My legs weren't feeling too sharp after all the miles this week, so I took it easy on the ride in. I spent a lot of time up on the regular handlebars and out of the aero position. The weather this morning was again chilly and it took a while for me to warm-up completely. The weather is terrific for everything except keeping my forearms warm. My average of 27 kmph back me up on my taking it easy claim.

I had to work late in the Flight Software Lab, so I didn't leave Orbital until 7p. That put me out the door right at dusk and I knew that eventually I'd be riding in darkness. It was nice to be out riding in the evening. There weren't very many folks on the trail and the air was cool, but not cold the way it is in the morning. It also felt like the wind wasn't as strong, but that's probably just because I continued to take it easy. One definite advantage to riding at dusk is the wildlife. I saw more than fifteen deer on the sides of or crossing over the trail. You definitely don't see that during peak hours. I also spotted what appeared to be a PowerTap hub on the back of a Trek pulling off the trail--the first I've seen in person.

When I got to the hill at 66, it was completely dark and visibility was poor in areas without lighting from the street. I had a few harrowing passages of other cyclists headed in the opposite direction. For that reason, I again spent most of my time on the regular handlebars, with my hands poised on the brakes. For the most part it was safe, but I do not want to make a habit of riding in the dark without lights. Riding past people on the trail wasn't nearly as annoying as riding through Arlington without lights. Obviously it's not smart to ride with cars when you have no lights, but I didn't really have a choice. I tried to ignore all the honking behind me.

I finally did make it home around 8:30p and my new tires were there to greet me. I've never had tires that come folded up like these do. They don't have much shape to them when you take them out of the packaging. Just seems like a loop of rubber. But I installed one edge of the tire, then added the tube, slightly pumped up, and then snapped in other edge of the tire. Not too hard once I got the hang of it. But unless these tires hold their shape better after they've been used, then changing a flat quickly will be very difficult. I must say though, that these tires look really fast. Not only are they an upgrade from my 28 mm tires to 23 mm tires, the red stripes make 'em look sweet. I assume that my $45 per tire also bought me the Ironman logo on the side.


Michelin Ironman Tires 

I spent the rest of the night giving my bike the usual pre-race shake down. I cleaned the chain and rims/spokes of all the grit and grime of the last two weeks and gave the rest of the bike a general cleaning. It didn't require nearly the effort that it did before my last race. Some Simple Greeen on a rag does my bike a lot of good. I did find two minor problems in the adjustment, however. Somehow my derailleur hanger had worked itself slightly loose from the frame. I tightened that back down with an allen wrench. Also, the lockring on my cassette was loose and consequently, the first two cogs of the cassette were able to move freely from the rest of the body. I tightened that back down my freewheel remover. Hopefully those two adjustments will take care of the shifting problems I've had this past week.


Clean Bike, Ready to Race 

By the time I finished with my bike and had supper while watching the Pats game, it was midnight and time to hit the sack. Packing for the trip South will have be quick after work if I plan to get any sleep before the race Saturday morning. Not sure yet whether I'm going to make it to Albemarle or whether we'll have to go directly to China Grove and sleep in the car. We'll see. Hopefully driving into work tomorrow and resting on the way down will rejuvenate my legs a bit.

1500 km and counting . . .
Dist / Time / Avg / Max / Odo
37.78 / 1.22.08 / 27.6 / 47.4 / 1495.8
37.91 / 1.23.12 / 27.3 / 48.0 / 1534.2