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General Category >> Ride Reports >> the last couple weeks training....
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Message started by aikigreg on Apr 23^rd, 2009, 10:25pm

Title: the last couple weeks training....
Post by aikigreg on Apr 23^rd, 2009, 10:25pm

Haven't been much. Last week was crappy both in time quality and in weather, so I had three hour long rides on the trainer doing a spinervals workout that came with my new Kurt Kinetic road machine. GREAT trainer, by the way, and pre-ridden models are available through their website for a lot less $$$.

I don't have any REAL good data but the intervals were nice. basically I did a 10 minute warm-up, 3 30 second intervals in the big ring and 15t cog, rest, then a three minute intervals and rest, and then 3 1-minute inervals and rest, and then a 20 minute time trial with the toughest gear you can maintain the whole way and a 10 minute cool down. Definitely got the sweat going.

Sunday I tried to ride but it was like my body and my heart were stuck in the mud and wouldn't go, so I quit after 12 miles.

Tuesday I got home earlier than expected and got 3 laps in instead of 4. I pretty much held and average HR of around 150 and avg speed 20.8.
mac heart rate of 182, max speed 31.7, which I'm particularly proud of since it was into the mild breeze and slightly uphill. I was chasing a car again! 26.63 miles

Tonight I went out on the corsa. I'd only ridden it on the trainer and thought I should see how it stacks up to the carbent. Man that euromesh is so ultra-comfortable! That and the rans hoagie really are amazing seats. By comparison though, the corsa feels much less stable and takes much more input in the turns. The carbent reacts with a thought and is more stable overall.

As you mighr expect, I was a good deal slower, on the order of 1.5mph slower on each lap. This is a stock corsa though, not the s/s version, and it even has a kickstand! Also, my top end speed was quite a bit slower, and it took a slightly higher heart rate to achieve that result. Still, you gotta admire the performance machine that is the Bacchetta Corsa.

Average HR was 152, avg speed 19.2 top speed was a much slower 27.9. 20.51 miles.

Title: Re: the last couple weeks training....
Post by goatstick on Apr 25^th, 2009, 10:53pm

aikigreg wrote:

...
Tonight I went out on the corsa. I'd only ridden it on the trainer and thought I should see how it stacks up to the carbent. Man that euromesh is so ultra-comfortable! That and the rans hoagie really are amazing seats. By comparison though, the corsa feels much less stable and takes much more input in the turns. The carbent reacts with a thought and is more stable overall.
...

In the area of people come in all different shapes, I always had a problem with the lower lumbar/tailbone area with the euromesh. It arched up where I needed it to arch down. I almost had to have it fully reclined to even sit on it. It was initially very painful until I made a pillow that fit under my lower back that allowed my hips to rotate downward on it. Before the big trip last fall I put one of the new carbon seats on and instantly fell in love with it. I still needed a pillow but only a tiny one to cushion my tailbone when riding centuries day after day. The pillow also hooks my hips into the seat to help stabilize things.

re: stability, that's always been a little of an issue for me on the Corsa. When I get really cranking it on flat ground (35+) I can't seem to keep my arms from twitching the bars no matter how hard I try to relax them, so my top flat ground speeds are then limited by control and not muscle. Speed descents when coasting (~48+) just get plain twitchy no matter how hard I try to relax also. I suspect I'm causing the twitchiness but I don't know what more to do about it. The new Contis help immensely here but I haven't progressed beyond that. I don't see any twitching when climbing slight grades in the low 30's and I suspect that climbing loads the frame differently. which affects it.

Turns at speed on the Corsa seem a bit like indexed steering to me. You gently whack the bars a succession of times through the turn. :^) I still wonder if that isn't my fault also though.