I had expected a nice morning for this 10 mile time trial on the F1B/10 but as it turned out, while it was quite a quick morning, the weather wasn't too great.  It rained for the whole time I was on the course, at times rather heavy.  And I spent rather too long out on the course!I travelled out with Chris Hartley (Team Salesengine), and we were conveniently close in the start sheet (he was 64, I was 67, with his team mate Dave off a minute ahead of me).  The rain had started while the early riders were on the course (e.g. the 2-up teams), and had properly set in by the time Chris and I left his van.  I just did a quick warm-up, and persuaded the GPS transmitter to behave properly.The start of the course is rather closer to the slip road onto the A1 that for the F1B/25: accordingly I was going pretty briskly as I negotiated the flyover roundabout (it has acquired some new potholes over the winter), and joined the A1 at well over 30mph.  I kept up a strong pace pretty much all the way across the Sandy roundabout, to the turn.Coming round the turn, I could see Dave ahead of me, tantalisingly close.  The realisation I was gaining gave me further impetus.  Then all of a sudden I heard the tell-tale pshh-pshh-pshh of a punctured tubular.  Hoping it was just a slow leak, I pressed on.  Unfortunately the tyre went down pretty quickly, and with a curse or two I pulled over to the side of the road and dismounted.It was still raining, as I started the long trudge back to Tempsford  - it must have been 4.5 miles to the finish.  Before I'd reached the Sandy roundabout, a passing marshal (from the turn, I guess) stopped and picked me up.  On the way back to Tempsford, we saw Chris driving south in the van trying to find me!After all was said and done, this turned out to be a pretty quick day, with both Chris (a 23) and Dave (22:37) doing PBs.  One can only speculate what I would have finished in, but it would probably have been my fastest '10' for more than three seasons.So, a bit disappointing, but an indicator that my form is returning. Next weekend, I'll be on the F1B/25 for the Icknield '25', and the following weekend the F12/10 for the Bossard Wheelers '10'.Here's a map of the F1B/10, though I turned the GPS off soon after I started walking.
View 10042501 in a larger map

A bright but very cold and frosty morning greeted us as we loaded up the car to drive over to Resolven to ride in the 2010 Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up '25'. In fact we were both apprehensive - about the weather, yes, but also the uncertainty of what form our winter training had led to. In my case, I was reasonably confident, but I was aware of being rather overweight and lacking in mileage - most of my winter training had been in the form of relatively brief turbo sessions in the garage. On the other hand, my team mate Gerry had left resumption of training until late December, and had then been afflicted with a lengthy cold (possibly the same thing that got me during most of December). So he was pretty sure he was going to be riding sub-par.

We got to Resolven and signed on. The race HQ seemed to be colder than the car park, which by the time we arrived was nicely bathed in sunshine, raising the temperature to slightly above freezing. After setting the bikes up and getting sorted, we briefly warmed up. I tweaked the Polar computer so that it would work from the GPS sensor, and we rolled up to take out place behind the fourth team (we were fifth off in a nearly full field). Our time came, and off we went, out on to the DC and done the valley, with a glorious tail wind. We were riding pretty smoothly together, and we took care that any speed discrepancy didn't pull us apart. I don't think it would be indiscreet to observe that Gerry was indeed below par, but still, we gradually reeled in the teams that has started before us.

Heavy overnight rain had passed over, leaving just a dreary cloudy sky when I set off to ride up to Astwood for the second event of the North Bucks Road Club time trial series.  Upon reaching the Astwood village hall, it was clear there was an excellent turnout.  Unfortunately, I didn't manage to sort out a 2-up partner, and chose to ride solo.  Ian Stokes was there with his exclusive hand-painted NBRC aero helmet, which I wasn't permitted to avoid complimenting - actually it's rather well executed.

After a bit of pootling about (and a little saddle tightening), I lined up at the start.  By this time the drizzle had started, and with a minute to go, the wind whipped up a bit and the rain turned rather heavy.  By then I was rather glad I wasn't paired up with a new TT partner, since the wheels I was using had carbon "no friction" rims!

A very similar morning to last week's time trial: however, the rain was confined to the ride up to and back home from the event rather than the event itself.  The time trial was the first counting event in the 2010 NBRC time trial league.  A dozen or so riders turned out for the event.I rode the new Cervelo again, and once again with the tubular-shod Corima wheels, of which more later.  As with last week's event, there was a stiff headwind down the opening stretch to Chicheley, but I found it a bit easier than last week.  The whole course was a bit nicer this week without the driving rain.  I rode all the climbs seated rather than out of the saddle.  Unfortunately I found the saddle slipping in the clamp, which meant sometimes I was comfortable, sometimes less so with the saddle nose pointing upwards!I crossed the line in 24:03, an improvement of 27 seconds from last week - this was enough for second place behind Tony, who finished in 23:15.  Back at Astwood village hall, we all regrouped to await the results from the timekeeper.  Unfortunately, upon departing, I discovered my front tyre was soft - clearly a slow puncture.  JayBee kindly lent his track pump and I topped it up before setting off for home.  Conveniently, Clive was behind me in his car when I stopped in Cranfield University to top it up again, and once more I had the use of a track pump.All was now going well until my back tyre popped with a loud hiss, at about two miles from home.  Since I was unable to budge the tub (it was pretty slippery and wet, and fixed with tub tape), it was an annoying trudge home, spoiling a rather good morning.  Ho hum, perhaps I need to keep a 2010 puncture log!  In the meantime I'm going to switch back to using Continental tubular glue, which in my experience is easier to deal with for replacing tubs at the roadside.Results

A bright but very cold morning greeted the five intrepid (or possibly foolhardy) riders who turned out for the 2010 edition of the North Bucks Road Club's annual New Year 10 mile time trial.  As last year, the event was run on the F5d/10.  I suspect it was actually colder this year than it was last year, but bathed in sunshine instead of the clammy atmosphere of last year, it almost seemed balmy. 

This was the first competitive outing for my new time trial bike, so I was bound to be a bit cautious as I made my way over to the club room.  I'll probably write some more detailed notes on the bike later, but two points for now - the steering seemed alarmingly twitchy as slow speed, but once down on the tribars and at racing speed, everything seemed very good; this was my first proper ride on Speedplay pedals, and I'm most impressed.  I had decided to try out the GPS receiver for the Polar bike computer, but I couldn't get it to work, so rode the event solely on heart rate.

Late-ish yesterday afternoon, I finally got around to trying out the new time trial bike (for a very short spin due to fading light):

This was my first trial with Speedplay pedals (X-1 titanium) - amazing levels of float, feels like sliding on ice, but very good.  Current (and final specs):

Team Grumpy rode the Duo Normand again in 2009 (see this story, and also the Team Grumpy blog and website). Silent Movie is my first effort at editing video footage - in this case recorded from a video camera attached to "Grumpy" Art Vanderlay's tri-bars.  Thus, you can periodically see my backside and legs, but "Grumpy" Art doesn't feature much at all. I edited the video using the Linux package kdenlive, and rendered it as a 320x240 pixel flash video. Be warned, this is a 90' video, and if bandwidth issues result, I'll need to unpublish this article.  It's also rather boring for those not interested in the Duo Normand! The video seems to play well with Firefox on Linux and WinXP.  IE8 on WinXP seems to throw a wobbly about the Flash Player, though after installing Flash Player 10 it worked OK.  Haven't tried other browser/OS combinations yet.

Here are a couple of other video segments, taken from the roadside at the 2008 Duo Normand.  Both videos were taken with a pretty basic 5Mp Kodak camera by Carol (who in 2009 had to drive the support car), and both clips are mercifully short, compared to the 2009 feature film. The first clip shows us leaving the start ramp, and climbing up the little lane at the start of the race.

On Saturday, I made another sortie to the Local Bike Shop (LBS) to be bought a 50th birthday present, albeit somewhat early.  This took the form of a new time trial frame, and had been generously offered by Mrs Grumpy.  The trip to the bike shop was the third in a week or so during which I had been browsing the interweb and think about several different brands and models.

