The Good. Since my last round of critical power tests, around August 1, a few good things have happened. I've picked up 30% more power at CP 30 Seconds. I'm still 10% lower than 'in shape' power at that duration, but the VO2 power is coming back quickly. Since I am a fat bastard who relies on that level of power to grind up hills, this is important. The threshold power, or a reasonable approximation of it (CP 20 during a 30 minute all-out effort) has come up 3% since August 1. I haven't been training for improved FTP, so the fact that it's coming up alongside VO2 power as an incidental improvement is heartening.
The Bad. It could have been a bit better. I had a lot of business travel over the last month and missed a good handful of hard workouts, replacing them with elliptical machine workouts or what amounts to an easy spin on a spin bike. The amazing thing about those is you get to level 18 of 20, and it's basically a high zone 2 spin. I'm afraid to try to generate threshold wattage on one of them, for fear I'd be held liable by the Whatever Hotel where I'm staying.
The Regrettable. After riding at Patapsco a bit over a week ago I stuffed my kit to the bottom of the wash basket without letting it dry. I keep a separate wash basket for kit so it doesn't contaminate everything else. All the training clothes worn during the week got piled on top of it. It was a fairly hard ride, combining the nasty sweat from a bunch of hard low cadence efforts on climbs, with the stench of flop sweat from not having ridden a mountain bike to speak of in some months. When I went to wash my kit on Sunday, I could actually see the odors wafting from the bottom of the basket - they were reddish green. The kit I wore to Patapsco was at the bottom, and the smell... it smelled like the place where things that smell like ass go to die.
I tried soaking it in Oxy Clean, I washed it on the long soak cycle, I used extra detergent... nothing worked. It smells hideous.
I totally regret not letting the stuff air dry before putting it in the wash basket.
They'll go in the wash again this week but I think the bibs and jersey may be permanently wrecked. You get within a couple feet of them and the stench is noticeable... not good.
12 comments:
Soak that funk in vinegar and water. That might be your only hope. Then after the regular washing, get some of the Fabreeze sport spray and have at 'em with that. If that doesn't do it, lighter fluid and a match.
second the vinegar.
Are you doing your exercises?
nag nag
your friendly PT
Vinegar? Thanks for the tip. But are we talking cider, red wine, or balsamic vinegar? In a pinch would some raspberry vinegrette with just a hint of rosemary do the trick? 'Cuz I have some of that lying around.
Beth - yes, but not as much as I should. They seem to be helping. Trying to make it consistent every day this week, along with stretching every day and 3x upper body weight workout. Still minor pain on inside of left knee while under >/= FTP loads, and left heel is swinging right/left/right a little bit. I'm planning on putting two LeMond wedges under the left cleat this week. I normally use 2, set up to provide an even lift . Thoughts?
I'd have to see you in person to really comment on wedging. Off the cuff, you will likely need more wedging on your operative side than your non-op side
garden variety white vinegar, the kind you get a gallon of for about $1.39. don't be shy with the strength of it either
Forget it. Once that stink is in there that's the end of the game. Even if you get it smelling like roses, the instant it gets damp again it will smell like necrotic armpit.
If it's a particular favourite you may wish to give it the vinegar and then store it away mounted behind glass alongside the signed Cipollini leopard print skinsuit. If it's not a favourite, clean your drivetrain with it next Saturday.
Try using: De-solv-it
This stuff works wonders on everything. I got a jersey from a fellow teammate, and I couldn't get the stink out. I must have washed it 4 times and still it stunk! Well, I finally decided to spray it with De-solv-it as it said it was safe for laundry too. Guess what it worked! I sprayed it on and left it to sit for about 10 minutes, then turned on the washing machine and dumped some more detergent in it. It came out smelling like oranges, however with out the stink. I threw it back in the wash to get the orange smell out and it worked. Oh, for those who use the spray on sticky stuff for their numbers in a TT, this stuff takes it off easily. spray it on liberally, then rub it with your hands, and voila! it's gone.
http://donttrainlikeme.blogspot.com/2009/03/gamjams-reviews-cleaners-degreasers.html
Harry, thanks. I hadn't thought to use engine degreaser, but what the hell, it's worth a shot, right? You think STP will do the trick? I think so. I'll let you know how it goes.
Ps. I'll try vinegar (cuz it's cheap and I have some) and if that doesn't get it I'll hit the degreaser. If that doesn't hurt we're taking the thing to the range to dress up the 10M pistol targets.
You Smell article in Bicycling last month might be worth a read.
Not sure if you've tried it yet, but Win Detergent is really good at getting stink out of synthetic fabrics.
http://www.windetergent.com/our_tech2.html
For really stubborn odors, I use MiraZyme wetsuit cleaner. It gets out the worst stink.
http://www.mcnett.com/MiraZyme-Enzyme-Based-Odor-Eliminator-P240.aspx
bleach
Post a Comment