Di2 Weekend

Kinda feel bad as this new toy has made me neglect running. I will start running again this week! Promise.

I did a solo 115km on Saturday to test out the Di2 setup. Started at 5am and things looked very promising....hitting ride average of 31km/h at Jalan Buroh, on my own. As usual, going up Jalan Boon Lay slowed me down. Still managed a respectable 30.5km/h ride average after the hilly Mandai sections. Jousted a little with another group at Mandai. Basically I broke up the 8 man group by going into the gaps that were forming between their 'fast 3' and the rest. Went at it with their leading young rider on one of the slopes and took the lead, with the intention to lead them through. Apparently they did not like this and promptly started a sprint fest. No problem, I just tailed, went side by side to a Tri Bike and the guy promptly looked at my relaxed posture and said "don just suck on our wheels! take the lead!". I was thinking OK, so I took the lead and they started a sprint fest and I'm not leading? Excuses for weakness. Well I said "No problem!" and I took the lead and pulled the group to 37-38km/h...it wasn't long that they made a left towards Mandai...no chance to pull them further.

So after this whole bout, I was pretty much spent....slow down my pace and abruptly heard a shout from behind "Why so slow? go faster la!"....KL was, by chance, chasing me from Mandai. What luck! So at the 65km point, I had company. We took turns at the front. At Pulau Punggol, cooperated with a lone Pina (nice fella by the way!) until the end when upon going a rough patch of sandy, rocky road, KL got a puncture. Puncture repair time. Did the puncture SOP, had his smokes and off we went again. Did modest pace till Pasir Ris where I tailed a strong tri-bike....left KL behind for a while until turnoff towards Changi V at Loyang where I waited. We hung on to dear life from stage on I think, had a great time drafting a group of 3 riders along coastal at 35km/h. I felt bad and took the lead...maintaining the same speed till the end. Rested at Siglap with my double milo-ping. Met BP and Mark there with the PC group.

The Lee at Pulau Punggol

Puncture Repair SOP

So how was Di2 on this long ride....lets just day I forgot that it was even there! I could literally shift with my fingertips (no need to exert any strength or reposition my fingers/hands to shift) and quite frankly shifted more than usual for better efficiency. Good thing or not? I'm not sure but I'm loving it! It did make a bit faster, I'm sure. About 0.2km/h :)

So for Sunday, arranged with KL and Ben for 630am ride but it was raining at Kaki Bukit so KL couldn't go. Decided to move ahead with Ben but just do Coastal. Met up with him below his block and suggested to swap bikes. We adjusted the posts and went. Needless to say, he liked the Parlee and more so, the Di2 setup. He could sprint very well on the Parlee, I could see. Scary.

I had my first longish (30km) ride with Campy 11 and the Archon. The ride of the Archon is very comfortable. It has noticeably less jar compared to my Parlee, making it an excellent all-day rider. As for Campy 11 (Chorus), well, it just shifts. Not smooth nor refined as the 7900, clunky and very mechanical, not over-engineered. I never liked thumb-shifting and do not see the point of being able to dump all gears in a go.....

Let's see how will their electronic group fare next year.....