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Archives for March 2021

CycleVision Helmet Camera Captures a “Punishment Pass”

The Advantages of a CycleVision Helmet Camera Capturing a Motorist Enacting a “Punishment Pass”

Cyclists are Safer When they take the lane.
This lane is too narrow to share. The shoulder is not the legal definition of the road. Visibility on this road is unlimited.
The cyclist is safest in the lane.

Road Cycling is NOT inherently dangerous. Road Cycling is Safe, it is Easy, and it is Legal. It does, however, require some simple skills that can be taught and practiced in about 3 hours. Unfortunately, Traffic Engineers, Law Enforcment Officials, District Attorneys, and non-cycling motorists, tend and trend towards harassing and marginalizing cyclists to the edge of the road or the shoulder of the road, and then use those efforts to pass closer, faster, and with less regard to the welfare of everyone or anyone. This is why I purchased a CycleVision Helmet Camera, and on Sunday of last week, I captured a “Punishment Pass” from an agressive or careless motorist.

The CycleVision Helmet

The CycleVision Helmet has front and rear cameras.
Front and rear cameras with a 4-hour battery will capture most rides, most of the time.

The CycleVision Helmet is a product out of Australia. It was originally funded through Kickstarter, I believe, and I have followed the product for years. I finally purchased one and it arrived a few weeks back. The helmet has 1080p cameras front and rear, with a wide angle lens. It records in 30fps, and the cameras have about a 4 hour battery. There are microphones front and rear. It records in 2-minute chunks, complete with a time stamp. I’ve tried connecting the helmet as a USB thumb drive, but that doesn’t seem to be working right now. Instead, I use the App to find moments, then download them to my phone and icloud. Getting the clips is a little convoluted, but it’s worth the effort. The picture is good, and clear enough to capture license plates, car types, and colours, which is what matters most to me. The whole thing works through a proprietary wi-fi signal. I’ve sent CycleVision an email asking about the thumb-drive usb thing, but it’s just not a big deal. The memory overwrites itself, so if you have something you want to save, it’s best to do that after the ride, and not wait or forget.

The helmet is only slightly heavier than a regular helmet, and it fits well. I almost always order helmets in white, and I think this one comes in white, or black.

What is a “Punishment Pass”?

A Punishment Pass is an event where a motorist will pass a cyclist uncomfortably close, with no regard for that cyclist’s safety, or even their own. The de facto standard for passing a cyclist is to provide 3 feet (1 Meter) of lateral gap, but honestly, and legally, that’s not adequate. NHTSA defines a Standard Lane Width as 14 feet (3.5m) wide. However, 98% of all the roads in the US are SUB-STANDARD (about 11′, 2.5 meters). A SUB-STANDARD LANE may not be shared with two road users, unless it’s motorcycles or bicycles. Therefore, it’s safer, and legal, to JUST CHANGE LANES. That leaves about 8′ (2.5m) of lateral gap, which avoids the physics of wake turbulence, the inherent instability of bicycles at slower speeds, etc.

But these laws are NEVER enforced. Legally, most states use the word “Practicable“, when applying laws for cyclists, and it’s interpreted to mean “As far right as the road user deems to be safe.” Well, guess what – the edge of the road is NOT SAFE. It invites “Punishment Passes”. The shoulder? That’s not even the legal definition of the road! But before I get into proselytizing, I’ll back off. Suffice it to say, 99.99999% of the time, when a motorist sees a cyclist out on the road, no matter what their position, they’ll pass safely and legally.

But there’s always that ONE JERK.

And that’s why I bought the CycleVision; to capture the RARE, but THREATENING AND LETHAL “Punishment Pass”.

CONCLUSION

I’m going to use the CycleVision Helmet Camera to Record and Produce Punishment Pass Videos, but I’m going to do this with a twist.

