Last time I reviewed what blueseventy’s Ben Bigglestone said about wetsuits at the Timex team meeting. This time the blog is about bikes. Dean Gore and Scott Daubert of Trek showed up to talk about their bikes, specifically the TTX. The new TTX is suppose to be faster than the model that Lance rode in the TDF, but since none of us are racing Lance, (and Trek would probably give him the new model anyway) I’ll share their tips that will help against the amateurs most of us race.

Here’s a time saving tip. Next time you see a forum thread on Slowtwitch asking, “Should I ride my road bike or tri-bike in such and such triathlon?” just skip it. The answer is always ride the tri-bike. The position benefit of the tri-bike trumps the weight penalty versus the road bike for every real world triathlon bike leg. The guys from Trek had modeled the first part of the Ironman Wisconsin course to show why. Only when someone creates a triathlon with a one way, mountain top bike leg finish should you re-address this issue.

Want to cut time off your bike split for free? Their next tip was to carry a water bottle on the down tube.Tests in the wind tunnel showed carrying a bottle here reduced drag versus a bare frame. By the way, this was the second time I’ve heard this; John Cobb found the same thing in his wind tunnel tests. Take the advice and carry your spare tube, tire levers and CO2 cartridge in the bottle and ditch your seat bag. Bontrager is suppose to have some cool aero water bottles, but the only place I’ve seen them is in a picture of Karen Smyer’s bike.

The last tip I remember was about tri-bike handling. When Trek was redesigned the TTX the feedback they got from their pro riders was a short stem handled better on the downhills. The jumps between sizes on the TTX are pretty big so if you are between sizes, you might be best served going with the larger size. I asked the Trek guys if there was a stem size that they wouldn’t recommend and that said they offered stems between 7 and 13 cm and all would work but…shorter seems better.
Those are the sponsor’s tips. And when I hear a good pro tip, I’ll post it.

So while I write up my belated Florida 70.3 race report a couple of things come to mind…

First thing: I’m not a Starbucks junky, but I do go there occasionally as I find some of their drinks quite tasty.  As I was wasting time in the Atlanta airport on Friday I noticed a new drink which sounded yummy, the Orange Mocha.  So while I was at Harris Teeter (grocery store) yesterday I decided to treat myself.  Let me say, it was marvelous.  I didnt get to see them make it but I’m pretty sure its just their regular Mocha with some orange zest in it.  Anyway, very good stuff.  The orange + chocolate flavor worked wonderfully.

Second thought: Watching Apollo 13 after interviewing for a job at NASA really makes you want to take the job.  Anyone have any comments about Huntsville?

Tonight I held my first annual triathlon clinic at Bike N Ski in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I have previously worked at this store for 7 years before school became a year-round proposition. Whenever I am back home I seem to find myself hanging out at the shop quite a bit, and when the phone rings its hard not to answer it or go up and help customers. (It still feels like I work there). The triathlon clinic was open to anyone in the area, and to whatever topics people had questions about. We had several beginners/ first-timers that came so we mainly focused on the basics and how to participate in a triathlon. I think that the event was a success for everyone that came and hopefully we will hold more clinics in the future. Most importantly, we gave away some free stuff, some visors from Timex and some Triathlon calenders from Bike N Ski.

Check out the store at www.bikenski.net

Being an amateur on Team Timex is like being the proverbial fly on a wall; you hear a lot of stuff that’s not being said to you. Sometimes you pick up some helpful or funny pieces of information from the team sponsors and pros. By helpful/funny information I don’t mean “Our brand X is the fastest,” or “You need to swim 42 X 100’s on sub 1:07 to get faster at the IM swim”. The first isn’t kept as a secret and the second isn’t helpful…or funny to someone who swam 1:20 last October.

Take wetsuits, for example. Sure, we’ve all heard that Vaseline petroleum jelly is bad for wetsuits, but is the damage to the suit worse than the damage to your neck from a wetsuit hickey, and if so how bad is it? And how about swimming in chlorinated pools with wetsuits? How much will knowledge about my 1000-yard wetsuit aided time cost me in terms of wetsuit wear? According to blueseventy’s Ben Bigglestone both Vaseline and chlorine will degrade the stitching of your wetsuit. But if you’re a pro and get a new one every year, what the heck do you care? Apparently, neither eats away like acid so base your behavior on how long you want to keep your suit.

How about Pam non-stick cooking spray? OK, according to Ben, except that it makes you smell like “chips”. That’s across the pond talk for french fries.

But the big question everyone wants answered is, what about peeing in your wetsuit? Will this shorten wetsuit life and friendships? Ben says you can use your wetsuit like your own private port-a-potty with no worries, enough water gets in the suit during the swim that there is no harm and no one will ever know.

The Timex pros are also a great source of tips. Ever had trouble pulling the ankles and wrists of a wetsuit up high enough for a snug fit? You should, it takes time to put a suit on right. Timex pro Blake Becker said he puts his suit on starting with it inside out. I had to see it to believe it. It works.

Encourage Blake to post pictures or video of this tip. There is no way I’m posing in a Speedo for pictures on the Internet!

Next time I’ll post what I heard about the Equinox TTX from the man know as “Lance’s bitch” at Trek. It’s not on their web site!

Yesterday I was out on a loooong ride, 205 hilly km’s to be exact.  Anyway, since I stopped using my I-pod while training(I get in a better zone…mentally, not HR HR zone:) I find that I think about ALL KINDS of things.  Well yesterday, at a point at around the 5:30 mark of the ride I passed a spot that triggered this post.

 I ask everyone “Why did you choose Timex?”  Now, I have a lot of reasons that I love this team, but this reason surpasses them all.  In 2003 or 4 I was out training on the IMWI bike course and saw a triathlete riding up the road.  But this wasn’t just any triathlete.  This triathlete had a car following behind them.  First thought, “Lance?”  Second, “I have to meet this person!!” 

 So I pushed a little harder and closed the gap, I passed the car and was hoping to see Johan driving and Lance riding.  To my suprise it was a VERY attractive younger woman(still older than I was) and a rider that resembled Lance, but he wasn’t on a Trek at the time. 

Anyway, I rode up the rider and started talking.  I asked all kinds of questions, “What do you do?”  “Where are you from?”  ”Who is that in the car?”  “Does she have a friend?”  Well, here are the answers that I got from the rider.  “I am a CEO or a company.  I am from Mexico City.  That is my girlfriend!”  There was no talk of a friend, :(  

The rider’s name, you ask?  Non-other than our very own Luis Alvarez! His girlfriend was driving sag-wagon around the entire IMWI course, now THAT is LOVE.  ARe you two still together Luis?

I thought WOW, I need to be like this guy someday.  So after finding out that he was on Team Timex, I thought the best way to find out everything I could about Luis and his ability to get women to follow him around on the bike, would be to get on the team with him.  After two years of missing the boat, I finally made the cut this year.

So to answer the question at the beginning of the post; Luis Alvarez is the reason that I am on the team today! Thanks Luis, you are a stud!

BB