The event draws near…

The realisation of what is to come starts to dawn…

Day 1 – Dublin to Bourg d’Oisans (via Geneva)

Flights at 12, day begins at 7am – because it is a Sunday and buses decide to be in frequent. I guess it is better than last trip where there were no buses. It was made slightly better as Burger King has a Double Cheese Burger, small fries, small drink for the grand low price of €3.50. At 10am, it becomes the breakfast of kings.

Things were continuing along their path of general goodness when we landed in Geneva. I was of two minds about the car however we ended up with a 5 door Toyota Auris. This meant no unpacking of the bikes to fit them into the car – seat folded down and away we went. AC too.

The landmark behind the house

5 minutes from the car park, things did start down hill when the GPS decided it didn’t know the road we were on. Even the main motor way was a different area. Quick food stop sorted it by reselecting the maps. I guess its a case of check PROPERLY before you go.

Food is where things started to fall down. We built up the bikes and went off to find a restaurant. Pizza and chips ordered – pizza arrived. After we finished the pizza, we reminded them about the chips only to be told, sorry forgot to put your chips order in, and the kitchen is closed. Can do desert. I guess they were saved by the Cart D’or ice cream. Very very nice.

Day 2 – Col du Glandon / Col De La Croix De Fer

Today started hungry and tired. Yesterdays mishap with food didn’t sit well. And it seems it gets ridiculously bright here ridiculously early. So all in all, not a good night.

Breakfast consisted of some corn flakes, scrambled eggs and orange juice. Not really the cycling feast we were preped for back in March at Vamos Cycling. (Those guys rock – should want a cycling holiday, look at them in Cadier Spain. Food was amazing as was the cycling.)

The cycle rolled out around 10 and continued down a long straight road until we start up the Col du Glandon. Being me, I really hadn’t spent all that much time studying the profile so the climb mostly worked out easier than expected. It goes up, down, up, down again, back up to the top. With breaks to re-group, it was handy enough.

The heart rate was one difference. First climb, I started by holding my pace to see how I was feeling, wait for the legs to start to burn a little. This stopped quickly about 200m along the road at the first corner. Looking at the Garmin, HR of 175, with no burn in the legs. Stopping at the first corner, we waited for around 30 seconds to re-group after maybe 1km of climbing. Strangely I hadn’t recovered, at all. It took another minute or two before I was back to normal. Immediately my pacing strategy changed to one based on HR, not power or perceived exertion.

The road a head becomes visible

While the climb itself was a near sustained 10%, it wasn’t physically hard per-say, it was the heat that caused the problems. Lots of constant sweating meaning lots of constant drinking, and lots of nuun.

I generally held my own which was nice, actually held my own all day. A Scottish guy who is staying the B&B did beat me up every hill but other than that only two other cyclists passed us. They were fairly milling it along too. Both in the drops working hard. Yes it doesn’t mean much but it is nice to be doing the passing. And yes it’ll be different on Saturday.

The descents were mostly ok however I need to look at my brakes. Rear isn’t working as well as it used to meaning I nearly cooked it on the second corner of the first descent. Loose rocks on the road too. Anyway it is better to relax during the descents and recover.

Overall a nice easy enough ride. Need to watch the water tomorrow. Think it was 3 and half bottles today however the mountain fountains are very cold and very nice.

Food – A nightmare begins

So it turns out no one here eats until 7pm. Yes we had a bit of after ride pasta but it was stressed that it isn’t lunch, and it wasn’t. Walking around the town, restaurants were open, just not serving food. Like honest. A trip to the supermarket resulted in some cans of coke, crisps and jellies. They helped but not enough.

Google came to the rescue in a way by finding a bigger supermarket. This gave us bread, ham and cheese for rolls. By now it was 7pm so off for a burger and chips, mixed tapas to start. However tie in that I normally eat regularly and this was no where close to regular, I didn’t finish the meal, something slightly worrying. Even now, a few hours later, my stomach still hurts a bit and my head hasn’t recovered. I’m also tired from the lack of sleep last night. Overall, the worse I’ve ever felt after a days cycling – last years Wicklow 200 included.

Tomorrow we have sorted some cereal and more bread to food after the ride. Hopefully sleep will work better tonight. And the restaurant we were at again tonight has a restricted food menu during the day. Only hours they don’t serve is 5:30 to 6:30 which I think we can work around.

Time will tell.

The morning shall be interesting.

Day 3 – Col du Telegraphe / Col du Galibier

Luckily today began in a slightly good way. Last night gave way to more sleeping, a bit with the waking 2-3 times for toilet breaks, but that is one of the side effects of drinking so much water. And honestly, I’d not change it. Waking up in the morning without sore legs, or stiff legs, or tired legs really is something.

The morning started downhill from there. My pre-existing stomach cramps / pains decided to make an appearance meaning I almost delayed us leaving in the van for the trip to the Galiber. Our drive took us along the route yesterday and up the Glandon. Strangely it seemed a lot harder in the van than it did from memory yesterday. The descent from the Glandon, well that is another story. While it looked a bit nuts while viewing the first bit, when we started driving it, the insanity hit home. Steep sweeping roads with no walls or barriers.

A photo doesn't do justice - it is a bit drop over that edge

The road from the descent to the Telegraphe, reported by many to be the hardest part of the event, is, well rolling. Ups and downs along the motorway. A group will be useful but pacing more so. Staying too hard along here and you will not recover on the Telegraphe.

