In crit racing, a “free lap” is given to riders who flat, experience a mechanical issue, or are involved in a crash. They collect themselves, roll back to the start/finish, and are allowed to jump back into the race by re-joining the main group on the next lap. It is meant to simulate what happens in a road race, when a rider is allowed to draft off team cars to catch back up to the peloton. Near the end of the race, however, when there are just a few laps to go -- free laps are no longer given and the rider must decide to either finish the race solo, or drop out completely.
In life -- just like in crits -- sometimes we get a free lap, and sometimes we don’t. When I was hit by a car I was blessed with being given a free lap. As difficult as it was to deal with, after about six months of collecting myself and rolling back to the start/finish I had the good fortune of being allowed to re-join the group. I may be suffering at the back of the pack right now, but the race isn’t over yet and I may just have something left for the sprint.
Nate Aikele (pictured above with Lance Armstrong), unfortunately, isn’t being given a free lap.
While racing in the Driveway Series a couple weeks ago in Austin, Texas, Nate went off course and hit a tree. He fractured his T4 through T10 vertebrate, severely breaking his T7, and severed his spinal cord. The prognosis is permanent paralysis from the mid-chest down.
Permanent paralysis.
In Hebrews chapter 12, the author refers to our life as a race and encourages us to run it with endurance. That word, “endurance” can also be translated “patience” and it suggests that every individual’s “race” will include difficulties that we must suffer through. The difficulty that Nate has been given to endure is of a magnitude that many, including I, cannot truly comprehend. The race that has been “set before him” is one that no one would willingly choose. If the neurologists are correct, Nate will never re-join the peloton. He may not be receiving the free lap, but he has chosen to not drop out completely – he will finish.
Please join me in praying for Nate and his family, and applaud him as he continues his race. If you are able, the family is seeking donations to aid in his recovery.
You can donate online here: https://fundly.com/nate-for-the-win
He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
In my junior year at the U of A, I took a circuits class with Dr. Miklos Silzaki or Shilzagi or Sizzleki or something. He was born in Budapest, Hungary and spent some time in Russia studying Electrical Engineering and Physics. He had some interesting (read: somewhat crazy) political views and described himself as a "liberal conservative" -- which may have simply meant that he was confused. We always found it strange when he would launch into some sort of political rant in the middle of a discussion about how capacitors work.
A nice guy, but a horrible instructor. I learned just about nothing from him and I was not alone. In fact, I recall reading a letter written to the Arizona Daily Wildcat back in 2002 regarding Miklos that expressed the same dissatisfaction with his teaching abilities as my friends and I had. I was even able to use the amazing power of the internets to find that letter, and the correct spelling of his last name, Szilagyi (pronounced just how it's spelled).
John Parker, at the time an Industrial Engineering senior said, "I believe that his method of teaching would be considered, if in some other profession, fraudulent, because it fails in the most basic objective of teaching which is to TEACH."
I still remember this funny thing about Dr. Siljocky -- dangit I already forgot how to spell his name. He would start class every time asking in his thick Hungarian/Russian accent, "Gude uff tanune, und vutt tis yore virsht kwesh tone?" (translation: Good afternoon, and what is your first question?). Since we weren't learning anything in his class we never had any questions. So instead we just stared back at him waiting for his standard reply, which was, "Ull rite, ten vutt tis yore seckund kwesh tone?"
Ahh yes, good times. I took that course with a friend named Billy who was extremely intelligent and never combed his hair (think Einstein). He was much smarter than I and a really fun guy to hang out with. We took a Design of Machines course together and teamed up on a project to design a mechanical bull using four-bar linkages and force, height, velocity, and acceleration requirements. It of course required on-site testing of the mechanical bull installed at the Wild Wild West nightclub on Ina.
Investigative Field Testing with Billy
We received an A on the project. Fun class, and Dr. Ara Arabyan was an excellent instructor. Billy, by the way, now works as a project manager in San Luis Obispo for REC Solar. I wonder if he combs his hair.
