IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

WEEK 13 – Monday 5/27/19 – Sunday 6/02/19

I need a new bike helmet!  It’s always a cause for celebration when you need new stuff because you get to shop for new stuff!  But shopping for bike helmets is not fun for me.  They look good in pictures, not so good on my head.

I have two cycling helmets, an old one I keep around for a backup, and my current cycling helmet that is three years old.  The styrofoam in the backup is showing classic signs of age degradation.  It’s probably 8 years old and time to retire it.

I also have an aero helmet that I use to race with.  It looks to be in pretty good shape but the date of manufacture sticker on it says it was made in 2012!  Seven years is pretty old for a helmet.  I’m thinking maybe I should replace it as well.  Plus, as soon as I bought the helmet it became a relic, as the helmet industry sort of adopted a new design for aero helmets that were less dorky so to speak.  Nowadays there are plenty of newer aero style helmets that look more like regular cycling helmets.  I can essentially kill two birds with one stone and buy one of those newfangled models!

But it doesn’t really matter what helmet I buy, or how cool it looks online or in the store, as soon as I put it on my head I become an instant dork.

 

 

The only time this helmet looked good on me was in the photo at the top of this page, and the fact that the scenery of the Adirondack mountains in the backdrop keeps you from noticing how dorky I look.

I have always liked BELL helmets, mainly because after trying different brands I found that BELL helmets fit my head the best, were pretty common and could be found most places, and the fact that BELL kind of leads the way in testing and advancements in head protection.  So naturally, I went to their website and looked to see what they had to offer.  I found a really cool aero helmet called the Z20.  It looked cool online.  It made me an instant dork as soon as I put it on.  It sits higher on my head than my old ones for some reason.

 

 

So there you have it.  Three different cycling helmets all having the same end result with me – instant dork.  I’m starting to think it might be me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now a Public Service Announcement from me:

WEAR A DAMN HELMET WHEN RIDING!  I was running today and counted a dozen helmetless riders in that 7.5 mile run.  Two adult cycling deaths in the nature preserve I run in since it opened and still there are people risking serious head injury on those steep downhills and blind turns.  Plus not everyone out there is a good rider.  Tons of knuckleheads and inexperienced riders riding without head protection.  Don’t give me that crap that they weren’t around when you were a kid and you survived.  You probably never left the neighborhood or street you grew up on on your bike.  If they did exist back in the day, I’m guessing your parents would have wanted you to wear one.  Seatbelts weren’t mandatory when I was a kid, but would you not buckle yourself in now?

Have you ever hit your head on something like a cabinet door or the like?  It hurt like hell didn’t it?  Now imagine slamming your head to the asphalt at 15 mph or more.

WEAR A DAMN HELMET WHEN RIDING!  Even if it makes you look like a dork.

 

WEEK 13 WRAP-UP

I had a chance to head up to the lake home in Minocqua on Thursday to be there for the furniture that was going to be delivered on Friday, so I was fortunate to get some training in up north.  A change of scenery can do wonders when the training routine becomes a little boring.  Don’t get me wrong, I like the ride out to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetary at home, I just get sick of doing that ride week after week.  Minocqua was a breath of fresh air.

 

 

 

 

 

Week 13 Training Totals:

Swims: 2 total / 3500 yards > Rides: 4 total / 85 miles > Runs: 5 total / 26.5 miles