Getting Ready for Gran Fondo Leavenworth 2018

Two weeks to Gran Fondo Leavenworth! I'm looking forward being out on the gravel, being focused and having fun.  This will be my third GFL outing (previous reports: GFL 2016 and GFL 2017).

Last year I ran over a rock (ha), flattened my back rim, and punctured just outside of Entait on highway 97.  Then, after the Swakane Canyon climb on the way down, I lost air in my front wheel and fell - I'm hoping for better luck this time around!!

I built a new front wheel for the Supercourse - the rim was getting a bit too thin; moreover, the bearings on the 25-year old hub were wearing out. I can no longer find a good balance between tight enough and not too tight - the front hub was just getting a bit too loose.

I also built a new back wheel because in the winter, during cold-weather riding, the pawls in the back hub stopped releasing from time to time, which is no fun at all. I think the problem was related to the cold. I haven't had problems with it recently; still, I thought it best to build a new one. And, well, building wheels is fun.

These are #9 and #10, since I started this project three years ago, and they came together beautifully. I can't say enough about Roger Musson excellent book on wheel building - some people are just extraordinary teachers and craftsmen. 

I've installed Compass Bon Jon Pass 35 mm tires on DT Swiss R460 rims. I'm running these tires in tubeless mode.  Yes! That combination of tire and rim works beautifully in tubeless mode.

This set-up, with about 40 psi in the back and 37 psi in the front, worked pretty well at Gran Fondo Winthrop in 2017. I might use a bit more air pressure for GFL - 40 psi feels a bit soft and squirely on the road. I've not been stopping during these rides to change air pressure but perhaps I should.

I've also given the Supercourse a drive train update: new chain-rings (34T and 48T), 7-speed cassette (12-32T), chain, and back derailleur. Hopefully things will be fairly smooth and reliable.

I've noticed that the new back derailleur, a Shimano RD-M310 Altus GS 7/8-speed Rear Der Black,Long Cage ($15.00), has a new personality, which requires slightly different shifting technique.  And, alas, on big bumps it seems to shift up by itself - I'll need to explore that further.  But, the shifter works for 34 x 14T, which gives me a new gear.  That's nice - another area for exploring. 

Except for getting the flu (week 12), which kept me off the bike for 10 days, and took another 2 weeks of recovery time (a nasty cough wouldn't go away), my training has been quite good. Good consistency, with more or less 2 hard weeks followed by a recovery week. I've ridden about 210 hours this year.

I've been eating nutrient rich food (ha) and trying to say away from sugar, not always successfully. Eating "properly" certainly helps with recovery and slowly but surely my weight has dropped over the last 20 weeks, much like in previous years.

I've been working on very hard threshold workouts. Since January, I've been doing a weekly workout on my rollers, working up to being able to do 4 x (20 min HARD + 4 min EASY). My threshold is about 161 - so, I get into the range of 158 - 162 and hold that heart rate for 20 min. Then, I get a 4 min. recovery.  Then, repeat.

Doing two such intervals was fairly doable last year. Working up to being able to do four has been quite the challenge, but is now quite doable. That's not to say they are easy. Nope.  Far from it.  The first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes are always hard, often very hard, no matter if its the first, second, third, or forth effort - relax a bit and stop focussing and my heart rate drops fast.

Interval #4 puts me in a kind of dark place - perhaps, its a bit too much. I basically fear it and when I start out I'm uncertain if I will finish. I try to focus on smooth peddling and play psychological games - hold the effort for 5 minutes, okay that's done, only ten minutes to go, so stay smooth, okay just eight minutes to go - got this, etc. A lot of it just seems to be psychological - embrace the discomfort and stay with the smooth peddling and look at the clock every 20 seconds (ha). The next developmental step will be to work toward 3 x (30 min HARD + 4 min. EASY). That will have to wait until after GFL.

Over the weeks, the efforts have become more controlled, with smoother and faster peddling and/or with bigger gears. I've read somewhere that the key to such workouts might be consistency - developing the physiology to handle these workouts takes takes time and consistent work. That said, my goal was to incorporate a mix of these kinds of workouts with V02 Max workouts but I haven't found a good pattern for doing that and, so I haven't done any training in Zone #5 this year (unlike last year where I did a regular V02 Max workout each week but not a threshold workout.)

Hopefully, these highly controlled theshold workouts, even without V02 Max efforts, paired with long easy rides in Zone 1 and Zone 2, and a lot of consistency over the last five months, will give me a good aerobic engine.

Over the last two weeks, with the goal of consolidating my form, I've done three very difficult sessions, where I've spent substantial time "sweet-spotting" (high zone 3 / low zone 4).  Staying at a heart rate of 147-153 for almost two straight hours, for example, was very, very difficult.  Until this past couple of weeks, I am almost never in this heart rate range.

Hopefully, all of this work will give me the physiological capacity to do well on the climbs, recover well on the downhills, and manage the distance at GFL. We'll see soon enough.

