Ooooo

Quick reply to Chris's msg as I can't use the comment thing?

Yeah. Heard of them - Will's Wheels, Thankyou. Need to be cheap, well, good value! Debating whether to respoke ( £200 ish for the spokes I want) or to just buy a new set. I will never buy a wheel set with straight pull spokes again ( no matter the advantages, if any) as they are non existant in this country ( spokes)!!! My dura ace are bleedin' straight pulls too, bugger and the hubs needed adjusting straight away from factory. Great until something goes wrong.
I've heard it all before that hand builts are the way to go and I ignored advice. Next sets will deffo be hand builts using traditional J's. Maybe I could change hubs and get the spokes I want for cheap but I love my Bontrager xxx carbon hubs (DT 240's) and any new hub wont be anywhere near as good. Arghghggggghhhhh.


TUESDAY COMMUTE

Hamstrings, hips and glutes are all aching like mad. Did not get out of breath once because my legs just wouldn't let me. Climbing was excruciating and slow however on flats and slight inclines I was zipping along. ....

Guess what?  I changed my positioning again and again.....My findings are that I can use virtually any position when fully recovered and have a good ride  but when fatigued, with a higher saddle height, I struggle badly.  I have been studying pictures of pros in a cycling photography book by pro cycling magazine. I had to figure out which photos the riders were coasting and ignore them as the leg were usually dead straight and gave no clues to technique or saddle position. Then I had to find pictures where riders were at or near the bottom of  pedal stroke and putting some effort in. I have heard of this before but I found that a lot of riders had their heel dropped lower than the cleat/front of foot, which meant that the saddle height had to be lower than I was expecting. Also On my shoes the left cleat is further back than the right  to relieve stress in my left calf but as I was pedalling I have felt the right leg going around 'quicker' than the left  even if I put more effort on left leg so that rules out power difference, I think. The pressure on left leg gets relieved the further back in the saddle I sit so needed lowering more a bit and using the drop heel pedalling technique there needs to be enough room to sufficiently drop the heel at the bottom of the pedal stroke ( lower saddle) so no discomfort on left leg.

Amazingly on the cycle home, with a  Northerly head wind, my pedalling was smooth, cadence felt ultra fast and virtually no discomfort. I still couldn't climb ( sit or standing) or sprint due to fatigue so hopefully that rules out muscle recovery. A few months ago I do remember having one of my best weeks cycling consistency wise with a  lower saddle ( 200miles and every day averaged 18-19-20) but was convinced a higher saddle would give me more power. So despite being tired I had some very good averages.


To Work     Distance 20miles     Av Sp 19.3mph

To Home     Distance 20miles     Av Sp 19.2mph