Client Build: Pinarello Dogma 65.1 Hydro

Following up with that frame teaser from the previous post, here's the full build.

Client is in his late 60's.  Puts in some decent miles, upwards of 400/month in California during the Alaskan winters.  Wanted a new steed for the rough Alaskan roads up here.  Was currently riding a Specialized Tarmac, circa 2004.  He was in for quite the change...

One challenge when fitting a top tier race frame to folks with not as much flexibility nor tolerance for twitchy frames is getting them comfortable on said machines.  The same clients understand and appreciate pedaling and power transfer efficiency, which most "comfort fit" frames lack with longer chainstays and slack angles.

I've built a Pinarello KOBH previous to this (it'll be featured in a later post) for a friend of his to ride in California.  Being Italian, it was only a matter of time for this client.

Being Italian, everything needed to match up with his lineage.  The only things I sourced from different countries were the wheels and bar tape.  Cinelli or Deda tape would have been nice, but this client has a bad right hand so more cushion was needed, hence the choice.  Neither Campagnolo nor Fulcrum offer disc road wheels at this point, DT Swiss rivals Campagnolo in hub construction.  Gold standard.

Campagnolo is doing away with the Athena EPS gruppo, he has it on another bike down south, keep things familiar for this machine.  Additionally it helped curb costs, but only slightly.

Cockpit is FSA, their shallow K-Force carbon bar is lightweight, and with short reach, ideal for customers lacking flexibility.  The stem was kept brief, 90mm, installed for high rise.

Coming from racing and obsessing over all things PRO and "euro" it can be challenging to the eye to install and build a bike without a 120mm+ stem slammed to the headtube.  Ego is quickly overcome by the excitement of others over their respective machines.  My internal strife, as superficial and misplaced as it was, dissapaited quickly by the enthusiasm and level of stoke this client had during delivery.  My plans to ride that day were thrown out the window and I chose to stay after the bike fit, and accompany him on the inagural ride.

Proving to be a good choice was staying and a multi-tool.  There are always little quirks that can pop up during the initial outing of any whale, let alone one of this caliber.  I found myself lacking proper torque of some components for fear of damage.  My torque wrench is on permanent loan so procurement of that crucial tool is neccessary.

Needless to say, despite sporadic retorque and adjustments, he was thrilled and the bike seemed to exceed expectations, always a good outcome.

Thank you for reading, thank you for your support.

Updates, Racing, and New Handlebars

Yikes, it's been a while, too long, since my last post.

Much has happened in the world of European pro racing, as well as racing here in little old OR.

First, I finally got my points for that road race, so currently I stand 2nd in the Oregon Cup points, though a distant 2nd.

Racing wise I've done the Cherry Blossom Classic stage race.  It was a good experience, though my results spoke otherwise.  The Kings Valley RR was last weekend.  Again, played my cards and ended up short, though I finished in the money.

I've got pics of the races I'll post later today, just wanted to give a bit of a teaser update in the mean time.

Handlebars have been changed to the Shimano PRO Vibe7s Anatomic bend, much stiffer, still getting used to the drops, but I like them.

Racing!

Hello, it's been a while since my last posting, but much has happened.

First off I've now got an SRM Powermeter installed and working quite well on my Specialized.  Rather than analyze every little detail of my bike riding, I'm using it more to get accurate information during intervals.  Though I have been keeping the SRM on during races and checking out the data for fun, I'm still grasping it's understanding and trying to see how that relates to my training, if at all.

I have just about completely gotten over my sickness, but I still have a bit of a cough left.  It flares up during and post hard efforts, but it is manageable, and I feel fine otherwise. 


Two weeks ago we had the second Banana Belt series race.  66 miles, or 6 laps around Henry Hagg Lake, just northwest of Salem.  The weather was truly awful, and we raced at 9am, so it wasn't what you'd call warm.  I wore a vest for some added protection as I got properly hosed by wheel spray.  There was so much dirt and water that I had grit in just about every orifice and crack in my body...I'll just leave it at that.

The race got off to a decent start, and a break stuck about two laps in.  Not having any teammates I chose to sit in and bide my time till the group sprint.  The break steadily built their lead to about 3 mins max.  About two laps to go the field split, and the riders who actually wanted to race went up the road, about 8 total.  I sat in waiting to see what people would do, and started to get cold from the drop in pace.  I decided to ride tempo and see where I got, also trying to get warm.  I ended up making up some ground on the split, and eventually bridged up to them, not really intending too.  Once I made the chase I chose to sit in as my best chance at anything is in the sprint.  Since I had just gotten over being sick, every time someone looked back I hacked a couple times, hoping they'd get the impression that I couldn't work.

