Bike repairs

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One good thing about recovery days is they allow for time for bike repairs and cleaning. I was having serious issues with the shifting on the cassette during the Fruita races, so Nick and I decided that it was time to recable the front and rear deraileurs on Tuesday. I decided that I was also going to spend some quality time cleaning the bike while I was waiting for Nick to get home. When I took apart the rear deraileur and started cleaning the fly wheels, I was shocked. The bottom fly wheel was fairly clean, but the top one was just caked in grease and grime. I could hardly get it to spin in my hands, it was so filthly. Nick took one look at it when he got home and just shook his head, saying I'd lost a good chunk of time in the Fruita races because of lack of cleaning. Not that five minutes would have changed my finish place, but it was good lesson. I really need to be more aware of my equipment. We did get the re-cabling finished and changed the handle bars as planned. When I did my bike fit, I was told to try a set of bars with a greater amount of sweep to get my hands into a more efficent postion. We took the bikes to Cheyenne Mountain State Park yesterday for a test ride. No issues - everything is shifting beautifully and the bike seems much easier to pedal. Amazing what a good cleaning will do. I really liked the new bars - I felt that I was able to get more power from my upper body when needed and could stand up while climbing better.

Starting to get nervous - leaving for Lake Las Vegas soon and I don't feel like I'm ready for a triathlon right now. No practice with transitions at all, haven't even been in the wetsuit this year.

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