Yesterday, while over in France they were time trialing, I went out for a nice hard 40 miler with the local cycling guru Nor. He rode a frame he got on Ebay that was actually ridden in the Tour back in the 70s, from a now-defunct Austrian manufacturer named Puch. I was on Ananda as usual, my Terry Symmetry, which is a great training bike but has begun to hold me back in races. It's a little heavy for my purposes, and the components are Shimano Tiagra - bottom-of-the-line and very poorly reviewed. They're already giving me trouble, and I clean and tune my bike (like the aforementioned unhappy reviewer) after every use. I also put in way more weekly miles, and harder, than the average recreational rider.
I can keep up with Nor, but it's more work than it should be. He's talking about building up a carbon fiber racing bike for me from the infinite selection of parts in his basement, and I'm doing everything I can to encourage the idea. I'm also stalking Ebay for a real tri bike in my size. With the right bike, I think I really could be leading the bike leg every race. A few sites I've read suggest the Cervelo P2k as the quintessential tri bike, and now that there are some newer models out maybe some will come available. Luckily I'm utterly average as a triathlete in height and weight. Fingers crossed that I stumble across one I can afford.
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