Conversation in the van also alluded to how the day might work out position wise. The two new guys who joined us yesterday seemed fit – was is in the UK Navy. However just how fit became apparent when the conversation turned to Ironman events. It wasn’t a case of oh different people have done an Ironman, but just how many they had done. 6 to be exact, including Kona, and posting a time of 9:03 in one, enough to shock one of the other guys who had done 2 Ironman events.

Our day cycling day began in St Michel De Maurienne. Short 2km before we were on the Col de Telegraphe. I remembered some of it from the few ascents I did on the Tacx Trainer that I have. While it was months ago, we did remember there would be trees. Unfortunately, we did the climb between 12 and 1 and well, trees on the side of the road don’t help give shade when the sun is directly above you.

About 4km from the top, I had one of those moments. The times when your life looks like it may end. Luckily I was not in a coherent enough state to fully realise things but basically a truck decided to overtake me on one of the bends. He got the front of the truck up beside me when a jeep coming the other way came into view. This forced him to brake and start quickly moving to the side of the road. But this was a hill, so I wasn’t going fast, and I was at the side of the road. So yes, he started moving right towards me. Not something I ever want to repeat.

Climbing the Telegraphe got easier near the top too. Be this from it levelling out somewhat or the temperature dropping, I’m not sure but it went faster and felt easier.

A familiar sight from the turbo sessions

The descent to Valloire went well. Nice and relaxed, decent pace. Exactly how you want it. We did get slightly lost at the round a bout taking a few spins around before some more cyclists arrived to direct us along the right path.

Starting from 1400m, it really wasn’t all that hot on the Galiber. But this suited me. It was a few km up the road before I needed to start zipping up the top but I never felt cold. Keeping the pace steady is actually easy enough on hills like this as the grade stays constant.

My stomach did make a grumble about 6-8km in, not sure exactly where. But I took this to eat a bar. Out it came and then the grade dropped down to 4-5% for the duration of my eating before going back up to 9%. Honestly, couldn’t have planned it better. I did have to pop a gel further up the hill too, about 40-50 minutes later.

Climbing long climbs like this is strange however. I remember rolling by 10km to go and being like, yeh, getting there. Less than an hour to go. Then I remember rolling by 5km and thinking hey, only a few minutes ago I was going by 10km, but I also remember 9km which is strange.

2km to go was one of the first times I looked up to see where the road went. It took a few seconds to register but the tiny signs at the top became visible. Everyone else in the group actually made a similar comment too. You think you are nearing the top and then you see another 5 or 6 switchbacks. To top it off, the top 1km was closed off to cars due to snow / snow damage to the roads. Local council guys were up their sweeping some stuff from the road surface which was slippy stuff. Fully seated and the rear wheel lost grip at one occasion. I wasn’t the only one either.

That last 1km was the hardest of the lot too. I had stopped for a bit at the fence wondering what was happening before picking up my Gilet and arm warmers and going on up. Didn’t help the legs.

Altitude is a funny thing too. My HR was down. My power was down. My speed was down. My breathing was UP. And quite a bit. During the descent to Lautaret, I could feel the air getting heavier and my breathing getting better. Strange feeling.

Sitting at the hotel in Lautaret, dark clouds could be seen in the distance. Phil (our guide) said there was heavy rain in Bourg d’Oisans. I decided to push on and try miss as much of the rain as possible.

I knew something was up when it started to hurt my head through the
holes in the helmet. I really knew something was wrong when my spokes
started to make a pong noise every now and then. Stopping at road works
and looking down I saw the problem. Pea sized hail stones.

Now the profile from here to Bourg is mostly decent on just about every profile I’ve seen. The reality is that it isn’t a descent all the way. It levels off in places or sits at 1 and 2% which is up hill. Multiple sections were at 5 and 6% too. All told, it was bloody hard. To make matters worse, at one point it started raining. But heavy rain. I knew something was up when it started to hurt my head through the holes in the helmet. I really knew something was wrong when my spokes started to make a pong noise every now and then. Stopping at road works and looking down I saw the problem. Pea sized hail stones.

Pushing on because well what else was there. Luckily I guess it stopped and I started to dry out. Just as I was almost fully dry, it started to rain again. Once I was nice and wet, it again stopped. Again leaving enough time for me to dry out again. Then it decided to really open up. The last 15 minutes to Bourg were wet. Really wet. Similar to the Swords Sportive a few weeks ago wet. Even now, a few hours later, my shoes are still soaked. I ended being able to squeeze my gloves and watch water drip out.

Lets hope the weather on Saturday behaves itself…

Day 4 – Alpe d’Huez

Sometimes a picture say a thousand words...

Today was to be a run up the Alpe d’Huez. We all were of two minds as if we should go all out, or should we relax and enjoy the climb. As the graph above shows, I decided to hammer it.

First think to comment on, something the profile graphs miss, the start is meant to be 10% and then drop to 8% after about 1.5km. Well it doesn’t. It kicks up to 13% from what I saw on the Garmin. So me hammering it along the flats and up the hill a little really backfired for the first while. Took a good 10 minutes to feel settled on the hill.

Overall it isn’t too bad of a climb. Yet I say that while ranking today as the hardest day of the week so far. In the hour climb I took two gels and nearly finished both of my 800ml bottles. 1 had nuun and the other a High5 sachet which also had caffeine. While normally my High5 is great, the caffeine did not sit well causing my heart rate to go up everytime I drank some. Not something you want when you HR is sitting high already.

