Weekly summary

Since my training has more or less kicked off, I won't be blogging every single session. That would just get boring and tedious for all of us. Instead, there will be highlights, kit reviews and weekly summaries, probably on a Sunday.

So, to get going; this weeks training started on Thursday evening; hence the low numbers. Most of the times and distances are fairly approximate, but should give a good idea of how things are going.

Times:
Saddle: two hours
Commute (bike)*: one hour
Run: one hour

Distances:
Saddle: 50 km
Commute: 20 km
Run: 14 km

*Commute times and distances are in addition to the 'saddle' numbers, just not focussed in any way and tipping along at a fairly handy pace.

To add to this, I spent yesterday and today in the saddle with the fixed cog on. It's a very different experience compared with freewheel bikes. When you try to coast you get a not so subtle reminder that this is a no-no by the pedals forcing your feet around. Thank ceiling cat for clipless pedals! Lots of fun, though, especially when in a proper sprint. Doing almost 50 km/hr on the flat with the wind behind me and knowing that I really have to keep pedalling or risk snotting myself horribly is terrifying at the time, but fantastic to look back at. I'm sold on the fixie :)

The new road bike is still in the works, but is gonna wait another few weeks 'til I get up enough kms to justify it and also to get the legs back into the swing of things.

Outlook for the coming week; try to get some more distance in on the bike and feet, push on for intervals in both. Also, I'll be making contact with a rifle club so we'll see what comes of that. I hope my time management has improved since the last time I tried to do more than one thing at a time...

Arrival of the fixie

It finally arrived! After a month of waiting my singlespeed/fixie finally arrived :) This is my first actual road bike, and I have to say I'm very impressed.

I got a rather confused call around half 10 from the warehouse in work asking if I'd ordered a bike. When I got down there, they were incredibly nice, and more than a little curious, so they let me build it up in the workspace down there. I was initially quite surprised at the size of the box; I had convinced myself that it wound't be that big and I'd just be able to carry it back to the office and then home. I was very very wrong.

It came with the front wheel off and the handlebars bubble wrapped and taped to the downtube. I put these on and that was about it, really. Good to go. Apart from the lack of pedals. Despite taking some time to actually send it, Evans Cycles are incredibly good with what you get. I received a little folder thing with information books, a (very useful for building!) multi-tool and a pedal wrench. I did order other stuff with the bike, so I assume they're coming then, whenever that package arrives... Luckily, there was a bike shop open in town that I got some cheap plastic deals while I wait for some better ones to arrive (I've got spds on the way anyway, which I preemptively bought for the road bike). I was, however, almost shouted out of the shop for putting cheap plastic pedals on such a nice bike... The dude calmed down when I told him I just needed these for a few days :D

Once I got home, I couldn't wait to take it for a spin. I spent a few mins getting the saddle height and setback roughly set and then hopped on. First impressions;

1. Incredibly responsive. When I put the hammer down, it can really move, also making a really cool whistle-like sound when going really fast.

2. Very different to a hybrid bike. This is mostly in terms of position, which will take some getting used to I suspect. However, all three main positions: on the hoods; in the drops; and what I call on the drops (hands away from the brake levers, but on the lowest part of the bars) are quite comfortable, though I have a bit of a reach for the hoods. I suspect I will have to get a slightly shorter stem, but I'll wait for another while first.

3. Great handling. I didn't try any sharp turns, but it felt very stable at all times, including going over and through ice and snow, something the rental bike I was using failed miserably at. Even going over these patches at speed was no problem at all.

In general, I'm well happy with it. Light, responsive and pretty damn nice in general. The perfect commuting/training bike. Though most people seem to think it cost well over a thousand to look at. Which is good, meaning it's a nice bike, but bad in that it makes people want to steal it. I may get a better lock for it :D Also, I will try it on the fixed cog and see what it's like. Stay tuned for pics when I get some nice pedals for it. As I was emphatically told, plastic pedals are no way to grace the cranks of a bike like this!