April Training Brings Something in May

I’ve got a lot to cover in this post since I haven’t done a substantive posting since the Barry Roubaix Race Report back in March. To start things off, my new race bike is built and ready to roll! I present the Orbea Alma Hydro 29er.

 

I decided it was time to upgrade the trust Access XCL 29er, as well as work on the components.

Well it isn’t all new. The Reba Fork and the wheelset were already in my possession. Here are the stats:

Crankset: Shimano Deore XT 39-26

Front Derailleur: Sram XO-2 speed

Rear Derailluer: Sram X9-10 speed

Shifters: X9 Trigger

Brakes: Shimano SLX Ice Tech (from old bike)

Handlebar: Random Niner flat bar, 680 mm

Fork: Rock Shox Reba RL 100mm

Chain: Sram 1071

Cassette: Sram 1070 11-32

Saddle WTB Race V

Wheelset: Stans Arch 29er

Tires: Maxxis Crossmark UST (rear) Continental Mountain King II, Black Chili (front)

Grips: Some cool Bontrager grips I bought locally but can no longer remember the name.

The bike works great, although the extremely short chain stays took some time to get used to. Great for tight courses, but I have found that in fast accelerations I sometimes pop the front wheel off the ground. Also, the seat post clamp sucks. As I ride I notice that my knees seem to be moving up. Sure enough, the post just continues to slip, even when the bolts are fully tightened.

As for the engine side of the new bike, April has been an up and down month. My hours are a bit lower, and there was less organized training. Work has picked up quite a bit, so that certainly has had an impact. Additionally, I think there was a bit of post Barry Roubaix complacency. I see the Barry Roubaix as one of my primary races for the year, so following the good result, a inadvertently seemed to drop the level of intensity, Part o that is understandable, that after a hard race I drop back the intensity for a short period. Unfortunately, I had trouble getting the intensity back.

Also discouraging was watching Strava and seeing riders I race against getting more time on the bike, and getting faster throughout the month, while work, and some cycling advocacy duties, took up my time. Finally, last week was going to be a big comeback week. I planned to do a long ride home on Friday from work, and then two longer rides, with an emphasis on single track, on Saturday and Sunday. All of this was to be on the new bike. The weather for all three days was beautiful.

On Friday, I left work and headed to the eastside of downtown to swing my some a friend’s house, where my wife and a few others had gathered to have after work drinks.  I figured I would stop by, say hi, and then continue on to a nearby park which has a nice rolling 1 mile gravel loop, perfect for sprints. Unfortunately, I never made it. In making my way east, I got turned around and found myself on Rural St, a rather busy, and not very good quality road way. Cursing my less than stellar navigation, I got a gap traffic and tried to sprint to an alleyway about a block north. I got out of the saddle, accelerated, and then heard a sharp snapping sound and suddenly found my cranks spinning freely and myself going over the handlebars. In the matter of a second, I was almost over the bars, somehow pulled myself back down to the saddle, but in the process I lost control, my front wheel hit the curb (like a 8 inch high curb), and I crashed onto the gravel covered side walk and slid.

My first thought was that I had just screwed up my brand new bike. This lasted for a millisecond before being replaced with how much pain I was in, and the realization I was bleeding profusely.

Thanks to the gentleman in the old Cadillac who slowed down and “advised” me that I better get my bike out of the road. Please note, I was still on the sidewalk stunned and not moving at this point.

I got up, pulled my bike out of the street, retrieved the broken Sram 1071 chain from the road, and called my wife for assistance. She and our friends arrived a few minutes later with first aid supplies and ice packs. I went back to their house where I proceeded to junk out the newly refinished shower with dirt and blood. Sorry L

I had deep cuts on my arm and leg and road rash all down my right side. The good news was that I was able to get out for my planned rides on Saturday and Sunday and got some good time in for the bike.  I was hurting and stiff through it all, but everything on me, and the bike, seemed to work.

My recovery continued this week in lead up to the kick off of the DINO series. The Tune Up practice race is set for this afternoon at Town Run, which will be my first Category 2 race. I had a good training session out at Town Run on Thursday, but we’ll see how everything works out. Weather is perfect, with a bit of rain yesterday to knock down the dust and hopefully help with traction.