My time was 1 hour, 1 minute, 10 seconds. And I did try harder near the end to try push when I was nearing the hour mark. On the one hand I am slightly annoyed about the time, I did want to break the hour mark, on the other, it was a good time. (For reference, time started at the zebra crossing after the round a bout at the bottom, then stopped at the Arrive Sign beside the Tourist office and the top)

Alpe d'Huez finish

Edit: My time makes me the fastest Irishman who stayed with Tour d’Oisans.

Day 5 – Rest and Registration Day

Today looked like it was started good. I woke at 5am ish, which is the longest sleep I’d gotten so far. Thought I’d be able to get back asleep too until my stomach started at me. Ended up having to go downstairs and eat a bowl of cereal before it would pass. Really a case of not eating enough, and eating enough is strangely hard here in Bourg d’Oisans, a town for cyclists.

Due to the stomach parts, I opted not to go with the other guys out on the cycle they were doing. Had hoped I’d get out later in the day but it was around 12 by the time my stomach had cleared itself. The time was spent washing clothes and giving the bike a good look over, including replacing the rear brake pads. Descending the Alpe yesterday, I could smell the pads during the middle section until I started over taking the cars.

Registration took place at the top of the Alpe, and instead of driving up direct, we decided to head up via the Col de Sarenne and down to Alpe d’Huez. I won’t say much about this climb as it was done in a car except that it was almost as hard in a car as the Alpe was on a bike. It goes on and the road surface near the top isn’t the best. Then from the top to the Alpe, it has small sections of pavé in a deep V like section, used to channel the melt water from the mountain. Not something I’d like to cross on a bike.

As for the registration, it was surprisingly smooth. Not too big of a queue and what there was moved very quick. Once inside, we took a look at some of the merchandise available (I got a Marmotte Jersey and T-Shirt), then signed in by giving the form and medical cert in exchange for a bag. On the way out you scan the timing chip to ensure it is working and then you are done.

Day 6 – Recovery Day

A short spin, less than 15km with a small gentle uphill near the end, then back the same way. 30km Total. Or so they said.

I did my usual sit in to warm up for a few minutes then started some shortish, fast speed buildups. Then onto two larger sprints. One of them allowed me to set yet another Personal Best for power output, this time in the 30 second grouping (according to PowerAgent for my PowerTap). Below is one of the sprints. Small downhill allowing the speed to go up before a slight uphill. I built up the power and give the final push near the end of the cycle before relaxing out.

Power vs. Time for the sprint

There was also two or three high cadence drills before we turned a corner and started uphill on switchbacks. For those of you who have never climbed in big mountains, switchbacks mean steep. Immediately we were climbing at 10% leaving me slightly suffering due to the above output. Not fun. Lucky the climb only lasted about 5 minutes before we reached out stop point.

Stats for the Prep Week

224.54km
10:04:10 of cycling time
22.3km/h average speed
9559 (PowerTap) Calories
5142.6m of climbing

Roll on to the day. Starting. Finishing. Celebrating.

The M3 Sportive was to be a 100km trip along the M3 road before it opened. Most likely being a very fast, very fun day working in pace lines. And things looked up right from the start with the amazingly quick turn around from applying on-line to getting the welcome back. Things really started looking up upon reading the welcome pack. A neutralised start, the usual broom wagon, and the first food stop at 7km! Yes, this was shaping up to be good event.

Along came the morning and with numbers of 1000 cyclists, then 1200 cyclists being floated, we determined heading a little early to the number collection point was in order. Don’t want to miss the start while queuing for the number. As it turned out there was no queue, and with 6 or 7 people doing the sign on, we had our packs and were out in less than five minutes. After sitting around being quite bored, we headed on down to the start area. And this is where it started to go downhill. Instead of being let in on the ramp at the start, we have to continue on up the road for 2km, go over a bridge, and return 2km back to the start. Annoying to say the least. Over the next hour of waiting, we started to notice a worrying pattern of cyclists arriving. Quite a few came along with tri bars and there were even 2 or 3 in full time trial gear, helmet and all. Events normally have rules against this kind of thing for a VERY good reason. The number of people with head phones in was also a little shocking.

The event progressed with the usual speeches and golf clapping (cyclists with gloves can’t really clap) before the timer started and we began slowing rolling through the toll plaza. However within a few seconds of going through, it became obvious that a neutralised start this was not. Gaps were already forming and I began sprinting to try bridge between groups. This was the order of the day for the first 5km when I started trying to make it through to the front group. Some guy decided sitting on my wheel was the best choice of action and after another 5km of not taking a turn, and me not being able to pull in the 20-30 seconds the group ahead had, I sat up, looked behind and waiting on the next group to roll up.

This group remaining slightly organised with a bit of a pace line going. You can’t expect too much from groups like this and it is always nice when things work smoothly. However this group was not working smoothly. Two guys were intent on shouting orders at everyone while not following them themselves. After a few km of this I got sick of it and decided to up the pace, burn off some of the stragglers and let whoever came through to come through. Instead, once I hit the front and upped the pace, one of the shouters began shouting at everyone who tried to come through to stop and get back in line, ended my attempt after a km or two.

With that attempt over, it was back in the pace line to conserve some energy and get to the 50km food stop and decide from there. However Mr Shouter seemed to have other plans. He didn’t stop shouting orders at people to pull in quicker, not let gaps form, and not go so fast on the front. This resulted in people getting to the front and then braking off all things. For those of you who have never ridden in a fast pace line, braking it the last thing you want to do. Slowing down can usually be handled by slowing pedalling down for a little bit, or if you need more, simply standing up and letting the wind do the trick. However with the guys getting to the front and braking, the group started to feel like an accordion, really destroying the mood.

