The Proof is in the Pudding

Just a quick synopsis of how things have been going since August, 2014, to get things started.  First of all, after about nine months of not riding, I decided that I actually needed cycling in my life because, let's face it...Getting old sucks!  I then found out that I was quite impatient waiting on my new 2015 S-Works Tarmac to be built and shipped to Paul's so I could get back in the saddle.  September 4th was an awesome day as I finally took possession of my new bike and went out the very next day to ride a painful, and slow 50 miles.  I had ridden the miles, but I could tell I was out of shape really badly and was going to need to do a lot of work in order to get back to where I wanted to be.  I rode the following three days at lower mileage with increasing speeds.  On the fifth day, I set out to ride a 100k route.  I was expecting to be tired at the end, but I felt fairly confident that I could pull it off.  However, at just under eight miles, a Dodge had other plans for my day.  Now I owned a bike that was less than a week old, and had been crashed with about 140 miles on the clock.  Thanks to the folks at Progressive insurance, I was able to come out of the crash with some very positive outcomes.  First and foremost, I was able to use the crashed bike as a trainer bike.  Having used the trainer in the past with great results, I had high hopes for an off season of interval training.  Even though my replacement bike wasn't due in until early to mid November, I wasn't concerned because I had pretty much written off road rides for the remainder of the year at this point.  My goal was to concentrate on doing intervals.

November 3, 2014 (one year to the day from my first crash)

So, that gets us caught up on the soap opera that has been my return to cycling in the past two and a half months or so.  Its been a bumpy ride for sure, and one that has had more twists and turns in it than a mountain road.  I had pretty much settled into a five week program on the trainer which was doing wonders for me.  I was getting faster, more fit, and losing weight like crazy.  I had completed the first four weeks of the program and was cleaning my bike up, and servicing the chain when I got a call from Jimmy.  Now, Jimmy is the lead mechanic at Paul's.  I wasn't really expecting a call from him, so I was a little surprised to start out with.  What he told me next was even more surprising...my new bike had come in earlier that day and he was about done building it.  Wait.....What.......Huh?????  Last I heard from Dale was about a week ago saying that they had gotten the order confirmation from Specialized which would put the delivery out about two weeks or so.  Here I was getting told that the bike was actually here....now.....almost ready to pick up!

I'm a planner, so this threw my life into instant turmoil (in a good way).  I was technically off the next day, but I was scheduled to be in court for the vast majority of the day.  By the time I was supposed to be released, it would put me getting to Paul's at about 4:30 or so.  That was going to push it to get the bike finished (I had the accessories at the house) and fit to me before they closed at 6.  I could just wait until Wednesday to go and pick it up, but looking at the weather, I would actually have a really good day to go ride outside....OUTSIDE!!!  If I picked the bike up in the morning, it would be around lunch before I got home, and then I would have a lot of other things to do to get it ready for a ride...effectively burning all of my day, leaving me with Thursday which was supposed to be rainy.  This all would also mess up my last week of intervals training for this particular program I was on.  I was in a pickle!

November 4, 2014

I managed to get things sorted out over the phone the following day from court.  The plan was, I would bring my old bike to the shop so they could just duplicate the fit measurements from one machine to the next.  that would save a lot of time.  Even with that amount of work to be done, as well as installing pedals, bottle cages, etc, Dale told me that if I got there at 4:30 we should be OK.

When I left court, I made a quick trip to the truck (after answering a series of questions all the way to the parking lot) and headed home to change.  I put on some regular clothes and pulled my bike off of the trainer.  It was loaded into the bed of the truck as well as my bag of goodies I had for the new shoes.  Like I said, I had all of the accessories here.  I was bringing the pedals, footbeds, cleat stackers, and cages for the new bike.  After getting things loaded up, Sierra and I boogied down the road to Paul's.

When I got there, Jimmy took my old bike and put it on the mechanic's stand.  He said "are you sure this has been on a trainer?"  He was referring to how clean everything was on it, since trainer bikes are usually encrusted with salt, and everything is grimy.  Of course, I could never have a bike that wasn't clean and maintained, not even a crashed bike.  I had just done a full service on it, and a complete wipe down as part of my normal Monday "rest day" routine.

We started to talk about the new bike, and I told him that I was planning on swapping out the saddle for a new Romin saddle which would allow more blood flow to certain sensitive areas which contact the seat.  He looked kind of puzzled and asked didn't mine come with a Romin?  As I was saying no, Patrick pointed out that it was equipped with a Toupe' saddle.  Jimmy took me back to the rear of the shop and showed me that the new bike was, in fact, equipped with the Romin.  Bonus!!!!  It wasn't the team edition that I was wanting to buy, but functionally, it was exactly what I was wanting and it matched the bike just as well.  I also noticed that the seat post was different on the new bike.  It was a 0mm offset tube as opposed to the -30mm that my first bike was equipped with.  The -30mm worked, but the saddle was at the limits of the adjustment and there was a good possibility that I would be swapping it out for a 0mm when I had my first full fit with the bike.  So...DOUBLE BONUS!!  As if that wasn't good enough, I was also informed that this bike came with a Roval wheel bag which was something that I had wanted for a while with my other bike since I had two full wheelsets.  SCORE!!!!

