Friday, July 29, 2011

SportTracks and its Almost Unlimited Resources

SportTracks is a pretty amazing program. It allows and encourages people to create plug-ins which expand the usability and versatility of SportTracks.

For example, I import my iBike files directly with a plugin created by http://mechgt.com/st/. This developer has also created plug-ins for training planning, training load analysis and many more. Here's a screenshot within SportTracks that shows the bike speed and relative wind speed. This is from the actual wind speed data as recorded by the iBike, not an approximation from weather stations. Of course, you can zoom in to any one section for more detail.















There is also a very powerful plugin called Training Analysis from Old Man Biking (I love the name) . OMB as he is affectionately known has created numerous plugins for many different purposes. Far too many to mention, be sure to browse his website and give some of them a try.

Here's a chart that shows me getting very close to my maximum heart rate on the last repeat. I hit 178bpm which is just 3 beats shy of my max. At that point I called it a day since one more effort would probably have gotten me half way up the hill and waving a white flag. As you can see I'm not very strong, but my focus isn't as much on strength as it is on health. But that's for another day.












Below is a graph overlaying power on a 16 second delayed heart-rate graph. You can see from about mile 48 to 54 my HR start to gradually climb as my power holds fairly steady or even decreases slightly. Yes, I was slowly tiring and working harder to produce the same power.


I'm a data hound as you can tell. I like looking at big pictures and learning from all the data thrown at me. Today's technology allows us to do things we couldn't have imagined even a few years ago. And through all of that I have to constantly remind myself to "SHUT UP AND PEDAL!"

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Sharing Rides Can Be Humbling and Rewarding

Many cyclists talk about this ride or that ride and generally brag about how strong they felt doing some intervals. They, myself included rank a ride and think, "That was so good, I doubt anybody could have beat me up that hill."

And then along came Strava. In a unique mix of cycling analyis and social networking Strava has hit a home run with a fine balance. Not too much info where it gets boring, and not too much socializing lest we forget why we uploaded in the first place.

Here's a ride I did after work a couple of days ago. Overall, the ride was one of my better ones because I kept on pushing myself heading home. It's that horse going back to the barn syndrome. However, my two hard efforts fell short of my best effort and of course I'm dreadfully slow compared to some of the really strong riders in this neck of the woods.



I upload my ibike files to Strava or you can upload Garmin files directly. If you need some help uploading files to Strava, or just have questions just shoot a comment over. For those of you with smartphones Strava has both an Android and iPhone app that uploads automatically to their website. Cool stuff.

Of course with an iDash from Velocomp you can upload your data with power info. It's the best of data analysis and cool factor all in one.

Monday, July 18, 2011

But What About The Bubbles

I've posted a couple of cycling stories but nothing about my SCUBA adventures, mainly because I haven't been diving much lately. It's no one's fault but my own really.

I've seen some amazing things underwater, especially at night. I need to get back into it and I may have to talk myself into going diving more often than a couple of times a year. The Southern California coast offers excellent diving both right off the coast, the Channel Islands, oil rigs and even some challenging ship wrecks.

There's no doubt I'm a warm water diver, who isn't. But I don't have issues with colder water until it drops below 50F. That's where I draw the line. So I guess I need to replace the underwater lights that were previously stolen and get my butt down to the shoreline. Somewhere there are critters waiting to be spotted in the most unusual habitats.

Can you see me now? Catalina Island at about 110ft of water.
My air tanks are full, are there any excuses left?

Sunday, July 17, 2011

One Thousand Feet At A Time

Why on earth would someone climb the San Gabriel Canyon Trail from Azusa, CA to Angeles Crest Highway? Easy, there are gates blocking you from experiencing the lure of stunning scenery, difficult yet rewarding climbs and heart stopping descents. Of course you have to go!

These pictures are a compilation of six or so trips to the top of San Gabriel Canyon. My first trip to the top was in April 2010 with John Corta and Victor Boradora. These guys are the typical skinny cyclists every clydesdale like me fears and loathes.



Below, it's a shame some of the elevation signs have been stolen because there's a tremendous sense of accomplishment when you see one coming up and then just ride right past it.
Only the beginning...


The air is going to start getting thin real soon.

This one is special. Only one more marker and that one's been stolen. The crest is at  6600ft.


The view from 5000' looking back.

At 6000' we had to tiptoe through a rockslide, though no worries.
It was all good after crossing 25 yards of freshly cracked mountain side
.
Somehow I've never taken a panoramic shot from the top of Angeles Crest. It's stunning because to the east you can see clear across the high desert to Victorville and beyond. Walk to the other side of the road and you can see the steel and concrete of Los Angeles and if you're lucky you might get to see Catalina Island.

On July 15, 2011 I made my most recent climb with a relative newbie. Guy wanted to go to Crystal Lake which is open to the public. Yes, San Gabriel Canyon road is now open to within 4 miles of Angeles Crest.  Hopefully the last part will be finished before California runs out of money as this is one of the most beautiful climbs in Southern California.

No Flats

After replacing two tires within 55 miles because of a massive cut from glass, today's ride was a pleasure. Considering that my training load is very negative, I was actually able to increase my CTL while not making my TSB more negative. Now to maintain that balance. Two climbs up Newport Coast with the second one pushing fairly hard (for me). http://app.strava.com/rides/956073# shows the ride. Here's the profile from SportTracks, one of my favorite analysis programs.















The Cool Breeze Century is about a month away and I plan on doing the double metric (125 miles). That will be my first attempt at that distance and I'm clearly focused on the task at hand. I sure hope my riding partner for the Double Metric, Lee Berman is as focused as I am. It seems that lately he spends more time at Disneyland than anything else.

But I digress. Actually, I'll end it here. Lots more interesting stuff to write about another day.


No Bubbles

It's been quite some time since I've been diving and it's my own fault. Two years ago both my UK Light Cannon dive lights were stolen. It happened on a trip to Cabo San Lucas and more than likely one of the TSA employees took them out at XRAY. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the lights were missing until two days after arriving as I prepared for my first dive. Too late according to American Airlines, you have to file a claim within 24 hours.

To this day, the thought of having to go out and buy two more dive lights (OK, at least one and a small backup) bothers the daylights out of me. The only other thing I ever had stolen was a Ford Bronco that looked just like OJ Simpsons at about the same time that drama was playing out. Maybe that was a blessing, not a loss.

I've gone diving since then, but only occasionally. I'm brooding and need to get over it. Maybe posting about it will release me, nothing else has.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

What Else? My First Posting

Late to the party am I, yet here I am all dressed up not knowing what to do next.

Maybe I should have been better prepared, but for what?

So I need to ride my bike and don a SCUBA tank or two.

They both go places, although not all that quickly in today's hurried world.

I guess that's why it took so long to get to the party.