Hawaii Travels Diary - Day 4 - Swimming

Let's start off on the right foot today. I want to begin by thanking Kailua-Kona (or I suppose its residents) for hosting this race, and further thank them for having a free multi lane training pool available that is within walking distance of downtown.  That is truly awesome, and I'm sure the expense of that is settled soundly on the shoulders of the local tax payers.  It's impressive how much they are willing to sacrifice for this one week of what I can only imagine must be absolute hell for them. I'm sure athletes bring in a lot of money (just look at the restaurant prices!) to this small town but...money can't buy happiness.

Now, let's talk more about this pool. This morning I rode my bike over to the pool as Christine did her OWS and bike ride to get in a workout in a pool environment so my pacing could be a little more specific. I am not sure what exactly I expected, but I certainly did not expect the level of crowding that I encountered.  Matt Dixon was there with his "fast" and he coached a slightly slower group later.  Every lane was full and every lane was circling. I waited for a while and caught up with Leigh-Ann, another Charlotte/Davidson resident who was doing to hop in with Matt's group shortly. 

 After a while I decided that - no matter what - I was going to be sharing with some athletes so I chose a lane and asked if I could join in as I personally always like to let the people in the lane know that I am there and will be joining them, because I'm not a dick. We ended up having a merry old time for about 20 to 30 minutes as I got in the first 2/3 of my workout and they got in ... whatever it was they were doing.  I think they were Eastern European. For some reason, they had a fair amount of breaststroke in their Kona taper workout.  I'm not sure where they were getting that workout from (they had it printed on a card at the end of the lane) but if it was from a coach, that coach should be ashamed.

OWS'ing is the shizzle

But we meshed pretty well together as I was a good bit faster than them so it was easy to time my send-offs and they had a good lane awareness so knew when I was coming up on them and consequently when to let me go by them at the wall or - occasionally - in the middle of the lane. All in all, despite those guys' strange workout I'd give them a 6/10 as lane partners.  Eventually one got out and the other finished the workout 100 yards or so later at roughly the same time I was getting to one of the last parts of my workout.  He looked over at me and said - in pretty broken eastern euro english: "gut swimmah you!" I responded "thanks, good luck Saturday" and they got out and I had a blissful 2 minutes of solo lane work.  Then a lady jumped in (also Eastern European) and she was quite slow, but with only two people in the lane it was pretty easy to sort things out with such a pace disparity.

Then, calamity. We were enjoying our little shared experience in this great - free - pool when, as I was finishing one lap, I looked up and saw 4 people in yellow suits standing at the end of our lane. I thought to myself: "There's no way they'll all get in this lane, is there?" Because when 4 people doing the same workout get into a lane with 2 other people not doing the same workout, they basically control the lane. Essentially it's like the 2 people already in the lane don't even exist anymore.

And yea they all, one right after another, jumped into our lane. I got pretty annoyed by this, because that's just bad manners.  At one point I was catching one of them and I basically swam over him at the turn.  Sure, that wasn't the nicest thing in the world...but WTF! Split your shit up and put 2 people in our lane (so we'd have 4 people, which is relatively reasonable) and 2 people in a different lane.

This brings up another interesting subject: swimming mediocrity. This is the world championships of Ironman. Which is kind of like being the funniest guy at Shenanigans (also, if you can name that movie I give you MAJOR props).  Just kidding, it's a big deal to be here racing. I can't qualify, so obviously I have to make fun of everyone instead! But let's be real, Ironman rewards swimming mediocrity.

In fact, watching some people run around here, it looks like Ironman also rewards run mediocrity.

But hey, we can bike fast!

Hawaii Travel Diary - Day 3 - On people and bikes

What the hell time zones?  I don't like waking up at 4 and not being able to fall back asleep.  Unfortunately for me, my body thinks it is 7am and - given Tucson weather - should have been up for a couple of hours already.  I would like my body to shut the hell up, but apparently "not listening" is a quirk it has.  Luckily, the bed is super comfortable here at the Kona Reef Condos so as I lay there mad at my own inner clock I at least do it with a sense of bliss.