I know, I know... You see, I did an image search for "Power Pulse Intervals" so I could have a visual to share for this workout and the circuit diagram for a power pulse generator showed up, which reminded me of my circuits class... which reminded me of Miklos... which reminded me of Billy... which reminded me of the mechanical bull design.
Obviously, there are side effects from an SUV-induced-windshield-headbutt-to-asphalt-faceplant.
Power Pulse Intervals
Type:
Muscular Endurance
Duration:
30 - 60 minutes
Complexity:
2 / 5 (easy)
Difficulty:
4 / 5 (difficult)
Computer:
3-second power, heart rate, cadence, lap time
Power Pulse intervals are a Muscular Endurance (ME) workout. These intervals will help increase your ME by riding above lactate threshold and ending the interval shortly after you go anaerobic. The intent is to train your body to increase its aerobic duration by pushing the "ceiling" of your lactate threshold. If you find yourself getting dropped on the fast group rides, or have mediocre time trial results, or difficulty climbing at a strong pace for extended periods of time -- these intervals will help.
The Short Version
Warm-up
5 intervals of
- - CP12 power until HR is 3 bpm above LTHR
- - rest for 1/4 the work interval time
Cool-down
The Long Version
Determining your Interval Power
The first step for doing power pulse intervals is to determine what power output you should be achieving for the interval. If the power is too high, you'll go anaerobic too quickly -- too low, and you'll stay aerobic too long (perhaps forever). The right power depends on the individual, and is typically 5-15% above your FTP. You can try different values to find one that results in the desired interval duration, or you can use your Critical Power (CP) for 12 minutes (i.e. the maximum power you can produce for 12 minutes).
If you don't have a power meter, get one. If you haven't done testing to determine your CP12, do it. Simply warm-up and ride as hard as you can for 12 minutes, trying to maintain steady power output for the duration. If you don't know your FTP, do the CP30 test (but not on the same day as your CP12 test).
Some examples:
Adam did a CP12 test and was able to hold 275 watts for 12 minutes, so his interval power is 275 w.
Bruce did a CP30 test and was able to hold 250 watts for 30 minutes. He is too scared to do a CP12 test so he decided to just add 10% to his FTP (250 * 1.1 = 275 w).
Chuck just got a power meter but refuses to do any testing, so he decided to just try 400 watts and see what happened. He immediately went anaerobic but didn't know to stop the interval because he had no idea what his LTHR was. After two minutes he puked and everyone made fun of him.
Don't be Chuck.
After you complete your first interval, you'll have a good idea of whether your power output is appropriate for this workout. If you find that your first interval only lasts two minutes, reduce the power slightly for the next one. If your interval lasts 10 minutes, increase your power slightly. You're looking for around a five-minute interval.
Choosing your Route
Since you will be maintaining relatively high power output for relatively long periods of time, you will be covering a lot of ground. On a flat course at 275 watts a 6-foot tall, 150-lb rider would cover almost two miles in a single interval. You want to avoid routes that would have stops in it to disrupt your intervals. You also want to avoid rollers which will complicate maintaining a steady power output. The ideal route would be a hill climb with a grade of 2-5% and length sufficient to complete five full intervals. Mt. Lemmon is a great option. With a constant 5% slope, that same rider would now cover about one mile per interval. Five intervals fit very nicely into a ride to Molino Basin*.
* Every Thursday morning at 5:30 the JKG group meets at Le Buzz to ride to Molino Basin. Great group of guys, highly recommended.
Starting the Workout
Before you start, make sure you are sufficiently warmed-up and your computer is displaying power (3-second average), heart rate, cadence, and lap time. When you begin the first interval, press the lap button.
Ending an Interval
During the interval you will want to glance at your computer every so often to check your power output, heart rate, and cadence. You'll see your heart rate increase quickly over the first half of the interval and then slowly creep to your LTHR. Once you see your HR three beats above your LTHR, press your lap button and reduce power to zone 1 recovery. When you press your lap button, it should display the previous lap time. While you are recovering in zone 1, determine how long your recovery interval should be (1/4 the time of the work interval).
