What a nasty ill informed comment this is. Clearly you are too lazy and ignorant to read up on the doping control requirements for UCI hour records.

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http://www.cyclecoach.com
http://www.aerocoach.com.au

Yep, I didn't get out of the velodrome until 11:30pm. Took me two hours and about 6 bottles of water to produce a sample.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

Side effect of breaking the record!

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My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

You would think they would let you rehydrate with a cerveza or two after that effort.

seems you also need congrats for a new 2k record!

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My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

We were still there, so why not give it a shot, right?

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

Kevin,

Congratulations on the new World Record(s)! Also, thank you for posting about the training and preparation leading up to the effort - very interesting!

Michael

Congratulations Kevin! Love your blog

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res, non verba

Reading about you now...Smashing!

as i finished writing this up and publishing it, with photos, on the front page, kevin remembered he had a gopro video of this. which i also stuck into that article. here's the video:

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Dude, it's Dennis R formerly RCSWC. Congrats on an awesome job. Delighted to see you're still in top form. Just curious if you've considered shorter cranks. Many of the cyclists I've coached find less resistance at tdc (hip flexibility) with shorter cranks. You can test this by doing high-power/low rpm (~55-60rpm) single legs on a CompuTrainer (full aero position) or equivalent. Feel how challenging it is or isn't going over the top. Shorter cranks, higher seat often gets higher cadence for same power.

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

Great job, that is an outstanding accomplishment! Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

Increasing saddle height can be a doubled edged aero sword.

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http://www.cyclecoach.com
http://www.aerocoach.com.au

so is the dehydration exacerbated by the "people are in the next urine so it's hard to pee" syndrome?
must be tough peeing in front of someone on demand!

At 56 it's probably less of an issue than it might have been in my 20's. Now IDGAF. :-) But I didn't even bother to try for the first couple of hours until I got some water into me.

The guy was pretty funny though in that there were two urinals next to each other and as I was trying to get things going he said, "sometimes this helps" and started flushing the other toilet again and again. Not sure if that was the key, but I was able to do what I needed to do.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

Hey Dennis. I know some guys who have used shorter cranks and I'm interested in the idea but inertia and the logistics of getting shorter cranks and testing has kept me from going any further.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

I played with them for a while, at the suggestion of Frank Day. He replaced my Power Cranks on my Trek with a pair that are drilled for multiple lengths. I found torque reduced somewhat as I went shorter (all the way to 90mm for a short time). I found that, due to tight hips (that's just asking for a joke) I could pedal a lot faster with no restrictions. I was turning 125-140 on Danville Bl and it was less tiring. Torque only matters for acceleration and steep climbs. Horsepower didn't seem to suffer. I never tested it with CT or PM, but my ride times to San Ramon seemed quicker. At 90mm it was all I could do to get up the hill from Alcosta headed east on Bollinger. Probably a 15-18% grade. Also not great for accelerating after looking both ways and finding a hole in traffic to cross a busy street. But for the rest of my ride, which was mostly flat, they felt good after a really short period of adjustment. I was riding down a few gears and spinning much faster. I think I settled on 150 as the best compromise, but if I were summiting Diablo, I'd definitely prefer 170 or better. But then I'm the world's worst climber. All my best races were basically flat.

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

Absolutely true but for a drop of 10 cm you only raise the saddle 5 (<2") which reduces all 10 cm from the top of the stroke. I'm 10 years older than Kevin and it makes a huge difference for me. Chris Kautz, who was my aero guru always said "power outranks aero." If you get a few tics more aero and lose sustainable wattage, it's a bad trade. Most of the guys I've worked with see improvements in both bike split and run times with shorter cranks.

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

Having tested quite a few, including more than one hour record holder, it's just not always the case that raising the saddle even a little is a good trade off. The simple fact is it's individually variable. It's worth trying but it's not a given it will result in a better outcome.

As for what trumps what in hour records, minimal sustainable lap times trump all else.

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http://www.cyclecoach.com
http://www.aerocoach.com.au

Can't say as I disagree, but coaching during the Jan Ulrich era I had to talk a lot of guys out of trying ride his position. Yeah, reduced drag buys you something, but most of the guys I tested on CompuTrainer produced significantly more watts in a slightly less aero position with greater comfort, which translated into noticeably better bike splits and less trouble getting upright again off the bike. As to raising the saddle, as all Slowtwitchers know, saddles are always too high when you go in for a fitting. I don't like raising the saddle as a stand alone goal, because it's leg angles and power production that matter. For old farts like me, lacking flexibility, having an extra 20 cm (going from 170 to 150mm) gave me a significant power boost in the aero bars because I didn't have to flex my tight hips nearly as far. Did feel weird for the first week or so being f\4" further from the ground. When I tested at 90mm it felt like an old time bigwheel bike and I thought I needed a step ladder to get on - felt very weird. As always, YMMV. Since Kevin isn't particularly tall, 175 cranks strike me as being longer than optimal. Just my 2¢. Since he's an old friend whom I haven't seen in about six years, I thought I'd share the thought. For me, anything is worth trying. Changing cranks isn't hard to do nor particularly expensive and a little time on a CompuTrainer would provide a definitive answer.

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...