Interview

Well I browsed over to Judi's Blog and she had been tagged for an interview..so I decided eh what the hell I'll do one.

Here are her 5 questions and in interview style with my smart ass answers.

1. if you could have any bike in the world, what would it be?

I was going to make a comment on cervelo seeking missiles, but I'll be serious...
Two contenders for this one.

Road: Specialized S-works Tarmac.
I love Specialized bicycles that and their ridden by some of the fastest sprinters in the tour. I'd probably equip it with shimano ultegra because even through I heard SRAM Red's the shit and Dura Ace is lighter Ultegra has longevity, plus I don't want to be one of the cool kids drinking the kool aid as they test out their Newtons and ride their Cervelo's, granted eventually I do want to give SRAM a go. Figure Look Keo Carbon pedals, and Zipp 404 Clinchers I don't do the tubular thing, plus $100/ per flat is a little expensive especially on the roads I ride.

Tri/ Time Trial: Specialized S-Works Transition
I'm a fan of Macca granted I would love this thing decked out in a custom paint job, preferably HEAT colors with a flame job. Components either Ultegra or SRAM Red, preferably Zipp 404 on the Front and a 606 on the back ( clinchers as stated above.) I like deep dish wheels but I like control in cross winds as well. Profile Design carbon base bar and T-2 cobra areo bars, Look Keo carbons a selle itallia saddle, and I'm good to go.


2. what is your fastest 100m in the pool?
Well that's a really good question...I used to compete short course yards so my fastest 100 yd Free was a 56.9 I did as a relay split as a Freshman in college. My fastest 100 m in a long course (50m) pool was a 1:10 ( roughly a 1:03 100 yd time) in practice.

3. what is the farthest distance you have ever swam?
In competition 2.4 miles. In a straight shot in practice 4700 Yards. Broken up in a single Practice 12,000 yards. In a single day 20,000 yards....college was rough.

4. what keeps you up at night?

Other than the 5 cups of coffee I drink in a single day...um have to say my sister Iming me from Newport and class work, although bills and life stresses play a roll too. A big thing has been a feeling of selfishness, part of me feels like I'm too critical of others and myself and that maybe I don't do enough to help other people out.


5. if you were to get a tattoo, what would it be and why?

This one is a good one... I'm getting a Tat on my ankle if I qualify for Kona and it will NOT be an m-dot. Initially I was thinking a symbol from the race I qualified from ie if I qualified in Arizona a cactus, New Zealand, a silver fern or Maori band, Kentucky...well a Fleur d' lily might work... figure if it's permanent it should be small yet meaningful. Another thing I was thinking was maybe a classic New England Symbol of a snake in the grass with the words "Don't Tread on Me!" to embrace my attitude of trying to not let life or what others think I should do get to me. Picked the ankle/ back of the leg because it's a spot that I can keep covered in the work place especially since I'm looking at going into Medicine and I don't want a 75 year old patient getting freaked out by a tatooed sleeve as I'm consulting them about titanium knee joints. Plus it gets less of a sag factor in old age.

Well those were Judi's five questions...anyone wish to become victim/ volunteer of the Blogger Inquistion?

R.D.

What's in a name.....

Well I could post about how I skipped class yesterday to do some much needed research, get in a much needed run ...and oh yes take a desperately needed nap...5 hour nights just ain't cutting it anymore...case in point I slept through my alarm twice this morning...my own fault for being up late, being non productive but still.



Anyhoo that is not what this post is about. Rather after a brief discussion with Ken at the Nutmeg State Half about the Jodi/Bob throw down ( sadly I can't make it to Steelhead, but if we both qualify for Clearwater your ass is mine Jodi! ( Howard Dean Yell here!)) Ken has already placed his bet on the side of the good Doctor. " no offense Bob but I think Jodi and Mike Honcho will school you and the Bitch Stomper." Said the Cookie Monster. Well from this smack came the idea of what to name your bike. Is there an interesting story behind it?



