Building a base.......

Did the first loop of the Triple Loop Century (53 miles) with "Disenchanted One" and Music Matt today. Unfortunately though we missed the nicest part of the day. That was spent working on their bikes. Steve needed a fit and Matt was having derailleur problems and I was more than happy to help out. It amazes me that bike shops either don't have all the proper tools or have a that's good enough attitude (Matt actually had his to a shop). His derailleur hanger was visibly bent even before I went at it with the alignment tool. Maybe you can get away with the eyeballing it method with 7 & 8 speed components but with 9 & 10 speed the derailleur has to be as close to perfect as possible for things to work right. The tool cost under $100.00 bucks and lets you get the job done right.

Anyway we did 53 miles and had a really good ride. I always forget how hard it is this time of the year trying to build a good solid base, while at the same time trying to knock off a few pounds(low calorie intake = low energy) and keep up with everybody that already has a base(good off season training