Tri fun: Introducing Meatloaf

[andygates]

New bike! He's a Lemond Etape - alu frame, carbon fork, mixed Sora/Tiagra/Bontrager bits. Nice. Been used as a review bike so I got a discount that equated to the tri bars, TIme pedals and computer. Took him out for a tri-style spin yesterday and discovered some interesting things:

1) Tri bars are weird but yeah, they are comfy. They'd be more comfy if I didn't have to suck my belly up out of the way of my thighs.

2) Tri bars make you use your hams, glutes and lower back for power. I do not have this conditioning yet, and so today I ache. I use my quads. I use my quads a lot: I stand up, I deliver trod yea unto pedals, I don't do this hamstring spin lark. I am Quadzilla, hear me roar. So... I'll be doing hamstring work. Bah! Worth doing though: I can feel what the Kaiser-line churn-and-gurn could do for speed.

3) 9 miles / swim / 9 miles is hard enough without the pool being so full that there are thirteen people in the quietest lane. It was like a 50s Butlins or soviet holiday camp film. Bloomin' Swim4Free promotion!

4) I can set a bike up just right, just for me, first time. Ninja. And no, it's not excess, it's a 25th cycling anniversary present (!)

Of course he's got a name. My bikes all do. And yes, I wanted to give him something slick (behold the Dark Destroyer!) or silly (call me Bubbles, darling, everyone does) but he picked Meatloaf. Hm. Well, he's very American, retro to the 70s/early 80s when American road riding was cool, and me on a tri bike does have that Loafian mix of wild optimism and likely doom that fits. So Meatloaf it is. Whether I'll be riding like a bat out of hell or having a bad day - two out of three ain't bad - is another story.

Comments

[skean.livejournal.com]

Yes, but what colour is he? Funnily enough, mines a she. All that hard riding and sore genitals just made me think she had to be a girl.

Be interested to see how you get on with Tri bars. Have you/will you set the saddle & post up differently for using them?

Having establised your Ninja cred, I am now going to pester you on bike stuff. Pedals - any recommendations for a klutz who didn't like toestraps and fell over with them on? I could feel the need for them when I went out on the w/e though. All that wasted energy.

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

Time ATAC. Every time.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Like RB says, Time ATAC. SPD as a second choice, but Times are harder to kill and easy to use. Clipless systems are all easier to get out of than toestraps, and very quickly your left leg learns to unclip when you come to a stop. Everyone comes off once, first time, but after that it's a piece of piss. I'll post a photo once I can, showing how I have the setup.

And it's black, of course. With white and midnight-blue bits.

[skean.livejournal.com]

Right leg :-)

ATAC read like an MTB pedal. Still good for the ultra light Tri game? You know, every ounce counts. I've shaved my leg hair for that reason.

[gedhrel.livejournal.com]

You have an ounce of leg hair?!?

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

Tri bars make you use your hams, glutes and lower back for power. I do not have this conditioning yet, and so today I ache. I use my quads. I use my quads a lot: I stand up, I deliver trod yea unto pedals, I don't do this hamstring spin lark. I am Quadzilla, hear me roar. So... I'll be doing hamstring work. Bah! Worth doing though: I can feel what the Kaiser-line churn-and-gurn could do for speed.

Still well ahead of you in that game. Should do wonders for your fixie spinning too.

Oh, except you're getting out of the fixie game by riding your new Le Mond.

Oh well.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Getting out of the fixie game? No no no... just adding a go-faster bike to my stable. The fixie is still great fun in town and definitely a quality training beast. And much much less stealable.

My spin is indescribably sucky. Loaf is light and responsive enough sans fixie flywheel effect to really pulse forward with each tread. That's how mashy I am. Work to be done!

[thudthwacker.livejournal.com]

And much much less stealable.

You know, I was about to ask "why?" when I got the mental image of the attempted theft. Some guy jumps on the bike, begins to pedal away madly, then stops his pedaling while he looks over his shoulder to see if there's pursuit, expecting to coast. Instead, the pedals shoot out from under his feet, the unexpected lack of resistance causes one leg to thump down into the pavement, and then the crank comes around into his calf -- by which point he's groundward bound anyway.

Shit. I'm surprised you don't got to a nice outdoor pub, get a pint, and leave the bike unchained nearby just so you can watch the fun.

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

We do.

Fixie theft is a spectator sport.

For the owner.

This year I'm planning on bumping Blackbird up to around 82" for an evening, for this precise reason.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Here's the reprobate in glorious phone-o-vision: