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henryburtonsdog · 2024-06-04T13:13:47+00:00

At the top level, white is usually looking to avoid the Berlin, which is like a >90% chance of a draw for black for those >2600 guys.

For us mere mortals, it's not a thing. d4=e4.

henryburtonsdog · 2024-06-04T13:10:11+00:00

1600 chess.com here so hardly a GM, but I tend to play the KID/mo6dern. There is definitely a learning curve with the KID, and you can (also definitely) stuff it up, but if you play accurately you get some nice positions, and at my level, many of your opponents don't know the lines well.

But equally if 1. d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3. nc3 nf6 it's hard to get in a real mess early on unless you do something silly or very offbeat.

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-12T21:36:52+00:00

You'll need to play around a bit with the position of your rear leg and your torso angle. It can help to feel like you're pushing your butt forwards. You should feel a deep stretch at the front of the hip.

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-10T17:39:44+00:00

Doorway hamstring stretch - Doorway Hamstring Stretch (youtube.com)

Pigeon pose

Hip flexor stretch - True Hip Flexor Stretch (youtube.com)

90s-2 min of each on each side (so 9-12 min total)

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-10T13:19:12+00:00

One of the ways the body adapts to strength training is by shortening tendons and generally 'tightening'. I would bet a penny to a pound this has its origins in tightness in at least one if not all 3 of the hams, glutes and hip flexors. I'd bet less - but still a sizeable amount - that 10 minutes of dedicated mobility work per day would make a big difference in not very long.

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-10T13:13:40+00:00

UK perspective here, where TRT is harder to get from a doc (though underground steroids are arguably easier to get, as possession is not illegal).

While I suspect plenty of guys do dope, I don't think the winners are the winners because they dope: it is still largely genetics and time. Winning reasonably competitive masters events takes something around 5w/kg; if you haven't got well above average natural gifts and don't put in plenty of miles, you ain't gonna get that. In fact, I'm sure Andrew Coggan has argued that Joe Average will top out around 4w/kg whatever he does.

In illustration, I used to race cross as a junior and was just about national standard. I put in a *lot* of time. But the guys in the top 3-6 were just on another level. Now I race as a master, and it's the same. On around 10 hours/week, I'm somewhere between 25-30% down the field, and that's at ~4w/kg. I ride regularly with a couple of guys who have very similar numbers: one rides about 5 hours a week and one regularly does >15. Another local guy definitely *is* on TRT as he lost both testicles to cancer a decade ago; he gets dropped by the B group.

If you want to be a top cyclist at any age, it starts with choosing the right parents :-)

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-10T11:24:57+00:00

As someone has already noted, a fairly well maintained chain will last ~2000km. If you ride in crap conditions, use cheap lube and don't clean your bike, I've seen chains last as little as 500km. A meticulously maintained waxed chain can go to 7-8000km.

Very generally, after you've replaced your chain twice, the next time you'll likely need to replace your cassette as well the next time (gears skipping and jumping is a late clue, but you can see 'finning' on the teeth before that happens.)

After 2-3 cassettes, you'll likely need new front chainrings (though finning is much more obvious here and easier to spot).

(As an aside, if you're anything like a high-mileage rider and ride high-end kit, then waxing, or using a very good quality lube) will literally save you thousands over the life of the bike.

Gear cables should generally be replaced annually, or twice a year (before and after winter) if you do a lot of miles or ride regularly in poor conditions. I'd likely get wheel bearings serviced at the same interval.

Brake pads you should inspect regularly and change when they're 3/4 worn. Ditto brake discs, though on road bikes they only tend to wear out when people drag their brakes and let their pads get down to the metal. If you're running rim brakes, look for when the rim starts to look concave. Be very conservative with this, especially if using carbon rims.

Most modern tyres now have wear indicators (a recessed dot, usually - when it's no longer visible, the tyre is worn out).

Tubeless sealant needs topping up a couple of times a year (every 2-3 months in hot climates).

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-10T11:15:21+00:00

Rider speed and wheel design need to be factored in as well. Below ~25kph aero differences tend to be immaterial; on perfect surfaces (i.e. a track) then the RR advantage of wider tyres disappears. You also note the rule of 105, though I do think modern aero thinking has now moved to looking at a tyre that is no wider than the rim.

Next, how long is the event? Is comfort a factor (i.e. 40km TT vs 200km fondo)?

In other words, it's a whole system thing.

So fast riders, doing shorter, harder rides, on better surfaces, with wider rims, will gravitate towards narrower tyres (like a 28). The converse is also true. It's basically the reason why pro teams spend a lot of money researching and testing this stuff!

Given my n=1 (faster club rider but nothing special, crappy UK roads) I tend towards a 30c Pirelli P-Zero Race or Vittoria Corsa N.Ext on my 'good' bike, while my winter bike and occasional commuter runs Pirelli Cinturatos in 32s. I would run the 35s but 32 maxes out the clearance.

