coast to stretch out the legs. Low gears and even lower effort. A quick coffee up in Encinitas, turn around and a lazy return ride to work. At the base of Torrey Pines I decided to give it a go and push it up the 1.47 miles from park to flashing lights. To the right are the results...
Avg Watts: 383
Avg HR: 180
Time: 6:15
Not exactly flying, but the good news is that its 31 seconds faster, and 23 watts greater than the test I did in March. Faster, Stronger, and 5 pounds Lighter: actually the biggest factor is that I'm riding Smarter. By watching my power output I can manage my energy, keeping my effort consistent. Pretty cool stuff. Now, that being said - watching all that data too closely can make you second guess your efforts, backing off an effort when you should be going for broke. As Robert, a cat 2 racer for Cyclovets put it, when the race goes up the road you either go with the race or you don't - what your power meter says really doesn't matter - you gotta be in it to win it.
I'm also trying out a new pair of shoes - the Continental Attack and Force tires. These Bavarian Beauties are front and rear wheel specific. The front sports a 22mm volume and a claimed weight of 190 grams (no, I haven't and won't weigh them); and yes you do notice the smaller size.
The rear is slightly beefier at 24mm and 210 grams. Overall impressions, granted I've only been riding them for a week, are pretty good. The front corners amazingly well even though the smaller profile did give me pause; and the rear seems to handle the massive amounts of power I'm able to lay down :)
For full disclosure, I have to say I did flat today, but I'm pretty sure the metal sliver I rolled over would have punctured pretty much anything short of a Jeep tire. After pulling out the offending foreign object the tire was as good as new (well five days short of "as new...") .
Well see how they stand up after a few 100 miles.
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