Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Overcoming Preconcieved Notions

Apparently, I cannot trust myself anymore. I spent a LOT of time setting up the geometry on my new track bike, and I thought I had my bars as low as they could go without compromising power.

Well, I must have mis-measured when I was setting up my ergo, which is all I've ridden for the past month. When I got on my track bike yesterday to ride on the rollers, the bars felt really high. I re-measured, only to find that the bars on my ergo are 1" lower. I've been hitting lots of PR's in this position, so I obviously haven't lost any power. That means I can be a full inch more aero.

Granted, this isn't that cool, but the concept interests me.

I heard a story once about a world class pole vaulter who held a national record, but could never break it, even though he would clear the bar by a full 6 inches. If the bar was moved up even a quarter inch, he would fail. One day, his teammates set the bar 2 inches higher without his knowledge, and he cleared it with 6 inches to spare.

The lesson? Don't let your mind get in the way of what you're capable of.

1 comment:

Jeffro said...

Deep thoughts