TT position

Wow, Skinnyski pics are up already! In spite of the wind, I'd moved the aero bars in a bit closer together. Comparing my pics to others' I think could move them in even more. The arm pads really stick out, so there's only so far I can move them; as it is the bracket is almost touching the stem. But I look really upright still. I guess that's why they make TT frames. And considering all the people that passed me and what some were riding, I can't really blame the bike! Still, it's fun to explore a new discipline.
PS: I'm a Skinnyski site supporter - these pics are vely helpful. Thanks for coming out to these races Skinnyski photographers!

Funny story - not!

Today was the Synergy 40K time trial at Withrow. Two lap of a 20K course on a cold and windy morning. But I sucked it up and queued up, and was actually feeling pretty good all things considered. The wind was out of the northwest, and we started out going northwest. But oh, when we turned east, that was heaven! Cruising along at 30mph makes up for the suckage that is a headwind or sidewind in aero bars. Reading up a bit on TT strategy, I decided not to go too hard the first lap, and kick it up on the second.

The second lap was feeling pretty good, never mind the fact that I'd lost count of how many people had passed me by then. I was coming up on the turn to start the tailwind section. The marshalls there had a big flag that was sticking straigh out in the direction we were going - really sweet touch guys! On the left side of the road I noticed a rider walking his bike. "I wonder what happened to that guy" I thought. Just at that moment, I heard "thump - psssssssssssst." Instantly I knew what had happened to him - we'd both hit a nasty pothole at that point and pinch flatted. Just when I was about to hit the fun part of the course!!

This was a great course otherwise. Some really sweet swag from NOW Bikes and HED, free brats and beer afterwards, and well organized and marshalled. Great job Synergy!

Treadman duathlon race report

Well this was completely unexpected. Looking at the results from last year, and using my best times from training runs, I figured I'd be square in the middle of my age group. I didn't expect too much, but that didn't prevent me from putting it all out on the course.

I got up at 5am, loaded up, had breakfast a little before 6am (9am start time), made coffee, picked up Sascha, stopped at Starbuck$ for her, and headed down to Rochester. Got there in plenty of time for a good bike slot, did a warm up run, and followed the lemmings to the start area.

The run was a mass start (no timing mat at the start), so I lost a bit of time by not lining up at the front (my 10K had a timing mat at the start). Lesson #1. I had to kind of push my way up at the start, and settled into a group going about my speed. We turned off onto a gravel road, which my joints thanked me for. Onto a multiuse path, a very short loop, then back onto the path into the transition.

I must have looked like a big dork in transition. I put on my helmet over the sunglasses I had perched on my head (it was cloudy), figured that out, fumbled with the straps and then switched shoes, fumbling a bit, then got the bike off the rack pretty well and headed out. Never having practiced with the TT bike, I still did a good cyclocross mount and headed out, straight up a hill. Sascha was being a good girlfriend and cheering for my there and got a picture.

The bike went pretty well. On the course was a girl from the little group I was running with, on a bling Cervelo, so she must have had a better transition and known what she was doing. I finally passed her and settled into another group that I'd play leapfrog with. They'd pass me on the uphills, I'd pass them on the downhills (it was a rolling course). Unfortunately my nutsack was pinched the whole ride! Ouch. Lesson #2 - Body Glide. There was a brisk wind, so I was happy for the ghetto TT bike. It took some mental pushing to keep the pace up, as it wasn't like a road race. At the end of the bike I moved ahead of the group (and by group I mean two or three other people) in order to be unobstructed in the narrow transition zone.

Transition two and I looked like a big dork again. Although I did another good cyclocross dismount and moved up a slot that way, I started running out of transition with my helmet still on! Ran back, dumped the helmet, realized I still had my gloves on (I wore gloves because the transition area was gravel and I wanted to clean my tires after I got out of it), and peeled them off and threw them by the side.

The second run wasn't nearly as brutal as it was when I did the only brick I'd ever done. Must have been the race day adrenaline. I overheard a guy I'd passed on the way in yelling to his S.O. about leapfrogging with me, so I figured he was out to get me. This was good motivation to keep my pace up. I heard someone behind me moving up, and it turned out to be the girl I'd been running with during the first run. Again she must have had a good transition while I was fumbling with my helmet, as I'd passed her pretty early on the bike! She made a good carrot, though, as she was clearly better at this than I was. After the turnaround I saw that I had a decent gap on the other guys I'd been leapfrogging on the bike, but the whole way back I imagined them breathing down my neck, and kept the pace up. I even caught up with my carrot as I picked up the pace when the finish line was in sight.

I left everything on the course, and almost couldn't stop at the end to get my chip taken off, fearing a heart attack if I stopped suddenly! I went with Sascha back to transition to get my bike, and again I looked like a total dork as I was completely unabled to bend over to gather my stuff. You'd think I'd run a marathon or something! Of course Sascha had to laugh at me, but only because she could feel my pain I imagine.

We wandered over to look at the results which were being posted, and I was amazed to find myself provisionally in 3rd place for my age group, 17th-ish overall. I was stoked! Wanting to stick around for the awards, I took by bike back to the car, but on the way they had already started giving out the awards and I'd missed my age group. Afterward I went up to the table, and it turned out I was 2nd! Not sure how I went from 3rd to 2nd (Sascha said something about overall winners being pulled from the age groups), but either way it's a podium for my first ever multisport event!

