Lobster Qualifying Rides
genbirch
QUALIFIED! On the 1st and 2nd of this month, Irene Genelin, Joe Lind and
I (Dan Hansen) completed our qualifying ride for The LOBSTER. We had
gorgeous weather and great company throughout the ride.
We started on Saturday morning at Joe and Kim's house on the
Mississippi River bluffs above downtown St. Paul (our state's capital
city). Kim is largely(!) pregnant and so wasn't able to qualify with
the three of us but we had the delightful company of Andy Cotter, Rob
Mullerliele, Dustin Kelm and Ryan (Smiley) Woessner. We proceeded to
punish our thighs up and down short, steep hills for the first half of
the day. After relaxation, conversation and lunch back at Joe and
Kim's, we chose some flat riding to round out the day.
On day two, Andy, Irene, Joe and I started from my home in Minneapolis
for 85k of flat riding. We roamed bicycle paths around Minneapolis and
its NW suburbs with a late lunch at a favorite NE Minneapolis joint,
Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge. After lunch, our 4th crossing of the
Mississippi River in Minneapolis was on the 10th Avenue bridge which
overlooks our fallen Interstate bridge disaster. The wreckage is being
removed pretty rapidly at this point.
It was a weekend of flawless riding, super weather, great company and
only a bit of rumbling muscles. For me, this was only the second time
I've ridden with other Cokeurs! Looking forward to Nova Scotia!!
--
genbirch
------------------------------------------------------------------------
genbirch's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/14788
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/63985
Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com
semach.the.monkey
genbirch wrote:
> QUALIFIED! On the 1st and 2nd of this month, Irene Genelin, Joe Lind and
> I (Dan Hansen) completed our qualifying ride for The LOBSTER. We had
> gorgeous weather and great company throughout the ride.
>
Damn you genbirch! You stole my thunder! :D
I've got my qualifying all set up for next Monday/Tuesday, and was
looking forward to being the first to post on here about it. Oh
well...
Anyway, congratulations, and I look forward to meeting up with you all
in Nova Scotia next year.
STM
--
semach.the.monkey
------------------------------------------------------------------------
semach.the.monkey's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12078
Andy Cotter
Just a reminder that once the qualifying ride is completed to fill out
this form:
http://tinyurl.com/2zgqoo
Rider information about RTL:
http://www.ridethelobster.com/FAQ/
-Andy
--
Andy Cotter
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Cotter's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/3718
flyer
Now that all of you people interested in RTL are reading this - who
needs a teammate? :P
--
flyer
------------------------------------------------------------------------
flyer's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/9894
genbirch
Qualifying ride write-up Dan Hansen Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
November 10, 2007 –* Day 1*
Stock Coker, Viscount saddle, Dingman handle, 89 mm crankarms, 45 psi
Despite looming rain/snow clouds, blustery conditions and cold
temperatures (hovering just above freezing), this morning I drove to a
19 - 19.5 km bike/ped path loop that is a part of the Cedar Lake –
Kenilworth Trail. This trail is characterized by mainly flat terrain
with several gentle rolling bits, curves and long straight-aways. It
passes through the cities of Minneapolis, St. Louis Park and Hopkins.
The bulk of the trail is within St. Louis Park so I will heretofore
refer to it as the SLP loop.
I chose this path for several reasons but mainly so that I could get
some baseline information about the decay my average speed, over a
repeatable distance, over the course of several hours of exertion. I
wanted each lap to be separated by only about 10 minutes (+/- 2 min.)
of rest/refueling.
Only yesterday I installed a cyclometer (Cat Eye) on my Coker for the
first time. I also purchased a stop-watch in order to provide back-up
data in case the cyclometer set-up failed. It didn’t. Since I am
basically a ‘flat-lander’, I chose not to carry (purchase) a device for
marking elevational gain and loss. So I have disregarded elevation as a
factor over this trial.
