Short Crank Database

Hi.
Today I'm going to talk about short cranks.

There are lots of reasons why folks want shorter-than-normal cranks.

• some folks are petite - the 5 ft rider has shorter legs than the 6 ft rider!
• some folks ride TT, and shorter cranks allow a more aero position
• some folks have injuries - longer cranks result in a more acture knee angle

How short is short?
Just about every makers covers 170-175mm.
A great many cover 165mm cranks, too.
So I'm going to concentrate here on cranks of 160mm length or less
(btw, I'm currently running a 152mm crankset on my bike, even though I am 6 feet 3 inches tall!)

Getting Some Country Air

A nice little ride out to Quainton.
The "tower" is the remains of a windmill, and look like it has been converted into a tall, thin, circular, house.
(Must be fun putting shelves on the walls!)

Today's ride starts off with the infrastructure I mentioned a few days ago.
The route runs clockwise, and the long, straight line is "Sapphire Way", then "Pebble Way".
I continued on Pebble Way right through Stone to the very end of that cycle route, though.
(Map is a crop of the "Garmin Connect" map for the ride, and handily contains weather information!)

Infrastructure Showcase - Martin Dalby Way

Funny name for a road that no-one lives on.
Probably some local politician.
I tend not to remember them all.
Just the pro-cycling head of the county council :-)

On to Martin Dalby Way, then.

Here, we are going through Buckingham Park, a new housing development on the North of the town, built over the last 6 years or so.
For our purposes, this roundabout marks one end of Martin Dalby Way, but I am pretty sure the cartographers have it going for another 100 yards ro so to the right.
If you look carefully, just to the right of the tree in the centre of the picture is the wind turbine. More about that later.

Hoppy parked up at the top of Martin Dalby Way.
 To the right of the pic, just about the fence, you can see the turbine again.
The wide-angle setting of the camera makes it look smaller.
The dual use path is visible - as wide as a whole traffic lane on the road.

Zoomed in from the same position.
The largest onshore wind turbinr in the UK.
For scale, the height, including the blades, is about the same as the Empire State Building.
It never looks as big as it is, but it does that tall building thing where as you get closer, it doesn't get much bigger.
It is actually set back a good bit further from the road than it looks, and is clearly visible for miles around.

The white building is a new high school.
This is at the other end of Martin Dalby Way, where an extensive new housing development (known as "BerryFields") is taking place.
The crossing shown allows folks to get from the dual-use path to the school.
Although not mant folks are about on a cold Saturday lunchtime in December, quite a lot of young people use Martin Dalby Way to get from where they live in Buckingham Park to the new school.
The blue "dismount" sign is a bit of an oddity.
I am advised that it has no legal standing, and might as well say "eat more cheese".
Especially odd placement as the crossing is a special "mixed" crossing, where cycling is allowed.

Close up on the crossing controls, clearly showing it is a special "xyxling and pedestrian" crossing.
The different types of crossings have fancy names, and I think this type is a "Toucan" (perhaps a pun is intended).
But the names are just an extra - what matters is knowing how to use each type, and they are are pretty similar, except for the type of users expected to cross (some allow horse riders to cross, for example).

Same position as above, looking back up Martin Dalby Way in the direction we have already come.
For our purposes, that roundabout marks the end of Martin Dalby Way, but again I think the cartographers draw in another couple of hundreds of yards this side of the roundabout as having the same name.

Coming along adjacent to the roundabout, we see the turbine again ...

Here we are going up Martin Dalby Way. Between the two roundabouts, there is almost a mile-and-a-half of decent cycling/running/walking/whatever, with no side turnings!

Martin Dalby Way runs through a rural section between the two housing areas.
Urban, yet right next to rural, Aylesbury is a popular place to live.

Perhaps a clearer shopt of the giant turbine. Empire State Building, sized, remember.

Looking towards the top and Buckingham Park again.
The modest hill at the end adds to the challenge of this multi-user path as a training route.
Just go up and down it half a dozen times each way, and it'll soon toughen you up.