I felt a little out of place today as I hadn't shaved my legs in a couple of days.  If you are in Kona this week, there are some requirements by which you must abide (at least according to all the people I see out and about):

1) Have absolutely no body hair
2) The only hair you do have must be on your head and must be styled to look like a soccer player (especially if you are European)
3) Be wearing tall socks at all times (if you're a guy); preferably a pair with a logo that represents how badass you are
4) Muscles that are chiseled AF
5) Wearing an sense of self-importance that is visible to the naked eye
6) Be riding your bike 30mph through town on Ali'i because you're just that amazing
7) Maintain the "terminator" expression behind your mirrored sport sunglasses at all times

Those are just a few of the things I could come up with off the top of my head. If you have more, please feel free to contribute ;)

Interestingly, the big upcoming news this week is some new bike debuts.  Cervelo is introducing their new tri bike to the world on October 4th, the Diamondback Andean will presumably be available to see in person, BMC is introducing a new Tri/TT bike, potentially Dimond has an updated frame, many companies have specific Kona special apparel/equipment that they'll be selling (heavily discounted? nah, probs not), and probably many more new things that I don't know about. The biggest is definitely Cervelo.  They've actually managed to keep almost all information about this bike a secret until the past 5-7 days when some stuff has been leaked to the internets.  I feel bad for them, because of how good of a job they've done keeping it on the DL, but I do like seeing new stuff and speculating! Some of their athletes will be riding this bike in Kona (and have been riding it for a few weeks it sounds like) so I hope to get some pictures.

This is a picture that is bigger than life size posterized onto the wall of Lava Java. It's Michael Weiss (that's a pandora's box right there) on the Diamondback Andean.  This bike is touted as being completely UCI illegal and very, very fast.  It is ... striking, to say the least. Ironically, for a bike that is supposedly the top of the heap, that is sure a hack job of Di2 wiring seen under the stem.

Like I said: "striking."

Today I ran, swam, and biked my way around the little parts of Kailua Kona that were easily accessible.  I ran 5:00/mi pace up and down Ali'i drive, I swam at 1:00/100m pace out off Dig Me beach and back onto Dig Me beach, and I biked (on my mountain bike) at 30mph all along the Queen K.







I actually put slick tires (700x35) on my mountain bike's 29" wheels as I figured with trails basically inaccessible (or not easily accessible is perhaps better) it might be easier to draft off triathletes on the Queen K with smooth, shaved tires.  Unfortunately, my bike looks a little funny. But hey, this week is all about looking funny.  That's why everyone else is here, right?

Hawaii Travels Diary - Day 2 - Saturday

Well, the big thing to do today (and I do mean BIG) was the Ho'ala training swim that took place at 7 (ish) am. The course is almost identical to the race course except it finishes at the beach on the OTHER side of the pier, as opposed to on the pier. The distance appears to be the same and the conditions are near identical (barring different daily ocean patterns obviously) as the start is at roughly the same time, so it came as no surprise to see about a billion triathletes lined up waiting for "packet pickup."

The indomitable Greg Welch was on the mic, emceeing this grand event.  As a sidenote, he is as not entertaining in that role as he is on the IM live broadcasts, in case you were curious.  Somehow, even though most other Australian accents I've heard are interesting, dynamic, and (in the case of women) downright attractive, his just kind of sounds whiny.



The swim is definitely a tough one, which was not especially surprising to me given the number of race reports I have read that describe the swim using such words as "epic," "swellacious," "hard AF," "chaos," "MMA fight," "salty AF," and "fun."  Ok maybe I made that last one up, but I actually did think it was fun.  Of all the North American Ironman races Hawaii probably has the most "legitimate" swim. There's no wetsuits, there's lots of "dirty" water to deal with (chop, swell, other people's aerated water, etc) so no one is ever really swimming that clean, and a very straightforward course.  Out 1.2 miles, back 1.2 miles.  As simple as simple gets. No loops to content with, no lapped traffic, and no nonsense.  Plus, the added difficulty at Kona is that everyone here is used to being a big fish in their world.  They may be the only multiple Kona qualifier from...Mobile, Alabama but at the end of the day the entire world's selection of triathletes and Ironman races makes it a pretty freaking huge pond.  I may have raced as a pro at one point (/semi elite amateur) but I'd be surprised if I was in contention for a podium spot at a race like Kona (in my age group).  I was actually quite pleased with my time, as it's about the same time as I did in Louisville last year.  This time, however, the water was choppier and I had no swim aids (just a speedo) to help me go faster, suggesting that I am in better swim shape than last year.  I've actually thought that as I've been more consistent and with David's workouts have been able to focus on my stroke technique and nice progression, but it's nice to see some tangible results of that.

Lots of Euros here, pretending they don't understand or read english when the sign at Lava Java says "please wait to be seated" and they just sit down at any empty table.  When the waitress comes up to ask they perfectly say "we'll take 3 coffees, 2 pancake orders, and a lava java breakfast" but when she - instead of taking their order - asks them to please put their name on the wait list and that the table is for someone else (who has been waiting in line) they say "sorry, did not know."  Well, read the gigantic sign posted right in front of the restaurant and you'll probably give yourself a better idea! Sillies.  But hey, since when has reading directions been cool?  Oh that's right, never.

