Cycling Thread

[SuperFlyinMonke]

Nice ride. You didn't want to go with the $700 Fizik kangaroo leather option?

[itchyfingers]

HA! This sport is absurdly expensive. I admit, I go straight to the sale rack, sfm!

[newholland]

i dig the fizik shoes-- those're some spanky cleats! lil more blingy than i rock, but i dig 'em!

[Harry_Manback]

Oh look, a thread I can contribute to! That Spesh is sweeet! I pretty much abandoned guitar playing this summer and have been hitting the MTB pretty hard. Bought myself a 2016 Niner Jet9 RDO in July. (sorry for the huge ass images, not sure how to work this Imgur shit)



And went on a pretty hard ride today: 3200 feet of very over 20 miles. Just about killed me.

5,000 feet in one day sounds fucking brutal.

[itchyfingers]

Thanks NH!

Damn Harry, that is such a beautiful pic, where is that? Also, that Niner looks badass!

Imgur tip: when you're on the page with the pic you want and all the links are on the right hand side of the photo; just beneath the links there's a section called "Sizes". Click one of those prior to clicking the "Copy" button. I've been using the "Large Thumbnail" size for my GAB posts.

[Harry_Manback]

That pic was taken in McCall, ID at a place called Louie Lake.

Thanks for the Imgur tip!

[TurboPablo]

Do those come with a kickstand?

[Harry_Manback]

Do those come with a kickstand?

All Walmart bikes come with kickstands.

[andvari7]

My dad bought a brake light for his road bike. It's a red LED hooked up to a contact switch, with a piece of aluminum bent to depress it when you activate the rear brake. Very inconspicuous; not much too it. It's a clever little device, for which he was given amazing praise. He kindly bought me one (the whole $5 investment made it easy), and it is a remarkably simple, yet elegant, solution to a problem I never really considered.

[Zozobra]

I was on a kick ass ride on the trek I repaired around the beaches and coves of ascension island today and the bastard sidewall blew out. Finding a replacement is going to prove difficult I fear

[itchyfingers]

Probably not many local bike shops on the island, but do you have an Amazon prime account?

Good luck man, hopefully the ride was longer than the hike!

[Zozobra]

I managed to get someone from ops to collect me in the pickup. I also found a spare tyre. It was a folding bontrager and it was a bitch to get on the rim. I have a day off today after a double flight yesterday so I'm carb loading to see if I can get along NASA road to the ARM site this morning while it's still overcast and cool.

[Zozobra]

I made it. Just over 1000m of elevation gain to get there. You'll question my sanity when I can upload pictures of the bike and the elevation/route

From my Strava log:

Ascension update #9: A monster ride up to the ARM site and the old NASA comms base along NASA road. The winds were brutal up what are some of the steepest ascents outside of green mountain on the west side. Once I was around to the east the winds died out as I ascended past the ARM site and punched through the base of the orographic cloud where the drizzle had brought out the land crabs. This is the hardest thing I've ever done on a bike. I nearly quit through the windy part but I strapped on a third bollock as the weather was otherwise ideal and this was realistically my only opportunity to get up to the top. It is fucking beautiful up there, even when you're riding through a cloud and can't see anything.

[itchyfingers]

OK, that sounds amazing, Zozo. Can't wait to see the pics!

[newholland]

two hour ride yesterday on the maiden voyage of my cannondale cujo...

3" tires are honestly the best thing ever...

[Zozobra]

I rode up green mountain today on what is one of the shittiest bikes ever made. Pretty much 700m straight up a volcano on something Walmart wouldn't even sell.

It was a folding mountain bike with a no name elastemer fork, a non functioning no name front disc which was designed by never looking at any other disc brake and a rear v brake. It had gripshit shifters to delicately ice the shitcake with yet another layer of slightly different flavoured shit. Still, I got the fucking thing up there. This thing had no stopping power at all. I had to drop the seat and Huck it down on the rear v with my weight behind the rear axle the whole time to stop it stepping out on the way back down. Even thresholding it on the verge of locking was a good 10-15 mph

Good times. Shit bikes.