I'll divulge mine:

Last summer or "DebtFest 2007" I decided to throw down on a tri bike. Afterall I was flying Halfway around the World for an Ironman and I wanted to haul serious ass, and sadly I don't think my 23lb. Sora equipped road Bike ( Trusty Enrico, or my sister's lover, she chose the name becuase she was the one crammed up against it when we traveled the state to my various races. )My local bike shop really didn't offer much in the way of financing and sadly I had to defect to the other area shops. First I checked at Newington Cycle, they're a co-sponsor to the CCSU tri club, I know Jeff who is almost as trustworthy as Al ( lets face it Al and Blair have taught me everything I know about bike set ups, tuning, repair, how to patch a freaking flat.) Jeff is my tour BS kind of guy...and these guys carried trek and lemond as well as the Trek card. sadly the Trek bikes I had fallen in love with were all out of stock, and the Lemond in my price range wasn't looking too appealing. I saw an add for the Biker's Edge in Bristol spitting distance from my homestead and they carried Specialized, Trek and C-dizzle ( I didn't know where Central Wheel was at the time and I didn't want to traverse the State more than I had too. ) Needless to say that's where I found it, a $2000 piece of aluminum speedass. a 54cm Specialized Transition comp in Chrome Black Metalic. It had a 105 Crank, front deraileur, and Calipers..which hey it's an upgrade and a half from Sora...and the vernerable Ultegra 10 speed, rear cassette and rear deraileur......I was in love. I was fitted nearly match perfect to the damn thing. ( If anyone does go to the Biker's Edge, Ed or Bob will take care of you, and there was this one mechanic who was pretty cool, some of the young guys come accross as used car salesman.) needless to say I threw down $1600 on it, along with $200 for a bike rackthat sees more use in the Summer on shorter trips like pan New England ( as much as I want to use the rack on my Maryland Adventure I'm afraid of NY and PA traffic crushing my beloved steed.) and about $1k in shoes pedals and other accessories. When I finally got home with my new baby, I found my self thinking WWARD? ( What Would Angry Runner Do.) what would he say about this slammin' new set of wheels. Only one phrase came to mind " You could stomp some serious bitches on that bike." Thus it came to Pass that my Specialized Transition Comp became know Hence forth as The Bitch Stomper..and since that day in August it has left a path of death in destruction in the 20-24 age group that has been unparamounted.... well alright I won my age group twice and finished 20th in my Age Group and in the top 400 at Ironman New Zealand...but this summer muhahahah! Now if only I could get an extra Cassette, and maybe upgrade to full Ultegra, maybe some Zipp 1080's...alright I'll stop dreaming over componets and future up grades.


Oh yes and Consider yourself tagged..to write on your own bike naming experience ...or lack there of.

Back to the grind.
R.D.

Bike Pjorn on St. Patrick's Day.

Sadly I did not hit the Pub. (probably a good thing because everybody and their brother will be suffering awesome hangovers tomorrow.) Instead to prove How much of a tri geek I am I was looking up bike specs and drooling over what I will be riding in 2 years once I have more dinero in the coffers and a little more time to devote to training.

But with all this talk of Chicks buying bikes I have taken it upon myself as a bike shop rat to show my top picks for bikes: Catherine,Claire I hope this helps.

Today's Post

"Cheap" Category: ie $800-$2000

A Motobecane Le Champion. Sure its mostly aluminum,sure its a no name frame, but it's got full Ultegra and for Claire, Bjoern toasted my Specialized ass on one of these suckers without aero bars on the Nutmeg State Bike Course ( granted he was 3 min. faster and I had a 20min lead but 3 min with out aerobars speaks a lot in a tri.) For $1095 its a good buy. For more deals on decent componets check out this link

If looking for a name brand :

The Trek 2.1 WSD Women Specific Geometry, Shimano 105 which is light years above Sora. $1260 USD For more info Check the link

Giant Ocr A1 Aluminum Frame Shimano 105 and a $1500 price tag Check Out the link for more

Cervelo, I can't believe I'm committing this sin and posting this brand on my site......Tom Boonen forgive me, Lance Armstrong Forgive me, cycling diversity forgive me. In their quest to turn Road Racing and Triathlon into IROC ( for non auto racing fans IROC was a series in which some of the world's best drivers competed against one another in identical cars )if Cervelo has their way the Ironman World Championship will be a battle of 1700 P3 Carbons. Their Cheapest Road bike is going for $2000 its sexy but its a Cervelo so I sort of have to hate it just because I am a Specialized Guy.

ok now I feel dirty posting this link.

