Spinning wheel got to go around

All day yesterday I kept checking the NE-BRA website for an announcement on Wompatuck. They cancel for rain (mostly because not enough people show up to make it worthwhile for them), and usually they put up an announcement by 2 pm. Nothing. Next I checked massbayroadclub.org and sure enough, there was a headline, which remains today, "we are racing tonight 5/16 at Wompatuck." Wow. It was drizzling, but it was hard for me to believe that the course was not under water. Leaving work early, I headed down in the rain, and the sky ahead appeared a bit brighter. There was much less traffic than usual so within 45 minutes I was in the front parking lot kitting up. As I rode back into the park to the race site, some guy in a car asked me for directions to the race. I told him which gate to go to and he turned around and roared off. A minute or two later he is driving back the other way and he says the gate is closed. WTF?

Well, apparently nobody within the MBRC brain trust thought about checking to see if their race course that runs through a swamp might be flooded. Most of the course was pretty clean, but there was a 100 meter section that was under 15 cm (let's be consistent) of water from edge to edge. Oh well. I rode two hours by myself, did some short hill efforts on a deserted road in the millionaire section of Hingham (mmm, maybe this was the tycoon section, as I don't think Hingham has any residents with a net worth of under a few mil). The view of the Boston skyline and the harbor islands was spectacular as the sun broke through the low clouds. It felt really good to be out, and the Slim Chance needed some TLC and a good cleaning anyway.

So today's lesson is going to be on TT position, "optimal" pedaling cadence, pedaling efficiency (isn't that the same thing???), and the distribution of effort in a TT. Obviously, this lesson could spill over into the days and weeks ahead if you kids are in a debating mood. Since the sun is now shining brightly through my window, there are better things for me to do right now than sit here and blog. Therefore, I will post the study materials (thanks for some of these links guys) and you can peruse them at your leisure. Sometime in the next few days I will color your screens with some purple prose, comments and wisdom of my own. Thanks for reading!

Some pics of Pros in TTs

Cervelo article 1

Cervelo article 2

53x12.com 1

53x12.com 2

53x12.com 3

Pez article

Pez article 2

More to come. Yesterday I found some pictures on the Cervelo site with nice profiles of Zabriskie. He was very compact with his elbows and knees right together. Can't find it today though, but tommorow when I am at my desk I'll see if it is in my history.