Initial Musings On The New Ride

This morning I took my new bike out for a 21 mile ride. The ride was fairly uneventful, aside from the fact it was my first one on the new bike in which I did not get a flat tire. Now that the bike is all built up and I have ridden it a few times, I just wanted to share some initial impressions:

Fabulous! As you can see from the picture, the entire bike is one of three colors: black, red, or white (BTW, I am loving the new white saddle). I personally love the new color scheme, but it is definitely going to look a bit strange when I am riding in races next year -- my tri top and shorts are black, my helmet is white, and even my biking shoes are black and red. Thus, I will likely be the most color-coordinated triathlete at most races -- that, and the dorkiest looking one (which is saying a lot).

She Ain't Heavy, She's My Black Knight. The new bike is definitely heavier than my old one. I actually weighed her yesterday morning, and she is 22 pounds. I am not sure exactly how much my old bike weighed, but I definitely notice a difference when I lift up the new one. It probably will not make much of a difference overall, but given the fact that the terrain is so much hillier here than in the Midwest, it certainly cannot help.

Oh Yeah, How Is The Ride? I definitely feel different on the new bike -- way more streamlined and aerodynamic. I was actually worried that I bought too big of a frame (58 cm, the same size as my old road frame), but I honestly cannot imagine riding on a smaller one. It is probably too early to compare performance in terms of speed/power, but I already am feeling very comfortable in the aero position after just a couple of rides, which is a very good sign.

All in all, I am really happy with the new ride. Bring on next season -- I will be ready for it!

Here She Is -- The Dark Knight!

Well I know that I have promised to post a picture of the new bike for a while, so here she is -- "The Dark Knight." I will have much more to say about her soon (only have gotten in two rides so far, and one was cut really short with a flat tire), but suffice to say, Daddy like...

The New Bike

So this morning I picked up my (virtually) new bike from my local bicycle shop. The build come out looking AMAZING -- I will definitely post pictures soon. It is funny, but I almost feel like I have a "Frankenbike" at this point -- it is a hodgepodge of sorts, with the new frame, parts from my original Klein Quantum, and other parts that I changed or replaced along the way. The following is a rundown of my new steed, "The Dark Knight":

Parts From My Original Klein Quantum

• Shimano 105 front and rear brakes
• Shimano 105 front derailleur
• Shimano 105 cranks
• Look pedals (I am not sure which model)
• Cateye CD100 Astrale computer
  

Parts I Added To The Quantum Along The Way

• Profile Design T2 Wing base bar
• Profile Design T2+ aerobars
• Shimano Dura Ace shifters
• Cane Creek 200TT brake levers
  
• Felt STS stem
  
• TNi Bento Box
• Shimano Tiagra rear derailleur
• Neuvation M28 Aero3 wheels
• Planet Bike Button Cage bottle holders (which I think are just awesome for the price)

New Dark Knight Parts

• Motobecane Nemesis Pro frameset (including front fork)
• Kalloy Uno seatpost
• Specialized TriTip Gel saddle
• Chain (I have no idea what brand or model)
  

Like I said, she's kind of a Frankenbike, but I love her already. I was planning on going out on my maiden voyage today, but it has been raining pretty much all day. Tomorrow is supposed to be much nicer, so hopefully I will be able to get my first ride in then...

The New Bike Is Almost Ready!

Yesterday I hit the gym and did chest, triceps, and legs. On the chest exercises I went with heavy weights for the second week in a row, and my strength is definitely coming back pretty quickly -- on the flat bench I put up 205 lbs four times, and I actually put up 150 lbs five times on the incline bench with dumbells (my previous best was 140 lbs). Today I knocked out another 30 minute treadmill run, with each few minutes at a progressively faster speed after the first 12. I have started to eat really well again, and my weight is down to 177 lbs, which is encouraging. If I can stay under or around 180 lbs until I start serious training again, I will be well ahead of the game.

The more important news is that my new bike build up is nearly complete. I stopped by my local bike shop after work to check it out, and it looks really sweet! They are just waiting on one new part (virtually everything else transferred over just fine from my old frame), and then I will be good to go! Fall weather is quickly settling in here, but hopefully I can get a few rides in this year. I will probably have to take my trainer out of temporary retirement this winter to get used to the new geometry and tweak the fit a bit as well. I will definitely post a picture or two once I pick her up. I already have a nickname for the new bike (dorky I know, but I do not care) -- "The Dark Knight."

