Kuota K-Factor Triathlon Bike

In January of 2016, I ended up upgrading my bike from a Nishiki Maricopa road bike to a used 2008 Kuota K-Factor triathlon bike.  I spent all last year getting accustomed to the different geometry of a tri bike and absolutely fell in love with it.

Tri bikes vary greatly from road bikes.  The overall geometry is different - you are more aggressively positioned on a tri bike than a road bike.  The intent of a tri bike is to make the aero position more aero and, hopefully, more comfortable than on a road bike.  The more aggressive geometry leads to faster times on the bike.

The bike took a bit of getting used to.  It stands higher than my road bike, and the different geometry threw me for a loop at first.  I was very wobbly getting into and out of the aero position for the first few rides, something that wasn't the case on the road bike.  Since the frame is made of carbon fiber, it was also much lighter than my road bike, which also took some getting used to as the bike felt more responsive than my road bike.  That's not a bad thing, but it did take me a few rides to get used to it.

I credit a couple of friends - Scott and Anne - with really helping get me used to the bike.  They contacted me one day and wanted to go for an eighteen mile ride.  I'd never been anywhere near that distance on the tri bike to this point, but I also didn't want to turn down the opportunity for a group ride.  

I met up with them and we road on public roads, which was also fairly new to me.  I'm used to riding at the downtown airport, which is technically still on public roads, but the vehicular traffic is minimal and is typically comprised of either airport security staff or other cyclists, both of which have a good respect for cyclists and give you plenty of room.  There are also no real intersections there to deal with as the road is one 3.7 mile loop - all you have to do is turn in our out of the parking lot, and that's really the only intersection you have to deal with.

The ride with Scott and Anne was on regular roads that had stop-lighted and stop-signed intersections and normal traffic.  This is not something I would have tried to ride by myself, but since I was with them I had to swallow my nervousness and just get it done.  While riding, they offered me many pointers and tips, and by the time we were done I felt 100% more comfortable on the bike.  The wobbliness with the aero position was gone, and I felt like I could handle regular public roads in the future. 

I've fallen in love with the Kuota K-Factor.  I've added my aero bottle to the aero bars, and have upgraded my pedals to the Speedplay Zero pedals.  I have new tires on the bike (the new tires aren't in the pictures), but that's the only upgrade I've done so far.  The different geometry - which was alien at first - is now second nature.

If you're a triathlete that is on the fence about upgrading to a tri bike, I can't recommend it highly enough if it's something you can afford to do.  This bike is much easier and much more enjoyable to ride than my road bike is.

Half-Ironman Training

Last week, training for Ironman Wisconsin 70.3 officially kicked off.  With this race, I'm trying something new and have gone with a training plan from Training Peaks.  A week in, I've been very pleased with the plan and with the Training Peaks platform in general.  It imports all my workout data from Garmin Connect, and the premium edition shows me more graphs than Garmin does, which I like.

I've also started group training with Endurance House Kansas City, a multi-sport store that is set to open in the Northland at the end of January.  I'm friends with the two owners, and did group open water swims with them last summer.  Right now we've been running on Tuesdays, but once the store opens the plan is to incorporate track workouts and spin nights at the store as well.

Another cool option from Endurance House is the fact that they have official teams.  Joining with them (for a cost) gets you some pretty sweet bonuses, including a tri kit, store discount and priority scheduling for bike services.  It is something I'll be taking advantage of to get in shape for this race.

Overall I'm really looking forward to the race.  This is a first-year race; WTC bought out the old Wisconsin Milkman Triathlon.  From what I understand, it will be the same, or a very similar, course.  WTC is known to put on well supported events, so there's that to look forward to.

The swim is the only portion that I'm worried about, and solely because it is projected to be wet-suit legal.  I need to get some practice swimming in a wet-suit, because if not experience has taught me the swim will not go well, regardless of my level of fitness.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a few open water wet-suit swims in before the race.

It feels good to have something big to train for again.  My level of fitness is such that I can out and do a sprint triathlon on any given weekend.  I'm not saying I would do particularly well in that event, or that it wouldn't end up as a sufferfest once I got to the run, but I could finish it.  That is not the case with the half-ironman, so having this race on my calendar really crystallizes my training for me, and that has made all the difference in the world.