And then it happened…

The Crash

For some unknown reason, someone near the front of the group slammed on the brakes, and I do mean slammed. We went from 35km/h to a near dead stop in a matter of metres. In my case, my wheel made contact with the quick reason of the bike in front. My Mavic Cosmic Carbones held up, possibly a little too well and the spoke held locking my wheel. This sent me over the handle bars some how onto the ground. I remember the sudden braking and trying to move out to the left to avoid things, the sound of spokes ponging, and then lying on my back trying to get up. Apparently my first words were “I took that on my head”.

We did all stand up and start getting ready to move again. At this point the damage to the bikes became noticeable. On my bike, the bar tap on the left side of stripped, a chunk from the bars, marks on the shifters with them bent around the bar. A slice mark on the right of the fork with two spokes on the wheel damaged. Some plastic was gone from the quick release too. However some work with a multi tool and a knife, and it was able to be ridden again. Not so for the guy in front. His wheel lost 8 spokes and the wheel wasn’t turning. But as was said, any crash you can walk away from it a good crash. And this kind of thing is part and parcel of cycling. What was annoying was that the group had just started to fragment, so another km or so and it’d probably have settled down.

I don’t blame the event or event organisers for the crash. How could you. What I do take issue with is what happened over the next two hours. It was 15 minutes before the first Marshall was seen – who didn’t even bother to stop. Next one did stop but said he’d call someone at the next stop. Another 20 minutes and a van rolls up but say can’t help, broom wagon is on the way. 15 more minutes another van, again unable to help, but broom wagon definitely behind. 1 hour 10 minutes after the crash, we started walking back. It was 5km down the road at the stop when we meet some more Marshall’s. These hadn’t seen a broom wagon and the organisers were arguing with them that they needed one. He did end up getting a lift with one of the Marshall’s in their personal car which was nice of them. While we were cycling back, we passed a few other broom wagon candidates who were walking and obviously had bitten off more than they could chew.

To top all that off, the food was crap. It consisted of water and some elevens bars. The end did had some sandwiches but no one was going near them as no one could tell what was in them. Oh and some biscuits but not great ones.

And this is why I held off writing this for two weeks. I wanted to somewhat calm down about the event. Sure if we’d have gone through without crashing, we’d never have known about the lack of a broom wagon. We’d have cycled more than we walked, and it’d probably just have been confined to an event that had some bad organising food wise and contained some idiot cyclists. Note to anyone ever organising an event, tri bars or anything similar to them should be BANNED. They are not safe.

Funnily too I heard that people on the other distance cycles also have some issues. For the 50km (55km?), someone had moved the sign saying it was the turn point letting a few of them continue on past it. We met a few of them while we were walking back. The 15km also had to stop at their turn point before heading back. And the pace actually slowed them down, a bit too much from what was said.

The lessons

The end of the day, some lessons were learned, so not all is lost. For one, I’ll probably not be taking part in one-off events ever again. The organisers really don’t have an incentive to do anything but cut corners. I did weight up saying I’d never go into the first round of an event but going on other experiences such as the Tour of Meath last year, I probably will. For reference the ToM was the first run and had some issues with the placement of the last food/water stop. It was about 10km further than it should of been. None of the Marshall’s close to it had been told either. However everyone we spoke to after, including the guys at it we very apologetic about it, and were very quick to explain that the mobile water truck had to be used to help with a crash that had happened earlier. Since we weren’t in the main group, I really can’t say anything bad about that. It was more than made up by the friendly nature of everyone there and the huge amount of food. Never had I eaten so well at an event!

The other lesson learnt it that next time I attempt to break up a group, say it to someone before attempting it. Two or possibly three people is enough to pick up the pace, create a few seconds gap, and basically burn off those who were struggling to begin with. While I would have been one of those burnt off last year (Edit: who am I kidding, I’d have been out the back long before this point), it is necessary to do this every now and then.

The conclusion

Almost a complete waste of a day. Really. It was a huge amount of money spent on an event that was badly organised. Yes it was for charity, but that does not excuse some of the things that went on. When your own Marshall’s are arguing with you, you know you have some issues.

Start to finish time of 3 hours 51 minutes on a distances of 51km cycled.

My new Cervelo S2.
Weights 16.6lbs / 7.52kg in the form seen.

Specs

Cervelo S2 2009 Frameset (2009 for the colour – had considered the 2010 S1 but maybe as a race bike)
SRAM Force 2010 Groupset (As seen, Compact 50/34 and 11-28 – it is for a slightly hilly event)
Mavic Cosmic Carbone PowerTap Wheels
GP4000s Tyres
Speedplay Zero Pedals
3T ARX Team Stem
3T Rotundo Team Carbon Road Handlebars
Fizik Arione Kit Saddle
Fizik Microtex Handlebar Tape and Gel Kit
K-Edge Chain Catcher

Apologies for the name but it does fit in perfectly with the tone of the review. I guess if you are reading this, you have already heard of a large amount of the “myths” surrounding Speedplay pedals. There is one article in particular that pops up in just about every debate on Speedplay pedals in which the reviewer is completely biased to Look, both shoes and cleats. Not going to link it here, so don’t ask. This isn’t a product comparison but a single product review. Anyway, I finally got my own set of Speedplays during the week and have now done a few rides on them so it is time to report back.