Now For the big two:

Specialized:

A Roubaix Compact might be just what the Doctor ordered $1600 full 105, Mostly an Aluminum ride but it has a fair share of Carbon.

Check out the site.

Finally the Pride of Bethel, CT the Crack and Fail...I mean Cannondale.

The Synapse Feminine Carbon 5 Full 105 AL with Carbon pieces, I'm guessing MSRP of about $1600. Man I'm almost eating my words at my above comments. Check out the site for Full Specs

These are the entry levels that I have been looking up for reference. Happy Hunting.

The Ron Jeremy of Bike Pjorn.

R.D.

This Week's Poll.

Last week sucked mostly because my question sucked which I hope hasn't given me blog leporsy...(Don't visit his site he's unclean. UNCLEAN!) So now I have a new more controversal question....
Which of these 5 major bike brands are in your opinion the most overrated

Cervelo....or as I like to call it the Nazi bike. These things are spreading through transition areas across the country like a virus. Gone are the days when you go through the bike racks and admire truly unique machinery, any one remember those crazy Softrides, or how about the Merlins, or a full carbon Look Time trial bike.Now on almost every rack there are rows of P2 Carbons, Solists, P3 Carbons for those with the dinero or sponsorship. Cervelo has spread through the transition area like a plauge. Why? Friendlness towards triathletes? Results? ( enter Chrissie Wellington here.) Manical marketing plots for world domination? Idk? I just hate it when people become part of the herd.

Trek: Now I have nothing against the brand. Made in the USA...kinda sorta...if Tawain is a new State....Carried Lance to TDF Glory along with some kid called Contador. Their Time trial bikes are decent, road bikes are sexy so why did I put them in the poll? For the 50 something mid-life crisis CEO's that throw a size XXXL Discovery Channel Yellow Jersey on then they mount a $10,000 piece of speedass and do it no justice. I have nothing against riding to get in shape or emulate Lance but please don't desecrate the TTX 9.9 yes its fast but trian to go fast to be worthy of such a bike...buy a Pilot or a nice 105 equipped rig to train on then go for the speedass.That's what Lance would want you to do.

Specialized: My brand....Bob Why the F**K did you put your brand in the poll? Two Reasons
1. For the legions of the Cervelo army to get a chance to fire a pot shot.
2. Those freaking I am Specialized Commercials. Effective marketing yes but so is Team Quick Step sprinting to Glory...Macca lording over the lava fields, Peter Reid giving S-Works his seal of approval...man this marketing scheme is almost as bad as Cervelo's....minus the free t-shirt to all the guys who rode their bikes at Kona.

Cannondale: The C dizzle or as some in the industry have dubbed it "Crack and fail" granted the term was used for the mountian bikes. But still it does leave a lingering stigma. Granted Team Barloworld, Faris Al Sultan and others have riden them to great accomplishments....The jury is out What is your verdict?

Litespeed/QRoo : Once upon at time there were two companies. One (QRoo) made triathlon specific wetsuits and bicycles. The other (Litespeed) made bikes out of this wonder material called Titanium Alloy, which was just as light as carbon fiber but a little bit stronger. Then some guys in the lab found away to make carbon fiber ( "Titanium is dead!"they exclaimed.)and the guys at lightspeed had to think fast to CTA (cover their assests). So they bought out QRoo and made deals that if you fork over $5000 you get a high end bike and a free wetsuit. Now from what I hear QRoo makes some mean products, but I have to be a little leary if you're giving me a wetsuit with my bike...its sort of saying " you need a 3 minute advantage on the swim because everybody and their brother is going to fly by as soon as you leave T1."

