Cycling

Cycling is the realm of triathlon that required the largest investment. I did not own a road bike prior to signing up for a triathlon. I opted to purchase a true tri-bike and found a deal on Amazon for a bike I’m pretty sure wasn’t supposed to be sold online. I got the bike for a little over $1100, and it’s an $1800 bike. The big thing is that it shipped in a “signature required” box and had huge stickers all over the box saying “To be assembled by an authorized retailer only.” Bahaha, I laughed at that; then I assembled it myself. Assembling a bike is pretty difficult with all the cables that need to be fed… and cut… and adjusted, but with the money I saved I was more than willing to deal with it. Just some additional information, the main difference between a road bike and a tri-bike is that a tri-bike has a steeper seat post. A tri-bike seat is closer to the vertical position of the pedals. The goal is to incorporate more work out of the hamstrings to decrease the load on the quadriceps for the run portion of the race. Another interesting difference in gear is that the Velcro strap on my bike shoes opens away from the bike, which is opposite of most bike shoes. With the strap securing towards the bicycle the shoes can be opened while still riding when approaching the transition point without getting caught up in the gears.

In the winter I spent a lot of my cycle time in the gym. My gym has new very decent trainers that display wattage, cadence, and the readings from my heart rate monitor. Most workouts last about 90 minutes with short sessions of an hour and long sessions of 150 minutes. I bring books from time to time to read for portions of the ride and always have music to keep me entertained. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty boring from time to time, but worlds better than swimming. My solid cycling cadence is between 80 and 90 RPM. Intervals are a common workout and basically alternate between a normal cadence and a faster cadence of 100 to 120 RPM. I usually just get on the bike and shoot for a target heart rate to hold for the majority of the workout. The trainer is a nonstop workout, there’s no coasting “down hill” or anything, so it’s great for getting ready to hit the road when you can stop pedaling for periods of time.

Now that summer is into full effect I try to ride outside twice a week. I’m still narrowing down how to equip myself for long rides. I need to carry tools, tubes, nutrients, and fluid. Unlike a normal cycling jersey that has two to three pockets, a tri race jersey usually has one tight fitting pocket. So far I’ve been wearing my small running belt to hold a few tools with some spare tubes crammed under my seat. Today I bought a small seat pocket that will hold my tools and tubes. So far I’ve been adjusting my bike and aero bars on the fly. Tonight I will take a level and make final adjustments to my handlebars and aero bars. Tomorrow I’m going on my first 100 mile ride with the Portland Triathlon Club.

Cycling is the most fun part of triathlon training. I have a Timex Global Trainer watch that will track everything possible. I can use the watch to review my ride speeds and look at my position on a map when I get home. This makes it fun to see how fast I can go down certain hills or on flat sections. Cycling is fast paced enough that sights are changing regularly, unlike running. I can people watch, watch cars go by, and see if I can get ahead of cars. The hardest thing to get used to is being bent over using the aero bars for 20 to 30 minute periods. I have an amazing seat made by Adamo that has two posts instead of the normal saddle nose. These two posts make contact with the “sit bones” which allows me to stay seated for very long periods of time without discomfort (except for the initial adaption to the saddle). I’ve had some instances where I’ve nearly wrecked, but have yet to have a true accident.

I’ve had bad days with cycle training. I’ve had a day on the trainer at the gym where I felt like I was going to pass out and had to cut the workout short. One “long ride” produced a flat tire within 5 minutes. After replacing the tube I went home. I had barely hit the road, not even truly warmed up, and spent more time fixing the flat than on the bike; I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore that day. One day I hit something hard in Newberg and my right aero bar shifted about 20 degrees so I had to stop and fix it. At this very moment I’m dreading changing my rear tube before my long ride tomorrow. So while the cycling is fun, it’s the largest piece of “gear” I have and it requires the most time and effort to maintain.