How I'm going to beat last year's times

Part of achieving better times in this year’s races is to evaluate the “mistakes” I made last year. I came up with seven areas in which I could have done a better job last year. Since everyone loves a list, I’ve ranked them in the order that I think they impacted my times. I’ll devote a post for each topic.

The seventh most impactful area for improvement is my bike. The first thing I did after moving out back in April 2006 was to sign up for the LA Triathlon in September of that year. I needed a challenge to focus on and that seemed appropriate. The only problems were that I didn’t know how to swim and I didn’t own a bike. A weekend swim clinic courtesy of Total Immersion took care of the swimming. As for the bike, I didn’t want to sink a bunch of money into something that was so new for me, so I went to Universal Cycle in Studio City and I got a Felt F90 and a bunch of gear for $800. Except for a new seat post and some tri bars I slapped on, that bike is essentially the same bike that I rode in IM CDA last year.

I’m pretty ambivalent about my bike. On one hand, we’ve had some good times together. It travelled the country with me, it’s done every race I’ve done, it was there when I went down hard in Pasadena, and it’s super reliable. I’m pretty tough on it but it is sturdy and maintenance costs have been pretty low.

On the other hand, it’s HEAVY. Every time I climb a hill, I curse Mr. Felt and his excessive use of aluminum. IM Coeur D’Alene is a fairly hilly 112 miles and I felt them even more because of the extra weight I was carrying on my bike. A lighter bike would make my rides a little easier which would result in faster times.

The question is, how much am I willing to spend to get faster times? It seems that in every race I’ve been in, I’ve both been passed by people with worse bikes than mine AND I’ve passed people with sweet bikes that must cost more than 3 grand. That, combined with the knowledge that riders like Eddie Merckx and Bernard Hinault rode heavier bikes than I ride, leads me to the logical conclusion that maybe there's more to riding than bike weight. Clearly, a poor craftsman blames his tools.

Instead of replacing the bike, I’ve decided to keep the frame and upgrade the components. I took my first step last week when I upgraded my wheels to the Shimano Ultegra / Mavic Open Pro Wheelset after having a spoke break. Next up is new compact crankset and shifters. I think it is time to retire the granny gear.

As I mentioned, the bike weight is the least of my concerns, so I’ll do what needs to be done and maybe next year, I’ll do a big bike upgrade. Next up… #6... race day nutrition.