My three readers will recall that last week when I did my time trial route I was pretty disappointed in my time: 55 minutes elapsed from Claremont/College up to Grizzly Peak. This week I rode the same route on the aluminum frame Specialized Dolce, and my elapsed time was 49 minutes. This is much more in line with my expectations, and consistent with times logged last January at the beginning of the season.
6 minutes is a lot of time to shave off a 5 mile ride, and I know I didn’t improve my fitness in the past week. So, what happened last week? I think part of it has to do with the difference in the bikes. Artemis is a bit heavier and has much wider plusher tires. I think Artemis has 700x35s where the Dolce has 700x23. The two bikes also have completely different gearing, both in terms of the cassettes and the chainrings in front, with the result being that the touring bike has a couple more easier gears than the Specialized road bike. I think I may be hanging out in those granny gears a bit longer than I really need to, and that may account for the slower overall time. Next time I take the touring bike on the time trial, I’m going to try to stay out of my two easiest gears as much as possible to see if I can improve my time on that bike.
I was pretty happy with my time today, and it was nice to take the Dolce off the indoor trainer and get it out on the road for a change. I’ve been neglecting this bike a bit since I got the new touring bike in the fall, so it felt good to take it out for a spin.
Bike: Specialized Dolce
Total Time Clocked, from Claremont/College to Grizzly Peak: 49 minutes
Actual Ride time: unknown; probably 48 minutes
Total Distance: 5.4 miles
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