Romin saddle with a nice large relief in the middle section

Wheel bag that will come in very handy in the event I get a second set of wheels

Jimmy started measuring everything out and getting the bike set up to my specs while I tracked down my new S-Works road shoes.  After test fitting them and determining that the 48's fit better than the 47's, I took them back to Patrick to get the cleats and the left shoe spacer installed.  Things were going well, and they were going quickly.  While I was there, I had Jimmy put on the bracket for the spare water bottles mounted to the seat post, and also bought a couple more cages to mount to that bracket.  Since he had the clamp loosened for adjustment that was no problem at all to do.

These look so impressive and fit like a dream

Things were going well ahead of schedule and since I had my original bike there to match measurements up with, there was no need to get on the trainer and get a basic fit done.  We knew that this would work fine based on my previous fit.  With time to spare, I was loading up my truck with not one, but two S-Works Tarmacs.  It was impressive...even Jimmy commented that it looked like a pro support truck all loaded up.  The only glitch in the visual was the red trainer tire attached to the old bike, which had been named "Snoopy" when I first bought it.  The new bike is affectionately called "Flo" after the Progressive spokeswoman (great idea from Sierra).

They do look impressive side by side

Snoopy on the left and Flo on the right, framing my Specialized logo

One would think that after all of this I would be all set to ride.  Not the case, not even close.  The bike comes originally equipped with performance race tires which don't work well for my kind of riding.  With a tread life of only about 800 miles, I would burn through them in less than two months.  I have been a big fan of the Continental GP4000S II tires and that is what I installed on the rims for my kind of riding.  I also had to set up the Garmin GPS with the new sensors which are magnetless.  This makes for a much cleaner install, and gives me the ability to leave the standard sensors on the trainer bike so all I have to do is swap the computer between the two.  Speaking of which, I had to install the K-edge computer mount to the handlebar, as well as a headlight.  Yeah, I do all my riding in the daylight so a headlight isn't really needed unless it starts raining.  However, with my track record, I wanted all the visibility I could possibly get!

The Thunderbolt headlight fits nicely right beside of the Garmin and has a really bright blinker

It was time to turn to the rear for lighting and for storage.  Since my rides are all self sustained, I have to have a saddle bag to carry tubes, tools, etc.  I had been using a large bag on Snoopy, but decided that it was just too big to hang under the seat of this racer.  I opted to step down a size and Toni got me a smaller wedgie that fit perfectly under the seat.  Despite its small size, it holds two spare tubes, tire tools, and a multi tool.  There is also a hanger strap for a tail light which was exactly where I mounted my Niterider Solas 2 tail light.  Below the bag, I positioned the spare bottle carriers so they were out of the way of everything and didn't block the view of the light.

Everything fits so well

One of the nice things about this bottle carrier system is that it rides lower than the seat mounted one that I had on my red Tarmac before.  With them mounted to the seat I was constantly kicking them with my legs when I was getting on the bike.  They would also get bumped by my hiney when I was shifting in the seat from time to time.  It worked, but not well.  The center of gravity was also raised very high on the post.  I haven't had the opportunity to really test this out, but I think it will work out much better than what I had before.

My setup on my original Tarmac

In addition to getting all of these things done, I also had to strip the protective coating off of the chain and get it lubed up.  While I had the lube out, I decided to go ahead and lube up the moving parts in the driveline as well.  I checked the operation of everything and determined that both brakes had a hard time centering themselves.  After a quick search of how to address that problem, I made the appropriate adjustment and got them adjusted in closer as well.  Now I had a nice short throw on the brake lever and a full release of the pads when the lever was let go.

Everything installed, cleaned, and ready to roll out

The bike was now done, but I needed to lube the cleats on the shoes, especially since the springs were new and that would mean harder engagement for a while.  I flipped the shoes and started to lube things and noticed that something didn't look quite right.  I was seeing different parts than I was used to.  I knew that this was the V2 version of the cleat, but it didn't look right.  As I investigated, I realized that the spring retainer plate had been swapped left to right.  It was a quick and easy fix, but one that I'm glad I caught before trying to clip in.  There would have been no way to engage the pedals had I not caught this.  Within a few quick minutes, I had everything sorted out and lubed up.  I made a last quick test fit of the shoes and made sure that the footbeds and wedges were correct before putting everything up.  It was late, and I needed sleep before going on my ride in the morning.

November 5, 2014

The day had arrived.  Honestly, I was just as nervous as I was excited about the new bike.  I had been putting in many hours on the trainer and was expecting that by the time Spring arrived, I would be at a reasonable performance level.  I also knew that the last time I went on a road ride, I had crashed hard.  Just a year ago, I had suffered another crash. Out of my last 6 road rides, I had crashed out twice.  I wasn't liking the odds, not one bit.  I wasn't scared, but I was very much apprehensive about going out...especially since I hadn't really thought I would be riding any more until Winter was over.  I wasn't mentally prepared for this, but I was hoping that I was physically prepared for it.

