... Ouch I am sore!  That was my first thought this morning once I woke up!  I remembered that I had forgotten to stretch before and after my PowerCranks maiden voyage yesterday.  So I diligently stretched for a few minutes and started my day.  Once at the office Chiara, Frank and myself went out for our second consecutive intro ride of 11 miles.  This time again,  I forgot to stretch before the ride and within the first few miles when I did an out of the saddle sprint I felt a little dose of pain in the back of my left leg, right in the hamstrings.  Still, I was surprised that I could get out of the saddle from almost a standstill! 

There is a reason why in the manual we state that you should be up to speed when doing out of the saddle accelerations ... the clutch could fail!  Luckily for me this time it held up just fine the few time I did the out of the saddle all out sprints (short ones).  At about the half way mark on the ride there is a short  1/4 mile hill peaking at 8-9% grade where Chiara is getting coached in how to select the right gears for climbing!  She was able to do it seated and when I asked her to get out of  the saddle she was able to sustain a few revolutions.  I think that her 155mm PowerCranks might be just a tad too long!  To the contrary, standing at a mere 5" 10 inches tall, I am riding 167.5mm PC's on the advise of Dr. Max Testa given to me a few years back, well before 2001 that is! Max suggested I switch from 172.5 to 167.5 and I did find the shorter cranks to make my climbing easier!

We tackled another short 1/4 hill 8% garde in the residential neighboorhood resembling Wisteria Lane in Desperate Housewifes and as I climbed out of the saddle and sprinted giving it all my Power with my low Power-to-Weight ratio I was able to damage a right prototype pedal adaptor for the xLite PowerCranks.  While I took it easy the rest of the ride back, I did not expect what happened next!  My pedal came apart from the right crank which meant I had to ride back single legged for about 4.5 miles!  Hey, it's been years since I have ridden and now this test of will and strength was put before me.  I remember the days in which I did a lot of single legged pedaling as a result of either mechanical failures or just complete fatigue!  This was different ... I had no place where to rest my right leg which made it that much more difficult riding all the way back!  And I consciously noticed how heavy my leg was because I was not able to rest it anywhere, but at last I made it. 

The best part is that by being able to make these type of failures happen, Frank and myself will find better and more durable ways to improve the products.  While I look at failures as a positive event to keep us improving, I understand the frustration of a few of you who have had to pedal home single legged for several miles!  Just think of it as specific weight-endurance training for your weaker extrememty because it appears that usually the failure happen on out dominant side.

Speaking of dominant ... Today after the first hill climb I thought how would it feel to start off pedaling with your left leg if you are a right handed person?  I can say that it's somewhat weird!  Try it on your next ride, every time you  unclip, clip back in and take off using your opposite leg, wether you are riding regular cranks or PowerCranks and keep on  doing this until it will feel completely normal.

Time to get some rest because tomorrow we will do hill repeats!

Stay safe, ride fast!