Getting off the ground

Thought I would check in as it has been a while. I sort of lose the will to blog when I am not smashing the training so that's the reason for sporadic writing. The year of the Dragon has been cruel to me. Call 911 cuz I need a Waaambulance.

I have started finally ticking it over for a couple weeks now and I think I have sorted out my injures to some degree. I have had it all this year. Broken wrist, torn hammy, knee troubles, bursitis, periformis issues, IT band problems, SI joint pain, and calf troubles. DAYYYUM. Most of that was minor but it all needed to be addressed so naturally training has been impacted.

Anyway, my last little twingy thing was some knee tendinitis coming flaring up mainly on the bike. I figured it was time to head back into Hypercat racing to get my position tweaked to fix the issue. I went to see the fit wizard, Phil Casanta and we quickly fixed the cleat position. We also had been discussing making a gearing change for about a year now and we finally swapped out my 53 tooth front chainring for a SRAM red 54 tooth ring.


This dinner plate essentially gives me a little more speed in every gear. I tested it out and it is stupid. I can grind out higher speed than I ever thought possible and it feels more efficient. I think it suits my riding style as I am a masher and it gives me extra gears in the tailwinds/ downhills.

I have tested it out in 2 workouts and immediately set a personal best. I went after it again to see the impact of the gear. I was noticing a difference cruising into a headwind and especially coming down slight hills. I felt like the gear was taking advantage of my strength on the bike, which is pushing a low cadence. I usually go around this loop in about 25.5 mph at best and I clocked in at 26.6 mph! Boom. I also did some super short intervals cruising up to 29-31 mph in the flats... Wow. I was stunned. It's like I went from a V6 to a V8. I can push so hard, I barely am sitting on the seat. I am hovering over it and all energy and bodyweight is going into moving the bike fast.

I am getting stoked for our upcoming Evotri team camp in Chattanooga. We will be visiting Hub endurance and Quintana Roo, which I am quite excited about. But more than that, I am pumped to get together with the team. Hopefully I will be injury free and can take advantage of some good training grounds too. More to come.