Keeping the drills fresh and fun

[ratz]

3 quick examples of how to keep improving handling on the bike. Tonight's ride was all drills.

Image 1: Power Figure 8's to practice hard pedaling through tight turns at 20mph+ average. Large parking lot works well.
Image 2: Crazy Ivans to practice 180 reversals at speed 15mph+ average. Small parking lot to keep you honest
Image 3: Power Hill Sprints for strength. Any short 15-30 second hill. All out sprint

They are fun, they are easy, and they really improve your confidence on the bike.

 

[DuncanWatson]

Bob,
Very nice. I appreciate the notes and maps. How much time are you putting on each?

 

[ratz]

How much time are you putting on each

20 minutes on hill repeats.
10 minutes on power 8's
10 minutes on ivans

20 minutes because after that I get sloppy power; and if I know I'm doing more I hold back.

10 minutes on the other because otherwise I lose focus from going in circle and laying the bike into deep deep turns requires focus to be safe.

Lastly it's then just a 1 hour work out without a huge life impact.

I forgot to include these maps to give you a sense of the scale of the turns

.

 

[DuncanWatson]

Thank you. I think I can use this location near my house for similar work
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.7715971,-122.1612436,221m/data=!3m1!1e3

I was thinking about this route as a potential hill repeat circuit. http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10519170

 

[ratz]

The hills looks good. The incline starts right on a corner so you can coast into it; and power out of it to attack looks like it will be a 25-35second hill which is nice; also prevents you from carrying too much steam into it. On that layout. Hopefully no stop lights or other interference.

Meanwhile the parking lot looks good. Using the island on the left as you turn obsticle should give you good eyesight lines that you can hit repeatedly.

 

[DuncanWatson]

It is stop signs only and all right turns. I will need to be strategic about time of day. This one is close and therefor easy. I will search for other possible venues as well.

 

[ratz]

Ok this will officially be the most boring video I've ever posted. No need to watch this one.

But if you want to know what the Power 8's and Ivans look like to get a sense of the scale and speed to do them; then this might help. It's gun camera footage from my Silvio and it's shot at night in the dark. But you can sort of make out what's going on thanks to the data overlay. First 10 minutes is Power 8's and second 10 minutes is the Ivans. If anyone watches this straight thru you have a problem and should seek professional help. Data does drift a bit toward the end because I clipped a section of video but you'll get the jist of it.

 

[DavidCH]

Interesting, Try sprinting up a hill, sitting up. This adds a little more dimension for sure.

All part of a 64km ride in 2.5 hours ... well I stopped for a coffee and a beer, after all it was 28c. I cycled to a Salinas (desalination plant), lucky for me I saw many Flamingos and on the way back I went along the sea front promenade. There were plenty of slow old people moving around. It was necessary to pedal around them with one foot clipped in, sitting up. Not quite figure of 8's but still fun.

I have never done Ivans before... I will have to try.

Thanks!

 

[MrSteve]

This reminds me of the church parking lot that I used to practice in.
For years, I'd ride over to the parking lot, warm up around the islands
and there was roundabout in front of the front entrance of the church.
I'd speed around and around and around.
That was fun.
Then, leave the lot and ride.
Coming back, I'd play in parking lot again, because more fun is always more fun.
No one said, 'hi' but no one asked me to leave either.

There was also a public school nearby.
It had a 1/4 mile cinder track and a paved driveway that encircled the buildings.
It had speed bumps which were both fun to avoid and fun to take.

Fun is where you find it!

 

[ratz]

Interesting, Try sprinting up a hill, sitting up. This adds a little more dimension for sure.

Yeah I left that out of the video really BORING. Not that the rest is riveting