Gary's Mentor Group - Re-OPENED for Training (Page 79)

Getting pretty excited!

Thursday afternoon, my neighbor (he's an avid MTB) and I head out for a road trip to Durango, CO.  About a 13 hr drive.  My cousin is a big time MTB living in Durango.  He's getting married this weekend and we managed to squeeze in time for some single track goodness.  Hermosa Creek Trail and the Colorado Trail are a few of the bigger trails we're going to hit.  We're also going to spend a day tubing some rapids on the Animas River.  I'm stoked.  I've never been to Colorado in the summer time.

If I don't check in again before we head out, I hope everyone has a great weekend.  And if you happen to be racing, just remember that you can't lose if you simply go faster than everyone else!

Cheers

Sounds like a nice trip Chris.  Durango is a cool little town, especially the downtown older area.  I trust you are aware of the higher altitude there and prepared with your ride.  What the locals always tell us when skiing out that way is to drink plenty of fluids and cut back on the alcohol.  We go skiing out that way quite a bit ... actually you may pass right by the resort in route - Wolf Creek Ski area right on route 160, just east of the pass.  Have a great trip!

Thanks for all the ideas on bikes. Any thoughts on this one on eBay?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270972093562&ssPageName=ADME:X:BOCOR:US:1123

I can drive and pick it up, so no shipping and I think I can get it for around $300.00. All opinons are appreciated and I understand the risk with used bikes.

Came up hobbling this morning at about the 2 mile mark with my right calf. Rather than just tightness which I usually can run through, I have a definite sore spot near the top toward the outside on the left calf. Any advise? Thanks. David.

For $300 without shipping, pretty decent.  I think it is steel.  I have a friend with a 20 year-old steel road bike and he loves it.  Can't find anything now that rides as smooth.  You may need to invest in tires and brake pads and a good tune up, but the frame and components are the main thing.

As far as your calf.  Do not stretch it.  You probably have a strain/partial tear of your gastrocnemius.  Ice it and elevate it 3-4 times a day for 20-30 min.  Take a few days off and see how it feels.  Focus on swimming and maybe some low impact high rpm spinning on the bike.  The problem with running through these types of injuries is that it can take a partial tear/strain and turn it into something bigger that will sideline you for a while.

I was supposed to go to a vendor conference (for our project management tool).  Looks like I will be going to a different vendor for discussions on PM and QA.

Chris - sounds like an awesome trip!

Can't check ebay from here but will look tonight if it isn't too late.

@ Dorm - I hear you about not drinking too much alcohol, but I'm not going to listen to you.  My cousin is a nut, and all we're going to do is party and ride.  I snowboard every year in Vail and have a decent hold on what the altitude does to me, but rarely listen to my body because I'm having too much fun.

He sent me a message Sunday asking how my tri went and I told him all the steep hills killed my legs.  His exact response was:  Hills???

I'm thinking I'm in trouble this weekend, but what better workout?

Well that stated ... alcohol is about 40% water ... right?

David, it looks to be a decent, solid bike.  I can't tell from the pics but it looks to be maybe a 10 or 12speed?  It's a lugged steel, chrome-moly frame which is really good for dampening out road vibration.  These frames are known for being smooth and comfortable.  You'd probably need to change the bar tape and tires-tubes.  The benefit of being close by is you can look before you buy.  If you buy it ... one recommendation is to remove the carrier rack off the back.  Nothing pisses another road biker off more than being passed by someone with a rack or handlebar basket on the bike  

You might look at this one while you're at it: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/mirage_xi_steel.htm

Here's another that looks to be well worn, but if you're able to do some of the mechanic work yourself ... might be worth the time: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trek-OCLV-Carbon-5200-Frame-Dura-Ace-Ultegra-Flight-Deck-FSA-SLK-Vision-Sizemore-/251088480356?pt=Road_Bikes&hash=item3a760a2864

Farthest from the expert here, but I'm going to guess that you didn't do anything different today other than turn in better times.  I'll bet you're just starting to notice the benefits of all the hard work you've been putting in.  It's all coming together.

Nice job Tracy!

Dorm,

Thanks for the input ... so if it was you spending $, would you go $399. on the motobecane new, or $300. on the used specailized and probably adding new tires and tape?

David ... if it were me, I'd go with the new Motobecane.  To me the gearing looks more versatile, everything is new and just allows for some wear and tear, which has long since passed with the used.  I've owned a Motobecane bike and gave it to a daughter.  It came w/Ultegra groupo, carbon fork and brand new for the price of ~$600 was a very decent bike.

If you go with the new, you might need some shop time to setup and tune.  I don't like buying a bike on-line and then take it to the LBS for service ... just seems a bit tacky to me.  What I have done is find a bike mechanic through Craig's list; taken it to these for tune-up and/or service and I don't have any qualms about this ...

I am going to take a different direction on the LBS opinion.  First you will need to get fitted to the bike and most likely you will need to go to an LBS for that.  Even if you don't I would still take your bike to an LBS as they still want the business.  They will make money from the transaction.  There was a thread in the Tri talk forum where an LBS owner stated "Yes bring your bike in even if you didn't buy if from us".  Worst case, lie and tell them it was a present.  I bought my bike online and have used the same LBS to do fitting, tune-up, etc.  Would they have liked to sell me a bike, sure but since my current bike only cost me $1000 they couldn't touch that price.

Either way good luck!

Thanks Left, Dorm, Gary, all for input on calf injury and bike. The calf is feeling pretty good after 2-days of ice, elevation, and rest. Swam 1200 yds this morning without pain. Have to referee basketball for 3-hours Saturday morning, going to wear my compression sleeves on calves.

I ordered the Wellington 3.0 from bikes direct, will prove it with a pic when it arrives .

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/wellington3_IX.htm

Still plan on riding the MTB for the July 8 tri so I can better compare my time with last year, but will use the roadi for the others this year. Have a great weekend everyone and good luck Tracy and Mike, you are on the calendar for racing, enjoy!

David ... just thinking about the bike recommendation and am wondering what your goals are as far as riding? If you're thinking mostly recreational, then the bikes via e-bay or BikesDirect would probably work.  If you looking for better performance, then I'd hold off.   And Gary is absolutely right about buying on-line and taking the bike to the the LBS, et al (WTH was I thinking ).  With me, I was looking more for performance and would have been money ahead to go with what I really wanted from the start. 

I had the $$$ crunch and had to go the 'build' route.  I bought the parts and pieces over ~2 month period and put these together until I had a complete bike.  This direction involved a lot of research on-line on what components fit what and the patience to look on e-Bay and CL for all of the parts and pieces.  I did have to go to the LBS to get the derailleurs adjusted and final checks and tweaks ... what Gary said.

The point to this long winded story is if you're going for recreation ... then you're probably fine with your choices.  If it's for performance don't settle. Stick with what you're riding now, and get what you really want.  If you'd like to build one, I'm happy to share my experiences.

Hoping to ride with a couple neighbors regularly, can't keep up with my MTB. I am confident this will work well for a couple of years and then go to the next level. I am only riding 500-700 miles a year right now, the rest in on indoor trainer. I have a LBS I use for tune-ups on my MTB and all the household bikes so will use them as needed for this one too. I am pretty mechanical and with a YouTube video or two I think I can get it going and make adjustments. Also, a couple of enthusiasts at work offered to help if needed. Thanks again.

Wishing for lot's of fun, speed and endurance to the racers in our group ... hang tough and look forward to those race reports.