VPI

Great day for a ride around here. Ended up traveling out of town a bit to try a different part of the trails. Forgot the Garmin so I had to use Map My Ride on the iPhone. This was a much hillier section of the trail but the new fit made hills seem much easier to tackle. Rolled into the parking lot right at 17 miles on the odometer. Everything felt pretty good and the seat was a big improvement. The cyclists seem to be a bit more serious out on this part of the trail as there were lots of groups with matching jerseys.

Sounds fun/painful. Your short ride would probably be around my longest possible ride at this point.

Look Keo 2 Max Carbons. I hope to actually get to try them out tomorrow and then have a nice ride with Dreadhead this weekend.

It was not a noticeable twist to me but the line shows the foot moving a bit in the looser zero pedals. I also have fairly terrible pedaling motion that I will have to work on as it is clunky as hell right now. The Keos were pretty solid and I thought easier to get out of than the Zeros.

Evidently my ankle was twisting out on the down stroke. I think they mostly just wanted to sell me the more expensive pedals. I almost got the carbon blades like you have Chris as they had some at 320 but I figured plain old springs were fine for me.

Did my 3D fit this afternoon. I definitely did not have it set up right on my first couple of rides. The seat came up almost two inches and the 110 stem was replaced with a 70. Seems much more comfortable but part of that is the new Specialized seat they put on it after I sat on their butt pad. Much better than the 135 seat that was on it. Did all kinds of stuff with my feet to get the right setup for the new Specialized S-Works shoes. They are really comfortable. End up trying Speedplays and Looks and he showed me how the float on the Speedplays was taking my pedal-foot-hip alignment out of wack while the Max 2 Carbons kept me perfectly in line. Did a lot of riding with cameras in every direction including one that watched ankle twist and one that looked at my terrible pedal stroke. I hope it all adds up to a better ride because it did feel great on the trainer.

Happy Birthday to one of my original Headphone friends. If you are thinking of giving me anything for your birthday, I would settle for that Krell HP Amp. Thanks.

It is unfortunately a terrible TV. I cannot stand my 9000 series Samsung.

Interesting, I was wondering about the Shimano pedals as I never hear people saying they are using them. I have MTB pedals from Shimano that work pretty well.

I thought you were going to pull off a win this weekend. I think if I had not lost my number 2 pick in both leagues I might have had a chance to go far in the playoffs but without Gronk I do not like my chances.

Awesome. I wish I was still up there so we could go shooting.

I really enjoyed that lens. When did you get a full frame Ari?

That is what I have been doing Nate. I can actually walk in my Sidis and the pedals seem fine. I just like buying new toys but I might wait a bit to see if I get sick of the Sidis. The Specialized shoes were dramatically more comfortable than the Sidis.

Welcome to the Playoffs. This has been a fun season so far with all the crazy high scores. League One: 1. Hook'em Horns vs. 4. Oak Park Stalkers 2. Dammit Colin vs. 3. Chicago Beers League Two: 1. Team Knotty vs. 4. Team Autobot 2. Hook'em Horns vs. 3. RSA Darkstars Looks like I play Brian a lot for the next two weeks. Congratulations to the Playoff Bound teams.

I might take you up on that Mike. If my shop does not have them I will probably get Keos and might want to compare. Thanks for the offer

Yeah I have been using XTRs which are double sided. I am not sure my shop sells the Speedplays so I will have to check.

I was looking at those Speedplays. How easy are they to get out of?

I have my official fitting Wednesday so I wanted to settle on pedals so I could be fitted with the proper pedal. I think I will get the new Specialized S works shoe and I am thinking some kind of Look pedals. What are the HC approved road pedals these days?

I have been paying for that service and have not looked at it in months. I need to check it out to see if there is anything worthwhile now.

That just sounds like a more interesting ride. Average temp this ride was 39 and lots of fog. I unfortunately slowed Chris way down as my torture device/seat made pedaling a bit difficult. When he finally dumped me at my car he took off like a Motorcycle to finish up his 50+ mile ride. No idea how you guys do that.

The beauty shot. Chris' bike is gorgeous.

About 16 miles in for Chris, zero for me.

Intended to ride some miles this morning but didn't get started early enough and needed to stop for some lunch. I didn't plan well. Bike was excellent and I was really moving for the first half of the ride. Then I turned around to go back to my car and realized why I was moving so quickly. Speeds dropped off hugely on the uphill trip back. Pick from Mile 6.

Yeah I told them my friends ride Kirk's, DiSalvos, Calfees and Gunnars and they wondered why I was buying something so boring.

I have a 3D fitting scheduled for Wednesday. Just messed around a bit with fitting today.