Hmmm... this week has been a bit sporadic... work / children (damn those summer holidays) - in fact interesting chat with fellow triathlete at yesterday's TT - definitely agreed that it would be best to plan the season's activities to end in early July, as the summer is just crap for getting any sort of consistent training done.
Fri 16/8: Nil
Sat 17/8: TT - North Hampshire Road Club 25 on H25/8.
http://www.strava.com/activities/75353544. Damn you, Accuweather, for being right for a change. Forecast said rain & windy from 2pm... off at 1:49... rain started to tip down at 1:58, and continued to do so until after I crossed the finish line. Very windy (though opposite direction to last rides on this course) - was breathing like a sex pest making a dirty phone call on the outward leg; looked down to see my speed; thought I saw 38kph; thought... no wonder I am out of breath; rain drop cleared from visor; speedo actually reading 30; struggling even to maintain that sort of speed!!! Return leg was rather more fun though. Overall, horrible day out... miserable and cold; found myself freewheeling a couple of times, and had to remind myself that I was meant to be racing; arse hurting (roll on that new kit order); wrists hurting (perhaps I do prefer S-bend tri bars); but that aside, a PB by 30 secs, but totally outclassed by the opposition (about 3rd last lady) - perhaps all the slower folk stay away when the weather is miserable? Now that my times are levelling out a bit, I think I need to start to do some more focused TT training rather than just heading out when I can to ride a slightly random couple of hours as fast as I can. Suppose I ought to break out the turbo and do intervals?
I did however finally get to see the appeal of disc wheels - the eventual winner overtook me, and it is the first time I have ever heard a disc making a nice sound (every one I have ever heard in a triathlon just sounds like something dragging along the ground behind the bike) - perhaps you just need a lot of power (enough to do a 58 for a 25TT) to make one sound good?
Sun 18/8: Vague plan for a lake swim, but him indoors went out for a bike and didn't come back in time... grrrr... Instead took Champ put for a pootle to try and narrow down the source of the odd rattle he is making. Conclusion: it isn't the rear wheel - still get the noise even when he is wearing the TTs real wheel.
http://www.strava.com/activities/75573401. Shameless assault on Church Hill Hairpins segment (you may now refer to me as your majesty...) - it's very rare that I go out deliberately Strava-bagging, but I will admit that I hatched this deliberate and pre-meditated plan as I pootled along, and it is now mine (by all of 2 secs, from the local Strava nemesis). Off to investigate where else the rattle might be coming from now... pedals? BB? leave it to the bike shop tomorrow?
Noticed that very few other cyclists would acknowledge me today - suspect I was breaking too many of the Rules (specifically 7, 11, 30, 31, 32, and one so bad it hasn't even been written about mot using mismatched wheels with different novelty tyre colours on each!)