I got myself some Speedplay Zero Chrome-Moly Pedals, the guys on the right. Yes they are the cheapest that Speedplay offers but that would be due to the weight limit of 85kg that they have on their other pedals.
(Note to Speedplay: When customers email asking about the weight limit, perhaps suggesting these would be a good idea!)

The Setup

Unlike the standard SPD pedals I’d been using, some Shimano 105s, these required quite a bit more work to get setup. In part because of the extra mounting plate that is required, but also in part because you need to adjust the float screws independently. Now don’t get me wrong, having independent float screws is a HUGE feature and not something I’d remove. I would like some shoes that support 4 hole mounting and I think Speedplay could do some more in this regard. Not all of us can afford custom sole shoes.

Myth 1 – They are like walking on Ice

When you first put them on and clip in having never used them before, yes they are. The amount of float and the looseness of things is a bit crazy. Hell I don’t know if anyone could leave it on the default anyway. Like all new pedals, the clipping in and out process is a bit stiff for the first while. Since Speedplay have the retention mechanism in the cleat, you’ll need to go through the loosing process more often, but since the base is metal, it’ll be a whole lot less frequent.

But back to the point, the feeling of walking on ice is there, while the cleats are unadjusted, and you are not moving, and you are standing, and you aren’t really putting pressure on the pedals. Adjust the float and it can return back like standard float in other systems. Close the adjustment screws completely and you remove the float completely should you want it.

Once you have the pedals adjusted, most of the feeling goes away. If you are someone who used to have float, but kept the closing method extremely tight, then you’ll most likely still feel some looseness, but if you are keeping things that tight, you loose the benefits of float!

When you start riding these, the whole feeling goes away. Quickly. Really really quickly. By 30 minutes into the first ride, I’d forgotten I was using new pedals, pretty much what you want. When sprinting hard, the pedals don’t move around. The whole platform feels very solid and very attached.

Myth 2 – Speedplays are harder to walk in

This will be highly dependant on the shoes. With my Speedplays, I switches to some Sidi Genius 5 shoes. There are older models of these that have a recessed section for 4 hole mounting, pretty much making the cleat flat on the front of the shoe.

In my current setup, on grippy material, walking is actually easier than the only SPD-SL stuff I used. Foot is flatter and it really doesn’t get impacted by the large Speedplay cleat.

When on tiles however it is a slightly different story. I need to make sure that I do not put pressure on the cleat. Speedplay cleats have a medal base. Metal on tile doesn’t stick. They slide. Not enough to have had my foot actually slip, but enough to feel it. The noise alone is enough to make me be careful so maybe it is just the head playing tricks. Either way, while on the road, it is easier to walk with them.

Myth 3 – No straightening effect

I’m not going to bust this one because it is true. There isn’t one. If you take a ride on Speedplays you’ll quicker realise why. If you have Look Pedals and Shoes and have seen their “memory” positioning for the cleats, you’ll already know why. The angle of the cleat matters. A whole fricking lot. Knock it a degree or two out and your knees with let you know, but only after it is too late.

With Speedplays, you set the lateral positioning meaning how close you want your foot to be to the crank. There is some movement in the forward and reverse positions too. After that, you click in and let your foot find its natural position. If you had cleats that tried to force it, it’ll still try and just strain. Trust me, if you have had knee problems, Speedplays could be just the ticket.

Myth 4 – Smaller area to put the power down

Just because the pedal is smaller, doesn’t mean you loose any power transfer. Look at the size of that cleat! That is where your foot is putting the power into. That then transfers to the pedal into the spindle.

All the arguments about having a smaller area seem to suggest your foot will warp around the pedal which is nuts. First off, your average cycling shoe shouldn’t have a flexible bottom like say a runner. If it does, your off to a bad start and you probably want platform pedals. But after this, the area that the huge cleat is supporting covers nearly the full pressure point on the ball of your foot gathering all that power and putting it where it is needed, into the pedals.

Downsides

Adjustment Screws

Speedplays are not without fault. While setting them up, the little adjustment screws to control the float stripped. Each cleat has two to control the inward and outward float – a great system I must say – but the screws are made of two soft a metal. I did eventually get them to turn to what I needed but a stronger screw would have been nice.

4 Hole Mounting

For Pros who get custom modelled soles, it isn’t an option. Older Sidi Genius shoes supported 4 hole mounts too so that looked good, but the newer stuff doesn’t. It means you are using a converter plate from 3 holes to 4 holes which adds to the stack height. This is still lower than my old SPDs but I would have liked it to be lower again.

Cost

Probably what I hear the most when talking about Speedplays. They ain’t cheap. The cleats are usually twice the price of SPD style cleats too. Part of this is probably who they are aimed at. Speedplays do not seem to be aimed at your everyday cyclist, more the road warrior or racer, which is a pity. If I had known about Speedplays when I started cycling, it’d have been a no-brainier. Proper clipless road pedals AND double sided entry.

Upsides

Which brings me onto the benefits of Speedplays.

Double Sided Entry

Yes there are pedals which have this but very few road pedals, which I find quite strange. I still have marks on my legs from where I didn’t clip in correctly and caught my leg from back when I was starting to cycle. All painful experiences. So much that I can remember the few bad ones pretty vividly.

With my Speedplays, yes I’ve had a few times where I didn’t go in immediately, however not once have I slipped off in the month I’ve been using them. Worst is that I simply can’t pull up but I can push down and get some power in. Means I can move away when in traffic. Getting in properly is usually just a case of wiggling my foot and click, in.

