Racin' and Trainin'

Tuesday was another very hard kermese. I prefer not to bore you with the details, but I was popped after and hour and a half. There were 20 turns within a 7 km distance and they threw in a cobble section for good measure. No hills, no wind, so not my kind of racing. I went with so many attacks I thought I was going to die. I didn't die, but I did pop myself after an hour and a half. I just worked too hard, and was a bit too aggressive. Good thing is that I WAS aggressive, but I need to tone it down a notch and allow myself to recover at times. I know I can finish these races, I just have to pick the right moves and ignore the others.

In other news I had a professional bike fit done by Franz, the same guy that fits Axel Merkx, and a number of other top pros. I had heard incredible things about this guy. He had one of our guys buy a new frame because his wasn't even close to correct, another guy he raised the seat 4 (that's right I said 4, four) cms, and then put on a 130 mm stem instead of a 100 like he had. Those are the most extreme cases, but most have huge changes. I was expecting bad things.....and after an hour of measurements, tests, and movements he sat down with his numbers to create my perfect bike. After all that, it came down to my frame was almost perfect. The headtube is too long by one and a half cms (which I can't change) and the seat angle is of by 3 degrees (another thing I can't change). The top tube was perfect, and my seat tube is perfect too, so the major things are ok. My stem was 5mms short, but with my handlebars, it works because the reach from the tip of the seat to the shifters is perfect. The only thing he changed for me was he raised my seat 1 cm, and moved the seat forward by 1 cm, meaning I was pretty close to perfect on my own measurements. My shoe cleat placement was correct too (a huge accomplishment considering that 99% of people get it wrong).

I have a copy of my measurements for when I'm retired from cycling and decide to buy my full custom steal frame I will have that part already done. It was really cool to experience that. I had never had a bike fit done before, I always calculated everything on my own using the Edmund Burke system, and apparently that's close. I'm glad I did it here, it cost me 60 Euros instead of $150 back home. A savings of almost $75.

In other news I think I have found the perfect ride food. I downloaded the recipe for Chocolate-peanut butter no-bake cookies. After they solidified they held their shape, didn't melt even when it was over 30C, and went down easy after 2 hours of sprints. I'm going to have to play with the recipe a bit, I need to eliminate some of the simple sugars (it called for 2 cups of suger), yet still remain solid and non-melting. It's a work in progress to find the perfect ride food, but I'm determined to do it.

Next race is Tuesday. A UCI 1.2 in Hoboken (no not New Jersey). This will be my hardest race so far. It's 180 kms and the field will be top level. We're talking pro-am racing. Think NRC but 4 notches higher. So check back for that update in a few days.