Thursday, June 12, 2008

In With The Old

For the past few days, my ears have been ringing with the unsolicited fit advice I got after Tuesday morning laps. I decided to skip laps this morning so I could ride on my own tonight and test out my old fit again. I zipped home after work and adjusted my bike back to the original fit measurements I got when I was custom fitted 18 months ago by a local racer who uses the Wobble Naught fitting system.

As I was cruising up 8th Ave toward Central Park, I checked myself out in the reflection of storefront windows and liked what I saw. My back was flatter and I appeared more stretched out. Further, I didn't feel as much pressure on my hands and arms. My old fit, which felt uncomfortable a month ago, suddenly felt more comfortably. Why? Who knows.

As I started my first lap in the park, I ran into a buddy from the SIG. He was in the middle of a warmup lap before hill repeats. I agreed to join him. This guy was kicking my ass in the SIGs. But now I was roasting him on the hill repeats. It wasn't even close. My new old fit feels great. We did 10 Harlem Hill repeats and headed home. I could have done 20 or 25. A year ago, 6 or 8 was my max.

I'm feeling good on the bike again.

Thinking back, I'm not sure why I took Eric's advice on fitting and new parts. He's a freaking mountain biker. What does he know about road bike fit? Not much. But he sure knows how to perk up sales after hours by playing on people's insecurities during maintenance class.

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