Vacation And Cross Training

Last week I took a "staycation" from work and was able to get in some really solid training sessions. I ran and lifted weights twice and did a 15 mile ride on my rarely-used "back-up" bike (a Specialized Sirrus hybrid with straight, moutain-bike style handlebars). Yesterday the better half and I headed into Manhattan for a marathon rollerblading session on the West Side bike path. We started at 39th Street, went as far north as we could (a block south of 200th Street), and then turned around and headed back down to 14th Street. I estimate all in all we probably rollberbladed about 17-18 miles, which would not have been too bad, except for the fact we had a pretty light breakfast, so by the end were barely moving. Lesson learned, but still a good cross training workout. Today I hit the treadmill at lunch for 30 minutes at 7:19 per mile pace, which felt perfectly fine. Oh, and I did receive my new bicycle frame in the mail last Friday. I am excited to see how the bike turns out -- it should be ready sometime this week.

Morning Run/New Frame

This morning I headed out for a quick four mile run. I started in Hoboken, ran north to Weehawken, and simply turned around when I hit two miles. My pace was fairly fast (7:09 per mile), but I just did not feel very comfortable or fluid. I guess you cannot have great runs every day. On a completely unrelated note, I ordered my new bicycle frame today. It is a Motobecane Nemesis Pro. I first heard about Motobecane on Slowtwitch, where they have a reputation as being dependable, "poor man's" triathlon bikes. I was actually looking to spend a bit more money and get a frame from a more established brand, but unfortunately when it comes to frames, manufacturers generally only sell them for their more expensive models. The other problem I had is that nearly all of the frames I saw online were carbon -- not only is that way more money, but after what just happened to my current bike, the last thing I want is to buy a frame that is more susceptible to breaking. The frame should get here in a few days -- needless to say, I am really excited to see what my bike looks like when it is all built up! This will also be my first true triathlon frame (i.e., with triathlon-specific geometry), so it will also be interesting to see if that makes any difference to my bike and run splits next season.

New York Triathlon Series - Race #2 Report

Two weeks ago I completed my final race of the year, the New York Triathlon Series - Race #2. The following is my race report:

Pre-Race

The night before the race I gathered all my triathlon equipment and decided to put my bike into the car so that I would not have to deal with it at 5:30 in the morning. Unfortunately I discovered that I could not fit my bike in the trunk or back seat unless I took both of the wheels off. The next morning I placed my wheel-less frame in the back seat of my car, and when I arrived at the race site the next morning, discovered that I had two kinks in my chain! I tried to no avail to work them out myself, and unfortunately found the race organizers did not have a bike tech on site. I was literally about to just call it a day when I approached a serious-looking triathlete (expensive bike, aero helmet, 0% body fat) and asked him if he could help. He fortunately agreed, and after working on my bike for about 15 minutes (including almost completely disassembling the rear derailleur), was successfully able to right my chain (incidentally, he ended up winning the entire race by eight minutes -- if you somehow stumble across this, thanks Chris from Nyack!) I had just enough time to set up my transition area, use the bathroom, throw on my wetsuit, and head to the starting line.

Swim (1/2 mile)
I definitely was a bit nervous going into the swim -- I literally had not been in a pool or open water in nearly a year. That said, I knew that my overall fitness level was pretty high, and I was fairly certain that I had not forgotten how to swim. The swim was an out-and-back with a run-in start (which I honestly love -- for some reason it makes me feel like more of a serious triathlete). As the gun went off, I ran into the lake and settled into a fairly comfortable pace. I used my normal bilateral breathing technique in which I catch a breath every third stroke, but definitely threw in some every other stroke breathing as needed. I also sighted a fair amount -- I was not interested in making this swim any longer than it needed to be! There was some contact throughout the swim, but nothing too terrible. It seemed like I reached the turnaround buoy in no time at all, which is the exact OPPOSITE of how most of my race swims normally seem! I coasted back to the shore, and was pleased when I saw 16:08 on my watch as I exited the water -- not bad for a guy who had not swam all year!

Bike (16 miles)
My first transition was fairly smooth -- I got my wetsuit off quickly, put on my bike shoes, helmet, and sunglasses, and was off! I must admit I really was not very confident as I started the bike -- given my crash in May, all of the mechanical issues I endured this summer, and my pre-race chain issue, I was kind of just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Well, it turns out that I did not have to wait long. The bike course started on a fairly steep uphill, and given the fact I was still a bit winded from the swim, I shifted into my small chain ring. Big mistake -- within seconds, my chain seized up. My initial thought was that I was done -- this was God's way of telling me to call it quits. I turned around and started walking my bike back to the transition area.

After walking for about a half a mile, I had an epiphany of sorts -- I had prepared since November to race this season, had woken up at an ungodly hour this morning to get here, and posted a decent swim with zero training! In addition, I simply did not want to end my 2009 season with my second DNF in two years. I decided to see if there was any way that I could complete the bike ride. I discovered that as long as I kept my chain in the big ring and rode small gears, it seemed like I would be O.K. Thus, I re-entered the race and was on my way!

