Light lane: a road safety must-have

Every so often, I check slowtwitch.com for the latest tri-related news (memo to self: Timothy Carlson = gorgeous photos). Two tri-related have products have caught my eye recently: Light lane and Alter G‘s anti-gravity treadmill. The former is brilliant, the latter ludicrous.

Bike Lane is a design concept that projects a bike lane. I’ll buy four of those, thank you very much. I also want one to keep the noisy kids and smelly passengers on the train at bay.

Designed “for everyone” who has $75,000 lying around, the Alter G G Pro trainer is an anti-gravity treadmill which uses air pressure to lower your body weight by as much as 80% – as long as you don’t fart.

’tis the season to be hopeful. And proud.

What makes my weekend? Let’s see: on Friday, my son Nicolas, aka Nic the quick, more than lived up to his nickname by acing his first swim training session, having fun throughout and making yours truly proud. Nic was promptly promoted from the beginner ‘zeepaardjes A’ group to the advanced ‘zeepaardjes B’ group.

My missus and I then enjoyed a fine meal in the lovely company of our neighbors and four of their out-stan-ding wines: a 1992 Les Vaillons Chablis Premier Cru, a 1995 Château Peymartin Saint-Julien, a 1990 Château Notton Margaux and to top it all off, a 2002 Château Limbourg Pessac-Léognan.

On Saturday, a very instructive technique session in the pool (narrow leg kicks! body balance! head position!) woke me up, some quality blog posts and more bad news for print journalism in Belgium gave me food for thought during a spirited 5x1000m interval run and Aretha Franklin set the mood for a relaxing evening, followed by some midnight PhD brainstorming and writing.

"Lane Lines" by Jean-François Lanzarone (flickr.com)

On Sunday I played with my kids, had a meeting with my fellow triathlon organizers (expect more news shortly), edited a position paper and struggled some more with the theoretical orientation section of my budding PhD. Discourse analysis is a theoretical minefield.

Rabobank team etiquette

In attempt to clean up pro cycling’s scandal ridden image, Team Rabobank is putting their riders on notice:  behave, or else! This season, the Pro Tour team is enforcing proper cycling etiquette (instead of complete pandemonium).

Violations range from the obvious, such as testing positive for party drugs (aka the Tom Boonen rule), to the absurd. How else can you describe a first offense €1,000 fine for unauthorized weblinks (‘ongeoorloofde weblinks’) ? Or a €1,000 fine for having a ‘guest’ in the hotel without permission? To my knowledge, Team Rabobank is the first pro sports team in history to ban bootie calls. Imagine such a rule in the NBA. The league would fold overnight.

If you read Dutch, the full list is available at Het Nieuwsblad (pdf).

Speed on a budget: carbon wheelsets

On a good day, I can resist any temptation that is not made out of carbon fiber. On a bad day, I contemplate grand larceny to score me some Zipp 404s or Lightweights. Admit it, you’ve fondled those dimpled beauties at your local bike shop, swayed by the voom-voom sirens, in awe of the build quality but startled by the price tag. Now hear this: there are a number of ahem more affordable carbon wheelsets on the market. Here are two which have caught my attention:

In the blue corner, weighing in at an amazing 1600 grams and retailing for 928 euros (€409 + €519), the – gulp – most  affordable carbon wheelset on the market, the 2009 Pro Bikegear RC50. The look of blazing speed.

In the red corner, engineered by freakin’ Zipp Speed Weaponry and reviewed at testrider.com, weighing in at 1884 grams and retailing for 1300 dollars, the 2008 Flash-Point FP60. That’s right, Zipp on a budget.

The frosty charm of winter cycling

Just returned from an easy, 35k bike ride, my first since October 2008. To quote the mighty Edmund Blackadder (4:57 mark), my training session

started badly, it tailed off a little in the middle and the less said about the end the better, but apart from that, excellent!

I had a flat, battled head winds, nearly froze my fingers off and my newly installed Polar speed sensor didn’t transmit my cycling data to my RS800cx wrist unit. On a more positive note though, the Endura Road overshoes I purchased at wiggle.co.uk are an excellent piece of kit.

