CB&I Triathlon Race review

The first triathlon of the season is in the bag and we have a lot to cover. Brand new bike with lots of features and plenty of memorable experiences.

Let me start out by saying once again, my new Cannondale Slice is amazing. I got the bike one week before the race and only had three casual rides on it before the race. This is the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do when "training" for a race, but what else are you supposed to do when you don't have a bike? My previous PR at the CB&I was a 19 mph avg on the bike, but this year, on the new bike, I averaged 21 mph. I guess you really can buy speed when it comes to the bike.

The swim course is the story of the week. The CB&I triathlon has only been around for 7 years, but in that time it has grown to one of the most popular races in the state. The bike course is flat and fast, the run course is wide open and takes you through the beautiful upscale East Shore residential development, but the swim... oh the swim. The swim leg is the one aspect of this race that appears to have a limit to the amount of improvement it can sustain. The distance of the swim is constant with that of any other sprint... 500m. The course itself is a basic out and back that is more than manageable and provides great visibility of all participants to spectators on the shore. The water, however, is the one big question mark. What is in the water? Who knows? This is what I'm trying to find out. There are all sorts of rumors floating around, and you can't participate in the race without hearing chatter about the water quality. I've heard these conversations since 2006 when I started racing CB&I (coincidentally that year the race was turned into a USAT sanctioned 5K due to the rain and nobody swam that morning). The rumors about why the water quality is so poor are actually kinda funny. I've heard everything from excessive fish waste, duck waste, and community sewage draining into the lake. Who knows, maybe they're right... I doubt it, but how does the average triathlon fan know for sure that they're not literally wading into a toxic cesspool? If you have hesitations about wether or not you should expose yourself to a possible health hazard, how do you put your mind at ease? Information is the only way you can make a responsible decision concerning your own health and safety. I sign waivers for haunted houses every Halloween because they tell me "Somebody WILL jump out and scare me... and if I don't touch anyone they WON'T touch me" It makes me a bit nervous however, to sign a race waiver when I haven't even been informed about what's in the water. Willie Fowlkes is the race director for the CB&I triathlon and kindly responded to my initial response to this issue of water quality. He states that Lake Woodlands is, in fact, a "non-contact" body of water, but this is a result of a community association guideline, not necessarily a safety measure due to poor water-quality. He references the TECQ in his email and simply provides the following in regards to contents of the water, "The level of reading we have received for fecal matter and e-coli have been below the standard in which they measure if a body of water is deemed a safe body of contact." This aroused my curiosity even more, and I visited TECQ.net to see if they had any reports available for public viewing. What I found out was pretty interesting. TECQ only classifies two bodies of water in the entire state of Texas as "non-contact" the ship channel and a section of the Rio Grande in El Paso. The TECQ references these two bodies of water when it goes on to say this, "Contact recreation is assigned to all water bodies, except for a few discussed below (non contact recreation.) Full support of the contact recreation use is not a guarantee that the water is completely safe of disease-causing organisms." So by saying that Lake Woodlands meets the TECQ standard for recreational use does not actually mean that it is safe to swim in after-all.

I am told that the water is "safe" but my experiences tell me otherwise. In 2007 I completed the swim course and acquired an ear infection in the days immediately following the race. In 2008, my goggles fill up with water and I ended up with an eye infection shortly thereafter. I did not race in 2009 (due to an injury) but a buddy of mine did... he swallowed a bit of water and became so sick that he lost about 9 pounds on the Sunday after the race. And this year, the same buddy, cut his foot on one of the many exposed zip-ties on the exit mats and ended up spending close to a week in the hospital due to a bacterial infection in the blood-stream. So you can tell me that the water is safe, but my experience tells me that might not be entirely true. If these illnesses are purely coincidental, then they are a strange coincidence in-deed. The only way a racer will be able to make an informed decision before participating in the race is to be aware of what the acceptable standards are, and subsequently informed of the present findings of the body of water in question. In my opinion, this is the burden of the race organizers... much like posting a course map, or sweeping the gravel from the turns of the bike course. It's due diligence.

I am looking forward to seeing if I can beat my time next year, but I haven't quite convinced myself that it's worth the risk.
Hooray for springtime and "fresh" water swimming.
Soulrider

It's here!!!!

The bike has finally arrived! And just in time for the Woodlands CB&I Triathlon. This gives me one week to get used to shifting in the aero position and recover from being incredibly saddle sore. I didn't think Saddle soreness would be a problem. I've ridden for years and have never really had that big of an issue with it. However, there are certain things that can be an issue for a guy if the saddle isn't just right, and I've been told that switching to an Adamo saddle would probably be the best thing for me. So I switched. The traditional saddle supports your frame on a single thin saddle nose down the center... and the Adamo has a "split" nose that spreads the support out towards the outside of your... well... "contact area". It felt a million more times comfortable right off the bat, but the next day was a different story. The first rides of the season are rough and you can expect to be sore, but it has progressively gotten easier because my body has become used to it. Well this was a brand new position for my saddle and my body definitely let me know that it did not see that one coming.
The next piece of equipment I am excited about trying out is my new Louis Garneau Tri shoes. I found a pair of size 50 tri shoes on Ebay, and they were relatively cheap compared to your average retail tri shoe... only $120. (Seriously, shop around, you will see... that's about half price) So I took a gamble and ordered a pair without ever trying them on. I knew I would be pretty close on the size because I was finally fitted correctly. The shoes themselves are perfect. I have never ridden with a pair of prand new, comfortable, no hassle shoe before, and I am perfecty satisfied with these shoes. There is one large velcro strap to get in and out of the shoes quickly, they are lightweight, and they are well ventilated so your wet foot can dry out on the bike ride, yet they provide plenty of support. The process I chose to purchase these shoes however is regretable. If you click on the link above for the shoe, you can see that these shoes are available straight from the website. This is always the best way to purchase new gear online. Ebay/craigslist should be used as a last resort for times when you know exactly what you want, and you know you can get a great deal. I do not recommend shopping on Ebay for retail items than can be purchased for the same price straight from the source. All you are doing is adding another link in the chain, and another opportunity for something to go wrong. This is what happened to me. I saw the shoes on Ebay and got excited. They had the size I was looking for, and being that a size 50-52 is a difficult size to find n the first place, when i saw that this guy only had one pair left, I paniced and hit buy it now. If I had taken the time and done the research like i did before writing this article, I would have found that I could buy these shoes straight from LG for the same price and not had to worry about wether or not this Ebay schmuck would follow through with the order. I say that because I realized very quickly how horribly wrong this entire deal could have gone south about 3 days after i purchased the shoes. I clicked "buy it now" on a Wednesday and by friday i still had not even received a confirmation email from 2wheels77. (Yes this is his real Ebay username and he does operate a real life Ebay bike store) So i sent him an email and asked him if he received my order, he sent back a one line email response that said... "Thx, rec'd order will ship out by next Tuesday. Rgds" I saw this and about 50 questions popped into my mind. Was he saying thanks for notifying him that he had a sale? Had he forgotten? Had he just not paid attention? Or was he just being patronizing and saying don't worry, I'm gonna ship it out. Either way, that answer wasn't good enough for me. It had been three days, it is his job to contact me first, and if he DID ship it out the following tuesday, THAT'S ALMOST A WEEK... If you run an Ebay store, it shouldn't be that hard to ship out a show box in no more than 2-3 days (especially if that's what your ad claims.) So the timeline he gave me was unacceptable from the beginning, and then... HE DIDN'T SHIP THE SHOES UNTIL THURSDAY!!!! If you're going to promise something, have the professionalism to follow through or at least communicate to the buyer any issues that might be causing a delay. I had a brand new bike sitting in my house, no shoes to ride it, and a triathlon a week a way. I was beginning to think that this guy was gonna keep me from participating in the first race of my season. So then i started reading his feedback... (I know... a little too late) and I saw the exact same thing happening to a handful of other people. Apparently this guy advertises on Ebay a lot of stuff that he doesn't even have in stock, and if it sells, he goes and gets it and then ships it to you. There were comments about never receiving the goods, filing claims with the Ebay dispute center, and fighting to get money returned. There was a lot of positive feedback as well, but apparently you have to get lucky and buy something he has sitting there ready to go and waiting on his shelf. Needless to say I was really getting nervous. The shoes finally arrived and I love them. I got lucky.
Well that's all for today, I'll write more about the bike later. I want to take it for more than the two rides i've had before I do a review. But I will say this... WOW!!!! In the meantime... Enjoy the pictures.
PS I have a nice watch tan to keep me smiling through the day at work... Yeah Spring!

LBS part 4

The best part of learning something new about your cycling equipment options is the confidence it gives you when you actually make your purchase. Finding a store that will walk you through the entire process is both important and difficult. If you have a bike store close to your house, check it out, talk to guys behind the desk, ask if the owner works there. Trust me, you will find out very quickly how willing they are to "help". Trust your gut. If you get the feeling that they are too busy to truly help... you're probably right. Again, Webster Bicycle was a pleasure to shop. Terry met us at the door and gave us the grand tour of the place, and get this... when we stumbled across an item that they did not have... he recommended me to a different source instead of trying to fit me into something that wouldn't be the best choice for me. Specifically, triathlon cycling shoes. I've been riding for about three years now with a pair of shoes that were a size too small. I'm a clydesdale with size 14 (50 euro) shoes and i was actually sold a pair of 48's because it was the largest they had, but Terry told me that the manufacturers they carried only made up to a 48 and it was not going to be a good choice for me. So, thanks Terry, my feet thank you. However, Their Shimano custom fit shoe is quite the amazing product. You get a carbon sole shoe that is placed on your foot and then placed in some sort of vacuum that shapes the shoe to the exact shape of your foot, then the shoe is actually baked in the Shimano "easy bake" oven and voila, one custom fit shoe that fits you better than anyone else in the whole wide world.

