Thank you sir may I have another. Another bike ride that is.

It has been a few weeks sense the Echo triathlon. I have been making good on my promise to become faster on the bike. I have made some modifications to the bike and the rider. Fist off I basically stopped running and started biking almost every day. I even rode my bike to work last week (16 miles each way). I can feel my legs and arms getting stronger. I would have not guessed that riding my bike would increase the strength in my triceps, but sure enough I feel it. The other changes I have made are to my bike. within 48 hours of the Echo race I had found some used aero bars on ksl.com for $25. They may not be the fanciest or lightest bars but I notice that the give me about .5 - 1 mph fast when in the aero position.


The advice from everyone that I asked basically came down to 3 things.
1. Ride more. You need more time in the saddle to get faster.
2. Aero is faster, period. Hence the aero bars.
3. Lighter more aero wheels are faster.

I am pretty sure that more time riding can't be completely accomplished in a month. I think it is a years type thing. That being said I ride every ride like it is the most important thing in my training. I don't ride to just ride, I am working on speed and power. They may not be there for the IronMan this time, but we will see.

My budget for bike parts was blown long ago. Wheels were pretty much out of the picture. That being said, I found a little side work and my CPA had a set of sub 1500 grams semi aero wheels just hanging in his garage. He said he would let me try them and if I wanted the I could buy the for $350.





Oh yea I want them. They are faster. The speed comes in the form of getting up to speed. They just seem to spin faster and stay faster. I am sure there is some science to it, but faster is faster.

My ironman race is in 13 days and I plan on starting a quick taper starting Thursday morning. I would prefer a full two week taper, but I still needed to put some miles on the bike. Tomorrow and Thursday I will be riding to work again. By next week I will be just keeping loose and not trying to put in any real distance. I want to be completely rested.

Today was a busy day and I only swam a mile this morning and I went for a quick run tonight. Interestingly, I ran almost 5 miles all under an 8 minute mile. That is quick for me. I think the bike might be helping the run. It is however making the swimming harder with my arms being tired.

One last interesting note. I weighed 206 when I had my heart surgery. This morning I weighed 195.5! I know that if I get to 185 my running gets a lot faster.