On the Eve of the First Day

It was the middle of my Senior year of college, and like every other kid in my class, I was trying to think of something to do with my life after school. As the days passed, graduation seemed less and less like a celebration of achievement and more like a fast approaching cliff...

Instead of spending my efforts lining up job interviews, researching who was hiring, or practicing interview skills I chose to bury myself in a school project...perhaps "drown" is more apt than "bury". April came and my project wrapped up. With mere weeks left in school I didn't have much time to think about, let alone prepare for, life afterwards.

My grand plan for the first year after school involved making ends meet working at a bike shop while I schemed about developing my own line of carbon fiber bike parts. I considered applying for jobs at several bicycle manufacturers nation wide, but decided that the only two companies I would consider leaving Boulder for were Zipp in Indianapolis and Cervelo in Toronto. And so, as a proverbial fisherman, I exchanged the wide net for a harpoon, crossed my fingers, and heaved blindly towards the huge whale on the horizon.

Here I am, sitting on a blow-up mattress in an echoing one-bedroom apartment in Indianapolis. In 10 hours I'll walk into the Zipp office and start a career.

New Aerobars

I still need a name for these...



This one was just for fun.

My "New" Car

I bought a car this week for the move down to Indianapolis. I ended up with a 2004 Mini Cooper S 6sp Manual. While on the whole I am anti-car, I feel really good about this purchase because the Mini is very fuel efficient, small and unobtrusive, stylish and sporty. I do still feel like a bit of a sellout, because I really don't NEED anything more than a reliable beater car and I am going to use my bike instead of my car whenever possible. That said, the times I do drive my car I will have fun doing it. I took it for a joy ride in the mountains after I registered it today. 33mpg at 9,000ft in the mountains!

Bikes at Kona

TJ Tollakson's bike at check in with Tricaerotop. (Photo from Xtri.com)

Bryan Rhodes' bike at check in with DiMON bottle snap. (Photo from Xtri.com)

Some Changes

I'm moving to Indianapolis...SURPRISE! Zipp Speed Weaponry offered me a job as a design engineer recently and I took them up on the offer. I'll be moving in the next few weeks, so I have a lot to plan and organize. Indianapolis may be a step down from Boulder in terms of convenience and scenery, but it's a definite "lift-off" in terms of my career as an engineer in the bicycle industry. Some changes of note include buying my first automobile, and for the first time I will be filing my taxes as an independent. I was told that the triathlon scene in Indy is supposed to be "a lot bigger than you would expect", but then again, I wasn't expecting there to be any triathlon scene...On the plus side, there IS a velodrome in town...

If you're planning on watching the Ironman World Championships this weekend make sure to look for the DíMON logo on a few athletes' bikes. Bryan Rhodes is riding the very first DíMON bottle snap prototype on his 2009 Cervélo P3C, and TJ Tollakson has a little treat to show the world on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, DíMON Cycling will not become a reality any time soon as I have committed my ideas and efforts towards Zipp products for the foreseeable future.


Introducing the Tricaerotop! Custom made for the Hawaii Ironman World Championships. (Patent pending, TJ Tollakson)


TJ Tollakson fitting the Tricaerotop.

For now, my only job is to enjoy Colorado as much as I can while I'm still here.

First Day of Fall

I guess the Summer is over...that went quickly. With my foot healed, I've been able to go on some bike rides and short runs. Yesterday I had a most excellent ride in the mountains. The weather was perfect, the scenery unbelievable, and it was all together a very good last day of Summer.

...looking forward to a "do-over" next Summer.

Aspens turning color off Peak to Peak Hwy (Hwy 72)

Front Page, Baby!

I happen to have my grimacing mug posted on the front page of the USA Triathlon website advertising USAT Nationals this year. Check it out at http://www.usatriathlon.org

I also had the a similar picture as the cover of a USAT welcome pamphlet for new 2008 USAT members. Anyone want an autograph?

DíMON Cycling presents...

...the Bottle Snap prototype. The prototype weighs 15g, and I plan on cutting some more material out of the next version to save weight. My guess is that it will weigh about 10-12g. If you want one shoot me an email and I'll see what I can do.

Le Hub

When I made plans for this project I predicted I would finish this hub by Aug. 18th...lucky guess maybe, but here it is, the very first DíMON prototype disc hub. This one is meant for track cycling only. Next step: put the DISC in DISC WHEEL! I'll try to keep this blog updated with progress reports.

