Team BKool CycleChat

[Insomina]

You weren't the only one that thought I was going to get caught. It was a helluva battle with Insomnia, I swear he had a bungee hooked to my saddle.

I think I was well beaten in the end - although I did have to stop to put sunglasses on. That kit!

 

[Add]

Amount of time you spend on here I question how much work you are actually doing?

I would quantify it as, 'just enough!'

 

[kipster]

I'll take a bit of that encouragement too next time please. All I got was Kipster posting, 'I'm going to take you down!' Just as I left the start. Tbh, that was all the encouragement I needed. Only just held him off though.

Shoud've keep my mouth shut, I was all out for the ride last night, average HR 173, maxed and 186,and still couldn't catch up, needed another couple of miles.

 

[Baldo Mero]

I
get a chest one, as the wrist ones aren't as accurate just yet.

Not in general, but the scosche rhytm+ is really in another league and as good as a chest monitor for most. Not really a wrist one though: more of a forearm one.

 

[Add]

Shoud've keep my mouth shut, I was all out for the ride last night, average HR 173, maxed and 186,and still couldn't catch up, needed another couple of miles.

Not in general, but the scosche rhytm+ is really in another league and as good as a chest monitor for most. Not really a wrist one though: more of a forearm one.

Is that right? Are they silly money? Because I have always fancied a wrist mounted HRM. I forget what it is they struggle to read, but I know that Garmin didn't recommend them with the 920XT which I use.

 

[Goldwolfie]

Don't know how old you are but I am 53 and so just a little wary of my he going over 170 during these rides and often ease off when it does. AAAC,s HR is always lower than mine which is pretty impressive given his wattage and cadence. That aside most of us have found proper ventilation in our sufferpits and a huge fan for cooling bring HR down significantly.

I'm 50, my peak HR seems to be 180, but start to hit the buffers around 172-174. I have just invested in a big fan and it does help with all over cooling, but I still pour sweat from my head when doing something like last night.

Looking at my stats for last night's 'epic' it was the first time I have exceeded my preferred max HR for any length of time. As an oldie at 64, I like to keep below 156 and was running at about 164 for the last 2 miles. I didn't realise at the time as there was that much going on, and just wanted to get the pain over with.

Despite having my fan on full pelt, at the end I was gasping more than I ever had in the past, which is probably down to the extra few beats the old ticker was pumping out.

Anyway, despite all that it was great fun and soon recovered, so I'm happy to fall into the consensus of the group for future events. I'll just have to try a bit harder at the start of the race, and take it a bit easier at the end to even the strain.

A big thanks to Geoff who must have put hours over the last couple of weeks to make this all happen, and run so smoothly.I've only had to give up about 2 hours of my time to take part.

Also looking forward to the Chain Gang race on Thursday, it will be interesting how that pans out.

 

[gbrown]

Is that right? Are they silly money? Because I have always fancied a wrist mounted HRM. I forget what it is they struggle to read, but I know that Garmin didn't recommend them with the 920XT which I use.

I've got a scosche rythm+ (for the bluetooth to the KICKR app) as well as a Garmin, and they pretty much track each other.

As Baldo says, you can wear it on your wrist but I used it on my upper arm, just tucked out of sight under my jersey sleeve. This does mean you can pop it on and off without having to strip to the waist, and no need to wet your skin as it is optical.

The only real difference is that the rythm+ is rechargeable and you need to remember to charge it occasionally.

Think it is around £70, so a bit more than the Garmin one. I'm pretty sure I got it on a deal for a few quid less.

Geoff

 

[Randyberlin]

Has anyone had Saturday's ride show up? Thinking about contacting bkool.it was my best time and I want it!

No. But I did see Bill and LB on my wall after the race.

Edit. Rode Steve P's Ashley Tatton loop this morning. Nice video Steve. Thanks.

 

[CXRAndy]

Tuesday is good for me, like mentioned i'd prefer a little earlier, but happy with majority opinion. Also same route but may be another (same length) to add a little variety? Thursday is good till spring then outdoor season for timetrials

Andy

 

[Wosborne]

Hi Geoff. I would also like to join the new handicap group? I have had the Bkool since Christmas and currently cycling from Land Ends to John o' Groats (in stage of about 25 miles). Currenly I am Active 7.

Could you tell a little bit more?

Thanks Wayne

Well, I finally got all the correct times dug out (I think) but the results don't really match what I saw in the session!

