Goings On....

So there hasn't been much to report on the racing front but its not because I haven't been, uh, going to races. A week ago I was coming off the worst allergies I have had this year right before Lago Vista. It was the 20th anniversary of the race so they ran it backwards which meant you went up the steep side and down the gentle side. Unfortunately it was a weird/bad day that culminated in the first asthma attack I have had in 4 years and pulling out after just 2 laps. My next race experience was at the Cronometro TT which is a prep TT for Fayetteville. It was a comedy of errors that included missing my start time and learning to always race prep your bike to make sure its ready before you go to the race.

In spite of all this I have had good sessions on the trainer and I've been staying busy. After about a year with SRM and no complaints whatsoever, I started looking at other options. The new TT bike I have has a BB30 bottom bracket that I was using adapters on to run the SRM but it didn't feel like it was working as smoothly as I would like. Also, I want to buy a new road bike frame next year but the frame I want won't work my version of the SRM. This presented 2 options, upgrade to wireless SRMs (very expensive, both initial cost and maintenance but it's the gold standard for power meters) or the wireless Quarq Cinqo (half the cost, easier and cheaper to maintain, and developing an excellent reputation). I went with the Quarq Cinqo because of the price, the ability to use it as a true BB30 but still have the flexibility to switch cheaply in the future, and ease of maintenance. I also went back to a Garmin Edge 500 for the computer versus the old SRM PCV. The Garmin doesn't have as big a display as the SRM but it provides a lot more functionality, a more customizable display, and easier interface so it has been nice having it back.

Quarq Cinqo (sorry for the bad iPhone photos)

My other project was taming the insanity that was the garage. There were plastic tubs and a chaos of bike parts and tools. Any activity meant moving stuff around to get to what I needed and lots of searching for the tools amidst the mess. I finally went out and decided to try my hand at some DIY garage organization. I bought some lumber and built a shelf/work bench along with some peg board and organized my bike area. It worked out well and opened up a large area around the bikes so that I can now easily get on the trainer or set up the bike stand and work on the bikes without moving anything or taking the car out of the garage.

All this stuff now fits in such a small area and its so easy to find!!!