The Slicer

Since the time trial last weekend, I decided I need to spend a little time working on the set up on my Slice (aka The Slicer). I moved the saddle back a little so it wouldn't be quite so different from my road bike. It's still quite a bit further forward than my Peloton, but now the difference isn't so drastic and it feels a little better.

I also moved the aerobars down a little. I had them angled up a little, and it was putting my wrists in a bad angle and causing my forearms to get fatigued. I don't know if this will be any better, but I'll find out this weekend at the Harvard TT.

I also decided to wrap the aerobars tonight. I think this will be a little more comfortable on long rides and it will protect the cables, which were exposed a little on the underside of the aerobars. I also bought a new computer mount so I could mount my computer on my aerobars. I had it on my stem, but it was really hard to see. The new wrap....




Here's the new computer mount. It should be easier to read and easier to toggle between screens without getting out of the aerobars. I'm a little concerned it might move when I hit the buttons for an interval though. The mount won't go as tight as I would like it.




This is why they call it the Slice. Check out how thin this bike is. And, yes, it does slice through the wind. I can't get over how fast this bike is. It's so easy to go 20+ mph.





I got out for 2 rides on the bike this week so I could start dialing in the fit and getting used to the new position. Now that I'm getting more comfortable on it, I'm having a lot of fun riding it. It's a lot more different from my road bike than I thought it would be. I thought when I got this bike, I would fall in love with it and not want to ride my road bike anymore, but that's not the case at all. I still prefer my road bike. TT bikes are fast and fun, but I couldn't imagine having to ride one all the time. They don't climb that well and it's hard to react quickly to something in the road if you need to. And it's only really comfortable when you're in the aerobars. Plus, I would never ride this bike on a group ride (except for maybe a ride with triathletes where we don't plan on getting a pace line going) and group rides are fun.

I mapped out a 20K TT route that I can ride at lunch. It's about 3 miles from the office, so the total ride comes to just under 20 miles. It starts on Seminole (one of my favorite roads to ride) and turns down Whalen, which has a couple of hills and is part of the Ironman route. Then I take Caine down to Hwy M, to Fitchburg, back to Whalen and then Seminole. I've ridden it twice now and it's not bad. The only negative to it is that you have to cross Fish Hatchery Road twice, which can be pretty busy so I may have to wait for traffic. Other than that it's a decent route.

Here it is...




I took it easy and rode at a comfortable pace. I didn't want to wear myself out before Crazylegs and the time trial this weekend. I just wanted to get more time on the bike and get used to the aero position.

Cherry Valley TT & Whitewater Lake

Today was...wait for it...wait for it...warm. Finally. Low 70s, sunny, 5 mph winds...a perfect spring day.

I got up early and headed down to Cherry Valley, IL (Rockford) for the Cherry Valley Time Trial. It was a 30K (18.8 miles) out and back course with a few small, rolling hills. I think the week's worth of working out finally caught up with me. I didn't do bad, but I definitely didn't feel strong out there. It was tough.

From the TTs I did over the winter, I figured I could average about 280 watts. I started a little too strong and averaged about 300 for the first few miles, but then my pace and watts continued to decline and I finished with an average of 260 watts (23.3 mph). I'm not sure what my official finishing time was, but it's around 48 minutes and 15 seconds. I didn't hang around after the race to see the final times.

The race was fun, and I'm glad I went, but I definitely need more time on my Cannondale. It's a much different position and my hamstrings got pretty tired out there. And, as always, the saddle was a torture devise. I don't think Fizik saddles work for me. Here are a few pictures from the TT...

My bike set up on the trainer so I could warm up before the race...




Check out this bike. Those recumbent guys are goofy.




A few riders warming up...(don't they know you're supposed to bring your trainer - like the pros do - and park it behind your Sunfire - like the pros do?)





The starting line...