Looking back the other way, back to Berryfields, the low white building to the left is the new school, and the housing is the Berryfields housing area.
Martin Dalby Way is such a good training route that a number of runners sneaked past the builder's fences on some Sundays
(when the builder;s weren't there!) and started posting Strava segments on the route before it was even open for public access!

Showcasing The Local Cycling Infrastructure

Preface
I've mentioned before that I live in a town qith quite a bit of cycle infrastructure.
So today I am going to take you on a brief walkthrough of one route (actually it is two - the routes all end in the town centre, but it is pretty much a straight route, and follow the A418 road into town from the North-East, then follows the same A418 out of town towards the South-west.)
There are more routes than this - indeed, I think there are 8 main routes, plus some bits and bobs that aren't parts of routes as well.
But this is just one example.
All this is real "bricks and mortar" stuff, not plans.
There are quite a few bits that could be improved a bit, and some parts of the route have a bit of a rough surface, where cheap repairs have been made.
We are very grateful for what we have, though, and realise that most folks in the country (and indeed most other countries) have much less than us!
The route I will be showcasing is about 95% off-road, with just a few road sections to link it all up.

Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay

Ok, so there is no dock, and there is no bay.
But there is water.
A couple of days ago I went for a spin on the bike down by the canal.
Sometimes it is good to stop thinking about training and work and stuff, and just go for a pleasant ride in the country.
I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Kitted out for the ride.
I was only intending to go at a moderate pace, and it was quite chilly, so I was well dressed.
Thin merino leggings under my full-length brushed cycle tights.
A sports singlet, then a running T-shirt (you can see the blue neck!),
then a long sleved cycle jersey, then a light showerproof/windproof jacket to top it off.
Be safe, be seen.
On my bike, I just loaded a single bottle with about 500ml of dilute drink
(nice little sugar kick if I need it, plus plenty of hydration - as it was I didn't touch it).
I have a pannier on the back with a few bits and bobs, too.

The road is closed at the bridge over the canal.
The access to the canal path is just before the bridge.
Additionally, it looks like I can sneak my bike through the gap in the barrier (not shown) to the right.
I did this near the end of the trip when I reached this point for the second time.
I like signs that ban motor vehicles, but still let perdestrians and cyclists through!

Down on the cycle path.
The first bit is well maintained and surfaced.
(the canal is rather washed out in the white section to the right
- it is a spur of the Grand Union Canal, that runs from London to Birmingham)
For history buffs, During the 18th Century a lot of canals were built in Britain,
being gradually superceded by railways (a British invention!) during the 19th Century.
The Aylesbury Arm, that I am riding part of today, is a spur
(like a side branch) from the main canal, and was opened in 1815.
I believe it stopped being commercially used as late as about 1960, with low value bulk goods,
such as stone and gravel being transported.

A lot of the Aylesbury to Tring section is like this - here I am looking back towards Aylesbury, so the canal is on the right.
There is a drainage/overflow ditch on the left, so the path is on a raised causeway between the two.
Often the path is not as wide as this, and in a few places one is cycling only about a foot (30cm) from the water.
Fresh air and a bit of "nature" (although not as much as falling in the canal!) is good for the body and the mind.

It's a bit muddy ...
My Marathon Plus tyres just about managed.
Some slipping and sliding at the back in a few places.
Really one would want MTB tyres if it was any muddier than this.

The bucolic lock keeper's cottage.
Actually, this one is more likely to be a works office for the folks that own the canal.
The locks are primarily "self-service", with canal boat owners/users having a special winding arm.

A new exit from the canal - you can see tha path through the bushes on the right.
The large, flat, building is the new dairy - the largest "fresh milk" dairy in the country,
and I think it may be the largest in Europe, too.

The canal owners have done quite a lot of repair work since I last came along this way,
But the path on the Aylesbury to Tring section certainly isn't "all-weather" yet.
It had been dry for three days before the ride, yet in the late Autumn things take quite a time to dry out!

I decided to leave the canal by this rather smart path to Wilstone.
Of course, at the far end, where vehicle have used it, it is rather pot-holed.
Yet another reason why I don't own a road bike.
The extra volume in my 37mm tyres soaked up a lot of road shocks.

