So it's been another long while since a post. To be honest, not much out of the ordinary has happened, no epic climbs or long distances.
What has happened is my German course has started. What this means (aside from the fact that I might actually learn some more of the language) is that I have a 17 km each way commute four days a week, which I'm doing on the fixie. It's been getting pretty much all of the kilometers I've been cycling lately since I was hit at the start of the month. Not cos the new bike is broken or anything, more just circumstances. I trust that Munich is a low crime city, but maybe not low enough to leave a full carbon fiber bike outside for a few hours...
So, I basically have a commuting week of around 160 km, which is nice. I've only actually hit that once, for a few reasons, but it should bounce up again from next week. Max distance in the last month was 225 in a week, the week we had out betriebausflug in work, which meant a few of us did 65 km (with me on the fixie) around some lakes and the river Isar. It was a fabulous day to be out on the bike, with some nice small climbs in (which I somehow managed on the fixie, much to everybody's incredulity).
On a somewhat different note, this weekend sees the target shooting world cup come to Munich :) I've got a weekend ticket to watch the matches and any finals that are on, which should be good. Not to mention that the GB and Irish teams have arranged to meet up :) Should be a good weekend!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Long day.
Warning; Incredibly long post with no pics!
I had a nice day out planned; lovely flat 110 km to fully recover from last weekend. However, it was not to be. About one kilometer from the flat, I came up behind a car, which then stopped in the middle of the road. Thinking this odd, I moved up around it (on the inside). Suddenly, a nice strong engine rev told me I was going down. I went down. Now, normally, this would be totally my fault, having moved around. However, there were no indicators flashing, before or afterwards (yes, I checked, instincts and all that), and the fact that I was almost clear of the car means I was well visible, had he checked.
The conversation afterwards was somewhat interesting;
Driver; You were going too fast.
Me; No, I wasn't. (10 km/hr)
I didn't see your indicators.
Driver; ...
*motions to wife to check side of car*
Me; is it ok? (somewhat incredulously)
Driver; It is ok. *stares at me*
*Gets back into car and drives off*
It was really weird. I mean, he just kept looking at me. I dunno if he was expecting an apology or what, but he certainly wasn't getting it. I was a hell of a lot more concerned about any damage to me and the bike. Very odd experience.
As it turns out, most things were ok. I have a few scrapes, a bit of road rash, but nothing huge. The bike was a little worse off; wheel a few mm out of true, rear derailleur took a bit of a knock, getting me worried about needing a new one. An hour's work learning how to true a wheel and that problem was solved, and some time reindexing the RD had that sorted. It's possibly a little out of alignment, but it shifts fine for the moment. I'll get a tool to adjust it properly at some point.
So, what have we learned;
Don't assume a motorist won't turn, despite lack of indicators.
Don't pass up the inside when they're stopped, they're liable to do anything. Also, it leaves you somewhat exposed and also leaves a lot of the blame, or at least potential for it, on you.
The first one is something that I've never encountered before. To me, if you don't have the indicators on, you're not turning, and that's what I would assume applies across the board. So, after seeing the situation of a motorist stopped in the middle of the road, with no oncoming traffic, no signals, I did what seemed most natural and moved up on the side with the most space. Unfortunately, this was the side he was turning. Could easily have been the other side, just got unlucky today.
On the second, I probably should have stopped behind him. That said, one doesn't have to think too hard for reasons that somebody would arbitrarily stop in the middle of the road. I don't know enough about the ROTR in Ireland, never mind Germany, to know if I would have been held at fault in this situation. Yes, I moved around from the back, but it's not like I was invisible. He had no indicators on and almost certainly didn't bother to check for anybody coming from behind.
The main thing that P***ed me off about the whole thing was the accusation that it was my fault for going too fast. Which is utter crap. GPS data shows that I was, at most, doing about 12 km/hr on that street, a lot less when I was behind him. I was well alongside the car before he started to turn; there was nothing I could have done at any speed.
Anyway, excitement aside, it turned out to be a not too bad day all in all. I did around 40 km on the fixie, heading into Munich to find where my German course is on for the next two months and taking a nice scenic route back out along the river and through the English Gardens. Also, I now know how to true wheels, which is one of the few things that I didn't know how to do. I think the only thing that I haven't done/been shown how to do is replacing a headset, but there's a specific tool for that, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Maintaining one's own bike is a lot of fun!
