Monday, May 28, 2007

The things you see on a ride


I went out for an early morning ride today. One of the first tings I saw was a clown walking on an electrical wire.....well no but hopefully it got your attention. I had numerous chipmunks and squirells try to commit suicide in front of me. There were two deer that were playing out in the field and then I saw (a few miles from home) 3 turkeys run/fly across the road. Man, would they do some damage to an unsuspecting car whizzing by not paying attention!

When you take the time to ride around and just check things out you really see a lot more of whatsout there. I drive this route to work and really don't notice any of the hills or any of the lawn ornaments out there but wow, there really is some cool stuff out there. I got a few good landscaping ideas along the way too.

Today begins a more serious training routine. The Mad City Marathon has come and passed this past weekend and now it is time to start running again. I decided not to start running till the weekend of the marathon (that I didn't do this year) to prolong ITB troubles. I want to peak in mid to end of July for the half IM to have a much better showing this year on the run. Only my time will tell :)

Saturday, May 26, 2007

New theme

I went with a bit of a new theme. My A race this year is Racine Half IM. The big sell with Racine is the lighthouse so why not? I will come up with something creative after Racine is done.

On a side note check out the www.trekbikes.com on Thursday night. There will be the biggest promotion ever in the company's history. There will be an unveiling of the newest 2 things that will totally revolutionize the bike world. I have seen both and I can't tell you how much I want to hear the input on it. I have been working on it since the first of the year so it will be something to see the finished product right in front and center for the world to see. Heck even Lance Armstrong will be there to help, it is that big! Stay tuned for more info....

The pieces are coming together
























This years equipment is all set up now. Today I got my new wetsuit from the great people at 2XU wetsuits. When I received it, it was very nicely packed, all neoprene surfaces were protected. It looks totaly awesome! I cant wait to try it out in the 58F water here in southern Wisconsin!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

National Bike to Work (day 1)

Well today a tried to participate in the National Bike to Work week. Well I left and it was sunny skies so I figured what the hell? Well I must have pissed somebody off somewhere. I was about halfway and the sky just let loose. What started as a nice, very light tailwind turned on me and was full head on gale force wind. I was cranking up a hill, while getting pummelled by the rain and wind, a bolt of lightning hit and scared me. At that point I decided it was time to put the call in and drop this ride for saftey purposes. I cranked it up for the last few miles in the freezing rain to the drive in bank for shelter (after 5 pm so they were closed) and called my wife. Bless her heart. She loaded up the kids in the trusty SUV and picked me and my bike up.
As I was loading up the bike I remembered the Chrysler commercial where the woman picks up this beaten down motorcycle dude with her kids in the car not saying a word untill he has the bike all packed up in the back, "daddy had to get that bike now...didn't he?" Well I felt like that, admitting defeat getting picked up. I will be back though!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

My weapon of choice



A few pictures and a description of the ride.

Look at the detailed airbrushing of the Trek Project One modified flame scheme.
Ultegra 10 speed shifting to a Dura Ace 11x23 cassette


Bontrager Race X lite carbon cranks 50x36. Look at that shine and carbon contrast!
Bontrager Carbon bullhorns with Bontrager Carbon clip on aerobars.
Bontrager Triple X lite stem. There is also a Cateye wireless computer.
Selle San Marco aspidle Triathlagel saddle with (for now) a X-Lab behind the seat bottle holder. Holding some sweet Bontrager Race X lite carbon cages.
Attached to the Hed 3 tri spoke rims are the new Bontrager Aero TT tires. These tires have "wings" that line up with the outside of the rim exactly. Improved aero design and running a 19 width the Bontrager tire guy stated that I WILL see an improvement in my bike split right away over a long course. This is the first all carbon bike I have ever owned or even ridden. The feel of Carbon over Aluminum is night and day. I am so confident in the TTX's quality and performance that I will put it up against any BMC or Cervelo ride out there. I highly recommend one of the new Trek TTX's if you can even get one. They are gonna be really hard to get this summer, so good luck!

Saturday, May 12, 2007

WTF??

I have been biking for over 30 years (since I was 5) and I have never got a flat tire while riding.....until this week. Well now for the first time ever in my life I got 2 flats while riding twice while riding. The first time this week I was at work riding at lunch. We were 4 miles from the office and pssssssttt. I didn't know what happened but the guy ahead of me did. With no patch kit, inner tube or co2's I thought it was going to be a real painful trip back. He had everything we needed to get on with the ride. So I ended up scrounging around work and found all the parts (like he did) and now I have almost the same kit. Well it saved me today. 3 miles from home psssssttt. I pulled over and knew exactly what that noise was :(
Well after 10 minutes of trying to figure out what to do I was off, one inner tube lighter and a scratch on the bike now. I stupidly leaned it against a telephone pole and a good breeze took the Hed 3's for a small ride and moved it. Now I have a 1 inch scratch on the toptube of the brand new bike. Consider it broken in now!

Moral of the story. You will flat sometime in your life (maybe even a few times). Learn how to change an inner tube and be prepared!