Today is my last day of Core Bike Show, the UK bicycle show, first show of the year. Business-wise signals are positive, which is good especially considering the global economic situation. Now, I just have to survive my drive back to Stansted airport (2h drive): driving here on the rented car, I had serious difficulties keeping left and using my left hand for the (manual) gear lever. Even though the concept is easy to accept (left instead of right), the automatisms are working against you in such situations. Seen from the outside, I was really driving like a cow, fighting with the gearbox and going extremely slow to avoid major problems. Let's see if two days of full immersion in the English culture (including food, beverages and watching "Top Gear" on tv as often as possible) have improved my 'reversed' driving skills.

My left knee is claiming attention, after my last training session with Gian.
We did a 3x1600m at 4'10"/km (at least, Gian did that: I was giving all I had, but my pace was rather 4'20"), then one hour of swim master class. Beside the fact that I was sick the day before and 'aspirin' was my technical sponsor for the day, I was quite happy with our training. Unfortunately the day after (yesterday), while I was running easy to meet Icio for a 5 km 'tough' run (pace 4'30"-4'40"), my left knee started to hurt, on the internal side. I went back home running very slowly (I couldn't walk, it's too cold if you're dressed to run), did stretching... but the pain remained.
Now I hope some days of rest will allow me to recover. Last time I had this same problem I had done a very stupid thing, running way too long, quite fast on a hilly course: this time I hope it's just a matter of getting used to (limited) speed work, something I do very seldom.
I'll swim today, Saturday as well perhaps, then from Sunday 25 until Tuesday 27 I'll be in the UK for the Core Bike Show : I hope to be able to resume my training schedule on Wednesday.

Yesterday we tried a new discipline: Winter Triathlon.
It's running, cycling and XC skiing, mostly done on a XC ski track. Being our first experience, Gian, Icio Massimo and I decided to go for the 'promotional' distance (5/8/6 km, while the serious ones did 7 km running, 12 mtbiking and 9 skiing).
Lining up at the start, we immediately knew we were heading to a sure top-ten placement (we were roughly ten doing the promo race...) and to an open internal battle: Gian and Massimo were the ones with more experience on the skis (both Icio and I have -still- no idea on how to XC ski), but we had a better feel for cycling on the snow. Off we went, and Gian took the lead running down the snow like a madman. There were some guys doing the team relay, and they speeded to the front leaving Gian and me a little distanced (there was also a guy with running shorts and bare legs/no socks, who soon took the lead... running almost naked on the snow seems a very good motivator to go fast).
As we approached the end of the first lap, I passed Gian who got on my tail, both breathing hard and well outside the comfort zone. Looking behind, Icio, Massimo and the other guys were following quite distanced. Gian passed me again and we both got very close to the lead group, getting to the transition area with the fastest ones.
I made a quite slow transition, loosing places and Gian. The cycling leg was mostly on asphalt, with perhaps 400m per lap on the snow, not enough to make any difference. I pedaled as hard as I could and passed 3 guys during the two laps, then the real adventure started: XC skiing is really an unknown world for me.

I clicked in the skis and got going, first trying to run (mhh, no), then pushing myself with the sticks (mhh, too tiring for the arms) then I got inside the rails and did my best to copy what others were doing. I had near-death experiences going downhill (the free talon doesn't give very much control, if you're not used to it) but managed to finish the two laps on my rented skis, loosing time on Gian (I saw him when I started skiing, but his technique clearly made a difference) but edging the comeback of Massimo. At the end Gian was 3rd, I was 4th, Massimo 5th (he passed Icio in the ski), Icio 6th. Not sure yet wether I will buy pictures of me on the skis or not.

I had surgery on thursday to remove a wisdom tooth which was growing horizontal. It took more than expected because of its closed roots... and now it's my third day with a swollen cheek, antibiotics and without sport.

Normally I'll swim tomorrow, too bad I couldn't take advantage of this sunny sunday: Gian did 18 km running (as written in our marathon training plan...), Icio went xc-skiing.

We have ambitious plans for 2009 racing season: April 19th the Turin (running) Marathon, May 3rd the 'Bra-Bra' cycling granfondo (160 km) and then, May 17th Candia Long Distance Triathlon (4 km swim, 120 km cycling, 30 km running).
Gian, Icio, Gilles and me, plus someone else among the known triathletes for sure: that's already enough people to feel motivated and find training partners whenever needed.
Gian discovered the FIRST training schedule for marathons, especially developed for triathletes, and I think I'll follow it too, history of finishing below 4h (reasonable goal).
Right now it's freezing cold over here, with temperature forecast between -5 and -11 °C for today. I've done a 7km run and I'll probably swim in the afternoon, to start burning some of the unavoidable burden left by the almost finishing holidays. All this, before things get more serious and 'work' gets in the way!

