new seat for the Quest

I made this with a very low-tech method. I made a one-sided mold from a "ONE WAY" traffic sign I found on the side of the road. I laid up two 18-20oz layers of carbon fabric, wet them out and compressed them to the pre-formed sign. Once cured I glued on a 2"x3" cross-sectioned piece of styrofoam for a spine then sanded to shape. I covered that with a layer of 18-20oz. carbon, wet it out and just hand pressed it into place. I covered with plastic wrap to remove air. I made an improvised oven with an electric heater. Once everything dried I placed it in front of the fireplace for a few hours to fully cure. Despite the low-tech method the seat came out light and strong.

Training 11-27-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 24.6mph average. I rode today because there's a series of storms coming that are supposed to be really wet and windy. Rather than compromise my training by riding in that stuff I added today. I woke up tired and toyed with blowing off the ride but I know I'd feel worse if I did with the layoff coming. Given my average speed I'm glad I didn't. The day I did 26mph average I woke up tired as well. The off days will give me a chance to tweak the velo some more. I've got an idea for a different seat that will allow me to sit at the velo floor level. I've got to mock one up and see if there's any unseen complications before I commit to carbon. If it works out I'll sit about an inch lower which, most importantly, will effectively raise the bottom bracket. I should also be able to sit further back which will allow me to move the bottom bracket back which raises it due to the angle of the subframe. The aerodynamic benefit will be nice as well.

Training 11-26-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 22.3mph average.

Mini velopalooza, training 11-24-12

Rancho Murieta-Ione course, 48 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 22.9mph average (not a steady-state ride). Peter Borenstadt and Greg Thomas came over with their velomobiles for the ride. We did some coastdown comparisons and though we equalized our weights there were too many small differences that clouded the results. The speeds were too close to say for certain one way or another which was more aero. Peter's Mango with visor and faired wheel openings was surprisingly aerodynamic, though. I moved the seat farther back, to the absolute max, and steepened the seat angle even more. I also raised the bottom bracket 3/4". It feels much better now. On the ride home I spent a great deal of time over 30mph without taxing myself. I broke training speed records on many parts of the course. I even climbed equal to my best speeds on my unfaired bikes on the longest climb. On one downhill I beat my usual good-day speed by over 10mph.

Training 11-21-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 23.2mph average. After that I continued the ride by doing my Rancho Murieta short course of 23 miles with an average speed of 25.4mph. Even though the R.M. course is hillier, with 559 total feet of climbing compared to 225 for the Galt course, it's significantly faster. The R.M. course has my coastdown test hill and I did 40.7mph for the maiden run. That's about as good as I've ever done in the best of conditions (a tailwind). Today the wind was from the side. I think I hit 40-41mph twice before out of hundreds of attempts. My seat feels much better but it's still a ways off from my dual-20 FWD. About the only improvement I can make from here is to raise the bottom bracket about 1/2". I wish I could raise it three. Hmmm, Milan-esque footbumps? If I did that my feet wouldn't stick out of the bottom footholes and I could close them off flush. Another idea I was toying with is removing the top and building a whole new one. That way I could perfect my position and then build around it.

I think I got it

Instead of having the seat all the forward I shoved it all the back (and up two spaces on the rear seat support bracket). Not only did I add back the second shim behind my hips to fill in the seat bucket, I added a third. This did two good things. It increased the seat angle, closing my overall body position while at the same time opening my hip angle. That's important. While I like an overall closed body position I don't like closed hip angles. It's much better for me to achieve the proper body angle by curving my spine so that it's concave from the front. This is a feature that my beloved dual-20 FWD had. I noticed that Barbara Buatois uses this same setup in the Varna she rides. I might achieve even better results if I pad the area behind my trapezius if I have the shoulder room.

seat adjustment

As I was laying in bed with my bothersome quad tendons I realized I made a big mistake when I removed one of the two pads behind my hips that I used as shims. While it gave me a better distance to the bottom bracket, which admittedly felt too close all along, it negated the benefit by reintroducing lumbar curve (which is significant on the stock Quest seat). Nothing does more to load up my quads and knees than lumbar curve. While it feels great as a seat it does bad things for my physical performance. I learned that a long time ago when I was a powerlifter. Even though it is "correct" form to arch your back when you squat I used a neutral, or even slightly rounded, spine. Arching my back only resulted in losing at least 50lbs. of squatting power. Arching my back on the bike reduces my ability to activate my hips and hamstrings. What I should have done since my bottom bracket is at the limit of forward extension is to move the seat back 1/2". Oops. The other option is to trim the leading edge of the channel that the bottom bracket is welded to. That will allow it to slide farther forward. But, that will lower the BB even more, though slightly, opening the body angle as opposed to closing it by sliding the seat back. That's a no-brainer. Luckily I have just enough shoulder room. Now that I have shoulder pads in place it makes a nice comfortable pocket to brace against. Before the pads the shell was digging into my shoulders. Well, I hope this works out. I'm running out of options. As I'm reverting back to my three day per week routine I'll be taking today off. It's not easy to do once you condition your brain to get out there everyday. Of course, I've learned countless times over the decades how foolhardy it is to demand that your body cater to its psychological needs. That's probably the number one cause of unrealized fitness potential. Yet, still, it's such a tempting trap to fall into. Yes, it's due to craziness but unfortunately some crazy is needed to convince yourself that how fast you can ride a bike has any meaning in the grand scheme of things. Or, to realize that it doesn't and carry on anyway.

training thoughts

I took some measurements of my position and came up with a seat angle of 28 degrees, seat height of 5.75" and bottom bracket height of 14" (40 degrees and 11" over is my ideal position). This is much more open than I was hoping for and I'm really feeling it. I can feel the ache in my lower quads now. I was hoping to do six-day per week training throughout the winter but as things are I have to rethink that. Daily training is taking a toll on my quads and no amount of trying to work around it is giving me adequate relief and my other, primary muscles, are getting short-changed when it comes to workload as a result. I've tried to finagle my body every which way to involve them more without adding further damage to my weak link but there just isn't room inside the shell. (If I could make paragraphs with Blogger I'd start a new one here). There is a remote possibility that I will trade my XS for the larger size. Barring that, it would probably be a good idea if I go back to my old training method of training every other day, or better yet, three days per week and alternating an easy session with a medium-intensity one. This has always worked well for me in the past when I was racing laidback bikes and, as I said, my velo feels just like them. I really wanted to avoid riding in that position because I lose so much power. Another option, and one I considered before I bought the velo is to build a Birk Comet clone which would, in essence, be a rear-wheel drive version of my tailfaired, dual-20 FWD. I could train to my hearts content on that. Anyway, I want to give myself at least 1000 miles in the XS to see if things change before I do anything that extreme.

Training 11-19-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 22.0mph average. I removed one of the camp-mat pads I used for a shim behind my hips. This made my knees feel better and my legs feel better overall today. Still, I was slow. Part of that might be that when I tried to top off my Risse shock I couldn't get the pump off without letting most of the air out. As a result I'm back to lowriding in the rear and probably catching more air underneath. One more problem.

Lid woes

Training 11-18-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 22.3mph average. Easy day. Still catering to my knees and quad tendons. I hope they eventually adapt because as they are, in this position, they are too much of a weak link. Edit: It's possible I could have caused trouble with the Romanian deadlifts. They don't hit the quad tendons at all but they are very hard on the hamstring tendons and could have a collateral impact.

Training 11-17-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS. 19.5mph average. Easy day. Very windy with rain. I started off with the cockpit cover but after a nature call it was too windy to get back on. I don't like having the thing in my face anyway. When I make my hood it's going to have an open space in front of my face all the way to the front of the cockpit opening. My quad tendons are still beat up after my last harder ride three days ago. Some hunters pulled over in front of me, got out of their truck and took pictures of me as I went by. It's amazing how much more tolerant and friendly motorists are when you're driving a velomobile.

Training 11-15-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 21.3mph average. Easy day. Tomorrow off.

Training 11-14-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 26mph average. That's kind of an all-time record for a training ride on this course. I did 25.9mph on my tailfaired, dual-20 FWD but that Galt course was 10% longer with more stops. Speaking of stops, I think I might have to switch courses on my harder training days. I've been giving an all new meaning to the term "California stop". Even though I'm riding out in the country it's only a matter of time before the sheriff gets me. I had to put the rear seat bracket back on. The velcro isn't enough to keep the chain cover at full height when I'm sitting on it (obviously). Oh well, I like it better that way anyway. A little more stretch in my posterior chain. It only raises my head an inch and my shoulders not at all since they're inside the shell. I'm getting the proper pedaling technique down for this position. On my trike I could push with my glutes and hamstrings without over-involving my quadriceps. In the velo I can't. Any attempts at pushing the pedals above a certain threshold and my quads are on fire. Instead, I'm having to rely primarily on pulling with my hamstrings from the top of the stroke down. As a consequence of this I'm having to use a lower cadence to get optimum activation since my hamstrings are slow(twitch). If I try to spin faster they can't keep up (contract fast enough) and my quads, being fast-twitch, jump in to help with unpleasant results. Interesting, to me at least, is that I can't make my hamstrings burn no matter how much force I put to the pedals. My hamstrings aren't strong enough. Well, if hamstring strength is my limiter then, whoop-dee-doo, I get to lift weights. Until now my lifting has been limited to standing clean and presses and lying triceps presses with whopping 9lb dumbbells, doing sets of 25 on the overheads and sets of 50 on the triceps presses. Now, I think I'll add in some Romanian deadlifts. edit: did Romanian deadlifts, 110lbs x 20 reps for starters

Training 11-13-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 20.8mph average. Easy day. I needed to give my quad tendons a break.

Training 11-12-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 24.5mph average. I modified my seat position. I eliminated the rear seat support bracket and replaced it with a small aluminum angle. I know this is supposed to be a no-no, placing the stress on the rear flange of the seat but the narrower tail on the XS seat seems to be plenty beefy for the job. I did have issues though. When I made the modification I checked for drivetrain clearance and everything seemed okay. During today's ride, though, I noticed the chain wouldn't travel backwards when I back-pedaled. When I finished the ride and was going slow enough I could hear the drag. It ends up I was sitting on the idler. The seat was pressing on the idler/chain guard which was pressing on the idler flange. I had the chain guard slightly off center which effectively lowered the height over the idler flange. Centering it seems to have corrected the problem.

My new position. Hopefully it will allow for an extra low-profile (home-made) hood.

Training 11-11-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 24.3mph average. I guess my legs are starting to get used to this position. My legs feel like they are propelling a laidback bike. The primary stress is around the knee. On the bright side, if I ever choose to race an unfaired bike again I will be ready.

Training 11-10-12

Galt, 30 miles. 22.7mph average. Level check (photo).

Training 11-9-12

Galt, 30 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). 22.2mph average.

Training 11-8-12

No training. I had to take today off to go out of town for my daughter's 25th birthday. Just as well, I'm a little sore in new places and the rest will ease my transition into the new position.

Training 11-7-12

Maiden voyage in the Quest XS (open cockpit). 30 miles to Galt. Only 21.8mph average. This is much slower than I expected. Yesterday's unfaired trike ride was 21.1mph average. Granted the wattage was significantly higher yesterday but I would have done at least 19mph average today. I was expecting to at least average 25mph today, not a measly less than 3mph increase. The position is more open and quad-centric so I'll need some time to acclimate. Oh well, I'm sure it will all work out in the end.

Training 11-6-12

Plus 2 days. Folsom Canal. 225 watts average.

It's here!

Training 11-4-12

Plus 1 day. Folsom Canal. 202 watts average. 194.5 watts average for about seven steady-state hours this week. Average increase in watts this week (not counting the first days) is 16.2.

Training 11-3-12

Plus 1 day. Folsom Canal. 201 watts average.

Training 11-2-12

Plus 1 day. Folsom canal. 191 watts average.

Training 11-1-12

Plus 1 day. Folsom Canal. 184 watts average.