Track Nationals: Day Three

I woke up this morning and checked the weather. Rain at 5pm! Uh oh! As a result, today's schedule was heavily altered. The men's tema pursuit qualifier became the finals, the women's match sprints all happened in the morning, and the points race, the headline event, was bumped forward to 4pm. A highly unusual move for a highly unusual situation.

The 3km team pursuit was not our finest. We had a mechanical at the start, and were unable to stay together. Our first two laps were reasonably fast, and I think that if we were to do it again, we would be faster. Our time did not give us a podium position, but did fetch us some team omnium points.

Laura Ralson made it into the match sprints. She won one of her heats in the reps, but was relegated after coming out of the sprinter's lane for the second time. D'oh! It was a really impressive performance nevertheless.

Mike Garrett and I were in two separate points race qualifiers. The points race awards points to the first four across the line every six laps. The top 15 (out of about 25) in each qualifier made it to the grand final. Mike more than qualified - he lapped the field twice! I managed to get a single point, qualifying for the real race. How cool is that?

The 30km, 90-lap points race final was fast and furious. My goal of scoring a single point was unattainable. I was able to work for Mike, helping to block and to establish his break. Mike and four others lapped the field, with Mike placing fifth in the points race.

Our distributed strong results put MIT in a strong position for the Division II Team Omnium standings. We earned some 900-plus points, with the second place team earning some 500 or so points. (Full results will be on usacycling.org shortly.) Our points lead means that the members of the 2009 MIT track nationals team are...

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

I got a stars and stripes jersey and a gold medal. We all did our part, and it was a fantastic weekend. I'm so glad that I made the trip.

I can also obey USA Cycling rule 1N5(e), regarding national champion regalia. I can't wear my jersey when racing anything other than collegiate track, but I can wear Stars and Stripes trims on my race jerseys, forever!

Track Nationals: Day Two

"It's only forty-five pedal strokes!" This was my realization today, regarding the number of pedal strokes needed to get around the 333m velodrome once. I'm glad I figured this out in time for our collegiate team pursuit (two women, four men). We got a silver medal! Take a look!



The second day of track nationals was a good day for MIT. Guo-Liang Chew (Chewie) placed 16th in the 200m flying sprint competition, good enough to enter the match sprint competition. My time, of 12.625 seconds, was enough for 19th place. This did not get me into the match sprint competition, but did earn us some team points.

Our collegiate sprint was a success. We demonstrated beautiful teamwork and placed second in the qualifying round. This got us into the final, gold medal heat. We held on to second and won silver medals for our effort. The women (Laura Ralson, Yuri Matsumoto, Martha Buckley) placed fifth in the women's team pursuit, another good strong result.

MIT has a good lead in the Division 2 Team Omnium competition. If all goes well, we will hold on to our lead in tomorrow's men's team pursuit and points race. Stay tuned!

Track Nationals: Day One

I've received an unusual number of requests to be prompt with information about Nats. I'm glad that so many people are interested in this race!

I graduated from MIT in August, but I'm here with the MIT team at track nationals. Since I was a summer student (working on my thesis), I am still eligible to participate at Nationals. I'm happy to be here - it's a good chance to see some old friends and have some fun on the bicycle. I had to fly out just for the race, on the velodrome here in Trexlertown, PA.

Today's events were the individual pursuits. In the morning, the men raced the clock over 4km (12 laps), the women over 3km (9 laps). In the afternoon, the men chased the kilometer, and the women, 500 meters.

Our results were strong. I raced a 4k time of 5m10.246s, enough for 19th place (top third) in a strong field, and just enough to earn some team omnium points. I did not race the kilo. My gearing for the 4k - 50/14 - made me faster, but it will take some time for me to really dial my gearing. Of course, I'm not a track specialist, certainly not a sprint specialist, and far from top form. I'm happy to post competitive times.

MIT's results today:

4k (3k) 1k (500m)
Mike Garrett 4:57.222 1:10.975
Jose Soltren 5:10.246 null
Tim Humpton 5:33.604 1:19.940
Nick Loomis 5:44.101 1:16.155
Guo-Liang Chew 5:43.416 1:16.760
Zach LaBry 5:24.666 1:20.814
Matt Blackburn 6:11.296 1:25.957
Martha Buckley 4:27.192
Laura Ralston 4:18.380 42.x
Yuri Matsumoto null 44.x

We're in the Division 2 team omnium lead after the morning's events, with our closest competitors Kutztown performing very well. We're looking forward to tomorrow.

