Monday, February 3, 2014

The weather took a snowy dump on us

S - 9,000 yards
B - 147.1 miles (08:01 hours)
R - 34.2 miles

Time - 15.06 hours

I got to spend some quality time on the new road bike this week, which was extremely exciting. This made up for a rather abysmal mid-week weather hiatus on the ol' swimming front. Unfortunately pools' schedules were all kinds of messed up and consequently my time in the pool suffered.  I'm not gonna go so far as to say I was "unhappy" about this, but I was definitely a wee bit sad.

I finished "personalizing" my road bike before riding it and a couple of the features are definitely worth noting.


The bike itself: a 2014 Felt AR4.  Modifications include Zipp SL handlebar and stem and Shimano wheels (versus the stock options).


Step 1 of having a good bike = finding a good saddle.  I've frequently heard people say things like: "well I like to move around on my saddle" or "I am stronger on one side than the other" and what they're ACTUALLY telling me is that they're on the WRONG saddle.  Saddle choice is the foundation for EVERYTHING else on the bike.  On that note, I've chosen the Specialized Romin Pro 155. If I had measured my ischial tuberosities before ordering I would've selected the 143 width model but unfortunately I did not have that knowledge prior to my order.

It's pretty impressive to NOT have any numbness or anything on a road bike.  My seat bones are sore after a weekend of riding, which is a great thing.  They can get used to pressure while my soft tissue will never get used to it.


Finally, the Garmin Vector power pedals.  I've only used them for 6 hours so far but I can say that I am flat-out impressed. The numbers seem "reasonable" to me though I don't have a direct comparison with something else (just going off pretty intimate knowledge of my own power numbers).

Finally, here is a video of a little bit of our ride from Sunday. Of special interest: the new ICE Racing kits.


That's all, folks.

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