At the "houses" end of the path from the canal to Wilstone is a nice information sign.
(Showing its age a bit, but nice, all the same)

Every small village seems to have a pub.
This one is quite old - i'm guessing a couple of hundred years.
It has "authentic" features like a not very even roof.
Basically, if an old-looking building looks like a bunch of drunken workmen built it, is is "real".
But if everything is nice and straight and sensible, it is a modern recreation of an older style of building.

Every small village round here has a war memorial.
This, like most, is to the dead of the First World War.
WW2 is usually commemorated with an extra plaque with a few extra names.

And on to Tring High Street. Quite classy, a bit pricey, Tring is a popular place to live.
From here it is up a slight slope, then down, down, down, a big hill towards home.
Then nip across the "closed" bridge I featured near the top of the post, through 2 areas of housing on minor roads,
and it is time for a nice cup off tea.

Chainline Issues

Preface for this blog
This is a shared post with my other site. I am reposting here because it involves some technical issues that may affect the "practical" cyclist, as well as the "sporting" rider. Indeed, If one is the sort of "sporting" rider that buys a new, ever fancier, bike every couple of years, one might never need to know this.
Bit if one is trying to run a bike cheaply and efficiently for an extended period of time, then it is good to be aware of the issues.

Where it all started - looks like the Incredible Hunk broke my cranks ...

My bike is a bit slow changing into the smallest chainring.
When I have a triple chainring mounted, to get into the smallest ring at the front may require me to get into one of the smallest two rings at the back first.
Changing to the larger rings is fine, it is just trying to get into that small one.

Splitting Up

Kermit Green pointed out that my blog was getting a bit messy.
It is a cycling blog, but there seems to be ever more about running, training, sport and general fitness, rather than cycling.
I am still, essentially, a "transport" cyclist - the bulk of the cycling that Anna and I untertake is commuting and shopping.
Anyway, to keep things simpler, I'm splitting the blog.
Sports/Training stuff will now go in my new blog (Runners and Riders), while this blog will drift back to being more about general cycling (which is what a lot of folks do!)

Long Term Review: Garmin Vivoactive HR

Disclosures: nothing to disclose. No freebies, no hidden payment, no fancy marketing tricks.
Price paid: 190 Pounds Sterling (about 250 US Dollars, about 225 euros)
Model: Garmin Vivoactive HR
I bought the fitness band (with my own money) on 2nd October 2016, ordering in John Lewis, Milton Keynes, and collecting from my local Waitrose, at the "regular" retail price.

Our new Garmin Vivoactive HR in its John Lewis shipping box.

Long Term Review: O-Synce Ant+ Footpod

Disclosures: nothing to disclose. No freebies, no hidden payment, no fancy marketing tricks.
Price paid: 10 Pounds Sterling (about 13 US Dollars, about 12 euros) + 3 pounds 50 shipping
Model: O-Synce Ant+ Footpod
Bought online from Planet X, on sale as a clearance item, about 6 months ago (I think!)
Normal retail price on footpods is 30 to 60 pounds (40 to 80 dollars,  35 to 70 euros), so, although I bought the footpod as a "regular" customer, I haven't seen this sort of offer anywhere since.

Footpod on my running shoes.
If you are not used to them, beware that these are size 11 (US size 12) Men's running shoes
so the footpod would look a bit bigger if you have small feet!

Long Term Review: Tacx Blue Matic Trainer

This post has now been migrated to my other, "sports", blog.
Updates will apppear there.

Disclosures: nothing to disclose. No freebies, no hidden payment, no fancy marketing tricks.
Price paid: 129 Pounds Sterling (about 170 US Dollars, about 155 euros)
Model: Tacx Blue Matic Smart T2650
I bought the trainer (with my own money) on 19th September 2016, using "click and collect" from my local Halfords, at the "regular" retail price.

What's in the box?
I got the so-called "Smart" variant.
All that means is that the Tacx T2015 Speed and Cadence sensor comes bundled in the box.

