Tri car evaluation: Audi A3 wagon

I owed it to myself to check out the A3 wagon since I’m already in an Audi and I love it so much. I found myself stopping by the Santa Monica location and hitting up the internet and fleet salesman who emailed me about my lease expiration. Abtin was friendly, and it was instantly clear that I’d be dealing with a car salesman for this transaction. I hate haggling. I hate negotiating for things that have clear manufacturing costs and ought to be priced statically. There’s not two Audi dealerships next to each other competing for the sale, so it’s not like there’s a free market effect. No, when you start wheeling and dealing with car salesmen you’re in for a giant waste of time in order to try and save money. This is nothing against Abtin personally – two years ago I came in on an ad for zero down, zero up front payments, and $325/mo for my A4. I drove it, loved it, signed papers, and had my car in a week. There would not be a repeat performance of that transaction.

Core Performance: The Workout

Ten years ago I wouldn’t have known the difference between an athlete and a jock. I would have insultingly grouped them together in the same locker room, snapping towels and trash talking each other. Now I know that there is a spectrum with jock on one end and athlete on the other. The jock is the schmuck who by some stroke of nature is physically adept at activity, but is carrying around a sack of rocks for a head. They can be arrogant assholes or just meatheads who are gifted at one particular task. They usually wind up at used car dealerships when they cannot evolve past whatever their basic latent talent happens to be, desperately trying to reclaim their glory days when they peaked. At the other end of the spectrum are athletes, people who use their minds as much as they use their bodies, if not more so. They may begin with a basic talent for sport, but that only serves as an inroad to a larger pursuit of personal achievement. In many cases their athletic activity is merely a reflection of an inner competitiveness or drive to succeed. Sport is just one manifestation of their mind set, and the rest of their lives reflect this inner athlete. It’s inside the athletes of the Special Olympics who do not allow a physical limitation to stop them from training, competing, and winning. It’s the A-type personality, the inwardly driven, self-motivated person who needs to be active because without it they would explode. At its worst, athletes can be control freaks trying to understand and manage every small piece of their lives. At its best, athletes represent the best of us, what can happen if you fuse mind and body through personal will. Core Performance is a gym designed by athletes, for athletes.

Triathlon bike research wrap-up.

Barring some unknown radical change, it appears that I will be joining the Cervelo Mafia. I got my independent confirmation today from Ian Murray, a well known and respected triathlon coach, bike fitter, bike enthusiast, and generally great guy. I emailed him my summary findings and geometry questions and he unhesitatingly recommended the Cervelo. He had some suggestions on some simple changes/upgrades which I may execute depending on price. They are also things I can do at any point once I own the bike. For those doing their own research, here is a summary of my research and findings:

The Cervelo P3C test ride.

I didn’t want to like it. I’d convinced myself that something that popular, so talked about, insanely hyped, could never live up to that level of expectation. And then Aram from Predator Cycles, that cruel man, called me back to say that the Cervelo’s tube dimensions were significantly better than the Orbea Ordu for my ideal geometry. So there it was; I had to test the Cervelo. I could no longer deny the bike my coach is in a relationship with on Facebook, the clear podium winner of Ironman competitions, and the most recognizable bike in the triathlon world. I went down to Triathlon Lab thinking I would test the P2C, which was the affordable model in my price range. Imagine my shock and awe when they rolled out an ‘08 P3C, 2007 and 2008’s flagship frame, for less than the price of the Orbea Ordu.

Triathlon Lab rocks me with an Orbea Ordu!

Some weeks ago the owner of Triathlon Lab contacted me via Facebook and not only apologized for the way I had been treated in the past, but wanted to know specifics so she could address the issue with her employees. As a result I was inclined to give them one more try, this time letting her know when I would be coming with my intention to shop for a new tri bike. She gave me two names, and at least one of these employees would be in the shop on Friday, the day I was able to devote the most time to biking down and test riding my options. I am happy, delighted even, to report that Triathlon Lab took very good care of me, was attentive to all of my questions and concerns, and my sales person was exceedingly knowledgeable, helpful, and gregarious. I was treated like a serious triathlete and shopper, and I feel like they went the extra mile to make sure my experience was a good one. I also got to pet the exceedingly sweet Labrador with which Triathlon Lab shares a name. Way to go, Triathlon Lab! Which means for several days I’ve been ecstatic to test ride the Orbea Ordu, the sexiest bike I’ve ever seen.

Ironman J’s Kuota Kalibur test ride

 

Behold, Ironman J’s Kuota Kalibur, test driven today:

But… is it fast?

Fatigued? Who knows?

Fatigue is deceptive. I was up before the alarm today, felt kind of nauseated on my way to the ocean. Got in the water and did three clumsy laps in the ocean, zig zagging in the higher surf and cloudy sky. Still, three laps is three laps and I came out of the water feeling better than I went in. Reaching forward, not diagonal, kicking at the surface of the water, and coming in to the lifeguard station while other people went wildly north off course. All in all a slightly above average swim, slower than usual. I figured I was still tired from the race. But then came the run.

Pre-race brain dump.

Santa Barbara long course is tomorrow, and I leave in about two hours to drive up for my first solo endurance race. Time to clear the head and get organized, focus on the simple tasks at hand and put down the miles.

Data junkie.

Garmin finally released its training software for Macintosh and I am now a happy data junkie. I did a HIIT session on the bike today, and even though it wasn’t the best session in the world due to fatigue and heavy legs, the data output gives me some interesting visuals to correspond to my perceived training.

Hey, Specialized, you should give me a bike.

Yes, Specialized. I’m talking to you. A Specialized S-Works Transition bike, in QuickStep black and red coloring will do nicely. Why should you give me an $8500 triathlon bike? Let me walk you through my rationale.