Back in Business with Power Meter

I went out last week to improve the calibration on my iBike.  One can simply do a quick tilt calibration, enter the weight of you and the bike (with water bottles half full), do a coast down, and you are on your way.  The iBike, though, improves the calculation if you do a 4 mile out and back ride after your coast down.

Last week one evening I did just that.  Then the thing quit working again!

I wrote to Velocomp who promptly sent me some suggestions to try.  If those didn't work, they'd send me a new mount.  I tried everything suggested and it still didn't work, so I proceeded to removed the mount.  Ahhh,  I think I just found the problem..

As I was removing the wire that goes down the fork to measure speed, I noticed that the way I had the wire positioned caused a slight cut and possibly a short across the wires.  I taped that up with some electrical tape, and that fixed it!  I'm back in business with a power meter.

I was able to ride my full 100 mile ride yesterday without incident of the iBike cutting out.  I feel it is calibrated very accurate now, too, as I'm getting numbers close to what I get on the Computrainer.  The nice feature of the iBike is that I can go back and apply the new calibration factors to the old rides (assuming nothing material changed).  So I did just that.  The good news--the long ride data is pretty consistent from ride to ride using my new profile--and improving slightly from long ride to ride (in terms of average watts).  The bad news is that I'm not making exponential gains.

Train safe!

iBike Update

I've been riding with the iBike on my long rides and some of my midweek rides for a couple of weeks now.  I purchased a "close out" iBike Pro wired, so it is a generation old.  Here are what I've experienced so far.

Setup.  Followed quick setup where I only did a tilt calibration, coast down, and wind setting to calibrate the iBike.  The directions recommend that every time you ride, you need to first let the iBike acclimate to the outdoor temperature and then calibrate the wind sensor.  I've found this to be true. 

Issues:

1. Make sure your mounting of the iBike and angle of it doesn't move after calibration.  If it points more up, it thinks you're climbing and show too many watts.  If it points down, it thinks you are going down hill and will reflect as such.
2. While my quick setup works, it is best to perform the recommended 2 mile out / 2 mile back ride after your coast down for more accurate measurements.  I did this in race gear for the Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon.
3. During Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon, I tried to get GU off my fingers using water while riding.  I must have accidentally gotten some in the unit, so it stopped working.  It dried out and started working again...after the race.
4. Training in my neighborhood at 4:30 am causes me to ride a course of a lot of turns.  Turns appear to cause the iBike to angle up, thus over stating wattage.

All-in-all, when the tilt is correct (I tightened my handlebars), and I'm not riding in a place with a lot of tight turns, the data matches pretty close to what I get on my Computrainer.  I don't feel confident enough with it yet to use as a race pacing tool given the volatile nature of the wattage numbers being reported .  Perhaps using an average would be better?

More to come as I learn more and gain experience.

Train safe!

Warmed Up at BSLT 70.3

On Sunday, June 27, 2010, I raced the final "warm-up" race toward competing for TeamUSA.  I raced the Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon. 

It was challenging for a couple of reasons. 

First, I had had significant fever and stomach issues on Wednesday and Thursday prior to Sunday's race.  I wasn't sure at that point if I'd even be able to race.

Second, I'd never been to Lubbock.  Upon landing in the airplane, everything looked incredibly flat and barren--minimal trees, minimal hills, minimal crops on all that irrigated farmland.  There is a canyon near Lubbock where they dammed up the river, making Buffalo Springs Lake (where we swam for the race).  The bike and run courses took us out of and back into the canyon several times, which made for a very hilly course.  That's OK, though.  Afterall, I'm training for a race in the Allgaue region of Germany.  It will be very hilly there.

Train safe!