Snow keeps on falling day in day out. The day after Christmas we went for another serious ride, almost four hours on 20 cm powder over iced snow. Keeping balance and momentum were the clear goals as we tried to move forward pedaling... but there were long stretches where we had to push or carry the bikes. We now prefer to leave easy and flat roads for singletracks with some technical passages.
We recently discovered that also steep climbs can be negotiated using extreme care on body positioning and a lot of hard work: moving on in powder snow has a feeling similar to the viscous resistance of a wind trainer (and when the frozen layer below cracks, the 'resistance' gets sky high in no time!).
As used as we are getting to ride in snow or cold weather, we dress accordingly. My brother Federico is more an occasional mtbiker, 8 years younger than me and still "immortal": for one or all of these reasons, he joined the ride with just a mid-season long-sleeved jersey and a gilet.
I didn't really notice that until the moment his face started to turn green as he struggled to keep the pace, being dropped every time we accelerated a little. He made it to the parking lot, then disappeared into Icio's car as we pedaled home. Recovery took him the whole afternoon and he really went to bed early that night (young age notwithstanding ).

We also had a 'family' go at cross-county skiing: Gaia did 500m on the track before deciding that playing in snow was much better for her than moving forward on skis (can't blame a 4-year old for that!!). There in Festiona we also met several local 'super-heroes': beside Gian a friend of his, Sergio di Milano, a real character and trainer of pluri-medaled XC wonder Manuela Di Centa (now retired). I took them a picture with Gaia, in case they become as famous as they deserve.

My Tri-Ti project is moving on. I replaced the original Profile aerobar with an old 110 mm stem and a dropbar I borrowed from a friend (they're both pre-31,8mm clamping diameter), then I mounted the Chorus shifters.
Shifting performance is so-so. Even with the best optimization and testing all the possible alternative cable pinching positions, the shifting is nor Shimano-like neither Campagnolo. It will be acceptable for the rides I'll do to fine-tune my position on the bike, then I'll decide either for DA-7800 or DA-7900.
On the plus side, the weight is not bad: 7,4 kg without pedals (I was used to ride a 8,5 kg bike...), and there's still room for reduction. A few rides will make clear if I have to go for a 120 or a 100 mm stem.
And then it will be the right machine for both my 'granfondos' and the long triathlon races (I've my first long-distance triathlon, 4 km swim/120 km ride/30 km run, on 17 May 2009...).

I'm just a front-derailleur short from finishing the Stumpjumper (I needed a down-pull, the one I had in house was top-pull...) but I'm already starting the next challenge.
I own a very nice triathlon bike, a titanium framed Guru Tri-Ti, but I don't use it enough. Most of the time I'm on my mountain-bike(s) or on my 'normal' road bike (a steel Pegoretti), I just take the Tri-Ti for a couple of races a year (and ride it a couple of times before each race).
What I was thinking: since the Tri-Ti is soooo nice (I belong to the generation that considered titanium 'the magic metal'), I could fit a normal dropbar + clip-ons (+ right-lengh-stem and different brake levers) and use it for normal road-racing and tri (removing or not the clip-on aerobar). I'd then keep the Pegoretti for training and the lighter Guru for racing.

I'm already measuring and testing different solutions (stems/handlebars/seat positions), including mixing and matching different brand transmission parts.
Regarding "Mix 'n match": I know it's not recommended, I know parts from the same brand are carefully engineered to work well together but then... who cares, if I manage to use Campy levers with Dura-Ace derailleurs? I do it at my own risk, and on my own bike.
The fact is, the bike is equipped with a complete Dura-Ace 7800 group, with bar-end shifters. Looking for a brake lever/shifter combo, I've decided to avoid externally routed cables (DA 7800 or other lower-level Shimano shifters), but I also don't want to buy necessarily the DA 7900.
Campy Record 10v shifters are relatively cheap these days (with the arrival of Super Record 11v...), and they are top of my buying list. I've seen a trick to use Campy shifters with DA derailleurs, using a different cable routing. A couple of old Chorus 10sp shifters I have around will allow me to check this solution out before I buy.
And then, if this doesn't work, DA 7900 will be my second -and sure- choice.

It's raining since some days now, and I'm using my 'virtual' lunch-break to work on my bikes. Since my brother claims he's having a difficult time with the transmission of his Stumpjumper, and he uses that as an excuse when I drop him on our rides, I decided to renew his bike.
That bike was my first 'racing' machine and my younger brother got it when I bought myself another one (older brother's clothes go to the younger... that's common practice all over the world, I think. Then I left home, and my next bikes were sold or stayed with me).

Before the operation

Melted snow can be too much also for my Rohloff machine!


Icio, here as human carpet, allows Andea and me to move on to the next section with clean feet: a real friend