Ones that should have but didn't make the list:

Motobecane...in the 70's they were Euro Gods...then disco died....granted $1100 for full Ultegra is pretty sweet.

BMC: $12,000 for a custom TT1 Time Machine Frame comes with your choice of Phonack Testosterone or Team Astana EPO...

Kuota: Ok so Normann Stadler is sex on wheels and you think its the bike......seriously I didn't see the Kueen K patting him on the back or healing his GI distress.

Krestel: Macca's former ride. The day he signed with Specialized "Baby come back "could be heard blaring in the sobbing manager's office.

ok now that I've insulted the bike industry I will go langish at why no one wants to sponsor me. Hope you get some laughs.

Still Specialized
R.D.

Freezing my Beans off....

Ever notice how biking conditions in New England go from this
To this in about 2 weeks.

Well that's the phrase that best explains how I spent my weekend. Friday, after much drama at the Bank, the cops showed up and long story short left us a man down, I went to masters and actually got in a well deserved 4000 yard work out in the confines of the heated pool....that would be the warmest I'd be all weekend. On Saturday after 3 hours at the ball and chain...which helps me pay for the sport I love so dearly...I threw down $60 at the bike rack on sexy new tights and toe covers...then it was off to Woodbury for what was supposed to be a 50 miler.....key word supposed to be. After taking my chances with a foilage covered "s" curve I decided to skip going down the "steep hill" on the Griskus Olympic course and shot out on to Route 6 via Cat Swamp , ( same amount of desecnding but broken into 3 small hills instead of the drop off the face of the earth. After climbing up Route 132 in to Bethlehem..(see my Mother of all Bricks post for route description). I was hit with a savage cross wind as I descended toward Weekeepeemee rd. Now I have a habit with coasting with my left knee elevated so the wind blowing my to the left made feel like I was going to go down hard, seeing gravel on weekeepeemee rd. didn't ease my mind so I made the semi-executive descion to keep on Route 132.....Enter drop off the face of the earth hill here...

I descended at about 30mph unclipping my right shoe and sticking my foot out when I thought I was going to go knee against asphalt....I had a small burner after it which I breezed up and the I was met with....the Wall.....

Instead of manning up and climbing it I dismounted had a normann stadler moment in my mind....the walked back to weekeepeemee being passed by a dude on a trek . When I got to weekeepeemee I decided to walk the bike down it was then I discovered the gavel was washed to the sides, but the influx of volunteer firefighters crusing out to the main road...and the uncertainty of the cross winds..made me decided to walk the bike another half mile until I reached asphalt....needless to say I was ticked I climbed up to Flanders road and descended back to route 6 ( by passing the climb past the abbey and condemning another hot young thing to the convent....I mean allowing a young lady to enter religious life without my interference...) I climbed up cat swamp and finshed the remaing portion of the Griskus bike loop. I got back to the car after a 26 mile bike/1 mile walk. and did I loop of the run course. Not a bad day...but pretty pathetic for Ironman trainning.

Today I decided on doing loops of Lake Waramaug. Now I figured it was safe no traffic..brutal crosswinds, yet flat terrain...I figured I'd do about 8 to 10 loops figuring it was sheltered...well I got 2.5 done before the wind got the better of my feet . I did three loops and packed it in....I almost ran but the setting sun, freezing feet and the gathering of park rangers ready to ticket my car if I kept it after the 4:30PM close time derailed that plan. So with that being said it looks like I've got a lot of long trainer sessions and purchases of wool socks ahead. Which leaves me with a brillant new event idea:

The Lake Waramaug Freeze Your tail off 100.

15 loops of the lake, with the state park as the start /finish...it has ample facilities ( out houses, parking so you can store excess food, water bottles, foot warmers, ) Come on I know someone out there's carzy enough to do this thing with me....well maybe not....Well now I've got to rest up and tabulate how much more debt I can rack up buying the equipment to train for this Ironman.