Also, out of curiosity why is Lava Java THE place to be in Kailua Kona? To be honest, the breakfast was pretty bland. I suppose it's a place to see and be seen, mingling with the masses, networking, and sizing each other up and down. The coffee was good I suppose, but I've never had bacon that looked SO delicious and yet tasted like...nothing.  Very strange.

Eventually I ran my 30-35 minute easy run after we had moved into the different condo (we had to stay in an interim location as we ended up having to fly out a day earlier #firstworldproblems) and I ended up heading north along Ali'i and ran maybe 8 minute pace.  I can virtually guarantee you that I was the slowest running male out and about this evening.



I also ran up Palani, which wasn't too bad.  Not sure why everyone complains about it. Or perhaps my view is skewed because I had been running for 10 minutes and not swimming, biking, and running for a combined work day before I hit Palani on the run....

Aloha!

Hawaii Diary - The Travel

Hawaii Diary - Pt 1 - The flying

I figure there are two types of people in this world: those who lean their seats back in airplanes, and those who do not. 

I’m not a frequent enough air traveler to say anything conclusive about my own habits other than the fact that I have never tilted my own seat back, so I can make the assumption that I’d fall into the latter category.  Perhaps, if I enjoyed the delights of air travel more I would be more likely to indulge myself in the lie that more comfort exists when your seat is angled back by 10 degrees (or maybe even less, I don’t generally have my protractor handy in my carry-on luggage). 

The type of air traveler who tilts his or her seat back - barely increasing their personal comfort while dramatically decreasing the comfort of those unlucky enough to be seated behind these self-indulgent perpetrators of this heinous crime against humanity - is the same type of person who takes BOTH armrests at the movie theater, even when you’re crammed into the midnight showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and your drink is nestled next to THEIR left hand; constantly touching and being brushed by its - most likely - unwashed fingers.

It’s like sitting next to a dude that, for some reason, feels it necessary to sit with his legs splayed out wide like he has to make room for another person in between his legs.  I’ve discovered this type of guy doesn’t even have to be tall (tall people have an excuse on planes, as they have a stacked deck of cars shoved into their lap by a greedy airline system) to “need” the extra legroom that doing a vulgar set of splits in their semi-cushioned seat 32B seems to require.  I would hazard a guess that this type of behavior is somehow suggestive of their libido, telling the world (or really just the passenger next to them who likely could not care less about his or her neighbor in the slightest) that they are ready, and they are capable.  Of what, we do not know. But at least it’s obvious what he wants me to know…

But I’m not complaining, no sir.  I’m on an airplane that’s somehow managing to fly 32,000 feet up in the air at six hundred miles an hour.  With people stuffed into its body (which is basically a big metal phallus) and some spindly wings - to which are attached two gigantic jet engines - which also hold jet fuel we hurtle across hundreds of miles of open oceans and are served fine meals of… Well to be honest I’m actually not sure what that breakfast was.  It looked to have some fruit, but since I exist on a tan diet I did not venture to discover which fruits were in the sealed paper cup as they had at least some color to them. My guess is they are not Hawaiian fresh. 

I’m definitely not complaining as I’m flying 8 days in advance of Christine’s race and at least 24 days in advance of my race to an island that caters to tourists due to its staggering visual feasts and abounding local flair and - next weekend anyway - is the center of the triathlon universe, where we get to stay for over 3 weeks and do two world championship events.

Unfortunately, this plane is probably at least 20 years old and has an in flight entertainment system that is bettered by the Red Roof Inn I stayed in a few months ago somewhere around Six Flags Atlanta, which featured nearby businesses that involved stripping and trucking. But if you’ve ever read Michael Crichton’s novel “Airframe” you’ll know that these planes undergo rigorous and demanding safety checks of the ten thousand bolts and rivets that hold it together and keep it hurtling at those aforementioned speeds and aforementioned altitudes.  For what it’s worth, don’t read “Airframe” if you have a fear of flying…

But again, I’m not complaining. I just wish the guy in front of me would put his fucking seat upright.

Aloha!

Hawaii Diary - Pt 2 - The part in between flying, the LAYOVER

Right now I’m sitting at the Honolulu airport, having realized that I have a 3 hour layover before boarding my flight to Kona. After the initial disappointment this knowledge created - having somehow forgotten in the interim between scheduling the flights and now - I realized this is a great chance to take stock of humanity.  Because, let’s be honest, what better place is there to analyze and people watch than an airport? Other than Wal-Mart, of course. 

The short answer is that there isn’t anything better than sitting and judging everyone else simply because you don’t know them and are therefore not required to get to know them at all before you do proceed to judge them. It’s the beauty of transient context.  In our real lives we are somewhat likely to see people again, especially as we go about our normal “routines” and so the likelihood of additional encounters increases the longer your routine stays the same.  At the airport, in a place I’ve never ever been before (or even in a pace I have been many times) I can imagine whatever I want and label someone however I want.  It’s spectacular.

