Things are looking up

Cheap airfares are popping up ... and I found a round trip fare from ECP (Panama City Beaches) to DCA (Ronald Reagan National) and return for under $200. It would cost more than that in gas alone to drive, so ... I'm booked on the flight and Achilles International will arrange for pickup and return to Ronald Reagan National.

I have been tweaking my handcycle extensively, and have gotten a much better fit. Still not ideal, but a good deal closer. I need to drop the bottom bracket another 1" to 1 1/2" to be the ideal height - that won't happen without different crank arms ... which is in the $400 range.

Now I just need the final chainring to come in so I can get the new gears and SRAM DD3 hub installed. Once that's done, I will start some serious training. I REALLY want to get my times down so I can try for a Boston Qualifier ... which means a Marathon in under  TWO hours!

Two hours? Can I do it? Maybe - but it's going to take a lot of training ... and maybe some better additions to the handcycle. Next up on my wish list - competition wheels from Zipp ... but they are WAY too expensive on my budget.

Good news ... and then not so good.

The good news: Yesterday I was at the Top End factory to be fitted for the handcycle that the VA had approved. The technician felt that the Force RX

would be the best fit for me, and made all the measurements after I went for a test ride - WOW, what a thrill! I was flying on the test run!

The not so good news: While I was on the way back home, I received a call from the VA ...

The VA would not approve that model unless I was a diagnosed quad or paraplegic.  They had discussed it with the technician, and settled on the Force 2 - with a few modifications.

 Not as sexy; not as many tweaks for speed ... but still a nice ride.  One thing I give up - being able to chose a color - mine will be blue. I have thought of a few tweaks I can add ... and may do so as things move along.

What kind of tweaks am I considering?

1. A gear hub. Why a gear hub? With a 3 speed hub, I will have a direct drive that wouldn't change the current gearing - BUT, it would add an underdrive for an extra low granny gear to climb those @#$% hills. It would also add an overdrive for screaming down the other side of those hills.

How fast was he going? 75 KPH (over 45MPH)!  Pretty fast when you're only sitting a few inches off the road! That was without an overdrive, so I might end up a good deal faster if I wanted to push it on the right hill ...

2. Upgraded wheels. There are some VERY nice carbon fiber wheels that have much better aerodynamics than standard wheels. I particularly like the specs on the Zipp 303 wheels - especially since you can get those with disc brakes.

 

3. Tires. The Continental Grand Prix 4000 tires on that Zipp wheel would be my choice.

4. Osymetric Chainrings. 

What the hell is that? It's NOT round!  THEORETICALLY, it takes some of the load off of your legs (arms in the case of a handcycle) when you are at the weakest point of your stroke and adds extra power when you are at the strongest point.  The judges are out,  but it seems to be a personal choice. Some people love them - some hate them. There are other companies that make oval rings (and these aren't a true oval), but this company has addressed some of the issues people had with the oval rings. Will I love them - or hate them? I don't know, but I WOULD like to try them out.

5. Who knows! There will always be something you want to tweak.