[itchyfingers]

NH - that looks like a super fun trail! How's the hard tail on them slippery rocks?

Zozo - pics man, we needs pics of this paradise island being conquered by shit bikes!!!

[newholland]

NH - that looks like a super fun trail! How's the hard tail on them slippery rocks?

those tires with 18# of air in em were tanks and almost NEVER lost traction unless i got off my center of gravity for some reason! for as rocky as it was, i wouldn'tve expected to stay upright near as much as i did-- but man was it a gas. between the fork and the tires, i dunno that it feels much like what most folks would associate with a hardtail at all. plus bikes man... unreal how great they are for this kind of riding! hitting some flowier single track stuff this sunday-- so we'll see if it runs like a ups truck on the fast stuff, but i kinda doubt it!

[Zozobra]

I'll be home on Tuesday. Pics then

[andvari7]

My dad bought a CycleOps Hammer - an integrated indoor trainer. He uses Zwift, and convinced me to ride it while I'm home for Christmas. A half-hour ride killed me, reminding me that A. I'm nowhere remotely close to being in riding shape, and B. Indoor trainers have evolved immensely over the last two or three decades. I'm going to stay another day, and do a longer ride. With any luck, I'll shake a bit of the rust off.

[newholland]

My dad bought a CycleOps Hammer - an integrated indoor trainer. He uses Zwift, and convinced me to ride it while I'm home for Christmas. A half-hour ride killed me, reminding me that A. I'm nowhere remotely close to being in riding shape, and B. Indoor trainers have evolved immensely over the last two or three decades. I'm going to stay another day, and do a longer ride. With any luck, I'll shake a bit of the rust off.

right on!

i've actually sat in on a coupla zwift session now, and it's kinda fun! good interval training anyhow-- i just rode along with folks on my regular mag cycle ops and followed along- but seems like a good workout, and definitely a heap of folks out there doing it. if you have all the tech doodads-- seems like fun time for winter or shitty weather!

and hell yeah- get back out there and ride in due time! i was really busy playing in the past coupla years, and really tried to get back in the saddle this year.. totally made life better to just go burn some cardio, and i missed a lot of the people. so worth it.

[itchyfingers]

My dad bought a CycleOps Hammer - an integrated indoor trainer. He uses Zwift, and convinced me to ride it while I'm home for Christmas. A half-hour ride killed me, reminding me that A. I'm nowhere remotely close to being in riding shape, and B. Indoor trainers have evolved immensely over the last two or three decades. I'm going to stay another day, and do a longer ride. With any luck, I'll shake a bit of the rust off.

right on!

i've actually sat in on a coupla zwift session now, and it's kinda fun! good interval training anyhow-- i just rode along with folks on my regular mag cycle ops and followed along- but seems like a good workout, and definitely a heap of folks out there doing it. if you have all the tech doodads-- seems like fun time for winter or shitty weather!

and hell yeah- get back out there and ride in due time! i was really busy playing in the past coupla years, and really tried to get back in the saddle this year.. totally made life better to just go burn some cardio, and i missed a lot of the people. so worth it.

Hell yeah, guys!

My next bike is going to be a Wahoo Kickr. I want to start doing some serious training in 2018, and even though I've been training by heart rate, I feel like I'd be more successful by tracking power and using a program like Zwift or Trainer Road. Speaking of Trainer Road, if you haven't already- check out the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast, I love it!. Anyway, I almost got killed by two red-light-runners ON THE SAME RIDE, so I'm thinking about training indoors more often in 2018. I have an old mag trainer and just had a wheel built specifically to ride my cross bike on it, but damn, I want to nerd out.

Managed to drop 45 lbs this year, been sustaining that for a couple months despite injury and holiday food. I have at least 10 more to lose next year. I rode just over 1000 miles in 2016, so that was my goal for 2017. I ended up riding over 3100 miles this year, so I'm not sure what to set the bar at for 2018, 5000 miles?

