Beer Drinkers Appreciation Society (BDAS) 2023 Mentor Group - ALWAYS OPEN (Page 75)

Mechanical or Electronic shifting?

If Mechanical,

Soak it with CRC/WD40 etc. Like really soak, there should be a puddle of oil on the ground after you're done. You might want to disconnect everything and move it in and out by hand. You didn't take the bike with you to Egypt right? So it's more likely something seized up than got damaged in transit. Give everything a wiggle (technical engineering term) and make sure you get the oil inside everything.

If that doesn't help you need to find where in the system the problem is. Does the cable move when you try and shift gears? Disconnect the cable from the rear derailleur if you're not sure. If the cable moves like it should when you operate the shifter then the problem is in the derailleur, if it doesn't you have a damaged cable/housing/shifter.

If it's the actual derailleur read through this: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.htmland follow the adjustments to try and get some movement. And/Or refer to your friendly local bike mechanic who can actually look it over.

If it's Electrotonic shifting, Absolutely no idea.

Of course a new bike would be the only 100% sure fix.

Plus 1 for the park run idea. Or even a solo time trial.

Following my FTP bike test this week, I'm also looking to try and do a 5k fitness test before getting to far into HM training. Got to get those zones right

About the long range race planning... to be fair the reason I've got a race planned for 15 months away is because I was entered in IMNZ this March, but decided to defer it for a year. I like a plan, but wouldn't normally plan quite that far ahead.

From there it was just a case of working backwards and seeing what fits, and what looks like fun. I do like to have something on the calendar and a plan to follow. Helps so much with the motivation.

Thanks Andrew! I'll give this a try! It is a mechanical shifter, so I'm hoping it is just a loose cable or something easy to fix. I'd rather not have to take it to the shop (but I will if I can't get it working). Biggest issue was that I couldn't find my torque wrench yesterday and since the seat was loose too, I was just defeated by the whole idea of trying to figure it out. That's what I get for leaving workouts until the end of the day!

While I LOVE the suggestion of a new bike, which would, of course, fix all of my issues, I think my wife would murder me if I suggested it right now. The tri budget is pretty big this year, with a trip to Australia for worlds, so I'm trying to curb expenses wherever I can. Plus...Trixie and I have made it this far, I'd hate to abandon her now!

Up early for a Hill Repeat run this morning on the only hill in town...seriously, there is one. I guess I should be grateful--at least I don't have to run over a highway overpass to get in my hill repeats (not that we have any highway overpasses around here to run on!). 6x30" up the hill, 1:30 recovery jog down the hill.

Later, I'll go to the gym and do an hour on the spin bike (ugh) and then my strength training. I can almost walk normally after Monday's session, so I guess it is time to do it again!

For Christmas, my wife got me a towel warmer, which--funny story--I'd added to my Amazon wish list to keep the link, as I'd thought to buy her one for Christmas. Let me tell you--absolute game changer in the post-session, I'm freezing and simply cannot get warm exercise-induced hypothermia game. I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but when I finish a session, I have to wait a while to stop sweating. If I just jump into the shower, I continue to sweat afterwards and that kinda defeats the entire point. Anyway, in the winter there is a very thin margin of error for how long I wait to stop sweating versus how long until I start freezing due to being wet and cold. If I miss the mark, I end up shivering for hours. I've learned I can put all of my post-shower clothes into the towel warmer (under the towel) and not only do I have a warm towel to dry off with, but I have warm clothes to put on! Best $50 I think I've spent in tri in a long time!

@ Gretchen, There are very few problems in life that can't be solved with a new bike. Hill repeats? Uggh. Nice job getting it done.

Nothing special for me, just an hour on zwift last night. Easy riding.

Have a good weekend all.

Does cleaning out the garage count as a workout?

Yes

If it's anything like my shed, probably counts as a double.

Oh man...cleaning out the shed is gonna be a triple now! I'll admit, I did screw future Gretchen a bit by just throwing a bunch of the stuff from the garage in the shed, but my wife never goes into the shed, so I get the points for cleaning the garage out. :D. My dad cleans his garage by putting everything in the shed and then cleans his shed by putting everything in the barn. Over time, stuff migrates out of the barn, so then the cycle repeats. We don't have a barn (thankfully!), but we do have two sheds, so I figure my pattern will be garage-->big shed-->smaller shed. But, once it get into the smaller shed I'll never get it out, because occasionally skunks live in there. Problems solved!

Big swim morning (3800c), with ms of 20x50 at pace. My coach had an entirely different idea of what my pace should have been than I did. I'm tired. Later today I'll get in a short foundation run of 30', probably in the rain, since that is all that the weather seems to be doing right now. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm not getting hit with the snow the eastern half of the country is getting! Then, because the pool is closed over the weekend for a college swim meet and then on Monday due to holiday, I'll be doing a double swim day, with a quick 2400c in the afternoon.

Mike--do you ever stay at home? Have fun in Cancun!!

