kenj group - Closed (Page 18)

x2 on both accounts.  Yellow is sexy but go with the Dura Ace...

FYI, here is an article that talks about the difference in dura ace and ultegra.  I'm sure you are going to love either bike you chose. 

 http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/dura-ace-ultegra.shtml

I have been using the Bontragers that came with my bike.  I had to replace the rear tire after last winters sufferfest on the trainer, but I replaced it with the puncture resistant version of the same tire.  I wasn't impressed with the puncture resistant capabilities of it. 

I am seriously considering the Michelin Pro 3 tires when I replace the one on the bike now.  Tires is something I would probably order on line, but if I am at the bike shop I would pick them up there, depending on the price.

If you want to get some differant opinions, click the search forums button up above and enter tires as the key word.  Make sure to extend the date range to atleast last summer.  I remember some pretty informative threads about tires back then.

Thank you everyone for your advice on the choice of Cervelos.  I went with the 2008 P2SL DuraAce and after a nice ride this morning, just love it.  It felt like the bike wanted to go fast by itself.  It shifted easily and was pretty comfy even without cycling shoes.  I will get those soon as the bike store didn't have a shoe for me.  Any suggestions on tri shoes?

 Thanks again Kenj group.

That is a great feeling! Nothing like the first ride!

As far as shoes go, there are tri specific shoes.  I have the Louis Garneau Air tri shoe.  They are nice as they are vented on the bottom and have both vented insoles and unvented insoles for colder rides.

The benefit of tri shoes over regular cycling shoes is generally the tri shoes have a hoop on the back so you can pull them on easier and generally on one or 2 velcro straps to make fastening them easier and quicker.  The pros and faster age groupers will usually have their shoes already clipped into the bike in transition and will do a running mount.  Get pedalling and then slip into the shoes while in motion.  Then at the end of the bike segment, get out of the shoes while still moving so that they can do a flying dismount.  Having attended the pro ITU race a couple of times, those guys (and gals) make it look easy.  I haven't tried the mount yet as I am pretty sure that would be nothing more than you tube material.  I have done the dismount, but I don't think it helped a lot.

The other benefit of tri specific shoes is that they are generally designed to be worn without socks.  Although I haven't figured out how to run without socks and not wind up with blisters, I routinely ride without socks.  With the vents the feet have usually dried sufficiently after the bike and makes putting the socks on easier.  To me, putting socks on after the swim usually winds up as an effort in futility!

Enjoy the new bike!!!

Lots of bike talk lately, where's the swim talk???

 The most recent Tri mag had an article about "Less is More" with running shoes.  I have the Nike Free that they mentioned (so it feels like you're running barefoot) and I could take 'em or leave 'em.  They were free so I've done a few runs with them with no probs.

 Speaking of runs...could someone please talk to the other runners in Binghamton? They are not waving back to me and it hurts my feelings. =p One mag had an article about wavers vs. non-wavers and I got a kick out of it.

Spring fever!!! The bikes will be on the road outside soon, if not already in some places!!

I haven't read that article yet, I have most of the recent magazines saved for the six hour flight tomorrow !  As the guy that owns the local running store (very good one, by the way) so eloquently put it - "even though you have lost 90 lbs, by running standards you are still a big guy and need all the support available!" Add in being an over pronator and I am probably not a candidate for less.

I don't think that is an isolated Binghamton problem! If I run the same or similar routes ever morning and run into the same people most of them will give a wave, other times they appear to be in their own world.  I wouldn't take it personally!

Gaaaarmin 305 question:

 Does your battery die when you don't use your Garmin for about 3 days??  

 I'll get it fully charged just to have the low battery alert pop up a few days later, when I haven't used it, but it says it's been going for 13 hours.  I double check that I hit "stop" when I finish my runs and I power off, too.

I can't say that I have ever had that problem.  I usually leave mine on in the charger.  I do know that battery life on longer events has been a common complaint so I guess it is possible even being off that the memory storage could use enough power to run the battery down in 3 days.  Seems kind of fast to me though.

You might want to post the question in the tri talk or gear forums to see if you get more info.

