FLASH-POINT BLOG ARCHIVE: Apr 2007

What a fantastic weekend in Indy! Beautiful weather finally for a couple of days straight.

So, I'm still in the single digits as far as total ride count is concerned, following the whole 9 months off the bike, and somehow, I found my way Sunday morning leaving Andy's house with 11 or 12 others, embarking on a "three hour tour". Nothing serious, a casual ride to say the least, but none the less, likely going to be more than I could really handle. Armed with two bottles and a couple of Cliff Bars, I lit out with the boys. 40 or so miles deep, and a good solid headwind for a third of it, I'm close to cooked and trying to gauge my ability to get home at any decent speed with the group. Lucky for me, a couple of the guys were making a turn towards home at that point, cutting about 10 or 15 off the total loop. "Perfect!" I think, so I jump on with Michael and Nic and suck wheel the entire way home.

52 miles after we started, I was still standing and quite happy to have gone out that morning for a ride. I even feel pretty stellar today. Can't wait for another long ride this week......

Back when Denham invited me to join the FP family, I was 5 weeks pregnant. Now I'm 17. Man, time is already flying by! Anyway, I told him my situation and he was still willing to take a gamble with me and have me on board. I'm really grateful for that opportunity, and I can't wait until I can ride regularly on my FP60s and share all my stories about them.

In the meantime, it seemed like such a shame to see my brand new FP60s in the basement. They beckoned me, saying, "Why, oh why don't you ride us? Come on...you KNOW you want to go FAST!"

Sigh. Around here, many streets are NOT very bicycle friendly. Even in the park, sometimes drivers can be really rude and downright dangerous. As much as I want to go on a nice 2 hour ride, if something happened and I fell--even if it wasn't my fault!--I don't think I could live with myself.

So, what to do? I want to spread the FP60 love.

And then, I remembered my Iron Bro, TriEric!

See, TriEric is the BOMB. He and his wife are friends of mine, and I met them back in my running days a few years ago. Since then, he's become quite the Ironman, and absolutely ROCKED IMUSA in 2006. A few nights before I left for IMW in September, TriEric who is quite the bike guy, told me I could come on over and he would tune up my bike a bit. It was LABOR DAY--and a beautiful one at that--and he spent 2 hours taking apart my bike to shine it up and lube it so it was ready to go. What a guy! I told him I owed him one BIG TIME.

So what better way to repay him than to let him use my FP60s? I figured it would be good to share the wheel love.

So here it is--TriEric's first installment of his adventures on my wheels. I can't wait to add to the story, and I'm very glad that he's putting them to use while I am on the nine-month DL. :)

If you like what you read, check out Eric's blog at www.trierictri.blogspot.com !

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Here is my latest topic thread. My Flash-Point Friday will share space with Family & Friends Friday as I try to post more often on Fridays.

So why Flash-Point Friday? Obviously because of the F factor, but most importantly because I will be reviewing the set of FP60’s that I am fortunate to have in my possession courtesy of TriSaraTops. At the beginning of the year Sara was contacted by Flash-Point to write blog posts about training/racing on Flash-Point wheels. Even though she was completely up front about being pregnant and possibly not riding her bike the Flash-Point rep still mailed her the wheels. I was so jealous when she told me about it.

We must be on the same brain frequency because while talking on the phone she said I could use the wheels for the 2007 racing season. I was thinking how I could so rip it up on those wheels. I promised that I would write some posts that she could post on the Flash-Point site. She can write the “my journey to mommy land” posts and I would write the “these wheels are so awesome” posts. She would be the prophetic writer and I would be the technical writer. She’s a little bit country…..I’m a little bit rock ‘n roll. I guess if you teased her hair a little Sara could look like Marie Osmond.

I met Sara for lunch during her schools spring break and the hand-off was made. I gingerly took the wheels from her trunk and placed them delicately in my car. I couldn’t wait to get them on my bike. Unfortunately I had to get some supplies for these new wheels and this is where my first Flash-Point Friday begins.

Out of the package these wheels are a thing of beauty. The matt black carbon fiber is feather light. The deep 60mm rims just beg to slice through the air. The rear hub signs with the unmistakable click of a high quality hub. Included in the package were the skewers and valve extensions.

The valve extensions had the best set of instructions for use. I like the FP valve extenders with their 3mm hex head for tightening the valves in place. The instructions also had the all important recommendation of using white plumbers tape between the tube valve and the extension. This helps eliminate any leaks between the valve and extender. Amazing how much information a little piece of paper can hold.

