I'm searching for the perfect Slowtwitch thread title and this may be it. It's a little long, I know. :-)
I'm too lazy to give the background here and I figure most regular STers will get it. Anyway, I met up with Joaquin this afternoon in Soto Del Real, a small town a few miles away from Miraflores (the base of the climb up La Morcuera). Super nice guy; he was a little blind-sided by being thrust into the center of the ongoing Slowtwitch Frank Day vs. The World show. I tried to explain that it wasn't him (mostly).
I expected to get waxed up the climb, and Joaquin didn't disappoint. He rode an old aluminum Cannondale with the Powercranks and a set of Zipp wheels with a Powertap SL. I was on my POS road bike with my PT, unfortunately with no CPU because the damn thing's sitting here in my hotel room dead as a doornail. Just warming up on the way from Soto Del Real to Miraflores, I was pushing over threshold; I looked over at one point and Joaquin was showing 340 watts up a short climb. God knows what that meant for me as I'm carrying approximately 45 pounds more uphill.
We got to the base of the climb, I looked at my watch, and waved goodbye. Joaquin pedaled away from me on those goofy cranks and I never saw him after the first curve. Eventually, he came back down the last two kilometers and rode back up with me. He was about a minute off of his best time on the climb, (edit: 28' 38" today), and said he'd shown an average wattage of 358 (I think) and heart rate in the 180ish range. I'm pretty sure he gave it all he had. I reached the top at 42 minutes.
We took a couple of pictures at the sign at the top, froze our asses off descending, and had a beer before parting ways. I hope I'll be able to ride with him more in the future.
Finishing up, I have no idea whether the Powercranks are responsible for his power output, and I find Frank's incessant posts regarding them as annoying as anyone. Like somebody said in one of the recent threads, I probably would've tried them a long time ago for a bit less money and with a lot less hucksterism.
Bottom line though: Joaquin's for real. Here's a guy past 40, 3 kids, traveling job, and he's putting out a LOT of power, especially at a body weight of 62k. I'd be happy if I could match that power at my weight of 83k. I figured after some of the hostile posts regarding him, this might even the scales.
Kendall Frederick
currently sitting in a Madrid hotel room..
Kendall Frederick
Orange Park, FL
I'm too lazy to give the background here and I figure most regular STers will get it. Anyway, I met up with Joaquin this afternoon in Soto Del Real, a small town a few miles away from Miraflores (the base of the climb up La Morcuera). Super nice guy; he was a little blind-sided by being thrust into the center of the ongoing Slowtwitch Frank Day vs. The World show. I tried to explain that it wasn't him (mostly).
I expected to get waxed up the climb, and Joaquin didn't disappoint. He rode an old aluminum Cannondale with the Powercranks and a set of Zipp wheels with a Powertap SL. I was on my POS road bike with my PT, unfortunately with no CPU because the damn thing's sitting here in my hotel room dead as a doornail. Just warming up on the way from Soto Del Real to Miraflores, I was pushing over threshold; I looked over at one point and Joaquin was showing 340 watts up a short climb. God knows what that meant for me as I'm carrying approximately 45 pounds more uphill.
We got to the base of the climb, I looked at my watch, and waved goodbye. Joaquin pedaled away from me on those goofy cranks and I never saw him after the first curve. Eventually, he came back down the last two kilometers and rode back up with me. He was about a minute off of his best time on the climb, (edit: 28' 38" today), and said he'd shown an average wattage of 358 (I think) and heart rate in the 180ish range. I'm pretty sure he gave it all he had. I reached the top at 42 minutes.
We took a couple of pictures at the sign at the top, froze our asses off descending, and had a beer before parting ways. I hope I'll be able to ride with him more in the future.
Finishing up, I have no idea whether the Powercranks are responsible for his power output, and I find Frank's incessant posts regarding them as annoying as anyone. Like somebody said in one of the recent threads, I probably would've tried them a long time ago for a bit less money and with a lot less hucksterism.
Bottom line though: Joaquin's for real. Here's a guy past 40, 3 kids, traveling job, and he's putting out a LOT of power, especially at a body weight of 62k. I'd be happy if I could match that power at my weight of 83k. I figured after some of the hostile posts regarding him, this might even the scales.
Kendall Frederick
currently sitting in a Madrid hotel room..
Kendall Frederick
Orange Park, FL