FIRST LAP
I parked on the SE corner of Cedar Lake and departed on my first lap at
10:31 am. There was a very fine rain falling which stopped about half
way around the SLP loop. Trail conditions were good and there were
relatively few other cyclists and pedestrians. The pathway is mostly
uninterrupted though it passes across about 10 roads – a few of them
typically busy. For the sake of this ride, this morning I increased my
tire pressure from 30 psi to 45 psi and I chose not to carry the
messenger bag that I normally carry. These two differences contributed
to an unsettling first lap.
My first lap time was 48:35 (stop-watch) and my odometer reading was
19.0 km. This odo reading was surprising because my road bike
cyclometer (Sigma) reads about 19.5 km. for the same distance. When
programming the Coker cyclometer, I used the common roll-out value 2800
mm. For the sake of simplicity, I will assume the value of 19 km for
the distance of the SLP loop.
48.583 minutes/19 km = 23.465 kph average = 14.58 mph average
SECOND LAP
After ten minutes of fueling and drinking by car-side, I donned my
messenger bag (which felt just right despite the weight!) and set out
again, same counter-clockwise direction, at about 11:30. On this lap I
noticed the disagreeableness of the winds. Owing to the shape of the
SLP loop (not round), each leg was at some odd angle to the relatively
strong winds (15–20 mph - AOL Weather) – hence there were no
significant stretches with a direct tail or head-wind. Otherwise it was
an uneventful loop. I did not need to dismount for traffic at all.
47:55 (stop-watch )
47.917 minutes/19 km = 23.79 kph average = 14.78 mph average
THIRD LAP
Departure was at 12:30 pm after fueling. This was another uneventful
circuit without needing to dismount. On this lap I reached my highest
Maximum speed of the day – 29.9 kph (18.58 mph).
48:05
48.083 minutes/19 km = 23.71 kph average = 14.73 mph average
FOURTH LAP
My 17 y.o. cousin-in-law from Des Moines (Nate) was visiting
Minneapolis and had brought his Coker so that he could ride a bit with
me (I got him started with unicycling and provided him with a Coker).
His timing was perfect because I was ready for a soft circuit! Despite
my strong recommendation that he swap the stock cranks with 127’s, he
had not done so. The contrast between my 89’s and his 150’s was
comical. Nate’s previous longest ride was seven miles, so one circuit
with me was a challenge for him. We conversed, rode slowly and walked
a couple short stretches. Nate was very cold but happy with his 11.8
mile ride. It was at this point that I tried to take some digital
images only to find the camera battery too weak due to the cold and a
low charge condition (it’s on the charger now!).
1:25:20
80.333 minutes/19 km = 14.19 kph average = 8.82 mph average
FIFTH LAP
After Nate headed home, I departed again at about 3:10 pm. Over the
course of this lap, I felt sluggish but forced myself to keep a pace
about the same as the first three circuits. The slow lap 4 did not have
a rejuvenating effect. I could tell that I wasn’t at my former pace. At
a randomly chosen split point, which was at the 30ish minute point, I
was about one minute off pace.
50:25
50.417 minutes/19 km = 22.61 kph average = 14.05 mph average
COOL DOWN
When I arrived at my car at 4:03 pm, I had a total mileage reading of
94.9 km. I couldn’t bring myself to make another round of the SLP loop
but wanted to make a ‘metric century’. So at 4:10 pm, I headed off on a
different trail (Midtown Greenway), into a headwind for another 4.7 km
(when I’d had enough!), whereupon I turned and took a fast tail-wind
right back to the car at 4:30 pm.
9.4 km in 26:20
26.333 minutes/9.4 km = 21.42 kph average = 13.31 mph average
Total day mileage – 104.31 km = 64.82 miles
Total elapsed time – 6 hours
Total riding time – 5 hours, 6.5 minutes
So far, so good. It was gratifying to record the second two averages
greater than the first. It was also nice that lap four, after the
out-lier (lap three) was as fast as it was.
Tomorrow is a new day!
Still needing teammate/s!!
