Thursday, June 16, 2011

Catching up...

The triathlon went better than I had expected. I shaved 13 minutes off of my previous time and placed 75th out of 128. I improved greatly on my transition times. In the future I believe my biggest gains will be found in the running portion. Considering I dislike running, 29:33 for a 5K is not terrible. I could probably focus on a better kick and finds some gains there, though running with cement legs from the bike will not change.

Overall I had a great time and loved the feeling of pushing myself beyond preconceived limits. I don't know if I'll participate next year, as I'm hoping for the Fireweed 200. Eh, maybe I'll do both.

...

Getting older means slowly stripping away all of the little behaviors that I once thought made me cool. This usually happens years after everyone else in the world knows I should give it up. In high school my coolness told me that waiting for the bus in January without a hat was a good plan since only the uncool wear hats. Once I started commuting by bike to UIC I quickly got over any hangups on wearing a skull cap, though it took 7 or so years to complete that mental journey.

I have an aesthetic issue with too much crap on my bike. I like it lean and slick. However, I do not enjoy arriving at work with a mud racing stripe up my back. I've used a removable rear fender before, though it was marginal at best. I'm hoping to commute into the winter which means studded tires and some proper fenders for the cross bike. The Trek XO1 looks a little less sexy with its full Planet Bike fenders, but it was time for me to grow up. I commuted through a steady drizzle this morning and only arrived at work with wet hair. I'm a believer.

The Orbea will not be getting any fenders though.

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