Is this how it starts then? You get a little award, and next thing you know you're buying man-bras and $2,000 wheels? No worries, I won't be subjecting anyone to my pasty belly. And yes all you haters, I'm happy for my little age group medal!

Run 1 (5K): 21:34 (6:57 min/mile)
T1: 1:00
Bike: (30.65K): 58:07 (19.3 mph)
T2: 0:59
Run 2 (5K): 23:42 (7:38 min/mile)
Total: 1:45:20

Ghetto TT bike debut

Biked over the river to the last Black Dog TT of the year. The ghetto bike was blinged up a bit for its debut with a set of Easton Tempest II wheels borrowed from Sascha in place of the Ebay blue light specials. I got there a little later than I have in the past, so there was no line, which was nice. Only Trench from my team showed up, and I think turnout was light due to fear of more rain.

It's hard to say how I did yet; I rode at the pain threshold for 7.2 miles - a little less than TNT so I pushed it a bit more. The road sucks worse than ever, though, so energy was wasted avoiding potholes and patched patches, and relaxing the legs to absorb impact when they can't be avoided. I felt fast when I could settle into a rhythm, though, which wasn't very often. I passed my half minute man, but after that I was passed by two or three others after the turnaround. It would have been great to stick around for the results, especially since they had FREE BEER AND PIZZA there, but it was already getting dark by the time my race was over, and it was fully dark when I got home. All I had were little blinky LEDs to get me home. Props to Silver Cycling for providing the beer and pizza though!

Many of the usual suspects were there today: Hollywood and Kristy, Timmer (my like five minutes behind man who blew past me like I was standing still), Teresa Moriarty, Sickboy, Julia, Stick Lavick, Aric Hareland, a full LSC contingent and of course many Silvers and more. No Ray though - WTF? Probably because Meow wasn't there with cookies. It was a little strange seeing the racing crowd again after having been away so long. I'll see plenty of everyone for cyclocross season though! From the back anyway...

Second TNT

Results were posted for last week's final TNT. With slower, heavier wheels I managed to shave 40 seconds off my time over the 11 mile course. This is good. Probably getting to be about time to do some interval training now. Yuck. I'm so not ready for the intensity of cyclocross. (Picture by S1 in the new kit.)

Ghetto TT bike finished!

Finished the ghetto TT bike this weekend and took it out for a longish ride on Saturday. I'm very pleased that it fits quite well for being a road bike frame. Of course, like these projects tend to do, it cost more than I was expecting. In the end, though, it's not just another Trek/ Specialized/Felt like all the others - it's all mine!

It was a bit scary at first - I didn't get fully into the aero bars for a while, taking time to get used to things. But once I wasn't afraid of falling over, I could cruise pretty comfortably. After a while, I totally felt like a kite when I'd get up into the bullhorns! I didn't have a speed sensor on it yet, so I couldn't tell how much faster I was (or if it was all in my head!). Black Dog on Wednesday will be a good indicator.

Speaking of horrible roads, one thing I noticed while riding my race tires (which is all I have available for the TT bike at the moment) instead of my usual training tires - what a difference a good Vittoria 120 tpi tire makes over your cheap 60 tpi training tires! Plush. At 115 psi they felt like I was riding at 70 psi. Nice. Now if I could only afford Vittoria open tubulars...

Watch out Ray

I'm coming to get you.

Town Hall TTT

Cat 6 looking pro. Don't mind the results, we looked good! Pictures from Skinnyski, making everyone look good.
Don't mess with the Bettys. New course record!
Gear West - tri-geeks schooling the roadies at 28.9mph!

Ghetto TT bike...

...is taking shape. Coming from the parts bin, mostly from my old CX bike, are:

*Basso road frame, fork and headset
*Derailleur hanger that finally arrived from Italy
*Sora cranks with Tiagra chainrings
*Square taper BB (alas not very smooth after being used for CX)
*Old 8 spd. cassette and chain (I'll be inspecting them)
*Dura Ace 8 spd. bar end shifters
*Bullhorn bars
*Saddle
*Sora front derailleur
*A-Class ALX300 "training wheels" from road bike
*Cane Creek 200SL calipers
*TT brake levers

Just needing to get:

*Shimano freehub body for wheels (currently Campy body)
*Short (90mm) stem (Kalloy Guizzo)
*Zero set back seatpost (Kalloy Guizzo)
*Aero clip-ons (Profile Design T2+)
*Mount for one of the bar-ends
*Sora rear derailleur (Ebay)

Basso as TT bike

So after months of going around with Basso in Italy via telegraph and carrier pigeon, it looks like I have two new derailleur hangers on the way. My intention is to build it up as a TT bike, for which I have added motivation now: it's hard to crash during a TT. I have a lot of the components I need, so it should be a snap. Main issue should be getting an acceptable fit. I'm kinda looking forward to it. That will be four bikes in the stable: Fort CX, BMC racing, Surly touring and Basso ghetto TT.