Aug 3rd course ride

The sun was out, 72F, 6-8 NNE wind, low humidity... a dozen fit riders... yes! what a fine, fine day for 2 laps on the course. Most of the 459 Express was there and we had some guests: DG bike club Prez Gary, and Rene' and John from the Turin team. I had a blast and the team improved and learned a lot today! I'm stoked for the team... we have solid riders, a team mentality, and a good handle on the pacing plan to save energy.

The first lap we established a rotating pace line once we got on Allen road. The group was a bit loose with gaps appearing and some surging to close them. And the two lines were 3-4 feet apart. We stopped after we crossed Route 23 on Melms and we cleaned up the lines. We paced ourselves nicely up and over I90 smoothly bleeding down to 16-17mph. AND nobody broke any spokes in the chuckholes. All was reasonably well until we got to Riley and were heading into the quartering headwind. We changed our rotation to match the wind (keeping the slow line to the windward side, and fast line to leeward)... and the formation kinda fell apart. Gaps and accelerations in mid-line and decelerations/accelerations on the front during pull-throughs. Even these small changes in pace will wear on us on a 100 mile ride. Anyhow, we finished the lap averaging low 20mph average speed. We did a 10 minute stop, including a 4-5 minute talk and review of our pace line issues.

The start of the first lap we tried a double pace line (both riders on front pull off, and the group 'threads the needle'). That didn't last long because while we were 4 wide, the rider dropping back (Tim) got squeezed off the road when the shoulder narrowed... and not enough room was given by the group threading through. We decided to work on the single rotating pace line and the group a good groove going. The lines were tight and close together and keep the pace moving and smooth. I was loving it. We had some trouble with the right hand turn off of Melms unto Eisenhower (it's unmarked). Some of the group crossed the center line coming out of the turn and there was oncoming traffic. A bit scary, but all was well.

After Riley we had our counter clockwise rotation working well and many commented how the second lap felt easier, particularly on that part of the course we had struggled on the first lap. We were working better together as a team and saving energy. At one point we slowed because Mike lost track of the road under the piles of grass clippings in the road. He was in the right hand line, couldn't move left, kept his cool and rode over the grass... got a little too far right and realized he was off the road. He coasted and eased it back unto the pavement without further incident. Craig had a front row seat to that cyclo-cross excursion. Once we got the group together, I had us soft pedal a half mile or so for Mikes adrenaline surge to subside. After that, the group was solid again. We finished the 2nd lap ~20.5mph,  maybe a little more and most everybody thought the 2nd lap was easier.

Craigs Garmin Stats.  http://connect.garmin.com/player/352864680
(Note Craig suffered a cramp with 4-5 miles to go and soft pedaled those last few miles.)

A great practice ride! We improved our teamwork, learned some from our incidents, and kept the rubber side down. The team is coming together. Next course rides will be 3 shortened (~27mile) laps with shorter pit stops. These simulate event day efforts (big timber hill 3 times and 2 short stops) without doing the whole monty.


Key pointers we learned today:
1. Be aware when the road/shoulders narrow. Call it/point it out and move over well in advance.
2. When you're in the left line you need to keep an eye out for hazards for the right line and move over in advance so the right line has room to move left and avoid the hazard.
3. Do not cross the center line into the oncoming traffic.
4. Once the group is established on a downhill section, the front MUST keep pedaling normal effort. Otherwise the line will be ridding the brakes burning energy.

2013 459 Pacing Plan

2013 Sub5 Course and Pacing Plan

459 Express

In 2011/2012 we learned that the key to keeping a group intact on the sub5 course will be proper pacing and avoiding any unneeded accelerations. This is particularly important on the back half of the course where there are hills. None of the hills are difficult, but when riding at our limit, it doesn't take much to push one over the limit and off the back of the pack. There are 20 turns on the course and maintaining speed through the turn and gently re-establishing our pace is needed to keep the group together. Here is a link to the course and elevation profile.
Sub5 Course Lap: Well Paced Lap

Overall Pace Plan
The following table highlights the pacing lap by lap.

459 Pace Plan Lap Time/Speed Total Time Total Ave 1st Hour Back Half

Lap 1 – 33.6 mile 1:36@21.0mph 1:36 21.0 21.5 20.0

Pit Stop 0:04 1:40 20.2

Lap 2 – 33.6 mile 1:38@20.6mph 3:18 20.4 21.0 19.8

Pit Stop 0:03 3:21 20.0

Lap 3 – 32.8 mile 1:38@20.1 mph 4:59 20.07 20.7 19.0


Also note that there are 12 turns and several intersections that we will slow down and/or stop for. Figure losing 15 seconds per turn, that’s 4 minutes lost each lap. So to average 21mph the first hour, our moving pace needs to be 22mph.

