BRILF.net

Power File 2.28.09: 2x15s

Power File 2.27.09: Room for improvement

First real anaerobic workout of the season. Gotta start somewhere. Like the bottom, for example.

Power File 2.25.09: Hump Day Humps

Schedule-challenged today, so I had to do these inside. Sorry, Ian. Maybe next Wednesday.

Power File 2.23.09: Another dozen watts

Still inching upwards - today was 12 watts higher than last time. As long as races aren't over 35 minutes, I'm a lock.

Power File 2.21.09: Ice cream and a beer

Together, they're about 438 calories.

Power File 2.18.09: 4x4s (on average)

I don't know what happened with #2 and #3, but it all worked out.

Power File 2.16.09: Recovery spin

First time I've had occasion to do a recovery ride in a while.

Power File 2.15.09: Trade Zone B Race

Minute 33 is me bridging to a break with Jesse Liefert and an Evo racer.
Minutes 34-37 are me being useless as the back of the break because the bridge effort put my HR at 193 - about a dozen beats higher than it's been in the past 18 months.
Minute 79 is me trying to win by getting into a small break with less than two laps to go. I did not win, but I tried, which was my objective.

Power File 2.14.09: Shoehorned In

Busy day, but I hadn't been on the bike since Wednesday and figured half an hour before Trade Zone was better than 3-days stale.

GamJams Reviews: Bontrager FIT VR OS (mini-drop) bars and VCRC Stem

Last year I ran Ritchey WCS (aluminum) bars paired witha Ritchey WCS 4-Axis aluminum stem - light as anything on the market, plenty stiff and reasonably inexpensive for competition quality. What's not to love?

One thing I didn't love was not being able to reach my brakes while in the drops. The Ritchey bars have a relatively deep bend. The reach is about standard, but the bend is anatomical, which means that your hand rests on a flat part when in the drops instead of following a curve. The problem there is that the flat part moves your palm away from your levers, meaning you need longer fingers to reach the brakes easily. My fingers aren't so long, so I had to crank my wrist around to grab some brakes - not ideal when you race as many crits, and corner as squirrely as I do. I had one bike with Dura-Ace and another with SRAM Force, both with the same bars & stem. The problem is worse with the Dura-Ace since the SRAM levers seem to fit smaller hands better. But it was still a problem. And it's compounded, by the way, by thick gloves and padded bar tape. If you're having the same issue, you might consider first trying thinner gloves and tape, which puts your palm flatter against the bar and gives you that extra couple of millimeters.

Or you could do what I did - switch to a girlie-bar.

In the middle of last year I swapped out my beloved Ritchey bars for the Bontrager FIT VR OS bars. They're marketed as women's bars because they have the shallowest drop and shortest reach of any bar on the market. But they're also oversized at 31.8mm, and come in widths up to 44cm, which is what I use. I have wide shoulders and am more inclined to contest a sprint than solo off the front, so I chose a wider bar that gives me more leverage when cranking out of the saddle (might as well put some of this upper body dead weight to work), instead of a narrower bar that keeps me more aerodynamic. People also say a wider bar opens up the chest more and facilitates breathing - whatever, I can never get enough oxygen in during a race so I can't attest to that property.

I couldn't be happier with my girlie-bars. My principal need was to be able to reach the levers with ease while in the drops, which I can now do. An added benefit is that I can spend much more time in the drops than I used to, as the shallow drop doesn't require me to change my body position at all. It's like another hand position, not some aerodynamic contortion that requires laser focus to maintain.

For 2009 I changed my stem as well. I still love the Ritchey, but on the trainer in front of the mirror (on Pete's recommendation) this winter I saw I was reaching a bit for the bars. My stem was 110mm so I swapped to a 100mm. I opted for the VCRC aluminum stem. They're sponsoring the GamJams Ambassadors this year and I wanted to give them a shake. The -8 degree rise is a little flatter than the Ritchey I was using. Additionally, the clamp is shorter so I needed to add about 2mm of headset spacers as well. But I'm in a little closer now, which means that when my hands are on the hoods my forearms are parallel to the ground (and invisible to the wind). I should also point out that the VCRC stem is less than half the price of the Ritchey WCS Aluminum, and exactly the same weight.