Starting with the Boise 70.3 I tried out EFS energy drink (yes, I do mean the first time I used it was on a race day–I know, I know, bad idea). I had some gastrointestinal issues that day, but nothing too big. Just some knots in my stomach, and I felt like if I drank any more I would puke. But I didn’t puke, and I thought the reason I couldn’t drink any more was because I didn’t need any more. In retrospect, I’m wondering if I should have been drinking more, but couldn’t because the EFS was harsh on my tummy. But I only came to this thought because as I’ve been drinking it more and more, I seem to be noticing a correlation between a tight stomach and EFS. Again, it’s not that bad, and I’ve never had that “I’m going to throw up if I drink anymore” feeling (I’ve also never made it as goopy as I did for Boise), but the more I drink it, the more tight the correlation seems to be such that I’m thinking there is a cause and effect situation going on.

Other than that, it tastes fine (very subtle, mild flavors), and seems to work fine as an energy source. But if I continue to have the knotted up stomach, I’m going to have to switch back to Heed or something new.

The Bento Box is one of those things you wish you would have invented. It’s simple, and it gets a job done that just about every biker needs done–making it easy to carry and access your food on your bike.

It’s nothing more than a lightweight nylon box, with a net on the top that is sewn on one side and velcro on the other so you can open and close it easily. The Bento Box has four velcro straps, two of which go around the stem of your bike, and two of which go around the top tube. Then you put your Gu, Clif bars, Chomps, or whatever you want in there.

I just used it for the first time at the Boise 70.3 (yeah, I know–don’t use new things on race day) and I loved it. I got the small Bento Box and was able to cram three Gus and two packages worth of Gu Chomps in there. I took the Chomps out of the packages and just squeezed them in–I didn’t want to have to deal with opening the packaging during the race. I left the Gu in the packaging for obvious reasons.

My only regret is that I got the small Bento Box. Personally I think it’s a little on the small side, and I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want to err on the side of having a Bento Box that is too larger vs. too small, unless the larger one runs into your legs or something. But I don’t think it will.

One concern I had is that the Bento Box definitely affects how freely you can turn your front wheel. I noticed this after I put it on my bike, but while I was riding I didn’t notice anything at all, probably because you have to turn your wheel quite a bit to really feel the resistance, and on a tri-bike if you turn your wheel that far it probably means you’ll soon be flying over the cockpit and have other things to worry about. In that sense maybe the Bento Box is also a safety feature…

Anyway, this is one of those products I would say you’ve got to have if you do longer bike rides. Now that I have it I can’t imagine biking without it.

Note: See updates at bottom of post.

I could just post a link to the review for the Profile Design Aerodrink that’s up at BeginnerTriathlete.com, but I actually have something to add to the hell Dominic went through. My only consolation is that my hell wasn’t as bad as his, because I gave up after 20 minutes of hell, decided to look online to see if anyone else had a similar experience, and upon reading about Dominic’s hell I realized I was better off returning the product.

There is only one scenario under which I can recommend trying product–you have a friend who uses it, loves it, and is willing to install it for you…actually no, just don’t use this product. I’m sorry, but it stinks, and that’s the review I’m giving the product before I even had a chance to use it. Here’s why…

I got the Aerodrink bottle several weeks ago, but PowerTri didn’t have the bracket in stock and the rubber bands didn’t seem to work, so I hung out waiting for the Aerodrink bracket to come in. I picked it up today, and then spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how the bracket worked. Yes, you would think this would be relatively simple, and yes, I even looked at the instructions, but I’m still stumped.

The first problem is that the photos in the instructions are unrecognizable as anything but some long-lost form of dot-art. Perhaps if I were to back away to a distance of 10 feet the photos might become clear, but since they’re only an inch square, I still wouldn’t be able to see what I’m looking at. The written instructions were not clear to me–perhaps because of what I’ll describe next.

The bracket “fits” around the bottle on three sides, and then has a velcro strap on the fourth side which you tighten to hold the bottle in place. Simple enough, right? Bwahahaha, not a chance! You see, as near as I can tell, the velcro strap they include was sewn together backwards. That is, no matter how I put the velcro through the designated slots in the bracket, I can’t do it in a way such that the velcro can stick to itself, because the metal hook side ends up matching up with the back of the fuzzy side, rather than the fuzzy side itself. Trust me, I spent 15 minutes on that part alone, and unless I’m a complete idiot there’s no way to make it happen. But let’s accept the possibility that I may indeed be a complete idiot and move on.

