The
Focus was getting a bit cheesed off with sitting around looking pretty so I took it out for a spin today for the first time. I'm very happy with it indeed. I found it to be very comfortable, handled well and easy to ride. The Ultegra group is excellent, very smooth and breaking was superb. The best thing about it compared to the Trek winter bike is it is very responsive when you apply power and I definitely found myself accelerating quicker and holding that speed easier. At the end of the ride I did take it up our local Marie-Blanque (
okay, it's nothing like Marie-Blanque but indulge me for a second) and for the first time I managed to stay in the saddle all the way up although I needed bottom gear.
As enjoyable as it was to ride, it didn't make me feel, "oooh, this is soooo much easier now, the Etape will be a doddle on this". I know I have to work on my power because climbing hills is my biggest weakness. On flattish terrain I do all right on the club ride but hit a hill and it's not long before I'm up the back of the group.
I hate to tell you this, but it's no easier, because the HILL didn't change. 8-(
ReplyDeleteIt's not just about the power, either. It's as much about accepting that you have a given speed uphill beyond which you cannot feasibly go. Training does not make hills any easier, it just increases that speed. If you reach a point where you can ride uphill for a long way, and stay within yourself (think Etape du Dales here) then you at least know you will finish. Acheiving your goals is about getting to the speed you want, without continually pushing yourself into the red, and accepting it if you don't quite get there.
Yes I see what you mean, not easier but faster is what I should have said or be thinking. At the moment then I climb painfully and slowly (painfully slow!).
ReplyDeleteYou haven't seen the state I get into yet!!
ReplyDelete