80km Ride on 7900 and 5km Barefoot Run

-
Saturday was a momentous ride. Its Ryo's comeback after 8 months of not cycling! KL and me went on our usual pace and Ryo did well of course, keeping up comfortably. I'm sure he'll be up to speed and will be fast and furious in no time. He looked like perhaps he missed a month cycling....not 8 months!

The bike rode very well and I soon also got use to the shifting and definitely do not miss the 3 gear swipe. The shifting action is actually pretty light as well compared to 7800 perhaps a tad 'tighter' but really not much more. Shimano obviously could have gone the hidden cable route much earlier but really did not want to sacrifice the light action shifting. They have done it this time around. On Friday, I swapped the old KMC chain with a new one.....there is 1/2 link stretch on the old chain over its full length compared to the new one. The new chain feels 'tight' and 'direct'....should have changed much earlier!

Sunday : barefoot running. Ryo's idea and I tried it out this morning on my 5km route. Starting out was kinda weird and prickly....its like going for foot reflexology. Naturally, I heel strike much less and tend to land fore/mid footed. The movement feels very light without shoes and strangely I felt less tired and actually posted 1.5mins better timing than my last 3 runs over the same terrain with shoes. All this sounds just too good to be true? yes it is....the price : blister on the ball of my right foot (incidentally is my problematic foot). This shoes I'm definitely stressing the right more......

Some research maintains that the blister is mostly due to over aggressive distance and speed for someone who's just starting out. I was striding and pushing off as if I was on shoes....a no no for starters as I do have 'tender' soles! So this barefoot running just feels 'right' somehow and I shall try it out within the week, at slower pace but same route.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tecnotrat 'Saronni' and 'Others'

-
Image
Here are a few Tecnotrat 'Saronni' and 'Others' still hard at work. Tecnotrat shipped a lot of these frames during the 1985-1989 period, badging them as Saronnis, Ferraris, Europa, a whole lot more! Tecnotrat Saronni This one's in Japan . Original paintwork intact! Same chromed fork as mine. Well maintained! Love those cages..... ( www.campyonly.com/ retrobikes/gallery.html ) Some pics of Saronni frame alone Tecnotrat 'Others' 'Europa' badged Tecnotrat, brought into Australia for Europa Cycles. She is in not too good condition but as a steel, it will be easily refurbished by its new owner. Another Europa, in better condition, serving as a dog-cage as well A well used and neglected Europa in Sydney.... Tecnotrat 'De Benardi' Probably one of the last incarnations made by Tecnotrat.... Same frame for Track Bike build....notice the rear facing drooputs Another track build... Road bike circa 2001....same steel design, campy dropouts...
Read more

2011 NTU Bike Rally - Completed!

-
Image
First 'official' ride of the year. This is the first time I participated in this event and boy, no regrets. It's a real mixed bag and I opted to try to chase the fast ones and managed to keep up. Good thing there were a lot of stop points (every 20km or so..) Garmin data as below....only tracked 140km...lost 8km of data as I forgot to switch it on upon leaving NTU rest point. 2011 NTU Bike Rally by boostbutt at Garmin Connect - Details This year, KL, Ben and I participated. We rode from our homes, met up at the usual Nicoll H'way stop and went to the F1 pit. About 1000 people signed up for the event...I think perhaps 800-900 turned up. We were mostly together during the rides until after NTU where we kinda split a bit but still meet up at the rest points. I managed to complete the last 4 stages with the fastest group (arriving at rest stops which were empty!) with the Coastal one being the most brutal as cramps started to creep in. There, I took turns with the lead guy
Read more

A Bad Week in Life, an OK Weekend for Cycling

-
Well what can I say? Bad week indeed.....my 7-month old son was hospitalized, diagnosed with Kawasaki's disease. Yes I know, wtf is that??? Well its not common but not rare as well. Its cause is still not known and there is no direct way to diagnose it....just by the prolonged fever and a couple of other symptoms. Read it up if you have kids!!! He's ok now but we are worried sick right now on that the long term effect (aftermath) of this disease will leave on his health; his heart in particular. We are going for a first scan to tomorrow (2D Echogram). Pray for us and our little boy.... Back to cycling...did a quick ride on Sat...managed to complete the usual course (about 29km) in about 64 minutes. Was really struggling to get up to speed along Changi Coast Road and tried really hard to keep at 30km/h....the aim was to do it in less that an hour! Well I failed. Only managed an average of 27.5km/h for the entire ride. Prior to the ride I had a niggling stiff neck and weird nerve
Read more