I also own a Garmin Varia Radar. This device records approaching motorists from behind, and with a Garmin Field, it records the traffic count, the nearest motorist’s absolute speed, and relative speed. ALL of this information is kept in the Garmin .FIT file, and you can upload it to a special website. This website shows the cyclist’s interactions with traffic, and highlights high-speed passes. I intend to use this information to show this; PUNISHMENT PASSES ARE SCARY AND DANGEROUS, BUT THEY ARE ALSO EXTREMELY RARE!!!!

Here’s an example; One Saturday in February, I rode a course with a friend, and we had 643 motorists pass us. Only TWO passed at speeds above 50mph, and both of those showed RELATIVE speeds above 40mph. That’s 0.3%!!! The point is, and I’m reiterating this – Cycling on the road is SAFE, LEGAL, and COMMON. BE VISIBLE. SIGNAL YOUR INTENTIONS. RIDE PREDICTABLY. TAKE THE LANE. FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE ROAD. The only way to improve confidence and competence is practice, and that’s been my goal since 2000 – improving novice cyclists’ competence and confidence.

Thanks for reading, and ENJOY THE RIDE!

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Tuning Mountain Bike Rear Suspension With the Shockwiz

Mountain Bike Rear Suspension Does Not Have to be a Mystery! Use the ShockWiz!

If you know my story, you know that I began my journey in cycling as a mountain biker. My first Mountain Bike Rear Suspension System was purchased in 1995; a Trek Y-Bike. I have owned probably half a dozen Mountain bikes with Rear Suspension, but tuning them and understanding how to make them work for me and my cycling, was really a frustrating mystery. However, in 2017, a project was announced on KickStarter that promised to enlighten me; the ShockWiz. I’ll be tuning my mountain bike rear suspension with the shockwiz from day one.

What is the ShockWiz?

Shockwiz is a sensor that attaches to the outside of a front fork or rear shock. It uses a short hose to connect to the air chamber, and it measures air compression, rebound, damping, time spent in the air, and how many times a rider bottomed out over the period of measurement. I was an early investor, and was more excited when Quarq purchased the company before it even released the ShockWiz.

Tuning Mountain Bike Rear Suspension With the Shockwiz.

When I moved to Northern Nevada in August of 2019, I was incredibly excited about the opportunities to mountain bike from my front door! Since that first day, EVERY RIDE has been ridden with the ShockWiz, front and rear.

The bad news is that my mountain bike is a 2012 Trek Superfly 100. It is NOT the optimal bike for this type of terrain! After about 80 hours of attempting to optimize my RockShox Sid XX, I reached out to Mike Davis of MAD RACING in Reno, and we began to discuss the data that was being revealed by my ShockWiz. I quickly realized that the Sid XX would not work well in this rocky, vertical terrain. So I purchased a Fox 32 Factory SC in late 2019, placed the ShockWiz on the fork, and accumulated over 200 hours in 2020, testing different air pressures, damping, rebound, and compression.

The result was a consistent 92 to 96 points on the Fork.

But the rear was another story.

The 2012 Fox RP23 was altered and rebuilt by Mike at MAD Racing several times, to try and optimize the values the ShockWiz was providing. However, we never got more than 88 points on the App. Furthermore, the most consistent and revealing metric showed that Low and High-Speed Compression needed to be “Softer”.

Getting a New Rear Shock

As my experience and skills progressed, I quickly came to realize over the course of 2020, that modern-geometry bikes and suspension would completely elevate my confidence and competence when riding.

However, the Covid pandemic led to an incredible crisis in supply for bicycles on a global scale. I decided to ride my current bike for the entire year, and wait for the supply chain to catch up.

It never did.

So early this year, I decided to invest in a rear shock upgrade, and to use this as an opportunity to record and optimize the shock, using the ShockWiz.

The Fox DPX2

The Rear Shock that I decided to buy is the Fox DPX2. It is slightly heavier than the older RP23, but it is MUCH more adjustable! The shock has settings for Dampening, Rebound, Air and Nitrogen. It has 13 settings for Low and High Speed Compression, which is exactly where my old RP23 said needed attention.

