APRIL IS THE CRUELLEST MONTH...

TS Eliot was not referring to cycling, but this year the words fit perfectly. With only a few days left, and the relentless wind not abating, April needs to be forgotten. Mileage is down and weight is up. It's best to look forward to May. However, April was not without bright spots. We drove to Frederick, Maryland in excellent weather, visited grandkids (and their parents), and made a few meet-the-author presentations. Tuesday my first talk was to the third graders at Orchard Grove Elementary School. That went well, and I was asked to come back on Thursday to repeat to the fourth and fifth graders. In all, at Orchard Grove, I made six presentations to fourteen classes of bright, inquisitive, well-behaved students. Also on Tuesday evening, we drove over to Brunswick, Md (located on the C&O Canal, part of my Pittsburg to DC ride) and presented at the library.
I brought my bike as both a prop for my talks and to ride. However, the planned four days of riding was reduced to one day, and that only half of what I anticipated. We managed to squeeze in two days of hiking, so exercise was not completely abandoned. Come on May!

FOUR LETTER WORDS!

The main one is "wind!" I am tired of being battered by the relentless wind. I don't enjoy a ride, even a group ride, when having to fight the whole way (or, precisely, half the way if it's out-and-back) in a really low gear, going oh-so-much slower given the effort you are making. Naturally, I am talking about casual rides, not races. For a race or tt, I might whine a bit, but suck it up since everyone else is in the same boat.

The other one is "cold" in association with wind. The other day I bagged it when I hit the stiff north wind. I did the same today. Maybe last month I might have dragged my body downtown and joined the Flyers and hidden behind some big guy. But I've had it and will wait for better weather. Judging by the forecast, that might be next week, not this one. Today I spent lots of minutes stretching, doing abdominals, yoga, and re-acquainting myself to my rollers.

Back before I had a stationary trainer, while training for my coast-to-coast ride, I spent a lot of time on the rollers. I still can't ride with no hands, but after a minute or so of warming up today, I keep the wheel right in the middle as I went up and down the cadence. Rollers make you a better peddler because if you aren't even on both sides, your wheel moves to the side. A ten-inch slide might sling you off the rollers.

Sliding off the rollers has never happened to me. However, I have a short tale: I first set the rollers up in the garage, with a wall on my right. That would prevent my going right and all I had to do was protect against going left. All went well the first couple of times and I was getting the hang of it. So much so I let my brain wander. At the end of the workout I was ready to quit so I put on the brakes. Duh! Too Late, my weight listed left and I was clipped in too tightly. Big bruise on the left hip (and ego). Thereafter, the rollers were set up next to my Mazda pick-up where I could actually grab something. I have never touched the brakes again on the rollers.

Bringing you up-to-date statistically: still on schedule with the weight, managed 305 miles in a month that included lots of poor weather plus the weekend of races and time trialing, only three rides in the kitchen and three tt practices. These last were important, but don't add a lot of miles. On a good note, another short ride was my "hill" ride of 19 miles. But it includes eight climbs and is quite strenuous. I will now be doing this once a week.

Yesterday I intended to do a long ride. Funny how when you are not in a routine everything seems to take longer. It took a half an hour to get my act together and leave the driveway. Two minutes and less than half a mile later I did a U-turn and came home. No, I hadn't forgotten anything. The wind was about 25mph out of the north and even though I had on tights and windbreaker, it didn't feel good and I packed it in. Dang! That would have made the mileage look a little better.

So I rode out this morning, feeling smooth and powerful. Duh! Just about anybody with a 25mph wind at their back will feel good. Well, this time the wind came out of the south. I still had tights and windbreaker. The difference in days is mainly my 60 mile ride goes 15 miles north to start, then 15 miles east, turn around 15 miles west, then 15 miles south (generally). Today I could get three-quarters the route completed before having to face the wind. A pleasant ride, albeit slower than normal. I saw one other cyclist and only a couple of cars.

STRUCK GOLD!