Cleat Life

The base is metal so it should wear better than the plastic SPD systems. Since they are at least twice the cost, they should last twice as long right?

Obviously I’ve yet to be using them long enough to know just how long however I’ve quite a bit of walking in my Speedplays due to the ice of late here in Ireland so they do show some wear. Enough that the fronts and visibly tilted in where they contact the ground. While this may seem bad, I have to compare this to my SPD cleats which were pretty tore apart through a much smaller distance walk to work a few months back, and that was with brand new cleats. True I did cycle on the SPD ones for another 4-5 months, but the yellow rubber was long gone, and I stopped just before the plastic got too thin to hold the cleat into the pedal.

The Speedplays should be the same and continue going, however they have a long way to go before the wearing causes problems. Worst case I think will be if it wears into the screws so I can’t get to the threads, but there are ways to sort that.

Conclusion

After a few cycles I had already made my mind up. I’m completely sold and probably will never use another pedal. I’ve bought another set of Chromos for my new dream bike which I’m building right now, this time in red to match the paint job (its a Cervelo S2 – 2009 colour scheme).

For anyone starting road cycling and going clipless, I’d recommend them. Yes they are more expensive, but they are worth it. If you are commuting mainly, there are cheaper options in shoes that you can walk in normally and they are a better option for the commuter. But speedplays for everyone else.

The entry went up today for the La Marmotte 2010. Go get yours over at http://www.sportcommunication.com/

Makes the event so much more real and keeps the training so much more required.

See you there!

I picked up one of these from Starbike recently. Firstly, Tacx really need to get some better instructions. The ones that come with the unit are crap, and that is putting it lightly. There is no mention of how much to tighten the clamp on the wheel and it took some google time to figure it out. (In my case, pretty much as tight as possible to stop things slipping, then do the calibration).

Trainer VS. Cycling

The difference between using the trainer and normal cycling is astounding. I suppose seeing constant references to sweat bands, sweat mats, sweat catchers etc should have come as a bit of a hint but nothing could have prepared me for the experience. For my last run on the trainer I did a 20.4km virtual course taking around 40 minutes. For this I went through 1 full bottle of water and then downed a further two pints of juice inside of 5 minutes off the bike. Compare that to yesterday when a 120km trip on the bike only required 2 bottles with another half afterwards.

It isn’t like the trainer is physically harder either. Ok so the (virtual) hills can be bigger than those in real life, but the big thing comes from the fact that you don’t coast along at any point. Even the downhill requires you to continue to pedal or it pauses. And because you are pedalling, you are pushing out effort unlike in reallife where down hills tend to be a bit of a relaxing time / recovery time. The huge difference is airflow however. It makes a gigantic difference when on the bike compared to cycling indoors. On days where you warm up in five minutes outside and stop feeling some of the cold, you’ll warm up in about 10-20 seconds on the bike. In my case, I was already visibly sweating inside of a minute.

A Bright Orange

If you are questioning if the trainer tyre might be a good purchase or not, then stop right now. The trainer will eat even the toughest of road tyres. The trainer tyres are made of some different kind of rubber that doesn’t heat up and is slightly slippy. But even the trainer tyre still gets shredded a bike while on the trainer. I can only imagine what would happen with a proper grippy tyre and that is without thinking about those tiny bits of glass that get embedded in the rubber for cycling on the road. Even now after a few weeks, each run still leaves specs of rubber spread around the floor.

Edit: So the tyre wore out within 12 rides I think. Something can’t be right. Some pictures.

Software

This is actually one area where I’ve a bone to pick witht Tacx.  My unit being a Fortius, it obviously came with the Fortius software. However it is quite hard to understand the different software versions online. There is another Tacx Trainer software which is supports the Google Maps setup and some extra Catalyst functions but it requires an extra purchase. For those on lower trainers, there is little notice on if they need to purchase the Fortius software and then the additional trainer software.

I’ve yet to use too much of the features on the Fortius software mainly sticking with the Real Life Videos so far, so maybe after I get through the Alpine course of the Marmotte run I’ll look into getting the other software. It still is a bit rich of Tacx to have so many paid extras like this. But then everything after the initial purchase seems to be extra.

Annoyingly however, the software was one of the reasons I choose the Fortius over the new Bushido wireless trainer. The motor to simulate downhills in the Fortius isn’t really any use if we are being honest. Since you always need to push somewhat, the Bushido could just reduce the resistance right down to whatever it needs to stay active. The lack of wireless would also be quite a good thing. Right now a Bushido with the computer link and the additional software would set you back a bit more than the Fortius although since Tacx are pushing the Bushido, that may change.

There have been a few reports of the video not going to full screen too. Luckily I have only seen this once when I launched the VR terrain the very first time. The next two times it went full screen. Never had any issues with the RLV except that they are standard aspect where as my laptop is Widescreen. Minor really. The Tacx VR Game Crazy Cycles is another story though. It sits in a small window with a black border. Attempts to do anything on screen to full screen it cause it to minimise.

A Wheel Stand as a Prop

“Should I buy the wheel stand?” was one of the most asked questions I got after talking about the trainer to other who wanted to get one too. My initial answer of yes, you need to level the bike, and no you can easily use cardboard or similar has changed somewhat now. I know one of the guys who bought around the same time as me has had no problems while using an Argos Catalogue, while I have been using some cardboard piled under the front wheel. I’ve yet to manage to have the bike still be level at the end of a long ride, probably because the cardboard compresses somewhat under my weight.

