Fat Kid’s Ironman Fitness Blog

My Forerunner Just Popped Open!

Sunday I decided to head out for a ride on my Cervelo triathlon bike instead of my new favorite bike (my fixed gear funny bike). The intent of this ride was to focus on Aero position form, and basically get back into the groove of riding in a race ready position. I told myself I would absolutely not worry about speed or time, and I would just ride. Good thing I set expectations for myself as it turned out to be quite a ride.

The weather was very cold (for Seattle) but relatively nice. About an hour before I headed out there were some short sleet showers, but it wasn’t cold enough to stick and it didn’t last long. There were holes of clear blue sky peeking through the clouds, so I was hopeful it would burn off and we’d get great weather. But it was really really cold, so I bundled up into my winter riding gear.

I headed out to do the Lake Washington Loop.  Heading from my house north around the lake gives me several options to bail out for a shorter ride if I need to. When I got to Kenmore/Log Book Park (~12 miles from my house) I still felt good. But my average was relatively slow… maybe 17.1 mph. I decided I didn’t want to turn around and head home, but I didn’t really feel like I had the umph to do the full loop, so I had a decision to make.

I eventually decided I’d head South toward Bellevue, and if I felt strong in Bellevue then I’d head around the whole Lake. Or, if I felt weak, I’d head across I-90 home. This mean 2 big climbs in front of me before I had another decision. I had just done this route twice in the last week on my fixie, so I knew it would be no problem on my Cervelo.

I climbed Jaunita Hill and Market Hill, and when it was all said and done, my average had dropped to 16mph. I was definitley feeling tired, so I decided at that point, I’d head for I-90. I had to ride through down town Bellevue where I got caught at every single traffic light it seemed, plus two more smaller but longer hills, and by the time I got to the bridge, my average had dropped to 15.8mph. As I headed along the I-90 trail I tried to keep my pace up… but I was really feeling beat.

That’s when I really got the surprise of the ride. As I was riding along the trail, which is paved, with some root bumps, but not the worst of our local bike trails, I hit a small root bump, and the top of my Garmin Forerunner just popped off! The thing literally split in half, with the base strapped to the mound, and the top flying through the air! Ultimately it came apart into three pieces.

I stopped, jumped off my bike and quickly found the two pieces that went flying. When I examined the unit and all the parts, it appeared as if nothing was broken or cracked. It literally looks like it simply split in half, almost as if it had been glued together and the glue had failed.

I reassembled the parts, and pushed the on button, and voila! It turned on and displayed my current time and position. Cool! It seems to be working. So I started down the road again… only to see it pop off again in about one foot. I looked closer and realized that there was literally nothing holding the pieces together. I thought I’d snapped it in place… but there was nothing for it to snap together with.  Apparently the top was just resting on the base.

Ultimately I had to just put the pieces in my coat pocket and head home. Now I have no idea what to do with it. I guess I need to send it back to Garmin to be repaired.

I can’t believe the bad luck I’ve had with these units. I really love these products… but it’s hard to continue to say that when this is my 5th unit that has essentially failed because of road bumps. I mean, how can a device designed, sold, and marketed as a bike computer be so easily damaged by road bumps?

Later in the ride I had a short but steep hill climb, where another cyclist challenged me up the hill. Although I was out of position in the wrong gear (I was seated, he was standing) and since my shifters are on my bar ends it was not feasible to quickly shift to a bigger gear and jump into action. But I gave it all I got, and by the top of the hill was was completely winded. Nearly hypoxic.

I rode home the rest of the way calmly and casually… with my ego in only slightly better condition than my Garmin.
Anyway, when I got home I was wiped out.

Flash Forward: It turns out I have strep throat, and the reason for my exhaustion is likely this illness.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 01/27/2008
• Total Time: 2:42:00.00
• Distance: 42 miles
• Average Speed: 15.56 mph

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