Training Log Archive: veinbuster

Day 1 soloflex and free weights

I think I’ll give one a go. Maybe two.

A true road test of the Basso.

First some longer climbs. The electronic shifting works like a charm. I might micro adjust some of the positions for the middle of the cassette. The chain ring crossovers for sequential shifting are in the right spots for my tastes.

The mirror wasn’t quite tight enough and drifted on fast descents, so I snugged that up as soon as I got home. Drinking on the move is tricky. The bottle is reachable, but the soft ‘cage’ isn’t easy to engage on the move. I hydrated at red lights. I might toss a bladder in the seat bag if I can find a good pace to stow the tube.

I tried my TT route, but counter clockwise so it doesn’t cloud my official TT stats. I was well better than 2 minutes under my Giro pace and finished in under 39 minutes.

I do need to fiddle the seat a bit more. A notch further back for starters. I need a bit more leg clearance at the bars. Once I get the leg position, I’ll adjust the angle. Currently there was a bit to much stress on my neck - currently on ice.

Bottom line: fast.

C • Fast! 1

Day 3 soloflex

Test ride of the Basso.

This should be pretty close to my final set up. I might move the seat back 1 cm and maybe recline it as much as 5 degrees more. I was pretty comfortable as it is, but I was a hair short of clearance against the bars pedalling through a tight right. If I made a point of leaning my leg to the right edge of the bar gap, it cleared fine. That is probably easier to train myself to do than not pedalling in a tight turn.

The most interesting thing on this ride is how much power I could put into a climb. The rigid carbon seat back makes it super easy to push through the pedals. Game changer.

The wireless shifting is nice. Quick and easy, and much handier to shift mid corner than bar ends. I’ll have to download the app to set them up for sequential shifting. The current jump between front rings makes for a huge gear change. I should be able to program some of that out.

Lots of carbon bits: frame, fork, seat, cranks.

20lbs, 7oz before my pedals, a tiny mirror, Garmin. I expect to stay sub 10kg after putting some essentials in a tool bag.

C • Exciting! 1

Day 2 soloflex and free weights

New bike has cleared customs!
Should be on the step tomorrow.

Cruzbike TT Challenge week 15

Light south wind, but much warmer than I expected for this early in the day. Strava had estimated my last TT effort at 123 watts, which I thought was a bit low, but it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t really even in the ballpark. It took 180 watts into that light wind to hit the pace I wanted for this week.

Second interval was a bit slower at that effort, but I kept the power there counting on a bit of a gain from the 7 km/hr wind on the return. Sure enough, I was able to ease off the power a bit on the return, which my heart appreciated. I think I could sustain the 180 watts for the entire TT if need be, which will be the case if I have to go out in a stronger wind or within a couple of weeks of continuing TT gains.

This should be enough to let me keep my first overall through week 15.

41:46
Past times
42:02
42:32
43:04
43:30
43:43
44:01
44:20
44:40
45:00
45:20
45:50
46:50
47:55
48:16 (middle chainring)

C • TT 2

Mowed the entire lawn without exhausting the battery on my new mower. The last one took 3-4 days because I only had 3 batteries and they needed 9 hours to get a full charge.

Very cool to see Nikola do a deal for 2,500 electric garbage trucks.