Catnapped



Mrs LoTC testing out her new bike...
I'm so jealous of her Aero-ness!



I was finally able to get the last of the parts I needed to complete the build, barrel adjusters. It's always the silly little things that get in the way of finishing a project. Armed with the parts I needed I was able to cable the entire bike in a matter of minutes. Tuning the gears is always hit and miss. Either it goes impeccably well or a major headache while you fiddle with the fine adjustments. In this case, it was a perfect bullseye right from scratch. Right off the build everything was pretty shifting wonderful. A quick alignment of the front derailleur and the bike is shifting like its brand spankin' new! I don't remember the last time I had a tune go so well, it must be luck experience!

The brakes needed a bit more attention. Getting the tow set right on pads is important if you want to stop well. These rims have groves on them for wear indicators since the campy rims will actually wear out the braking surface in time. How convenient for the manufacturer to have people replace rims not because they are bent or dinged, but because the braking surface is deliberately brittle. Apparently, someone is out to make money.

The bike is more than ridable now. 95.2% complete! All I have to do is rewrap the handlebars to an acceptable color to satisfy her highness, apply decals, apply frame protection, mount the carbon bottle cages and its ready! So close - I'm hoping to complete it all this evening. Now all it needs is a motor....



I was able to finish the bike in time to hit the pool. Talk about a productive evening. At the pool, it was the most packed I have ever seen. Some lanes were even *GASP* SHARING *GASP*!! In the 16 weeks we have been training at this pool, never has anyone had to share a lane and 'swim circles'. Unbelievable, and it wasn't anything to do with leisure swimmers either. Everyone there was in it for the lap swimming. I hope this was just an anomoly because I've been spoiled with our own lane for so long it would be a shame to have to share. I'm such a snob, I know. I wonder if all these people are coming out of the woodwork because tri season is beginning, or maybe a swim meet coming up...?

Its recovery week so the swim was an easy one for me. A regular was astonished to see me accompanied by my Killer Whale for the second night in a row, he even commented on it lol. I took some time to swim with the wife and give her some instruction. I took frequent breaks and cut the workout short by 10 minutes. This extra rest is beginning to pay off, I can feel my energy levels rising substantially compared to earlier in the week.



On the injury front, my foot is still busted. I don't think it is getting any better, but at least it's not getting any worse. I am scheduled for a run tonight, I'm afraid to go. When I am walking, as long as I stay on the inside of my foot I am ok. If I roll to the outside of my foot, I can feel pain the outer edge of the foot where the arch is. It's only 3.5/10 but last time it jumped to a slid 6/10 on the pain scale when I went to run on it. I would at least like to walk, or go for an easy run. It feels better when I walk on something soft, like snow or grass. I am wearing 2 pairs of socks on that foot to give it extra cushion. I would at least like to do my long run this weekend, I don't know what to do. It doesn't bother me at all on the bike. I really want to run because I haven't had one since my long 31Km run last weekend. I would like to test how things feel.



Some wondered where the kittys went to...
I know MattyO & Training Payne miss em' so they're back! :)