The Course

The course is on lightly traveled rural roads. In the past, course workers were at all the turns and intersections. While they may give us the ‘all clear to proceed’, the course workers will not be stopping traffic. We must be vigilant at all intersections. In years past, my group had to stop at least once for traffic in the 100 miles.

The course isn’t particularly hilly, however it drops 200 feet in the first 21 miles, and gains it back in the last 13 miles. (Note that the first 2 laps are 33.6 miles and the finish is short of a complete lap at 32.8 miles). The basic strategy is to make time on the downhill section and carefully pace up the back half the course. Most of the elevation drop is in the first 3 miles, and then then next 18 miles are flat to gently downhill. Expect a cruising speed of 22mph. The back half of the course not only gains the elevation back, but it does so in an unsteady up and down fashion. Roughly, each lap we hope to average 21mph in the first (downhill) hour, and then average 20mph on the uphill section. The only significant climb is Big Timber at the end of the each lap.
Harmony is a sleeper because it looks flat, but it goes up in an annoying way. This requires an 18-19 mph pace to keep the group together. I’ve seen it over and over again where the lead riders go too hard and separate the group. Next, we turn onto Hampshire road which has fresh pavement, is exposed (no trees/houses) and rolls up and down. The last uphill has a steep kicker (3-4% or so) just as it hits the crest at Higgins Road. We should crest this at 13 mph. Then take a collective deep breath and some water on the short downhill lead to left turn unto Big Timber road.
Finally, the best saved for last, the significant climb is Big Timber road. At first there is a downhill section to gain speed, but then it's a long uphill to finish the lap. We have 1.5 miles of up... with the steepest section at the top. Basically, this is a longer version of the DG Warrenville hill road. On Big Timber we need to pace mostly 16-17mph and scrub speed to 12-13mph on the last, steeper section. Once we conquer Big Timber, it's a mile (with an annoying rise) to the pit stop. On the last lap, the finish is at the crest right at the Big Timber/Gast intersection.
Ride Plan

The course will be ridden using both single and double pace lines. To minimize time in the turns, we’ll double up on sections where there are several turns in a short distance. We will ride single file to maximize group efficiency and to allow riders to self-regulate their pull times. In addition, certain areas on the course will be 459 Express designated feed zones. See the map “459 Express Ride Plan” at the end of this document for where we intend to ride single, double, and feed.

Efficiency

Effective drafting is paramount to saving energy and making our goal. Roughly, with no wind/hills, a 200lb rider needs 240watts to ride 22 mph. The same rider drafting needs only 170watts. The more riders drafting and less riders ‘in the air’, the less energy the group as a whole needs.


We will use a combination of these techniques. We’ll use single paceline for long straights allowing riders to select how long he/she pulls. We’ll use double lines when there are turns and hills to keep the group tight. See “459 Express Ride Plan” map diagram at the end of this document.

Single line

A single line has only one rider ‘in the wind’, except when the lead rider pulls off and drifts back then there are 2 in the wind.

Pros – most efficient with long pulls (keeping only one rider in the wind), stronger riders can take longer pulls and riders in difficulty can take short pulls.

Cons – cross winds will cause echelon to exceed lane width and results in multiple riders ‘in the wind’, long line makes it hard to communicate front to back to front, long line makes turns slower waiting for tail to complete turn before re-establishing normal pacing.

Rotating paceline

We’ve been practicing this quite a bit this summer.,. partly because it’s fun, but mainly because we needed to improve our technique.

Pros – great team effort/camaraderie, shorter tail helps in turns, communication possible in short bursts

Cons – requires high level of concentration, regular accelerations needed, limited time to drink/refuel, requires entire group to be matched in strength.

Double Pull Off

aka – thread the needle. Two lines with the front riders pulling off together towards each edge of the lane and the main group passes in between them.

Pros – people can self-regulate length of pulls, shorter tail helps communication and turns.

Cons – can be tricky when an echelon forms in a cross wind, two riders in the wind (but if they ride close it’s more efficient than 2 lines far apart), rider pairs need to somewhat matched in strength

Turns

Each turn we slow down and speed up. Based on the garmin stats, on a normal turn we’ll go from 22 mph down to 16-18 mph, and then accelerate back to 22mph. This wastes 15-20 seconds per turn compared to straight 22mph. Also, each acceleration is roughly equivalent to a 0.2mile hill at 0.5%. That doesn’t seem like much, but with 10 turns per lap, that’s a ‘hidden’ 2 mile hill at 0.5% EACH lap. It’s important to safely execute each turn without slowing down too much.