For example, in front of me right now there’s this little bird hopping around this lady’s feet.  The lady appears to have passed out, most likely from trying to hold her breath throughout the duration of her flight due to the gross stink of a 30 year old plastic and metal tube that’s hauled tens of thousands of people in who knows what types of conditions and suffering from what sort of ailments all over the world and is now relegated to the tired role of being a “Hawaii” plane. She is completely unaware of this bird, which someone showed up indoors. It appears to think as though she is going to offer it snacks, although any snacks she did have were likely consumed amidst an ongoing issue with starvation during her flight, because obviously the chips at the end of the 6 hour journey were enough to sate anybody’s lingering hunger after that delicious … breakfast. Not.

I would say the MOST annoying thing to me in an airport (and potentially in life, generally speaking) is people’s seeming inability to pay attention to anything other than their mobile phones. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that we didn’t have the latest Facebook shitstorm flooding our every waking moment, to be honest.  I entered college never having sent a text message before, and only got my first phone in that first semester.  This was 2007, so less than a decade ago I was a texting virgin.  Of course, T9 was quickly mastered by my deft fingertips, and my world has never been the same since.  

These same symptoms appear to have befallen most travelers, who wander through the airport - which, keep in mind, is packed with people for the most part - starting at their hand rather than being aware of the things going on around them.  Wandering back and forth and in perpendicular directions compared to the normal lanes of travel because, obviously, shit going down on twitter and insta is WAY more important than looking around you and realizing how in the way you are to people who are, actually, paying attention. 

Perhaps more interestingly, it is astonishingly easy to single out the triathletes.  For example, if someone has a giant M-Dot logo PERMANENTLY etched on their calf … the chances are high that they tri. Anybody in Newtons? Probably a triathlete. Wearing brightly colored shoes at all? Probably a triathlete.  Race shirt of any kind? Probably. Sport sunglasses? Yea. Some form of wristwatch that is made my Garmin? Mhm.  

Introspection over, let’s get back to judging others. 

There’s a lot of what I’d term “stereotypical” Hawaii travelers here.  Lots of cameras, lots of fanny packs, lots of “safari hats,” lots of red and sunburned skin… I assume this is also a main stopping point in between west coast US and east coast Asia and Australia, so there’s a lot of that as well. A lot of accents, foreign languages, etc.  It feels a but like a melting pot, but for some reason the AC is pumped up SO high that nothing is melting. I am cold. In Hawaii. Paradoxical, no doubt.

Aloha!

XTERRA Utah

I wasn't sure I was going to do XTERRA Utah until maybe 3 weeks ago.  Logistically a lot of stuff is going on in this household in Setepmber/October so I wanted to be sure it would be manageable before making the trip.  I got to visit some friends from college who now live in Ogden and compete in a race that is certainly the most competitive in the mainland USA and consequently test my fitness again (over the past two years I've raced much less than in years past, so seeing how training is going is never a thing I'm upset to do).

But, do the race I did. I split the drive up from Tucson into two trips, spending the night in St. George (Utah), before arriving in Ogden/Snowbasin late morning/midday on Friday.  I did a quick recon of one section of climb and descend (the first descent of the race and arguably the more technical one, or maybe just the scarier one) and was pleased to notice that the descent seemed FAR less intimidating this time around when compared to last year.

Scouting the course

I visited packet pickup, got dinner with Christy and her husband Dave (both fellow WM '07'ers) before heading to their mountain house to sleep.

I didn't have to get up crazy early for this race since it started at 9am, which would give the air time to warm up (it gets down to upper 30's and low 40's in September in Utah it would seem...quite different than Tucson) and give all the racers time to complete the morning logistics.  The drive to bike dropoff (swim and T1) took about 35 minutes and I set that up pretty quickly before heading up to T2 (Snowbasin resort), which took another 20-30 minutes.  Once there I set up T2 and grabbed the things I would need before getting on a shuttle that took athletes back down to T1 at around 7am.

Unfortunately, once we got back down to the lake I realized I had left goggles and gels in my car. There was basically no way to get back up there and get those things, so I had to ask around to borrow goggles.  Luckily, a guy in front of me on the bus was willing to loan me a pair.  Thanks #282 for saving my race!

I got T2 situated again, did a short 15 minute warm up run, then began installing myself into my wetsuit. I did a warm up swim, and all racers were noticing that the first leg of the swim would be very difficult as it was essentially directly into a rising sun.  The goggles I had were relatively scratched (but not leaking!) so it was difficult to see out of them to begin with, and the section into the sun would simply involve following splashes that were in front of me.  The male pros went off, followed quickly by the female pros...until it was our wave's turn to start (all men under 49).

