I’ve fallen partially out of the training cycle, due to a loooong stretch (by Northern Californian standards) of wet, rainy weather. Cold weather I can handle; I’ve got arm and leg warmers, sweatshirts, a good windbreaking jacket, gloves, wool socks, and so on. Rain, though, is another story. Since there’s no shower facilities where I work, getting to work soaking wet is only going to lead to a miserable and uncomfortable day.

Splash a gallon of water on your screen to complete the illusion.

It’s not fun, so I’ve been wussing out and driving in to work for the last week and a half.

However, I braved one particularly nasty day last week to get my bike professionally fitted by Adrian over at iKon Cycles. For about an hour or so, he sat me down on a special device shaped roughly like a bicycle, but with many different adjustment points so that it can match a specific frame size, but also let a rider play with different saddles and handlebars and different crank and stem lengths until they find the combination that works best for them.

From Adrian, I’ve learned that I have a small “hook” in my right knee on my downstroke – when nearing the bottom of a pedal stroke, my knee jumps inward about half an inch. That I can live with, and hopefully by knowing it’s there I can work to correct it before it becomes a big problem. He also said my Raleigh Competition (posted about here) is a good size for me and that I’ve even managed to fit it rather well to myself, though there are some adjustments to make.

Since my handlebars don’t fit my large hands very well and my saddle is good for about 30 miles max, I got to try out some new drop bars on the fitting rig and we talked about saddle options. I’ll get into those more when my order comes in and I get the new parts installed and refitted.

In the meantime, the winter weather has cleared up for the time being, and I took advantage of the opportunity to bike into work today. My legs felt a bit rusty, my energy level was low, and my sunglasses were condensed-over, but I felt pretty good about the ride, even if I was a bit slower than usual.