Today is 20th Anniversary of John Frey's 47:35 40K in Moriarty New Mexico

On Sep 3, 8:50*am, Anton Berlin wrote:
The reason that the records have never been broken is that shortly
after they were set, the road was resurfaced using chip seal. *What
used to be an incredibly smooth road is now rough and not really
suitable for record breaking efforts. *It's just that simple, the road
is slow now.

"This is a national tragedy - not a single smooth road anywhere in the
United States in the last 20 years ! * The Russkies are getting ahead
of us - *we must not allow a smooth road gap !!!! "

Anton 'Strangelove' Berlin

Dumbass,

Moriarty was, back in the day, the perfect place for a TT record
attempt. Super smooth road, pancake flat, perfectly aligned to take
advantage of prevailing winds, and high enough elevation to reduce
wind resistance but not so high as to affect performance. Sort of the
'perfect storm' of TT venues.

Take any part of that away and it becomes just another road. Chip
seal ruined it for future record attempts. Sure, if Indurain or
Rominger or Boardman or even Armstrong in their prime had come there,
they probably would've beaten Frey's record, IF they'd come before the
chip seal.

On Sep 3, 2:52*pm, Fredmaster of Brainerd wrote:

I wonder if there's some good road outside Flagstaff AZ.
Probably not with good pavement though.

Lake Mary Road is pretty good, but isn't dead-flat by a long shot.

Brad Anders

On 9/3/2010 4:06 PM, Scott wrote:

Moriarty was, back in the day, the perfect place for a TT record
attempt. Super smooth road, pancake flat, perfectly aligned to take
advantage of prevailing winds, and high enough elevation to reduce
wind resistance but not so high as to affect performance. Sort of the
'perfect storm' of TT venues.

Moriarty is pancake flat, but pancakes aren't that flat -- I can detect
the slope with VE (about 32 meters over 18 km). Anyway, the NCNCA TT
course in Sattley, CA just got resurfaced. It's a tad lower (5000 ft)
but the surface is like buttah.

On Sep 4, 3:07*am, Fred on a stick
wrote:
On 9/3/2010 4:06 PM, Scott wrote:

Moriarty was, back in the day, the perfect place for a TT record
attempt. *Super smooth road, pancake flat, perfectly aligned to take
advantage of prevailing winds, and high enough elevation to reduce
wind resistance but not so high as to affect performance. *Sort of the
'perfect storm' of TT venues.

Moriarty is pancake flat, but pancakes aren't that flat -- I can detect
the slope with VE (about 32 meters over 18 km). Anyway, the NCNCA TT
course in Sattley, CA just got resurfaced. It's a tad lower (5000 ft)
but the surface is like buttah.

Americans should take a leaf out of UK time trialling's rule book.
Specifically the rule that says the start and finish have to be within
1.5 miles of each other. That's as the crow flies - there is no rule
about a maximum elevation difference so you end up with courses like
this: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/R25-3L (click 'show -
elevation profile')

The start is on a lumpy back road with a poor surface but once you get
onto the dual carriageway you drop down 150m and don't have to come
back up. That makes it 'fast'.

The UK 25 mile competition record was broken on the R25/3L last year
with 45'54 by Dave McCann (AFAIK Wiggins, Millar, Thomas et al have
never ridden it - they would go even quicker).

Chris Boardman had the previous record at 45'57, which he'd held since
1993. That was on a course without a massive elevation difference,
just a hell of a lot of traffic.

On Sep 4, 12:57*am, Jeff Jones wrote:
On Sep 4, 3:07*am, Fred on a stick
wrote:

On 9/3/2010 4:06 PM, Scott wrote:

Moriarty was, back in the day, the perfect place for a TT record
attempt. *Super smooth road, pancake flat, perfectly aligned to take
advantage of prevailing winds, and high enough elevation to reduce
wind resistance but not so high as to affect performance. *Sort of the
'perfect storm' of TT venues.

Moriarty is pancake flat, but pancakes aren't that flat -- I can detect
the slope with VE (about 32 meters over 18 km). Anyway, the NCNCA TT
course in Sattley, CA just got resurfaced. It's a tad lower (5000 ft)
but the surface is like buttah.

Americans should take a leaf out of UK time trialling's rule book.
Specifically the rule that says the start and finish have to be within
1.5 miles of each other. That's as the crow flies - there is no rule
about a maximum elevation difference so you end up with courses like
this: *http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/R25-3L(click 'show -
elevation profile')

The start is on a lumpy back road with a poor surface but once you get
onto the dual carriageway you drop down 150m and don't have to come
back up. That makes it 'fast'.

