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Where Cyclists and Triathletes get Faster/Stronger/Leaner/Sooner

Setting The Q Ring Position Based On Rotor InPower Ride Data

Rotor InPower Cranks Provide Crucial Insight

Rotor InPower OCP 1
Rotor Q Rings help make small improvements to power with every pedal stroke, but it’s on sections where terrain is steep, and traction is necessary, that they make the biggest difference.

I’ve been using Rotor products since at least 2000, when the RSX Cranks first became available. I have been a student of the original concept, and I use Q rings on all of my bikes these days. In 2012 or thereabouts, Rotor began building their own power meters. Specifically, they did it with the intention of providing data for the Optimal Chainring Position. Optimal Chainring Position, or OCP, looks at a rider’s power curve and helps determine where exactly the Q ring should be located.

Why is this important? Well, the Q ring acts like a crowbar, using something called “Moment“. This is a term in Physics. A bicycle crank at 12 o’clock has no moment. I bicycle crank at 6 o’clock has no moment. But a bicycle crank at 3 o’clock has a moment equal to the radius of the crank. In my case, that is 165mm. When the Rotor InPower software takes into account Moment plus Inertia, it allows Physics to provide an edge in the power output. For road cycling on flat terrain, I usually ride at OCP 4 or even 5. Until this week, I rode the mountain bike at OCP position 3.

What Changed

Rotor has software for their InPower and 2InPower cranks, as well as their most recent power meters, that runs as an app on a cell phone. I used this app in real time, as I rode up my favorite trail. While I had figured that OCP 3 was optimal, what I realized over the course of the climb was that the steeper the terrain, the more the Rotor software wanted me in OCP 1 or even 2! I was surprised by this revelation, but in review, it makes sense. When a cyclist is climbing, the “Moment” is still optimal at 3 o’clock. However, inertia is altered due to gravity, friction, and cadence. Placing the OCP at 1 brings that ‘Crowbar’ effect back.

I made two videos connected to this post. The first is pre-ride, when I was making my change to the crank and chainring. The second is post-ride analysis. I felt the change in torque IMMEDIATELY, and while I am not nearly as fit as I was two years ago, I am excited about the change, and hope to duplicate the lesson on my road bike in the near future.

Rotor has SCIENCE to Back Up Their Claims

While I’m not a qualified scientist, I do count myself as a certain Mad Scientist. That is, I rely on PhD’s and MD’s and DO’s to perform the studies that prove or disprove what I’ve ‘seen’ over the decades that I’ve been coaching. One of my absolute favorite scientists on Q Rings, who is also a highly skilled athlete and racer, is Dr. Christie O’Hara. Here is a short link to an article about her studies with Q Rings. She’s moved on from Rotor to other ventures in Academia, but her work stands and is seminal to the theory. The gains are small, but consistent, and in a sport where small gains are critical, Q rings in the Optimal Chainring Position can make a difference for any road or mountain bike cyclist.

Enjoy the videos and don’t hesitate to leave some feedback. I’m enjoying the process and as always, ENJOY THE RIDE!

 

Intense MTB Ride Number 4 With the ShockWiz

ShockWiz Shows 84 Points on the Rear With Just 49% Confidence In the Values

Rear Suspension 84 Points
Not sure why the Confidence Interval was so low, but hey – it means I get to ride more!

One of the most important things to remember when you purchase a new, high end mountain bike, is that it can take 20 – 50 hours for a suspension system to ‘break in’. It’s like buying a new car – everything is tight. Over time and with terrain, the suspension seals settle in and the ShockWiz starts to reveal more consistent numbers.

That said – right now, I fully expect ShockWiz scores and recommendations to be a bit scattered. We’ll know more in two to four weeks.

Initial Values for Sag seem Really Close

I set the rear suspension for about 30% Sag, and for the front, I set it for about 10% sag. Generally speaking, most rear suspensions start around body + gear weight. I’m REALLY heavy right now, so I set the rear suspension at roughly 178 psi. Sitting on the suspension with the ShockWiz app open showed a sag of about 30%, and I’ll make changes based on this.