Here's my year end film from Strava, probably the most important thing that's kept me engaged at all times. I love the competitive aspect, not with others but with myself, tracking results and seeing progress every ride. That's why I am thinking I'd love a smart trainer and software combo. Nerd alert!
https://2017.strava.com/en-us/videos/5c3b87bb6ab51f1722a69f54a21712e4d05d8f52/

[itchyfingers]

In an effort to get faster and not be killed by an idiot texting instead of driving, I have created a pain cave in a corner of my garage. Dumb trainer, trainer tire, Wahoo Speed and Cadence sensors, CycleOps climbing block for the front wheel, Trainer Road subscription, upright fan, and a Beats pill.


Up til yesterday, I'd been strictly doing outside rides with friends, occasional group rides, & training based on heart rate and perceived exertion; haven't been on a structured training plan for about 8 months. All that changed this weekend, and I'm now training with (virtual) power. I still plan on doing plenty of outdoor rides, but the pain cave will allow me to get solid prescribed workouts in during previously unrideable times - rain, darkness, etc. Starting off with a Sweet Spot Base, Mid-Volume plan for the next 6 weeks, then moving to an 8 week Sustained Power Build plan that should finish up just in time for my A race...

Ride it like you stole it!

[newholland]

nice, itchy- it takes some doing to take the disciplined approach. i made a go of racing a coupla years back, and the process of training up for it was pretty rewarding- and even though i never got to the power monitor level of it, keeping a steady log really made a difference.

i dunno if you have any place nearby to do strength training, but i seriously haveta credit weekly weightlifting-- particularly squats- with really REALLY upping the game significantly. cardio is kinda king-- but having been doing primarily a distance rider before i did it-- i had pretty solid cardio ( albeit at lower output levels)-- but watts gotta come from somewhere, and i just couldn't lay down the big gears.

anyhow-- a weekly squat regimen from Thanksgiving to early March, upper body work, leg press and lifts (as well as abductors/adductors.. super important), and core strength... man. what a dif. i also lost 2 inches on my pants size, although you'd be hard pressed to know it cause i think i added two inches to my quad size..

outa all of that-- 40 reps a week of 100-170# on a squat rack were the most painful, but seriously, the best exercise i've ever done for my whole body. i couldn't believe my sprint when i got back on and really laid into it in march.

i did a little bit of power monitoring at a local compu-trainer place-- and definitely watched my FTP go up significantly! i still got shelled like a mofo come racing season... but less badly than i mighta i am 46 not having raced last since i was 17.. so i ain't gonna sweat it.

awesome though-- good on ya! can't wait to hear updates as to how it's goin! i wanna ride so bad.. and it's been freakin' sub 20 for the last 3 weeks!

[Zozobra]

Just remembered that I never posted my shitty ascension island bike pics.

First bike was an old trek that needed a bit of work. No bottle cages and it was too hot to carry a bag, thus the elastic band loops - ghetto!


Here it is at Comfortless cove. This is where sailors with yellow fever would be sent to die.


English bay. This is where green turtles nest.


This is the old NASA base at Devils Ashpit. This is allegedly where the first transmission from the moon was received. This was a cunt of a ride on an old and busted mountain bike. 1015m elevation gain on a 34km ride and in cloud for the last 200m of the ascent!





From my strava post

A monster ride up to the ARM site and the old NASA comms base along NASA road. The winds were brutal up what are some of the steepest ascents outside of green mountain on the west side. Once I was around to the east the winds died out as I ascended past the ARM site and punched through the base of the orographic cloud where the drizzle had brought out the land crabs. This is the hardest thing I've ever done on a bike. I'm nearly quit through the windy part but I strapped on a third bollock as the weather was otherwise ideal and this was realistically my only opportunity to get up to the top. It is fucking beautiful up there.

Shortly after this the trek suffered a tyre wall failure and I had to ride this POS folding (yes, folding) "mountain" bike, which I managed to ride up green mountain:

Strava: I rode the world's worst bike up green mountain. It was hard.



The final big ride before leaving was to the Ariana tracking station at north east point:



To finish up, here is a close up of the worlds worst bike:


Check these brakes: