Weak

Weak. That is how I felt today on a training, (I need to quit using the word training, since I'm not racing at the moment), on a ride today with a teammate. We ended up logging sixty-five miles for the day, most of those climbing miles through the hills of Poway and Ramona. I did manage to get nine hours on the bike this week prior to the ride today, but they weren't "hard" miles so to speak, so I'm not sure why I felt so weak on today's ride. The powermeter on the other hand tells a different story. Watts are watts, they don't lie, as Lance Armstrong once said. I was frequently checking the wattage I was putting out on today's ride and noticed it wasn't any lower then most of the rides this teammate and I do on a regular basis. I was having trouble keeping up with him today, thinking I was weak, but based on the data, I have to think he was just riding that much stronger then usual. Another benefit of training with power! On to a topic that does have me concerned. The compact cranks. I've been riding on them all week, but as I mentioned, those rides were really low on the intensity scale. Today was the first ride of any intensity that allowed me to really experience what the compact's felt like. The verdict is out. I feel as though I've picked up two gears on the lower end while using the 34-tooth sprocket, and feel like I only lost one gear on the 50-tooth sprocket. What concerns me is the shorter crank arms. The length on my standard set was 175mm, while these compacts are 172.5mm. In theory I believe this should allow me to spin even more, but it feels strange, and my heart rate seemed abnormally high today. I'm hoping they're just going to take some time to get use to. If anyone reads this who has some knowledge on this subject, please feel free to comment:) Until next time.....