After waiting for the temperature to get above 50*, I got dressed and grabbed some food.  To show how unprepared I was for this, I had two Smucker's Uncrustables which I had left over from an experiment as a possible ride fuel.  There was a single Cliff Bar in the cabinet and I had a few Slim Jims available as well.  That was pretty much my selection for ride fuel.  I really wanted to try for that 100K ride that was interrupted so quickly last time.  I loaded up my pockets with what I had and filled two water bottles.  This should easily last me the 62 miles, as long as my body held up.  I kept remembering just how bad I had started to feel in the last third of my 50 mile maiden voyage just a couple of months earlier.

So worn out I couldn't stand up any more

I had put over 600 miles in on the trainer so I felt much stronger than I did on that first ride.  My speeds had increased, and I was estimating that my road speed for 50 miles should be back up in the mid 18's to mid 19's based on my previous experience with the trainer.  That was when I was very fit though, and I didn't know if it would translate over to the current body.  Time would tell I suppose.

Here I am starting out, full of hope

If nothing else, I was fitting better in my kit this time.  The 17 lbs that I had lost really made a big difference, but I still wasn't at my previous riding weight.  I didn't know how that 8 lbs left would affect my ride, but my legs felt good, and had been resting for two days at this point.  I started my live tracker so that Toni and a few others could follow my progress.  I made a last minute check of all the things that I needed to have.  After determining that I had everything, I clipped in with the right foot (it worked by the way) and started off.

I wasn't sure of the route I wanted to take so I kind of pieced it together as I went.  I started out wanting to go to King, but decided that wouldn't give me enough mileage and the traffic might be an issue as well.  As I was rolling through Rural Hall, I was noticing that my speed was well into the 19's and I was loving how the bike felt on the road in the big ring.  Feeling confident, I decided to make a right on Hwy 65 and head out to Walnut Cove to tackle some hills.  However, the hills came after a gradual decent into a valley.  I was smoking going down the road and at one point, close to the center of Walnut Cove, I was averaging 20.7mph!!!  Holy cow!  Not only was I feeling good on the bike, I was doing this route faster than I had ever done it by about seven tenths of a mph.  Talk about fueling the fire within!

When my lap reminder clicked over at 25 miles (40K) I was at a solid 20.4mph which I knew right then and there was my fastest 40K time and would be a record for me.  Over 10 months off of the bike, and just a hand full of road rides...this was what I was able to manage.  I was elated to say the least!

When I hit the climbs on the other side of Walnut Cove, my speeds dropped below 20mph and settled in the upper 19's by the time I hit the 50 mile mark.  I had my answer about whether or not the trainer was working.  From a dismal 14.9mph average on my maiden voyage, I was clocking nearly 5mph faster on average with a tougher route.  My speeds were right in line with what I was expecting them to be from the trainer speeds.

Buzzing the house just cause I had extra energy

A much happier cyclist at the end of 62.2 miles than I was after only 50 miles

When all was said and done, I had completed 62.2 miles at an average speed of 18.8 mph!  On that ride, I had landed a record 40K time trial speed, as well as a second fastest time on one of the climbs on Hwy 65.  I had food left, water left, and energy left.  I think that this is undeniable proof that doing intervals on a trainer will not only keep your fitness level in the off season, it will increase it...and in my case it will take you from couch potato to an "A Group" rider in a very short amount of time.

Lets look at some quick comparisons for a minute.

Last metric century ride before quitting cycling was November 2, 2013
Distance--62.15 miles
Average speed--18.0 mph
Time--3:27

First ride on Snoopy was Sept 4, 2014
Distance--52.55 miles
Average Speed--14.9 mph
Time--3:22

First ride on Flo was a metric century on November 5, 2014
Distance--62.22 miles
Average Speed--18.8 mph
Time--3:19

Second ride on Flo was a full 100 mile century on November 12, 2014
Distance--103.24 miles
Average Speed--18.4 mph
Time--5:37

Comparison century ride from September 16, 2013
Distance--103.73 miles
Average Speed--17.7 mph
Time--5:52

As you can see, the times for metric centuries are all pretty close, but the fastest of the three is today's 100K and the 52 mile ride was very close to the time of a 62 mile ride from a year ago.  Since my original writing of this entry, I have completed a full century which I have listed above with a comparison to another century on the same route.  In 2013, I had been riding for a full two years and was at about my top physical shape.  However, after using the trainer, I have gone from warming a couch cushion to shaving 15 minutes off of my time for that same route.  The numbers don't lie...my performance has increased exponentially from working on intervals, and is at, or better than my performance from a year ago already.  So, what does this mean?  It means that 2015 will be a really cool year!