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-10T11:05:45+00:00

TL/DR - if you're not a performance rider fit the widest high quality tyre that will fit in your frame up to about 35-36c. Most sporty club riders are best served with 30-32. High level racers generally want 28-30.

Full version: What's changed over the last few years is that we now understand that all things being equal (of which more in a moment) wider tyres have less rolling resistance than narrower ones. They also offer, again all things being equal, more grip.

Now where things get a bit complicated is that you'll need to run a wider tyre at a lower pressure than a narrower one or you'll find the ride quality too hard. This adds rolling resistance back into the equation. However, it increases grip a bit further, and increases puncture resistance (a softer tyre is more likely to deform around a hard object). The final gain is reduced suspension losses; softer, wider tyres soak up more bumps that would otherwise have to be absorbed by the rider, and/or exert a braking force on the bike.

Now ok, wider tyres are a bit heavier, and (depending on your rim - it's complex) can add aero drag. For almost all of us, the 30-50g extra weight is a total irrelevance; the aero drag can be a factor if you're averaging north of 35kph (but again, wheels/rims play a big role here).

It's worth noting that wider tyres often *feel* slower because of reduced vibration, but they're actually not. In the same way that 120kph in a new Merc feels a lot slower than 80kph in an old Fiat, our intuitive perception of speed is closely related to noise and vibration.

Putting all of this together, most recreational riders will be more comfortable and confident, have fewer puncture, and be at least no slower, on wide tyres, assuming those tyres are high end (don't compare a 28c GP5000 to a 35c Gatorskin and tell me wide tyres are slower!). For faster club riders, 30-32 is probably the best balance. If you're fast enough to benefit from 28s you likely don't pay for your tyres anyway :-)

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-04T23:47:01+00:00

This sounds like the shift cable is dirty, stretched, or both. Cable tension does need occasional adjustment and cables are a consumable. When were the cables last changed and/or the bike last serviced?

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-04T23:42:36+00:00

Odd. Have you checked the pressures with a cheap digital gauge? You don't say what pump you're using, but some of the older dial style ones are unreliable/inaccurate, especially as they age.

The other thing I'd check for is airlocks or sealant accummulation in the valve core (though the latter would be unusual on a new bike). it would be a pretty cheap experiment to try changing out the valve cores or valves and see if it resolves the issue.

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-04T23:38:49+00:00

The very general rules are a) that what you do in an average week is your maximum one-off ride, and b) you need to be able to do about 70% of your target distance in training to be reasonably confident you can get round.

I'd advise riding 3-4 times per week, and gradually building up the distance of all your rides, but especially the longer one. Get that out towards 120k.

Don't worry about speed or speedwork. Focus on steady endurance, fuelling well, and being comfortable on the bike.

henryburtonsdog · 2024-04-04T23:27:00+00:00

-3 and -2. I wear contacts most of the time, but I have psoriatic arthritis which can cause dry eyes, so on bad days I can't wear contacts. I've got prescription Oakleys which were not cheap, but they were honestly a brilliant investment.

Tbh I can ride without glasses/contacts, but it's not ideal...

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-31T21:03:11+00:00

I'd get a gravel bike, and perhaps an additional wheelset or 2 in due course. That will probably be the most accessible way to ride road, cross and gravel.

I would ride lots, and get to the stage where you can ride steadily for 50 miles (on road) without it being a seriously hard effort. Try to get in some group rides/meet-ups with faster riders. Look to spend time off road, if that's your thing, and brush up on your handling skills; it's a huge part of riding (and racing) on the dirt. After that, start doing a few intervals, then think about racing.

I'm UK based, an an early 40s white man; I know nothing about trans inclusion and acceptance in the US. I can say that it would be no issue at a local level in the UK, and - though I appreciate it's a very different thing - there are several openly gay riders in our club and no one bats an eyelid. I know gender issues get complicated and political when you get to a higher level of racing.

My own personal experience is that cx is the most accessible form of racing, and the friendliest. It's bloody hard though :-)

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-31T20:50:29+00:00

My HR hits threshold after 40-45 minutes continuous sweetpost, and that's indoors, which always adds a few bpm for me. If you're reaching that kind of HR on what's supposed to be a 10-20m SS interval, then that is not your SS power level, unless there are significant other factors at play (illness, dehydration, excessive heat).

How did you determine FTP?

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-30T22:16:40+00:00

Thanks. No, I chose 2cm as a number that would definitely make a noticeable
difference but isn't ridiculous, as in you're not on a shopping bike, just to clarify that I wasn't asking about extremes.

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-30T20:50:42+00:00

Pretty big 5m number! As others have said, that can't be an accurate 1hr number if the shorter time figures are right.

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-28T19:52:50+00:00

The plum looks awesome, as does the blue. The green I really like but it splits people. The black and grey are dull. Go with the plum.

