Coached Athlete Results....and other stuff

Why it costs $10,000 to puton an industrial park crit.

2010-02-08T14:43:23.5623166-07:00

So I am running the financials for the Red Trolley Crit this morning, and I am always amazed at how much it costs to put the race on. Event though I know going into it, and have the previous years financials to use as an estimate, I'm still a bit surprised when I add it up. Wanna know why it costs $10,000 to put on an industrial park crit?

Here it goes:

USAC Insurance fees: $2000

USAC Permit fee: $100

USAC Officials Fees: $1900

Prize Money $1750

SDPD Traffic Control at the Corners: $1300

Ambulance: $1300

Race announcer $750

City Permit Fee: $ 100

Race Numbers and Photocopies of waivers: $350

Safety Equpment( barricades, cones, signs) $450

Toilets and handsinks: $300

Garbage and Recycling bins: $300

Pizza, Coffee, and drinks for Volunteers and Officials: $125

The biggest expenses are: Prize money, Ambulance, SDPD Taffic control, USAC Fees, Officials Fees, and Announcer fees.

Our Mens Pro 1,2 race has decent prize money, but the prize money for our other categories is admittedly small. The ambulance is required by the city of San Diego. In some municipalities you might save ~$700 by having an EMT but no ambulance. But you have to have the Ambulance in San Diego, and its probably a good idea anyway. The SDPD traffic control is required by the city. It would be nice to be able to use volunteers, but the city wants to send out their own people. To be honest, its probably better that way anyway. I think you get less BS from drivers when the traffic controlers are wearing a uniform that says "SDPD" on it. the USAC insurance fees are charged per rider. They've gone up by 50% over last year. Officials fees are the single biggest expense. It seems like alot, but you have 8 people working almost a 12 hour day. Some of them are coming from LA, so that may include hotel and/or mileage. All of them are pocketing less than $200 for the day before hotel expenses, so it's not like they are getting rich. Ralph Elliot does and AMAZING job as race announcer and he is well worth it. He actually gives us a deal on the annoucing because he has a soft spot in his heart for the SDSU team. All of the volunteers working at registration are SDSU kids, or riders that have volunteered for a few hours in exchange for a few entries. I also typically trade a few entries for people that bring good primes. We have a few other little things that people do for free that really help, Like Andrew Lee from Adama Ave Bikes working in the wheel pit.

People always say stuff like " Hey, Why don't you get a corprate sponsor or something?" Well that's far easier said than done. Espcecially when we are in recession.

The fact is that we made a little money this year ( split between the SDSU team and myself), but there is always the possibility of losing money. As of wednesday, the prergistration was only at $6,000 dollars. If the weather report had not improved, we may have lost money. A few years ago when it did rain, we only had $500 in day of registration. The SDSU team made a few hundred dollars that year, and I personally walked away empty handed. ( after countless hours of prep work and a 13 hour day in the rain!) It would be a bit easier to make a few bucks, or at least ensure you aren't going to lose money if we only had USCF races. But we do collegiate races all morning, and the collegiate racers only pay $15 each. Most of your costs are fixed costs, so we are essentially losing money all morning long, and trying to make it up in the afternoon. In fact it is always a stressful coming into the race and being concerned that we are going to lose money on the thing, but thanks to the rain staying away for the day, it all worked out.

Many people walked up to me yesterday and told me they thought it was a great race. That is rewarding for sure. Thanks to everyone for coming out, I hope to see you out there again next year.

Sean

Motorpacing- Don't try this at home

2010-01-13T11:13:55.9729567-07:00

I came across this cool video of the gerolsteiner team motorpacing: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5f2sv_entrainement-sprint-gerolsteiner_sport?from=rss

Motorpacing allows riders to simulate race speeds and above. If you watch the video, you'll see that the riders draft behind the car, and then sprint past. This creates a situation that is similar to the what they might encounter at the end of the race, and is almost impossible to simulate without the motorpace. Motorpacing also simulates the momentum that you feel while zooming along with the pack....pretty hard for the Gerlosteiner guys to do unless they can find 50 other pro riders to break the weind for them during their training session.