"I'm doing a double swim day" said by no one in my household even the swimmer.  Nice work, Gretchen. 

As far as the bolded above, coming from a lady who spends 3-6 months a year in Egypt and is traveling to Worlds in Australia, I think my 3-hour flight to Cancun is a little sad. 

Oh, and somehow I picked a 6:15 AM flight, which means wheels rolling from the house at 4:15, which for Gretchen would mean only a 75-minute trainer ride before flying...

Edited by jmhpsu93 2024-01-12 6:17 PM

Long run today…8.14miles at the gym, around the tiny 7 laps to the mile track. It was awful, but I guess it was better than the treadmill, so it is a win. I opted for the gym because it is in the 20Fs with a single digit wind chill and we got a ton of rain yesterday (no snow). I was a bit worried about the road conditions and what would happen if I slipped and hurt myself. My wife is out of town this weekend, so I’d be SOL. Is this adulting? It feels like adulting, and frankly, I don’t like it much.

Later I have a 2:00 bike ride. I need to work on my deraileur, hopefully fixing it. If not, it is gonna be a Z1 ride! Might not be a bad thing as my first real trainer ride of the season, but I’d like to do the interval workout on my plan. I’ve scheduled it so I can watch the football game from the trainer.

8.14 miles? What’s that in corgis?

Feeling better and went for one hour long walk this morning. Taking it very easy as have had this before (covid) and you think you’re better, start training again and you get sick again.

Missed the second Saturday home game in as many weeks but instead of losing this time, my team won 8-1. Go figure. It’s almost as me being there or not, or not wearing my lucky underpants has no effect on the score at all.

I have pretty much decided on which races I am doing this year

1st May: half mara, same as last year
End May : sprint (this race used to be in September and was cancelled last year, back this year at a new date)
(Maybe a sprint mid June)
End June : sprint (shorter swim). Same as last year
End July: super sprint, same as every year
End August: oly, same as last year on my home turf
Mid September: 10k run

Happy Sunday!






Edited by Rollergirl 2024-01-14 10:25 AM

Nat! Glad to hear you are feeling better! Good on you for not rushing back too soon.

For me, today is a rest day, and I am taking full advantage. I have no plans to do anything but sit on the couch and relax. Maybe I’ll brave the cold and go to the store to get ingredients for a soup, but that feels a bit counter productive. :D

For the juice cleanse, I have 7 different juices I drink throughout the day, as well as a little shot of cayenne, honey, lemon juice or something like that.

It's nice because as soon as I start to feel hungry, it's time to drink another one. The rough part is not getting savory foods for me, but this cleanse was definitely the easiest I've had it, I think because work was so busy I was able to distract myself when I was hungry. I was successful at not eating any fries, so yay! I was down 8 lbs from the holidays, though I have gained a couple back since. One big benefit from it is my stomach shrinks a little so I'm able to feel satiated with smaller meals, or less meals.

Mike, I'm dead. That is so spot on. She might be able to squeeze in 90 if she wakes up at 2am...

The sickness got me! Not COVID luckily, but I woke up Thursday with a horrible cold and sore throat. The sore throat faded quickly enough but the stuffiness is still lingering. I took it easy Thur-Sat. Sunday was feeling better so did a 30 min PZ ride. Felt mostly good, but definitely not 100%.

Went on a long walk to acupuncture yesterday. Felt good to be outside, and it was snowing so that was fun. We've definitely had a drop in temperature the last couple days, so it actually feels like winter.

I've continued eating okay, though could do better as always. Did some goal setting and part of that is what you guys have already done - planning out my races for the year, so I hope to have an update on that very soon!

Sorry to hear you are sick! Nice to get some warm weather though. Woke up to a "snot freezing cold" minus 21 C (celcius, not corgis, that's about minus 6 F.) . I would not go for a run or ride in that but had a lovely (short) walk with the dog.

Feeling 100% recovered now but I am going to be doing some adulting here and not train until the weekend.

Everyone is getting sick!! Stay healthy guys!!

For me, I’ve been shuffling workouts lately because the gym is not open much on holidays and then today we had a snow day, so it didn’t open until 1pm. So…yesterday was a 60’ bike in the morning and then a 44’ critical velocity run later—durning the football game! How inconsiderate of them to only be open while the football games were on (4-8pm). Today was supposed to be a morning swim, and the. Run and strength in the afternoon…best laid plans. The gym didn’t open until 1 and the pool didn’t open until 5. I also had a meeting at 3, so everything was a mess. Ended up doing my 45’ run and upper body strength at 1, then going back to my office for my meeting and then back to the gym for legs and my swim. A mess, but done. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be back in regular session and I can get in morning swim, because the afternoon is for run and bike!

sorry to hear you've been sick too

Honestly, I knew it was coming. It's just that time of year, but I'm glad it went away relatively quickly. Still a little bit stuffy but did a 30 min PZ threshold ride yesterday. It was rough but I survived!