The Icy Ironman

R.D.

Soy Specialized .....

Ok It's happended I took the leap...I'm buying my self a pimped out 54cm Specialized Transition that I saw onsale at the Biker's edge for $1600.00, $1000 of this beast will be financed via Trek Card ( unless the store guys can get me conditionally approved for more so I can save my AA advantage card for more important things, like plane tickets, books, the usual.) Why did I do this....It's a lightweight aluminum frame that looks and feels like a carbon frame from 06 , with Ultegra mix. In layman's terms it's a Bitch Stomper ( not as nice as Ken's new ride but it's a sexy beast none the less,)and hopefully it shall carry me past the endless sea of Cervelo riders.

Yep this is a picture of my little bitch stomper. It makes me weep with joy.So yes now I am Specialized like Peter Reid, Ken Schulz, John Hirsch and Chris McCormack before me. Now I'm going to try to get sponsorship from these guys because I am spending way too much of my hard earned money on this freaking sport. Who knows Kona 2011, Bobby D vs. Macca and Stadler for the overall?

Bike Pjorn:I think I'm crossing over to the dark ( cannondale/specialized) side...

Well as much as some of my Tour post have exclaimed I am a Giant fan boy, brought up on my knowledge of cycling by the venerable AL the all-knowing roadie/pro-mountain bike guru mechanic at the Bike Rack. But after browsing the net for prices and contact info ( still trying to get sponsorship. maybe I'll luck out and win that mountain bike at Waramaug and then I can sell it to finance my plane ticket and/or tri bike..hopefully mom and pop will get the real estate business and gift basket business up and running and I'll be making secondary income lifeguarding and delivering gift baskets (via bicycle gotta get that long ride in somehow.).)But upon looking at Cannondale's website I found their corporate base is in Bethel. This now has me pondering....maybe I'm Cannondale's type of masochistic, underdog psychopath.

Reasons for

Cannondale:http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/07/cusa/road/ironman/model-7RM2D.html

A) I'm a local boy. (which might lead to more local sales.)

B) these guys sponsored Team Barloworld, a cycling team with a budget most other pro teams would laugh at, but they were driven as hell and walked away with a king of the mountain's jersey and two stage wins. Me I'm a semi-broke college triathlete driven as hell, and given the right tools I just might produce a bike split that'll turn some heads.

C) They're bikes are a little pricey but they're definitely cheaper than scott, litespeed, and issac, and can kick just as much ass. Also they're made with pride in the USA, and what could be better than an American kid competing in a foreign in race on an American bike.

D) Angry Runner standing saying "Do it. Go Cannondale!"

Specialized :

A) discount tri/ time trial bike. Their transition comp is going for about $1800, not bad considering everybody else's comparable model is in the close to $2000-$2500 range. http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22295

B) I think it would be cool to star in one of those "I am Specialized" commercials.

C) It is the bike of choice of Katherine, the sexy Canadian cycle chick....

Kuota: ( but I dare not ask for sponsorship....actually I think I will what's the worst they can do say no.)

A) Two Words K-Factor and valuehttp://www.trisports.com/kuk10520.html:

Trizilla is offering a deal on the BMC TT TimeMachine3 only $1300.00http://www.trizilla.com/triathlon/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=1454&idproduct=12088

Then there's Trek:

A) I get a discount from Newington Cycle because they are the official cycle shop of CenTri.

B) Time Trial Bike going for
$1800.00http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike.php?bikeid=1496000&f=5

C) I can wear a Team Discovery Jersey and not feel like I just 10 syringes of Testoterone in my butt .

Stick with Giant:

http://www.racycles.com/GiantTrinityAlliance1Bike-idv-6137-347.html


A) Price on the Alliance A1 just dropped to $1900.00


B) Al could probably get it to me a a better deal because these guys have been supplying me since I was rebuilding 10 speeds in High School

Oh the torment! Well Hope you enjoyed the bike Pjorn. Peace.

R.D.