Here's a picture of my new helmet. It arrived just in time for the time trial. I'm not sure if it made me any faster today, but I'm pretty sure it didn't make me any slower. Fatigue and Lactic Acid can be blamed for that.
When I got home, Cheri and I went for a walk on the bike path and then we hopped on our bikes and rode out to Whitewater Lake, one of my favorite cycling destinations (about a 40 mile ride). The ride was fun, but we were ready for it to end when we got home. My legs were really tired from the TT, and Cheri's were really tired from her 10.5 mile run Saturday (her longest ever). Here are some pictures from the ride.

Whitewater Lake...




I love this road....




Me...



Cheri...



My vacation is over now, and that's a good thing. I'm tired. I need to go back to work so I can get some rest. I worked out for 22 hours this week. 270 miles on my bike with 1 time trial. 30 miles running with 1 mid-week half marathon, 2 hours in the pool - because I've been slacking on my swimming a little lately (gotta get back on track).

Day 4: Same Ol' Situation

Alpine Valley. Yesterday, I got up early and headed out for a bike ride hoping to beat the rain which was supposed to start late morning. I expected to get rained on, but I wanted to get as much of my ride in as possible before the rain hit.

I biked down to the IL border, then up through Sharon where I rode on the crappiest road I've ever ridden on. Then up through Delevan, Elkhorn and around Alpine Valley and home. I believe the last time I was at Alpine Valley was this concert:





Yes, it's been a long time. Yes, I don't go to many concerts. Yes, I listen to a lot of bands that don't have enough fans to sell out Alpine Valley.

Here's the route...





This is what the skies looked like when I left. I didn't take the camera because I expected rain, but I got lucky and the skies looked like this the whole time. We didn't get any rain until 9:30 pm.






I took it really easy in the beginning because I was afraid I would bonk. The problem with taking it easy into a headwind is that your ride takes forever, but I'm on vacation and I have all day so it's okay.

About mile 60, I still felt pretty good and I finally turned West to head home, which meant I had a strong tailwind the rest of the way, so I decided to increase my power a bit for the rest of the ride. And, by pure chance, I picked a route that had lots of straight, flat, smooth roads with almost no traffic. It was great. Lots of long stretches doing 26-30 mph without too much effort. Taking it easy in the beginning sure did pay off because the last hour of my ride was my best. My power was the highest and my average speed was 21 mph (tailwind).

Ride:
Total: 5:59:36
Distance: 101.78
Ave Speed: 17
Ave Power: 161 watts
Max Watts: 805 watts

Food consumed: 3 bottles of Gatorade, 1 double dose of Perpetuem, 1 Snickers Marathon Bar, 1 package of Fig Newtons, 1 bag of Cliff Shot Blocks. Total Calories: 1590 Calories Burned: 3500

Surprisingly, I felt pretty good afterwards, Good enough to spend a few hours cleaning my bike and putting on new cables and bar wrap.

Here you go, Toby, a picture of my new bike. I'll take a few more pictures this weekend and post them. The 'made in China' sticker is kind of funny. It's really small and on the inside of the fork leg, Yet, Cheri's bike says 'handmade in USA' in huge font on the seat stays. I found out that most, if not all, of Cannondale's carbon bikes are made in Asia and they make aluminum and aluminum/carbon bikes in the USA. Cheri's bike is an aluminum/carbon mix so that's why it was made in the US. That was the fun fact for the day.

Day 3: The Sugar River Trail

Today, the plan was to run from Broadhead to Albany (7 miles) and back along the Sugar River Trail. So I got up early, had a good breakfast and drove the 30 minutes to the trailhead in Broadhead... and there it was... one of my biggest pet peaves....locked bathrooms at a trailhead. I don't get it.

The Sugar River Trail follows, you guessed it, the Sugar River. Or so you'd think.




About a half mile into my run, I came to this road. Which way would you go? Sure, there's a little orange sign pointing to the right, but clearly the path goes straight. And the trail follows the Sugar River, right?



I went straight. Wrong. It's a decent run...






...but it eventually comes to a dead end, and I had to turn around. I remembered the orange sign and decided to see where that lead. It leads down this road...




...and takes you to the real Sugar River Trail, which isn't as scenic as the trail I was on and you can't see the Sugar River anymore. It was a little disappointing.



The only scenery....




