Testing Riding 2014 Argon 18s & the Slowtwitch Gathering - D-3

So today the reality that I am racing in the Ironman World Championships started to settled in. I am not sure how to describe the feelings, but I am a little anxious for the swim, but feel totally prepared to battle the wind and heat on the bike and then hopefully tear up the run.

My training schedule today was fairly light with only a 1.5hr brick. The rest of the day was dedicated to having a little fun and just relaxing. I punched the 1hr ride off first thing in the morning by riding in on Ali'i drive and then putting an additional fourty minutes out on the Queen K at about race intensity. There were lots of bikes out on the road this morning with everyone obviously trying to get their final tapers in.

After the bike I stopped by the Race Expo to test ride the 2014 Argon 18 E-118 and Gallium Pro. The gentelmen at the Argon 18 booth were extremely helpful and quickly had me out on the road riding the E-118. For 2014, the E-118 is exactly the same as far as I could tell with the exception of a paint scheme change. The only obviousl difference to me was the 11 Speed Dura Ace groupo vice the normal 10 speed SRAM Red that I rock on both my bikes.

The 2014 Argon 18 E-118.

After about 18-20kms of riding the E-118 I parked that ride back at the Argon 18 booth and headed out on the Gallium Pro. There are some significant changes to the Gallium Pro for 2014 and the weight is dropped by almost one lb. Much like my current Gallium Pro, the 2014 Gallium Pro was very responsive to accelerations and it climbed like a beauty. I would have loved to hammer a bit on the bike but concluded that would not be in my best interest.

The 2014 Argon 18 Gallium Pro

After the Argon 18 test rides I toured the remainder of the expo for about an hour while the Argon 18 techs did a once over on my bike to make sure it was ready for Saturday. I was very thankful to see that the Ironman Store in the Expo had the souvenir mugs back in stock. There was lots of good deals to be had but I was more interested in getting back to the Resort to finish off my brick (a thirty minute run) and then have some down time.

The one final item on the agenda for the day was the infamous Slowtwitch.com gathering at the MuscleMilk and Cytomax house. It's always a good place to catch up with some old friends and meet some new ones. Oh, and the draw prizes are also pretty sweet - unfortunately I'm 0 for 2. Marc Meunier accompanied me to the gathering so it was great getting to know him a little better as well. This year I got to meet John Cobb (the R&D guru of so many things in cycling).

John Cobb and I at the Slowtwitch.com gathering.