2009 resolution: write, revise, train, submit, race, defend, rejoice, travel

In 2009, I will submit and defend my PhD thesis. This will require time management, dedication, an epiphany or two and physical fitness. That’s why I’m looking to compete in endurance races which (a) fit into my PhD masterplan; (b) are conveniently located; and (c) do not interfere with my family’s summer plans. In other words, I’m gunning for a short race season in May and June, with some prep races in March and April and an early May training camp in Mallorca. My race goals for 2009 are:

• March 29 < 42:30 @ 10k Pegasusloop Londerzeel
• May 26 < 10:15 @ 7k Kettelo timetrial
• May 31 < 1:40:00 @ 20k Brussels
• June 20 < 2:15:00 @ OD Brugge (1000-45-10)
• June 28 < 4:50:00 @ LD Triathlon Vlaanderen (2700-80-20)

Wanted: Gumprechts green paint scheme

If I ever buy a new road or tri bike, I won’t settle for anything less than a Gumprechts pitviper green paint scheme.

Gumprechts green pitviper (photo credit: René Ries, WWF)

Read all about the WWF’s phenomenal biological discoveries in the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia in this  textbook example of a well-crafted press release.

On fatigue, thermoregulation and sweat

Out of curiosity but against better knowing, I have been participating in a medical experiment on thermoregulation and central fatigue at BLITS, VUB‘s research institute for human physiology and sports medicine. The purpose of the experiment was to test the effect of caffeine on performance and thermoregulation (i.e. maintenance of core body temperature). My goal was to explore my ante meridian physical limits – I hardly ever wake up work out before noon.

Following a familiarization trial (a bicycle VO2max test), we, that is a ‘population’ of 8 healthy, male endurance athletes, participated in 4 climatic chamber experimental trials: 2 in 18° C and 2 in 30° C. We were given placebo or caffeine tablets before every experimental trial, which consisted of a 60 minute ‘warm-up’ at 55% of VO2 max (bo-ring!) and a 30 minute time trial at 75% of VO2 max (booyaka!). As can been seen in the graphs below, the warm temperature test was brutal while the ambient temperature test just plain uncomfortable.

Repeated blood sampling, core and surface skin temperature measurements, continuous heart rate, thermal stress and perceived exertion measurements completed the protocol, or so I thought. A battery of psychological tests (item recall, problem solving, pattern recognition) concluded the test protocol. This was not communicated beforehand and made the entire protocol laborious and time-consuming. Nevertheless, I am glad to have taken part in this experiment because:

(a) I would otherwise not push myself so hard during off-season training;
(b) I learned that warm weather all but decimates my power output;
(c) I twice reached Patrick Ewing levels of profuse sweating;
(d) I realized I have a soft spot for sports medicine; and
(e) I found the protocol (f)rigidity curiously comforting (ecological validity, who cares?)

18° C timetrial - consistently uncomfortable

30° C timetrial: consistently painful

It’s like a jungle sometimes

Don’t tell the Top Gear boys, but Transport for London is spot on: (in urban environments) “you’re better off by bike”. As long as you keep your eyes open, of course. Test your awareness.

Via Martin.

The toy is mine: Polar RS800cx

I have purchased the ultimate in triathlon gadgets: Polar’s flagship model, the RS800cx. It does everything except write a PhD. I bought the basic model for a painful 379 euros and then got a good deal on their state-of-the-art G3 GPS sensor. I can now google earth how fast I shower and update my Facebook status. A must have in my book.

The RS800cx really is a complete training tool. The software makes planning and analyzing training sessions a walk in the park. With a few running sessions under my belt, the measurements are spot on. Buy this training computer if you enjoy number crunching and don’t mind studying the manual. The possibilities are endless. An extensive product review can be found on runtotri.blogspot.com. Here’s what a training plan looks like in the software. Goal was to run 6×4 minute kilometers.