Let’s Get Started!

This video is about the installation of the Fox DPX2 Rear Shock. I got help from David Simon. He owns my local bike shop, Bicycle Service Center in Reno. I’ll be recording and blogging the lessons I’m learning from this new shock via the ShockWiz, every hour that I ride. It’s a bit nerdy, but I don’t believe anyone has shared a long-term experience with the public, and I’m excited about the opportunity.

So watch the video, and feel free to leave a comment, either here or on the YouTube page. I’ll get back with you as soon as I can.

Thanks for watching, and enjoy the ride!

 

Xert Breakthrough With Physiological Metrics

Xert Is On Board With Some Serious Physiological Observations

My Client, Dusty, achieved an Xert Breakthrough while I observed his Physiological Metrics. This is Part 2 of what will now be a 3-part series of videos. In Part 1, I described the physiological phenomena behind a good warmup. Today, we’re going to show how Xert MPA metrics correlate with physiological phenomena.

The protocol are my favorite Billat 30-30’s. This means a cyclist pedals for 30 seconds of intensity, followed by 30 seconds of recovery. After five to ten intervals above Threshold Power, the cyclist then begins to pedal at intensities above the 3 Minute Mean Max Power.

THE CLIENT

Dusty came into the office with an Xert Fitness Signature of 306 Watts at Threshold, 21.4 KiloJoules of High Intensity Energy (HIE) available, and a Peak Power of 854 Watts. The goal was to attempt an Xert breakthrough, while using a Moxy Monitor and a Vo2 Master, to observe his physiological markers under intensity. I’ll explain what these numbers mean in Part 3.

Dusty is 44 years old, has been back on the bike for about a year, but has no long-term history of fitness or exercise. The bike was borrowed – he did not have a power meter for a road bike at that time. He has been training via Peloton bike and classes, roughly 5 hours per week. His goal is to be a competent coach to his son and friends in their High School Mountain Bike League. He has a power meter for a mountain bike, and a modern Garmin. At the time of the test, he had been using Xert for about 6 weeks. We had some data, but we needed to get a proper assessment.

XERT BREAKTHROUGH WITH BILLAT 30-30’s

Dr. Veronique Billat remains one of my favorite Exercise Scientists. She is the author of vVo2max exercise studies, and I translated those values over to wattage at Vo2max efforts, beginning in 2001. They are the cornerstone of any Alpine Mountain Bike athlete. While Dr. Billat uses 6MMP values, Xert uses 3MMP values to get cyclists to work harder. This is my own interpretation of “Polarized” training. Work done above 3MMP to 5MMP is highly effective for anaerobic intensity and success, just as work performed BELOW Lower Threshold Power, is also highly effective for aerobic economy.

In Part 3, I’ll perform a review and assessment of the activity, and will reveal Dusty’s new Xert Fitness Signature.

Thanks for reading, thanks for watching, and ENJOY THE RIDE!

Garmin Incident Detection Activated and Worked

Garmin Incident Detection Triggered After A Crash And Alerted My Wife

The Garmin Incident Detection feature is one of the most under-rated features in the Garmin Connect Ecosystem. Many of my friends and family either do not know it exists, or if they do, they tend to turn it off. I’m writing this to strongly urge you to reconsider. When the Garmin Incident Detection feature triggers, it can save you critical minutes when you’re in a crisis. Today, I came pretty close, and I’m glad I had it running on my Garmin 1030.

The Ride – Peavine Mountain, Total Recall and StageCoach Trails, the “Towers to Cairn Loop” on Strava.

Here’s the Strava and Ride With GPS link to my ride.