I motorpace riders at the track all of the time, and it benefits both track riders and road riders alike. Pacing on the track with a motorcycling is much safer than what these guys are doing...behind a car on an open road.... I definitely wouldn't recommend it. But then again...it might be safer than some of the group rides I've done!

7th Annual Red Trolley Classic

2010-01-12T17:01:18.419-07:00

Here is the information.

Reg Should be open on SoCalReg.com soon. You will find a PDF version of this at the end of this post.

th Annual Red Trolley Classic

Feb 7

th 2010

Presented by Coach Sean Burke, Pista

Palace, and the SDSU Cycling Team

USA Cycling Permit XXXX

Course Information

Located in the heart of the SorrentoValley Business Park, the “Top Gun Course” is a

fast .6 mile four corner course. There is a small rolling hill into the finish. All corners

are right handed. Rules: Rain or shine. All USCF and WCCC/NCCA rules apply.

Helmets must be worn at all times. Course is closed to traffic. Free lap rule is in effect

in all races. Wheel Pit: wheels in! wheels out with mechanics on site.

Category Time Time Places Fees Limits Prizes

Collegiate Men C/D 30 Min 7:00 12 $15 60Medals

Collegiate Women

B/C 30 Min 7:35 12 $15 60Medals

Collegiate Men B 45 Min 8:10 15 $15 70Medals

Collegiate WomenA 45 Min 9:00 15 $15 70Medals

Collegiate Men A 60 Min 9:50 20 $15 90Medals

Men 4/5 35 Min 10:55 5 $25 75Medals

Men 4 40 Min 11:35 5 $25 100 $150

Masters 45+ 1,2,3,4 45 Min 12:20 5 $25 100 $150

Men 3 55 Min 1:10 5 $25 100 $150

Women 1,2,3, 50 Min 2:10 5 $25 75 $150

Master's 35 + 1,2,3,4 50 Min 3:10 5 $25 100 $150

Men’s Pro 1/2 75 Min 4:05 10 $30 100 $1,000

Registration

My apologies for the fact that there are no Junior or Womens cat 4 races. There is simply no time with

the collegiate races. Juniors who are old enough are encouraged to race with the appropriate senior

category.

Registration opens at 6:00 AM, and closes for each event 15 minutes prior to race start

times.

Collegiate races do not count as a first race. Collegiate racers make checks payable to

SDSU CYCLING, Team Pay allowed.

Pre registration for USCF races only .

Entries: Register online at socalreg.com.

Pre-registration ends February 5
th at 5PM.
Mail in Registrations are not accepted for individuals
, only from teams of 6 or

more. Contact Funmtbiker@yahoo.com for team mail in registration information

All Racers must hold a current License. USCF Annual and 1 Day ($10.00) licenses

available at the venue. A late fee of $5.00 late registration fee will be assessed for any

non-collegiate racer for registration received on Race Day. Extra races are $10.00, after

highest race is paid for.

Race Announcing Provided By: M*G*E* Racing

Directions

From the 1-805 take the Mira Mesa Blvd exit and continue approximately3 miles East

on Mira Mesa Blvd. The course is located on N. Flanders off Mira Mesa Blvd on the

left. From the 1-15, exit at Mira Mesa Blvd and go West on Mira Mesa Blvd for approx

4 miles, course is on the right hand side of Mira Mesa Blvd on N. Flanders.

ON-line MAP:

http://tinyurl.com/y4t697
Contacts

Sean Burke:

sean@cyclingscience.org 619-865-3389

Collegiate racers contact Mario Bechar: 209-380-6577 mariobachar@gmail.com

USCF Permit Pending
red_trolley_flyer_2010.pdf (244.14 KB)

Measuring Energy Expenditure on the Bike

2009-08-24T18:23:46.914-07:00

Measuring Energy Expenditure on the Bike A friend of mine recently gave me a call, and asked how accurate the energy expenditure was in the treadmill at his gym. He told me how his girlfriend obsesses over the calorie count on the machines, so that she can be sure she burned off that extra latte she had the morning. The short answer to “How accurate are those calorie counts?” is… “not very” There are dozens of devices that claim to measure energy expenditure during exercise. Some of them are located directly in the exercise equipment, while others are devices the user straps to his body in some manner, and all of them make estimates of the energy expenditure by measuring different variables. The most accurate way to measure energy expenditure, would be to use a metabolic cart…the machine that measure VO2. As you exercise, you use Oxygen and create CO2, the amounts and ratios of O2 utilized and CO2 created can be used to calculate the energy expenditure. This works well in a lab, but it isn’t very practical for measuring energy expenditure in the real world. The devices that a users wear or strap on typically fall in to three categories: heart rate monitors and accelerometers, and GPS. Accelerometers such as the “body bug” or pedometers that measure your number of steps, basically measure how much the user moves and the use this information to guesstimate energy expenditure. As you can probably guess, there is lots of room for error in this method. A device that is going to be more familiar to athletes is the heart rate monitor. Heart rate monitors typically work by measuring the electrical current in the heart. The users wear a strap on his chest, and then the information is sent wirelessly to a watch or other device. These devices give accurate information regarding heart rate, but the energy expenditure is a calculation based on algorithms. The heart rate monitor also makes several assumptions about the individual’s level of fitness, cardiac output, and environmental factors. As you can probably guess, there is quite a bit of room for error here as well. My undergraduate exercise physiology students once did a project compared Polar heart rate monitor’s measurement of energy expenditure to energy expenditure as measured by a metabolic cart. The students discovered that the Polar heart rate monitors were frequently off by 30%! GPS units estimate energy expenditure in much the same way as the accelerometers and the heart rate monitors. They use algorithms based on the type of activity, distance traveled and elevation. Once again, there is plenty of room for error. The GPS doesn’t ”know” if the cyclist is drafting, if she is in an aero position, what type of wheels are being ridden, or other numerous factors. These devices all give all ballpark figure for the total energy expenditure, but do not have a high degree of accuracy, and can frequently be off by as much as 30%. next time..gym equipment and bicycle powermeters

Indoor Cycling Studio.

2009-08-03T17:58:40.8967451-07:00

I haven't been posting to this blog so much the last few weeks. I have been busy opening up my new indoor cycling studio. Wether you are a Spinning enthusiast, a cyclist, a triathlete, or just someone who likes a good workout. We have some classes that will be good for you!

New Track Class

2009-07-31T17:55:29.128-07:00

I have a new track class at the velodrome starting Aug 5th. Be sure to sign up online as class usually fills. Register here:

http://www.cyclingscience.org/sdvelodrome.htm

more on leg speed

2009-07-08T16:28:23.8160675-07:00

The last blog post discussed leg speed intervals and neurumuscular adaptations. Now we move on to how to do leg speed intervals:

The principle of training specificity says that training adaptations are specific to your training. It’s a simple principle, but one that sometimes gives athletes a hard time. People will ask me things like “Do you think doing some trail running is good training for cycling?” My answer is: You get better at riding the bike, by riding the bike. Trail running is excellent off season cross training. But the best way to get better on the bike is to ride the bike. …same goes for swimming, rowing, weight training, etc.

When you do leg speed drills, you need to follow the principle of training specificity. Think about when you need to use high leg speed in a race or group ride…. it is when you are going hard.

So, leg speed drills is that they have to be done at high power. Power should be 80+ percent of your threshold power. High RPM and high power. If you don't use a power meter, than think about doing them at or near race pace. High RPM but low power will not help you become more efficient at high RPM pedaling. The neuromuscular response required to pedal at 110 RPM while cruising down PCH , is not the same neuromuscular response that is required to pedal at 110 in a race. I have even seen a coach have their riders do leg speed intervals with NO CHAIN. Tiring yes, don’t expect it to make you a better pedaler when it counts.

I also seen riders doing high RPM workouts at leg speeds that are significantly above their ability level and they are practically popping out of the saddle with every pedal stroke. Again…. these riders are probably not getting the desired training effect. They are so incredibly inefficient at those RPMS that there is little or no training effect.

Another workout that I see riders doing is riding fixed gear on the road. You’ll see riders going 35 MPH down hill, riding in a very small gear, and pedaling at 200 RPM . These riders aren’t developing their high power leg sped either. The neuromuscular response required to keep your legs moving at 200 RPM , while they are being forced to spin that fast by gravity and a fixed gear, is not the same as the neuromuscular response required to pedal fast in a sprint. This means little or no desired training adaptation.