In the end, the decision was (apart from aesthetic grounds) made largely on whether the frame made use of standard components.  I decided against the Specialized Transition Module because of its oversize BB shell, which would mean I couldn't use any of my existing chainsets, and its slightly eccentric cable route to the rear brake caliper (I also didn't like the look when I saw it for real).  I went against the Argon 18 E114 because it had a rather odd system by which the handlebars attached to the steerer tube - this would have meant I couldn't use any of the existing handlebar/stem setups I have.  I looked at one or two other brands before plumping for a Cervelo.  But a P3 or a P4?  Both were reduced because the 2009 models were about to be replaced by 2010 models.

I posted earlier about my new time trial frame - a Cervelo P3 time trial frame, which is an early birthday present.  The frame has now been built up, mostly using existing components from my other bikes.  The bike hasn't been on the road yet, and its first competitive use is likely to be the club's New Year's Day '10'.  Here's a not very good photo of the bike, taken this morning in rain and half-light (I'll post a better one when available):

The specs are:

I anxiously waited for some try roads to take my new pride and joy (Cervelo P3 time trial frame; The new time trial bike) for a spin.  Being as I was off to the USA first thing Sunday morning, I got all set up to ride it on Saturday.  Tubs pumped up, bolts tightened, new cycle computer picking up the GPS satellites...only to discover issues with the heatset being loose.  And the rear wheel pulled.

By the time I'd got that dealt with it was getting dark.  So, the maiden ride will have to wait until I'm back from the USA.

This year, we had little expectation of a good performance in the Duo Normand time trial. You can read reports of previous events over at the Team Grumpy web pages and the Team Grumpy Blog, as well as the preview of the race.

One addition this year was that we planned to record a video by strapping a small video camera to the tri-bars - if this can be made into manageable file size, I may post it on the web.

As usual, pressure of work led to frantic packing on the morning of departure.  This was followed by the drive to Portsmouth for the Brittany Ferries afternoon sailing to Cherbourg.  We arrived with plenty of time to spare (about 1h30!).  As was the case last year, we were the last car on, and so first off at Cherbourg.

I have at the outset to say that I approach discussion of power metering in the context of cycling performance and training with something of a pinch of salt.  For many years, I've used heart rate monitors (most recently a Polar S720i wristwatch and bike computer unit) to monitor exertion and effort during my training sessions and in racing.  I have a pretty good understanding of where my training levels are (I am still using Pete Read's five levels, for this 0 to 4), and can judge not only where my limits are when racing on that basis, but also can judge when I'm not completely recovered and shouldn't train.  This has actually worked pretty well, probably most notably in 2001-3.  In recent years I've found that my working life has begun to limit opportunities for training (hopefully addressed now by moving to train before going to work!), and I've been seeking ways to better monitor progress.

In planning my 2009-2010 winter training programme, I'm a bit uncertain as to where power monitoring will fit in (though perhaps interested readers might leave suggestions via the commenting system).  I've always felt that the advantage of HRM-based training is that you're getting a readout of physiological response to a training load, which seems to me to be rather more important that knowing what power one's generated.  This is, I confess, an element of novelty spurring me on to train more seriously!

I recently bought a Polar CS600X bike computer/HRM, with an associated Power meter system - here I present an initial review of the unit.  I later bought the add-on Polar G3 GPS unit for use with it - I'll review this separately as I haven't had a chance to use it at the time of writing.

Not only was this event the final evening event of the North Bucks time trial series (the remaining events are weekend morning), but it was the seventh counting round in the League. A cloudy morning gave way to brilliant blue skies and high temperatures.  Oh, and strong wind!

I rode over from work to the meeting point at Stony Stratford, dodging the usual strange driver-roundabout situations.  The good weather resulted in a good turnout of riders.  At the appointed minute, off I went, and pretty soon found the outward leg was to be blighted by the strong wind.  Still, I persevered through Beachampton (fortunately avoiding the tractors that were going to and fro along the course), and on up to the climb up to Nash.

