Apr 2 - upcoming painfest

Actually that's not true. I've never had pain problems with these rides, i.e. knees, hips etc. but of course that could always change ... but not likely, since I do put in a lot of what is referred to as "junk miles".

Yes, I ride lots of junk miles. Junk miles are simply miles spent riding without a particular
training objective -- no watt-meter or heart rate monitor to push the envelope. Junk miles are enjoyment miles to me -- like yesterday. Knowing that the wind was from the SSW and the palms were a-blowing, I headed south. I had two objectives yesterday -- to enjoy the day and to see how Perpetuem by itself felt "under my legs", so to speak. Hazy, hot and humid; windy with storm clouds racing across the sky from west to east, it was surprising that the ground-level winds had so much of a southerly component. The plan was for 50 miles, but I didn't feel like doing 50
miles. 70 miles felt much better; even further would have felt good too. I hope that I don't regret it tomorrow ! At some point I may wish that I'd taken the day off !

Once back north, I'll have to do more real training. I'll play the "climbing" video and get on the trainer. I'll work at those hills up north. The Shenandoah 1200 will need me to push the envelope a little more. I won't be able to get in as many junk miles, so I'll have to make up the difference with real training -- how boring !

The UPS lady brought an order from Excel Sports yesterday -- more Perpetuem and a hanging scale.

I checked some weights:

The new bike, completely built, pedals and all -- 16.4 pounds (rolf wheels, speedplay x/1 pedals etc., saddle) -- this is the way that you might buy a bike from the bike store, all equipped. Ready to ride, with seat wedge full of tools, spare tubes etc. and frame pump but without water bottles, the bike weighs 18.2 pounds. It's a beautiful thing. I rode my "race car" yesterday. It could be lighter -- there are lighter saddles, SRAM Red components, lighter tires -- but I'm perfectly happy with this setup. It's perfect for those hills that I'll ride in the Shenandoah ... but unfortunately it's not equipped for long distance rides and I won't be riding it in the Shenandoah.

It's a wonderful bike to ride.

Then there is my older bike, ready to ride at 26.36 pounds. That includes lights, tools, rack, pack etc. but w/o water, food, clothes etc. that get stuffed into the pack. All that easily adds another 10 pounds. I'll be dragging that up the hills this weekend on the 600k ride. I'll be doing the same at the Shenandoah 1200. The one "minor" difference is that the Florida hills are 100-200 feet of climbing. The Shenandoah sports 1500+ feet on individual hills, based on my look at the profile. In some ways the longer hill allows you to "settle in" as you climb and the wind usually ceases to be a factor. I had no problems climbing the mountains out west on the ride across the country ... but then I wasn't carrying all that weight either !

The differences in weights are roughly accounted for as follows -- wheels - 2 pounds, lights - 1.5 pounds incl spares, rack - 3/4 pound, pack by itself - 3/4 pound, add'l tools & pump - 1 pound, frame - 1 pound -- and a pound somewhere else.

I ordered another set of wheels. There was an incredible deal on Rolf Prima Elan Aero wheels that I could not resist. Those are the wheels that are currently on my new bike. With about 20,000 miles on them, I've changed the bearings once already. The rims are still in good shape but once they go, the wheels are probably not worth rebuilding ... but I'll check with Rolf Prima at that point. The rims gradually get thinner with braking and eventually become unsafe. Bicyclebuys.com was clearing out stock. I'll never see a price like that again and decided to order them and stow them away. UPS called yesterday saying that they'd be delivering a package today that requires signature -- I'm sure that's the package.

Today will mostly be about killing time. I hate that phrase, since time is so precious -- let's call it relaxing and puttering. I'll pack, which should take all of 1/2 hour, and then after an early dinner, drive to the Days Inn where the ride starts at 4am tomorrow. I've got two nights booked, but have no idea how much time, if any, I'll spend in the motel the second night. At the very least I'll be showering and changing, which by itself will be worth the $50 that I think the room is costing me. If all works out well I'll be showering again on Sunday morning before heading home. It's only an hour drive, but undoubtedly will seem longer.

As for blogging ... don't expect anything until late Sunday. I think that I'll take my PC ... so who knows ... my fingers might need the exercise ... everything else will be tired !

Onward !