Remember to wait until your heart rate is 3 beats above your LTHR. You want to dip slightly into your anaerobic range to push your ceiling. Keep your power steady and avoid the temptation to push harder to increase your heart rate so you can end the interval.
So if your interval lap time was 5:36, your recovery time should be about 1.5 minutes (1 minute, 24 seconds if you're a math nerd). It doesn't have to be exact, but you don't want your recovery to be too long. I usually do 1 minute of recovery for intervals under 5 minutes and 1.5 minutes for intervals under 7 minutes. You won't be recovered completely, and that is by design. Your first interval will likely be longer than the others, and you may find that interval duration decreases with each interval. If your interval length drops below three minutes, decrease power slightly for the next one to try to stay in that 3-7 minute range.
Example of a Power Pulse Interval
The workout is complete once you have finished five intervals and their associated recoveries. If you pressed your lap button at all the appropriate spots, you should have 11 laps (one of them being your warm-up). After uploading your data you can take a look at each interval and make note of their duration and average power. With that information you can determine what power output you should shoot for next time.
For example, if your intervals were:
300 watts for 3 minutes (1-minute recovery)
270 watts for 5 minutes (1-minute recovery)
280 watts for 3 minutes (1-minute recovery)
240 watts for 6 minutes (1.5-minute recovery)
250 watts for 5 minutes (1-minute recovery)
then you probably want to aim for 260 watts the next time. Ideally you want all five intervals to be 5 minutes long with 1-minute recoveries.
You'll probably want to limit this workout to once a week. After a month or two you'll notice your intervals will last longer -- to the point where you'll need to increase your power to keep them under seven minutes. Congratulations, this indicates an increase of your FTP -- which means it's time for you to perform another FTP test. You can try estimating your new FTP via this workout, but it will be slightly skewed since you are performing the workout on a hill climb -- it's better to perform a consistent test every few months.
Since this workout is based on heart rate, some additional influences (e.g. dehydration, lack of sleep, hot weather) will be a factor. Also remember to keep track of your fatigue with the Performance Management Chart ("Fitness & Freshness" in Strava) and avoid overtraining.
You know that feeling when you've just uploaded your ride to Strava and are hovering over that "Private" button with the thought that you should not show anyone how bad you did in a race?
No, of course not. Me either, I was just speaking hypothetically.
Last year's race (dark), this year's (light)
I raced in two of the Tolero
crits (the 5's and the 4/5's). The fields were small, I think seven guys in the
5's and nine in the 4/5's. My goals (in order of importance) were to not crash,
work on cornering confidence, work on pack riding confidence, see how my
sprint/jump was, and finish with the groups.
I am happy to report that I met
almost all my goals. But I still hovered over that “private” button for a
while...
The 5’s
I didn’t have a great warm-up but
the first three laps were slow so it wasn’t a big deal. The forth lap was a
prime and so we all upped the pace and I felt good. I decided not to go for the
prime and wait for the next one with the intent of seeing how good my
jump/sprint was.
The second prime came on the
seventh lap. I stayed in fifth position with the intent of seeing how many guys
I could pass on the sprint hill. I jumped hard out of the corner and pushed
hard for what ended up being a 10-second burst. I was geared right with a good
steady cadence. Surely I could pass at least one guy, right? Wrong.
And don’t call me Surely.
I had no jump, no acceleration, and
no speed. I felt fresh and had zero fatigue in my legs but I just had no
strength. Post-race data showed that my peak power was less than my 10-second
power at last year’s Tolero crit. Ugh. I continued in the race with the sole
intent of working on my cornering. I took corners at varying angles and found
the good lines for staying off the brakes. I played around with tailgunning* to
avoid the slowing of the other riders and was able to carry my speed through
the corners and re-attach to the group with minimal effort.