Eventually people started to voice their concern with my lack of work.  I ignored most and continued to sit in.  One racer had such wild hand gesticulations that the ref car pulled up and made sure everything was okay.  I told the ref that the racer was upset I wasn't working, and the ref responded "doesn't he know it's a race?"  This gave me a slightly rewarding feeling seeing as how I couldn't feel my hands, face, or feet.  The chase worked very well together and we caught all but two members of the break.  With the break having about 90 seconds on us coming into the last half of the last lap, we knew we were now racing for 3rd.  I continued to be patient and waited till 1k to go.  Most of the chase was pretty trashed, but I still had my sprint.  Riding into the last km the bunch was fairly together.  The road opened at 200m to go, so I stayed near the yellow line and launched into the left lane at 200m, and easily won the field sprint. 

Though the win would have been nice, I was in no condition to go with a break, so best of the rest is just fine with me.

Unfortunately since I had a vest on, my numbers were covered up.  I didn't get scored and didn't get any points for the Banana Belt series, or for the Oregon Cup (a selection of OR races with an overall victor).  Despite emailing the race official a photo of me winning the field sprint, apparently that just wasn't enough.  I'm still hoping to get my due points and credit, but at least I know the form is there.  Here's a shot of the sprint.

Training last week went well, did some intervals on Wednesday, always love the intervals.  This past weekend my Alma mater Willamette University hosted its now 2nd annual Capital Cup Criterium.  The relatively young team did a fantastic job with the race.  The race is broken down into collegiate categories in the morning, and OBRA categories in the afternoon.  Due to the size of the collegiate racing, they aren't able to offer a full OBRA category list, however, all of the main categories are represented, save for the masters fields.

I was able to announce and dj the race which made my day, and in the afternoon, actually have a race with a teammate.  Graham Howard, who is coming to Belgium with me, and I did the 1/2 race which started at 5:30pm.  The start was a bit later than anticipated, but many Salem bikers were able to attend having gotten off work at 5pm or so.  The crit was around the Capital building and was a fairly simple 4 corner rectangle with long finishing and back straights.  The only downside other than wet pavement were the questionable corners due to both manhole covers and bad pavement.  The inability to really dive into the corners kept the field together for the most part, as did eager racers not wanting to let their "buddies" go up the road without them.  The race kept a fairly high pace with the entire field stringing out with every attack, but surprisingly stayed together as a blob for the final sprint.  Graham and I have trained together quite a bit, but this is our first race together.  Since he has professional experience, he has much more race knowledge than I do.  He decided he would try and mess up any sort of organized leadoutleadout, and I got trapped at the back, middle, part of the group coming out of the last corner.  Since the finishing straight was so long, I was able to come from the back of the pack, around everyone sprinting for minor placings, and nab 4th.  Being a home turf race, and my first with Graham, we both wanted the win badly, but it wasn't in the cards.  Fortunately neither of us hit the pavement and had no mechanical issues.  Here's a few shots from the race.

This weekend we have two races, Saturday is Piece of Cake, and Sunday is Banana Belt 3, the last of the series.  I'll have a post tomorrow after POC.

Thanks for reading!

Racing, sickness, and bike parts

First road race of the season is done, just about two weeks ago.  Cherry Pie road race, two laps of a 26ish mile course, with fairly undulating terrain on one leg and flat on the way back.  Headwind out, tailwind back and an uphill finish made for a fast run into the leg stinger of a finish.  I made the drive out early in the morning, before any racing had even started, with coach Omer Kem, and teammate Graham Howard.  Omer needed to be there to help with registration, while Graham and I were planning on selling some baked goods to help fund race entry fees for the future.

Some of the Bearcats made it out, many of them racing for the first time.  I wished many of them good luck and gave any bits of advice they requested, mainly just trying to calm nerves, as I was in there spot only a year ago!

Gearing up for the first race of the year was fun, but not having a team jersey was a bit of a letdown.  Either way the race went very well all things considered.  Having come off an off season of being hit by a car, and using many different training tactics than last year, I had a great race and decent form with no crashes (always a plus).

The race started off with attacks from the gun.  I went with most, about three the first lap, all gained a small gap, couple hundred meters, none stuck.  Last lap I shuffled to the back and a few racers slipped off the front trying their own moves and grouped together.  Once I was able to get back to the front on the tailwind leg I was able to get some great high-speed work in pulling the break back.  It eventually blew up and the race winning move was made from the break.  We caught the remains about 2km to go, and I led into the last corner with 200m left, a steep bit though.  Big ringed the first 100m and blew up big time in the last 100m for 11th.  All in all a great effort, for a pack finish, some great race training.

The next weekend of racing was cancelled due to snow.  We had some chilly temps in Salem, but snow didn't stick for too long.  Had a VO2 max and LT test on Sunday morning.  Test went well, and numbers went up, which means I'm getting better!