I’ll leave the decision up to the reader on this one.

Some little bitty gotchas

These most likely apply to other trainers in the Tacx range too.

• For your profile weight, enter your fully clothed weight *AND* the weight of your bike.
  In my case (using current rounded figures), I weight 90kg and my bike weights 13kg fully loaded. Profile weight goes in as 113kg. The extra KG from the bike do affect the resistance that the unit puts out of the hills.
• Do the calibration, but only after about 30 minutes of cycling the first time.
  Again in my case, I got a different of -3.1% which was noticeable enough on the 12% hills that were in the RLV.
• Tighten the wheel clamp and ensure the tyre is pumped fully. A vertically true wheel will also make a huge difference.
  Because the whole system works with resistance against the tyre, any let up in pressure is going to feel like slipping. Not something you might notice at 110RPM on a fast flat part, but slow that down to 70RPM on a steep uphill, and well it’ll be damn near unusable.
• Towels, towels and more towels.
  You will sweat. A lot. A whole hell of a lot. I’m sure a fan will help and I plan on getting one soon.

Heart Rate Monitoring

The Fortius is *NOT* ANT+ compatible. I’m nearly sure a software upgrade would fix this too. The Bushido is compatible so it shouldn’t require extra work on the part of Tacx either. Because of the cost of changing the units, it is highly unlikely that anyone would actually switch units to get a missing feature like this. So Tacx, add the feature.

Online reports list than a standard non-coded strap will work. All the Garmin ones are ANT+ so the one I have doesn’t work. The cheap Aldi one I bought recently doesn’t work either. Don’t fancy buying a third one just to see if it works.

Real Life Videos

These are the reason I choose a Tacx trainer and not some other brand. They rock. Makes training so much better. I know well that I’d not be able sit for an hour and a half grinding up a hill like the other night without being able to look forward and see the views of the Alps.

There is some minor issues with the videos. For one, they aren’t recorded in a constant fashion. Tacx did do some work to try smooth over things. One example is where the van had to stop at traffic lights in one of the villages. The video blends in the slowing down and starting back up again so you aren’t pedalling while the video isn’t moving. They also blend where it pulled in on the way up one of the larger hills.

I have heard people saying the video gets a bit jumpy if you go too slow. I’ve yet to see this although the video did start shooting forwarding much faster than reality on one of the downhill sections. Throws you off balance somewhat.

Last bit is that the shadow of the camera is visible in quite a while of the videos. Does drop the appearance that you are actually cycling the route some what but I guess it is just a video and not a VR setup.

Summary Round Up

Would I buy one? Well I do so yes. Would I recommend you buy one? Well maybe. It depends on what you are after. The Bushido does look like a better, but somewhat more expensive option due to the extras you need to get it to do certain things. However since the prices vary hugely on these (Got my Fortius for €660 while initially seeing if for close to 1000 in a local shop) I’d guess you may be able to get a deal on the Bushido. Reports so far say the Bushido can produce the same amount of resistance as the Fortius, it may not be an issue. A 10% grade for me uses less than half the resistance the Fortius can push out so unless your much heavier and planning on harder hills, you’ll be fine.

Since I’ve seeing the Bushido for €560 on eBay, if I was to buy today (only a month later) I’d go for the Bushido and the upgrade PC kit. I do blame Tacx for this as the Bushido was out when I purchased. I didn’t think I’d need to but extra software for the Fortius which is quite annoying.

Edit: Tacx have released yet another version of software. Trainer software Version 2. They did offer an upgrade from V1 to V2, but they stopped on December 15th. Huge pain but I’m quite glad I didn’t fork out for V1 when I was planning to. Make sure if you are buying that you are getting the Trainer software Version 2 with the unit, not just the Fortius software which is long since obsolete.

Today marked the point of no return for the Matmotte 2010. I booked my place with Tour d’Oisans for a 8 night trip to do event. Last week we confirmed our training week down in Malga with Vamos Cycling and I’ve already begun the training on the Turbo trainer for it. I’ve yet to read a “happy” review of this event and it does seem like a bit of a challenge. Bring it on I say, bring it on!

So last month so me finally go and get a proper bike fitting from the guys over at IrishFit. They are calling it a “Video Based Bike Setup Analysis” but people who had been talking about it on boards were always calling it a bike fitting so maybe that is where I got a little confused. The simple fact was that it was way way more than a simple bike fit.

The beginning

I was expecting to arrive over, throw the bike onto the trainer, get filmed, then talk about how the position can be improved. Maybe do the changes and re-film to show how great everything is now. Oh how wrong I was. Appointment began with discussing problems with the bike, in my case some hand pain after the Tour of Meath and then some recent problems with my knees. This led on to some tests of muscle flexibility and movement strength. All the main muscles from lower leg up to the lower back were looked at and also rated in the report I got earlier this week.

Straight away, this pointed to some possible problems with my cycling/peddling technique, and I hadn’t even been on the bike yet. Suggestions of Sports Massage and Pilates were given and are something I’m looking into along with some yoga. The one I already knew was that I need to start stretching after cycling. So many long cycles and I’ve ignored this. After stretching when I came home on Tuesday night, I don’t think I’ll be cycling again and then not stretching. Legs felt like I hadn’t cycled after the stretching was complete.