This was my last open event before the Duo Normand (20th September) and, given the hopeless character of my season thus far, I was hoping for some indication of returning form.  I decided to ride over to Tempsford, a ride made slightly dodgy by the huge roadbuilding exercise going an along the A421 - but of course at about 6am, there's not too much traffic.  The ride was an excellent warm-up, and I felt pretty enthusiastic as I lined up at the start - and this despite the stiff breeze that had sprung up, and which would make the going a bit tough on the south-bound legs.

Fortunately the F1/25 starts with a short southbound leg to the Sandy roundabout, then a 12-13 mile leg north across the Black Cat roundabout to turn at the Buckden roundabout, then there's a final leg of about 8 miles that today was into the teeth of the breeze.

A glorious sunny morning greeted me, though it belied the chill in the air as we gathered first at the clubroom and then down at the start of this club event.  Clearly, autumn had arrived!

The other factor to be taken into account was the headwind up to the turn onto the new dual carriageway - this was sufficient to knock me back to well below 20mph, before picking up speed on the undulating DC section. While the wind wasn't enough to cause problems, I could feel it tugging at the front wheel, particularly when passing lorries shielded me from it.

After the least successful racing season since I moved to England, I think the time has come to re-evaluate my off-season training programme.  In particular, I'd like to be a bit more successful next season, as both members of Team Grumpy will be 50 (thus making 2010 the "Team Grumpy Centenery") and it would be nice to make a mark.

Over the last few years, my out of season training programme has changed from a highly disciplined and progressive training programme (based on Pete Read's excellent "Black Book") to the more loosely controlled, and far less successful, approach. This hasn't been as a result of any intention on my part, more it's been a reflection of the demands of other parts of my life, and principally my working life.

Team Grumpy approached this year's Duo Normand with the expectation that we'd do less well than in previous years - both riders have had less than stellar seasons.  In the event, we did better than we expected, I think, despite being trounced by a seriously strong team riding for BikeRadar.com (Robin Coomber and Jeff Jones), who rode a superb race, taking the category record with 1:15:22.

Two main issues concerned us - firstly, we received emails the day before we set off for France saying that a following car was compusory (we had to drag Carol into this role) and secondly, rumours abounded that the UCI bike regulations would be enforced in all categories.  The latter rumour caused us some concern, and a day or so before the event, we made final checks that our bikes complied.

A few weeks ago Tony persuaded me to enter the API/Metrow '25' on the E2/25 near Newmarket.  I bunged off an entry and unfortunately ended up in the opposite end of the start sheet from Tony, which would have meant a fair bit of hanging around for both of us.  On the day, it was really quite blustery, with a what we expected to be a strong headwind out to the turn.

We set off in good time, arriving in Newmarket with well over an hour to go before Tony's start time.   Here, our problems began.  Trying to follow the directions to the race HQ given on the start sheet proved completely impossible.  There was a total absence of riders milling about (usually a sure guide to where a race HQ is), which didn't help.  After cruising around Newmarket for a bit, Tony only had about 20 minutes to go before his scheduled start, so we drove off to the start to see what was there.  Lo and behold, some people on the start line, and down a nearby lane, some cars with riders warming up on turbos.  We stopped to ask these riders where the HQ was - turned out the start sheet was woefully inadequate.

This morning I rode over to Tempsford to help out at the North Middx & Herts '100' - the organiser having emailed a plea for assistance.  Being a kindly soul (and having been in the position of desperately hunting for marshals and other helpers for an Association event in the past), I immediately accepted, but requested a role late in the event as I was planning to cycle over.  In the end I was asked to help the timekeeper by noting riders' numbers as they passed the finish point.

This was a novel version of the F1/100, apparently necessary because a triathlon was being held on the roads normally used for the event.  Essentially, the course used this morning had the riders doing Tempsford to Buckden three times (this being on the A1), then exiting at the Black Cat roundabout to do two laps of a finishing circuit on the A421.