LOTS of stuff going on, pulling me in about a thousand different directions. It seems like about every post I've put up lately has been scatterbrained, and this one is no exception. Bear with me, I think there's some good stuff if you can pick through the ravings :)
First, there's a project that has been looming in the background of my life. It all started last year when I noticed a crack in the top tube of my Scott CR1. Being that I had not taken the time/care to go have my CR1 stamped/checked once a year (really...) it was out of warranty. Nobody was sure whether or not it was a crack in the carbon or a crack in the paint... so, only one way to find out, sand part of it down and see what's beneath.
It wasn't cracked (woohoo) but then I was at a crossroads. I could do some touch up and go back to riding... OR... I could take the rest of the paint off of it. Of course the tinkerer in me was up for the challenge (although as you could guess, the apathetic part of me was not) and so after quite a few snags (including having a little of the weave come undone and finding some deep snags in the carbon) I'm finally ALMOST ready to put it back together. The one thing I did want to do (besides throw a layer of carbon back over the area's that came loose) was add a little strength to the BB area. Scott seemed to have done a mediocre job there, as I've read a couple of (probably exaggerated) horror stories about the older CR-1's shell just coming out under load. And so I guess I'll tell the story with pictures...
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Step 1: Cutting the shape that will be applied.
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Step 3: After a healthy bit of epoxy (Which is step 2: sorry, no picture as I was on a fairly fast timeline before it dried) and then since I am too poor to afford a vacuum bag system, the ghetto route of taping.
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Then, we wait for 24 hours
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Voila! A tougher Bottom Bracket. Here's where the vacuum bag would have made things more even,
but some light sanding and a little filler should work too.
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So, with any luck I haven't totally %$#!*'d up my Scott, I guess we're still some paint work (and re-assembly) away from knowing for sure though.
So as that project is going on I've also been working on building up the Cervelo. The Scott 100k bars have turned out to be a bit of work to get set up (needing to find independent pad mounts and brakes that would work on the bar was a bit of a headache.) but now we're finally back to being ready to start working on the fit and finish the setup. Here's a picture from yesterday. (just installed the pads... which are part of an old Deda Elementi I found on Ebay for $5!)
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What color Handlebar Tape... That's the important question here... Maybe American Flag to really set it off :)
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Speaking of bike fit... here's the thread I started on Beginner Triathlete that goes on about fit. We've gotten de-railed a bit on and off, but I think there is some good info in there. The main takeaway shouldn't be listening to me or anyone else specifically, but just to open yourself up to the possibility that you could go lower, you could go higher, more fore/aft, or whatever... don't be afraid to experiment (just write down your current measurements before you change something... and for Zeus' sake, lower your friggin saddle.)
Finally, on the long term scale, I signed up for Age Group Nationals in 2014. I (along with my coach) have decided that next year (and the rest of this year) will end up being a bit of a transition phase back toward long distance racing. Less sprints (although likely still quite a few) and less bike racing, more Oly's and 1/2's with a heavy emphasis on going to Milwaukee in the best shape of my life. Rolling off that I'll probably move directly into Full Ironman (Lou or Chatt one) training, hopefully with a lot more speed to work with. The original goal was to do that in 2014, but with the goal of sub 10hrs, I think another year of working on getting as fast as possible is worth the time.
Next week... who knows what I'll have to talk about. The week after I'll be gone on vacation so updates may be sporadic then... but hopefully I won't be totally silent.
Until next time, thanks so much for reading
-Christopher Morelock
edit:
Picture of the fit
edit:
Picture of the fit
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