For the next two weeks, I'll taper, do a couple of short, hard sessions and some easy riding, aiming for about 8-10 hours next week and 4-5 hours during the week of GFL.

Looking forward to riding with focus and care!

The plan:

1. Ride the first 10 miles such that I don't take any wind. Hopefully, it will be a fairly relaxed start like the last two years. 
2. Ride the gravel climb steady, not too fast, at my own pace.
3. Once under the hydro lines, ride hard to the top and keep riding hard over the flat part. Then, eat and drink.
4. Ride conservatively downhill - watch out for cars, etc. At the bottom, eat and drink. 
5. Hopefully, join up with a group in the valley and work together, saving as much as possible. 
6. Once in Swakane Canyon, focus on efficient peddling, no matter the surface, the bumps, the little hills and flats, the loose rocks, the rocks that don't move, the ruts, the mud. Maintaining momentum on this climb is really hard. Shift the gears and peddle well to keep the momentum going. Ride hard up and over the flat part. 
7. Take the downhill conservatively; manage the risks and the rough terrain.
8. Ride hard to the finish, being very careful at the two left turns, which hold a good deal of risk when riding cross-eyed.

It is good to know that exercise can keep aging muscles and immune systems 'young'!

Bon Jon Pass Tubeless Set-up

Given my weight plus the bicycle
weight and riding conditions,
what is the optimal
tire pressure?

I've been using Compass Bon Jon Pass 35 mm tires on DT Swiss R460 rims (18 mm inner and 23 mm outer width) for about 4 weeks now. With tubes and at 40 psi, front and back, the wheels have felt exceptional on the road and pretty good on nice gravel (Tolt Pipeline Trail and Snoqualmie Valley Trail).

I have a bicycle tire pressure gage but evidently any gage's reading can vary by 15% (see discussion, August 22, 2016, at Compass Bicycles). So 40 psi could be 40 psi +/- 6 psi, which could be a very meaningful difference but, hopefully, any error in accuracy is consistent. I suppose I should seek to calibrate the gage.

Also of great interest:  Given the supple casings of the Bon Jon Pass tire, 40 psi was probably too low of a tire pressure - a little higher, perhaps 45-50 psi, is probably better (see discussion, March 9, 2016, at Compass Bicycles). That is quite high given my experience with Specialized Trigger tires in the Gran Fondos. But, that said, the Bon Jon Pass tires are likely more supple and so perhaps require more air pressure.

The simple approach would be to pump some tubes up to 50 psi, ride conservatively on fast downhills, and be done with it.  However, I've made it tricky because I want to get good performance (speed, reliability, and safety) out of the combination of rim, tire, and riding conditions. The big challenge is the riding conditions, which I assume to be 100 miles of 1/2 gravel and 1/2 road, with very, very fast descents, which expose you to pinch flats, and quite varied kinds of gravel (nice bits and deadly chunks).

In the five Gran Fondos that I've done, I've had three flats - one flat on the road for unknown reasons (back tire), one pitch flat at high speed when I went over an unexpected creek bed too quickly (back tire), and a "burp" when I hit an evidently ordinary rock at very high speed (front tire). In 1/3 rides with tubeless setups I've not had problems; in 2/2 rides with tubes I've had problems.

Compass Bon Jon Pass tires. Note
 those black lines after about 50 hr of
riding. Have I damaged the tire by
riding low tire pressure?

See those black streaks on the tire (right). I think, perhaps, the threads that hold the casing together have been damaged. It is noteworthy that the black streaks do not appear on the front tire, suggesting there's an issue with the tire pressure. If the threads have been damaged, the tire is not likely to reliably hold air in tubeless mode - bummer. Anyway, as usual with these things, there is a lot to learn.   Update: I was wrong.  Those black lines are not related to casing.  I wrote Compass -- they were extremely helpful -- and they pointed out that the back streaks look like "aluminum oxide from the brake surface of the rim."  True enough - a little water and elbow grease and they come right off. 

So, I'll pump them up to 45 psi and hopefully that will prevent further damage and, moreover, hopefully the tires won't stretch such that it rubs against the frame; alas, the tolerances are fine back there. Last year the Specialized Trigger  38 mm tires worked great until the back one stretched and began to touch the frame, although I think they are quite slow on the roads.

The Compass Bon Jon Pass tires seem to fit the rims superbly. As I inflate the tubes, the tires make a sharp popping sound as they seat with the rim groove, and the tire shape with the rim looks, to me, really good. So, I'm hopeful I'll get them to work tubeless.  But, alas, I do worry, since experts have reported frustrations and challenges - and I'm not, dah, an expert.

Attempt #1 - Failure.  I check my rim tape on my front tire and it looks pretty good to me.  This tape worked in the autumn with Specialized Triggers 38 mm. Just in case, I put another piece of tape over the valve hole, seeking to get a good seal with the valve. I used Stans Sealant and, since I don't have a compressor, I used a handy compressed air cylinder that I carry on my rides. This method for putting a lot of air into the tire fast did not work - just a lot of sealant on the garage floor and a mess to clean up.  The tire did not even get close to seating with the rim. I have found this method to work with the Specialized Trigger tires but no luck here.  So, onward .