Finally, adding up my total distances so far this year, I've recorded just over 1600 km so far. Which isn't exactly impressive, but should ramp up pretty fast over the next few months. I should have about 6000 done by the end of the year, all going well. I'm already over the euro/km limit for my bikes, so the next goal is adding in all the other crap that comes with them and reducing the costs then :) Next year will see my price/km travelled come down nicely.
So yeah, that's about it. Hopefully the commute to Munich will go well for the week. And that I'll be able to handle the 34 odd km four days a week, on top of normal work and a long weekend spin!
I had a nice day out planned; lovely flat 110 km to fully recover from last weekend. However, it was not to be. About one kilometer from the flat, I came up behind a car, which then stopped in the middle of the road. Thinking this odd, I moved up around it (on the inside). Suddenly, a nice strong engine rev told me I was going down. I went down. Now, normally, this would be totally my fault, having moved around. However, there were no indicators flashing, before or afterwards (yes, I checked, instincts and all that), and the fact that I was almost clear of the car means I was well visible, had he checked.
The conversation afterwards was somewhat interesting;
Driver; You were going too fast.
Me; No, I wasn't. (10 km/hr)
I didn't see your indicators.
Driver; ...
*motions to wife to check side of car*
Me; is it ok? (somewhat incredulously)
Driver; It is ok. *stares at me*
*Gets back into car and drives off*
It was really weird. I mean, he just kept looking at me. I dunno if he was expecting an apology or what, but he certainly wasn't getting it. I was a hell of a lot more concerned about any damage to me and the bike. Very odd experience.
As it turns out, most things were ok. I have a few scrapes, a bit of road rash, but nothing huge. The bike was a little worse off; wheel a few mm out of true, rear derailleur took a bit of a knock, getting me worried about needing a new one. An hour's work learning how to true a wheel and that problem was solved, and some time reindexing the RD had that sorted. It's possibly a little out of alignment, but it shifts fine for the moment. I'll get a tool to adjust it properly at some point.
So, what have we learned;
Don't assume a motorist won't turn, despite lack of indicators.
Don't pass up the inside when they're stopped, they're liable to do anything. Also, it leaves you somewhat exposed and also leaves a lot of the blame, or at least potential for it, on you.
The first one is something that I've never encountered before. To me, if you don't have the indicators on, you're not turning, and that's what I would assume applies across the board. So, after seeing the situation of a motorist stopped in the middle of the road, with no oncoming traffic, no signals, I did what seemed most natural and moved up on the side with the most space. Unfortunately, this was the side he was turning. Could easily have been the other side, just got unlucky today.
On the second, I probably should have stopped behind him. That said, one doesn't have to think too hard for reasons that somebody would arbitrarily stop in the middle of the road. I don't know enough about the ROTR in Ireland, never mind Germany, to know if I would have been held at fault in this situation. Yes, I moved around from the back, but it's not like I was invisible. He had no indicators on and almost certainly didn't bother to check for anybody coming from behind.
The main thing that P***ed me off about the whole thing was the accusation that it was my fault for going too fast. Which is utter crap. GPS data shows that I was, at most, doing about 12 km/hr on that street, a lot less when I was behind him. I was well alongside the car before he started to turn; there was nothing I could have done at any speed.
Anyway, excitement aside, it turned out to be a not too bad day all in all. I did around 40 km on the fixie, heading into Munich to find where my German course is on for the next two months and taking a nice scenic route back out along the river and through the English Gardens. Also, I now know how to true wheels, which is one of the few things that I didn't know how to do. I think the only thing that I haven't done/been shown how to do is replacing a headset, but there's a specific tool for that, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Maintaining one's own bike is a lot of fun!
Finally, adding up my total distances so far this year, I've recorded just over 1600 km so far. Which isn't exactly impressive, but should ramp up pretty fast over the next few months. I should have about 6000 done by the end of the year, all going well. I'm already over the euro/km limit for my bikes, so the next goal is adding in all the other crap that comes with them and reducing the costs then :) Next year will see my price/km travelled come down nicely.
So yeah, that's about it. Hopefully the commute to Munich will go well for the week. And that I'll be able to handle the 34 odd km four days a week, on top of normal work and a long weekend spin!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Welsh Airgun Open
The call for entries to this match has been put out. As usual, it's set in the beautiful city of Cardiff, which I've gotten to know reasonably well over the years :D Historically, it's been one of the (few) abroad (rather than international) matches that DURC has sent a team to. It really gives great experience to any shooter who goes over, be they a novice or senior shooter.