The recording shows the following finishes (plus a few missing riders slotted in place)

1) Roleur1
2) BillS - Not showing on the recording
3) Adski
4) Insomnia
5) Bert1971
6) Kipster
7) Goldwolfie
8) Rob
9) Bobinski
10) Baldo Mero
11) Bridgy
12) BenH
13) Berty Bassett
14) JLaw
15) Soarerv8
16) PaulF - I think
17) CX Randy - I think

No idea where AAAC finished as he disappeared from the recording (again) before the finish, and Lars time seems to put him Second but no sign of him anywhere near that!

It is a struggle to figure it out around all these glitches!

EDIT: I think I worked out what happened with you Lars, it looks like you started really late, so trailed in at the back, but had you started at the correct time you would have come second (on the road) just a few seconds in front of Bill (assuming he wouldn't have killed himself to keep in front of you, and assuming you could have seen him).

Geoff

@Jellybaby

No problem, you're welcome to join in. We will need to work out a handicap for whichever stage it is, so it helps if you can get an idea of the time on the stage we are running, or a couple of riders that you habitually finish close to (on similar terrain). Failing that, a guess from your Fitness level will have to do.

The way the handicaps work, you start off with a conservative one, and as you log more and more results you get a slightly more generous one, as you are more likely to be approaching your full potential for the stage.

Geoff

 

[Baldo Mero]

Is that right? Are they silly money? Because I have always fancied a wrist mounted HRM. I forget what it is they struggle to read, but I know that Garmin didn't recommend them with the 920XT which I use.

Highly recommended, you will not have any accuracy issue and you do not have to strip and lick. A couple of girls from my inline skate gang love it. Personally I am OK with chest straps but a lot of people, particularly females, don't like them. As gprown says the only downs are the price and the need to charge.
You may have read about their inability to measure HR variability, which is something that optical sensors struggle with. Unless you rely on these readings for estimating training recovery and fatigue with advanced computers (which tends to be not very accurate anyway) this won't matter to you

HAve a look:

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/05/scosche-antbluetooth-optical.html

 

[Add]

Highly recommended, you will not have any accuracy issue and you do not have to strip and lick. A couple of girls from my inline skate gang love it. Personally I am OK with chest straps but a lot of people, particularly females, don't like them. As gprown says the only downs are the price and the need to charge.
You may have read about their inability to measure HR variability, which is something that optical sensors struggle with. Unless you rely on these readings for estimating training recovery and fatigue with advanced computers (which tends to be not very accurate anyway) this won't matter to you

HAve a look:

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/05/scosche-antbluetooth-optical.html

It was the fatigue and recovery issues that actually kept me away from them, you're right. My computer does all those calcs. But you are also quite right that they should not be taken as gospel, and if I listened to the recovery times, I could only train once every 3 days.
I get on well with the chest strap, but as you also point out my wife isn't a fan.
I will look at the one you and Geoff are talking about, it sounds good. Even if I just end up getting it for my good lady. She is after all training for her second Ironman event this year! And last I hope!

 

[BILL S]

Getting the Handicap's correct for a first run is tricky, so running a stage several times makes sense.

How was the Tuesday night at the slightly later time? It seemed fairly well attended!

If this Tuesday slot works well, we could run the Handicap chases then, so as not to interfere in the Thursday night Chain Gang? We could also run them as a league, without getting in the way of the Chain Gang league, and overlap them.

That would allow us to perhaps run one stage from the Chain Gang (or elsewhere) several Tuesday's over a few weeks, and hence get the Handicaps tuned for the final run? It would also mean just one Handicap Chase a week, so you guys had a chance to recover and do the Chain Gang, Goats and other sessions you want to do.

What do people think, is there demand for a Tuesday Handicap, repeated a couple of weeks in a row with gradually tighter Handicaps?

As the races tend to be full on, choosing slightly shorter stages may mean a bit less strain, I would say the current stage length (31-52 minutes) is about the limit.

Geoff

Geoff, The later Tuesday ride worked out better for me than I expected because I was able to eat my dinner at 5:30 and there was enough time for it to settle before the ride. I normally don't eat until afterwards but this later time made it possible. I'm up for riding every Tuesday if you want to run a handicap weekly and either 7 or 8 is fine for me. Probably eating a good meal 2 hours before hand helped if anything.

 

[Add]

Tuesday is good for me, like mentioned i'd prefer a little earlier, but happy with majority opinion. Also same route but may be another (same length) to add a little variety? Thursday is good till spring then outdoor season for timetrials

Andy

We did discuss alternate routes, but conceded that in fact no one is taking ANY notice of the course, and it is easier to keep adjusting handicaps, if the same route is repeated.
That said we are looking at trying a 10 miler from the Chaingang League for next months handicap.
I imagine we could end up running the same route for a month and then try a new one the next month.

 

[Add]

I couldn't do earlier than 8pm on a Tuesday, so it suits me perfect!