took me by surprise that's for sure... *** warning: Explicit and uncensored cycling content :o) ***


sorry to say feeling a bit smug this afternoon.... I suppose (shamefully) my primary enjoyment comes from the reaction of other riders... my elegant little trackie looked ace today when parked up between a couple of fully loaded top end carbon spaceships. Wicked fun!

Hey, I thought I post an update after my post-race blurb of a week ago (see "SKINSUITS AT DAWN.... CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON..." below), I'm having a lot of fun.... and I'm sorry to say feeling a bit smug this afternoon (but not in a nasty, self-important way - just really chuffed with myself so please forgive me) as my fixie time-trial adventure continues. Today was the Penzance Wheelers Open Sporting (a polite way of saying rather hilly) TT notable for an chronic absence of flat bits and a particularly nasty start at the foot of a 3km or so climb.... Not ideal terrain for a fixed gear machine... but being a bit of a silly bugger I thought I'd have a of laugh and turn up on my steel track bike again, especially after last weekend. As I seem to have good legs at the moment I was just interested in seeing if I could be competitive on it on such a hilly course against the more aerodynamic geared machinery of the rest of the field. I geared at 53x16 and aside from one particularly steep but short section I was able to ride all the climbs seated and thus in an aero position. I'm running s-bend bar extensions which allow me to slide back a bit and raise my body to take advantage of back muscles on the hills without wasting energy by 'honking' out of the saddle. So finally all the hours of back extensions, crunches, pushups etc etc have paid off I think..... and this with the fixed gear hilly training over the winter are the only reasons I can think why I seem to be so strong this spring, I was able to keep my speed above 20mph while climbing on the aero bars. I'm a shit really 'cos the best bit about that is the satisfying feeling as one gently 'drifts' past other riders uphill with no outwardly visible sign of effort. I didn't expect to be competitive against all the serious TT machinery on display..... however without gutting myself I took 5th.... I was a minute off the pace. I could have done with a 55T chainring on reflection... Only time lost really from riding fixed was on the steep and twisty descents, and having to take one very acute turn wide and slow.

So.. where am I going with my rambling... well, it's convinced me to ride all my TT's purely on fixed... and that it's going to be worth throwing a few ££££ at it (I can see Steve over at Cyclelogic rubbing his hands already...:o) so I can be on something of a more level playing field with respect to everyone else.... So first will be set of deep section wheels, the rear will have to be a custom Royce track hub drilled/slotted for 20 spokes with a HED90 deep carbon rim while I can use my deep carbon front wheel off my other bike. I want to be able to convert my Condor back to road use quickly so I'll invest in a second bladed fork cut to precisely the right height that I can leave everything attached to... this way the conversion from TT to road machine will only take 20 minutes. Maybe at a later date I'll treat myself to an super spangly carbon moulded aero bar but to be honest they're not really any quicker than my current Profile setup - they just look nice that's all (pretty important....). I'd also like to go from the 170mm track crank I'm running to 172.5mm which is my usual length - but only sugino and shimano make one that's easy to get in that length.. and they're not cheap - budget won't go that far at the mo... I seem to do OK on 170 tho so maybe I won't bother. It could be interesting to see just how far this thing can go for both hilly and flat races.

If I'm honest with myself... I suppose (shamefully) my primary enjoyment comes from the reaction of other riders... from the "bloody hell, you're not riding that today are you... you're nuts" to the incredulous and sometime miffed reaction from the owners of high end TT machinery after the event. Must admit, my elegant little trackie looked ace today when parked up between a couple of fully loaded top end carbon spaceships. Wicked fun! If it makes you feel better though, there is a 'price' I have to pay for this... the post-race tiredness does the eczema no favours at all... a fair exchange to my mind.

I rode for another 30km after the race to wind my legs down slowly.... it didn't work, my muscles still feel like they're made of wood. I'll have to be careful wobbling my way back down the stairs now for a cold beer.... cheerio!

p.s oh yes, forgot to say... it's Shakespeare's birthday tomorrow, which has absolutely nothing at all to do with anything else, just thought I'd share some 'culture' to show we're not all that dim down here in darkest Cornwall :o)

Posted: Sun - April 22, 2007 at 04:45 PM          

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