Swim - 22:13 (36th)



I started on the left side and got into a pretty good position immediately (based on my somewhat limited visibility).  After a few minutes I felt like I was in roughly the lead pack and we were roughly headed for the first buoy.  Unfortunately it was in these same moments that I began to sense a panic attack coming on, something I had not experienced for a few years.  It was not fun.  It's an onrushing sense of claustrophobia and inevitability that crashes in on your mind like an unwelcome neighbor asking you why you ride bikes so much.

I popped my head up once to catch a breath, then got back down.  Unfortunately that didn't dispel the feelings and I had to pop my head back up again.  I got back into a rhythm but still couldn't shake the feeling of claustrophobia.  I decided to do some backstroke for a while and was debating whether or not I could even finish the race.

Luckily, unlike most triathletes I actually do stroke work and so my backstroke wasn't giving up too much to those around me.  Some had caught up to me but I was pacing off a couple of guys to my right and using them to "sight" for the time I was backstroking.

I eventually turned back over and felt fine after that...in fact, looking back on the issue it feels so silly because it's like a sense of "how the heck did that happen?" But obviously hindsight is 20/20 and if you've ever experienced something like that you KNOW how irrational you are being but - unfortunately - the mind is an exceptionally powerful piece of hardware and exerts some small degree of control over your body ;)

I got to the first buoy quickly after that and made the turn back towards the third buoy and shore with a couple of other guys.  We ended up basically finishing the rest of the swim (the first buoy was maybe 500-600 meters out) together as I sat on one guy's feet for the remainder.  I was somewhat wary of experiencing another attack and so was content to swim "comfortably hard" for the duration remaining. I exited the water right behind that same guy, a little faster time-wise than last year but a swim that was in no way representative of my increased fitness.  Oh well!

T1 - 1:27

My transition was pretty quick; the more of these XTERRA races I've done (maybe 5 now?) the more familiar I've felt with the needs for each race and consequently the transition plan for each as well. I got out on the bike in roughly 10th place of my wave (according to a spectator, who seemed pretty certain) and headed out onto the bike behind another M30-34.

Bike - 1:37:36 (36th)



To be honest, there are not a whole lot of interesting tales to tell about this particular bike ride.  It is very arduous and demanding, simply because there is so much elevation change. You get a brief period of maybe 6-8 minutes where you are getting out of the transition area by making your way through a field on single track (you actually have to mount your bike on singletrack) trails before getting onto the road (well, technically the side of the road) where I put on my gloves and sunglasses, then finally you get to the trailhead.

For the next 30 or so minutes we would climb ~1400' in ~4.5 miles of pretty steady, slightly rocky singletrack.  I passed a couple of people and got passed by a couple of people.  I actually put "bar ends" on my bike for this race just to give my hands a different position to grip for some of the climbing.  One of the issues I've continually experienced with trail riding is hand numbness due in part to not really being able to move your hands around a whole lot.

Finally arriving at the top of the first climb was a breath of fresh air, metaphorically speaking, and a chance to finally take long deep breaths again.  The descent I was about to head down really intimidated me last year, but this year it went by relatively smoothly and easily.  The rocks that I remember writing about in my race report from last year that - at the time - seemed like massive boulders ready to eat up unsuspecting racers had magically turned into small, unassuming little bumps in an otherwise smooth and flowy path.

Thanks to uber rock garden central Tucson for that!


2016 XTERRA Pan American Championship from XTERRA TV on Vimeo.

For reference, if you want to see what the rocks can do take a look see at roughly 3:40 into that video...

That crash actually came on this first descent, if I'm interpreting the trail correctly.

Luckily I got down smooth and relatively fast with only one little brief mistake and had actually caught up with the guy who had put a little gap into me by the top of the climb.

At this point the trail went up again for another 35 or so minutes, this time climbing allll the way up to a wee bit over 7200' before making it's way down again.  Not to bore you with more of the same, but this climb - although not as steep/demanding as the first in some ways - has multiple switchbacks that really suck to get up towards the end of your bike split.

The descent is one of the best I've ever gotten to rail, and it is honestly the reason that I wanted to come back to this race.  I hadn't ridden this descent since this race last year, so I couldn't push it quite as hard as I would have ideally liked, but "Sardine DH" is so much fun it doesn't matter. Amazingly flowy, grippy dirt trail with a brief section of rocky climb in the middle of it with absolutely astonishing views in the first couple of minutes as a spectacular bonus.  It feels like you're descending through Fall (the season) as the colors in September are astoundingly vivid.

Feel free to not watch this whole thing, but give it a look-see for a little bit of a visual idea of what my words are trying to describe...

