Bike tech. Lynskey Performance Cycles

Because I am an avid cyclist, and many of the people currently following this blog aren't, I thought I'd do a post on basic bike tech, as well as an overview of what my bikes are, and my preferences. http://www.lynskeyperformance.com/a/pages/frames-products/road/cooper.php The frame that I'm riding a version of now. As Travis puts it, "a balls out race bike". Fitting description. So, you go to the page, you see that beautiful piece of bike, and you wonder, "well, what makes it good enough to charge $1595 for just the frame?" Lemme tell you. It is made out of Titanium, which makes for the one of the absolute best frame materials in the world (this is from personal experience people, I *love* it!). A Ti frame won't break or snap like carbon fiber or aluminum can. You can (as Travis puts it) "crash it, lay it down, and never have to worry about it breaking. Never." Well, that sounds pretty convincing right? Ok, there are downsides. Due to the characteristics of Ti, the building process is hard, and expensive. Many companies produce carbon fiber and aluminum frames, however only a few are capable of making a good quality Ti frame. That pushes the final price of the frame up, thus making new riders (such as myself a few years ago) take a tendency to frown on Ti, as something not worth the money. Also, the material isn't the lightest for frame building. Carbon fiber, and aluminum frames can be made light, ridiculously so in some cases, but Ti isn't as light. All of these characteristics make for a frame material that is rarely seen, if ever. I can tell you one thing: If you took a test ride on a Lynskey, that you would fall in love. It may not be light, it may be expensive, and it might not be 'high-modulus carbon fiber', but it rides like a dream. One of those dreams you wish you would never wake up from. Try it. See if you don't agree with me.

Training, whats been happeneing

So, as you might have read in my previous post, I recently lost my bike (well.. a little more complicated, although not necessarily less stupid. Read the previous post) so, as one might guess, training has been a little slack. I have this nasty feeling I might have done something to a muscle in my leg, I think its called the IC band. The scientific name is iliotibial band, and its a large muscle that runs down the outside of your leg, pretty much from your butt down to your knee. Its been rather sore, and it *almost* feels like I pulled it, possibly from not lowering the seat on my loaner bike enough. I put this muscle rub stuff called biofreeze on it last night, and it actually helped, so hopefully its just soreness, and not a pulled muscle. Anyway, back to my training. Due to the previously mentioned reasons, I had about a week off the bike. I enjoyed it, but as the week wore on I realized more and more that I really missed biking (not the stress from a strict training regimen, but just the thrill of going fast and being competitive :) and I was starting to get concerned about how much fitness I was losing. After talking to Travis, I was able to get a loaner (Lynskey Cooper CX with Campy Athena), so am now able to resume working out, even if it is with substantially smaller gearing than I'm used too. But, beggars can't be choosers ;) I just don't feel like so much of a beggar tho.. the Lynskey has such a smooth dream-like ride, that I actually really love riding it, even with it as heavy as it is, and with 28c tires. (I usually ride 23c, significantly faster on smooth pavement) Point is, I'm actually somewhat glad that my bike got trashed/stolen. I had been wanting a new bike for a while, but haven't had the funds or the reason too. So now, dealing with the hassle of getting an insurance check is about my biggest ache, because I'm riding the best riding bike I have ever had the luxury of riding, and one that I can get for much cheaper than the retail of my old one. Nuff' said.

Well... mishaps and such.

Soo... after racing Carl Dolan, I was on my way home with my dad, and we were going at about 65mph on 32. My dad heard this noise, and suddenly looked in his rear view mirror.... and saw my bike laying in the fast lane. We got off the next exit, and backtracked. We got to the place where we thought it fell off, and it wasn't there. After about 20min of fruitless searching, we reluctantly headed home. So, as it sits now, we're waiting for the insurance company to get back to us. We filed for theft, as the approximate estimate at MSRP of my bike was about $7000. I'm hoping to get on a new bike soon, but can't afford to go out and buy one yet, so I have a loaner from Travis @JRABS in Laytonsville. Btw, Titanium makes for an AMAZING ride! Anyone reading this, who cycles, should get a Ti bike. Nothing like it :D

50 mile 2hr 45min ride

Soooo, after consulting with my soon to be coach, Hugh, I will be heavily modifying my workout schedule. I currently am not prepared for the longer races at the college level, and I want to change that. My first workout at this level (well..sorta) was this Tuesday. I usually would be doing a ride out of Laytonsville with a group of riders, but, due to the inclement weather, I decided to go out earlier in an attempt to avoid it. In doing this, however, I had to ride by myself, thus exposing myself to the wind constantly. I started out somewhat easily, know that I couldn't push myself too hard. Anyway, fast forward to about 1.5hrs into the ride, and I hit a headwind. For any of those who ride, you know what I'm talking about. Headwinds are nasty, especially if you are by yourself, because then you don't have anyone you can hide behind to shelter from the wind. After about 30-45min of head/sidewinds, I was pretty tired, and almost ready to bail. I was able to finish the ride, but, as I was rolling into Olney, well...the rain finally got there. I was thoroughly soaked and dead tired but content that I had ridden to the best of my present ability. I avg'd 195watts for the entire ride, a decent amount, and only slightly less than I had been doing in rides of up to an hour less. I'm racing with the Cat 3 guys this Saturday at Chantilly, so that'll be fun! Race report soon!!

B.

First post

Hey all, this is a blog I should have created a long time ago, detailing both my training and racing. Join the action!