Here's the first little bit of code in the script I wrote for batch importing SRM files and creating a matlab database for subsequent analysis:
With this piece of code, it's pretty easy to simplify big jobs like putting together plots like the following for 300+ power meter files (this plot was kind of inspired by Dr. Allen Lim of the Saris Group in this Q&A tidbit - http://www.saris.com/t-PowerTourQA.aspx#NormalizedPower ):
For those interested in further reading about this plot that orginally appeared in an old article on the main btr site you can check out:
not much has changed globally since 2004/2005, eh?
Anyway, this database creation tool I've created is pretty cool - it sequentially opens up each individual file in the native SRM format and processes the data any which way you like - well, at least any which way you can code something up! pretty cool, huh!?
...the thirty watts I misplaced somewhere between san diego and bend?
I'm stuck here on the runway here at LAX, so figured I'd get this entry taken care of while I've got some time on my hands.
Anyway, it seems as if, for me, bend oregon is a power black hole! Sometime between last tuesday and friday morning I lost 30 watts - which when you are as weak as me to begin with is pretty much a recipe for disaster!
About the only thing racing wise that was a positive was a nifty little seventh place finish in the crit friday night. The rest was simply no watts available.
Oh well, sometimes you just have to run what you brung, eh?
This new plot was based on a suggestion in the BTR forum from DMC (he wanted to see where the GC contenders were finishing in each stage). Here is what that plot looked like after stage 3:
And after today's stage 4:
Here's what the GC plot looks like - I reckon on the "GC days" we'll see some action on this sucker!
Each continuous line represents a single rider's stage placing on the day. Boonen is making a steady progression twd the front (green line). Who's the dotted red line?
Interesting to see the big swings in stage placings from the front to the back.
We'll see how this plot, and another one I'm working on, develop over the length of the tour.
Putting the final touches on things prior to headin' up to the Cascade Classic in Bend on Thursday. I had some reservations about traveling to Bend - usually, it's an all day ordeal gettin' up there to see family. Multiple connections (CLD-LAX-SFO-PDX-RDM), and anytime you have to set down in San Francisco, it's a crap shoot on whether or not you'll actually make it out of there, it seems. A couple of years ago during the holidays, we actually had to rent a car and drive from SFO to Bend, since United wasn't going to be able to get us on a plane for two days!
Well, now, there is a direct flight out of LAX into Redmond/Bend - so that makes life a little bit easier. Course, now I have to negotiate LA traffic and the long haul from long term parking to the terminal. Oh, well, at least once I am on the plane I'll more than likely make it to the destination!
Anyway, this weekend I was up at La Mirada doing the bike racing thing. Finally got the chance to shake hands with Il Marco of :
didn't have much time to chat as I was staging for the 35+ race, but it's always nice to put a name with a face! Dood can ride a bike and I totally dig his writing. He's got some real gems in his blog.
I did the 3's race last year and it kinda hurt. I was 74 kg's at the time, so that might have had something to do with it! :-)
This year, I'm a wee bit lighter, and a wee-bit more fit - but this bike racing stuff still kinda hurts, eh? Yeah, so the 35+ race gets going, lots of teams with lots of doodz, and then there are the lone-wolves like me.
Second or third lap, a big group of guys (what looks like good representation from all the teams - Cynergy, NOW, CCM, etc..) goes up the road - maybe 8 guys? They've got maybe a 10-15 second gap, so I go across to them on the hill just after turn 1. I popped across straight away and immediately went to the front of the group to force the pace. No one else seems to motivated to drive this thing. Mark Scott trades a few pulls with me and one other guy on the little downhill section after turn two. No one else even sniffs the front...
So, I sat up and waited for the catch. That didn't take too long.
This move was countered, and from what I vaguely remember, this move turns out to be the winning one. arggh...
I sat around and watched the break consolidate with 5-6 guys and hold pretty steady at 25 seconds or so. Damn, I could probably make it across if it was at 15 seconds. The gap didn't budge much and the pace seemed to really slow down in the main bunch on the hill - so, crap, I decided to completely sell-out and try to make it across.
Guess what? I drilled it for a little more than a minute at ~8 W/kg:
and found out the hard way that the gap was...
...two bike lengths too far.
All I could hear in my head when I was bearing down on the break were the words of my brother, Kirk, from 15 years ago after some other race where I didn't seal the deal on a bridge attempt:
"when you get that close, you just gotta close it".
easier said than done! Seriously, I was less than two bike lengths from latching onto that winning move, but I detonated just as those guys started doing a bit of attacking on one another...
