After two years of owning, riding and modifying my old Fuji Roubaix 2.0, I finally decided to take the leap and get a better bike frame. Thanks to Tricia for making this possible!
Behold the Argon E80
It feels lighter and looks insanely better. I will slowly lower the stem as I ride it more and them eventually cut the excess on top. Slamming is the way to go! I rode a size 49 bike and Argon only had a 52 as its smallest size so I was a bit worried that this bike wouldn’t fit me well. My initial ride around the subdivision was good though. It felt lighter and it felt a lot easier to go up the climbs. I did an easy 90 minute spin on the trainer with the new bike and I think it fits me well. I will need to do a lot more tweaks though. Hoping for a long lasting relationship with this one!
After a long hiatus from the road, I finally brought out my bike again. It deserved some good road time after its long hours on the trainer. I made my way to Aguinaldo to do a tri sim and it did not disappoint.
The pool was clean and I had it all to myself. It was no wonder that I’d be the only one there though; Who swims at 2 in the afternoon anyway?
I swam 1000 meters. It felt surprisingly easy at first. A thought that did not cross my mind because I haven’t had any pool time for over 1 week already. The first 500 felt fast and easy. The next 500 felt slow and sluggish. I thought I was doing well even with the reduced pool time but the last 500 felt a bit more sluggish than the first. The lack of chlorine time was catching up to me.
I finished the 1000 meters in about 19 minutes. Not bad for some reduced pool time. I’d add a minute or two to that time though because I was kicking off the wall too much in the last 500.
Next up was a 30 kilometer bike ride around Aguinaldo. Everybody knows I suck at the bike and I only have myself to blame for my lack of ability to keep a decent speed. I suck at narrating my bike ride but in summary, I mashed as hard as I could. I managed to finish the 30 kilometers in 67 minutes. Not bad. Could have been faster if I was the only one on the road.
I started running at around 3:40 in the afternoon. The sun was raging more than ever. With the passion of a thousand burning supernovas, the sun was staring me down. It was hard to keep a decent pace. The mixture of heat and jello legs were really slowing me down. I cut me run short and accepted defeat. There will be other days to run. That was a good 2 kilometer run to end the tri simulation.
What can I take away from all of this? One thing is for sure. I need to keep on training. I would bet my bike that even if the heat wasn’t as bad as when I started running, I would have still bonked. I am not a fast cyclist. I reached a milestone by almost doing a sub 60 30 kilometers. It felt alright but as soon as I started running, my legs were out of energy. I need to bike time to compensate my severe lack of talent.
I just made a lot of weird updates on my bike. It looks so unconventional now but I think it will do the job.
I moved the arms pads a bit closer to me. It feels a lot more comfortable now. I think I can manage a lower more aggressive drop. If I can manage to mount the aerobars under my handle bars, I think I can achieve that. I must slam them some more. My stem can’t be further slammed because it has reached the slam limit.
I butchered my handle bars. I wanted my bike to look like a tri-bike. I think it looks the part. A switch to proper brake levers and bar end shifters is in the horizon for me if I can manage to enjoy this look.
Behind me is an improvised tool kit. The clear bottle holds my tools and an extra inner tube. I also have that canister thing that is used for flats. Haven’t had the chance to use it yet in a race and I am hoping that I never get to. This looks so unorthodox. I should get a seat mounted rear bottle holder instead of this.
Dimsum and Siomai 30 Days of Sweat Challenge Update:
Day 1: 80 Minute Spin at 80 RPM
Day 2: 30 Minute Run in the Morning. 45 Minute Spin and 15 Minute run in the evening.
Day 3: 4 Sets: 13 Bicep/Tricep Curls, 13 Plato Lifts, 40 crunches
Day 4: 60 Minute Spin
Day 5: 30 Minute Run. 80 Minute Spin.
Day 6: 2.5 Hour Fun Ride. Up – Ateneo – Up. 30 Minute Run
Day 7: 90 Minute Spin. 30 Minute Run.
Day 8: 30 Minute Run.
Day 9: 60 Minute Morning Run.
Day 10: 10 Minute Insanity Workout.
Day 11: 4 Kilometer run.
Day 12: Weight training
Day 13: 50 Minute Spin.
Day 14: 30 Minute Interval run. Weight training.
Day 15: 90 Minute Spin.
Day 16: 2500 Meter Swim.
Day 17: 60 Minute Spin.
Day 18: 2500 Meter Swim.
Here I am again trying to make the most of my TV series addiction. I first made amends with myself playing PS3 so much by spinning while playing. It was great. The feeling of guilt for playing all day was nullified because I was training on the bike as well. It limited my playing time to about 2-3 hours too. I made it a point to stop playing when I stop spinning.
Here I am again faced with another opportunity to make the time I spend in front of the idiot box a lot more productive.
I spun for a good two episodes of Doctor Who last night. That was a good two hour spin coupled with a good sense of accomplishment and a sense of entitlement for having progressed in the series that I am so addicted to right now. I am currently wrapping up season 4 and I have three more episodes to go. I cannot wait to see how it ends. A three hour spin tonight will reveal how the Doctor will fare in the end of the season.
I could not help but wonder why I thought of this just now. How much stronger on the bike could I have been if I started spinning when I started watching season 1. I do have 2 more seasons to go and that’s a guaranteed 26 hours of spinning. Good times and heavy legs are up ahead.
I took the liberty of going to MOA this morning to do a test on myself. I wanted to check if I can finally hit below 60 minutes on my 30k. It was quite a chore getting out of bed earlier but I trudged on. The cold weather hasn’t really been kind to my waking up early routine but I had to. The drive to MOA was a little light since it was still very early. I managed to hit MOA a little before 6 am. I parked, set up my bike, and then rode off.
I started off light at first. I was surprised that I managed to get up to around 28 to 30 kph on the small chain ring. I guess those butt numbing hours on the trainer is finally paying off. I would average at around 1:55 – 2:10 per kilometer which was well in target for a sub 60 finish for the 30 kilometers.
The 60 minute finish was well into the horizon up until kilometer 25 but fatigue started to creep in. My legs started to feel heavy and I could spin at a decent rpm anymore. I switched to the big chain ring to compensate for the reduced cadence. Instead of getting a bit faster, it wrecked my thighs a lot more. I had a hard time spinning on the heavy gears. I barely glanced 30kph on the last 5 kilometers.
I pushed on and tried to finish under 70 minutes and I did. I clocked in my 30 kilometers at around 63 minutes. It was a decent effort but I still didn’t hit sub 60. It’s back to the trainer for me tomorrow and Friday and a loooong ride on Saturday. Here’s to hoping that I can hit sub 60 next week. This will surely prepare me for the Sprint Triathlon that I have on June 12.
Spun easy for the next 6 kilometers and then, I called it a morning. Good workout!
Spun easy for the next 6 kilometers and then, I called it a morning. Good workout!