Leg speed drills need to be highly specific to produce the desired training effect. They need to be both high RPM AND high power. These drills should be done at threshold power or above, and should be done at an RPM that is just a little bit above the rider’s comfort zone. Too high of an RPM , or too low of a power output simply won’t provide the desired training effect!

We'll finish up with a few workouts that I sometimes give my athletes:

Legspeed workout 1: Slowly spin-up to max rpm over 30 seconds. When you begin to bounce, back off and then hold it for several seconds. Power be 90-120% of threshold power.

Use the cadence mode if you have it. Do 5 X5 minutes of spinning on the high end of your comfortable range. HR zone 3 or 70%-80% of yout threshold power on a flat to gently rolling course. Note and record your average cadence for the ride when done.

Coaching and leg speed intervals

2009-07-06T20:06:52.391-07:00

I’ve been doing quite a bit of riding and coaching at the San Diego Velodrome lately, and that’s got me thinking about something most cyclists, but specifically track cyclists think about a lot… leg speed and; legs peed intervals. Trackies think about leg speed and leg speed intervals is that track riders can’t change gears while they are riding. Whatever gear you put on for a track race, you are stuck with it the whole race. You have to pick a gear that will allow you to get the top speed required for sprints, but a gear that won’t leave you in the dust when the group accelerates from 20 miles an hour. Having good leg speed, or the ability to produce power at high leg speeds, is an important skill for a track rider, because a rider with exceptional leg speed can ride a smaller gear and therefore accelerate more quickly, while still achieving acceptable top end speeds. Good leg speed is also a great tool in for road racers, as it always good to have one more tool in your tool belt, to be able to accelerate out of that corner, or up to that wheel on front of you without shifting gears.

A biomechanically efficient pedaler, when compared to an inefficient one, uses less oxygen, and less energy, to do the same mount of work. For most riders, their biomechanical efficiency goes down as leg speed gets near and above 100 RPM . I’m not talking about pedaling circles here (pedaling circles is not desirable, but that is an entirely different topic). I’m talking about pushing on the pedals at the right time, or not pushing on the pedal when it is trying to come back up and around. That is a waste of energy, and that’s when it looks like you are “pedaling squares.”

Some riders are naturally more biomechanically efficient than others. I know a former pro rider that pedals beautifully at any RPM … he just looks smooth. You may not be one of those naturally efficient pedalers, but you can do drills to work on your biomechanical efficiency….leg speed drills. People have lots of crazy ideas about leg speed drills, the problem is that the drills people do are frequently not specific enough to create the neuromuscular response that will cause a training effect that will make them more biomechanically efficient at those high leg speeds.

Next time: How to do, and not do leg speed workouts

Crash Update

2009-07-02T20:21:56.449-07:00

2 of the riders who went down last week came to class last night just to say hello, and let everyone know they are alright. Both riders were in pretty good condition. They drove themselves to the track, and are already talking about getting back on their bikes. Rob T has had some facial surgery, and actually looks pretty good. He'll be as handsome as ever once the swelling goes down :-) Nick suffered some broken ribs, and still has a little pain when he takes in a deep breath, but should be fully recovered fairly soon. Derrek didn't make it out but he's doing fine. He might need surgery on his shoulder, but my experience is that with shoulder separations, most people choose to forgo the surgery.

That crash was pretty ugly, and going away in an ambulance is never good, but these guys are well on their way to recovery. Iam actually really glad the guys came out, I think it did a lot to allay the fears of some of the beginner riders that have never seen a crash like that before!

Another Crash Update

2009-06-29T09:24:19.3393351-07:00

I got this from Rachelle B:

"As of Friday, Alex said that Rob would be getting released shortly, so I assume by now he is out of the hospital.
Alex also told me that one of the 4 broken ribs that Nick had punctured one of his lungs, but I dont think it was too bad. They were thinking that it would heal itself, but also were gonna have to wait and see. I forget when or if Alex said he was going to get released."

