05/15/2006

Less than a week to my cross state record attempt!  Jeff and Mike worked on my Cobra aerobars a couple weeks ago to fix the problem with the armrests dropping down.  They put a bar on that connects to both armrests which not only prevents them from dropping, but also ensures they are level.  I took the bike for a quick spin after and they felt pretty good, but this was my first chance to try them with any real distance.  This ride was kind of a trial run for this Friday's record attempt, so my goal was to maintain an average of at least 17 mph for 5 hours.  Jeff suggested doing the Bush to Beeline to Fountain Hills to 9 Mile hill route, but that route has a number of really significant climbs that I didn't think would be a good comparison to the flat part of the course that I would be riding my 5.9SL through.  And that course would require a lot more out of the saddle time and less time working in my aero position.  So I decided to ride out to Florence instead.  The Florence route has a couple good gradual climbs with some pretty flat parts.  It also is doesn't have hills that would block any wind, so I had a better chance of getting some head wind along the way which would be more like the record attempt.

On really long rides I usually take 1/2 hour to an hour going pretty slow and ease into a higher pace.  The idea is to get my body to start burning fat which allows me to ride faster longer.  But since this was a relatively short ride I started at a faster pace trying to maintain 17 mph or better.  The last time I tried using the Cobra aerobars I had some pain in my wrists.  Jeff tweaked the position some and we worked on my form some and they felt ok when I was using them at his house.  But about an hour or so into the ride I started getting wrist pain again.  But only in my left wrist.  I'm starting to wonder if this is an indication of a physical problem with my wrist.  I have been working on computers for a long time, so maybe it's the start of carpel tunnel or some kind of flexibility problem with that wrist.  It could also be that the armrests aren't angled correctly, so my forearms are lower than they should be.  I was able to relieve the pain by holding the bar in a more inefficient manner -- with two fingers under the bar and the rest on top, or just laying that hand over the top of the bar.  Anyway, it's still a problem.

But I wound up going faster than I expected and averaged 20.4 mph in 2.5 hours, going just over 49 miles.  Not bad at all.  This was supposed to be a 5 hour ride, so I turned around a little short of my normal Florence century route and started heading back.  I made a quick stop at the Chevron in Florence on the way back to get more fluids and a quick lunchable.  Then I averaged 21 mph on the return trip!  With a little headwind all the way back! The route back is a few miles shorter because it's not an exact out and back, but is pretty close.  I knew there was road construction on Ellsworth, so I turned at Crismon and tapered off my speed to recover a little on the way home.  So I wound up with an average of 20.5 mph over 94.9 miles. 

Hmmm... that's a pretty good average and now I have a dilemma.  When I use those aerobars I can maintain a pretty good average speed and I can relieve pain by changing my hand position.  My Airstryke aerobars don't cause any pain but aren't quite as efficient.  I wish I had another month or two to get the Cobras tweaked some more, but I'm out of time.  Sooo... I talked to Elliot today and he had a good suggestion.  I'll keep the Cobras on for the start, but I'll also take my Airstrykes.  If I have too much pain during the record attempt I can make a quick bike switch and Mike Cox can swap the aerobars in the minivan then we can switch again.  I'll only be using the 5.9SL for the first 200 miles or so of pretty flat riding anyway. ;-)  Once I hit the climb to Flagstaff I'll switch to my 5200 for the remainder of the ride.

I just checked the long range hourly forecast for Holbrook and it shows mild temperatures and 7-8 mph winds out of the SSW at 7-8pm (the farthest out that it's forecasting right now).  But over the next few days it looks like the night time hours will have light winds and temps in the upper 50's to mid 60's.  Not bad at all.  Hope that lasts through the weekend!