Since it is currently the time of year when I realize that my swim is awful and needs lots of work, I am throwing myself into every session I can reasonably attend with the swim squad here at the OTC. This does seem to be a yearly occurance – last year I found myself almost 1.5 minutes down from the lead swimmers at the Austin Pan Am Cup. Upon returning to training after the race I put in a massive swim block and exited the water in the front pack at HyVee. I’m hoping for similar results this year as HyVee is a little over three weeks away.
In other news it appears that my random twitter ruminations and Simon Whitfield’s re-tweets pulled Annabel Luxford from an injury induced writer’s block. It’s a great post by Annabel and definitely a recommended read – especially those who are currently injured (like Ms. Speildenner)!
Third, my new bikes are almost ready to go. Soon I’ll have a 2010 Orbea Orca and Ordu in matching blue with Di2. Thanks to Joe from Davis Wheel Works in Davis, CA for flying out here to put them together. He is the best mechanic I know! Below is a picture of how the Orca looked last night. I’m sure this nullifies my Orbea warranty…but running the Di2 cables internally (rather than externally and taped to the frame) will save me from the worry that the TSA will rip the cables off during baggage inspections. Also, it just looks better.
As for the Di2 (electronic Dura Ace), here is a great video on Simon Whitfield’s blog that explains how it works and why it’s awesome!