For the front, I followed the directions on the fork; 80psi or thereabouts. Sag was about 10% and the shock really performed poorly per the Shockwiz data.  I am almost certain that I will need to add spacers to the front fork. I have those on order, but I will not install them until after the 20 hour mark.

What Is “Pogo”?

Pogo is a term that means the suspension can’t keep up with the terrain.

The ShockWiz showed that my rear suspension is suffering from “Pogo”. This is a term that means the suspension is not keeping up with terrain on rebound, and is instead ‘bouncing’ off the rocks and ridges.

Ideally, a rear and a front suspension have no pogo. Instead, they react to the terrain, absorbing hits and rebounding for the next hit. To be honest – this is terrain and speed-specific. I may get more “Pogo” over the next several days as I ride, and I won’t worry about it unless it shows up consistently.

Ironically, the front fork is also showing some “Pogo” from this ride, though the ShockWiz score went up to 84, equal to the rear. Again, I’m not going to worry about this too much, unless it shows up consistently after 20 hours of use.

14% Sag on the Front

The Front Fork recommendations from ShockWiz asked that I take air out of the front fork. I lowered the front by about 3-5psi, and this is what led to the 10 point improvement over the previous ride.

Use of Segments

This may be a bit controversial, but I decided to put the suspension to the test on a new ‘segment’ that I created. I used Garmin Connect for this because I do not want to generate controversy over speed and safety with other, more popular segment programs. I AM BY NO MEANS A HOT DOG. In fact, I really am NOT FAST on descending. Why? Well, I have the world’s worst health insurance, and there’s no doubt that speed, in my case, might kill. That said – if I can measure Time and FLOW in Garmin Connect, this MIGHT give me some better ideas about how the suspension is helping or hurting.

Here’s the segment; it is public, but I don’t expect anyone to to really care, and if you do break my times, bravo; you’re braver and more skilled than me.

Here’s the Garmin Connect Segment

That’s really about it – I’m going to head out and ride some more. I’ll keep you posted on the results!

Are you enjoying this series? Please feel free to buy me a Cup of Coffee!

ShockWiz Suspension Assessment on a New Bike!

ShockWiz Helps Anyone Understand Suspension

I studied many different bikes and suspension systems before I settled on this rig.

After 8 months of waiting, I finally received my new mountain bike last week! The Intense Sniper T Pro is a modern Cross-Country bike with All-Mountain Geometry. The Front and Rear suspension are Fox components, and the first thing I did was place a ShockWiz unit on the front fork and rear shock.

The ShockWiz is a component that measures air pressure in pneumatic suspension systems. Using a cell-phone app, the ShockWiz looks at compression, rebound, and travel to make post-ride recommendations in the following areas.

  • Base air pressure
  • Spring Rate
  • Compression
  • Rebound

Suspension Tuning is Usually a Guessing Game

Suspension is a guessing game
More air? Less air? How much damping? How much rebound? The ShockWiz can help come up with answers

ShockWiz removes a lot of the work required to properly dial in a bike’s suspension. Over the course of a ride, the app will provide a “Confidence” Percentile, followed by a “Tuning Score”. Recommendations about what to ride next are also displayed. I’m fortunate to have a perfect, traditional Cross Country Trial course up on the mountain behind my house. Using this course, and starting from the first hour of ownership, I’m blogging the changes that I’m making to the suspension, based on ShockWiz recommendations.

So far, I’ve had about Six rides on the Sniper T. I must say; after riding a 10-year old bike with “Old School” Geometry, having a modern bike that fits me properly, and has modern suspension, is a game-changer. Suspension requires about 20 to 50 hours of time to properly break in the seals, but the ShockWiz has already provided some fascinating information. This is helping me improve more quickly and setsuspension settings with more confidence.