For complete results or more information, please see usacycling.org.

Roubaix Warranty?

(I'm being delinquent about posting the many fun things that I've done in the past month. I'll add more updates later this week.)

My primary road bike, since March of 2006, has been a 2005 Specialized Roubaix Elite. Much like the Ship of Theseus, I've replaced every single part on the frame but it's still the same bike. It has at least 15K miles on it, including two cross-USA bicycle tours, many races, and several NYC to Boston trips. No problems yet.

I was surprised on Saturday when the cable stop nearest to the rear hub on the drive side chainstay snapped, making it impossible to shift the rear derailleur. Some older Roubaix models with a single-rivet cable stop were subject to a recall earlier this year, but my bike is not covered under the recall. I brought it to my LBS in haste on Saturday, and am waiting for a response. I'm very glad this happened at home, and not while climbing, say, King Mountain Road.

It's times like this that I am glad to have multiple bikes. Geez.

Cross Country Drive Photos - Geotagged!

I'm still very busy with work, moving in, and riding. I found a little time to geotag all of the photos we took on the drive from Boston to California. We used our GPS log to assign a latitude/longitude to every photo we took. I'm working on a "best of" album that will show the whole trip, but for now, have a look! I think the map feature is really neat.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jsoltren/WeDroveToCalifornia#

California - Quick Update

After a drive across the US in a rental truck, I've relocated from MIT to Menlo Park, CA. I'm working on a longer post, including a neat way of posting all of my geo-tagged photos from the trip. For now, feel free to drop me a line if you're in the area.

Thesis Done

I handed in my Master's of Engineering thesis today. The completion of my project marks the end of my time at MIT.

My advisor and I didn't see eye to eye on a few things. Hopefully, my next manager/supervisor/advisor/superior/boss will be someone with whom I have more in common. I've had some great - and terrible - experiences with these in the past. In general, I do best with superiors who I feel comfortable chatting with.

Now that Jane and I are both done with MIT, it's time to move on! The drive to California will commence tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the new life on the sunny side.

California is Beautiful

I was in California from Aug 3 to Aug 12, a week and a half not too long ago. In that time, I learned how Model N (my new employer) functions, found a new apartment, visited Dave Miller, beat Super Mario Bros. 3, saw a real live airship, found a delicious farmer's market and, courtesy of my hard case, rode my bicycle plenty.

Except for one morning of rain, the weather was perfect. 82F (28C), clear, and dry during the day, 55F (13C) and slightly humid to foggy overnight. Compared to Boston's two choices - hot and humid or raining - I'm wondering why I bothered to come back at all. Oh, right. Thesis.

The cycling around the Silicon Valley is just amazing. To the east, there are little paths that go along the water. North and south is all flat. To the west, there are mountains - real mountains! I really enjoyed doing legitimate, tough climbs that took an hour.

I set a personal best on the local Old La Honda Road climb, of 18m48s. I should immediately discredit this and say that I wasn't really trying. As it's hard to watch what I eat when traveling, I was about 5 lbs overweight. I was riding my Fuji Aloha CF2 with Zipp 808 clinchers, a tool bag, and two full water bottles (heavy!). I was also carrying Dave's wallet, phone, arm warmers, and bottle. So, if I can break 19 minutes in Sherpa mode, maybe I can break 17m or even 16m once everything is properly dialed in?

I did manage to pass Dave up the climb. (Sorry Dave! This is one of the best photos I have of the trip!)

Paterson Pass Road Race

I'll be in California for job training with Model N for the first week in August. I'll be starting as a junior Java developer there in the middle of September. There are good jobs out there in this economy - you just have to look hard, and be patient. I'm very excited.

I'm staying for a few extra days, with girlfriend and bicycles in tow. This is our opportunity to find housing before we head out, and we're glad that we have the chance to do so.

