Training - The Dungeon

Looks pretty intimidating, doesn't it?

It's a world of hurt in there. Step through the door and embrace it. Really, do it. I do it, almost every day.

Welcome to my world.

My main training tools - weights and my bike.

My bike has my new Reynolds DV46 clinchers. Yeah, I'm using them on the trainer, along with the Michelin Krylions I got for my training camp out west. Some people may cringe but the tire shows barely any wear. It also gives me time to hone adjustments and get used to looking down and seeing spinning white decals.

Incidentally, the coolest sight in the bike world right now is seeing a road bike, big ring, with deep carbon wheels, flying along.

Makes my heart sing.

I am debating the purchase of more weights for the Powertec (a pair of 45s and a pair of 35s would be nice). Swapping weights back and forth is difficult in the tight quarters. Of course, as I pointed out to the missus, it's still "weight lifting".

Just not anything written in any bike racing books.

Behind me sit my first line wheels.

The blue rimmed FiR Zeniths are the salt and sand condition training wheels. They've been excellent for the last month, but their heft is a bit, err, hefty. Wire bead Schwable Blizzard tires - tires you want to ride in a blizzard because you don't have to worry about flatting them. Great but I think they weigh more than the rims. The ones with the Cipollini tires were off the missus's bike, so I haven't been riding them.

The tubular Reynolds DV46s behind them are my primary race wheels. They have some shoddy Contis on them and they'll be getting nice Vittorias before their next race. They also have one of my precious half-titanium Campy cassettes on the rear.

And the DX 900 is the spin bike.

I'm actually a bit afraid of doing spin workouts. The last time I did such a thing I couldn't pedal right for almost two weeks. I think that doing a slightly less intense session will be a good way to start - maybe tomorrow.

The blue wheels served me well so far but I need to test and verify things are good with the Reynolds before I fly out west with them. I've installed the wheels, swapped the cassette, and installed the tires. I need to swap brake pads and then I can ride outside.

I weighed the bike as it sits there on my new Christmas scale. It hits about 16.5 pounds. Not bad for a full out training bike. With the blue wheels it hit 17.8 pounds or so, and with the tubulars it should be more like 15.5 lbs. The bike definitely feels light. I can't imagine the "really" light bikes, like the sub 14 pound stock Cannondale.

My cockpit.

I don't see a lot of the stuff in the picture when I'm actually riding. It sort of just disappears or something. I hear music, which gear I'm in, and perhaps the visual background on the DVD player. Not much else.

I use a trimmed Mapei cap as a headband. Fits about right, no brim, learned this from my ex-pro friend. It's what I usually wear in the summer. Great way to recycle those caps with messed up brims.

Note the tiny portable DVD player just in front of me. I won that at the missus's company Christmas party (door prize). It's come in great use when I train indoors. I used to have it hooked up to a TV but we don't have room for one now. So I just watch on the little screen. Until recently I had to crank the volume, but that's changed with the laptop.

The laptop, to the left, controls the music. I have an 1/8" headphone extension cord going out to the ear buds currently draped over the bars. I learned real quick that without the extension cord, I yank the laptop off the crate and onto the floor. I have a bunch of songs on the laptop, and with the ear buds, I can listen in relative clarity. With bass, even.

The white fan, insufficient in the previous house, is fine in the unheated basement. As a bonus it doesn't blow dust around. Although I vacuumed what I could, I'm sure I missed big swaths of the stuff.

Laptop, up close. A 700 Mhz slow poke running XP Pro.

I know, I should load Ubunto on it, and I made a disk. I just have to move 20-30 GB of backed up data off of it and then I can wipe it. I'm totally burnt on IT though so doing things like installing a couple hard drives in a desktop takes a lot of mental effort.

On the laptop you'll see the Olbas Inhaler. I'll have to go into detail in a separate post but suffice it to say that I rediscovered the Swiss company's "menthol and eucalyptus and more" products. Excellent stuff, I highly recommend it.

I also have a pen, for inventorying bike stuff when I get a chance. Or writing down what weights I lifted how many times. Things like that.

With the weather going south for a bit, I've been training indoors more. I've done 7.5 hours the first few days of this week. Yes, that means I pulled a 3 hour day on the trainer. Not unusual actually, and I had to force myself to get off the thing else I'd have gone on for a bit more. I hope to hit 15-17 hours minimum. If I can get a long ride in on Saturday, maybe 20 hours.

Thanks to SOC for the inspiration :)