I checked on the Flash-Point web site to get information on the hubs used for these wheels. While the “name” of the hubs was not provided some specifications were available. Most importantly there was information about the bearings used in the hubs, ABEC-5. Bearings are ranked on a scale from 1-5 with 5 being the highest. During my rollerblading days I was buying ABEC-5 bearings for my skate wheels so I knew the quality inside these hubs was top notch, and they do spin like greased lightening.

So to use these new wheels I needed some supplies, primarily tires and tubes. My stock of tubes was low and quality tires are needed for these quality wheels. But then I noticed that I would also need rim tape. I was a little surprised that there was no rim tape already on the wheels. Rim tape is such a basic necessity that I felt it was a bad oversight. If you are not familiar with the concept or application of rim tape be careful. The rim tape covers the openings for the spokes. Usually the holes are deep and have sharp edges. These two factors, when rim tape is not used, will lead to numerous flats. The rim tape is the only item missing from a perfect set of wheels.

Once I bought tires, tubes and rim tape I was ready to assemble the wheels. There is nothing like the kid in a candy store feeling when I came home and wanted to work on the wheels right away. Unfortunately I had other things to attend to so the wheels would need to wait until another day. I finished the wheel set by taking the cassette from my tri bike wheels and installing it on the FP60’s.

These wheels were looking hot. Each time I picked them up I was amazed at how light they were. I should get used to it. I did race IM USA with some Zipp 404’s. This season I will be able to take advantage of the FP60’s all summer. I’ll even put them on my road bike and test them in some road races.

Overall my impression of the FP60’s is great. The wheels are light, strong and great looking. I’ll let you know in the next FP Friday how they handle on the road……and will probably have a race to report as well.

Game On.

The news of the year: I got back on my bike. On Saturday, I rode 30 hilly miles through the metroparks in Cleveland.

And you know what? It was fun.

I realized something. At that IronMan bike course, I burnt myself out. Yeah, I had done my hundred mile training rides; I had even done hilly 100 mile training rides. But 112 miles through the Alps? It was hard. Too hard. I didn't have fun on that bike course. Since June 25, every time I thought about getting on the bike, I thought about that course. It was as though that was all I had ever ridden. All those wonderful, fun rides I had done previously had all disappeared. My entire biking experience felt summed up by that impossibly hard IronMan bike course.

And so I didn't want to get back on the bike. I taught spinning, but I didn't bike. We had some gorgeous weather, but I just couldn't make myself bite that proverbial bullet and pump up my damn tires.

I brought my bike everywhere, expecting to ride. My bike came along with me to Vermont, it came to Philadelphia, it went back and forth between Cleveland and New Jersey several times, and it came camping in Pennsylvania...but all it did was sit on top of my car and catch bugs with the head tube and aero bars. All year my bike was in the entry of my apartment. There it gathered compliments from visitors (it's a hot looking bike), for my purposes merely served as a coat rack and a balancing tool for attempting to put my shoes on without sitting.

I felt guilty every time I walked in the door, but I still just didn't feel capable of riding.

But I signed up for triathlons this year. I am a triathlete. I have to bike.

So, this past weekend I went to Cleveland. I went back to my favorite route, where I first learned to bike, where I fell a record number of times learning how to manage my clipless pedals. I got back on my bike, and I had fun. The course is hilly. There are some rollers in the beginning, and then two pretty intense hills towards the end, but I had a blast. I met new bikers along the way and rode faster than I thought I could, and I was happy that I could hold up just fine. I had a great time and I'm looking forward to biking again. Lesson learned...as Nike would say...Just Do It.

Now, to find pleasant courses to ride in New Jersey...

PS: The extra 3 miles on the pic comes from the walk back to the apartment after the race. [No, I didn't walk the 3 miles...I took a cab and my all too accommodating non-racing friends walked my bike back for me.] Oh, and my bike shoes? I should have taken a picture; they were still in the transition bag provided by IronMan France. I thought they would be too moldy to ever wear again, but they survived. My gloves, on the other hand, didn't fare so well. I'm not sure any washing machine can save them, but I'll try.

Keep on riding!

And if you can't appreciate that sentiment, you haven't raced in a while. That or you think Flash Point is a software company. My race season opened Saturday last with a leisurely 25K jaunt along the trails. They happened to be ski hill trails, which might explain why my quads are in a raucous state of revolt, but the run was a rite of spring and absolutely revitalizing. Wildflower approaches, let the taper and packing begin. I, of course would love to be packing my FP 60's, but alas, I am cc challenged, riding the stunted 650 variety while my tri hubby, being the full on stud that he is, rides 700's. He took the FP's on their maiden voyage last night and returned fully conflicted. Does he tell his wife about the absolute sweetness of his ride? Does he confide in their sensational road dampening ability? A smile is worth a thousand words, and that kind of currency absolutely dissuades me from a grudge. Although my birthday is coming, so there might be some pay back yet. The weather is perfect, Wednesday night club rides have begun and life is good.

The Iron Kahuna's went out to Palm Springs with his best friend and spent 48 hours playhing golf (the Kahuna plays twice a year and is horrible) at Indian Wells, watching the sports on TV, working out and talking about family, career and life.

The Kahuna took an Ipod-less 2.5-hour bike on Saturday, where he had a lot of time to think. By the way, here's a tip: don't leave your iPod in the car while visiting the desert. The Kahuna guesses the hot temperatures fried his beloved iPod, which now can turn on but does nothing else -- even after resetting the damn thing to the original settings and all that. RIP, little guy.

So the Kahuna was thinking: there are a lot of absolute truths in triathlon. Here's a list of some of them, but feel free to add your own.

1. You will forget to bring at least one piece of equipment or clothing on race day.

2. During a race, you will at least once curse the day you started in triathlon.

3. After crossing the finish line, you'll praise the day you started in triathlon.

4. At water stations, you'll wonder the level of personal hygiene of the volunteers who have their fingers in the cups of waters.

5. Someone will blow by you who is older or heavier or both and your ego will take a hit.

6. You'll blow by someone who is younger or skinny and your ego will soar.

7. You won't oversleep on race day. In fact, you'll wake up every 30 minutes to make sure of it.

8. After the race, your transition area will look like a tornado hit it.

9. You'll get kicked on the swim.

10. You'll get elbowed on the swim.

11. You'll panic, at least once, on the swim.

12. On the drive home, you'll think of several ways you've could have gone faster.

13. Before the race, you'll wait in line for a Port-a-Pottie.

14. You'll have to have a strong stomach to go inside the Port-a-Potties.

15. You'll have to go pee in your wetsuit just before the race starts.

16. You'll miss at least one handoff from aid station volunteers while on the bike.

17. Some knucklehead will try to squeeze in ahead of you in the finishing shoot.

18. There's nothing sweeter than your first taste of Gatorade during the race.

19. There's nothing more horrible than your last taste of Gatorade during the race.

20. You can never just do one triathlon.

Sometimes, when the Iron Kahuna gets too worried about his training, or missed days, or nagging injuries, or whether to have that cookie, he thinks back to a fellow he met at the Florida Ironman.

The Kahuna was waiting in line (there are lots of lines before an Ironman) to check in his bike, and he glanced behind him. There he saw a fellow triathlete, but the guy didn't look the part. He had to be in his early 50s, wore a ponytail, and sported a nice beer belly. The Kahuna thought maybe the dude had strayed from following the Grateful Dead tour.

The Kahuna and the man got to talking (there are lots of instant friendships at an Ironman event).

"How'd your training go?" the Kahuna asked, though the real question was: how in the hell are you going to finish tomorrow?

"Oh, I didn't train," the man replied.

"Not at all?"

"Well, I did 20 push-ups last week. They help with the swim."

Being a trained journalist, the Kahuna quickly got the story out of him. The Pony-Tail Guy was a four-time Ironman finisher. He lived in Panama City Beach and decided early on in the race's history that he wanted to do an Ironman. But the dude wasn't much for training. So before his first attempt, he broke the race down into its three legs and studied the cut-off times.

He soon realized that if he paced himself and just made the cutoff times for each leg, he could finish. So he finishes the swim in about 2 hours, 20 minutes, makes sure he's under the bike cutoff at 10 hours, 15 minutes, and then knows he's got about six hours to complete the marathon, which he can do mostly by walking fast.

A guy like that sticks in your mind, and the Kahuna thought about him all the next day during the Ironman. After the Kahuna crossed the finish line and did some celebrating with members of the Tri-Blogger Alliance, he and his training partner, Robo-Stu, went up to their hotel room to watch the final finishers (they would have stayed at the finish line but it was effing FREEZING!).