Bad back and a bright future

I'm off work with a bad back.
Worked Monday.
Doctor's visit on Tuesday - doctor promptly signed me off for a fortnight, gave me some codeine tablets, and booked me for physiotherapy.

To be honest, my back has been getting worse for about a month.
Now I can't even lift modest amounts of weight without pain, and my painkillers usage was becoming both continual and heavy. That and I was sleeping on a sheet of thick plywood for comfort. Think about it. When plywood is comfortable, it is time to get things sorted out properly.
So the doc signed me off.

On the bright side, though, my knee injury that had been troubling me for the last 2 1/2 months is feeling much better.

So, thinking about a bit of rehab, I'll be getting a turbo trainer in the next few days. Of course, I have to take my wife to the shop with me, because the state I'm in, I can't pick the box up without further injury to myself.

Never had a turbo trainer before - peddling away looking at my garage door never appealed to me. Give me the "real" road anytime!

However, the trainer will allow me to do short sessions as required, and I can stop and come indoors for a lie down on my plywood if I need to.

Of course, with the "wet and dark" part of the year coming up, I'm sure I will find a use for the trainer, even when I'm feeling better. 

Bound to help, if properly used, my training for next Summer's local charity sportive (yes, I really do plan 6+ months ahead - 10 months ahead in this case). 

Looks like I'll be getting a trainer with an Ant+ sensor on it, so it should sync up alright to my trusty Garmin 310xt watch, and the data from my trainer use will trickle through the normal chain to Garmin Connect, then onwards to Strava and Training Peaks.

In one way I am sad not to be training at the moment.

But in another way, despite discussing the issue several times in this blog, I probably just don't give myself enough time off.

Train smarter, not just harder, I tell all of you.
Then I train harder, not smarter myself (!)

So, I find myself on an enforced "rest" at the moment, but planning for the future!

Case Study: Tour de Vale Analysis with Strava Private Segments

Using Strava private segments to compare two rides of the same route.
The green line is cumulative difference between the times I took for the two rides.
My official time was 1 hour and 28 seconds faster,
while on the segments analysed it was 1 hour and 14 seconds.
Small, non-overlapping bits between the segments are probably the cause!
Anyway, if one is an hour quicker, who cares about 14 seconds!

I rode the Tour de Vale last year (2015) and this year (2016).
I was quicker this year.

Timing was done both times with timing chips on the back of the rider number, so is likely to be pretty reliable. Of course, the timing is "total time", not any of that "moving time" rubbish that wannabes like to use to pretend they are much faster than they actually are.
We can all go faster if we keep stopping for a break every now and then!


But there are no "split" or intermediate times.
For training, it is handy to know where time is being gained, and where it is being lost.
Enter Strava, the wannabe racers' favourite.

The Water Cooler Coach

Are you a Water Cooler Coach?

You know what I mean. Folks gather by the water cooler, and discuss things - life, the universe, and everything, so as to speak.

I didn't choose to be a water cooler coach. Debbie chose me.
Debbie is one of my colleagues, a lady about my age, who, in a moment of madness signed up for the Great North Run (Debbie is from the "North", and supports "the Toon" at football).

Anyway, we have a few very keen runners at work. I have tapped into their skills myself.
So Debbie spoke to some of them, and came away with a running plan.

All good, except ...

Weight and Seasonable Variation

How do my attempts to lose a bit of weight tie in with the Seasons?
A bit of a rise in early June seems to be a feature!
(it involves a holiday and takeaway food!)
2015 data shown in blue, with 2016 data overlaid on the same graph.
The 2016 line starts at the weight where the 2015 data stops (obviously!)

We all tend to go up and down a bit in weight over the year.
It may be that we "go a bit mad" at Christmas, or it maybe that we run less in the Summer because it is too hot (or run less in the Winter because of snowfall!).
By noticing these year-on-year patterns, we can reassure ourselves that the extra weight we gain on holiday isn't a problem as long as it comes off later in the year.