If you are on the front approaching a turn call out ‘hold your line’ and stop the pace line rotation. Before the turn, gently move to the left side of the lane for a right turn, and move to right side of the lane for a left turn. Maintain speed and sweep through the turn. Note that in most cases, simply turning and leaning your bike will slow your speed sufficient for the turn. As you straighten up note your speed and (if you can safely) glance back to see any obvious gaps in the line behind.

To keep the group together it is CRITICALLY important that the lead riders do not accelerate until the ENTIRE group is through the turn. If you are on the lead during a turn, maintain whatever your minimum turn speed was until the last rider exits the turn. E.g. if you come out of the turn at 17mph (everybody else will go at least that slow), then maintain 17mph until you hear the ‘all aboard’ signal. Then gradually begin accelerating to normal pace and restart the needed rotation for the new situation. If you are on the tail of the group, call up ‘all aboard’ as soon as the tail has completed the turn.

Feed Zones

We will be burning major calories for just under 5 hours, roughly 700-1000 calories/hour depending on the individual. We need to eat, and more than just at the pit stop. Better yet, we can eat while moving, so we’ll restock food pockets while stopped, and eat while moving. Here are the designated 459 Express feed zones. These are when we are going downhill and can coast or soft pedal maintaining 20+ mph and concentrate on eating some calories. Whoever is on the front in our feed zones needs to establish 20mph and then soft pedal or coast. We need to relax our spacing and give each other some wiggle room while we dig in our pockets for food. Some of the energy bars are hard to unwrap and you may consider pre-opening them before the ride. Here are the 459 Express “Feed Zones”:

1. Kelly road between Ketchum and Widmayer road. This is the first downhill of each lap, right after the pit stop.

2. A short feed zone on re-entering Harmony road over the I90 overpass. Use the overpass downhill to establish speed and then soft pedal. This is a short feed zone, only until we prepare to cross route 23.

3. A short water/feed zone on Harmony road after the Higgins Road crest, and before the Big Timber climb.

In both previous sub5 events I haven’t consumed enough calories. This year I plan on 1 clif bar (300cal each), and 2-3 Gus (100cal each) each lap. That’s 500 calories per lap which is a negative calorie deficit, however if I eat more my stomach doesn’t digest it fast enough. At the start, I will stock my three jersey pockets each with a lap supply of food. I will make sure to empty another pocket by the end of each lap. With this technique all I need at the pit stop is water and could comfortably do the pit stops under 2 minutes each.

Pit Stops

This is not a rest stop, but a pit stop. We’ll replenish food pockets, water bottles, chug some fluids, possibly visit the porta-john, and get moving again. We’ll eat and drink the new supplies on the Kelly road downhill… while we are moving 20-25mph. The first year I did the sub5, our group stopped for 3:36 and 2:25 for the two pit stops. 2012 we did Keep in mind, the less we are stopped, the slower the ride pace will be. I want us to be under 4 and 3 minutes respectively for the two stops. Just those 7 stopped minutes increases our needed moving ride pace from 20 to 20.5 mph.

Hills

The following chart shows the major hills, and the pace equivalents of a 200lb rider producing 240watts not drafting. This gives an idea of an effort equivalent to a 22mph flat cruising speed. I created a Computrainer course for the sub5 lap and found that holding a 240watt average (no drafting) produces the 1:37ish (20.8 mph) goal lap time. The chart gives us a goal pace for the hills shown below. We will need to adjust based on tail/head winds.



200 lbs at 240 watts Overall Climb Overall Pace Kicker Cresting Pace

Flat windless road 0% 22.4 mph

Beck Road – removed 2013 1.2 at 1.3% 17.7 mph 1.6% 15.5mph

Harmony Hill – removed 2013 0.8 at 1.6% 16.7 mph 3% 12.7 mph

Harmony Road 0.8 at 1.0% 18.7 mph NA

Higgins Hump 0.3 at 2.3% - 2.3% 14.5 mph

Big Timber Road 1.2 @ 1.7% 16.3 mph 3% 12.7 mph



Communication
All aboard – tail calls this when group is back together after a turn, hill or other disruption

Easy or Soft pedal – anyone calls this when one or more riders is either separated or in difficulty

down/up 1 or ½ cog – decrease/increase pace the equivalent of shifting one or a half cog.

