Finally

    After nearly three weeks of waiting, my wheel is finally waiting for me at the shop with a beautiful PowerTap SL+ hub in the middle of it. So now I'm just waiting on the invoice. I've got to be the biggest pain for the poor shop guys… I've been calling or dropping by everyday for the past three weeks. First the builder ordered the wrong spokes. Then he did it again. Then he didn't ship the thing appropriately. Suffice it to say, it's been a little frustrating. But I will pick it up tomorrow, then mount it myself tomorrow night. Wednesday I've got an indoor trainer workout that is perfect for getting a feel for the tap. I'll do about thirty minutes of warm-up and drills, then some intervals. I do three five minute intervals at just below threshold pace, then two more five minute intervals just above threshold pace. It's a great workout: It helps you increase your capacity to handle lactic acid (the nefarious lactate threshold) and also increases your top end speed. Now that I have the powertap, the workout will be much more effective, because I will be able to go by watts instead of heart rate, which can vary a lot from day to day and workout to workout. The powertap will let me get even more out of the workout. Of course, it will take away any excuses I have as well, but that's ultimately not a bad thing. I'll post some of my numbers here over the next couple days for people to peruse. You will also be able to view the full power files and such at http://www.trainingpeaks.com/matthew.65. You can look at the workouts and see the difference between the older ones without the powertap and the ones using the powertap. Hopefully it will really allow me to focus my efforts on my weak areas and improve them. Anyway, I think I may go call the shop again and ask about the invoice….