Ride 3 ShockWiz Review and Changes

My goal with this series is to produce multiple short videos reviewing the data from the ShockWiz app after each ride. I was unable to adequately collect data from rides 1 and 2, but here is Ride 3’s review.

Going forward, after each ride, I will write up a quick review, make a short video, and then make changes for the next ride. I’ll also be using the same trail repeatedly, along with downhill segments to properly assess speed, comfort and control. Let’s see what the system says, how the changes are made, and whether this improves performance or not.

Thanks for watching, and ENJOY THE RIDE!

 

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Sometimes Ya Gotta Get Some SUN!

I Went Mountain Biking – And I Trapped ALL of the Data!


The purpose of this exercise and series of blogs is to share my thought processes, as a coach, on how to interpret data from instruments. With that data, I can then make more informed decisions on my own training, recovery, and performance. When the cold snap hit, I went indoors; it’s a controlled environment. But when I moved to Nevada, we specifically purchased a home right next to some of the best mountain biking trails available. We’re at 5200′ MSL. The peak behind my house, which I can ride to from my front door, is at 8400′ MSL. My mailbox signals the end of a Strava and RWGPS segment that equals a Cat 4 Climb for roadies.

In other words, we moved here so we could RIDE! Today, after a lot of distractions and work on other projects, I pulled out the mountain bike and just RODE!

The ride included the following:

  • Vo2master with display on my iphone in realtime.
  • Left Shoulder Moxy Muscle Oxygen
  • Right Rectus Femoris Moxy Muscle Oxygen.
  • Left Vastus Lateralis Moxy Muscle Oxygen.
  • Polar H10 recording in BLE on Garmin 1030.
  • Quarq ShockWiz on both Front and Rear Suspension.

And MAN, did I get some good data!

The temps were perfect, the trail a little less dusty thanks to some rain and snow last weekend, and the sun was on my arms and back as I rode one of my favorite anti-clockwise loops.

Here’s the fun part: I hit a 57 Vo2max, and climbed steadily just below 20% of Smo2 for the first hill, and then just above 20% SmO2 for the second hill.

After the descent, I took a look at my Quarq ShockWiz data. Front Suspension was at a 96/100, and rear was at a 92/100. The descent was my 3rd-fastest ever on that segment.

I know I was not ‘feeling it’ this morning. But I needed to free my soul. This ride provided that, and more.

Here’s the video:

Thanks for reading, thanks for watching, and as always, ENJOY THE RIDE!

75 XSS (Per Day), for 75 Days: A New Self-Challenge

75 Days of 75 XSS (Xert Strain Score) Points – Let’s See Where This Leads

75 XSS per day, roughly 5 days per week? Can I achieve this?

The Xert Strain Score (XSS) is a volume-measuring tool that looks at a cyclist’s time, wattage, energy expenditure, and overall fitness signature. The calculation is unknown, but for me, it roughly equates to 10 KiloJoules per point when cycling aerobically. In conjunction with XSS, a cyclist’s “FOCUS” and “POLARITY” are revealed on a per-ride basis. XSS also affects Training Load and Form. Focus tells a cyclist where their ‘concentration of benefits’ has resulted from the ride. Polarity is revealed in the color of FOCUS. It tells the cyclist whether their ride was “Pure”, “Polarized”, “Less Polarized”, and “Mixed”.

Why 75 XSS?

Garmin 1030 Xert Screen
My goal is to earn 75 XSS per day, roughly 5 days per week. Some days will be purely aerobic, using DFAa1 Heart Rate Metrics, while other days will be intensity based, and will probably be performed out on Singletrack.

I chose 75 XSS for several reasons.

First – 75 XSS follows my favorite mantra in fitness training: SMART.