Last week Wednesday, after some great training I was starting to feel a bit average.  I decided to wait on the ride and felt worse as the day went on.  Turned out to be quite a cold with a violent cough that only went away yesterday and today.  Though I did have to miss the race yesterday, the first of the Banana Belt series, I should be back on the bike tomorrow and hoping to have a good race next Sunday.

Lastly, I've been able to get my hands on a SRM Powermeter, more on that soon!

Light Weather and Long Rides

The past week has had phenomenal weather perfect for getting some longer tempo rides in.  Last Sunday was a decent 3.5 hours, a bit of gravel, and finished on the race course that will be used for Cherrie Pie in a couple weeks.  Tuesday was a ride of "epic" proportions with Ross.  About 6 hours total, with a mountain pass forest access road in the middle, and the last 25-30 miles in a headwind.  Here's a couple pics at the top of the climb on the gravel road.

Felt a bit heavy Wednesday morning for the ride, but legs eventually cleared up and the gravel brought some great sensations.  Temps stayed in the 40's at the warmest, but the skies were clear.  After a couple days off Sunday was a solid 4.5 hours, plenty of gravel and climbs.  Had some great tempo work at front, and some digs at the end of the ride on gravel.  Felt good to start to go hard, racing should start off well.

You can't see it very well in the background, but I've been riding my new race bike, a 2011 Specialized Allez.  Though Specialized is marketing this bike as a more entry level frame, it's the same aluminum construction as Cipollini's World Championship winning S-Works, so stiffness isn't an issue.  Specialized actually advertises the new Allez as being as stiff as their S-Works.  Meaning for every S-Works that "racers" buy, I can get about 6 Allez frames, at the cost of about a pound or so.  

Thanks for tuning in, see you next time!

Training, new team, and Belgium preperations

After a rest week from my 3 week block that included the California trip, it was back on the bike Sunday for an endurance ride.  The weather was fantastic, about 55-60 and sunny, which is typical for late January to early Febuary, then it will dump on us till May-June.  The weather and upcoming racing season must've prompted people to ride at a ridiculous pace.  Despite the fact that I didn't have legs, I was sitting in the group just fine, taking my turns at the front every now and again.  About 1/2 way into the ride the pace ramps up and I head to the back.  Even though racing in Oregon starts mid February, this is no reason to "light matches" just now.  The season lasts until September, and I'm traveling to Belgium, where I'll need those "matches" in June, so going hard in a non-race environment is exactly what I don't want.

Needless to say I'm at the back of the group having this great mental discussion with myself, when we get to a particular section of the course that is part of the first race in February.  Right when we turned on that road it was as if there was money on some imaginary line, and everyone took off.  Finally getting my bearings I sat up, content with having a "nose breathing" ride home, enjoying the weather.

Ranting aside, I mentioned earlier that I am traveling to Belgium in June to race bikes until September.  Graham, from the California trip, told me he wants to come.  Having an ex-pro racer come on a trip like this, where my ultimate goal is to get a contract is a huge help and resource, not to mention a hell of a fast bike rider!  Graham and I have decided that the best way for us to prepare and travel over there is by creating our own team, just for the two of us, and try to attain sponsorship and support.  Though we would be racing under our own team in Belgium, the autonomy isn't a bad thing as we would be the "unknown" riders, which could ultimately help.




In preparing our sponsorship proposal I've stumbled across a few cool photos during a criterium in August last summer, take a look.

California Training Camp

Two weeks ago I embarked on a training camp in Ojai, CA with Graham Howard and Ross Brody, of my new team based around the local charity Bikes for Buddies.  In addition to Graham and Ross we were joined, or rather we joined, the Willamette University Cycling team.

The drive down was split (unnecessarily) into two parts with a stop in Davis.  Though driving straight to Ojai made more sense, we were able to meet a few of the riders in Davis for a morning group ride on Monday.

After arriving in Ojai and getting settled in, Graham, Ross, and I had 5 uninterrupted days of riding, though I took a break on Thursday, giving me 2+2.  Repeated 4.5-4.75 hour days felt great, especially with the usual 4-5k ft of climbing per ride.  Not a mountain of climbing, but enough to feel it.

One death march in particular found us riding through a loose definition of road, most of it dirt, and overgrown.  Granted we were following one of those little lines on Google Maps, it turned out to be quite the adventure straight over Sulfur Mountain.

Here's Ross and Graham going up the "road"

Saturday being our last day of riding, we went up HWY 33, which the WU boys had been doing all week.  The guys had been doing an out and back on 33, and we did the same, but rather than finish the ride to the 5100ft summit, Graham and I turned around halfway to ride down to the beach and through Ventura for some nice 80 degree weather.  Here's a shot of Ross and I at the halfway point on 33.

After close to 20 hours of great training, we left Ojai at 8pm for a drive through the night back to Salem. As you can see Graham was pretty tired from all of the riding...

Until next time!