Continuing the story. I picked up my new tt bike on Friday afternoon. I'm not saying Jack dropped everything to get me ready, because it didn't look like any other customers suffered from lack of attention, but I took up a lot of his time. Got the bike home and rode it around the loop a couple of times. Saturday morning I drove to San Antonio and warmed up for the first endeavor: 10km time trial. I warmed up on the Roark, then unveiled the Felt and took it for a short spin. Everyone else was shaking their head about the maiden ride being in competition, but I was quite confident of the fit plus the wind was in my face for the tough corner, so I had no worries about over-cooking it.
The bike worked flawlessly and was so easy to ride. The motor (me) had to come up for air toward the end, but I was able to stay on the bars 95% of the time without any neck problems. Oh yeah, my time, in spite of the stiff wind, was a minute faster than last year and about a minute faster than the second place finisher.
I had time to switch the front wheel to the Roark as I got ready for the 20k race. My friend Bill had come in 3rd in the tt, but I told him we would start quick, get a gap, and work hard for a lap, then relax the rest of the way and battle on the last (5th) lap. It worked to perfection. I gapped him on the last lap, but couldn't hold the lead going downhill into the really stiff wind. However, he took the lead heading into the finish and I had a better gear and the Zipp front wheel to get me enough acceleration to take him at the end. Two golds.
I drove home, had dinner, a soak in the tub, and went to bed. Up at 4:30 with a 5:45 departure back to San Antonio for the first race of the morning: 5km tt. This was an out-and-back, with two hills, one of which was pretty long. My muscles were tight and I began wondering how long lactic acid could stay in them. Anyhow, once again I cut a large chunk of time from my previous best and came in first.
I had no business entering the 40km race, especially when the fresh legs of Stanton and Tom showed up. They are faster even without 3 races behind me, so I knew only the bronze would be contested. At the start, they jumped and I jumped with them and within 200 yards we knew the others couldn't catch us. This would be a ten loop ride and I stayed with them for one loop before they left me. However, the lead we had built up on the first loop was sufficient to allow me to not have to push for the next nine.
I have no statistics for these rides. There wasn't time to get a computer on the tt bike, and when I switched wheels, there wasn't a magnet to activate the one on the Roark. I had taken my gps to at least give me some speed readout on the first day, but forgot to turn it off, so ran the battery down for the second day. I had my heart-rate monitor, but somehow forgot the strap, so that, too, was useless.
My head is dancing with the potential of the tt bike. Now I have to 1) Learn how to ride it and 2) Get in better shape, and perhaps get a coach. Oh, and find some races.

CARBON IN THE HOUSE!!

Ok, Ben, here it is. For those who can't read the logo, it is a Felt B2 Pro, with Zipp 808 rear and 404 front wheels. I picked it up today, rode it around the block twice, and will race it tomorrow. Naturally, it will take all summer to settle into it. I picked the Felt based almost entirely on the "exceeds expectations" help and attention given to me by the employees (and owner) of Jack and Adams bike shop in Austin. Two other bike shops were gracious in allowing me to test a Specialized Transition and Cervelo P3. I asked for a 54cm, they had one, and off I rode. Not Jack. I first stopped by 10 minutes before closing on Sunday, just to see if they would let me road-test a bike. Thomas said yes, come back tomorrow. He was busy when I returned, so Jack helped me. Before letting me take the bike, he had me do a quick fitting to be sure. Possibly because he is a tad taller than me and rides a 54cm gave him a clue that I was clueless. Two hours later, on a 52cm with lots of tinkering, I left the shop. I immediately went to my tt course but due to weather, could only give it a couple of quick runs, but knew right off that this bike fit like a glove and allowed me to utilize all of my power.

The next day I returned the bike, being greeted by name by Michelle, Thomas, and Jack. We discussed the B2 Pro because I wanted Zipp 808s. Ordered, delivered, and ready to pick up in a week. Again the meticulous fitting - it was perfect. Then Jack took it to the back and an hour later it was more perfect. I have no idea if the Transition or the Cervelo (if they had similar Zipps) or the Roark with 808 front and rear would be faster. Truthfully, don't care. I do know that the proper fit given to me by Jack already has made me feel stronger and faster. I'll find out tomorrow.

If you know you aren't cycling your best, you can either experiment with incremental changes here and there, or find someone who knows what they are doing and get it right the first time. And if you are in Austin and like personal attention, stop by Jack and Adams.

OTHER SITES

I just read the latest post by Grace. If you don't follow her yet, you should sign up and catch some of the interesting things happening in New York. The latest is about the 87 year old man who apparently was smoking while cycling, his nylon jacket (or jersey) caught fire and he died of his burns.
My next post title will mirror the one by Ben several months ago. However, I hope my racing experiences do not. I don't believe I'll be asking Ben for advice on tires anytime soon.

THE AGONY OF CHOICES - TITANIUM OR CARBON

Really good choices. That's what I have. I am in the market for a new time trial bike and due to certain circumstances, not fettered by cost considerations. So I am flitting from bike shop to bike shop trying out bikes. I contacted Griffen (my last tt bike) but they are in the process of being sold and are not taking new orders. I contacted Roark (my road bike is a Roark custom titanium that I dearly love) and they have worked up a quote. But, while waiting for that, I tried out a Specialized Transition (Ben highly touts his). Sorry Ben, it just didn't feel right. Then I took a Cervelo P3 out to my tt course and cut 12 seconds off my 5k time. Ooh, that was more like it. Then the weather turned cold and wet. However, I had a window of opportunity and took a Felt B2 out to the course. The road was dry, but I was miserably cold headed into a brisk north wind. Rain was minutes away. Even going into the wind, the bike felt good. When I turned around for a half mile sprint, with the wind at my back I comfortably tucked over the bars and chased down a police car. So fast that I scared myself going into a slight curve. The police car pulled over (I suspect to see if he could catch me speeding in the park) and I slowed down to the 30mph speed limit. I had room for a longer run, so bullied myself against the wind for a mile and a half, then enjoyed the return at super speed. So, this weekend I will weigh the carbon fiber against the titanium.