  • Specific – It’s a value I can follow on the main screen of my Garmin 1030
  • Measurable – 75 XSS is the result of energy and time spent cycling.
  • Achievable – this is a big one; my time commitments have changed over the months and the entire Western US is under a severe drought. This requires that I ride earlier in the day, and spend less time on the mountain bike. 75 XSS also requires roughly 750 KiloJoules, which is less than 2 hours of time spent cycling. In short, I can ride and get home for other commitments.
  • Repeatable – 75 XSS is something I can achieve about 5 days per week and still not get too fatigued. My goal is to do this about 5 days per week.
  • Timely – It’s summer, the days are long, and this should lead to a higher level of chronic fitness without getting too stale.

Why 75 XSS in 75 days?

75 Days of XSS, roughly 5 days per week, would put me at roughly the end of August. I really have no goals. There might be some late-season bike rallies I would like to attend. Perhaps there are some Cols I would like to climb in the Fall for PR’s. Bike racing is picking up in the Northern Nevada area. However, after a successful Fall of 2020, and some solid prep work in January and February of 2021, I lost some fitness. This led to a drop from a high level of performance on the mountain bike and road bike. I also started gaining weight again. Thankfully, with the help of BT-Nutrition’s Reful App, I have again begun to lose weight, and my performance has turned a slight corner. A 75 day MesoCycle will give me time to ride at lower intensity out on the road bike, and higher intensity out on the mountain bike. On days that I am performing low-intensity rides, 75 days where I burn at least 60 grams of Fat, SHOULD yield some weight loss. My goal is to get back down to 67-68kg without losing power.

What’s my FOCUS?

My FOCUS for this effort is two-fold. First, I’m going to force myself to ride longer periods at lower intensities on a consistent basis. After lots of consulting with professionals and observation with my clients, we will all be implementing regular “DFAa1” slope tests to better determine a more accurate Lower Threshold of Aerobic Intensity. For me, this translates into efforts at a HEART RATE below 150 beats per minute. This also translates into a LONGER period of time out on the road or trail to achieve 75 XSS. 89% of my clients and myself are showing a wattage/HR value that is about 5-10% below Xert’s LTP. Less intensity means fewer KJ’s per minute and per hour, so it has to be made up with time.

Xert Adaptive Training Advisor Rainbow Dial
I like Xert’s Adaptive Training Advisor. I prefer the Rainbow Dial to the interval targets and workout goal. The Advisor does not account for other aspects of training and recovery. Instead of 193w, I’m making my endurance rides roughly 170 watts of intensity, and this correlates with the DFAa1 system of determing lower threshold. This is making my easier rides easier, and longer, with less strain (something rarely discussed in Xertworld.)

On my harder days, I’ll be performing intervals in the “Pursuiter” and “Puncheur” range of intensity (30-90sec efforts above 350w for me), so that my WEEKLY FOCUS will be in the “Rouleur” and “Breakaway Specialist” range of intensity. I will use the Rainbow Dial in Xert, but I’m not going to use the Suggested Workouts, which tend to favor blocks of workouts that don’t follow my plan for 75 XSS and don’t agree with my plan for intensities. I’ve followed this path before, but with 30 years of experience, I know my own body better.

TRAINING TOOLS

I’ll be including files or links to files for download for everyone to peruse. I’m going to use the Vo2master as much as possible, so that my gas exchange can be monitored and reviewed. I’ll be recording the Saturated Muscle Oxygen (SmO2) on my Left Lateralis, as well as my Total Hemoglobin Count. These are not shown on Xert, and will be analyzed separately. Finally, I’ll be performing regular DFAa1 ramp tests (probably every Monday), indoors, to then post on www.runalyze.com, for review on my lower intensity threshold.

The GOAL

The goal, with 75 XSS over 75 days, is to try and get back up to about 290-300 watts for my Functional Threshold Power, keep 25-30 High Intensity Energy KiloJoules, drop my body weight to 67-68kg, and learn about my body through the instruments I’m providing.

Thanks for joining me on this journey.  I hope the regular posts lead to better discussions about training, fitness, recovery, nutrition, hydration, and enjoying the experience of the ride.