With the Ironman in its final minute (16:59), they looked at the TV screen in amazement as the Pony-Tail Guy crossed the line, looking fresh as a daisy.

"That's him!" the Kahuna and Robo both screamed.

Another amazing Ironman tale.

Bloomington, Indiana. Home of Indiana University, 40,000 co-eds and one of the most fantastic single day events in cycling: Little 500.

For those of you not familiar with "Little 5", it's a 200 lap, single speed, coaster brake'd team race that is held on a cinder brick 450m track (think old track and field stadiums, no banking & hard pack dirt like surface). It's a team event and each team is composed of 4 riders typically. Over the 200 laps, the teams switch riders, switch bikes and basically do whatever they can to get through the race as fast as possible, while not going down in the in between.

If you've never been or much less, ever heard of this 'little' race, I understand. If you ever have the chance to go, I highly recommend it. While the middle can get a bit monotonous, the finishes are spectacular, not to mention the fact that I've seen some of the most incredible crashes on that track. Thank goodness that everyone I've seen go down has come away with minimal injuries.

The big news of the weekend though, was that the Cutters team, coached by our own illustrious Jason Fowler, won the race after a 5 team final lap sprint. Congrats boys!

Needless to say, no riding for me this weekend, but a great weekend for bike racing none the less.

Last weekend I witnessed my friend Annie become an Ironman.

Annie did Ironman Arizona, and put on quite a show for us. The first unusual thing to happen is that somehow she got marked with two different race numbers on her arms. Not a big deal, but of all the things to worry about during an Ironman I never would have thought that could happen. She started the race with an awesome 1:21 swim; I thought 1:30 would be a great time so she was kicking butt. She then had an 8:48 T1; I knew many people at Ironmans have 10-15 minute transitions so I thought she was really zipping along.

The bike course is 3 loops; she was expecting to do 2.5 hours per loop, which would have her finishing the first loop around 11:00. We waited along the course as 11:00 came and went. 11:15...11:30...11:45... At 11:50 we saw her riding by with a big black mark on her shoulder and bandages on her arm. I was there when she put on her wetsuit in the morning, and I didn't recall seeing any bandages at the time.

As we found out later, at mile 8 (of a 112-mile ride) she hit a traffic cone and took a really bad spill. How bad? When first-aid arrived, they just assumed her race was over and they said they would call for the truck to bring her and her bike back to the start. But Annie said "no, I'm sticking with it." Now THAT'S the Ironman spirit!

Her aerobars got knocked out of alignment or something, and there was a problem with the rear wheel. I don't know the details, but it had something to do with the fact that it wouldn't spin any more. She was lucky enough that the tech truck came pretty quickly, but she still lost about 45 minutes before she got rolling again.

Oh, and then 15 miles later she flatted. Much to her relief (and embarrassment), the same guy who fixed her bike the last time came to her rescue again. As she puts it, he pulled up and said "oh, you again?"

There are very strict cut-off times for the Ironman. You must be finished with the bike ride by 5:30pm or you will not be allowed to continue the race. Our own Little-Miss-Drama-Queen decided she would come in at 5:28. Yes, after 10 1/2 houts of racing, she beat the cut-off with only 2 minutes to spare.

Annie is a pretty confident runner, and sure enough every time we saw her along the looping course she was smiling. Well, up until the end: At 11:36 we all watched as she became an Ironman, and there were tears in her eyes. I think we all had tears, which is as it should be.

So we lit off for another exciting Wednesday group ride last night and survived again. Every time I'm back on the bike feels a bit better. Last night was just a group of 5. Ernie, Scott, Nate, John M. and me. Good ride overall. A few bumps in the road, but nothing that we couldn't all handle.

So, I've added running back into the schedule of events on a weekly basis. I'm not really sure that I'm enjoying it yet, but we are getting closer. I'm not going fast or far for that matter, but just getting out there and moving the legs back and forth. Kopecky, if you are out there reading this, Yes! I am trying to follow good form, though I have no real idea about what that really is over a long distance run. What I have found is that over 4 miles and I just go in to survival mode driven by fear that if I stop, my legs won't move again :)

Riding again tonight. I'm just hoping that Dave R. doesn't feel the need to "stretch his legs" too much.....

I swore this year would be different. I swore I would ride.

I still will. This summer, in the mountains of Vermont, I will ride. I have to ride. I'm signed up for a Half Iron-Man and then a 101m race, and I have to be able to ride a bike.