The Aerodrink bracket doesn’t fit the Aerodrink bottle. You heard me right–it doesn’t fit. What does fit in the bracket? I’m not sure, but it sure ain’t the Aerodrink bottle. Oh, I can fit the bracket around the bottle fine enough, but this causes the two sides of the bracket to bend at strange angles. You could make the case that my German heritage makes me a stickler for precision engineering, but anyone who knows me can attest to the contrary. All I care is that it works, and the Aerodrink bottle and the Aerodrink bracket are not made to go together. We’re not talking about things being just a little bit off, we’re talking about things being way off. Imagine that you went to buy a car, and when you closed the door there was a one-inch gap between the car and the door that you could see through. Even though you’re not an engineer who designs cars, you’d know something wasn’t right.

So…I don’t have time to return this stuff tomorrow, but rest assured, the Aerodrink and its poorly designed bracket are being returned first thing after I get back from my race this weekend, and no, they will not be used in the race. Thank goodness for the other review that saved me from trying to rig this up to work somehow. I’m sure I would have ended up chucking the whole contraption in the trash during the middle of the race had I persevered.

Update 16 June, 2010: Since posting this, I raced in the Boise 70.3 and saw many people using the AeroDrink, and I’ve talked to a few people who currently use it. They have convinced me to give it a real try (which I admit I haven’t, since I never got the thing on my bike). In the spirit of doing a thorough gear review, I have decided that one way or another, I’m going to get this thing on my bike and try it out. Perhaps once I really use it I’ll end up loving it, like apparently everyone else does I know who has one.

Right now I’m wearing a 2009 De Soto Liftfoil Triathlon Speedsuit. I mean that literally, I am literally wearing it right now, as I type this, because I’m about to go do my last brick before the Boise half-Ironman this Saturday and I am checking out all my equipment, doing a dress-rehearsal, as it were.

I started out doing triathlons with the standard two piece triathlon outfit. That is, a tri jersey, and a pair of tri shorts. Te Koi kept telling me a one piece was super comfy, so I finally indulged and got a tri suit last August, and have now raced in it twice (one sprint, one olympic) and will, this Saturday, do a half-Ironman in it. I’ve found that tri-suits have their pros and cons:

Pros:

- Nothing around the waist. No string, no waistline, nothing but smoothness. This means there’s no chance of waistline chafing.

- They look pretty cool.

- Many of them are made for swimming faster, in case you have a triathlon where you’re not using a wetsuit.

Cons:

- It’s hard to go to the bathroom quickly, since you have to unzip the top and pull it down off your shoulders, vs. just pulling your shorts down.

- Tri suits seem to lack pockets, so if you’re used to carrying Gu or Chomps or something in the pockets of your tri jersey, don’t expect that with a triathlon suit.

- They can be a bit pricey.

Generally, I don’t train in a tri suit. The only reason I’m doing it today is that, like I said, it’s a dress rehearsal for the race, plus I have a new tri-bike and I’m trying to get a feel for whether or not I can use the tri suit for the whole 56-mile bike ride, or if I should wear a pair of bike shorts with a heavier pad over my tri suit (I tried riding with the bike shorts already, just to make sure that would work, and it seemed fine).

Yesterday I went on a two-hour bike ride. I left two sports bottles of Heed overnight in the freezer, and I was biking in the early morning so that I didn’t have to deal with the heat, and yet within one hour both bottles were completely melted and most of the way towards being warm. Now, imagine you’re three hours into a five-hour bike ride in the middle of nowhere. Wouldn’t it be nice to reach down, grab your drink bottle, and find it filled with ice-cold water or sports drink or whatever you put in there? Not only would it be more refreshing, but how much more would you get out of your workout if you could maintain a slightly lower body temperature?

That’s why you need the Polar Bottle. I started out with two, and they are WONDERFUL. Unfortunately, one fell off my bike without me knowing it, so then one was gone. Then I left the other one on top of my car and drove off and it got ran over and cracked. Since last August I’ve been using a standard bottle and while that was fine and dandy during the winter, now that it’s getting warm again getting new Polar bottles has become a high priority, so I shelled out $12 apiece for two of them today, and I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow’s ride as a result.

Trust me, if you’ve never used one, you should try one. You’ll never be able to go back. I’d rate it one of the most important accessories for bikers, and unlike most everything else we bikers have to buy, the Polar bottle is relatively inexpensive.

