Monday, November 8, 2010

Merlin Monday. My motivation...

has finally returned. I signed up for the Leadville 100 bike lottery. They announce the entrants on February 28th so until then I will prepare to race a couple of 50 mile runs and also build my base back on the bike before the beginning of my build... to Leadville (I ran out of B words). I do owe this spike in motivation to one of my athletes. He tipped me last week with a Merlin Extralight fitted with Campy Chorus 10 speed. Too generous (which is the kind of guy he is) in my opinion but he did just guarantee a life time of good karma and also my playing domestique for his training leading up to Ironman next year. The irony (or coincidence... I still can't tell those two apart correctly) is that I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst sore throat of my life. I woke up because my throat was swollen so much I couldn't breath, my sinuses are also sealed completely. So... I prescribed myself the best remedy that I know of and I put on 3 layers of thermal gear and exercised and sweated (and drank water). 1:04 with 1649 feet of climbing. By the end my sinuses were clear and the swelling in my throat was gone. This won't cure me, but it definitely made me feel a thousand times better.

Here are a few pics... I may or may not lower the front end. It's quite comfy with that stack height and flipped stem! One smart thing would be to get my road position a little closer to my MTB position though.



9 comments:

Ward said...

Sounds like what I went through last week... nothing good about being sick! I seem to get sick more often now that I have three petri dishes bringing home funk they picked up at school. Whatcha' gonna do?!?

Lucho said...

HTFU I guess? I have always felt much better continuing to exercise rather than lay around.

Rick said...

Schweeeeeet!

Lucho said...

Rick- Helllllll ya! Titanium is it for me. Never have to clean it, if you scratch it you just buff it out with steel wool, the ride is responsive and plush and it still weighs just ~18 pounds.

Uli said...

This is one heck of a nice frame and group! STYLE. Welcome to the world of Campagnolo.
Just that whole front end deal (what? Ksyrium?) with the stem erection is a little hard to swallow. Flip it PLEASE! ;)

Have fun with it
Uli

P.S. I have a similar Moots plus Campy 02 group.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_5iJ3uK2J0wo/TE7jLNdlw6I/AAAAAAAABs8/ouqcsuqBeCI/s800/P1030963.JPG

Lucho said...

Ha! Uli... of all my friends I knew you would appreciate the ride. The Campy stuff is astonishingly different than Shimano! I kind of knew this... but not really.
And the stem... but it's SO comfy! But OK then, I'll flip it. I've been riding the dirt roads that we ran on. Awesome and brutal. Love it. Zofingen in 2012?

Lucho said...

PS Uli... love the green effects on the Moots! I need to do that I think! Maybe red?

Uli said...

Ha, awesome!
That green will be THE color of 2011 - so don't. I like red. But a Ferrari kind of hot red.

Zofingen 2012? Never say never. I had a rough day yesterday at NYCM and jogged it in. Hoping to go to Fukuoka in four weeks.
2011 it's Comrades but 2012 is wide open. ;)

Lucho said...

A nice red chain. Maybe red Mavic hubs? I would still love to race Zofingen. Maybe bring the family...
I had an athlete at NY. She said the crowds were insane. Tough to run fast there? Japan is fast!