furiousferret

Did my first 3+ hour ride in a few months and it took me 3 days to recover; it's not as easy anymore. I was planning on racing in 2 weeks but I don't think I'll be competitive til July at the earliest.

One of my Dogs has been barking 2-3 times a night which has really affected my training as well. He used to never do this but he's old now and this is probably his last few months.

Grumpy McTrumpy

I do the GMSR time trial on an aero road bike (no exposed cables) with a 80mm front, rear disc, skinsuit, aero helmet, the works. It's not exactly eddy merckx with 70s hair flying in the wind while pedaling 36 spoke wheels..

Additionally, losing wattage on a TT bike is pretty common, and if you don't train on it, you might not go faster. My TT setup is pretty fancy for an amateur, and I can routinely go .2 with it, but I keep telling gawkers that it has taken me three years to get used to the position, and I am still 20w down from climbing power. (I used to be more down). I have seen enough riders buy fancy bikes and NOT go any faster that it's pretty clear: Unless you are willing to learn how to make power in that position, then don't go thinking you are fighting a losing arms race only. Those guys who crush TTs on fancy bikes are probably also doing a lot of training on them.

grolby

Oh for sure. Anyone who crushes me on a TT bike has earned it, if you ask me. I have a few little tricks to pull out for the KSR TT. It won't be true Merckx style. Merckx didn't have the clever little lace covers that Specialized throws in with their shoes, or an aeroshell for the helmet he wasn't wearing. I am riding a steel bike and non-aero wheels, but oh well. There's only so much I can do. No gloves, skinsuit, narrow drops... I'll do the best I can.

globecanvas

Those bars won't fit on my Venge. I could do the TT on my Lynskey with the clip-ons though.

In what universe does anything that fits you also fit me? Unless you turn it sideways or something?

TheKillerPenguin

I really think it may fit, i think you're smaller than me but because I'm longer I look like a stick figure.

hubcyclist

3hrs, ctl up to 57, last seen at this level Feb 2nd lol

aaronmcd

Wow nice morning for a ride! 4 hour commute, took a different route to the coast this time. A common route but I haven't done it in a while. Feel almost back to normal after my cold, threshold effort was 95%

Misting at elevation, beautiful foliage and smells on the descent to the coast. Loved the cloud cover for a while, then the sun came out and it started to heat up. Caught onto a box trailer for a while cruising along at 35 mph easily. That was fun.

tetonrider

problem with the mercx stuff is the INTENT is great, but the practice sucks.

it's supposed to either (a) limit the financial costs of participating or (b) make it easier for people to travel/carpool. people assume it levels the playing field.

well...it still winds up being an arms race. some folks will bring an aero frame, aero road bars, deep front, disc rear, skinsuit, ... hell, some people might even have an adjusted position on the road bike.

it just totally backfires.

it also then penalizes the people that have the gear--1 less chance to use the toys.

i get the mercx thing in, say, cat 5 or 4, but when you get to p12 the limitation is silly, IMO. if you don't have that toy, maybe you stage hunt and don't contest the TT. in fact, conserving in the TT maybe makes a stage win more likely.

shovelhd

Preach, brotha.

TheKillerPenguin

Openers today, and they actually feel like they opened me up, which is unusual. This makes me happy.

hubcyclist

another 3hrs today, 144TSS, 578TSS for the week so far 59.6 CTL

hubcyclist

oh and I totally need to go with 38cm bars, I've been having trapezius pain and purposefully bringing my hands/arms inwards seemed to help. I always suspected I was more of a 38 than a 40. so we'll see if that helps

Wylde06

I couldnt imagine 40's, let alone 38s's. Im on 42's now (came on the new bike) and I definitely need to go back to 44's like what was on my old bike

abhirama

I'm used to riding 40s and my new bike came with 42s. It feels like I'm driving a truck. FWIW, people my size rarely ride bars narrower than 42!

aaronmcd

Dang you guys are picky. I have no idea what size bars I have. I had 40 on my old bike I think, but I never measured this new one. Not sure I'd notice anyway.

aaronmcd

Just measured 17 inches outside edge to outside edge.

hubcyclist

i think maybe if I spent some time doing weights I'd have stronger traps and maybe wouldn't be as sensitive to bar width, so there's that. my wife's newly acquired road bike has 38's and when i quickly stood on and grabbed the hoods, my arms were in much better alignment with my shoulders.

Dunbar

Dropping down 2cm in bar width is worth like 5-10 watts. Definitely one of the better aero upgrades for the money. After seeing gopro video on a group ride my 42cm bars are too wide for my shoulders. I just haven't got around to installing my 40cm bars.

TMonk

Was planning on putting a lot of volume in during this block, but it just doesn't make sense. I'm racing twice this weekend and twice next! This weekend, we're staying up there (LA) tomorrow night so we can race on Monday morning as well with a single trip. It'll be like college, except not as ghetto because we all have real jobs.

Su is scnca champs and we have a real shot at winning; I'm ready to put in some work. On M I'll be going FTW. It'll be important to me because I've been racing selflessly (which I prefer), and I want to know that I can still apply myself and get a result.

TMonk

Oh, and off for a 1.5 hr opener ride.

beatlebee 

good luck @TMonk

Andy STi

Guy who won my Merckx TT in last weekend's stage race had an S5 with a TriRig front brake, deep wheels, aero bars and could ride in the aero bar position. Where I was on my EVO and not very aero at all. If I was on my TT I think I would have done better.

topflightpro

I'm taking a few days off to recover from Thursday's crash. I hate taking this much time off. I'm so bored.

aaronmcd

Just watch the CTL decline on the PMC, should keep you entertained. That's what I did when I took 4 days off due to a cold.

spectastic

during threshold or anaerobic intervals, do you pull up?