The rest of the bike ride was uneventful, aside from some FRIGHTENING, extremely long downhills (I spoke to a couple of racers afterwards, who both said they had hit 47 MPH during the race). I basically rode my brakes the entire way down the really steep hills, and caught most of the people who bombed past me on the ensuing inclines. Oh, and since I was riding really small gears, I must have looked like Lance Armstrong with my incredibly high cadence! My chain was also skipping almost incessantly, so whenever I had a chance to coast and not pedal at all I did, as I reasoned the less I pedaled, the fewer opportunities for my chain to lock up or come off. Needless to say between the lost time, extra distance, and low gears I rode, this was by far my slowest bike ride ever. But I knew there would be one benefit -- I was going to have really fresh legs for the run!

Run (3 miles)
My second transition was very smooth -- I did my normal "leave the pedals clipped in, flying dismount," quickly got my race belt and running shoes on, and I was off! The run course was essentially an out and back, with most of the first mile and a half uphill, and the second mile and a half downhill. As I suspected, my legs felt great, and I was passing a fair number of people immediately. I started to feel even better as the run progressed, and once I hit the turnaround point, I really started to pour it on! I was now passing people in droves, and as I approached the finish went into an all-out sprint. When I crossed the finish line and looked down at my watch I did a double-take -- I was expecting to run sub 7:00 per mile pace, but 6:30, not so much! My run split was actually my fastest ever in a triathlon -- at least something good came out of my ridiculously-slow bike time...

Post-Race

Despite my mechanical problems on the bike and my worst overall placing ever (by a wide margin), I took more good than bad from this race. I was really happy with my swim given my non-existent training, my transitions were smooth, my run was extremely strong, and I was proud of myself for not packing it in after how my pre-race and early part of the bike went. I now know that I am not getting any slower as I get older -- with the right training and preparation (including mechanical), I still can be plenty competitive. I enter the off-season with a new resolve -- I am going to continue running straight through next year, and am replacing my bike frame (which was probably the main reason for my recent bike problems -- my old frame is bent, which is causing my derailleur and chain issues). Thanks for reading, and I promise to at least try to update this blog every now and then during the off-season!

Race Splits

Swim: 17:10 (includes 200 yard run to transition)

Transition 1: 1:21

Bike: 1:05:52 (14.6 MPH -- I lost at least ten minutes with my mechanical issues)

Transition 2: 0:29

Run: 19:29 (6:30 pace)

Overall: 1:44:20 (136th overall, top 53%)

One Last Spin...

Today at lunch I hit the spin bike for one last ride. I rode for 40 minutes at a consistent resistance level, focusing on keeping my heart rate between 130-150 beats per minute. The time went by pretty quickly considering the fact I did not change the resistance level once or even get out of the saddle. Definitely the perfect pre-race workout from my perspective. Last night I took another look at the results from the last race on this course earlier this summer. What really struck me was how SLOW the bike times were -- the guy who won the entire race averaged less than 22 MPH! This course must be really hilly. Next year I am definitely going to do some more due diligence before picking which races to do -- I know it is kind of pathetic, but averaging 16-17 MPH on Sunday is not exactly going to great for my ego, considering I am used to riding 21-22 MPH for this distance. Yes, I am vain -- deal with it...

Curses!

This past Sunday I took my bike out for one last pre-race ride, and less than three miles into it, I got a flat tire. Super -- yet another bike ride cut short by a mechanical problem. This season has just been cursed -- the crash, the busted rear derailleur, and now this. I hate to say it, but at this point I just kind of want it to be over with. I just hope that I don't get another flat tire during the race on Sunday, although in some respects that would be a fitting end to this season. O.K, enough with the pity party -- just had to vent a bit.

So when I got back home, I decided to go for a four mile run instead. I ran it at 7:00 per mile pace, which I was happy with given the fact it was ridiculously humid. I then lifted weights for the first time in a while (chest, triceps, and legs) on Monday, and did a nice easy three mile treadmill run yesterday. I will hit the spin bike tomorrow for a final, risk-free ride, then hit the weights one last time before the race on Sunday. This is probably my final blog entry before the race, so wish me luck!

Abject Neglect

Well once again I have neglected this blog, mainly due to being super busy at work and traveling entirely too much (this will be the first week in over two months that I have not traveled for work or pleasure). Despite the crazy schedule and lack of blog posts, the training has been pretty consistent -- not spectacular, but consistent. For example, yesterday I ran five miles on the treadmill at 7:08 per mile pace, and today I did another 40 minute bike/2 mile run brick (which has become my staple workout). My weight has crept up a bit over the last week or so, but it is nothing getting a bit more vigilant on the diet will not take care of. Next Sunday is my last race of the year, which I am pretty excited about. I still have not swam once this year (and now suspect I will not before the race), but it is only a half mile swim, which I think I can fake my way through...