I'm really happy with my progress in the pool.  Yesterday I swam 1,000 yards straight through in 27 minutes.  Today I did 2,000 yards straight through in 50 minutes.  I'd like to start seeing some improvement in my times, but I'm really happy I can swim more than a mile without stopping to gag.  It's unbelievable how much the two coaching sessions have helped.

I'm going to try to start running again today.  I have a run planned for this afternoon but I'm taking my bike shorts just in case I can't hang.  It's time to start working on hills on the bike, something I don't love to do.

Any of you do any mixed martial arts?  I'm thinking about picking that up to help round out my training.

Great job with the swimming!  Time and patience is sure paying off!!!

Hills are not always fun, but they sure pay off in bike strength!!!

Off on a tangent.....

After my swim today I was thinking about how I felt, and that lead me to think about how different exercise affects me.  I'm curious if you folks react differently to different exercise.

Weights:  Occasionally some soreness, although not often.  Muscle weakness for a few hours but no long term effect.  Craving for protein.

Bicycle:  I always feel great after cycling.  The longer and harder I ride the better I feel after.  Legs are generally dead and I crave carbohydrates.  The dead legs generally lasts until the next day. 

Running:  Feel like crap.  Joints, muscles and tendons hurt.  I usually feel like I've been in a car wreck.  Appetite usually doesn't change much after I run.

Swimming:  Never sore or suffer from muscle fatigue, but I get so sleepy after I swim.  I always want to take a nap.  And I'm really, really hungry for any food (and lots of it). 

I'm not sure why different exercise affects my appetite that way.  Just wondering if I'm completely weird.

Great suggestion.  Thanks.

I seem to be always hungry no matter what work out I do, with the only exception being long rides/runs in the summer heat.  But usually on those I also work on nutritien so I am fueling through out the work out.

I don't usually get sleepy after any workout right away.  Long runs or bikes I may feel that way a few hours later.

Our local bike shop supports rides on the weekends and during daylight savings time on Wednesday nights.  Well last night was the first Wed ride of the season.  They had a BBQ all set up for after the ride and the turn out was great (30+ people).

So I get there, get my bike off the truck, get everything set and then hop on to ride the 200 feet over to the waiting group.  I intentionally did not clip in as it was such a short span.

I pull up and start saying hi to everyone, stop and go to put my foot down... you see where this is going right?...

Somehow without making a sound my shoe became clipped in.  So I slow to a stop and SPLAT fall right over on my side cutting my knee open on the pavement.

I wanted to die... Of course everyone is saying "Don't worry, we've all done that..."

"Yeah, the first few weeks you had your bike... not after riding for several years"

How embarrassing.  Anyway it was a great ride.  I ended up hanging with the B group the entire way (I had feared the worst).

We even had one of the bike shop guys taking photos before and DURING the ride.  Don and I are in the photo below.  This guy is my hero.  70 years old and he still hangs with the big boys.  I was dying trying to stay on his wheel last night.

Clipless accidents always happen in front of a crowd!!! Or at least when you want to least.  I had mine in front of a reporter doing an article on using triathlons as a motivation for weight loss!  Fortunately the photographer didn't catch it and she left it out of the interview!

I like that jersey!

Don't worry, we've all done that!  The best one I had was on a mountain bike.  I knew the shoe cleat was a little loose, but I wasn't that worried about it.  When I rode up to the group (all of whom were novice riders) I twisted my foot to unclip but the cleat just rotated and I stayed clipped in.  It was the first of many, many falls that day.  During the ride I bloodied my nose, broke my saddle, and lost a contact lens.  I had to try to ride back on the trail with one eye closed.  Everyone got a big kick out of it.  Really funny stuff.

On another note...  As I said in my training log today, I made the mistake of looking up the results from last year's Ozark Valley Triathlon for my age group.  Most of the runners were on an 8 + minute pace, many slower than that.  One guy ran a 7:07 pace.  Bike speeds were as high as 21 mph average, but most were 16 or 17.  But the swimming has me freaked out.  1,000 yards in 14:03?  That's a 1:24 / 100 pace.  Half the field was out of the water in 20 minutes or less.  I'm really shocked at these times.  I'd like to be able to do 1,000 in less than 20 minutes, but 14 or 15 minutes?  Wow.  Seems fast for old guys.