I coasted a bit and re-joined the field where I basically sat in, recovered, and watched for awhile. The finale turned out to be a bit of prolonged drag race, as it was strung out in the final rolly finishing stretch - I picked off a few guys on the way to the line - maybe 6th or so in the field sprint, and 11th or so overall.
It felt like I was actually able to race my bike out there - which doesn't always happen with me and my low horsepower motor! :-)
Did my last "fill" ride today, Sunday. Drilled it up Palomar mountain from the store to the store for you so cal folk - well, actually, I only really drilled it from the stor to the 4000' mark, then cruised up to the top. Here's a video I took just short of the T intersection at the top looking towards the south - pretty hazy and not too clear...
I seem to be pretty much on target, as I was able to manage ~ 4 w/kg up to the 4000' mark. That's about all I can do for that amount of time!
Next bike racin' post will more than likely be from on the road in Bend!
A wee-bit of a dilemma this weekend from a training perspective, as I'm trying to get a handful of "fill" rides in prior to heading up to Bend, OR to visit family and partake in the Cascade Classic master's 35+ race.
The dilemma was how to fit the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix Criterium (MBGP) into my loosely strung together training schedule - two goals this weekend, IOW: race MBGP and fill the right!
Typically, I find it's best to train the high intensity/"raise the left" type stuff the first day in a two-day type of training block. With MBGP coming on a Sunday, this meant I could either half-ass a fill ride on Saturday in order to be fresh for the race on Sunday, or drill it ferreal on Sat and "run what I brung" on Sunday. If bike racing were a math problem, the equation might have suggested one path of action. Instead, I ran things by a trusted advisor, and decided to hit it ferreal on Saturday and run what I brung on Sunday.
Saturday's ride was HOT! Drilled it for ~2200KJ for 2:45:
near the end of the ride, when the legs were really startin' to bark, I saw one of the Toyota-United boyz out pedalin' (Caleb Manion?) with a Jelly Belly guy (sorry, I'm not too good anymore at recognizing pro bike racers as they pedal by!). I waved - they didn't wave back - d'oh!
Anyway, the ride above is a pretty typical fill style ride for me - constant pressure on the pedals, with crackage imminent in the last bit of the ride.
For kicks, here's a comparison of the last time I did this ride (fall '06 power file is the one on the bottom) - the only difference this time around equipment wise, was that I'm now training on a 36 hole rear wheel as compared to the 28 hole rear wheel I used to use (pulled out eyelets on that sucker after only 15,000 km's!).
Guess there's only one logical conclusion from this comparison, eh? Yep, you guessed it, 36 hole wheels are faster! :-) D'oh!
I'm also on a kilojoule deficit kick here currently (though, I still have the leeway to enjoy a discretionary caguama) as I'd like to get down to 67-68kg for Cascade. It can be done!
So, math equations, calorie/kj deficits notwithstanding, I packed up the car and headed up to Manhattan Beach this morning...
The last time I did this race was back in the late 90's as a cat 1. Pretty humorous actually, as somewhere in the Willett household exists a vhs tape of the ESPN2 coverage of the race. My claim to fame on that day was tailgunin' the entire race. I even got some airtime when there was a crash in the late going just prior to the final 180. Davis Phinney was doing the color commentary. Big stack up and yours truly is shown lockin' up the brakes for a good 15m or so before coming to a stop just behind the stack up. Well, the guy on my wheel didn't quite comprehend what was going on, and went full steam into the big pile of doodz on the ground. Phinney mustered up a one-liner something like "What the hell was that guy thinking!" Damn, I gotta dig that VHS tape up. Ahhhh, the good ol' dayz! :-)
Full field this time around! Lots of doodz toe'n the line - something like 120 or so.
Clean start, and on the second lap, I flatted my $80 rear Vittoria tubular - the second rear flat I've gotten this year. This sew-up didn't have many races on it - I think I put it on just after I flatted after/during Devil's Punchbowl 2 or 3 months back...
Got a free lap and was back in business. Not much action along the way, stayed out of trouble and in the first third of the field. With 5 to go I punched it up the front stretch hill and took second wheel. Maintained position in the top 20-30 for the next few laps, making sure I had the sprinters (if I can see Mark Scott or Joel Stangeland - I'll figure out the names of the other guys I recognize eventually - I know I'm in the right vicinity of where I need to be!). On the last lap, I slotted myself in the top 25 on the back stretch as it was kinda strung out - didn't touch the brakes in the last 180 degree corner and picked off a few guys in the finishing straight. Probably finished around 15th or so.
The math equations wouldn't have predicted this effort and result after yesterdays throw down - guess you just have to run whatchya brung, eh?
