Saturday, January 26, 2008

Suckin' Air in the Basement

Today was the Victorian Roller Race in Washington, Iowa. The race occured in the basement of a Bed & Breakfast, sort of an odd location, but adds to the charm of these sadistic events. The Harper's Racing Team was there in full force, here are our results as I remember them:
Greg Harper - 5:56
Bill Ford - 5:43
Jon S. - 6:47
Bill H. - 6:02
Chad B. - 5:25
Very impressive results for us. My time was a personal best, and was good enough to win the event overall! Later Lee Venteicher challenged me to a 'flying mile'. Basically, you take all the resistance off and go as fast as you can for 1 mile. If you can hold 60mph, you will get done in about 60sec. This was a scary experience. The 'flying' part of the title isn't speaking to the speed of the bike, but the very real potential of flying off of the rollers, due to the violent rocking that occurs when you are pedaling on rollers at well over 130 rpm. Do not try this at home... in fact don't ever try this, you could end up on the disabled list before the season even starts.

Pictured is a shot of me pretending to ride my rollers in my pain cave. I was testing my new 'blogging camera' and the timer function.

Note the treadmill sitting next to the rollers. Yes, I run once a week, trying to keep my running fitness within striking distance of doing a couple of duathlons this year. I will get blown away in the run, but they are sprint distances, so I only lose a minute or so, then I can try and gain it back on the bike, and create enough of a gap, that the fast runners, can't catch me on the last leg.
Speaking of time trial cycling. The frame my cousin gave me ended up being to big.
So, I almost got a huge hook up.. I suppose this frame is for sale. It will fit anyone 6' or taller and is an Equinox 11, Carbon Frame with about two seasons of use, stored the other two. The model year is 2004. Great shape, low use.

But, I was so close to having a TT bike, that now there is no turning backSo, I am planning on buying this new Trek Equinox 9.0.
Since I partied with Steve Hed on RAGRBAI last year, I am inspired to purchase the Hed Tri-Spokes (front), and a Hed Lenticular Disc to complete the rig.

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