One line (one finger)– single pace line

Two/double line (one fingers rotated in direction of rotation) – double rotating line

Thread the needle (two fingers) – double pull off line

8/19 sub5 course ride

WOW - great ride... great weather, great legs, great teamwork. It's coming together. We rode great today and completed a sub4 80. Craigs Garmin had us at 3:52:22 for 80.

3 shortened laps was the plan, and we hit our marks and exceeded our pacing. Finished with all 10 riders. Mark, Mike, Craig, Paul, Sean, Scott, Tony, Dave, Rick and John.

Only one minor incident that I heard about. Mike hit a stick in a turn that kicked his rear wheel out at the apex. Quick reflexes kept him rolling. One bit of stupidity... on the first lap somewhere on Melms, I reached down for my water... no bottles! Still ice cold in the cooler. Thanks Scott for giving me one of yours!

We parked vehicles on Ketchum and quickened up our pit stops. 8:30 total, down from 13 minutes last week. Consensus for pit stops is to have coolers with pre-filled bottles at the ready. That should be faster than refilling bottles.

I learned that the 'take the lane' call from the back is useful when approaching a turn on the front. We did get a  bit quiet on the second lap. Let's make an effort to communicate, and when we're single file, repeat the signals/commands up and down the line. 10+ riders the line is too long to hear front to back and back to front.

On the sub5 day we can ease the pace up the hills. We were about 1 mph faster up the climbs than we needed (see summary data below). On the final Big Timber climb, Mike had the lead and we had a struggling rider, so we were calling up to him to control the pace for the struggling rider. To finish as a team, it's good for everyone to learn to ride someone elses pace. 

Rick will be next weeks domestique water boy for jumping the group on the last climb.
Mark is this weeks Captains favorite for pacing me up the last bit of Big Timber after Mike jumped onto Ricks wheel.
Mike gets the big wheels award for pulling up Big Timber and still having the legs to catch Ricks wheel.
Paul gets the Lantern Rouge - I was the struggling rider up Big Timber on lap 3

Great ride today. I was having an off day, and the team covered me. I had a blast.

Here's the lap stats. My odometer showed 81.6 miles total.

Lap Dist	Lap	Lap Ave	Total	Ave
27.2	1:16:12	21.42	1:16:12	21.42
stop 1	4:12		1:20:24	20.30
27.2	1:16:36	21.31	2:37:00	20.79
stop 2	4:20		2:41:20	20.23
27.2	1:17:30	21.06	3:58:50	20.50

Todays ride pace broken down by the first flat miles, and the last hillier miles. The Flats are the first 16 miles, Hills are the last 11 miles (i.e. starting at the turn unto Beck road). Planned sub5 pace is in parenthesis.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lap 1 Flats  21.8 (21.5)  Hills  21.3 (20.0)
Lap 2 Flats  21.5 (21.0)  Hills  21.3 (19.8)
Lap 3 Flats  21.2 (20.7)  Hills  20.9 (19.0)

Craigs Garmin data:  http://connect.garmin.com/player/212564101

Next team/course ride Saturday 8/25 7:30, Hampshire HS

459 Express 8/12 course ride

About 30 sub5 riders from various teams showed up to do 2-3 laps. 459 express had Steve, Larry, Mike, John, Ron, and myself. This was Ron's first ride with the group and his first recon ride on the course. The plan was to ride 3 shortened laps and solidify the pacing plan, get to know each other better, and have some fun.




We started with the main group, but turned off the course at Payne and Harmony road and the six of us completed 3 laps. We cut off 6 miles of flatness on each lap. No garmin, no watt-o-meter, and we nailed the pace plan. Each lap time was within a minute of each other. We did the hills 32 times and finished with 82 miles with a rolling average or 20.7mph. We did 2 leisurely stops for a total of 13 minutes. Our total average was 19.6. We were only 4 minutes over a sub4 80. Just tidy up the pit stops, and we're sub4.



Roughtly we averaged 21.8 on the flat portion (first 16 miles), and 19.5 on the hilly section (last 11 miles) of each lap. The kicker was that Steve and I both noticed that we RECOVERED on the hill portion of the course! I think the pace plan is going to work well.


With just the 6 of us we did a single pace line, learned to swing wide approaching the turns, communicate the pace up the hills, and that all the turns have gravel in them. After the first lap everybody figured out not to yell gravel at every turn. It just wasn't fun without Rene' there to annoy.


