SBR Utopia ~~~~ Permanently OPEN!! (Page 4)

Yeah - Eurostyle is what they had and what I bought.  Oh, cooling sensation I thought, that should be good.  2min later I was wondering what I'd just done to myself.  Second time using it was not nearly as much of a shock to the system, but I really question the whole "cooling concept".

I don't know what Eurostyle is but I'm pretty sure I'm going to avoid it....

On the Euro subject line, I'm headed to France for 3 weeks tonight.  No bike, no swim while I'm there and hopefully I can find some time to run.

Safe travels, Arend - that is a long trip - hopefully you will get some time in burning a few extra calories. I cannot imagine what I would look like if I came back from 3 weeks in France with no working out under my belt.... FWIW I use the "Swim Radar" app to find pools when I am traveling. It was really helpful the last time I was I France and I found several really great places to swim. It will expose you to a whole OTHER kind of "eurostyle" swimming in French public pools though....

It's okay (enough) on the bike.  The top is somewhat larger and lower cut in the chest area to accommodate female anatomy....hah.  It might not be the most aerodynamic, but it certainly doesn't act like a parachute on the bike. 

It's got me wondering if the ITU style, zipper in the back one-piece might make sense for Sprint/Oly distance (non-wetsuit) races. 

Don't you have the Aerus Biospeed bike bag?  Sounds like between that and Rusty's Swim Radar app, we've got you covered for SB as well

ETA: have a great trip!  Business or pleasure?

Business.  If it's anything like the last time I did one of these, I will be working 15-20 hour days for a lot of it.  That's why I won't be riding or swimming.  At best I will find an hour here and there to run.

Well, if you're going to bump up over race weight, France is about as good a place on the planet in which to do it!  Enjoy.  

Hmmm…. Follow up question.

I always thought that you peeled yourself out of a swim skin after the swim, like a wetsuit.  Does it actually replace a trisuit?

I have no experience with them, as pretty much everything up this way is wetsuit legal - and often wetsuit "strongly advised."  However, if we end up heading to Austin, I'll have to figure it out!

FWIW, I have a one piece that I used in sprint/Oly distances in which I have occasionally done OWSs.  Works well - the pocket in back has a flap-like cover that prevents it ballooning with water, and the back zipper keeps the neck taught.  That said, my two piece tops are similar (pocket-flap-wise) except they zip in the front - haven't had any problem swimming in them, either (but they're cut to accommodate a different anatomy, I suppose!).

Matt

Yeah, they're mostly intended to go over the tri suit. Some can be worn the entire race, but tend to be warmer as they don't breathe. At least not nearly as well as a tri suit. Some have taken advantage of that for colder races.

And per Nicole's follow-up, the lower cut aspect seems a bit odd. Especially if one needs more ... um ... accommodation. The lower cut would actually help it act more like a bigger scoop, which is the opposite of what should be done.  You'd know more about the room needed, but the cut being like that seems weird. A swimskin should help that, but would also consider a new suit or top as well.

I've used a Kiwami Amphibian last year, which is a back-zip one, and it does work very well. Stretches well and still holds pretty snug. It seems like a back-zip might restrict breathing some, and I thought it might just from how it felt in test fitting, but everything was just fine out in the races. There are a few other brands as well.

Will you be able to recover ok with all that?

Ugh - 3 weeks in Frrance sounded great till you gave more details.

Have a safe trip Arend.

I was able to get two solid days of riding in despite us having passing thunderstorms all weekend.  My legs are starting to feel like they are rounding into shape.  This week will be fairly hard, then a slight down week before my 40k TT, then two more big weeks...then Haleakala.  Hopefully I've timed this right.

Probably not.  I'm likely going to dig myself into a hole.  Cheese, wine and chocolate should help.  

The swim skin would be used in place of a wetsuit....over my tri kit.  Another option would be to go with something that's designed better for non-wetsuit swimming.  I think the ITU style suits are all basically designed for non-wetsuit races.  Some other kits have flaps over the pockets to minimize water ballooning up in them (I had two pockets on the back of my top, and one pocket on each leg of the shorts....all of which were filled with water).

As for the top I was wearing, I think most of the womens' tops are kinda "low" like that....not so much low, but they have a scoop neck or whatever it's called.  Here's a picture that shows about how the top fits: http://www.swimoutlet.com/p/soas-racing-womens-tri-top-47063/?color=40513

All I'm saying is that it doesn't zip up to my collar bones or anything....it's got a slightly lower cut, but not cleavage baring or anything!  And maybe the shape of it is what allows water to come in more easily.  I don't know....I do know that it's certainly not ideal for swimming without a wetsuit.

Must be male designers.

My one piece with the flaps and the back zip doesn't take water at all, and my shorts for the 2 piece gitup have no pockets.  Annoying when going for a medium brick and having no place to stash a GU (unless I geek out and also wear a tri top), but MUCH better swimming.

New toys!  Which ones did you end up going with?

Raced an Olympic this past weekend - really stacked at the front of the race which was a good thing.

Swim: 23:30 Bike: 1:05:49  Run: 41:09

9th OA with a 2:13 which is a 2.5 minute PR and it could have been a lot better.  I had some goggle issues during the swim and then ended up getting a stitch right under my ribs during the run which slowed me to 7:00 minute miles for 2 miles.  I was flying before that and thought I was going to mow a bunch of people down so that kinda sucked.

First race with power - the plan was to be 250-260 watts and keep it under 280 on the big climb we hit twice.  I ended up at 238NP which is an IF 0.87.  I think I need to trust my fitness and push the watts a bit more on the bike.  I just felt like 240 seemed to be RPE wise where I thought I could run well.

I think this is where the PM can be incredibly useful as I get some more races under my belt.  Seeing what works and what does not to get the best result.

HIM in two weeks.

Nice job.  87% would actually be the high end for me on an Oly.  At least to somewhat compensate for my disproportionate run fitness.  These days, I generally race by feel and use power as metric to make sure I keep that feel somewhat constant.  I've tried hard in the past to stick to predetermined power goals for the entire bike leg of a tri, or for an entire TT, and the results have not been as good as racing by RPE.

Hoo -Whee, Dale - now THAT is what a P2 ought to look like. Never understood why cervelo needs to put their name so big on the frame. I don't mind it so much on my white S2, but on my P2 the name is so big they could actually get the "e" on the frame! Are you thinking of doing a custom paint job on yours, or just playing around? The designer in me wants to see the tape job cleaned up a little, but maybe the overlaps and the mis-aligned ends actually breaks the boundary layer and gets you a few more watts....