Dave Miller is trying to get me to do the Paterson Pass road race. It would take a logistical miracle to get everything together for this, so the jury is still out. Needless to say, this would be my first Pro/1/2 race. A 92-mile road race with four goes up a 1300 foot climb sounds just plain hard, much like the Easterns course up the Black Mo. Add in local pros who know the race well and are in peak form, and it's the makings of what could be an interesting learning experience. We'll see.

If nothing else, I can look forward to an abundance of really fast riders in the Bay Area. There are mountains AND a velodrome! So many decisions.

Garmin, Get Your Act Together

I went for my 80 mile loop ride today; it's posted at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9719415. I need to start training with PowerCranks again and getting back into a routine; my power data clearly indicates that I'm getting fat, slow, and lazy.

Garmin Connect is a neat service; in fact, it integrates many of the features that I would have liked to see in some other programs, like WKO and SportTracks. Of course, there is no single program that does everything I'd like, so I'll probably end up writing my own in the next few years. In short, I want a program that has all of the advanced power analysis features of WKO, with the mapping features of SportTracks and Connect, that allows you to seamlessly store information both in a standalone app (because I don't always have Internet at races) and online in the cloud (because I like to share my data).

The single biggest complaint I have, at present, is that Connect doesn't work in Opera or Chrome. (I haven't tried Safari.) Come on guys, really? I haven't taken a look at Garmin's Javascripts at all, but I'm guessing it's a simple fix. For all that they've done to embrace Web standards - the .TCX format is, after all, just an XML standard that works with the usual XML processing tools very nicely - it's a real pity that Garmin locks browsers this way. It's like the browser wars all over again. Party like it's 1997.

The best thing about standards, is that there are so many to choose from!

Cervelo P3 - "new" time trial bike!

As a budding time trial specialist, it's important to have a fast bike. So, I finally buckled down, bit the bullet, and procured an older, aluminum Cervelo P3. After doing my homework, I found that the older P3 frame was almost every bit as aero as the newer P3 Carbon, and possibly more durable, at a fraction of the cost.

Hopefully, it will be as fast as it looks!

I spent the past few days doing nothing but building the bike. It was a fantastic amount of work. I stripped the P3, and the Motobecane that is replacing, to a bare frame. I cleaned everything. I had to carefully cut the seat mast, as it only offers about 47mm of adjustability once cut. Then, I had to think long and hard about which cockpit configuration I wanted; I ended up settling on my integrated Trimax Vision bars, because the pads were more comfortable than the custom-made aero bars that came on the P3. This, and the aluminum post, make the bike about a full pound heavier than it could easily be, and just a couple of ounces/grams lighter than the setup it replaces. Finally, UCI compliance is a pain: the 5mm setback seat position is horribly uncomfortable, and I had to cut the bars by 30mm to be within the 80mm bar end rule.

In the photos below, you can see the near-finished P3. I made my own "jig", consisting of a wall and tape, to check UCI compliance. In the photo, the bars are compliant but the saddle is not. this is tough to tell due to the perspective of the camera.

Naturally, after hours of toiling to get the bicycle tweaked and ready to ride, the weather took a turn for the worst. It looks like a solid week of probable rain. Screw you, Boston.

I now have a time trial frame and lots of goodies that I need to sell. Make an offer!

Boston to Provincetown

This weekend, I cycled to Cape Cod with two of my favorite people: Jane, and Mike Short. The weather was beautiful, and we were able to enjoy 135 miles of flat, calm riding, much of it with a tailwind. We didn't even get a flat tire, or break any equipment!

We are all riders of different strength levels, so I made some hardware changes to help us all happily go about the same speed. I lent Mike a pair of Zipp 808 clincher wheels; a cassette change was all that was necessary. Jane borrowed a pair of 85mm deep carbon clincher wheels that I own. They're unbranded OEM wheels made by Gigantex, so I was able to get them at a deep discount. I rode my cyclocross/commuter bike - complete with fenders! - to provide a little more comfort and to help keep me from soloing away. I still had enough extra power to push Jane and Mike up the hills. It's amazing what a difference a little push makes! Jane and Mike are both champs for making it to the very end.