Lights, Camera, Action

The bike gets put up on the trainer and away we go. You end up pedalling for about 2-3 minutes each time. Got shorter on each attempt as only a short period is needed by the software to pick up the tracks made my the leg movements and also to draw out the angles between things. I’m by no means a biomechanical engineer but when you see a picture of yourself with the angles drawn out, it can be quite clear where some things are wrong. Muscles work better within certain restricted ranges, have the leg extend too much looses lots of energy. Saw goes for angle of leg at the top between the chest. Too shallow and it restricts your breathing.

It really was very effective to do the first run through, show the angles, make the small change, in my case we moved the saddle height a small amount, then redo the video and see the changes. On the one hand, it does let you know that you aren’t paying for nothing, but on the other the voice in your head can be silenced as it knows it is a positive change.

The results

So what does a bike fitting do for you? Well in my case, and bare in mind that it only really was a small change of saddle height, it has made a huge difference. Firstly I do now stretch after cycling. Well mostly. Its something that I need to improve. I am doing core exercises so its a big plus there.

Secondly, I was recomended to get some LeMann Wedges. Basically small bits of tilted place that go between the cleat and the shoe. My left leg is shorter than my right leg so I’ve off set some of that.

After all of that, the Tour of Kildare was the first big test. 100km of cycling with an avg of 31km/h. That there is way above any previous averages I’ve had. Ok so its the first time I’ve done a long distance in a group like that, other sportives I’ve been spat out the back. But I know well I’d not have been able to do that with the hand pain or knee problems I’ve been having. Both are gone while on the bike although my knee still hasn’t fully recovered. Still the fact that I can cycle without any problems anymore is a big step back to where I want to be. And now the speeds are higher and I can spend more time in the drops and lots more on the hoods.

Recommendations

Do it, do it now. Email them, call them, whatever. Just book it. It is worth it. So much so I already know I’ll be going back when I build my new bike next year. The whole process is on another level to that of a bike fitting in a shop. You won’t regret it.

Another day, another sportive. This time in Kildare. Again with the long commute down at 46.84km before the 100km run around.

This was another event that was really well run. IVCA really need to take note on the food front although I can think of some difficulties in having a BBQ run for 6-8 hours for finishing riders on the W200. Marshalling wasn’t as good as the Tour of Meath but then they did have a bit of overkill. Most junctions on this has marshals but a few left us stopping wondering with one when I had to trust my gps for direction. Some people though left, GPS though right, some others agreed, we all went right. Road markings were probably there but the cars in traffic covered them.

Overall the pace was very high. Coming in at 3h13m for a 100km route is mighty impressive for me. Nothing close to this in previous times. I did spend lots of time in groups and didn’t pull at the front having learnt the huge painful lesson in the Tour of Meath. The pace car for the first 30km or so was a little slow but necessary to keep things together as much as they did. The only negative thing was that the event didn’t start on time and the gap in the food stop was too long. The food stop gap being so long was the worst espec since getting started we missed the split in the groups, although I think things split the second it hit the road with the front group really hammering it. My heart rate was near max for the next 10+km while I tried to bridge up through some of the groups.

A big shout of to the idiot owner of the black BMW who tried to overtake the group at the start near Clane I think. He kept overtaking on a solid white line and then pulling back into the group forcing cyclists in and slowing down. Very surprised there wasn’t a crash. How anyone could possibly think of overtaking a group of cyclists that spanned 9 minutes of passing time apparently is beyond me. There is no way he could have see a clean gap to go to so was just basically being stupid.

“The Wall” really wasn’t a wall at all. Its short and over in a minute or two if I remember rightly. Powered up what felt like half of it but didn’t look up (as I normally don’t) and decided to drop down some gears instead of risking wearing myself out. Made up a most of the time on the downhill afterwards.

Route Stats
Total distance: 101.26km
Total time: 3:35:42
Ride time: 3:13:27
Calories Burnt: 4771
Avg Speed: 31.4km/h

Day Stats
Total distance: 194.32km
Ride time: 7:12:45
Calories Burnt: 8795
Avg Speed: 26.9km/h

So Sunday the 5th of June so mew take part in the Tour of Meath and was it a surprise from the W200 event. Firstly a big thanks to the organisers. Other than the food stops, my food only went down twice (once when I stopped to take off my jacket). Marshalls everywhere including the traffic core. I’m sure that if I was faster, the whole way around would have been with traffic stopped everywhere.

The only downside to the event, and shared by others I spoke to who did the 160km route, was the distance between the second and third waterstops. It was longer than the other gaps and also was about 8km after the point it was meant to be at. Gave a distance of 78km between the two I think. Where most days I’d have managed this, due to it starting to rain coming out of the second stop and my jacket going on, I burnt through half of my two bottles within 10km until I stopped and took off my jacket.

Either way, overall the day was amazing. Food was plentiful as were the muffins! Yes, you read that right, they had muffins. Only cake would be better but I can’t for the life of me figure out how they’d manage that one. Contrast this to the W200 where they were more concerned with stopping the occasional person who didn’t pay from getting food, to feeding those who did. OK so the numbers are a different scale, 250 vs 1800, but there is always ways to sort these things.

Stats for the day below but this was one for the records. Even with losing additional weight since the W200, even Calories burnt was higher.

Route Stats
Total distance:  162.61km
Total time: 7:22:59
Ride time: 6:20:02
Calories Burnt: 7,189
Avg Speed: 22km/h

Day Stats
Total distance: 252.89km
Total time: 11:34:08
Calories Burnt: 10843
Avg Speed: 21.9km/h