To this end, I am throwing down the gauntlet to myself; try to get to this match. If I can at least get a range to train in sorted within a month, then I'm going for it. Three months of training should be plenty to get me back into the swing of it. Hell, I've shot some of my best matches on much less prep after a break! OK, air rifle may be a bit different, but I have the basic skills, it's just getting some WD40 on them to loosen myself up a little. Or not, as the case is...
This was in my plan to do this year anyway, though the specific goals will have to be rearranged somewhat, I suspect. I won't know my current status until into August, so that's something of an issue, but, as usual, the aim is an MQS, or 570ish. More realistically, and based on how I was doing the last time I took air rifle seriously, maybe 550-560 with good training.
Let's roll.
To this end, I am throwing down the gauntlet to myself; try to get to this match. If I can at least get a range to train in sorted within a month, then I'm going for it. Three months of training should be plenty to get me back into the swing of it. Hell, I've shot some of my best matches on much less prep after a break! OK, air rifle may be a bit different, but I have the basic skills, it's just getting some WD40 on them to loosen myself up a little. Or not, as the case is...
This was in my plan to do this year anyway, though the specific goals will have to be rearranged somewhat, I suspect. I won't know my current status until into August, so that's something of an issue, but, as usual, the aim is an MQS, or 570ish. More realistically, and based on how I was doing the last time I took air rifle seriously, maybe 550-560 with good training.
Let's roll.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Test TT
I decided that I'd do a test time trial today, just for the laugh. I have a good set of aero bars that I've only used once, in the rain, so I decided to give them a whirl.
Set out with the intention of keeping the heart rate at about 160 bpm, or thereabouts, high enough to get a decent effort out of the ride, but low enough to get me through and not collapse after. This end of things more or less went to plan, lots of bouncing between 160 and 180, which is to be expected for the heat of the day, and the fact that I'm not used to constant power outputs.
What I was surprised at was my ability to hold speed. I mean, the aero-bars make a huge difference! My position isn't great cos my shoulders started to hurt after about 30 mins. Not a bad hurting, but the kind you get from leaning on a desk poorly for a while. Overall, I completed the first 16 km in 28 mins 40 or so, which seems to be an alright time. I was held up at a traffic light for a min or so, which kinda ruined things, but other than that it was pretty nice sailing. No downhills to help me out, either.
So, now I have a base time. Maybe weekly comparisons to track progress for this kind of distance would be good. A 1 hr effort is possibly a bit much for the moment, though it really would show a lot. And I could have a good idea of how I perform at threshold power. This calculator puts me at around 190 Watts for the effort, though it does assume a good aero position, which I most likely don't have... Unfortunately, that's one metric I'm a while away from justifying, so guestimates will have to suffice. Once I get a bit more consistent with the perceived efforts, I can start looking at a 40 km TT :) Then come the deep section wheels, pointy hat... :P
Set out with the intention of keeping the heart rate at about 160 bpm, or thereabouts, high enough to get a decent effort out of the ride, but low enough to get me through and not collapse after. This end of things more or less went to plan, lots of bouncing between 160 and 180, which is to be expected for the heat of the day, and the fact that I'm not used to constant power outputs.
What I was surprised at was my ability to hold speed. I mean, the aero-bars make a huge difference! My position isn't great cos my shoulders started to hurt after about 30 mins. Not a bad hurting, but the kind you get from leaning on a desk poorly for a while. Overall, I completed the first 16 km in 28 mins 40 or so, which seems to be an alright time. I was held up at a traffic light for a min or so, which kinda ruined things, but other than that it was pretty nice sailing. No downhills to help me out, either.
So, now I have a base time. Maybe weekly comparisons to track progress for this kind of distance would be good. A 1 hr effort is possibly a bit much for the moment, though it really would show a lot. And I could have a good idea of how I perform at threshold power. This calculator puts me at around 190 Watts for the effort, though it does assume a good aero position, which I most likely don't have... Unfortunately, that's one metric I'm a while away from justifying, so guestimates will have to suffice. Once I get a bit more consistent with the perceived efforts, I can start looking at a 40 km TT :) Then come the deep section wheels, pointy hat... :P
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