The New Year usually feels like a turning point for me no matter what is going on. Steve and I have a tradition to bring in the New Year in a place where we can't see or hear any signs of civilization. We had a 15 year streak going which we broke last year. We got back on it this year going down to Lake Mohave for some paddling.
We paddled up to Hoover Dam. Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up thinking about the weight and massiveness of the water behind the dam.
The top end of Lake Mohave where we were has a handful of hot springs. This one is called the Sweat Cave. It is deep and sweaty with a beauty view from the entrance. It is hard to find so we had it to ourselves - very nice.
Back to biking now:
Training: I started off my 2007 training plan with some power testing. Sitting pretty much at the same CTL/ATL/TSB as last year 5 min power is up by 10 watts and 20 minute power is up 3 watts. There are six weeks to 24-hours in the Old Pueblo. The plan looks like some focused threshold work for a few weeks, a big TSS binge week and a taper into OP.
Bike Fit: I've been working real hard to get the Q-factor down on my bikes. I got the Yeti down to 155mm with a 112.5mm Octalink bb and the SRM. That's great! The limiters in getting it lower now are the front deraileur - won't shift in far enough to drop to the granny. Andy has already drilled off the lower part of the cage to let it clear the suspension pivot when shifting middle-granny ring. We are going to try some road deraileurs next week. If those get us in a bit the next limiter is the bb shell which make see some dremmel tool action.
Power Meter Report: The SRM was working super on the Specialized Epic and the Ergomo was not on the Yeti. After testing myself and hunting down smart people to talk to it is evident now that the Ergomo, designed for a 68mm bb shell, does not work in a 73mm bb shell - so it is off the Yeti. Hence the major changes. SRM is now on the Yeti set up beautifully low-Q. Ergomo is now on the Epic which swelled the Q-factor up to a fat and unacceptable 172mm - so more finagling needed there.
Happy New Year. Time to get your New Year resolution into action. Mine is to lose 5 lbs (of course -isn't yours?)
Race Schedule: Is still shaping up but the biggies are Seven and 24-Hour Solo Worlds.