ultrahip_00's Mentor Group - Closed Again! (Page 15)

nevergivin - 2009-06-24 8:04 AM  however the down side is it can become boring.

brick94513 - 2009-06-24 9:24 AM Need some advice.... Just got a notice that my race has been changed to a deep water start due to low water levels.  Appreciate any tips you might have for me on starting this way.  Also, just checked temps and the water is 56 with morning air in the 40s.  Its going to be cool!

fleetfeet_ch - 2009-06-24 11:22 AM Stuart and Tim:I've found a bikeshop in my area that sells the CycleOps FLUID II Hometrainer. It's expensive new - 350 US - but there's no shipping or VAT since I can go pick it up (still seems expensive). They also list a silencer mat and a "riser block" as accessories. Do I need the "riser block"? What's it for?I'm going to check our local ebay as well.

fleetfeet_ch - 2009-06-24 11:22 AM Stuart and Tim:I've found a bikeshop in my area that sells the CycleOps FLUID II Hometrainer. It's expensive new - 350 US - but there's no shipping or VAT since I can go pick it up (still seems expensive). They also list a silencer mat and a "riser block" as accessories. Do I need the "riser block"? What's it for?I'm going to check our local ebay as well.

brick94513 - 2009-06-24 9:24 AM Need some advice.... Just got a notice that my race has been changed to a deep water start due to low water levels.  Appreciate any tips you might have for me on starting this way.  Also, just checked temps and the water is 56 with morning air in the 40s.  Its going to be cool!

fleetfeet_ch - 2009-06-25 1:21 AM Having a DISMAL training week!  I can't seem to get out there or find the time.  How much push do I lose when I have a week like this?  I feel like I need to be out there daily in order to survive a sprint, but others tell me that I'll be ready.  Any advice on how to survive the plateau weeks where you see little to no improvement?

brick94513 - 2009-06-25 9:18 PM Well, wish me luck.  I'm leaving for Tahoe in the morning.  Really looking forward to the race!  Just a liitle worried about acclimating to the altitude.  It would of been nice to get up there a little sooner.  Regardless, five days in Tahoe without our kids, will be a wonderful vacation.  My wife and I are planning on all kinds of mtb riding and hiking.  Talk to everyone next week.

fleetfeet_ch - 2009-06-26 1:16 AM Nothing like biking in the morning sun, around a Swiss lake, mountains in the background and along comes a little Swiss man, socks and sandels pumping along, transistor radio balanced on his handle bars, playing a little "huta-fluta" music.  You gotta love these cultural things.

Now to the serious stuff - namely bike questions again.  I did my usual 20k today, which turned out to be 18.4 after I took a wrong turn...  I was trying to keep my cadence higher and more regular and discovered that I was actually going 2 km/hour SLOWER than normal.  I was pedaling like crazy but going nowhere fast, that's for sure. 

Can you guys give me some tips on gears and gear changing so that I can actually improve my speed without killing my legs?  I just don't get the idea of spinning because I seem to go nowhere when I have the gear low (or high?) enough to pedal faster.  And...I notice that I'm bouncing a bit in my saddle when I'm "spinning".  That doesn't seem right.

fleetfeet_ch - 2009-06-30 1:07 PM As luck would have it, tomorrow there's an open water swim (1450 meters) across the Zurich Lake (Zurichsee), so I'm going to do it.  If you want to see where I live and last year's swim, check out this link:

http://www.seeueberquerung.ch/content/home.php 

and click on the Video Seeueberguerung link near the bottom of the page

Never, in 10 years of living here, have I swum across the lake!  If you don't hear from me tomorrow night, send out the coast guard!!