25 KM Dusk Ride

I was extremely busy this week. It was the last week of classes and while they ended this week, it was time to setup my summer. I never really take any time off from teaching. I’ll be teaching the whole summer, which is good. I had been wanting to go out for a ride for a while, but I only managed to do so on Friday, when I had some free time. This week, I was also covering a few extra posts, which made training in the evenings impossible.

I started the ride at around 6PM. It was a beautiful day, but the sun was scorching, so I preferred to wait until sundown before heading out. Since I lost my sunglasses pouch this week, I also lost the extra yellow lenses for my UVEX cycling glasses. I’ll have to find another pair. I’ve just ordered a pair of Oakley Flak Jackets. We’ll see how they work out. I haven’t been that impressed with UVEX to be honest. The sunglasses with interchangeable lenses have always been wobbly for me, which is unacceptable. The mechanism to switch out the lenses is very tedious, and you can’t really do that on the fly or on a bike.

The bike ride was nice. I completed 25 km in 37:29, which is almost 4 minutes better than my earlier time this week. It felt really good, but honestly, I felt somewhat slow. The compact crank is working out well, but there aren’t many hilly bits on my route, so I guess that a standard crank would work too. However, I’d rather have compact chainrings. They are more polyvalent.

I think I need to stretch more because I felt some of the last ride in my legs while I was riding. It wasn’t much, but I felt it. I guess I’m getting used to riding again. Even though it was really hot, I ride pretty fast, so that’s not really an issue. However, even in the dying dusk, the sun managed to scorch part of my legs. This means that it’s time to wear some sunscreen while I ride.

While there’s no doubt that the carbon fiber Velocite MONC50 wheels improve my overall aerodynamic stance, I think I’d rather train on alloy rims because braking would be a lot better. It’s good that my next bike is about to be built, so I’ll have the Fulcrum Racing 0s to use as training wheels. I know that it’s not an obvious choice, riders would probably use Fulcrum Racing 3s or other cheaper wheels, but I don’t want to have too many wheelsets.

I’m just starting my training again, so it might be a good idea to purchase some cheaper Fulcrums during this summer. Probably Racing 1s or Racing 3s. I stock quite a bit of Fulcrum, so it’s easy to get them. It’s either that or the Mavic K10.

I’m about to receive the Velocite Geos prototype frame, but I haven’t decided what I’ll put on it. I’ll probably put the Di2 for now, including the Fulcrums Racing 0s, which I can switch out when my premium frame arrives in a few weeks. The Geos will most likely sport SRAM Red. I’ve got a bunch of parts ready to go for my next frame. Recon ti cassette, SCS carbon fiber saddle, TRP 960 brakes, and a few other bits.

For a titanium frame, the Velocite Millennium is quite responsive. Even though the weight came in 200g more than I expected, I think it was 1,450g, I can barely feel it. I’m looking forward to comparing it to carbon fiber frames. I decided last year to use a titanium frame for training purposes because of the durability. I’ve taken a few spills last year and I worry that carbon fiber will just snap into pieces when I fall.

On the top of my list, it’s still the TIME RXR Ulteam. TIME has got a special on right now, so I might order myself a frame, if I can sell a few extra.

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Running

weekly km count: 0
monthly km count: 0
yearly km count: 0

Cycling

weekly km count: 50
monthly km count: 25
yearly km count: 100