Crash Update

2009-06-26T10:47:18.1852679-07:00

If anyone is wondering, I just got this from Alex M:

"I've been checking up on Rob and Nick. They're both still at Scripps Mercy in Hillcrest. Rob broke his jaw in two places and fractured his cheekbone. He had surgery this afternoon to put six plates in his jaw and cheek. It seems to have gone pretty well, and he didn't need to have his mouth wired shut. Nick broke four of his ribs and one of them punctured his lung. Right now he's on oxygen and doing breathing exercises to see if it heals but they might need to put a tube in his chest. They'll both probably be in icu until they improve a little, but that could be as soon as friday."

Track Crash Last Night

2009-06-25T10:46:36.215-07:00

I've been riding bikes for over 15 years now, and racing them since 1997. In that amount of time, you see your share of crashes. Crashing is just part of bike riding, and even more a part of racing. Even with the most experienced riders...crashes still happen. You accept that fact, but those crashes still suck...especially when riders have to go away in an ambulance. We had a pretty ugly crash during the adult track class last night... and three riders got an " unplanned chauffer" to the hospital. It looks like we have several riders that are going to be in pain for a while, but everyone is going to be OK. I'll be posting updates here a I recieve them.

What I have so far:

Big Rob T has broken multiple bones in his face, is wearing a neck brace and is scheduled to have surgery today. Full recovery expected. I believe he is at Mercy Hospital at the moment, but me be moved to a Kasier hospital for the surgery. ( information directly from his mother)

Derek had a separated shoulder and was released from the hospital last night. ( information secondhand)

Nick apparently broke some ribs, has some back pain, and was reportedly in the ICU as of thursday morning ( information seconhand)

I'll be posting any future information here. Feel free to email me if you have any insight. email me at: myfirstname@cyclingscience.org

Sean

Just got this from Rachelle B:

"Derek will be going to an orthopedic to determine whether he will need surgery or not on his shoulder.... Rob seemed a lot better in the hospital last night when we saw him up in ICU. He was even cracking jokes which we were really glad to see, considering how bad off he was at the crash. Nick seemed ok last night...maybe the worst off out of the 3. We talked to him also, but he seemed like he couldnt really move at all and was in a lot of pain"

Since I Rachelle saw all of them last night, I assume they are all at Mercy. I am not posting last names here, but if you are in my track class and want someone's last name so that you can call or pay a visit, feel free to email me.

Track Classes

2009-06-04T12:49:43.9568446-07:00

So.... I teach the adult developmental classes at the San Diego Velodrome. The classes are 6 weeks long. I love coaching these track classes, the riders learn how to ride and race track bikes and everyone has a great time. The classes are tons of fun, but my favorite night is the last night of each session. I always tell the students " We go to Lefty's Pizza the last night of class. If you had fun, you buy one of the coaches a slice of pizza or a beer. If you didn't have fun....we get to buy our own dinner"

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.....take a look a this photo of my assistant coach Jesse, and the 5 beers in front of him will tell you that lots of people had fun:

If you want to take track class, the next one starts June 17th. You can find more information here:
http://cyclingscience.org/sdvelodrome.htm

From Velonews.com: Collegiate All-Star women chosen

2009-06-01T09:02:12.8451391-07:00

I recently wrote about coached rider Tammy Wildgoose from UC San Diego being chosen as part of an all star collegiate women's cycling team racing at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Velonews.com recently posted a short article about the team:

Collegiate All-Star women chosen

Fun on a bike with 10 of your best friends

2009-05-22T13:50:23.096-07:00

I friend of mine sent me this photo the other day.... this looks like a fun bike to ride...

Podium at Collegiate National Championships

2009-05-12T18:09:39.491-07:00

I've been coaching Tammy W since the end of last summer. Tammy is a student at UC San Diego and she has been concentrating on collegiate cycling, with a goal of peaking at the Collegiate National Championships. Tammy has had a few good results along the way, but her best result of the year was by far her 3rd place Collegiate National Championship Criterium. As a result of her results that weekend, Tammy has been invited to race on a composite womens team at the Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro Stage race!

Old Blog Posts

2009-05-09T13:54:22.798-07:00

This is the new spot for this blog... there are a few years worth of old posts here: http://cyclingscience.blogspot.com/

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2005-07-20T00:00:00-07:00

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