Experior and Slornow's Spring/Summer Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 46)

Wow. I'm not one who cares much for how a bike looks, but I have to say, that's a fab looking one you've got there. It looks like a machine made for hard work! Love the colors.

That's how I usually feel :-)

I just signed up for another go at the West Point triathlon. Last year's was exceedingly well run, although rainy. I'm hoping for a dry one this year.

Mark-that's funny!  Have you ever done a race where it did not rain?

Randy

Lookin' good Randy!  I'll ride a few more times sans race setup, but once I get mine all prettied up for the race, I'll post a pic as well.

Mark -- you know you just guaranteed that it will rain in the race, right?

Good morning everyone.  What have we got going on today?  For me:  a swim and I hope a long run tonight once it has 'cooled down' below 100!

My races are typically moist :-)  After reading about everyone's experiences I think I prefer rain to 100+ temperatures.

I went for a nice easy 14 mile ride this morning with my wife and sister-in-law. We're starting our training for this year's Tour de Pink East Coast.

I weighed in today at a Rubenesque  209.6 lbs. I'm hoping to be sub-200 for West Point on August 19th.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Michael-since I will be traveling a good bit this week I wanted to go ahead and get race wheels on and make sure everything was working during the ride today.  Everything seemed good other than an aging engine

I did a 50 minute ride with about 28 minutes at race effort followed by 30 minute hard run.  Tried to run at projected "race pace" of 7:30.  Worked into run with first mile at 7:45 and decreasing after that.  UGH!  7:30 pace at next Sunday's race may be a little optimistic if the heat continues.  I had nothing left at the end...finishing with 7:31 avg pace.

Watching Euro finals this afternoon and last day of USATF Olympic qualifying this evening.......I'll be putting in recovery time

Randy

Yeah, the heat is likely to kill my hoped-for pace as well.  That and the stairs. 

I ran 5 the other day in >105 and 8:30s felt like 6:30s.  Racing is gonna be brutal!

My legs are shot from the ride yesterday -- I might put my long run off until tomorrow morning...

Between the new wheels and the 100+ mile bike rides, there's some serious inspiration around the bike these days.  I just about bonked on a 30 mile ride on Friday after driving from Florida.  Must have been dehydrated.  In any case, the engine sure wasn't there.

Went out for a run this morning at a blistering 10+ mph pace.  I really don't do well in the heat.  I am, however, very thankful our electricity is back on so it is cooler in the house and we can take showers again.  Michael, I don't know how you all aren't melting without A/C.  Hope you have a basement... or are headed to the mountains soon. 

Y'all stay cool if you can!

Stu

Glad to hear you've got the power back on.  That must not have been fun.

It hasn't really been all that bad -- last night was the first time that the kids complained about the heat.  They are off to spend a few days with the grandparents, so they'll have A/C for a while!  Actually, we're getting relief right now in the form of t-storms that dropped the temperature 10 degrees in 15 minutes.  Tomorrow we're supposed to be back into the 100s, though.

No mountain trips soon, alas, but we are headed to Chattanooga next week.  Forecast is for a chilly 90 degrees -- it'll feel like fall!

Alas, the t-storms are also dumping 1" hail.  I don't own a hardhat, so it'll be an early morning long run for me instead.  Have a good night everyone!

Jason-I've had the same experience when riding my race wheels with race tire/latex tube combo. I ride on rollers and even at the highest resistance setting the tire/latex tube spins much faster at same watts.  I suspect on the smooth rollers this is likely due to the lower rolling resistance of the tire rather than the latex tube but who knows.  Come race day I'll take any advantage I can.

Randy  

Damn Randy that is one sweet ride!!

Michael -- congrats on the weight loss!  And on the impending bike.  What kind of flats are you getting on rides?

I'm going to do a weight-check tomorrow.  I got up and ran this morning -- long run -- before weighing myself, so the result is pretty meaningless.

Race tires and tubes:  free speed!  OK, not free, exactly.  But yeah, you can feel it on the trainer for sure.  Even the tubes make a difference there -- they lower rolling resistance by being more pliable (easier to deflect), which can actually matter a bit more on the trainer than on the road because the trainer generates resistance in part by relying on rolling resistance.  (That's why you can increase resistance by cramming it harder onto the tire -- you are in effect increasing rolling resistance, which is harder to do with race gear!)

Rene-sounds like a winner!

Hard/good swim at lunch and have an hour easy on the bike scheduled this evening.  Kind of in a funk right now with some work stuff and pre race nerves starting to appear.  Been in a bad mood all day.  I would like to have a really good race at Chattanooga this weekend but I know the heat on the run will be tough........last year I had an awful run and am worried about repeating it this year.

Randy

Hey Jamie.  Sounds like a good workout!

The fix really depends on why it won't shift.  What happens when you pull on the shifter?  Is it stuck in one place?

As for resources, the Park Tool site can be helpful:

    http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

Aclassic 'beginners' book is Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance.  It has flaws, though.  I doubt you'd actually screw up your bike following it, but in some cases you might not make it better either.  It will give you a basic understanding.

A really comprehensive book is Barnett's Manual.  It's pricey, and probably more than what you are looking for, though, and not beginner material.  Many bike manufacturer's also put some info online about how to maintain their bikes, especially when there are peculiarities in the model.

Thanks for the suggestions, Michael. It seems like when I go to switch gears, it just doesn't seem to push it quite enough to move it off the cog. I think it just needs a small adjustment to get it over a little. I'll check out those sources and see what I can do.