Q-rings final verdict

I continued riding q-rings for the rest of the year.
I have the subjective feeling:
Pros:
They improve sprinting and accelerating out of the saddle, or at least you can achieve the same amount of power with less work.
It FEELS easier to power along in big gears. Again I think there is not more power produced but less work is needed for the same power.
They may cause fewer stress on the knees.
And most importantly: They look really cool:)

Cons:
Shifting is definitely slower than with round shimano rings.
It is difficult to set up the front derailleur.
Not for everybody, seem not to work with every pedaling technique, if you a have a very round spin they may not be an advantage for you.

To sum it up, I like them and I think I'll keep them:)

Have an awesome day,

Benja

Swimming with Mr. Jaskolka

That was a pretty tough morning. I'm still feeling a bit dizzy. Not because of the strange beer we had yesterday (beer with sherbet, which markus [the puss] refused "ah that's to bitter, I don't like that..wähähä [that little crybaby:D, luckily he'll never read this;)]) but because of very cool swimming session with Marek Jaskolka. We swam side by side 3x1000 and astonishingly I felt really great. I felt smooth, powerfull and fast.. eeerrrr at least I FELT fast, we actually were cruising at 1:30 pace /100m :D
So I think my overall technique is pretty much okay at the moment. But still I am slow like Peter Meyer..^^
Yesterday I ran with Lars Fricke and it was absolutely AWESOME! Due to a little confusion concerning the right way home we ran pretty much twice the distance planned. My first over 10k run since 2007! Yay!:)
As you can see training is progressing and I am confident!
Ah yes we're still learning quite a bit here in Leipzig, more than I could have hoped for.
Cya soon and please forgive my many mistakes!

Benja

Trainer B part1

Now writing from Leipzig, meaning I am currently in far far away from home in East-Germany.
The air is a bit different here causing some people constant headaches! - Yes, Markus is whining like a little girl the whole time:D
We had quite an eventful trip to Leipzig! Georg forgot an "S" in the when typing in the name of the street in his Navi.
So we landed in some kind of strange neighbourhood. Smashed windows everywhere, graffiti sprayed on the walls.. we all felt a little bit uncomfortable:D
Luckily after some time we saw through and could correct our mistake!
More about the IAT and what we actually do here in a little bit.
Cya

Benja

Eicma 2009

Back from Milan, my feet are still hurting like hell!
But damn, what a city! Really cool!
Very cool as well, EICMA!
Not a global player as eurobike or interbike but big enough to keep me running around for 3 hours!
So here are my highly subjective highlights:
LOOK:
really slick looking new special edition paintjobs:

Colnago:
Again the best looking bikes came from Colnago:

But not far behind, the company we all are most interested in:
FOCUS :
The time trial frame got a colour update and a different set of aerobars for 2010.



2010 Cayo was redesigned completey with new beefed up Downtube and BB30 Bottom Bracket




But most importantly the izalco was completely overhauled for 2010.


Even though the handlebars are mounted in an almost ridiculous fashion the bike is absolutely AWESOME!

The new Chainstays are supposed to make the frame more compliant, they certainly look the part!



The headtube diamteter has grown and the cable routing is now internal. Looks all very smooth and really really cool!




The Downtube has grown as well and the BB30 BB rounds up the stunning picture!



Nice shaped headtube!


All in all I have to say the bike is absolutely marvellous!:D I really hope this is going to be our new team-bike!:)


Different frame colours for the izalco are:

Team Milram Replica with new Sram Force



Different colour scheme for the izalco, also nice and also possibly an option for our new team bike.
Cya Later

Benja

2010

Nearly 5 months and zero race reports later I'll start posting again!
To make things short, we had a fantastic season!
The guys were incredibly strong and we accomplished our goal and advanced in the 1.Bundesliga for 2010. As I announced in spring, I did not compete in any races this year. But the guys did extraordinary by themselves! I would have needed to be on the top of my game to be of any help. As this was not possible after the curcimstances in march and april I enjoyed quite a nice summer with only very "light" training:)
But now for 2010 I really want to earn me a spot on the team. In consequence I will have to improve my swim and my bike by quite a bit. But my absolute focus is and must be on running where I will try to slowly build up my form over the winter. Don't expect miracles in the beginning but I hope to have descent form coming february.
Now I'm off to milan for a week!

ps
Here are some small swim videos I made in the last week. Quality is poor - I am sorry, will do better next time!
Eike - He really is in pretty good shape!
Thommy-prepared for the rough waters of barcelone
Clemens - in pretty decent shape compared to the previous years! (But there is still so much more to come! If he'll keep on working on it, he will blow some poeples minds next spring!)
Freddy - this one is really worth watching, as a special guest appears towards the end..:D
Benja - well I am really not happy with my technique or pretty much anything in this video.
Yesterday was a step in the right direction, slowly very slowly I hope I am getting where I want to be technique-wise. Speed is still a whole other story^^

I really need to pack my bags now!
Cya soon

Benja

Its looking good, lads!

The doctor is now 99% sure that it is not a myocarditis. I may have had a minor one in february, the blood results due this week, will tell. If that is the case I will have to put my sport activities on halt for another month or so. We'll see. The source of all the trouble seems to be partly stress related. Still I don't think I will enter any competition this season. Maybe I will change my mind.. I'll explain in due time. thats it for now.
Good night!

Benja

ps
Thanks to all of you who were supporting me in this time that was much harder than I'd ever admit!

The moment of truth..

..is hopefully now upon me, as I am heading to the cardiologist in about 5min for the final diagnosis. Wish me luck! See you this afternoon

Benja