With Mike's wedding two weeks away, I thought it might be fun to wear matching bicycle jerseys that look like tuxedos. We did, and the silly jerseys brought smiles to people's faces. Of course, as it turns out, Provincetown is an incredibly liberal and homosexual-friendly town, so more than a few people simply assumed that Mike and I were getting married, and that Jane was the "best man". Hilarity ensued.

More photos and a video are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/jsoltren/CapeCodTrip#. Furthermore, the ride data is available through Garmin Connect at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9314004. The ferry ride back is at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9313586. (I'm going to begin experimenting with Garmin Connect as a way of storing rides.)

We took a fast ferry back from Provincetown, and I mean fast! My GPS reported that we were sustaining 38 MPH for most of the way back.

I'm a Cat 2!

Probably the greatest thing (for me) about the Fitchburg race was that it gave me enough points to upgrade to Category 2. In the USA Cycling ranking system, this means I'm one step closer to being an "elite" level racer, and eligible to do a large number of high level, incredibly challenging races.

The neat thing about being a Cat 2 on the road is that, per USAC rules, it enables all kinds of other upgrades. It lets you be a Cat 3 on the track with the approcal of a USAC certified coach, meaning I can do most B races and some A races at velodromes. Whether I do well in these races is a different story. It also means that I can race cyclocross as a Cat 2 (I'll save that until I can remount gracefully), and race mountain bikes as a Cat 1 (I'll save that until I have a mountain bike and learn how to ride it).

I was able to upgrade from Cat 4 to Cat 2 in one season. Not many people can do that. My race license now has three upgrade stickers; it's getting awfully crowded.

Digital Fitchburg

Winning the Fitchburg race meant a lot to me, so I contacted the local television station, FATV, for their footage of the race. I have their express permission to use clips of the video on this blog! I present the first five minutes of their coverage, including the call to the start. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the awards ceremony.



These are the last of the photos from the weekend: a few of me in the crit, and per request, some photos of me, Will (2nd) and Steve (3rd) on the podium. These photos are courtesy of teammates Katie Lovejoy PhD '09 and Zuzka Trnovcova '09. Enjoy!

On Flat Tires

A friend mentioned that he was getting more flat tires on his bicycle. This is a common problem, so let me address it here.

I usually recommend the Continental GatorSkin series of tires for urban riding and light touring. They are a good compromise on durability, weight, and ride quality. They come in almost any size anyone needs, and even have a kevlar bead and a tubular variant. If you need the ultimate in durability, at the complete expense of weight and ride quality, go for the Specialized Armadillo series tires. I also enjoy the Michelin Lithion for training on nice roads, and race on the Michelin Pro 3 Race or any of Continental's high end tubulars.

Of course, all clincher tires may get flats regardless of your tire choice. Remember that all flats happen for a reason!

• What kinds of flats are you getting? If you are getting pinch flats (a.k.a. snakebite, with two holes), then your tire pressure is too low. Remember to inflate your tires daily to the highest pressure advised by your rims and tires (at least 115 PSI on a road bike). If you're getting punctures, read on.
  
• Are the tires worn? Every tire will get thinner over time, and thinner tires are more susceptible to flats. Tires typically last about 1000 miles, and less in more urban areas. Feel your tire; if the center of the tread feels thin or flat, it's time for new tires.
  
• You will get more flats if it is wet. Water acts as a cutting fluid for debris. Make sure to avoid puddles and wet patches on the road.
  
• Glass will work its way through a tire in due time. Every so often, use a safety pin to pick out pieces of glass stuck in a tire.
  
• Staples, wires, and small nails are not always visible. If you keep getting slow leaks in the same spot, there is a hidden piece of debris. This is why I always mount tires with the manufacturer's sticker at the valve stem: you know the tire's orientation with respect to the tube, which allows you to check the area of the tire that was near the leak.
• If your tire has a sidewall or casing cut, use a tire boot between the tube and tire. I recommend energy bar wrappers, as they're free and work very well. Currency works less well, and is expensive!
  

Your choice of route may influence the number of flat tires you get. Larger roads will always have more debris, in the form of sand, gravel, grass, and the like. Consider making your route 10% longer and avoiding big roads whenever possible. You'll have a happier ride, and increase tire life.