The team has solid legs, great teamwork, and a plan that will keep up together for 100 miles. We are going to rock the sub5!

459 Express Hill n Kill

Our group of 6 is 80 miles into the ride and all we need to finish is the Big Timber climb. Mike has just pulled off the front after a monster long pull, and I take over cruising us to the start of the climb. The group is lined up nicely behind me and Larry 'billy goat' climber is my wheel man. I get us onto the initial ramp of the climb, and set into our pace. I ask expectantly if Larry wants to lead this climb. Larry is in my ear doling out the compliments...

    "you're doing great Paul, keep us going"... ( oops, not the answer I was hoping for )
          --- my pulse is 165 and I'm looking at 4 minutes of work ----

         "you're looking good Paul"... ( nobody looks better than Larry in his kit-de-jour )
                --- I'm holding the effort even, shifting gears to match the changing gradient ---

                "wow Paul, you should be in the Tour!" ( larry REALLY doesn't want to lead this one )
                     --- pulse is flicking over 170, gotta ease back just a wee bit ---

            "wiggens could have used you in the mountains" ( larry is a sick bastard that likes to watch people suffer on climbs )


          --- pulse came down to 168, this is surviable. . . . .. jeez I'm pouring out sweat like a soaker hose ---

        "hey, how ya doing up there paul? ( oh the compassion... he's just worried about explaining my demise to my wife )
    --- I got this, just another minute and I'll have this climb knocked off ---

"alright, I'm coming up to help"


What? He's pulling the plug on ME? the nerve! But, I don't have a brain cell or leg synapse to argue. There goes Larry.... there goes Mike... there goes Ron... no way I'm catching those wheels.

John pulls alongside, offers to pace me the last bit. JOHN! the new captains favorite. He matches my pace, and he gets me to the top.

John is now the captains pet.
Larry the climber, is now Larry the domestique water boy. And I am REALLY thirsty.


Good fun!

7/15 Sub5 Course Ride

------------------- 7/15 RIDE STATS from sub5 course ride ----------

We had 9 riders, and did one lap together, took a long refuel break, and the group fell apart a bit on the second lap. We learned the course, and practiced clockwise and counter-clockwise double rotating pacelines. Here's some data:

Basic stats from Craigs garmin

Lap1

20.2 miles in first hour

Harmony hill 1.09 miles @ 3:40 17.9 mph ~265watts ave

  ** should be less than 250 watts ~4:00 16mph **

Big Timber 2.0 @ 5:30 20.9 mph ~255 watts (wind aided)

 ** should be less than 240watts ~ 7:00 17mph **

 

Lap1 34.1 miles @ 1:40:30 20.3 mph 165watts ave

  ** should be 1:36:00 20.8mph 175watts ave **

 

We did the flat section at 20.2 and the hill section at 20.6. Even with the tailwind, that is bass-ackwards. We need to take it easier up the hills.

 

Lap2 – 20.2 miles in first hour

  At the base of Harmony Hill, the group fell apart due to heat and dehydration. I think everybody ate properly, but the heat made keeping hydrated a problem.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199635346

rotate those pace lines

We had warm weather and a 8-10mph South winds for a double pace line training ride. With a bit of coaching and strategy talk, the group got so we could ride a fairly tight pace line rotating both clock-and-counter clock depending on the wind direction.We did a great job pacing up the hill, only popping off some riders on the last 'warrenville road' climb. On the downhills the riders in the back were using brakes (wasting energy), so we need remind ourselves to pedal the 'normal' effort when on the front going downhill. Until we got a bit fatigued near the end, we didn't have much trouble with accordion pacing. I was impressed with how we kept the two lines rotating smoothly. It took us a while to get the two lines close to each other, but that takes practice and confidence in the others riders. We were pretty tight on the way home.

In the future, we'll need some more training rides to work on maintaining an echelon while rotating the paceline. We also need to work on turns next time we are out in Hampshire on the course. The suburban roads don't give us much opportunity to make turns at speed. There's 16 turns per lap on the course, so any energy/time savings we do on a turn will be multiplied by 48 for the 100 miles.

I didn't get a Garmin ride summary from anyone, but I think we averaged somewhere in the 17mph range for 50 miles. This wasn't a speed run, just working on an efficient double line. Everybody seemed to have a great time. I know I did... it was very rewarding to see us keep a tight rotating paceline going.

Gary, Larry, Mike J, Mike E, Loni, Dave M., Scott T., Tony, Craig, Phil, Brad, and Paul rode this ride.