--
genbirch
------------------------------------------------------------------------
genbirch's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/14788
genbirch
Qualifying ride write-up Dan Hansen Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Stock Coker, Viscount saddle, Dingman handle, 89 mm crankarms, 45 psi
Two hours before departure, I fried three eggs, prepared a ‘Heart
Healthy’ serving of Quaker Oats and a 16 oz. skim milk tea – and ate my
breakfast. This is a breakfasting formula that I have used for a few
years when prepping for a tough day of exercise. I decided last night
that, despite the boredom of the SLP loop, that I would revisit the
same circuit so to get better baseline training data.
Three circuits of the SLP loop is about 57 km (35 ½ miles). This
distance is roughly one third of any given day of the Lobster tour. So,
today I used a Camelback M.U.L.E. so that I would not have to stop for
hydration for my first three circuits. This seems like a natural next
test to determine my current average speed, in race mode. Though I
don’t have cadence data (my Cat Eye Cadence does not provide average
cadence and the digits are so small that I cannot safely read them
while riding), it is my sense that average speed is strongly limited
for me by safe spinning rate (duh! – buying a Schlumpf soon!).
So today, I am most interested to see what effect the ten-minute breaks
of yesterday had on average speed.
LAPS 1-3
With sunny, relatively calm weather in the mid-40’s (7-8 degree
Celsius), I set out again on the same path from the same starting point
at 9:30 am this morning. To shake things up just a bit (to help
alleviate boredom!), I headed out in a clockwise direction. I felt very
good right away and though I thought I was starting slow, at my split
time spot (about 18 minutes from start), I was 5 seconds ahead of
yesterdays best split. Over the course of the three circuits, I
dismounted only one time for about five seconds while going over some
trail/bridge construction (a touch of Muni action for about 30 m of
each circuit). I listened to my IPod (The Bad Plus, Nick Cave and the
Bad Seeds, Mastodon, Between the Buried and Me and some good old
fashioned Neil Young – in that order of importance), and had one 10
minute conversation with a bicyclist.
Following are my split and finishing times over this 19 km circuit. I
was very pleased with the results and now feel springy, in high spirits
and ready to go again (Good thing - I’ll go out tonight to finish the
distance required for the rating system). I have an engagement this
afternoon which prevented me from completing the required distance in
one go.
Departure 9:30 – Finish 11:54
Lap 1 – 47:55 Lap 2 – 1:35:45 Lap 3 (total time) – 2:24:18
Total distance – 56.72 km = 35.24 miles
TOTAL AVERAGE SPEED OVER 56.72 KM W/NO BREAKS – 23.58 KPH = 14.65 MPH
My lap three time was about 40 seconds slower than laps 1 and 2.
I’ll finish my day two report tonight or early tomorrow morning after I
do another 20-30k of city riding (for a change – whew!).
genbirch
Qualifying ride write-up Dan Hansen Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Stock Coker, Viscount saddle, Dingman handle, 89 mm crankarms, 32 psi
After nightfall this evening I dropped my tire pressure back down to 32
psi and I headed out from home at 6:50 pm for an extra 20 – 30 km in
order to round up to a rating of 150+.
I headed South through NE Minneapolis, through the University of
Minnesota campus, across the Mississippi River, Followed SE along the
light-rail line (LRT), W on the Midtown Greenway, back N directly
through downtown Minneapolis, and back to my neighborhood SNAP Fitness
center for an upper-bod workout.
I was expecting a significantly lower average kph – reasoning this of
all the technical maneuvering and car dodging in city riding. The ride
was faster than I thought it would be though (probably owing, in large
part, to the >50% trip tailwind and a few fast straight-aways.
For me, the 89 mm crankarms (which I used for this whole qualifying
ride) are just fine for judicious Minneapolis riding. This was a great
surprise to me when I changed them from 102’s last week. The difference
in performance between 89’s and 102’s is not nearly as great as I had
expected.
1:03:44/22.68 km
63.73 minutes/22.68 km = 21.35 kph = 13.27 mph
After 30 – 40 minutes at the gym, I headed into the wind for a
leisurely 5.1 km ride home for a grand total for the day of 84.53 km (=
52.52 miles).