T-Rex arms report

Triathlon Forum
1

I did a seven mile TT today on my new P2K, and it went very well. It’s always dangerous to compare races a year apart, but what the heck. Last year was windy and rainy, this year was dry (except for some puddles to avoid), relatively calm (slight headwind out), and cold (about 45 or so). Course is a dead flat out and back.

2003 bike: Serotta Legend Ti, bullhorns, clipons
2004 bike: Cervelo P2K, Oval concepts A700 integrated bars

Essentially the same wheels (Spinergy Rev-X front, Power Tap with cover rear)

Stats

Year Time Spd Hr Watts W/kg Cadence Weight(kg)
2003 18:19 22.9 165 288 3.60 94 80
2004 17:09 24.5 165 296 3.79 99 77.5

Same average heart rate, higher average power, higher cadence, much faster. Last year, the best 45+ beat me by about 2:30; this year (he’s now 55+) he beat me by 1:05.

Considering that on Tuesday, I broke my PR for a local hilly 5.1 mile run, I am psyched for a duathlon in two weeks.

Thanks for everyone’s help in positioning. There was a photographer on the course; I’ll try to find and post a race photo.

2

way to go ken!

congratulations on a great race–that’s excellent progress.

it would appear that you have earned some donuts.

regards, toad

3

Wow, Ken-

That really is very impressive for a number of good resons:

  1. Your training has obviously been very effective. Great job!
  2. Tour equipmetn selection was obviously well researched.
  3. Your testing protocols seem pretty sound. You;re right about year on year comparisons, but your data (and record keeping) are excellent.

Also, I bet a lot of people appreciate you sharing the data with us. I know I do. I will be showing it to customers in our store.

Way to go! A fine job Sir. You should feel very satisfied with a stand-out performance. This bodes well for your upcoming season.

Tom.

4

SPRINGBOARD! Use this early success to infuse all the “umph” you can glean from it, and apply it to your training…you may find you have to re-set some of your goals for this season’s races. Wouldn’t that be nice?!

Just be careful not to overcook yourself…if you are able to go harder this year, you might need to go easier than you think on your recovery days in order to stay fresh 'till the end of the season. I know you probably realize all that, but, it doesn’t hurt to hear it from one of your fans. Great job!

Oh, one other thing…especially in such a short TT, experiment with lower cadences. Try the mid-80’s. I know it feels a little slower, but, the Power-tap and watch won’t lie. You may be dead-on perfect where you were…but just try it and see if you haven’t tried it before. A guy that coaches a couple of national-class TT champions pointed this out to me, and I’m faster at 80-85 than I ever was at 95-100. We may be built very differently, so it may not work for you.

6

Photograph here: http://www.inmotionep.com/events/2004/April/SandyHookTT_04032004/gallery/sandyhooktt_2004_ee7g5495.aspx

I believe my bars were slipping a bit; my hands weren’t set up that low. I felt like I should slide the saddle a bit forward (I was often on the rivet); I’ll try moving the bars down some more for this weekend’s TT.

Here’s a shot of the 55+ winner, who won three of the last 4 45+ races:

http://www.inmotionep.com/events/2004/April/SandyHookTT_04032004/gallery/sandyhooktt_2004_ee7g5508.aspx

Fire away.

7

Ken,

Congratulations!!! Great ride! And great info with your results feedback. Thanks for your efforts.