Foot Update

I had my 6-week doctor's visit today. Foot is healing nicely, though not 100% yet. The exciting news is that the doctor gave me clearance to ride and kick while swimming, AND - I can ditch the boot! Roughly 22.3 minutes later I was home putting on my left shoe for the first time in 6 weeks and rode my bike to work. I went for a short ride on my road bike after work with my roommate and it was awesome!

I have another doctor's appointment in 4 weeks, at which point I hope to get the go-ahead for some running and more vigorous exercise.

YUM!

He can walk! He can walk, he can walk, he can walk, he can walk - I can SWIIIIIMMMMMM!!! (Take off of Simpsons, Planet of the Apes)

So, stitches are out, and I got the go ahead to hobble around on my heel in my boot. Since I no longer have to keep my stitches dry, I can hop in the pool with a pull-buoy. Summer has been taken back!

DíMON Cycling

Coming in 2009

Something to shoot for

I really don't have any news to write about, so I've decided to write about things I will write about later...

Namely, before winter sets in, I would like to break 1,700 watts on my bike. You'll be seeing a post when this happens. Below is a power reading from a ride I did a week before I broke my foot.


Other than planning a glorious comeback just in time for the first snowfall, I've been spending most of my time doing things to help me pass the time and feel productive. So far, I have gathered all the materials, tools, software, and resources to start actually making headway on some carbon fiber disc wheels I've been dreaming of for some time. I've even done some paper-and-pencil engineering analyses to determine safety factors on all the crucial parts. Next in line is to finalize the computer models, run some FEA simulations, and start machining the darn hub! Pictures will accompany progress.

Extreme Pedicure!

I had a very expensive pedicure yesterday. Dr. Wertz put 3 screws in the 5th metatarsal of my left foot. I believe they will stay there indefinitely, but I go back for the follow up appointment on July 16th to get all the recovery details.

The 40 minute operation went smoothly, and I got to watch some of it. The spinal anesthetic didn't start working completely until a few minutes into the operation, so I could feel them slicing my foot open and positioning the bones back together. The spinal anesthetic is supposed to numb everything from the waist down, but oddly enough I could feel and move everything except the calf and foot they were operating on. As soon as the surgery was over, they removed the tourniquet from my quad and almost instantly I could feel and move my left leg. Thankfully I was not in pain.

Right now I'm hopped up on Percocet, which I can tell you I do not like as much as Vicodin. Percocet makes me feel as if I've just woken up still drunk after a big night of drinking. Vicodin just made me pleasantly tired.

Let the countdown to a good foot begin!

I should have practiced that more...

Oh man, oh man...oh, man. I had a bunch of firsts today. First time racing the Loveland Lake to Lake Olympic distance triathlon, first broken bone, first ambulance ride, first prescription of Vicodin, soon to be first surgery, and a first class dissappointment. Remember that time I said I had perfected the flying bike mount? It may be hard to remember unless you're a loyal reader of this blog, because I claimed to have perfected this graceful act all of 19 HOURS AGO! Well, it turns out I did not, in fact, perfect the flying bike mount.

The short and long of it was that I messed up the mount, landed on my foot sideways really hard, said 'ouch', and then convinced myself to continue riding to see if the pain would go away. During the 15 miles it took me to realize something was seriously wrong, my thought progression went something like this;

"Shit, that hurts. Calm down and you can gain back lost time."

"Shit, that still hurts. Just get through the bike and see what you can do on the run."

"Shit, I guess I'll just finish the ride."

"Shit, my foot is swollen and green."

There goes the past 8 weeks of training...and the next 8...

( -100 cool points)

3 Seconds Faster, +10 Cool Points

I'm racing tomorrow morning. More precisely, I will be starting my race in 7 hours, 40 minutes. To prep for the race I had a relaxing ride on the outskirts of town to loosen the legs. Afterwards I did something I should have done 3 years ago...perfect the flying bike mount. My bike mounts have always been pretty good, but far from impressive. I spent about 5 minutes practicing in slo-mo to get the action down and slowly gained confidence and speed, until I was able to hop on the saddle at a brisk jog.

Tomorrow I hope to impress.

5430 Sprint, 2008

Coming back from Vancouver left me itching for a real race. This past weekend was the 5430 Sprint and I was psyched for a fast, fun course. Sprints are my favorite distance; not only do they suite my strengths as an athlete, but they generally are low key and require less preparation in the days prior to the race. Sprint races are a chance to go all out and grit your teeth through the finish.

My race went surprisingly well. Minutes before the starting gun I was joking about how I should be starting the race from the back of the pack. Regardless, I started the swim front and center with my buddies who were in my wave. After the gun, I settled into a strong pace and felt very comfortable. I kept the same effort level and was enjoying the untouched glassy water in front. One by one the swimmers by my side dropped back and I was tempted to slow down to get on a pair of feet to draft, but decided that leading a swim was a rare and fun occurrence, so I kept chugging along quite comfortably in the lead. I kicked it up a notch with 300m to go, and when I ran out of the water I was leading by ~30sec. After hustling in and out of T1, I had a good mount and started the ride. Pacing was great, I never went over the red line and kept my effort under control for the bike. I lead my wave for most of the bike, until the last 2 miles when the two friends I had started the swim with passed me and stayed ahead. I came into T2 about 20 seconds back but exited in 2nd place. I played it conservative for most of the run and kept a pace I thought I could maintain. Surprisingly, the gap between myself and my buddy in the lead held steady at 15 sec through the halfway mark. I fell off pace shortly after and was caught by the other friend trailing close behind. With 2k to go all I could do was hang on as best as I could. He dropped me shortly thereafter and I was left with nothing but momentum carrying me forward.

I finished the race 1min 16sec slower than last year, but only one place down from last year; 11th overall, 2nd place age group. Not bad considering I've only put in about 50 hours of training since getting back into the swing of things after school let out. If I come back into form on all fronts I should have a very good summer of races.

It was a fashionable finish... ;-)

Vancouver 2008

I recently returned from Vancouver, BC, host of the ITU World Triathlon Championships. I traveled there with my coach Matt and teammate Cedric. The entire weekend was cloudy, cold and rainy. I was not entirely prepared for this race; I had been back in training for about a month and my fitness was relatively lacking. The water temp was a frigid 55F and rain persisted for the entire first two days we were there.

Race morning was cold and cloudy but dry. A stiff wind had whipped up 3-5ft swells in the English Bay, and after over 600 women had started their race, directors decided to cancel the swim for the remaining competitors due to high seas. Apparently the kayaks on the swim course were overwhelmed; both by the number of people needing help and because they were taking on water and capsizing from the waves. SURPRISE! It's a duathlon! The swim was replaced with a "3k" run, which was more like a 2k run. The bike course was a tad under 37k, which for a World Championships, is embarrassingly short.

I started the 1st run in the back of the field, knowing my run is my weakest link, and made sure not to go out too hard and blow up. I came into T1 about a minute back from the leaders and had a smooth transition to the bike. Despite having to surge my way past HUGE packs of drafting racers my pacing was pretty good on the bike. The drafting was pretty blatant. We're talking 30+ racers packed within a 50m stretch of road. Oh well.

I had a great T2 after the bike and was feeling good on the run for the first 3k. I then promptly blew up and struggled through the rest of the run. I brought it home for a 32nd place finish in my age group, which is surprisingly 10 places better than I did at last year's Worlds. For some reason there was not as strong of competition this year. All in all I'm not dissapointed in my performance; I expected as much given the lack of preparation.

My "A" race for the season will be Age Group Nationals in Portland OR. I should have plenty of time to get back into peak shape by then!

Tornado Cancels Race

My first race of the summer was cancelled due to a tornado. The Pelican Fest Triathlon is a fun sprint race up in Windsor Colorado. Windsor was hit hard today and the race is a no go...bummer all around. I'll probably replace the race with an intense series of workouts that day to simulate a race effort. Worlds is 3 weeks out and it's time to pick up the intensity!

Back in Training

School is over, the weather is starting to turn to Summer. I've got nothing to do but train full time and occasionally work at the bike shop. My plans for the summer are to train as much as possible, work enough to pay the bills, and design and build my own carbon fiber disc wheels and aerobars. I'll have more updates on each front as news comes. My racing schedule is already set, but my fitness is pretty pathetic, given the lack of training over the past 9 months.

Pelican Fest Sprint - May 23rd
ITU Age Group Worlds - June 7th
5430 Sprint - June 15th
Table Mountain Criterium Series - July 1st
Rocky Mounts Criterium - July 12th
Longmont Criterium - July 13th
Boulder Peak - July 20th
Table Mountain Criterium Series - July 29th
5430 Long Course - August 10th
Dillon Criterium - August 24th
Age Group Nationals - September 20th

For now, drool over the newest addition to my 'quiver' of bicycles. Just took it for the first ride today.

CU Eco Marathon Car

The car is done!! Well, I'm done with the car, let's say. I still have to write the final report on the project, but all the late nights are history. The car looks fantastic. As soon as we get it running I'll post it's fuel efficiency. For now, here are pictures;

Senior Project in the News

My Senior Project was featured on Denver's Channel 7 ABC news last week. Here's the clip -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXOIdO1OqRM

2,000 Visits!

My blog just spilled over 2,000 visits since I started it a little over a year ago. Thanks for reading! Hopefully I'll have some more news on my TRIATHLON endeavors soon, instead of all this school crap.

Supermileage Car

In years past I've been involved with human powered vehicle projects, and each year we talked about how cool it would be to have a professional looking monocoque carbon fiber fairing/chassis. Our fairings always turned out disastrous, though somehow we were still able to use them. This year, for the supermileage car I'm working on for my Senior Project, we actually pulled it off. Yesterday we popped our professional looking monocoque carbon fiber fairing/chassis out of their molds. It took about 600 man-hours of work over 5 weeks, split between 3 people, to get this. We're still not done with it, but this is a huge milestone. We still have to trim the edges and windows, make and install the windows, carbon fiber seat, carbon fiber firewall, and then the fairing will be done. After that we'll have to put all the components together and get it to run.


Finished parts; 17.8lbs total

Structural foam was used between layers of carbon fiber to provide stiffness and strength to hold the weight of the driver.

The huge autoclave the molds were cured in.

A New Level

Since my Senior Project has taken over my life, I figured I might as well post about it instead of writing about my non-existent training schedule.

I'm in charge of the carbon fiber monocoque chassis/fairing for a supermileage car competing in the Shell Eco-Marathon this April. It's gone from Computer Aided Design to molds in 3 weeks, all done 100% by hand. It's taken about 350 man-hours to get this far. With only 3 people to share the load, it's been a busy time. Next step is to prep the molds for the carbon fiber layup and structural foam, then it gets baked in a huge autoclave for a few hours, and voila, a carbon fiber car body!

Computer rendering

Final CAD

Flow analysis

Male plugs

Female molds in the oven

Just like riding a bike...

My cycling training as been abysmally non-existent in the past 6 months. I could easily count the number of times I've ridden my bike since August on my fingers and toes...probably just my fingers. The weather has been nice enough in the past few weeks to melt all the snow off the road, and today the high was 39F; perfect for a ride. I took it easy and felt pretty comfortable. During the ride I tried sprinting and managed to squeeze out 1,314 watts, exactly 17 watts/kg. My powermeter is new so I have no previous data to compare this too, but I'm expecting the numbers to jump up dramatically once I get my butt in gear this spring.

I have a couple swim, bike, and run time trials coming up in the next few weeks...the truth will soon be revealed about how much training I SHOULD have been doing in the past few month.

Handmade Wheels

I finished the wheels I was machining for part of a school project I'm working on. The wheels turned out really nice. I had to make them custom because what I needed for the project was essentially a wheelchair wheel with disc brake rotors. It has a 15mm axle sticking out of one side, and beefy bearings to take up the uneven load caused by clamping onto the axle at just one side of the hub. Pictured here is one of the wheels without the disc brake rotor installed.



Back of the hub


Front of the hub

Phoenix Rock N' Roll Half Marathon

I had a great trip to Phoenix this weekend. I just got back last night after racing in the morning. I'm a little sore today, but I'm very excited to say that I will be able to train through this race without any overuse injuries! I went to Phoenix with a crowd from the CU Tri team and we had a very smooth, relaxing trip in terms of logistics before and after the race.

As for the race itself, my only goal was to finish in one piece. Mission accomplished. My time was 1:32:20, about 3 minutes slower than my first half marathon last May. I'm happy with the time, especially given that it's still the middle of winter. My teammates had great races as well. Everyone I talked to set PR's in either the half or full marathon.

Spring semester started today. To think that I only have 4 months to graduation is a little scary. I suppose I should start mulling over what I plan on doing afterwards...

Business Up Front...

I cut my hair. I had a lot.

Secrets to Success

I completed a 90 minute run today, free of injury. I felt great the entire time, it was amazing. I really believe the strength training and regular deep tissue massage is making all the difference. The half-marathon is about a week and a half away, and I feel confident I won't have any issues during the race. It's going to be a positive experience.

My secrets to success? Why, I thought you'd never ask!

1. Strength training with the Bosu Balance Ball. Try doing a couple one-legged squats on this guy...or 60.

2. Deep tissue work from generous sponsor, Tri-Massage. Top quality massage, crazy cheap price. Not only am I kept injury free, but my pain threshold has been taken to the next level, thanks to CMT Josh Shadle. He can make world champions cry with the tweak of his pinkies...I'm not joking...