* Tailgunning is when you are at
the back of the group and allow a little gap between you and the rider in front
of you. When you go through a corner, usually the group will slow and if you
are right on the wheel of the rider in front of you braking is required (which
wastes energy). By tailgunning, you can stay off the brakes and take the corner
at your own speed, hopefully timing it right so that you regain contact with
the group without needing to accelerate.
I felt good in the corners and
loved the feel of the Noah, which is much stiffer than the Allez. The shorter
wheelbase and more aggressive saddle-to-bar drop (giving me a lower center of
gravity) really gave me a feeling of complete control in the turns. I’ve still
got a ways to go with the cornering confidence, but I made some significant
gains during these races.
I didn’t sprint for any of the
other primes and instead waited for the finish. I didn’t have much hope based
on my earlier “jump” and that negative mindset probably did more damage than my
lack of strength. I was “lazy” on the last lap and didn’t try to move up into a
good position. When we went into the final corner I was in last position, and
despite all the power I could muster, that’s where I stayed.
Last.
The 4/5’s
With the
discouraging results in the 5’s race I didn’t have much hope for the 4/5’s. The
plan was to work on cornering some more and stay with the group. I didn’t plan
on going after any of the primes and doubted that I had enough jump to follow
any attacks. I had a better warm-up for this race which was good because it was fairly quick from the start.
The first prime came
on the forth lap and the pace quickened in preparation for the sprint. I was
near the back and unfortunately the guy in front of me let a gap develop during
that lap. When it came time to close it he was able to power his way back into
the group but I couldn’t hold his wheel and spent a lot of energy getting back
in the group. I tried to recover but the pace was high and the accelerations
out of the corners were taking their toll. After just 10 minutes I popped and
watched the group slowly move away from me. Ugh.
I decided to stay above
threshold and continue to work on my cornering. It sucks riding solo but after
two laps I had caught another guy who had been dropped. I pulled around and told him we should work together to try to catch back on. We traded pulls
for a while but I guess he was pretty toasted because any gains I made during my pull were
lost when he pulled. After probably six laps I finished a pull and expected him
to come around me but he was gone. I looked back and was shocked that I
couldn’t see him at all. Apparently he crashed on the tight "dumpster corner" but I never
heard it so I think he may have lost my wheel at some point prior to the crash. Hopefully he’s not banged up too bad.
The Dumpster Corner
I tried a few different lines through the dumpster corner. The green circle above represents the maximum-radius route, which in theory is the fastest line through the corner. When going through as a group you're limited on what line you can take, but when you're on the front or solo following this radius is likely the best option. I can recall riding over the concrete pad a couple times which is a very inefficient route.
I got back to work
solo, working on cornering and staying above threshold. I started feeling very
confident on the dumpster corner as well as the final corner before the sprint
hill. At about the 5-laps to-go mark, I was lapped by a three-man break
containing my good friend, Cody. I was bummed to get lapped but super excited
for him. I looked back and couldn’t see the main group yet so I decided to work
as hard as I could to stay away from them. Half a lap later and I had another
dropped rider in my sight. I caught up to him and told him we should work
together to stay away from the main group. We traded 1-lap pulls for the
remainder of the race and on the last lap I asked him if he wanted to sprint it
out. The only reason I wanted to sprint was for the practice, but he wasn’t
interested. I did a half-hearted sprint to the line only semi-curious about the
top number I could generate. It wasn’t much.
Second to last.
Not exactly my idea of a good race day. But all things
considered, I’m happy. I really enjoy crits and cornering well is a major
factor in these races. Having the opportunity to work on that was definitely beneficial.
I’m not surprised by my lack of jump. Since getting back on the bike I’ve been
focused on restoring my aerobic endurance -- not anaerobic. I’ll be moving out of
my Base period and into my first Build period of the year soon and I fully
expect to regain the jump I once had (and hopefully surpass it).
