Strava PR: Use the wind!

For every headwind there's a tailwind.  That nice little adage served me well when moderating my effort to try and get some PRs in Strava.  I may never get a KOM but at least I can rock some nice PRs from time to time.  Either way, going north into a headwind along 101 make me think of all of those lovely Strava segments I would be hitting during my journey back south with a nice 3-7 mph of wind to push me along those flats and rollers.

Sure enough, 4 new PRs when I got home and hit upload on my iPhone.

Obliterated two Ultegra Di2 front derailleurs...

Here's what I now know, if you combine the Cannondale house-brand compact chain rings with a Shimano Ultegra Di2 from derailleur you get nothing but hell.  From what the mechanics say it's a matter of the (very light) Cannondale chain rings having a little too much flex.  While the mechanical shifting can easily overcome that chain ring flex the electronic shifting sometimes does it right but other times just slowing pushes against the chain without enough force to move to the big ring.  That slowing starts to bend and tweak the cage.  Eventually you have a weak cage and when I was going on some flat rode and shifted into the small ring I heard a nice pop and the outside portion of the cage was splayed open.  I've destroyed two and am now waiting for stiff FSA chain rings; I hope it solves the problem!

I hate waiting...

I hate waiting for the new set of FSA chain rings that are supposed to work with my Ultegra Di2.  I know it's only been a little over a week but it feels like forever.  I've been riding around with only my small chain ring and no way to shift into the big ring.  So there I am, looking for steep climbs and then freewheeling the enter way down.  Kind of an odd way to ride.  Maybe this should be teaching me patience. I, however, feel like I'm gaining 1/2 pound per day of solid fat being so lazy...

Jersey sizing, there has to be a better way...

Local bike stores never seem to stock all of the sizes of all of the variations of even a couple of brands of jerseys.  It seems like I'm forced to either drive all over creation to try on random jerseys (hoping for a good fit) or do what I just did:  go online and order 7 jerseys when I really only want a couple of new ones.  I figure I have to shop online, order a variety of sizes, just to see which ones end up feeling good and fitting well.  So far it seems like the more expensive the jersey the tighter the fit (makes sense as someone who would spend $200 on a jersey is probably pretty fit).  That wouldn't be so bad but then I can't even know what a "Pearl Izumi Large" is my size, it's just a guess.  I might be an extra large in the fancier jersey and a large in the basic one.

Isn't there a better way?  Amazon must love his conundrum...

Reynolds Assault/Strike Cominbation...

So I got these on my Cannondale EVO yesterday and boy to they make a difference.  During the Ride2Decide demo period I don't think I really appreciated them.  It took going back to the old Shimano R500 wheelset (I know, hardly a fair comparison) and then going back to really appreciate the benefits.

If I can just get that compact crankset issue resolved I'm thinking there are good times to come...

Compact crankset, what a pain...

So I went from a standard crankset to a compact crankset and those mechanics were (and are) having the worst time on the planet trying to get it to work right.  I guess maybe the "jump" is higher or the chain rings are different or something.  Either way the Di2 shifting wasn't happy.  Through a chain a couple of times when trying to go to the small ring then wouldn't make the jump to the big ring.  Then it worked pretty well until I got home then it was having a real hard time making the push to the big ring.  I'm just hoping it was the battery that was just starting to die out a little bit and it isn't something more serious.  At the moment I'm feeling frustrated with either the good folks at Shimano and Cannondale I just don't know which one.  It was working so flawlessly with the regular crankset I might end up going back.  Design flaw somewhere?

Even Fondo's should track times...

I know it's not a "race" and I know you don't want people acting like it's a race during a fun fondo.  But it would be nice to see the people track start/finish times.  They might be unscientific and who can predict the roles that stoplights, flat tires, etc. all play in coming up with an overall time but knowing if I was in the top 20% versus bottom 20% would be great.  I can't imagine that more people wouldn't want to know how they stack up on more than just a Strava segment.  There has to be a way to accomplish this that wouldn't cost a lot.