Friday, October 7, 2011

Log: 07/10/2011

06/10/2011 - Nil

An echo from the not too distant past.. "stick to the plan". Not much training today - not much I can do about it..

Picked up 595 and had intentions of fine-tuning setup then riding-out my scheduled session on the trainer.
House guests put a stop to those ambitions and it was late in the evening before I could resume wrenching.

Plenty of late night short test rides up/down my home street while fine tuning bar/lever/saddle positioning, etc.. but no "training". I got stuck into some red too while prepping my bike - probably a bit too much..



07/10/2011 - Road | Muntanyes

My new/old bike - sweet..
Slept in pretty late, made some last minute adjustments and hit the road around lunchtime.
I've been having mixed feelings about getting 595 back on the road. It's been nearly 11 weeks since I've ridden it, and there's been 8 solid weeks work on the Giant.

Have done all I can to emulate Giant setup on 595, but there's always subtle differences - these can quickly manifest themselves as niggles and then injury if you don't listen for the signs and react promptly. This is very much the case when changes are made, and volume+intensity are not adjusted for any kind of a settling in period..

Fully aware of the risks I said my prayers and hit the road on 595 for a session in the mountains focused around x2 solid, above threshold, 20+ minute intervals & a total of 3 hours saddle time.
All-up = resounding success. I have pulled up with some pain in my left knee (the gammy one), and a slightly tender ITB at the knee on the right side (could see/feel right nee swinging in toward top-tube throughout session). Both of these signs tell me saddle needs to go back a fraction. I'll just keep feeling my way through the transition - no major concern as yet.

595 is now running SRAM gruppo - leaving behind Dura Ace 7801 that's served me well for years. 1st impressions are that I have made a good choice. Major win is the lever /brake reach adjust-ability. It's completely unfamiliar to me to have lever/reach combo that actually fits my hands.
No more gorilla reach-around motion to push the brake lever through a great pendulum-like arc to invoke multiple sprocket shifting at the rear cassette - shed a tear I will not..

Double-tap felt pretty natural by the end of the ride and am applying no "extra" thought to gear changes. Hood ergonomics are very different, but I'll get used to it. Hoods are more chunky at the base - and more narrow at the top. My hands searched out new resting positions that were different - but not really any better or worse. Standing with hands on hoods, levers feel a bit "block" like - sharper, less gradually rounded corners pressing into palms. Not a major downside - but not as nice as Shimano. Must say - a downside more than compensated for in other areas - did I mention I can reach my levers now?? - bloody marvelous!!

Despite the previous evenings festivities I managed to hit target numbers, but feel a bit more shattered tonight than normal.


Duration:      2:52:46 (14:50:21)
Work:          1683 kJ
TSS:           206.8 (intensity factor 0.848)
Pw:HR:          10.42%
Distance:      74.212 km
Elevation Gain:        1082 m
Temperature:     15    24    20.0     Celsius

An early evening ride with Oliver was good fun and nice to roll the legs out a bit..

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