ARGGGG! More bike troubles.

Well today it was absolutely gorgeous so I broke out the bike and went to Middlebury to ride. Sadly I got about a mile in and as I tried to shift into my climbing gears...tension and no shifting I got off got the shifter to move but no response on the gears. I'm assuming I snapped the rear derailleur cable...arggg. This is the third new cable in as many months. I'm at the point of buying he bulk box of cables and a stand that's how many times I've seen this proceedure done... hell I could probably go for my mechanic's cert for this stuff and start turning a profit...well ok I'm not that skilled...yet but I'm getting there. I'm not sure what did it, Southern Hemisphere road grime, TSA oh so gentle hands searching my bike case for weapons of mass destruction, shifting during flight, a little gatorade getting on the cable and causing it to stick...etc..all I know is it needs a new cable so I can get riding again, because not doing anything outdoors with weather like this is a sin.

R.D.

Ironman New Zealand Update: 9 days until I fly out.

And I still have a lot of training on tap. The weather sucked yesterday and I slept through my alarm so I didn't run. Today I'm thinking about foregoing my swim session to get some miles in on pavement, and the trainer. Saturday I have either a long run or a long brick on tap. Sunday depending on the weather will be my last long ride, then next week turns into swim /run focus maybe a Tuesday or Wednesday pre-bike pack trainer session. I'm hoping to get at least a 15-18 mile run in before the Ironman...I'm hoping it's not over doing it as I've only been at about 10 miles since the injury. Tonight will be about 6 miles maybe more if I feel like it...although one part of me is thinking the track or treadmill might be a smarter option...but I hate the treadmill for long distance. Saturday is going to be my long run...go until I feel confident. Figure a 40-50 mile ride at the lake and a 15 mile run....but it depends on time. Sunday a long ride hopefully 6 hours on the road or a 6 hour trainer if the road sucks. Then clean the Stomper and get it ready to pack. Next week they're talking rain/ snow and 40F highs Just scoped out the forecast for Taupo, rain this weekend then 70's and sunny...perfect racing weather.




For the first time in a while I'm actually feeling excited to race.


I went down to the Bike Rack in Waterbury yesterday, and Al fixed my bike. My brake cable was shot so we changed it out along with the rear deraileur cable and made some adjustments to the front deraileur. He spouted a litnany of explictives and how internal cable routing has him to the point of commiting cycling ki supu: Riding a fixed gear down hill on to a highway at rush hour.( I know I spelled ki supu wrong and now some samauri warrior is going to make me perform it to save the honor of my grammar school teachers.) Regardless the Stomper is in tip top shape and should fly in NZ.



As seen by the pictures in my previous post I got a haircut, personally I think I went a little too short on this go round but maybe it will aid in aerodynamics.
Now I've just got to start packing....

R.D.

I broke my brakes...

Well last night as I was re-assembling the Stomper after cleaning off a week's worth of salt, sand and road grime, I noticed the rear brakes would just go into the locked position and not return to normal. After hours of cleaning the brake assembly and messing with the wiring to no avail I've decided to see the source of all cycling knowledge, the Buhdda of Bianchis, the Zen of Zinn, the Guru of well..Gurus: Al aka my mechanic.

I already know I'm going to get the " How the hell did you do that?" and other phrases stating I was probably a canidate for round paper and safety sissors, in childhood. But the good thing about Al is he shows you how to fix and adjust this stuff on your own...so that way the next time you walk into the shop he's knows it's an emergency, and probably involves some blood, gore, chicken wire and the need for a welder, or at the very least requires new parts.

I'm thinking it's going to need a new cable, also since I'm down there my shifter cables could use a tightening... figure might as well do my pre race tune up now so I can get a couple more good rides on it, just so that way the wires can do their stretching now instead of on race day.

Now I've got to go get an offering for the Enlightened one....Red Bull.

On a path toward riding or in this case stopping ...Nirvana.
R.D.