Italianophile.

Silverton this weekend will be my first race since the Roubaix last month. With my power meter still out for repair, and no racing, I have zero idea how relatively fit I am right now. This could be trouble. All the data and guesstimates that I have been able to gather make me think I'm pretty much levelling off as far as raw fitness is concerned. There's just no more time in the week I can take to keep adding on the hours. Now it's just a matter of making sure all the specificity is there, so really focus on getting my intervals in and on making all the group rides I can, and throwing down some intensity. At this point, easy miles are wasted miles unless I'm specifically resting up for something.

So it goes.

I stripped all the Ultegra off my red steel bike the other day and replaced it with a mix of Campy Record, my old FSA carbon cranks, Rival brakes, and a modified shimano cassette. Just for fun. I guess I've been feeling Italianophile recently. I like it. Actually, it raised a whole other set of questions since I think I was faster on it in the last couple of days than on my regular steed, and I think it might have to do with the crank length - switching back to 172.5 from 175mm. Usually I'm skeptical that would actually make a measureable difference, but it sure felt a lot snappier. I felt like I added a few rpms in any given gear. Maybe I'll race it this weekend for giggles, and see how it goes. Nice bike. All it needs is white bar tape and a white saddle, and it's set.