Two Wheel Blogs

Today ended up being one of those consummate indoor training kind of days. My hat is off to anyone who got out on the road to ride today around here. You might not have gotten cold, but you got wet.

I stayed indoors. Mostly because I'm a total weenie when it comes to cleaning up after a ride in the rain; but also because I wanted to do a not-really-test session.

The timing was right. I just calibrated my SRMs. My legs are reasonably fresh from the holiday affected training (and diet) routine of late. And as noted, the weather sucked. And OK, a test, any test at all, was long overdue here.

I had great hopes of getting out for a quick ride sometime today. As I walked out the door, rake in hand, it really felt like a great day for a ride. Temperatures never made it out of the mid 40's and we never saw the sun, but for some reason it did not feel very cold.

It didn't seem like it would take all that long to rake the leaves and haul them away. There were a lot more of them than I thought and my little 1 hour raking project ended up taking more than three. Thankfully I at least got to see my work finished before the sun set.

My big bicycle activities today centered around the bikes I have not been riding. I've amassed quite a collection of bikes and bike parts over these four or so years I've been in this sport. Today I decided to take stock and take a little action.

I stripped down my Bianchi today. I haven't ridden it in months and I didn't see that changing, so I'm putting the frame and components up for sale. If you want a good deal on calipers, 9-speed levers, derailleurs or an SRM crank let me know.

Oh, and one beautiful but slightly worn Celeste Bianchi Reparto Corse frame and fork. If I don't hang her on the wall as art, that is.

Sunday morning. Once again I'm up before the crack of dawn suiting up in full timetrial kit and readying my TT bike as carefully as if this were the biggest race of the year. The objective isn't a big race though. For me it's something every bit as important. I'm prepping for another aerodynamic drag testing session.

The location is the local "wind tunnel", Centaur Road. It's about a kilometer long and just about as flat as a road can be. Even better, as you can see from the photo, it's almost completely surrounded, top and sides, by thick foliage. Centaur's about as close as you can get to an enclosed tunnel. Only the ends are open to let in the wind. And early in the morning before the sun comes up there isn't much wind this time of year.

Summer seems to have unofficially begun here. Lately the temperatures have been tickling the 90° mark with the humidity not far behind.

I guess you could say I'm in that transition period where nothing feels quite right until my body acclimates to the season. Everything is affected. I don't make as many watts, and I can't make them for as long. I don't feel much like eating. I don't sleep well. I'm pretty much forced into a steady state recovery mode until I get through it.

Yesterday I went out after work for a bit over an hour's ride. I really thought I was doing well. My pedaling felt smooth and powerful. I was climbing easily. I'd reach the tops ready for more. Every time I'd glance at the powermeter I'd see decent numbers.

Hey the weather's been just too good here lately to not be out riding. Since my last update I raced the third of five races in the Wednesday Night Timetrial Series, followed by a better than expected 3x20 session yesterday, Thursday.

Ah, but who wants to talk about pain and suffering in intervals. Let's talk timetrial. There's plenty of pain and suffering there too.

You know how some times you warm up and you're just not sure your legs will come around? Nine times out of ten they eventually wake up. Somehow in the excitement you find it and your performance comes through. Sometimes you're even surprised at how good that elusive performance turns out to be. That was not the case for me Wednesday night.