The weekend got off to a pretty good start as the 100 miler we embarked on was a testament to my return to form as of late but was a bevy of chaos and mishaps that made me believe things could have been a lot worse over the past couple of weeks! The ride got started off well. I was actually on time for once and we were waiting for Kirsten for once!!! What a juxtaposition that was huh? The group was taking it easy since it was only a week and a half ago that Phil, Patrick, and Eric finished RAAM and the saddle sores and skin removal on their jumblies had not fully healed yet, fine I will take anything to keep those guys in check, especially on a 100 miler! Kirsten covered pretty much all the details for the ride but I will interject my feelings/observations as well. I knew it was a good day since my legs didn't feel like crap all the way out to sugarloaf, the first time in all the centuries we had done to date. I also knew it was good since Joe asked me 25 miles into the ride "Are you guys going to keep this pace up all the way to Sugarloaf?"...it was then I knew we were clipping along pretty good ;)
Kirsten gave you all the dirty details on Patrick's crash, her flat, and her crash into the back of me. Pretty amazing we all made it back in one piece if you ask me! Anyway, the run on Sunday was pretty brutal. Once again it was humid as hell and I went through 3 fuel belt bottles rather quickly. My legs were tired from the ride but it wasn't anything compared to weekends past when it was hotter and more humid. I felt okay until I got home and started washing my bike for our trip up to NYC when my left knee and hip started bothering me. It felt like my previous injury back in October that took me out of running for 3+ months. Time will tell on this one....
The drive up to Brian's was VERY nice...right up until Staten Island...it was 13 miles of bumper to bumper right up past the Verazzano Bridge. We even got caught in a major thunder storms that washed out bikes clean (even though we already did!). The main road in leading to his place is a stoplight festival of Red and yellow and was stop and go the whole time. Like 30 minutes to go just a couple miles! We did pass an interesting Convent on the way
We ended up getting to Brian's right at 3pm when his house warming party was getting started...we were greeted to fresh Lumpia, Pancet, and desserts galore. The lumpia was awesome since I hadn't had it in Sooooo long! Thanks Brian! I was pretty drained and was sitting in a chair zoned out for a lot of the party exhausted from being on the go from Friday until that point. Kirsten and I ended up eating to our heart's content which meant we felt perversely full at the party's end, but you only live once and you only get lumpia every so often!Brian and I stayed up watching Wedding Crashers on TBS and just chatting. Went to bed around 11 when I should have gotten to bed WAY earlier...but it was quality time ;) I couldn't sleep worth anything since their shades were see through and the light from the NYC streetlights were blaring in our window. I got up at 7:15 and was even more exhausted than the previous day. Lucky for K and I it was going to be a short week.
After helping me get out of their parking garage we said goodbye to Brian and made our way over into Manhattan to Signature Cycles for our fittings. We didn't know what to expect but left early enough (8am) to be at our appointment at 9:30 given that NYC ALWAYS has traffic!! We were pleasantly surprised to find that Brian's alternate directions helped us avoid all traffic and took us through some nice areas of Brooklyn that reminded me of Boston in some ways. We hit a little traffic in Manhattan but it wasn't even bad and being on the Manhattan Bridge with not a single car in front of us or behind us was absolutely CRAZY!!! But I am not going to complain ;)
We ended up getting to Signature Cycles around 9:00 which was fine since they had to set our bikes up on the computrainers and get everything in order. Right when Kirsten walked in (and I was parking the car) Aaron asked if we wanted some water or something to drink. As we hadn't eaten yet and Kirsten knew I was drowning in fatigue she immediately spouted off "COFFEE!". Aaron graciously obliged and shortly after I got up there brought out two small cups and saucers with espresso! That treatment alone is worth the price of a fitting there. It wasn't cheap espresso either, it was darn good, I only wish I had some Sambuca to put in it.
So the fitting went well overall. Kirsten gave you her fitting and mine was very similar, although I had been fit there before last year on my old QR Frame. Since I had transferred the parts from my old QR Frame to the new Frame (due to a manufacturer defect with the old one) and our Local Bike Shop can't read a marked up drawing of dimensions from Signature Cycles from the old bike I made a modest amount of adjustments over the past 6 months to get closer to what I had on the old frame. Before getting started Aaron measured everything out and said I was pretty close to what I had before and everything was just slightly lower. Good to know I have a cycling thumb at least ;) He proceeded to measure my flexibility again and I ended up improving my hamstrings but my hips were still tight and my left hip especially so. Guess the running and 100 mile ride didn't help at all eh? I knew it was hurting anyway and was tight and could have told him that!
All in all the Tri Bike fitting went pretty quick as my seat height was still good and the saddle position was fine as well. He wanted to move it back slightly but there was no more room on the saddle rails to go back...so stuck I was with it! He raised the front end up slightly and moved the stem down since it was high up on the Carbon Steer Tube (which isn't good for safety reasons) and got me pretty comfortable pretty quick. Then it was on to the Road Bike.
I hadn't been fit on the Road Bike virtually at all since I bought it. Yeah I got a "fit" when I bought it but didn't have a level of confidence in the fitter (as I don't in ANYONE that claims to know how to fit someone on a bike from Virginia to NYC!!!) And made some tweaks over the past year to what was comfortable. Needless to say the back end was WAY off. He raised my seat up almost 1.5 inches and I felt like I was now riding a road bike versus a low rider beach cruiser. He moved the seat back and then raised the bars up slightly to shorten my reach a bit since I was stretched out slightly. He ended up telling me the top tube was slightly long for me but that was a common problem with production bikes because once you go a size up/down the geometry of the bike changes and I was perfect with the bar height and seat height as it is now. It feels a bit different but after riding on Tuesday morning it felt pretty good overall and I seem to have adapted quickly. But the long rides will determine how quick I adjust.
I guess I will find out this weekend when Kirsten and I head off to Shenandoah to get some major training in along with some hiking and camping as well! It is going to be a good time and a lot of QT with Kirsten away from the Chaos of daily life for a while. I hope she doesn't get annoyed with me after the first day ;)
Now on to the list of things we are going to need for the trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment