countdown to richmond: minus-2 weeks
last week was the ideal time to notch some quality du-specific workouts. one of my blogging competitors has been doing 80-mile rides and 5-hour bricks. that's great for her. last week i spent 5 hours in the hammock, mentally flagellating myself for not being on my bike but lacking the motivation to get out there.
FMC's account of her 27K run finally punted my arse back onto the trails on friday. when running is good it's very very good, and it was very good friday night.
rode and ran some long, easy miles this weekend. hammie was talkative on the hills on sunday, but i trust rudy and denise will iron me out enough to toe the line with at least 85% capacity. last week i whined to rudy about a calf muscle that'd been spasming all week: some focused deep-tissue massage & a cold whirlpool put me to rights and i haven't felt it since. he is magic.
my uniform arrived: it's made of speedo fastskin, a technological textile marvel designed to slice through water with minimal resistance. michael phelps wears fastskin. nice idea in theory, and probably great for the team USA triathletes, but giving duathletes fastskin makes as much sense as giving a skunk a metal detector. unless it rains in richmond. a whole whole lot. in the case of a massive deluge we may be unbeatable, if we can keep our bicycles upright.
6 comments:
Sweeeeet. Oh I'm so nervous for you right now I could poo! You're going to rock it, I just know it. Once you're there and your keen Finny focus slices through you're going to cream the competition-assuming you keep your bike upright.
CREAM 'em!
like clotted cream?? mmmm. with strawberry jam on a scone? why yes i think i will. you come up with the best ideas, fatcat. like glendalough.
here's a description of the bike course from someone who rode it this weekend:
the first half of the loop is fairly hilly. Not too hard, but you'll definitely need to take the first loop to figure out your shifting. I did the first loop in my small chain ring, but was able to stay in the big ring for most of the second loop. There were a few hills that called for my small one. The course is pretty bumpy as well, very important where you take certain turns (again, wish I could tell you more, but it's just a matter of getting out there). There are some downhill S curves in a few places where I imagine some will stay in their aero bars. I tried both ways yesterday. The problem is that there are patches in the roads on these turns that really throw you around if you're in your aero bars. I'll probably just stay low but not aero. I'm not the most experienced, so keep that in mind.
Once you get out of the hilly area, the second half is pretty flat (but with lots of turns). It takes you through a park where it feels like you're doing figure 8s. Then you go through some neighborhood areas. Again, the roads are not smooth but maybe they'll try to do some work on them before the race.
sounds like fun! especially if there's rain, and maybe if we're lucky, hail.
potty potty potty here i come!!!
Eeek, S- bends and bumps combined with speed...no really, eeeeeek. Maybe your new sleek outfits will protect you, in a 'we're simply too stylish to crash' sort of way.
What does 'aero bars' mean?
aero bars are contraptions designed to help shitty bike handlers handle their bikes more shittily, by placing their hands further away from the brake levers and throwing more weight before the front axle.
here's an illustration. the tri bike in front has aero bars; the road bike in back has "normal" ones.
oh my. now i am nervous. eat lots of porridge.
porridge with raisins, cranberries and walnuts. oh yes.
but not today. today there is candy corn.
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