.... the jackal rides and run....

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 start...

Those who know me knows that I'm a firm supporter of electronic shifting. I was so excited when Di2 was announced 2 years ago...alas....the price point was way beyond what I was willing to put on at that point in time. Now, I have a good deal on a set and I've sort of gone bonkers on bike spending anyway, I took the plunge. Just couldn't wait for Ultegra (which by the way, IMHO, looks too bulky but I do acknowledge it should be better and DA7970 since its built with the experience of 7970!) and the DA7900 group just was not a mark up in performance enough compared to the 7800 series. It was still drizzling when I went out; a good chance to test out the water-resistance of Di2. It was initially a weird experience, clicking on mouse-like buttons instead of doing the the usual lever sweeps to shift gears. Fortunately, after a couple minutes, I got the hang of it and actually enjoyed the simplicity of it all! Granted its just my first time out (only 20km) but here's the...