The Cannondale BB30 proprietary bottom bracket system is way cool. Terry gave me a hands on demonstration of the the "guts" of the whole thing. Some say it might soon be the industry standard as far as bottom brackets. It's possible, there are some advantages to it. It is probably lighter that the one most likely on your old bike, there are no cups on the outside of your frame that house the bearings and set your feet slightly wider apart (this allows your feet to be closer to the frame and directly under you), and the larger diameter provides greater stiffness so you can know that more of your clydesdale power is being transferred to the wheel.

Meeting Russ,the owner at Webster Bicycle, was definitely a treat. When you are able to talk to the owner, do it, it will tell you all you need to know about the shop. When the owner works at the store, you know that he's invested. He hasn't just purchased a shop and trusted it's well-being with some college kids who think bikes are pretty cool. Russ talked about the F.I.S.T. system for fitting a rider to his bike. You may have heard about Dan Empfield from slow-twitch, he used to be the man behind Quintana Roo, and he's kinda the authority on all things triathlon at the moment. Visit his website slowtwitch.com and follow him on twitter @slowtwitch and you'll feel like you are finally "in the loop". You will get the absolute latest on everything related to triathlon beamed straight to your laptop or smart phone. Anyway, Russ attended one of Dan's classes where he he learned the now industry standard F.I.S.T. bike fitting system (created by Dan himself... go to slowtwitch.com to read more about that) and has become the best place to get a proper fit for your tri-bike in the Houston area. Proper fitting for your tri-bike is every bit as important for the clydesdale as it is for the lightweight racer. The temptation to take shortcuts in fitting your customer on their bike in order to save money can be too great for a lot of shops, but if your shop has run you through the paces of the F.I.S.T. system you can rest assured that you will not only be comfortable, you will decrease your chances os injury from a "bad" fit.

Well that's the end of the LBS series. Now I just have to wait about a month for Cannondale to ship the bike. Next, it's time to get serious about training. I've started running and swimming, and have been doing light weight training to build strength back up after the back surgery. I need to start pushing it to see some real weight loss and increased fitness, but I don't want to risk injury... again. So, I'll be researching and focusing on core strength and cardio fitness. Anyway... Spring is finally here and it's warming up... it was 80 degrees here in Houston for about three days in a row... go outside and sweat.

Soulrider

LBS continued

The Local Bike Shop is key to the bike purchase experience. Bikes are expensive, and they are much less forgiving than even a new car. They are a mechanical expression of you as a racer. It's like saying... "I'm not predjudice, but." As soon as somebody says that, you know they're about to say something extremely predjudice. So here it goes... I'm not superficial... but. You CAN tell a lot about somebody just by taking a quick look at their bike. If it is meticulously cleaned on race day, it's probably a sign that that person has truely prepared for the race. If the bike is brand new, has all the bells and whistles, and obviously cost a wad of cash, pay attention to that racer, you will either be impressed or entertained. If that person looks in shape but is riding on an old street bike, watch out... that person obviously has the confidence to compete no matter what he's riding, so no matter how prepared he is for the race on that day, he just might have what it takes to gut anything out for an hour or two.

Anyway, the best thing the LBS does for you is give you confidence in your new purchase. One, you've seen the bike... Two, you've ridden the bike... Three, you've met the people who will be servicing your bike... Four, you've been inspired by the others you see walking in and out of the store parading their 5K & 6K dollar bikes like proud parents. So when a LBS does the exact opposite, and removes all the buyers confidence in purchasing a new bike, the patron is better off purchasing on the internet.

I am the biggest fan of supporting your LBS, but I refuse to faithfully dole out money to an establishment of snobs who make you feel like they are counting down the seconds until you let them get back to what they were doing before you walked in the door. From the grey haired lady that hasn't cracked a smile in 15 years, to the creepy blank stares from the bike guru himself, all the way down to the young girl behind the counter who actually has to be told that you're ready to check out before she makes her way to the register to help the patron standing at the glass counter with his arms full of gear.

But I digress... on a related note, I've purchased no less then 6 bikes from my favorite LBS over the past 15 years... driving as far as 50-60 miles for service during a period of time when i lived a bit further away. Presently, living closer in proximity to my beloved LBS (in the Woodlands, TX) than ever before, have decided to purchase a bike from a new store about an hour and a half drive away. Specifically because of the reasons detailed above. I have put up with the akwardness, the frustration, the inconvenience for all these years out of compulsion to support a retailer that i desperately wanted to believe in. Now that I'm ready to make that big purchase, and I truely want to have the complete buying experience, I actually feel a sense of liberation. The sheer sense of excitement that was received after the very first phone conversation with Webster Bicycle in Webster, TX has been worth the whole process, and they haven't even seen one red cent from me yet. But I can tell you this... I placed a call, they called me back, we had an actual conversation, I hung up the phone with confidence. So thank you Terry, at Webster Bicycle. I will be comming to see you soon to place my down payment and secure the delivery of my brand new tri bike.

I will discuss the bike I chose tomorrow, but for now here are some links to the final three I was reviewing up until this past weekend. I will discuss everything from aluminum to carbon as it relates to Clydesdales, and everything from colors to components as it relates to your investment.

the Felt B16
The Quintana Roo Seduza
The Cannondale Slice 5