I have the Wildflower Olympic race in less than 3 weeks and I have yet to get on my bike since last June. June 25, to be exact...the day of my IronMan.

Part of it is that the weather hasn't changed yet. There is no snow, but the temperature is still in the mid-low 40s and it's been raining for almost a week now.

I lead Spinning classes, so I have been 'riding' for 45 minutes 2 times a week. But Spinning is not the same as being on a bike; we all know that.

I'm excited about my new wheels, but they're 700s and my bike has 650 wheels and I feel like an idiot for not realizing that before.

Another part of it is that I don't have a support group here. I don't have people to ride with, people I look forward to seeing and who could drag me across town in rush hour to do a bike ride with just a simple phone call.

I could find some; I could find some quite easily; I've been offered training partners, in fact. But I've resisted, and I'm not sure why.

Okay, here's a start. So much of riding and triathlon in general is tied up with Cleveland; I almost feel like I'm betraying something when I find different people to train with. Those memories mean so much to me; it was a time when I was figuring so much out, when I was discovering something completely new within myself. And Cleveland and people who helped me along the way are just so intertwined that I have a hard time imagining triathlon without them.

And also, I'm scared to get back on. I'm not scared because I think I might fall (I probably will), but I'm scared of what it'll feel like to get back in the saddle.

I've never been a strong rider, and taking almost a year off? I'm not sure I can recover.

I can. I have to. I want to. This triathlon stuff? It's part of me now, and I'll take it wherever I go. Cleveland will always be where it started, but it can't be where it ends.

This weekend, the weather is supposed to clear up. I'll do my best to get some miles on that bike of mine...

Ok... ride #2 of the year. Still cold here in Indy. We started out the day with drizzle and bad skies and it didn't get much brighter throughout the day.

We did manage to start out our ride in dry, albeit cold, weather. Just 4 of us for the afternoon, Andy, Dave R. and John C. As soon as we start, I quickly realize, again, that my form leaves something to be desired. Desired as in begging for a third lung or a second heart and for my legs to not feel like dead weight under me. I know it will come, but I'm just impatient as ever... Classic.

The weather wasn't as bad as I had expected really and with plenty of layers on, I was sweating in no time. We just rolled through our usual 20 something mile ride without too much flash. Good ride and the boys were nice enough to tow me back home while letting me sit in and skip pulls into the wind... For the record, thanks gents! :)

More to come... form will return... I will go faster again...

I rode FlashPoints for the first time, and wow! One of my friends recently asked me to borrow my 404's. I was a little hesitant at first but he promised me he would pay for them if anything happened. I found some Demo FlashPoint 60's lying around so I thought I would give them a try. I really did not know what to expect.

I couldn't believe how smooth the hubs felt. They felt very similar to my 404's. I picked up some of my friends $1500 carbon rims and their hubs didn't feel any where near as nice. The FlashPoints are a great value at $1100 bucks. They use the same patented rim shape as my 404's. They are so plush, almost all road vibration was non existant. I put some of the Zipp Tangente Tires on them and they flied!! Everyone on the group ride was envious. I have my 404's back now, but I don't think I am going to give the FlashPoints back quite yet. I have a longer ride planned for this weekend. I will let you know how it goes.

-E

Well the Flash-Points are still happily hanging in the basement window, just begging for a break in the weather. As tightly engineered as they are, I don't think snow tire was among the descriptors. Wildflower is a few weeks out, let the season begin! On a training note, I can't say enough about training with a plan. Since Ironman Florida I've been anti plan. Not so smart, if for no other reason, I haven't kept track of what training I have done. That journal feature was handy whenever I would freak out about my readiness for a race, now three weeks out I'm mostly clueless. I wouldn't recoommend this as a pattern. There are innumerable ways to secure a training plan and a little notebook costs about 4 bits at the store. Time to kick er into gear again, with a touch more focus and in the very least, a cheap notebook.

Hello hello hello!!

I trust that everyone enjoyed a good weekend and hopefully had better weather than what we had here in the Midwest.

I was actually traveling back and forth to Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly love, for a tech. seminar at Cadence Cycling. We had a nice open forum discussion that ranged on topics from carbon fiber basics to aerodynamics of wheels and general wheel choice depending on rider strength and course detail. Overall, a pretty successful few hours of work.

