm (still) flexible, for a cyclist. I would tend to shift forward, even move the saddle forward to open up a bit so I went down a size. Now I still feel like I need to go down a size but I think it's just the cranks are too long. Also that time I got on my tiny junior teammates bike and couldn't reach the peddle at the bottom but he is many inches shorter than me.

mattm

That's how it looks in real life too, is what I'm saying.

I think bending your elbows more would get you a lot closer to looking better on the bike. That plus a longer stem/top tube would get you out of the wind no doubt.

TheKillerPenguin

@aaronmcd The aero is absolutely worth experimenting to find. The tweaks I have made this winter have done wonders and there has been no hit to power. Don't be afraid to play with seat position and stem length, just be sure to mark your old position before changing stuff.

You might crash less too cuz if you increase stem length and/or push your seat back there will be less weight on the handlebars

aaronmcd

Yeah I've played with seat position and stem. Seat vertical seems to fall into a happy place based on bottom of pedal stroke, and fore aft position is governed by reach, which I apparently don't have enough of. As I said above, I went down a size to decrease reach. But mattm is saying it looks like reach is too short and I agree, which is why I think cranks may be the thing to change since longer stem/top tube closes my hips too much or causes me to move saddle forward causing more weight too far forward. And perhaps, I speculate, shorter cranks may allow the whole top half to get more streamlined and it won't be all 100% governed by trying to open my hips enough. Oh and matt, contrary to Fudgys accurate analysis of my straight arms back when I began riding, by now, years later, I do bend my arms (at least when in the wind) but it takes me more arm bend than average to achieve less than average aero look. Check my saddle/bar drop, it's close to zero. Even IAB my chest is way above my hips. So, yeah, in a way I agree, longer reach may be great. But how to achieve it? I was guessing shorter cranks, which seems logical for one with shorter legs. I wanna be open to other (cheaper) options to open hip angle enough to gain reach, I just can't think of any.

wktmeow

How important is hip angle actually? I've got a much more closed off angle now and it hasn't seemed to hurt anything afaik

aaronmcd

Here we go. From The Bump when I was off the front. Arms bent ~90, feels comfortable yet looks awkward and less than optimal aero.
https://katietruong.smugmug.com/2017-Races/2017-02-05-RKO-1-The-Bump-Circui/Wave-3/i-smm3tdN/A

aaronmcd

Well maybe you are really flexible? If you can't actually lift your knees that far or if it takes extra energy fighting tight muscles to do so, it's obviously bad. I ain't as flexible as I used to be practicing gymnastics, but I still think I'm at least as flexible as your average cyclist!

TheKillerPenguin

Got any pictures from the side? The front view makes it look like you could move your seat back a decent amount.

topflightpro

The part I bolded is incorrect. Saddle position is governed entirely by your legs and position relative to the BB. Reach should not be a factor in saddle fore/aft positioning.

The general rule of thumb is saddle height should put your knee at about a 30 degree angle when at the bottom of your pedal stroke, while the setback (fore/aft) should position your knee over the pedal spindle when in the 3 o'clock position.

That is just a starting point, however, and you may find you want more/less extension of your leg or want you knee further in front of/behind the pedal spindle. For example, I like my saddle farther back, which enables me to better use my glutes in pedaling.

Once you have your saddle position set, you then worry about reach, and use stem length/angle to set the bars in a position most comfortable to you.

wktmeow

I'm totally not flexible actually. I can hardly touch my toes. I'd read stuff about better breathing with an open hip angle, and a bunch of triathlon articles on fit suggest it for saving the running muscles, but otherwise I'm coming up blank on reasons to have it as open as possible.

I'd try further back as well.

I've got some of this going on as well.

Might be best to wait until next season before making any radical changes though, as it did take me a while to get used to the new position. When I first tried it, I felt like I'd been put on a kids bike, since my knees were coming up so high, but after a few weeks of riding it, everything seemed normal again.

TheKillerPenguin

Yeah I'm really not flexible, like on a really good day I can touch my ankles, but my position is now such that if I really wanted to I could knee myself in the chest while touching my forehead to my headset. Basically I just moved my seat aft until my lower back was straightened out and dropped it until I didn't feel pulling behind the knee. It took a few rounds of changes because the first couple of tweaks decompressed my spine which resulted in me moving the seat back even more after I got used to it. Up front I experimented until my elbows didn't flare when in the drops and IAB felt sustainable.

topflightpro

I can get my finger tips pretty firmly onto the floor. But I also stretch about 30 min. every day to help improve flexibility and relieve stress on my knees and lower back.

My hip flexors, however, are not flexible at all. And sitting at a desk and riding a bike do not help. I spend a great deal of time trying to loosen and strengthen them. I can tie lots of back issues directly to those hip flexors.

rubiksoval

I loved the crit, though it wasn't very technical (which was good due to the deluge we rode in and the stupid risks some people insist on always taking). The RR course is awesome. Constant curves and undulations. Just weeds people out every lap.

Definitely doing it again. My A race for the year.

gerundium

with my teammates lined up in the second group


getting overtaken at the line by three guys after going (very) long in the sprint.

credit: fred from WSV emmen.

mattm

@gerundium when I saw you posted in here I knew it would be some pics from a hard-man's race in Europe - you did not disappoint!

Thanks for making me feel week for complaining about racing in clear weather at 55f.

aaronmcd

We are hard pressed to get 80 guys to show up to a big race in nice weather. A training race in crappy weather? About 20 showed up to one in december, all categories combined.

gerundium

If this was in may turnout would be terrible with this kind of weather. It's that early season effect where everyone is antsy to get back out there and race. You guys have already been racing crits since early january!

globecanvas

Grant's Tomb photo by Bicycle Racing Pictures

spectastic

what about the ice/slurry/crap?

miyata man

It was so cold even the lens sucked up inside itself.

TheKillerPenguin

All it needs is a Burzum logo in the top left corner to complete the aesthetic.