Man oh man, what a difference having the right equipment makes. Last week I went for my first ride on my new tri-bike and it was horrible. I thought it was the bike, and in part it was, because the front derailleur wasn’t tuned right and the seat wasn’t adjusted correctly, but the other part was that I was using a normal bike helmet and a pair of non-biking sunglasses. For my 2nd and 3rd rides, I wore my new Louis Garneau Superleggera Aero-Helmet, for which I also bought the optional visor (tinted), and ohhhh baby, it’s like being in heaven compared to that first ride.

First of all, with the visor attached to the helmet I don’t have to wear glasses at all, which means I don’t have to deal with them slipping down my nose, getting dirty, obscuring my vision, etc. I have a huge field of vision, and the tinted visor seems to keep the sun easy on my eyes just as well as a good pair of sunglasses. It’s sooo nice. If you get the helmet, definitely get the visor, and yes, get the tinted one. It’s dark enough to work on a sunny day, but not so dark as to cause problems on a cloudy day. I’m not sure about night riding because I don’t do that. Note: The visor is screwed on and the only way to adjust it is to loosen the screws. No, you cannot have it down and then just push it up if you don’t want it there. You would actually have to stop and loosen four screws. I plan on just leaving it down all the time. I don’t see any reason to remove it–ever.

I know some people complain about aero helmets not being cool enough. The ride I just did was relatively sunny, and it’s about 80 degrees out. While I was moving I felt just fine, or if there was a good breeze, but if I slowed down to climb a hill and I didn’t have a headwind then yes, I started feeling a little warm. I have fairly short hair, not buzzed, but short, and I can imagine that someone with longer hair could get quite warm climbing a hill in 80 degree weather with this helmet on.

I already mentioned it has a great field of vision, but I want to re-emphasize that point. My non aero-helmet kept slipping down when I tried it on my first ride on my new tri-bike, which made my crane my neck more to try and see. With this helmet I don’t have to crane my neck any more than I would without a helmet on, because the helmet doesn’t obscure to top of my field of vision at all.

Everything else about the helmet was great as well. It’s comfortable, I like how easy it is to adjust the fit while you’re wearing it by using the wheel thingy in the back, and it’s super, super lightweight. I don’t have any recommendations about how it could be improved, other than maybe some sort of cooling system that weighs nothing but has the equivalent cooling power of an ice pack sitting on your head. That’d be nice.

Perhaps it’s not fair for me to review a bike that I’ve only ridden once, especially when it’s my first tri-bike. If I weren’t aware that there is some adjustment that needs to happen, I’d be saying this thing is a piece of junk and I don’t know how anyone can ride one, because man, a tri-bike is quite different than a road bike. But I’m aware that it takes a few weeks to adjust to riding a tri-bike as your shoulders, back, and neck get used to being contorted at the angles they need to be in order for your body to be in a more aerodynamic position.

That said, my thoughts on the bike, which happens to be a Quintana Roo Seduza. This is not a low-end triathlon bike by any stretch, but it is the lowest priced of Quintana Roo’s carbon-frame tri-bikes, which is why I chose it. I put some Shimano Ultegra pedals on it, an XLab Deluxe Carbon Wing system, a Cobb V-Flow Plus saddle, and…I think that’s it. Here are my initial thoughts, which may change somewhat as I get used to the bike:

1. The bike comes with Vision Clip On J-Bars for the aero bars…and I must say I’m not a fan of clip-ons because they can slip, and somehow I always tend to put weight on them in such a way as to make them slip. I’d like to get something that is all one piece so that when I put too much weight on them they just break. But actually I’m not sure any aero bars are made to be all one piece, since people generally want to be able to adjust the bars to be closer together or farther apart.

2. The front chain has been slipping, although apparently that’s just a tuning issue I need to get fixed.

3. The wheels aren’t bad, but they’re not great either. It’s probably the next upgrade I’ll make to the bike, that is, to some carbon race wheels.

4. I’ve had a hard time adjusting the seat. I don’t read instructions, and maybe that’s why, but the screws for tightening/adjusting the seat tilt don’t seem straightforward to me, and I had problems with the seat getting loose during my first ride.

It’s hard for me to come up with positives, because I’ve never ridden another tri-bike, and maybe this bike is perfect, other than for the four items I mentioned above, and that’s why I’m not noticing more things. Anyway, I’m looking forward to getting used to it, because I can definitely see how it will be an advantage to be in that aero position during my next triathlon.