I was having a pretty good ride. I’ve been working hard on my business, and my clients are seeing a lot of success. This has occurred at the expense of my own performance, so I felt the need to roll out and enjoy some time on the singletrack. I rode a soft warmup loop with my wife and the dogs. The temperature was moderate, winds were nominal, and the light was flat. I left the family at the trailhead, punched in the Strava section for the local DRY trail loop, and started riding.

The Garmin showed that I was within 8 seconds or so of my Personal Record on the climb, but I was also climbing with my front and rear suspension activated. I was testing out a higher tire pressure and was relying on the suspension to do more work. The bike did not feel perfect – it was rebounding and bouncing off of rocks. Front and Rear tires were at 24psi.

I saw several other cyclists, but none were riding at my pace, or they were not on the same trail. Some were riding in the anti-clockwise direction. Basically, I had the trail to myself, and I was really working the berms to try and see if the decreased rolling resistance was worth the slipping and lack of edge bite in my Hans Dampf Tires. I crested the top of the climb about 18 seconds behind my PR, and decided to go for it and claw those seconds back on the StageCoach descent.

StageCoach Descent

On the descent, the bike and I kept launching off the tabletops. I’m not a Pro Downhiller – Big Air scares me. I’m 50 years old, I have crappy Health Insurance, and a lot of respect for the mountain. The Garmin recorded 2 jumps of maybe .5 seconds each, but I really worked to keep the tires on the ground, and stay balanced. Balance and centering on the bike are critical when you’re descending at speed. In many ways, a descent can be SAFER at speed, because the bike is flying over rock obstacles, the suspension is absorbing and rebounding to keep the tread in contact with the earth, and you’re at a lower center of gravity. This means I was traveling fast. The extra air in the tires was leaving me with less traction and control, so I was ‘on the edge’ of my abilities.

I know this trail VERY well. Strava and Ride With GPS show that I’ve ridden this trail at least 54 times since I moved up here. It’s one of my two “Go To” trails, and I have become comfortable with every rock, every berm, and even the new features, which Trailbuilder Kevin Joell installed in the Summer of 2020. The Garmin “Flow” Field for the field, which is maybe 3 Minutes, was pretty low, and lower in that Garmin metric is better.

I clawed back about 5 seconds over the route time, but with about 30 yards to go, there’s a gully that you have to hit JUST RIGHT, and absorb a lot of the rebound energy in the bike. Well, oops! I lost my balance, went airborne, and crashed, tumbling while clipped in, with two full impacts.

The Garmin Incident Detection CHIRP

My final impact on the ground was pretty hard, but I hit dirt and not rock on my lower right ribcage. While I lay on my back, my lower torso twisted and my bike still connected to me, I heard that Garmin CHIRP. I looked over at the unit, and it said “NEED HELP? NOTIFICATION WILL BE SENT IN”, and it started chirping a countdown.

Garmin Incident Detection Screen for Garmin Edge displaying a message "Incident detected. Sending message to emergency contacts."
The Garmin Edge Incident Detection Screen displays a message notifying the user that an incident has been detected and a message is being sent to emergency contacts.

I have 3 Contacts in my Emergency Contacts in Garmin Connect, which is a FABULOUS and UNDER-UTILIZED Web portal. The contacts are: My Wife, My Friend Billy, and my Mom. I ALWAYS ride with my phone, and I ALWAYS make sure my phone and my Garmin are connected before I leave for the ride. It’s almost like a cyclist’s version of GM’s “OnStar” system. When the Garmin head unit detects a high-g force shock, it triggers the Incident Detection Warning and Countdown.

I thought about canceling the Alert, but then I tried to get up, and I felt woozy. There was blood on my knees and my back was hurting. I knew I had hit my helmet, and I did not know if I had broken anything or if I had suffered a concussion.

THE CALLS

I let the Countdown finish. Within 30 seconds, my wife was on the phone, calling.

Tracy Christenson Garmin Incident Detection Text
The Garmin Incident Detection Feature sent my wife a text message with my exact GPS Coordinates. She knew right where to find me if I needed help.

It felt good to hear her voice.

She stayed with me on the phone while I slowly pulled myself apart from the bike, and then moved to stand. My breath was still short, and I could not take a deep breath. I finally cleared out my head, and told her I was riding home.

She met me at the driveway, and I rolled in.

Later, I received a phone call from Billy – he had been away from his phone, but we both agreed that this was the right thing to do.

Billy Gogesch Garmin Incident Detection Email Map
Billy pulled up the link on his PC, and was able to find my crash position in high-res detail. This was just his first shot. My home is visible in the map, off to the right.

Later that evening, my mom called as well. Here’s her emergency message from Garmin…

Jeanette Wharton Garmin Incident Detection Text
It’s nice to know that your emergency information is going out, even if it just means picking up the pieces. Sardonic, but serious.

Conclusion

The Garmin Incident Detection Feature is one more reason why I love my Garmin 1030 and Fenix 6X. There are SO MANY quality features in Garmin Connect, many of which are overlooked or ignored. I’m going to try to dig into these more. Yesterday, the Garmin Incident Detection feature properly activated when I had a crash in a semi-remote area with few people around. I am glad it did, even though I was able to pick myself up and ride home. NEXT TIME, I may not be as lucky.

One More Thing

And this is serious. I love cycling. I love riding a bike. But crashes happen, whether they’re solo or in groups or on trails or on roads. I have been learning and instructing since 1993, and I remain a student of the sport. But I’m not dumb and I’m not naive. Wrist ID bands are really just glorified Toe Tags. I know that stuff happens.

SO, I carry a tiny SD chip in my wallet and in my saddlebag, with a video I made and update now and then, that basically says,

“Hey – if you’re looking at this, I’m either dead or incapacitated. Here’s my Last Will and Testament, and here’s my Living Will. Use the data on my Garmin to determine whether this was my fault, or someone else’s, or was just an Act of God, which is doubtful. I have a life insurance policy with XXX. Know that I died doing something I love, and trying to share that passion with others. Thanks and move on with your own lives.”

Or something like that. I think the Garmin Incident Detection feature can help me avoid having anyone watch that vid, and hopefully, I’ll be cycling into my 90’s, like few others.

Thanks for reading, and Enjoy the Ride.

 

Why A Coach Will Help You

A Coach Will Help You Salvage A Workout, Better Than Any Prescibed Program

Failing a workout is always frustrating. A good coach will help you understand why, and how, but a great coach will help you get something good out of that workout. This will help you physically, physiologically, and mentally. Let’s find out why.

Just to summarize; workouts exist to help cyclists increase their capacity in the aerobic, anaerobic, and peak power realms. Not every workout has to be hard. Not every workout has to result in a breakthrough. A good ride brings its’ own values. Attempting a breakthrough when a cyclist is already fit gets harder and harder as fitness improves. Cyclists still get results from ‘near-miss’ opportunities. As much as I love Billat 30-30’s, they don’t have to result in a flat MPA at Threshold. The cyclist in the video was ready to quit. He had a lot of things on his mind. Neither he nor I actually get paid to ride. But his perception was that he ‘failed’. Instead, we rallied, and he actually succeeded and became a much more capable athlete as a result.

A Coach will help you realize this. I’ve told the story about the ancient Spartans before, but the summary is titled “Humping the Oak Tree”. I won’t go into details but the end result was a dead kid. The Spartans were cold-hearted. Modern cyclists just don’t need to try and push an Oak Tree over every time they throw a leg over their bike. It’s not meant to be that hard. Xert will show cyclists how much capacity they have, as well as potential. But it doesn’t have to result in failure and frustration.

I Fail Workouts ALL the Time

Even a coach needs a coach. Workouts exist to challenge. They don’t exist to break your spirit. Embrace the fact that limits exist, and work like a mime to expand them out. You’ll be happier, fitter, and will have more fortitude, with a Coach showing the way.

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