Attempt #2 - Success! I ordered some Orange Seal Tubeless Tire Sealant, and headed off to one of my favorite bicycle shops, Counterbalance Bicycles, which has an outside air compressor. The Orange Seal sealant is evidently better for these tires (see review and discussion, August 22, 2016 at Compass Bicycles). No need for soapy water.  Instead I took the tube out while carefully keeping one of the tire beads on the rim. Once the tube was out, I put in the valve.  Then, keeping the wheel  horizontal, I put some sealant into the tire and brushed it around the bead and slobbered it around on the inside rim edge. Then, I put the tire back on the rim.  I blasted it with air while jiggling the sealant around near the valve, and sure enough the tire filled with air and the bead made a sharp snapping sound as it popped into place on the rim. Magical. That worked on both wheels, quite easily, in pretty much the same manner. I inflated the tires to 50 psi and rode home. Three hours later the tires seem to be holding air just fine. Tomorrow, I'll lower the pressure and give them a whirl on my weekly long ride.

Update,  April 15, 2017 - I filled the front and back tires to about 43 psi and I rode hard today on nice gravel. The Compass Bon Jon Pass tires are beautiful. They felt really good, both on gravel and then on road and vice versa. I noted that sensations on the transitions - seemingly, fast on the road, fast on gravel.

The only problem, and its a big one, is that after 4 hours I needed to stop and blast the back tire with air.  It went from about 43 psi to less than I suppose 15 psi (I couldn't quite see my gauge which I carried along with me). The front tire was great - I don't think it lost air or at least it was minimal.

Hmmmm. From magical, to disappointed.  I'm not sure where the tire is leaking - no obvious signs. I can press the tire inward and cause sealant leaks but that doesn't seem to be what is going on.  I guess the next step is to watch it carefully and determine if it leaks when not being ridden. And, then, perhaps add more sealant and see if that makes a difference.  Or, perhaps I should swap the tires and see if that makes a difference -- perhaps its the tape or valve?

As it stands, because of the loss of air, the tires are probably not viable for GFL, which is a real bummer given how nice they are to ride. However, because they ride so well, perhaps I should simply stop every two hours and pump them with air. Ha!   Or, perhaps I should ride with tubes at a fairly high tire pressure and ride very conservatively on the downhills to avoid high speed pinch flats.  Neither of these solutions is very appealing.

Update, April 16, 2017 - Anyway, the next day, after about 18 hours, the tire is dead flat. So, with my stand-up pump, I easily bump it up to 50 psi. And then I checked the pressure every hour.  Here's the sequence of readings, in psi, hour-by-hour for six hours: 50 - 42 - 33 - 28 - 22 - 15 - 10. So, during yesterday's ride, I started at 45 psi.  Therefore, after about 4 hours, one would expect the tire would be down to less that 20 psi. This prediction seems to be about right, although I would imagine that air would leave the tire more quickly when riding than when stationary.

I retrospect, I should have also recorded the pressure on the front time, which seems okay. I can say, however, that the front tire has gone from about 45 psi to 20 psi in 30 hours. So there is a lot of leakage but it is slower leakage.

So, I think the next question is: Where is the air escaping?  I see no obvious places. Is there a way of correcting the problem or have I somehow irreparably damaged the tire? (Note: The tire held air the first night.) If I have irreparably damaged the tire, how exactly did I do that? What should I learn for the next time? Could I have done anything differently?  Was it an issue of tire pressure?  I don't think so and I don't think my riding was out of the ordinary.

I think the next step is to dump a bunch more sealant into the tire, pump it up, and see what happens.  But, that will have to wait, alas, a couple of days ...

Main conclusions: Tubeless tires are great; Tubeless tires are a pain in the ass; I want to make the Bon Jon Pass tires tubeless because they feel fast both on gravel and on the road.

Attempt #3, April 23 - Success!!!  I contacted Compass and asked for some help diagnosing my troubles. We exchanged some e-mail and they generously considered my observations to be a "warrantee issue," and sent me a new tire. I though that was extremely nice, since I really didn't have clear evidence that it was a problem with the tire casing.

Anyway, I re-taped the back wheel and dumped 2 solid ounces of sealant into the old tire. It inflated beautifully. I pumped it up to about 50 psi and the tire held air all night.  Then, the next morning I lowered the pressure to about 43 psi and did a long ride and the tire held air just fine - perhaps losing 1-2 pounds over 24 hours.  What was my mistake?  Perhaps, I didn't use enough sealant or perhaps there was some problem with the tape job.

Anyway, the tires feel very, very good. They feel fast and quite solid - if a little squirely at high speeds - on both gravel and road surfaces.  So, with 4 weeks until Gran Fondo Leavenworth I believe I have an good tire set-up.  Here's to hoping that I don't cut, stretch, or otherwise wear out these beautifully designed and manufactured tires in the next 4 weeks. Ha! Fingers crossed!