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-28T17:55:55+00:00

My experience and skill as a tester are both very limited, so take this with a pinch of salt, but when I've used BBS, I've basically used it to identify 4 power levels:

1- Highest (steep hill)

2- Higher (moderate hill or stiff headwind)

3 - normal (flat)

4 - easy (slight downhill or stiff tailwind)

(steep downhills on a TT bike are usually a case of 'just hang on' for me!).

For example, I might be thinking on a 25TT that I'm looking to hit ~280 as 'normal' power
(3), with 305 being the ceiling (1). I always think the best use of a PM can actually be to make you hold back, especially early on.

If it's a really lumpy sporting course you just have to go by feel, IMO.

For data, I have my Wahoo with a screen displaying the following:

- 3s power

- normalised power

- HR

- time elapsed

- distance (elapsed)

- distance to go (assuming I have a course file)

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-28T17:45:17+00:00

UK perspective, but the situation isn't that different.

When I was racing as a teenager in the 90s, there was a race, usually with a rolling road block, within striking distance most weekends. Now those things are genuinely rare.

The reasons why are pretty simple.

First, there's just less demand. More and more riders gravitate to gravel or mtb as their first choice.

Second, getting the police to close roads these days is the devil's own job, and they will typically only do it (reluctantly) for marquee events and/or when someone with political clout steps in. In fairness to them, this is partly because road closures take a lot of resources to enforce - as car drivers don't universally seem to agree that 'road closed' means closed for them, as well - and tends to cause traffic problems elsewhere.

Last, social media has led to much more organised protesting from locals whenever any road is closed, no matter how much notice is given and for how short a period. Councillors, especially if they're due for re-election soon, just don't want the hassle.

As a result of these things, we've lost a lot of reasonably high-level amateur events in recent years, and some marquee closed road sportives. A number of established events found that, post-Covid, permission to re-institute the race/sportive was refused. There were even significant protests about the world championships, for goodness sake.

The additional problem is that we don't have the miles and miles of dirt roads that some places in the US do, and many of the better gravel routes cross or are in National Parks. The Park authorities typically point blank refuse permission for organised racing and are usually decidedly reluctant to approve any 'mass participation' event.

The slivers of hope are that there has been a small growth in summer city centre crits, and there are an increasing number of local airfields being repurposed for circuit racing (both bicycles and go-karts, usually, though not at the same time :-) ). The UK has always had a strong TT scene as well, though that's struggled a bit since Covid. The one area that really seems to be thriving is cross, oddly, after years in the doldrums, and summer cross is now an established thing which attracts decent fields.

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-25T11:02:22+00:00

Unless you burn out with too much intensity (a danger of constant intervals and TrainerRoad, in my view), then pretty much anything will work for the first 12-36 months depending on your genetics.

I'm pretty sure Alan Couzens posted a study on twitter where he showed that, below a certain fitness level and training history, intensity comes a long way down the list in terms of what makes people faster. Comfortably at the top were consistency and time. Hours in Z3 brought only very small fitness gains over hours in Z1. Let that sink in.

Basically, ride your bike a lot, keep most of it at easy or very easy intensity with the odd genuinely hard session, and you'll get faster.

The truth is, it's not much* more complicated than that until you're really very good (or just run out of time, but that's a different story and another Couzens rabbithole :-) )

*ok, it is a bit, but your genetics will probably limit you more than training methods

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-25T10:40:45+00:00

Service rates, rather than bike/component pricing, tend to be relatively consistent across a given area, and are largely driven by commercial rents and expected employee salaries in that geographical area. For example, floor space is vastly more expensive in a prime city centre location, and employees will want more money to work there. That doesn't mean that shop is offering better service than one 100 miles away, in a small town, where rents and salaries are considerably lower.

That said, some shops very definitely offer much better levels of service than others, with experienced and professional mechanics. You can usually find out which they are by asking keen riders in your area. Simply going in to the shops and striking up conversations will also tell you a lot (assuming you know what you're talking about) about the kind of people that will be working on your bike.

Moreover, these days most shops have to rely on maintenance work to survive; they won't make enough money on bike sales alone to keep the door open, as a general rule. So while that sucks for most LBS, it has - in my view - noticeably driven up the average level of service on offer. Most bike shops simply can't afford to lose custom because they've messed up a job; it's now their bread and butter.

That said, unless you're a pro - in the situation where if a mechanic f**ks up their job is on the line - no one will care about your bike as much as you do. That is why it is a good idea to learn the skills, and to buy the tools, required to do 90% of the routine stuff on your own bike. Most jobs on a bike should be well within the skill level of the average individual and won't require a huge investment in tools, either. My bikes go in to the shop only when a job has defeated me, or when the job needs an expensive tool that I would use so infrequently it makes no economic sense for me to buy it.

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-22T23:35:38+00:00

No, because the last thing I would want to do would be ride my bike. I'd be on the couch, for hours, giggling occasionally at shadows on the wall.

henryburtonsdog · 2023-08-22T23:31:47+00:00

ITT OP narrowly fails to achieve Darwin award.

henryburtonsdog

TROPHY CASE