I drove to work to save some time yesterday and I was too busy with stuff around the house to get a run in. So of course I had to get my butt back in the saddle today. I really wasn't looking forward to the ride, but I was pleasantly surprised once I got moving. My legs responded well to the day respite and my new tires felt great. I really am amazed at the difference a new set of tires can make in the feel of a ride. This morning was also different with the return of humid weather. The morning air was anything but the cold that's been hanging around lately. Instead, I found myself completely soaked after only a few miles.

I kept the pace around 30 as normal until a big and powerful rider on a Kestrel Carbon fiber frame pulled in behind me. Oddly enough he joined me after the powerhouse stretch. I almost never pick up riders past that point. Most people are either commuting in the opposite direction or doing a short training ride on that small section. But there he was sitting on my wheel, so I had to roll. I was moving pretty well and he drafted for several miles, then he pulled around and allowed me to draft. I went back in front after we stopped at a road crossing and led most of the way to Orbital. We rode side-by-side for small bit near the end. As I turned to Orbital I think he said something like "good ride."

I felt terrific on the bike this morning. Even after we pushed for a while, my legs were strong and sharp and ready for just about anything. I even enjoyed everything I was listening to today: Baseball Prospectus and Slate Magazine podcasts. It was a good morning to be a bike commuter!

My morning only got better when the bike I've been dreaming about showed up in my office. The Waterford steel frame is feather light and the components are truly top notch. At lunch, Pat and I really couldn't resist a trip to Performance. The trip I guess was to get a spare tube for the 650 wheels of the new bike, but mostly I just enjoy being in a bike shop. I ended up buying a couple tubes and a magazine, along with a pedal wrench so that I could switch my pedals to the new bike (which has none). A good solid Whopper was the meal of the day.

I was rearin' to go once I got the pedals switched out an raised the seat. I couldn't wait to get on the road with this crazy bike. I was really unsure of the handling getting started and I made sure that I let an MIT grad I ran into on the trail know that this wasn't my bike. After a few more miles, I wanted to shout to everyone that it wasn't my bike! Everything felt horrible. I stopped four times to adjust the seat and ended with it as far forward as possible. But nothing I did could make the bike feel right. I felt like I was lying out--which I sure was aerodynamic, but also incredibly uncomfortable. It was maddening to get passed by folks I would normally not even mess with and embarassing to be on such a nice bike going as slow as I was.

There were also a few mechanical issues with the bike. The rear wheel was out of true a bit and as a result the brake made a bad sound when I stopped. There was also a clicking that sounded like it was coming from the rear hub. The noise was only present when I was riding on the bike and not when turning the crank off the bike. But there were also positives about the bike. The light frame felt incredible and it accelerated brilliantly. The Dura-Ace derailleurs made me realize how good shifting can get. The Carbon fork is also very nice and does a great job of damping out bumps in the road. Unfortunately, all these positives were outweighed by how uncomfortable I was. My back and neck were aching by the time I made it home. I was so happy for the two hour trip to finally end and very disappointed that it hadn't been much fun.

There was no computer data for the ride home, and for that I'm thankful. I would have been angry about how slow the trip was. It would have been nice to know my max speed though. The bike is definitely fast as I was able to open it up a bit on some of the straight stretches. But the bike does not fit me at all! Reading the linked article about bike fitting only affirms what I felt. I knew that my forearms needed to be closer to my body. I feel very comfortable in the aero position on my bike and awful on this bike. That's due to the 90 degree angle between the line of my back and my arm on my bike. Looking at pictures of Lance is a good example of proper bike fit for time trial. The top tube on the bike is too long to suit me without a significant reworking of the stem and handlebars.

As for the bike as a total package, here's a breakdown of everything that was on the bike:

Frame: Waterford Custom Steel $ 2,000.00
Fork: Kestrel Carbon Fiber $ 249.00
Wheelset: Sun M14A Rims + Shimano 105 Hub $ 100.00
Race Wheels: Specialized Tri-Spoke $ 1,500.00
Tires: Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX 650x20 $ 109.98
Race Tires: Vittoria Juniores 21"-26" $ 71.98
Shifters: Shimano Dura-Ace 9 Sp $ 79.95
Front Derailleur: Shimano Dur-Ace 9 Sp $ 84.99
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace $ 128.99
Crankset: Cook Brothers $ 149.99
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace $ 138.99
Cassette: Shimano 105 $ 36.00
Saddle: Sella Italia Flite TT $ 139.95
Handlebars: Syntace C2 Clip-On $ 114.95
Stem: Profile Design $ 35.00
Headset: Suntour Superbe Pro $ 44.00
Brakeset: Cane Creek 200 SL $ 234.99
Total Cost: $ 5,218.76


The bike from 'sconsin. 

In a way, I'm secretly happy the bike doesn't fit me. I don't feel bad about passing up on this amazing offer and I can keep dreaming out the bike for me. It's looking more and more everyday like a Cervelo Dual or P2K. I can spend a lot of time making sure I get fit properly and Cervelo blesses us with a plethora of size options.

Dist / Time / Avg / Max / Odo
38.41 / 1.14.28 / 30.9 / 53.6 / 1670.1
38 km on the Waterford