Xterra Utah Sardine Descent from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

Finally I arrived at the "bottom" (even though you're much higher than where you started) and got myself to the resort at Snowbasin and off my bike.

T2 - 1:02

Pretty efficient, had trouble getting some (brand new) shoes on... (what's the first rule of triathlon?)

Run - 47:01 (46th)



I had vivid memories in my head from last year of the first mile of this race, which basically goes straight uphill. I took it out a little more conservatively as I wanted to avoid the cramps I experienced last year.  I walked a little bit of that first mile and passed one or two guys before getting to the ridge and establishing a nice rhythm and cadence.  The first 15-20 minutes went by pretty quickly and I actually felt pretty good. I was passed by one guy who I had passed at the start of the second downhill (of the bike) and he had a pretty good clip going so I didn't want to surge onto his feet less than halfway into the run.

I began to feel pretty worn down somewhere between 25-35 minutes and was getting pretty ready to cease and desist all forms of going up that didn't involve a motor of some sort.

I had caught up to the leading female pro as we started up the last steep bit and chose to walk the middle section and towards the end of my walking (and right in front of a photographer) I developed a quick cramp in my hamstring.  It always seems to be my hammy (this time it was my right hammy).  I'm thinking the longer strides of the walking gait may have induced it, because once I stretched it out for a bit (and adjusted my shoes) it never had a hint of coming back.

I finally arrived at the downhill section and heard someone chasing pretty hard and through the switchbacks managed to see the guy running me down gaining ground quickly.  I ran the last 5 minutes as hard as I can but unfortunately did not manage to hold him off.  He had the fastest amateur run split of the day, but I was happy to finish strong in spite of a sub par middle third of running.

OA - 2:49:19 (30th OA, 2nd M30-34)

I was pleased with this race, as I think it showed some gains in important areas over last year.  My bike fitness for XTERRA type racing has certainly gone up along with my technical skills.  Living in Tucson for the past three months made these two descents feel as smooth as butter, so I can't complain about that! I think the swim issues could have been avoided by not forgetting my own goggles (but huge thanks to the guy that let me borrow one of his pairs!) and potentially swimming in my wetsuit once a month or so (but to be honest, this would be pretty difficult in AZ; I actually tried to swim at the pool in my wetsuit last week early in the morning but it was too hot to get the dang thing on!) but all in all the swim wasn't too bad.  It seemed like a "faster" swim than last year but there were fewer people in front of me so I can't be too displeased with that result.  I am looking forward to the likely tougher swim (non wetsuit, ocean, WAVES) in Maui as I think my ability levels are more suited to that type of swim. The run is still a question mark in this style of racing. I am definitely a good runner and I am definitely in good shape, but potentially the technical and variable nature of the bike split still throws my body for a loop. It's getting better, and anytime I can run the same pace (or faster) off a faster bike split isn't such a bad thing...

Onwards and upwards to Maui!

Thanks for reading!

It's early

It's early in the morning and I haven't blogged in quite some time, so instead of perusing the latest ST argument or reading on facebook about how men shouldn't touch women a certain way on the bike I decided I would give my daring and intrepid web log readers a much needed update.  This one will not, unfortunately, be all encompassing as I have simply been too lazy a blogger and too much has happened that I cannot possibly cover everything in one early morning blog post.

As I said earlier, "it's early in the morning." Let me establish some context for that statement.

Here in Tucson (or rather, AZ and the SW in general right now) it gets pretty hot during the day.  When we first moved here Tucson was experiencing one of its hottest heat waves in years, peaking at 117ish degrees on a couple of days.  There's no other way to describe that temperature than "it's hot as s***."  It seriously feels like you're baking in a little toaster oven as you walk around or do anything outside.  That little toaster oven follows you around everywhere and is with you as soon as you step out the door of your air conditioned house from 9 or 10am all the way past 8-9pm at night.

As a consequence of that heat (but it's a DRY heat) everything you need to do that is outside related (i.e. bike and run, but also get the mail, drive anywhere in your car, take the trash to the can, go take a selfie by the mountains) needs to be done before 9 or 10am at the latest.  If one has a long workout to do then one must get his or her ass out of bed nice and early to be on the roads by 6am or so.

Because of that, the alarms in our household have been going off much earlier than I imagined they would when I pictured life in Tucson... I've not set as many 5am alarms in quite some time.  But, as a consequence, I've gotten to see some very pretty sunrises over the Catalinas as I head out on a bike ride or some other form of exercising.

Product Review: Fairwheel Bikes "Phalanx" Wheelset

Ever since arriving in Tucson I have been on the prowl for a better set of wheels to go on my Cervelo S5.  The Mavic Cosmic Elite wheelset that is stock on many of Cervelo's bikes do the job of rolling along nicely enough, but here in the land of bad pavement a narrow rimmed bicycle wheel tends to fall short in the comfort department.

