Wow, I was on a bit of travel and in meetings the last 24 hours and did not have a chance to check in one of my favourite IM’s. That time that Brent McMahon posted this weekend at IMLP was really one for the ages. I’ve given my share of “well that’s a suspect time at Brazil behind the motos etc” when Brent has posted fast times in Florionopolis, but the 8:13 at LP is in extra terrestrial territory given the difficulty of that course. To put it in perspective, only 2 years off his Kona win, Hellriegel went 8:3x in LP and so did Larsen at his peak. Brent blew these away. That 4:35 bike split in LP is in completely new territory with 6000 ft of climbing and descending.
I did not see a thread on this yet on ST. I thought you guys would be all over it (sorry, I have had my head buried in TdF analysis paralysis and Monday morning QBing).
What do you guys think? Hopefully Brent did not leave his best Kona legs on the hills in the Adirondacks, but even if he did, what a way to blow away your legs! He is definitely in 8:0x Kona shape with that performance, the question is can he back it up in October?
Can anyone there comment on the winds (favourable I assume going through High Falls Gorge)?
whats even more puzzling is that he threw down 2:43 marathon with no one close to catching him. Typically you see pro’s ease up a little with a lead. He beat Potts by 24 minutes!!
and in his OP, Kiley commented on his bad bike fit. Anyone find a race day bike photo?
Just replying to you mainly to get approval on whether I have achieved redemption by propping up Brent on a standout performance, vs questioning the shenanigans on a course renowned for its various indiscretions to shave down times. Next up, a Tim Don thread talking about his awesomeness?
My guess he’s trying to make a statement. He says he hopes to race to his potential in Kona this year, so that appears to be his main focus, putting together a great Kona race. Hopefully this effort did not jeopardize that. Very impressive time all around!!!
I’m not sure there’s a correlation between McMahon’s bike fit and Potts sticking with Rudy Project (or TYR). I mean, Potts did switch from Kuata to Kestrel to Cannondale… and retirement can’t be too far away for him. But, the chance that McMahon looks at Don, Frodo, Keinle, Hoff, Lange and doesn’t see easy gains… well, why would you think he couldn’t be persuaded to update his fit?
ha! So, does Brent’s performance at IMLP provide any correlation based validation for Don? ha
OK, here’s a bad (horrible) photo of Brent from IMLP:
and here’s the “best” in terms of bike fit (plenty of horrible photos of his bike fit) I could find of Brent:
What in the world can he do if he took a Don approach to his bike fit?
And in fairness, IMLP is a very forgiving course for aero sins. The uphills are shallow enough that Brent can stay in his crap position and yet slow enough that he’s not penalized. On the downhills, he can actually put his nose between the bars riding “top tube safe” Tony Martin/Kienle style, so it is a course where someone who is not aero relatively gets less penalized especially on a favourable wind day when you may be sheltered on one part of the loop and tailwind on the other. Thus my questions about the wind. At Kona, the aero sins are a larger penalty.
By the way, as a strong example, I don’t know if you saw what Tony Martin did in the uphill leg on the Marseilles ITT vs Froome. Martin stayed aero on the ultra slow speed 9.5% grade. His minute men matched him up the climb. Martin frankly sucked on that climb riding aero. Froome sat up and pedaled like a maniac in his 38x32 tiny gear generating a ton of watts from an open position with almost no aero penalty. There was no aero benefit for Tony Martin here…that’s the analogy for McMahon in LP. Very limited aero penalty on a lot of the 45K back to the LP on each loop where you gain ~2500 ft of vertical. This is to McMahon’s benefit. He will still be “penalized” in the Kona winds if he does not get a lower CdA, but he will overbike to stick with the non uberbiker second group but consume too many kilojoules and pay on the run. That’s really Brent’s problem in Kona. I bet you if Brent does IM France he would beat Fredrick Van Lierde yesterday too.
and this where if the garmin acquired alpha manta stick makes CdA numbers as cognitively consuming as w/kg for pros, we’ll see more and more conformity to ultra aero positions. and where a w/CdA number will provide confidence for decisions whether to be in or out of the aerobars on climbs.
and this where if the garmin acquired alpha manta stick makes CdA numbers as cognitively consuming as w/kg for pros, we’ll see more and more conformity to ultra aero positions. and where a w/CdA number will provide confidence for decisions whether to be in or out of the aerobars on climbs.
Yes, the Garmin version of Chung on a Stick will make power meter information a good deal more meaningful for those who care to race as fast as possible.
and this where if the garmin acquired alpha manta stick makes CdA numbers as cognitively consuming as w/kg for pros, we’ll see more and more conformity to ultra aero positions. and where a w/CdA number will provide confidence for decisions whether to be in or out of the aerobars on climbs.
Yes, the Garmin version of Chung on a Stick will make power meter information a good deal more meaningful for those who care to race as fast as possible.
sounds like you just provided Garmin with quite an amazing product name
and this where if the garmin acquired alpha manta stick makes CdA numbers as cognitively consuming as w/kg for pros, we’ll see more and more conformity to ultra aero positions. and where a w/CdA number will provide confidence for decisions whether to be in or out of the aerobars on climbs.
Yes, the Garmin version of Chung on a Stick will make power meter information a good deal more meaningful for those who care to race as fast as possible.
sounds like you just provided Garmin with quite an amazing product name
No, that name dates back a good number of years now and I can take no credit for it what so ever. If memory serves me correctly Tom Anhalt may have been the one to coin it ~ 10 years ago. Google shows me Andy Francioni of Alphamantis fame using the term in 2010.
Raced yesterday. First loop of the bike I didnt feel much wind at all. Second loop had a decent head/cross wind coming down into Keene. Then slight tail wind at times climbing back. Overall there was a noticeabally different climate between Lake Placid and Keene.
It was really cool seeing these guys out on the run. Brent looked smooth but much more tired than Potts when I saw them on the second loop.
Raced yesterday. First loop of the bike I didnt feel much wind at all. Second loop had a decent head/cross wind coming down into Keene. Then slight tail wind at times climbing back. Overall there was a noticeabally different climate between Lake Placid and Keene.
It was really cool seeing these guys out on the run. Brent looked smooth but much more tired than Potts when I saw them on the second loop.
Scott
Very possible that the top pros beat the headwind going down Keene on lap two and all the way to Ausable Forks area and the wind only built up for their way back. This is what I was referring to as favourable wind. If you beat the south east wind day and get your second out and back done early enough, then you get the tailwind and then you have that riding up High Falls Gorge which is an absolute disaster windtunnel on the cold North West wind days…when you get the South Easterly and beat it to the turnaround even age groupers can big chain ring a lot of the climb back and there is limiter aero penalty. But if you are a bit slower than the pros, it sucks going down Keene as you get buffeted and lose a ton of speed and the entire “flats” are a tough grind before you finally get the tailwind for the climbs home. But I’ll take the South East wind any day over the North West on that course.
You’re all assuming that he hasn’t tried a more aero position based on your eyeball tunnel, and a lower more aggressive position isn’t worth it based on real tunnel data.
You’re all assuming that he hasn’t tried a more aero position based on your eyeball tunnel, and a lower more aggressive position isn’t worth it based on real tunnel data.
It wouldn’t be Slowtwitch if the user’s couldn’t find fault and offer suggestions to help a guy who finished IMLP in 8:13…
I do remember Rapp (or someone posting) that Brent has neck/back issues that prevent him from going lower or something along those lines. No idea if they are true or not.
Look at where Brent’s arms are on the pads. No wonder he’s uncomfortable.