Update: You wouldn’t think having the right helmet would make such a difference, but MAN, it sure did. Read my aero-helmet review here. The two other major improvements were that we got my seat adjusted to the right angle, and the front derailleur tuned right so that the chain wasn’t slipping off, and it’s like riding an entirely different bike (a much better one). I just got back from a three-hour ride on it and I’m loving it.

I’m a big fan of the iPod shuffle. I would go so far as to say that if it weren’t for the iPod shuffle, I might not be doing triathlons at all. The only way I’ve found to endure 1-hour swims, 2-hour runs, and 3-hour bike rides (which are about to get longer as I start my full Ironman training in a month) is to listen to audiobooks, and the iPod shuffle is the ideal device due to its small size and ease of use. For the past 2-3 years I’ve been using the 2nd generation product, but recently my wife got me a 3rd generation model, which wouldn’t have been necessary except that my waterproof iPod case broke and H2O Audio offered to replace it with their newest waterproof headphone system, which only fits the 3rd and 4th generation iPod shuffles.

In the past week I’ve used it for swimming, biking, and running, and here’s my overall takeaway; there are some things that are better, and some things that aren’t.

Improvements:

1. Smaller. It’s thinner/slimmer than the 2G in two dimensions, and only slightly longer. Overall it’s perhaps 60% as large.

2. Clip. The clip is much stronger, it would appear. I had issues occasionally with the earphone cord getting caught on something, or the iPod being jolted too hard when clipped to the bottom of my t-shirt, and it would fly off. With the 3G that doesn’t seem to be an issue, which I assume is partly to do to it’s smaller size, but the clip does seem to be quite a bit stronger.

3. Dock/cradle. The cradle, dock, or USB connector, or whatever it’s called, is much, much smaller. It’s just a USB plug with a two-inch cord and a plug that goes in the iPod, vs. the 1-foot cord, cradle/base, etc. of the 2G. This makes it easier to transport, since it would go comfortably in your pocket. I guess it makes it easier to lose too, but you can’t have everything.

De-provements:

1. File organization. On the 2G when you plug in your iPod, iTunes shows you all the files. With the 3G you have “options”, such as a music folder or a “books” folder. This means there’s just one more click I have to do in order to see what’s on my iPod through iTunes. For me, I don’t want to organize my files into music and books, I just want all the files like on the 2G, but I don’t see any way to change the settings to allow that.

2. Syncing. With my 2G if I plug it in, it automatically syncs. With the 3G I have to click a “sync” button in iTunes. Why doesn’t it sync automatically when plugged in? I have no idea. But it’s kind of annoying because when I plug in the shuffle the audiobook tracks I’ve listened to aren’t updated in iTunes to show that they’ve been played, so I have to click the sync button once there. Then, after I delete the audiobook tracks I’ve listened to via iTunes, I have to click “sync” again for them to be deleted from the shuffle. Annoying.

Correction: On the shuffle there is a slide-button with three different settings; off, play in order, shuffle. I use play in order, since I’m listening to audiobooks. If this button is left on this setting when plugged in, it will not sync upon being plugged in. However, if you turn it off, then it will auto-sync when plugged in. However, when I delete files from iTunes that are on the iPod, it still does no auto-sync and I have to press the “sync” button within iTunes for those files to be deleted from the iPod. So overall it’s still annoying because I liked how the 2G worked and this is more work.

Neutral:

1. Controls on cord. For a lot of people this has been a big negative because it means you can’t just plug in any old headphones–you either have to use the Apple provided headphones, or you have to buy a Belkin adapter (about $12). I opted to buy the adapter, so I can still use my normal headphones, but what I’m worried about is that if I wear the shuffle on my waist, then the cord sticks out the top of the shuffle and then immediately is bent over since the cord hangs down a ways before it turns around to go up towards my ears. This puts stress on the adapter right where it plugs into the iPod, and I’m worried that might lead to problems with the adapter later on.

However, having the controls on the cord seems to reduce how often the controls are accidentally pushed, which was an issue on my 2G shuffle, so it all sort of seems to balance out.

2. Voiceover. There’s an option where the shuffle will “talk” to you to tell you information about what you’re listening to. Maybe this will grow on me, but at the moment I don’t have any use for it. It doesn’t come on unless I tell it to, so it’s not an annoyance or anything, just something I don’t use, therefore it’s neutral.