I have to say that Cadence is one of the most put together shops that I've visited in recent years. Granted, most of my travel has been out of the country for the last couple for Zipp, but it's nice to occasionally get out here in the states and see what US retailers are doing well. For those of you that haven't been, I'm not sure that I will do it justice in my description, but I'll certainly try to. The shop is located in Manayunk district of Philadelphia on a very cool stretch of road at the base of the fabled Manayunk climb that is mid course of the Philadelphia race that used to be the US Pro Championships. The store itself is quite boutique, offering a good selection of high end components and frames in stock. They also carry a good selection of all the necessary (and more luxurious bits) that your standard IBD would offer. The upstairs of Cadence has some 12 computrainers linked together to train on, several treadmills, a full seperate fit studio, a physio evaluation room and a private locker room.

The staff that mans the store are nothing less than professional and were quite pleasant to work with. They have a great technical staff behind the benches from what I could glean with a few quick conversations with the wrenches as well as a top tier sales group that certainly would be able to cater to your every need while purchasing the new bike of choice. The interesting about Cadence is group of coaches that are also in the building. This small group of elite athletes and coaches combined with the beautiful retail environment really make the store something special.

Anyway, no riding for me this weekend as it snowed while I was on the road quite a bit, but I'm hoping that Indy dries out in the next 24 hrs and will allow for some time in the saddle.......

That's all folks.....

Well, I finally got to hear a heartbeat this week, so I could share my secret. I'm pregnant and due in October. This is really exciting, and also a bit scary...it's our first, so I feel about as clueless as when I decided to sign up for Ironman Wisconsin--except multiply that by about 197.

Yeah, that's pretty close.

Anyway, Denham approached me to write for this blog way back when I was just 5 weeks pregnant. No one knew at this point--not even my family. I stared at the computer screen, reading his email and thinking what an amazing opportunity this was.

"Oh no...." I thought. "But I won't be able to RACE this year."

The first year since 2001 that I won't be racing.

This was already a little bit of a hard pill to swallow, and now this amazing opportunity lands in my lap?!?! What's a triathlete to do?

I did what I knew was right. I told Denham my situation...and explained that I will understand if he doesn't still want me to join the blogging team. But I said I really hoped he did...that I was a sure bet, and I'd be back, and if he'd be willing to take a gamble on me that I promised I wouldn't let him down.

He let me know that he still wanted me to stick around, despite my situation. That he thought I'd bring a "unique perspective" to the blog.

So here I am. I'm really grateful that he and Zipp decided to take a gamble on me anyway. My posts will most likely reflect this crazy little journey I'm on and how my cycling and triathlon experience fits in, for now. I'm still running, swimming, and cycling on my trainer and plan on doing that as long as I can. But bear with me here...this will be my first season without racing in a LONG time. But I'll be back--no worries there!

Can I still be a triathlete without races?

Can I still be a triathlete this year?

I hope so. This finish line's going to be unlike any other.

Well, here we are again, another year of riding to begin. For the last week and a half, it's been beautiful here in Indy. I mean just fantastic, outdoor loving, top off the jeep, riding the motorcycle, running outside, walking the dogs and not hating it, sunny, warm weather.

So, in the spirit of spring, I decide that I will officially start riding outside again, get the new bike rolling and get pummeled by the boys at work on Wednesday (yesterday for those of you keeping score at home). Yesterday at the stroke of midnight, spring came to a grinding halt in Indianapolis and winter returned. Not only returned, but came back with a vengeance. And left me, with riding plans in 25 degree weather. Oh joy!

Now I don't usually like riding in cold weather. No, let me rephrase that, I don't like riding in cold weather at all. But yesterday, I made a triumphant (triumphant for me at least) return to the bike! And for the fist time in a long time, I rode with a huge grin on my face. It had been a 6 + month hiatus from the bike and I can honestly say that I'm happy to make the return to riding.

Still on the FP 40's that I started with.. running strong as ever.. Will keep you posted

This past weekend gave us our first taste of what lies ahead - 70+ degrees felt real good, but did not last for long as the temperature dips way back into the 40s today.

My wife and I took time out to ride the Cardinal Greenway trail at Marion IN. Although only just over 8 miles long, this is a great ride between Marion and Gas City. It was so good to feel the spring in the FP wheels and see the buds busting out all along the way. Now if I could just get that same energy in my legs!

Always amazed at the extra aero these FP wheels deliver even when there are quite stiff cross-winds - and very happy to get any boost so early in the riding season (much needed I may add).

So what are you doing to get back in rhythm?