Here's the thing: tire size and pressure does more to change (negatively or positively) the "comfort" of your bicycle than your Cervelo R5 vs. S5 choice (or most other similar-ish framed carbon bicycles).

There's been plenty of reading to be had about this subject, but it does not honestly seem like the average customer is aware of such things.  Bike shops do very little to help explain this as well (unless you're at Inside Out Sports, obviously).  

Without going into too much detail and while still providing you with an engaging user experience, if you would like to discover this in more detail for yourself, here are some links:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Thoughts_on_science_perception_4571.html

https://silca.cc/blogs/journal/118397252-tire-size-pressure-aero-comfort-rolling-resistance-and-more-part-1-how-we-got-to-now

https://silca.cc/blogs/journal/118616068-part-2-tire-stiffness-wider-is-stiffer-harsher

https://silca.cc/blogs/journal/part-3-tire-pressure-and-comfort

https://silca.cc/blogs/journal/part-3b-faq-and-putting-it-together-so-far

https://silca.cc/blogs/journal/part-4a-rolling-resistance-the-history-and-previous-works

https://silca.cc/blogs/journal/part-4b-rolling-resistance-and-impedance.

https://silca.cc/blogs/journal/part-5-tire-pressure-and-aerodynamics

So you're welcome to simply take my word for it, which I guess most will do given the volume of data and science that is presented above me...or you can go read all of those. 

Here are some handy quotes, for those that wish for an expedited experience:

"Carbon Vs Steel Similar Geometry Custom Frames: 4psi"

What the above is saying that you can account for the different in comfort/compliance between those two things listed (carbon frame vs. steel frame, similar geometry) by changing tire pressure by as little as 4psi.  

4psi!! That's huge! Or, maybe huge isn't the right word.  That's "incredible" seems to flow better with the tone that this has in my head. 

"No other single component affects the comfort, handling and efficiency of a bicycle like the tires.  Tires are the sole connection to the ground, they are the sole transmitter of drive force to propel the cyclist forward, and they are the sole means of gripping the road during cornering.  They are the most dominant spring in the bike/rider system which means that more than anything else, they control comfort.  They are the sole component which will (ideally) ever have to resist the abrasive contact of asphalt, concrete or gravel with minimal damage."

I think that puts it pretty succinctly. 

"The initial design of this test was to show that larger diameter tires are actually Stiffer/Less Comfortable when inflated to the same pressure."

i.e. don't pump those b***** up so high! 

"What we can say is that all those people who feel their larger tires are more comfortable, you may be correct for bumps smaller than 8mm radius...we could not measure that, so it is hard to know, but for larger radii, you are best to lower your air pressure a bit to truly take advantage of the larger tire widths.

The most exciting aspect of this study is that it has begun to point us in the direction of how much pressure we need to lose with tire width increases, and even better it hints that while that lower pressure will provide similar ride comfort on most surfaces, it will likely improve comfort on small bumps.  

Our recommendation is that you decrease tire pressure by 3-4% for each millimeter of tire width increase.  This will ensure similar compliance over most surfaces while providing improved compliance over small bumps and edges."

Pretty self explanatory, again. The bold typeface was not mine, instead the author (Josh Poertner) recognized its importance and emboldened it for us!

"Our recommendation is to begin keeping a log of your air pressures.  Start where you are today and reduce pressure by 5psi or 0.5Bar and ride it for a few days, then reduce it a bit more, etc.  We have worked with hundreds of athletes, both professional and amateur and find that just a few weeks of keeping a pressure log will begin to completely change the way you think about your pressures and tires.  In many cases, we find athletes deciding that they can race their aero road bike on that course they were planning to buy a more comfortable bike for.  Triathletes, some of whom are now racing at pressures 2Bar (30psi) lower than before, are telling us that they are running better off the bike as they are less fatigued from vibration, and better still, they aren't riding any slower!"

Ok, now I added the bold part.  I'm beginning to quote too much of this, so I'll stop at this point and summarize by saying:

Wider rims (bead width and overall width) allow for wider tires to be run at lower pressures and increased compliance while still maintaining (or improving) rolling resistance and aerodynamics, and combined with tire and tube choice can maintain or improve flat protection.

You would probably be amazed if you experimented with this yourself (if you haven't already).  So all of THAT is why I wanted some wider rims on my S5.  Tucson roads are harsh and demanding (lots of cracked pavement and sealing) and frequently have run off in the roads (from flash flooding and such) containing gravel and sand.  