So now I'm basically at the starting point of my run, except I've already run 6 miles. Looks like I won't be running to Albany and back.





So I ran a few miles on the trail and then headed back to my car. Then it was off to Frostie Freeze for some recovery food.




Time: 1:47:53
Distance: 13.16
Pace: 8:11

Day 2: Bike Mechanic

Day 2 of my vacation, I had planned a 50 mile ride but my calf was still sore and I didn't want to risk an injury so I skipped the ride. I think I figured out why my calf got so sore. I changed my saddle a while ago because I wanted to try my Fizik Arione saddle again, and it's quite a bit thicker than my Selle Italia. When I changed saddles, I forgot to account for this difference by lowering my saddle so I essentially raised my saddle a bit and I think it was too high and I over-stretched my calf muscles and they responded by tightening up. No big deal, but I hate missing a workout because of a stupid mistake. Live and learn, I guess.

So I went to the pool early and swam for an hour (3000 yards) and went for a 6.5 mile run with Cheri when she got home from work. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, running errands and working on bikes. I got Cheri's bike ready to ride so she can take it out for its first ride today. Here's a picture:

Day 1: Pedal the Kettle

Day 1 of my vacation, I decided to bike to Kettle Moraine and back. The weather was good, but not great. Sunny (in fact, I don't think I even saw any clouds) with a high of 48 and winds of 5-10 mph. Since I'm not on good terms with my Fastback right now (2 flats), I decided to ride my Peloton. Ahhhhh.....carbon. I forgot how much nicer carbon is. I also forgot how uncomfortable my saddle is. Got a good reminder today.

My route had me starting out with a headwind and finishing with a tailwind. Perfect. I figured the way back would be really fast, and it would've been had I not been so tired. 80 miles was a little too much for me today. Plus I think I pushed a little too hard in the beginning. I was watching my power closely, but I overestimated how many watts I can average for 4.5 hours.

I think this would've been a great ride if spring in Wisconsin wasn't so dreary. Everything is dead, and even though it was a nice day it didn't feel like it.

On my way out, I rode through Whitewater and past the campus. I thought it would be kind of fun to ride past the school and see what's changed since I went there. It wasn't that fun...in fact, it kind of sucked. Lots of traffic and pedestrians and once I got there I realized I don't really care if anything has changed. Here's a picture I took of the campus from the start line of the Whitewater Road Race (my first road race). It's a fun race, but it's the same day as Crazy Legs this year so I can't race it.



There's either a lot of marshes by Kettle Moraine, or there's a lot more flooding this spring than I thought.




Good old rural Wisconsin. This might be a neat picture if there were leaves on the trees...




Notice anything wrong with this picture?




Apparently thieves can't penetrate a row of pine trees. And the gate is wide open. Not to mention, this house was in the middle of nowhere. It is so far from civilization, I have no idea why they think they need a gate. I'm sure that area hasn't seen a crime in...well, ever.

About mile 60, my right calf tightened up and gave me trouble the rest of the way. It didn't cramp, just plenty of pain. So in addition to being very tired, I was worried about getting injured. It wasn't the best ride ever, but better than being at work.


Time: 4:35:08
Distance: 80.92 miles
Ave Speed: 17.6
Max Speed: 32.13
Ave Watts: 184
Max Watts: 615

Bling!

This morning, Cheri and I got up early and ran a 5K in Beloit. It was 35 degrees with a rain/snow mix. Not exactly ideal conditions.

I was hoping to break 20 minutes, and I figured I had a good chance today since the course was really flat. There's not much to say about my race. I finished in 19:23, a new PR. 3rd overall, 2nd in my division.

But....Cheri dominated. She won the women's division and took home a trophy, medal and bag that says "I have a run track mind." Pretty cool. She came really close to a PR and shattered the course record in her age group. Very impressive for her first 5K in about a year.

I was planning on doing a time trial tomorrow, but the temp at the start of the race is going to be below freezing and there's a chance of rain so I figured I'll sleep in and go for a ride later in the day when it warms up to a balmy 40 degrees.

Next up...

Cherry Valley TT (30K) April 20
Crazy Legs 8K run April 26