DUATLÓ DE MUNTANYA CIUTAT DE MATARÓ

Another outing on my Cyclocross bike, this time a mountain dualtholn in Mataro just north of Barcelona. Nice early start, 9:30 = 8:30 on the day we change the clocks.

The run went OK, I am not a fast runner and so 28.41 for 5.6 Km cross country run was quite pleasing. I wanst last onto my bike, 20 or so people behind me and quite a few not so far in front which makes for a nice competitive bike ride. On some of these races, especially further up in the pyranees, your on your own on your bike if your a slow runner like me.

Again I was the only person there on a cyclocross bike so i was worried the course would be to rough for my Kaffenback but in the end it was fine, smooth tracks for the initial climb of 270m, so i had plenty of grip and lots of smooth single single track through the woods which was great.

Still thinking of getting a mountain bike, the descents are bearable but i'm sure I would feel better for the run after the bike if my bones were a little less shaken.

Still there something nice about doing the course on a bike like this, everyone gives you a smile.

I came in at 1:41 for the bike ride 195 out of 220. The course from my garmin is below.



The last 2.5km run was very difficult, my legs didn't want to do it at all.

2:28:32 alldone, Great event.

No DUATLÓ MANRESA For ME ...

Saturday I missed out on the DUATLÓ CIUTAT DE MANRESA. Sunday I had flight to London for some last minute meetings which meant that Saturday's race got dropped in favor of a lazy trip up montjuic with Ana (picture) and Margot. Wonderful day, nice atmosphere in Barcelona on the 6th, lots of athletes wandering around before the marathon on Sunday.

Collserola 40km Loop

If you have a couple of hours fee and need to escape Barcelona then this little 40km Loop into Collserola park is perfect.



In 15 to 20 minutes from down town you are in the park on your way up Avinguda de Vallvidrera. The loop works both way but i normal carry on until Vallvidrera and head down the valley so I can warm up ready for the climb back up "Carretera de Molins de rei a Vallvidrera" which is a local favorite. On the profile below it starts at about 19km and ends at about the 30km point.



The Picute below was taken just before jioning Carretera de Molins de rei at the top of a steep climb on "Carretera de Rierara". There is a great cafe in Rierara by the way where you can sit outside in the woods next to the stream.



Finishing the climb on Carretera de Molins de rei your greeted with a great view of the city again pictured below. As you can also see from the picture I have finished building my new bike :-)



http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26074967 here is a link to my garim gps of this ride.

Running Abdominal Cramps

Recently I have been getting a pain in my Liver when I start running. The pain subsides after about 10 minutes but I have to take the pace really easy.

I have a sinus winter cold thing at the moment and also feel a bit run down, but have never had Cramps like this before.

Sometime I have had a stitch toward the latter part of a long run but this starts as soon as a start running.

I'm hoping that when the cold goes the cramp go with it.

Here is a good article about it all:

http://www.madetorun.com/running-diet-and-nutrition/running-abdominal-cramps/

Practical Tip: write down what you consume in the 24 – 48 hours before a serious training run or a race. After the run/race take note of how your stomach felt and how you performed. By taking meticulous notes you can usually figure out what settles best and leaves your stomach undisturbed when running. It’s easy to forget the exact items you ate leading up to a run so stay disciplined and detailed by writing that information down for future reference.

I going to try this int the coming week see if i can find the problem...

Forward sloping top tube

Starting to take shape now I got the headset fitted. As you can see from the picture, the top tube of the frame slopes forwards giving the bike a very low front end. I'm going to be using the visa-versa stem pictured to give myself enough height to ride with comfort. I built the wheel set a few years back, mavic openpro on ultegra hubs. Save the zipps for race day.

New hub for my zipp

Starting to get close to the first road Duatalo of the year (07/02/2010 XX DUATLÓ DE BANYOLES I COMARQUES).

I have lots of little jobs to do to get my kit in order.

First up, the hub on my zipp has had it, (these old zip hub are a pile of poop), i have picked up a American classic hub with the same spoke count (24 hole) and only a few mil difference in flange diameter. Spokes 255mm drive side and 255mm offside work fine for a 2 cross pattern.

I bought these zipps second hand about 2 years ago very very cheap, there look great and do make a difference over 30km/h but for a rider like me they are a bit of an over kill, i'm hoping i get faster this year so i look less like a wally with more money than sence.

Building a pair of zipps is a dark art, don't let your local bike shop do it unless they can prove to you they know what they are doing, very different than working with alloy rims, spoke tension needs to be lower and efforts have to focus on positioning the hub, as opposed to pull the rim into shape around the hub, which is kinda backwards.

Two much spoke tension and the nipple pulls trough the carbon on your first decent. Don't ask me how I know this :-(

Anyone wanting to build wheels should start here http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html , excellent how too from the infamous mr brown..

DUATLÓ BTT FOLGUEROLES 2010 APLAÇAT!!!!

Looks Like a bit to much snow for sunday's outing he he

Sunday's Mountain...

I have entered the DUATLÓ BTT DE FOLGUEROLES, here is the profile of the ride, l0oking forward to doing a little better this time, new rear Tyre on my bike will hopefully last the course.

The temperature, i am guessing, will be freezing the night before so they will be ice to contend with also, as you can see from the pic above the race starts at 550m.

There is a video of last years race below..

New bike 4 the Missus - Surly cross check

New bike for the missus, well new frame to be exact, spent last night swapping the parts over from her old bike. The idea is for a everyday bike that can also do some light off road stuff.



Surly make great frames, hats off..