My new bike from Planet X Ireland just arrived, the Koichi San II. Very nice. It’s just a wee bit more aero than my last bike from Planet X. This nonetheless meant work to get it together. The lads from Athlone had put it together but I had to make the final adjustments, etc, etc. This was crucial because I was heading off to Wales very early Tuesday morning to do some aero testing and some training.
To top it all off, there were some machinations with the UCI and the Mexican Federation over who should organise the antidoping tests and the exact details of the logistics and billing, etc. (the question on whether the Mexican Federation, or yours truly should organise it. The UCI said it would be quicker if I did it. So I got a list of contacts from the UCI, and contracts for someone to show up down there).
The net result of all of this was STRESS that I didn’t need.
Anyway, up early Tues, the Rosslare-Irish Ferries to Wales, and then traffic jam in the middle of Wales from Pembroke to Newport meant I arrived at my Aerocoach testing session with Xavier with only 10mins to spare, after a 7 hour trip that started at 6am.
We also did a computer scan and measurements and are getting a custom skinsuit made up by Nopinz. This might be worth more than we hope as I’m impossible to fit a normal skinsuit being too thin and too tall (about 190cm and 69 kg).
The testing went very well. I won’t give exact figures, but as you might guess, I’m already VERY aero, but we identified between 10-15w more potential savings. The task of trying to get the cockpit of the bike into this position so it is most comfortable still remains, and I’m working on that today before heading to Sundrive.
The training the next day also went well, but I’m still not perfect on my lines. As you go faster and faster on the indoor track, your wheels actually go up the track more and more (than a non-tracky would realise). So your head is like hanging over the blue and the sponges but your wheels are actually to the right of the black line. If you’re not riding the minimum distance, this could add about 500m after circa 200 laps. So I felt like I was nailing the black line, but in fact I wasn’t. I had hire a coach for the afternoon, and we worked on it, so hopefully, I’ll get it down. I’ll be out in Mexico for three weeks ahead of time. I had a few chats with AguaBlue Sport man Martin Irvine, Hugh Byrne (Track Commission), and Brian Nugent (Cycling Ireland) about the lines and strategies, and generally picked their brains for any tidbits that might help.
In terms of watts, I was holding longer efforts between 280 and 320. These are going up on STRAVA occasionally, and I’m there under my name.
Thanks for reading and please visit the sponsors and support the charities.
Redwood Designs
Neenan Travel Cycling
Abundant Venture Partners
Usher Insulations
High 5
Black Rose
Cigala Cycling
Planet X
AeroCoach
NoPinz
And please support the charities if you can.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Greg-Swinand4
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