The UK 25 mile competition record was broken on the R25/3L last year
with 45'54 by Dave McCann (AFAIK Wiggins, Millar, Thomas et al have
never ridden it - they would go even quicker).

Chris Boardman had the previous record at 45'57, which he'd held since
1993. That was on a course without a massive elevation difference,
just a hell of a lot of traffic.

USAC rules already state that for record purposes, a TT course must be
an out-and-back.

On Sep 4, 2:47*pm, Scott wrote:
On Sep 4, 12:57*am, Jeff Jones wrote:



On Sep 4, 3:07*am, Fred on a stick
wrote:

On 9/3/2010 4:06 PM, Scott wrote:

Moriarty was, back in the day, the perfect place for a TT record
attempt. *Super smooth road, pancake flat, perfectly aligned to take
advantage of prevailing winds, and high enough elevation to reduce
wind resistance but not so high as to affect performance. *Sort of the
'perfect storm' of TT venues.

Moriarty is pancake flat, but pancakes aren't that flat -- I can detect
the slope with VE (about 32 meters over 18 km). Anyway, the NCNCA TT
course in Sattley, CA just got resurfaced. It's a tad lower (5000 ft)
but the surface is like buttah.

Americans should take a leaf out of UK time trialling's rule book.
Specifically the rule that says the start and finish have to be within
1.5 miles of each other. That's as the crow flies - there is no rule
about a maximum elevation difference so you end up with courses like
this: *http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/R25-3L(click'show -
elevation profile')

The start is on a lumpy back road with a poor surface but once you get
onto the dual carriageway you drop down 150m and don't have to come
back up. That makes it 'fast'.

The UK 25 mile competition record was broken on the R25/3L last year
with 45'54 by Dave McCann (AFAIK Wiggins, Millar, Thomas et al have
never ridden it - they would go even quicker).

Chris Boardman had the previous record at 45'57, which he'd held since
1993. That was on a course without a massive elevation difference,
just a hell of a lot of traffic.

USAC rules already state that for record purposes, a TT course must be
an out-and-back.

That sounds sensible. There's not much in the way of altitude in the
UK so we have to find other ways of making amateurs look good :-)

On Sep 3, 1:52*am, Choppy Warburton wrote:
Like Jesse Owens and Bob Beamon's long jumps - the record still stands
20+ years later.

Congratulations to John.

Chris Boardman still holds the UK 25m (40km) ITT record set in 1993 at
45:57
I think it is the longest-standing cycling record in the UK also.
If you want longevity - try Alf Engers, set the 25m record in 1959 at
55:11 and then set it again in 1978 at 49:24 (that one stood for 12
years).

/not subscribing to the "rough road = slow road" theory
/subscribing to the "something in the water back then" theory

hell of a lot of traffic = hell of a lot of cars to draft and glean
wind from

On 9/4/2010 4:45 PM, drmofe wrote:

/not subscribing to the "rough road = slow road" theory

Rough roads are slow -- but not that slow.

On Sep 3, 11:57*pm, Jeff Jones wrote:
On Sep 4, 3:07*am, Fred on a stick
wrote:

On 9/3/2010 4:06 PM, Scott wrote:

Moriarty was, back in the day, the perfect place for a TT record
attempt. *Super smooth road, pancake flat, perfectly aligned to take
advantage of prevailing winds, and high enough elevation to reduce
wind resistance but not so high as to affect performance. *Sort of the
'perfect storm' of TT venues.

Moriarty is pancake flat, but pancakes aren't that flat -- I can detect
the slope with VE (about 32 meters over 18 km). Anyway, the NCNCA TT
course in Sattley, CA just got resurfaced. It's a tad lower (5000 ft)
but the surface is like buttah.

Americans should take a leaf out of UK time trialling's rule book.
Specifically the rule that says the start and finish have to be within
1.5 miles of each other. That's as the crow flies - there is no rule
about a maximum elevation difference so you end up with courses like
this: *http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/R25-3L(click 'show -
elevation profile')

The start is on a lumpy back road with a poor surface but once you get
onto the dual carriageway you drop down 150m and don't have to come
back up. That makes it 'fast'.

The UK 25 mile competition record was broken on the R25/3L last year
with 45'54 by Dave McCann (AFAIK Wiggins, Millar, Thomas et al have
never ridden it - they would go even quicker).

Chris Boardman had the previous record at 45'57, which he'd held since
1993. That was on a course without a massive elevation difference,
just a hell of a lot of traffic.

So, does the traffic assist the rider, ie does it go by in the same
direction creating an airflow assist?

Phil H