BUT, now that I don't work at IOS, I have to be stingy. I have to be a demanding consumer who gets the most out of my money! So I was scouring the internet for good options.  One that kept coming up was the Flo Cycling 30 alloy wheelset.  I liked this option for a variety of reasons: cost, aerodynamics, weight, and rim specifications, among others.  I disliked it for some reasons: hub type (meh hubs), shipping time, brake surface wears off (the black coloring does anyway).  I was very close to pulling the trigger on this a few times. 

Luckily for me, however, I discovered that a local bike "shop" sells custom built pre spec'd wheelsets for extremely reasonable prices.  They have - among many others - a "Phalanx" wheelset that comes with:

• Kinlin XR-31t rim (31 being it's depth in mm, and "t" denoting that it is tubeless ready)
• Sapim Laser spokes (20/28, a reasonable combination for an all around wheelset)
• DT Swiss 350 hubs (DT hubs are fantastic, and these are their entry level hubs but the mechanicals are similar or the same as their much more expensive hubs)

http://fairwheelbikes.com/fair-wheel-phalanx-wheelset-kinlin-dt/

All of this comes in a a relatively lightweight 1600ish grams (a bit more, but not much) and a very paltry $450 (plus shipping or tax).  Considering I live here now, I opted for local pickup, obviously. 

I took them home and got to work installing them on my bicycle. I combined these wheels with some Specialized S-Works Turbo Cotton 700x24 tires that I have had for a while but never used.  These tires are definitely race-oriented, but they are the nicest "wide" tires I have just sitting around.  Interestingly, Continental tires typically measure MUCH wider on wide rims (a 23mm Conti tire might actually measure 25mm+ on these rims), whereas Specialized SW TC tend to measure close to what they are actually stated as being (a 24mm tire is typically only a bit over 24mm on a wider rim). 

So my preference would honestly be for a 25mm GP4000s II tire, but I don't feel like spending $150 ish on two tires right now. Maybe once these are worn out (which could be next year sometime, honestly). 

I combined both of those with Vittoria Latex tubes into which I installed sealant.  At IOS we've done this quite a few times for customer in their race wheels (usually using Orange Seal sealant) and is something I've traditionally done in my own race wheels, but I figured now would be a good time to start using sealant in all of my cycling applications.  It's a very easy process that only takes a few seconds and detracts nothing from the performance of the tire/tube/wheel.  The goal - for those unfamiliar - is to have sealant rolling around in the tube and when a puncture happens the sealant rushes to the hole and plugs the hole, essentially.  This can prevent psi loss and let you keep rolling, sometimes unaware that the sealant has even done anything! Think of the sealant as platelets in your blood. 

I wrapped everything up and was very pleased with the result, aesthetically speaking:

I rode the bike around the block a bit after tuning it up and discovered that some of the spokes still needed to be stress relieved (if you ever get new wheels or a new bike and notice "pings" that can be somewhat loud especially when you tilt your bike to one side or the other your wheels/spokes were not stress relieved; essentially what happens during a wheel build is the spokes, hub and rim are all hooked up and dished and trued but sometimes when truing a wheel/tightening a spoke the spoke turns as the nipple turns, which sort of deforms the spoke and then as you tilt the bike to one side or the other you are relieving the stress on the opposite side you lean and the spoke sort of "frees" itself...make sense?) but other than that the difference between these wheels (with tires inflated to 85psi) and my old wheels (with tires inflated to 100psi) was pretty huge.  MUCH, much smoother.  

There are a few things confounding that perception, however:

• Nicer tires (MUCH nicer tires) that are more supple and essentially have zero puncture resistance

• Nicer tubes; latex tubes can actually - according to some - make a perceivable difference in ride quality

• Perception bias: I WANT these wheels to feel better, so - naturally - they do!

• Pump inaccuracy: I always use the same pump, but most pumps actually have a pretty huge error margin. Mine is pretty nice (Lezyne Digital Drive and it gives me an actual digital PSI reading, which is nice) but I have no idea if it's accurate or not as I haven't ponied up for a tire pressure gauge.

I did my first real ride on the wheels this morning and I am quite impressed. A hard group ride over mixed, rolling (/hilly) terrain and went through some gravel/road debris and over some rumble strips on Ajo Hwy and they felt great! Time will be the true test, however.


Update on 2/22/2017

I've now had these wheels for quite some time now. Since July of 2016 I have put a few thousand miles on these wheels and only recently swapped tires for some 700x25 GP4000s II's.  I never got a single flat (ok that's not true, I got one flat but it was because I slammed into a pothole and my tube got pinched), it was just time to replace the tires, especially the rear one, as the cuts had started accumulating beyond an "I'm comfortable with those for 100+ mile rides" measurement.

I have to say that I remain very impressed.  Such a low-cost wheelset remaining true and bombroof even hitting some pretty crazy potholes and cracks is quite an achievement.