Summary:

If it weren’t for needing to use the 3G for my waterproof case for swimming, I’d stick with the 2G. The things that are better about the 3G aren’t enough to outweigh the negatives. But since the negatives are software-based issues, I’m hopeful they’ll be fixed at a future date.

Update 23 June, 2010: So…that Belkin adapter I got for $12? After all of what, a month? of using the thing it started going out on me. First the left ear was spotty, unless I held the cord a certain way. Then the right ear started going out as well. Now it’s useless and I have to mail it in to get a replacement. This means I have to use the headphones that came with the iPod 3G, which stink. They fall out of my ears, they kind of hurt, and they don’t block outside sound, which makes them useless on a bike with the wind and all because I can’t hear anything. So for the time being I’m going back to my iPod 2G for running and biking, and only using the 3G for swimming.

The official name of the product is the H2O Audio Interval 3G Waterproof Headphone System for iPod shuffle (3rd/4th Gen), but that’s the only bad thing about it. I reviewed the waterproof iPod case for the 2nd generation iPod that H2O Audio makes several months ago, but they don’t make that product any more (although you may still be able to find it on shelves here and there). I also love that device, but I had one problem with it–it broke. That is, the latch that holds the case shut broke. Luckily, H2O Audio has awesome customer service, so they sent me a new one. That one also broke after a few months, in the exact same place–the latch. So they gave me the option of having them send me another 2nd generation case, or a waterproof case for the new iPod shuffle, and since my wife got me a 3rd gen iPod shuffle for my birthday and I wasn’t keen on trying a third time with the first type of case, I accepted their offer to send me the 3G case.

I’ve used it a few times now and I love it just as much as the first case, and perhaps even more because from what I can see it’s not going to break. The latch on the 2G case was under stress when it was closed, which I’m pretty sure is what led to the breakage, but the latch on the 3G is different, and I don’t think it’s likely to suffer the same fate. In addition, the buttons on the 3G are easier to use. There are three buttons on the top of the case that conform to the three options you have with the 3rd gen iPod shuffle, and if you use the 3rd gen iPod shuffle for other things then using the buttons on the 3G is completely intuitive.

The case is certainly larger than the 2G, and it seems to me like they could slim it down, but it doesn’t bother me at all. One thing I have noticed is that whereas on the 2G the earphone cords never bothered me, on the 3G I’ve had issues with them getting caught on my face or ears as I turn my head to breathe, and so I’ve followed their recommendation to wind the cords once around my goggle straps and that completely solves that issue, and is no bother to do, so no harm no foul.

I did have some issues with volume with my 2G but that seems to have been solved with the 3G. Whereas with the 2G I always maxed out the volume and even then sometimes I couldn’t hear as well as I would have liked (often dependent on the position of the earbuds in my ears), with the 3G there’s no problem at all and I don’t think I’ve ever maxed out the volume because it would be too loud.

The 3G case is certainly a little more money than the 2G ($100 vs. $60), but it is an all-around better-designed and better functioning system. If you’re looking for an easy way to listen to music or audiobooks (my preference) while swimming laps, this is by far the best waterproof headphone system I’ve found (much, MUCH better than the Finis swimp3 system).

I need recommendations. I had a pair of Scott glasses I bought for about $200 when I first started triathlons three years ago, and I like them a lot, especially the interchangeable lenses, but I sold them to buy milkshakes. I’ve heard people rave about Rudy Project, but I’ve never tried any on and I think they look kind of funny. Yeah, I know, I look kind of funny too, but why exacerbate the situation?

One particular problem I have that most guys can’t relate to, and which most women will be envious of, is that I have really long eyelashes, and so I require glasses that don’t sit really close to my eyes. That was the primary reason I chose the glasses I did the first time around–every other pair I tried on subjected me to the annoyance of my eyelashes brushing the lenses whenever I blinked.

Since my glorious comeback to triathlon, I’ve just been wearing a pair of normal, non-sports, wrap around sunglasses. They’re ok, but I miss the interchangeable lenses, and while they haven’t fallen off yet, they are not made to stick to you when you’re all sweaty so I figure it’s only a matter of time before they fall off and break.

So if you have some glasses you use for triathlon that you absolutely love, and that come with interchangeable lenses, I’d love to know what they are and where you got them.

Much Grass!