I got so much done on WiTHiN this weekend.
I set myself a deadline of this next weekend to have WiTHiN ready for water testing. Stefan organized a local pool for me for Sunday night, so now I have to get everything finished. If you are local, come on out to the pool test on Sunday night 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. It's at the YWCA on 5th downtown (note - NOT the YMCA).
First, I glassed in those longitudinal bulkheads. I cut out 1/2" thick Styrofoam boards and then covered with fiberglass Roving and whetted out with epoxy resin. Then instead of vacuum bagging, I wrapped the boards tightly with shrink wrap plastic and placed them under a flat board with a couple hundred pounds on top. This worked out better than bagging, as there was no creasing of the glass fabric.
I plan on pouring expanding foam into the space between the bulkheads to finish the wide gunwale.
Ben came over to help and he worked on cutting out some foam for a plug for the drive leg well. I finished up the plug by capping it with a piece of plywood and a handle from an old sanding block. This fits the hole in the drive leg bay very tightly. I glued on the cut-out from the kayak bottom so the bottom of the plug is flush to the bottom of the hull. I still need to sand down the epoxy drips, and I can also fill in the gap between the plug and the hull with a silicon bead, then slice it with a razor. I have no idea if this is going to leak or not....
I added two triangular plywood panels to the spaces in my drive leg, then filled it up with epoxy/micro filler.
I made an adjustable seat back support with two pieces of plywood. An aluminum rod runs between the two ratchet style supports mounted on each long bulk. I placed a foam sleeve over the aluminum rod to more evenly spread out the weight of the seat back - this works very well. Now I can not only move my seat forward or back, but I can also adjust the seat back angle up or down.
The last item was the rudder. I was going to rig up some line and pulleys, but I played around with a long plastic tube I had and found that if I supported the semi-flexible tube once in the middle, it was VERY stiff, strong and light. Probably not something for ocean conditions, but I think it should do fine for a calm lake. The steering lever is some old bike parts I have that I put together. Two carbon tubes with a slip fit - the larger diameter one bonded into the gunwale, and the smaller diameter tube with a small handle bar clamped to it. The other end has a threaded rod with a swivel rod end on it which guides the long plastic push/pull rod. The push/pull rod runs though a small plastic sleeve bonded to the gunwale in the stern and up to a handle bar stem that clamps onto my rudder steering tube. It all works fairly slick.
nest on the agenda is the prop - I'll start that tomorrow after my CSS school KidPower presentation. Then I need to make up the drive leg bay lip, and I should be able to finish everything up and attend to the details by Friday-Saturday. Should be all ready for the pool test on Sunday.
Labels: boatbuilding
Yippie!!! I finally got outside for my first M5 training ride. Boy, have I got a LOT of training to cram into a very short amount of time. In fact, I'm kind of worried about it.
We are tentatively planning a shot at the 24 hour human powered boat record for the first weekend in June. Ya, that's 4 weeks away! My endurance should be pretty good right now having completed Ironman Arizona a week ago today, but I don't think the road bike training is 100% applicable to the recumbent position. At least, thats what my legs were telling me today as I struggled through my first 'bent' geometry ride since the 24 hour HPV record on the race track in Eureka California almost a year ago.
I did 90 minutes out to hwy 22 and back today. My heart rate was low, but my legs felt like they were doing something new and a bit strange. Again, more evidence that using heart rate to measure physiological efficiency doesn't work as well as most people think. I also noticed and remembered that my heart rate is about 5 to 10 beats LOWER at the same power output (watts as measured by my SRM power meter) than my triathlon bike. For some reason, your heart works less when you are reclined than upright - this is well known. But, just because your heart is pumping fewer beats per minute does not mean that you are more efficient. The way my legs feel right now after climbing Springbank hill - I probably couldn't cycle 3 hours right now, and yet a week ago I cycled 5 hours at an all-out effort.
To get to the point where I can do 24 hours straight seems downright scary to me now. The plan is to get out everyday for at least 1 hour. I'll do my first long ride (probably 3 to 4 hours) in a few days. Then 5 days later I will see if I can push it up to 5 hours. Then 8 hours a week later, then 12 hours, then maybe 15 hours as my last long ride. Then I should have about 5 days to recover, and then a shot at the 24 hour distance record on Glenmore Reservoir. Here is my training plan.
I have the Police half marathon next Sunday, so I did a fast 60 minute run yesterday, 1 week after Ironman. My goal at Police is to smash the 90 minute mark. I think I can do it. I feel like I need to redeem myself after my sucky marathon performance at Ironman Arizona last week. I went 1:32 at the Police last year and placed 22 out of 230. I need to break 1:28 to make the top 10.
Labels: training
