Conference noted::bicycle

    Chip,
    
         Don't worry if you did not do well at Manchester, that race was
    plenty tough.  I am still recovering today, one of my knees feels like
    it is going to fall off.
    

Congratulations and job well done, Peter V!

Me, I ended up not entering. When I was riding home from work last Thursday,
towards the end of the ride I started hearing a new, quiet noise, like a click
or tick or tock every now and then, seemingly triggered by pedaling with some
force. I thus used my car to get to work Friday. Friday evening I started
taking things apart, such as the cranks and chainrings, cleaning them and
looking for problems. Everything seemed tight as I disassembled it. Didn't find
anything. Saturday morning I went to put things back together, and happened to
glance at the seat lug (it's a lugged steel frame, Centurion [aka Diamond Back]
Accordo frame from 1986).

Aarrrrggg!

The right seat stay is broken clear through, just below the tip of the stay,
and the left seat stay is cracked in about the same place that the right is
broken. Oh crap. Nosing around at the other lugs, the top tube/head tube lug
looks to have a small crack in it as well. Oh double crap.

I've dropped it of at Chelmsford Cyclery, where a frame-builder will look at it
for repairabililty. I'm not willing to put much money into it, but I'm not
looking to have to buy a new bike either!

FYI, the frame probably has about 7K miles on it, mostly commuting via fair
roads.
						-- Tom

         The problem with your bike sounds bad, does bike frames come with
    warranties?  I also had a bike problem just before the race, the brakes
    on my bike frozeup ( I need a new cable ) and I ended up having to race
    a newly refitted bike that I mounted for the first time about 2 hours
    before the race.  I had a bad case of the yipes before the race started
    but the bike only gave me minor problems during the race.
    
         Hope that you have luck with your bike, the best part of the
    racing season is just ahead.  Sounds like you have a frame warranty
    issue, but good luck, frame builders can write a lot of weasel words
    into any warranty they give.  

      I had my bike problems a few weeks earlier.  My Trek OCLV cracked
    where the chainstay meets the bottom bracket.  Partly my fault - last
    year during a race I popped the chain off the small chainring and
    I sucked it up between the frame and the chainring.  It was stuck
    pretty good, so with my usual patient style, I just pushed harder
    on the pedals!  Some of the carbon fiber scraped off, I bent the
    chain and ended up finishing the last 30 miles of the race skipping
    every 3 pedal strokes.  The frame lasted another 4k miles.......  
    
      Trek sent me a brand new 5900 (I got to keep a few of the Ti goodies!)
    and it has a small metal plate bonded onto the chainstay right where
    my old frame cracked......any OCLV owners out there should call their
    Trek dealers and see if they can get one to retrofit older models.
    I suspect that I wasn't the first to send a frame back to them with
    this same problem.  They were really good about it - no questions asked
    and they worked hard to get me a frame quickly (3 days).
    
      Tom - if you can ride a 60cm, I know where there is a great...no
    fantastic deal on a Clark-Kent.....call me if your interested.
    
    Pete                                                         
    
    
    

    I ride that area recreationally and have a map of last years course. 
    
    If you used a computer, I'd like to know what you guys do for average
    speed and total time on the course.  
    
    Also, I know several places where I die and drop down under 10 mph.
    What is the lowest speed that you recall on that course?  Presumably
    the multi mile climb on Rt 13.
    
    Lastly,  I can only ride weekdays for 1 hour/ 3 days a week (17 mi.)
     and do a 2-3 hour ride on weekends (30-40 miles).  I just bought a 
    Vetta HR1000 to try to maximize my minimal time in the saddle.  Any
    comments on use of a monitor?  Any pointers to other notes?
    
    thanx,
    mike  
    

     There are several places where I drop down to 6mph. These climbs are
    short, but the grade is 15% (approx.). I ended up with 31.? miles at
    19mph avg... The winners in my age group were probably in with a
    1:28ish to 1:30ish. Pete could tell you as he keeps highly precise
    and comprehensive info on his races.
    
     The Rte. 13 climb I don't find all that demanding. It's perfect for a
    steady cadence. The grade is about 6-7% (long - yes). 8-10mph average
    isn't too demanding. 
    
     BTW, I'll give away Pete's secret here. This is the spot where he
    waits to jumps and leaves the field behind. He plans it every year
    and it works every year... The field's response is usually... Huh?
    
     Chip

         I raced in the USCF Vet group.  I don't use a computer but I can
    tell you that we only got close to 10 mph leaving the start line, those
    guys are animals.
         I feel that cadence training may be better than a computer, in
    cadence training you develop increased tolerance to maintaining a high
    speed on any terrain.
    

    My time for Sunday's race was 1:24:52.  
    
    The other Cit groups were:
    
    A's - 1:30:12
    B's - 1:30:28
    D's - 1:34:45
    
    I think the question in a previous reply was about using a HRM to train,
    rather than a computer.  I agree that this is the most efficient way to
    train.  I've done a bit of reading on the subject and have had extensive
    advise from an experienced racer (who is a "noter" in this file - I
    don't want to give away his name and risk him becoming too popular ;^) 
    
    He helped me build a training plan that is driven by heart rates.  
    The results?  I've trained a lot less this year and my results are way 
    up from last year. 
    
    A good place to start is by reading:
    
    "Serious Training for Serious Athletes" by Rob Sleamaker
    (1st choice)
    
    "Training Lactate, something or other" (It's in all the mail order
    catalogs)
    
    Good luck