Carbon Wheels, Tubulars, and 911 fax escapade

This morning I rode road carbon wheels and tubulars for the first time. All the thoughts reeling through my mind up until this point were, "first time carbon wheels," "what will I think," "how will they ride," "oh my gosh first time ever (giddy feeling)," "I am going to look like such a poser riding my Soulcraft road 'race' bike with full on carbon wheels commuting to work -sweet," You get the point.

I talked to my husband before riding about how would they feel compared to my beloved Ksyrium SLs. I love, love those wheels. He commented that they would ride softer, and all I could think was like riding on sofa? Nope not what was it was like. He also commented that if flatted, I was pretty much SOL. Options were to call him and he would bring me a spare tire or pry the tubular/tire off or something along those lines. I threw caution into the wind hoping that I would not have to call him. I did not have to call him, but I did shake and shimmey the roads on the way to work i.e. look for potholes, glass and other arbitrary objects along the way. And I was told to also watch the braking on the babies since they brake different. Joy.

Granted, I was told these wheels for more aero and energy efficiency purposes, but the verdict is still out. I think spandex is aero enough for me. There were a softer ride, but a bit bumpy - no sofa surfing here. Bummer.

They definitely were not as 'snappy' as the SLs. I can speak to this b/c I was full on caffeinated this morning, too. No breakfast except for the coffee of champions. I had plenty of snap in shoe, and even was testing the throttle working the different gearing. I have ridden SL's for a few years now, too. And I don't like the new ones - too stiff for me - I have tested them out. I like the aluminum, silver ones circa 2006 or so.

The braking was not as bad as I thought either given the fact we had to switch out brake pads, and I think we even had to switch out the Campy cassette.

As for more energy efficiency, well, I like to use every ounce, every drop, almost every time. Oh well, the more energy I burn, the more room for beer fuel like the Lagunitas Undercover Investigation, Brown Sugga', and Censored! Yum.

I guess the ride home will be a testament to the verdict that's out. Or maybe a race will help with the score sheet.

Oh, and I have had some serious gut giggling this week with the office fax machine calling 911 instead of sending a fax to India. I am sure the Mountain View PD isn't amused as I am, but it was an all-hands-on-deck effort to get the fax to stop. Because it couldn't go through, it kept resubmitting, and was possessed in it's own right. And we were really trying to get it stop. Really.