Monthly Archive for February, 2006

When compared to last year, I have put in more miles (113.2 for Feb 2005 versus 190.8 for Feb 2006), but its now time to get more serious about training. The rest has been great, however, without any significant gains in hill climbing or speed increases, my chances in this coming Wasco will be slim. 

Shaving 3 pounds off of my Micro was a great moral booster for me and has given me insight as to how to shave my weight, currently at 205 pounds (winter has not been kind) and bringing it down to under 190 pounds (very doable with out too much pain - ok, maybe a little, I love my chilidogs with cheese). Every little bit counts - that extra cheese burger, milk shake, browne, chillidog (love my dogs) that I can do without will help in the long run. When not burned as calories or used to build muscle, these “extra” goodies are not so good… especially during the winter months when activity is lower.

February is looking to be a slow month for me… not bad really… as the slower pace and lower weekly milage will allow my body to heal and be a better cyclist (just have to remind myself of this!) 

The whole point of riding is to have fun, when it stops being fun, then there is a problem… 

I should have photos shortly of all the changes I made to the trike - it does look pretty cool.

Friday I finally finished all the changes and modifications to my trike - shaved off 3 pounds! I did a short test ride on the trainer, and all appears to be in working order. 

Saturday I finally was able to ride outside! - I rode for 57 miles, 3.5 hours later. I do need to do some more training outside as I’ve become accustomed to the trainer. Hopefully more dry weekends are ahead!

Getting my trike ready for this year’s riding season has been quite a challenge. I replaced all the cables with Aztec Powerlines, replaced my Shimano Deore mechanical disc brakes with Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes, replaced my Shimano Deore brake levers with JTEK levers, replaced my Shimano Dura Ace 9 speed chain with a SRAM PC99 hollow pin 9 speed chain, replaced aging innertubes, removed my rear fender, shortened my chain tubes, general cleaning of parts before they are put on the trike.

Looking back, the hardest part of the whole process is finding the time to get everything taken apart and put back together.

I’ll be riding the trike tonight on the trainer for a normal training session, and hopefully, Saturday’s weather will hold and I’ll be able to put some real miles on outside.

I will be taking pictures of the changes and putting them online here shortly.

Tonight I’ll finish my trike project, and get ready for this weekend. This whole week looks to be dry! Looking forward to this coming Saturday and I plan on a 50 miler!