Trying to stay just a little below "last year's line" can be a target/incentive too.
Looking at the graph above, I should maybe aim for about 80kg (176 lbs) by Christmas 2016.

The big picture is that I am already at a more "sensible" weight than I have been for some years, and the red line on the graph is very much a measure of how well I am doing at keeping the weight off.

As I have mentioned before, my data is never a straight line (!), and it is often a case of 2 steps forwards, 1 step back. Sometimes 2 steps forwards, 2 steps back for a while.

But, we all have to try and just stick to it.
Because we know the results will be worth it!

How is the diet going? - 18 1/2 months after I started,

19 1/2 months on the diet
"blue" is "raw" data, "green" is a three-day smoothing, red is a "90/10" smoothing algorithm
Count it how you like, when you have enough data points, trends become obvious.

I haven't posted about this for a while, so it is time for a diet update.
Why does weight matter?
Well, there are the general points about health, and there are the specific points about sport.
In sport, in general, the tendency is less weight = faster/further

I have published the entire graph, not just the highlights, to give an example of "real world" dieting.
After an intial fall in the first part of 2015, by Summer my weight was creeping up again, and by the 15th of August 2015, I weighed in just 1.7 kg (3 3/4 lbs) lighter than when I started ...

Come on, be honest.
How many of you would have called it a day at that point.
8 months of cutting back on the good stuff (CAKE! CHOCOLATE! GIMME SUGAR!), and running and cycling my butt off, and I ended up with just 3 3/4 lbs of weight loss.

Surely time to change to some new diet?
There is always a new diet doing the rounds, with some celebrity saying how it changed their life, etc. etc.

Tour de Vale 2016 - a slightly late write-up

With a finisher's medal.
You can clearly see the "ghetto aero" on my helmet!

Rode the local charity Tour de Vale again, about a month ago. The pic below is an "official" one from WheelPower, the organisers (they do disabled sports, and are based at the home of the Paralympics - Stoke Mandeville)/ The rest of the pics are mine.
About 2000 folks take part every year, and there is a 25km, 60km and 100km route. Of course I signed up for the 100km.
The routes overlap during the latter part of the event, so I am coming up behind a pair of slower riders doing a shorter route in the pic. I spent much of the time in a full "aero" crouch, but I am sitting up in the pic, using wind drag to help strip off excess speed before a 90 degree right-had corner (I spotted the photographer at the time, lying on the grass, and he was on the corner because he knew we would all be slowing down.
So how did I do?
Well, I was about half-way down the field. The fastest were just over an hour quicker than me. the slowest were several hours behind. Indeed, I was a WHOLE hour quicker than last year.

Me (in white) in an official event picture from WheelPower

Not to shabby for a bloke of 51 :-)

2016 finisher's certificate

2015 finisher's certificate

But to get it into perspective, I was drafting a big chap about halfway round, then when we got to a hill, his weight counted against him, and I pulled alongside.
We got chatting, and I said he was going well on the flat, and it was a bit of a push keeping up with him ... and he said ... his doctor had told him to take it easy after his heart attack last year. His pulse was 118 on the hill (beta blockers, he said), mine was 150 ... my golly, that chap must have been fit beforehand!
If you do Strava, the ride is here:
https://www.strava.com/activities/621451483
tbh, I wasn't that fit, having had some issues that affected my training at Easter. Christmas to Easter went great, but I finished Easter exhausted and (mildly) ill.
Applied my science background, and went for marginal gains instead. I worked a lot on my aero (I was one of only a few riders wearing shoe covers), and I had the bike stripped of any surplus parts. I was using "pro" training software (training Peaks) to optimise my available time and "tapering". Even based my water bottle loading on the temperature of the day, so I wasn't carrying the spare weight of unused water.
I was actually fitter last year, but this time I was more scientific, and it showed.
There is a guy near me who rides a lot more miles than me, and has a bike 10 times as dear as mine (he has all carbon), and yet he finished just 2 1/2 minutes in front of me, setting his own personal best for the route at the same time.
I beat his "last year's" time with the bike I ride to work on every day, and go shopping on with Anna :-) I have 35mm puncture proof tyres. My wheels and tyres weigh about half the weight of his complete bike!
He's a touch younger than me, has about a 5 kilo advantage in bike weight, but I was using the power of Science ;-)
Next year, I could be looking at more minor improvements, and I'll be faster again- and hopefully a bit fitter and lighter, too!
(I was about 10kg lighter this year than last, and I could do with shifting another 10 kilos. So I'm getting there, a bit at a time.)

About to leave home to cycle to the start.
As a "value" rider, I am wearing a pair of low-cost padded cycle trousers from a well-known German supermarket chain,
overshoes, helmet and gloves form the same source, plus an "old stock" genuine cycle cap picked up online for about a third of the full retail price.
The bike, although new, was priced at under $400 (!), and has had the wheels, tyres, gears and bars from my previous bike (Mermaid) swapped onto it.
as shown, the bike weighs about 14kg, excluding food and water (and the little toolback tucked out of sight behind the saddle), but than includes a 2500g wheelset, and 1800g for a pair of 35mm Marathon Plus tyres !

"Ghetto" aero on my helmet. Peaked caps work so much better than dark glasses in bright sunlight, too.
(Although my glasses do have "reactive" lenses)

Provisions for the 4 to 5 hour ride time I am expecting.
Apologies to the purists, but those are a pair of WELL oversize bottles!
Plain water in the rear, with a sugar drink in the front, with a dash of salt added.
The little bag on the top tube has a couple of bananas on one side,
and some dates, small tomatoes, and buttered brioche pieces on the other

"Secret Weapons" :-)
A pair of bar ends set up as short aero bars, a triathlon watch on my wrist (and hrm belt under my vest!), and my wife has altered the bottom of the sleeve and the cuff of my jersey to make it fit tighter (and more aerodynamically!)
I moved the watch to the bars just before the start of the event, but had it on my wrist before that - I don't like to leave stuff like that unattended if I have to pop to the washroom, or whatever.

the big blue arch has the chip timing sensors in it - it hald defalted as my group of starters were just going through.
All good fun :-)

The local cycle club were out in force. Their wheels cost more than my bike!

Registration tent. Fairly well organised, as always.

My bike, Hoppy, waits by a post while I have nipped off somewhere urgent ...
AS you can see, I am travelling fairly light this year, given that I had a "no-stops" strategy again.
Food is in the little bag on the bars, with a "timing splits" sheet in the top, showing me how quickly I need to get to certain points (often the top or bottom of a big hill!) to match my "training" time.
"Timing Splits" are a bit Old School, compared with "virtual pacer" features on modern GPS units, but are still brutally effective. Just make the writing big enough to read!
One of my water bottles (yes, they are VERY oversize) is just water, the other is my sugar drink.
Got a can's-worth of Red Bull in a plastic hip flask in my back pocket, to give me a bit of a boost for the second half of the event.
The small pouch begind the saddle has a minitool and a can of tyre repair spray. But hey, I'm running Marathon Plus tyres (yes really - all 900g each of them!), so I'm not expecting punctures.
Hoppy is down to about 14kg, plus water bottles and pouches in the pic, but more than 4 kilos of that is wheels and tyres!

And they're off.
As I had decided I was not a "Club" rider, I was allocated to the second set of starting groups.
I think some of those that started in fromt of me overstated their prowess, however ;-)

There were a few "handbikes" taking part, too.
Given that this is the "Birthplace of the Paralympics", it is only right and proper for handbikes to be included.

Finished already!
No, not really.
The same timing arch does double duty as both the start line AND the finish line.

Me at the start (on the left), pretending I'm not taking a selfie :-)
That nice neat haircut saved 33g of my "race weight"!

And I'm done. The other 7km is the distance to the start from my home, and that is also why my "official" time was 15 minutes less than that shown on the watch.
I think my Garmin 310XT (with HRM) is one of the best value purchases I have made.

The local bike shop (one of the event's sponsors) is on hand again to fix bikes up ready for the trip home.
Hoppy was as faultless as Mermaid was last year, so no repairs for me!