Cycling Thread

[itchyfingers]

Nice to see you guys are getting back into things as the weather improves!

I've been averaging anywhere from 100-175 miles a week, and have already done 3/4 of my big rides for the year. I literally tore through the hub on my road bike, so yay, new wheels! Also stepped up to some WTB Nano 40s on my gravel bike that have been working great.

I did the Hunt of the North yesterday, a 50 mile gravel/road ride to 5 locations. 50 miles, 5k feet of climbing. Collect all 5 stones and get back to the start to enter the raffle. I didn't get all 5 stones this year, but tacos and beer were a good consolation.

Last month I completed my third consecutive Belgian Waffle Ride. I do the Wafer course, which is about 75 miles of mixed surface with over 5k feet of climbing. Had a mechanical issue where my rear brake was busted (in the on position) for about 20 miles - worked way harder than I was planning on. Finished in under 5 hours and 40 minutes this year, and felt pretty good at the end.

Two months ago I completed the Great Western Reroute with my gravel team, which was about 60 miles with 4k feet of climbing, mostly offroad. We had sketchy trails from all the rain, but the scenery was amazing with all the flowers blooming.

Roadie got new shoes...

Its like a trophy that gets you drunk...

Who smiles on a 6% climb? This guy...

Exploring...


I'm taking two weeks off, my fatigue has overwhelmed my fitness as I've tried to stretch a fitness peak out over the course of 6 weeks. Gonna start up with a Sweet Spot Base plan and begin to prep for my final big ride, the Tour of the Moon in western Colorado.

[SuperFlyinMonke]

I'm basically just commuting these days in my Norco Tactic, coupled with weekend rides pulling the little guy in a chariot in my hybrid Kona Dew Plus.

Man does it feel good to be biking these days though.

[Pepi]

Those seats makes my balls hurt

[Sasquatch]

Those seats makes my balls hurt

+ 1/2


it is my taint that it mostly gets. in those biking shorts, i lift my junk way up and and as a result my dick and balls become an outwardly-unidentifiable mish-mash of what appears to be the smuggling of pot roast vegetables. read: my potatoes and carrot are somewhat out of the way but still get mashed together like the pictures i saw as a kid of british soccer fans pinned against a chain-link fence. most of my weight rests on my taint which can cut off blood supply to the ole beef-curtains-probe, resulting in trouble creating diamond-cutter erections so hard it has an elbow. sold the bike a while back, a trek domane 4.3 carbon fiber. if i want to pay $2000 to get my taint punched it is going to be by 2 angry southeast asian ladies while being filmed and not by a bicycle.

[itchyfingers]

^:lol:

Let me know when you've gotten that proper taint punching, Sasquatch. Sorry to hear about you selling the bike tho.

I have felt the taint pain, switched out a few seats. I think you just need to put in a few thousand miles of conscientiously adjusting to proper position and resting on the sit bones. Eventually it gets much easier on the junk.

[newholland]

yeah man.. bad fit'll do that, and if i had a dollar for every shop that did good fitting over jammin bikes out the door... i couldnt afford a BAD saddle.

[SuperFlyinMonke]

It's all about finding the right seat and making sure the angle and height is set properly. I ride a 143mm Specialized Toupé, which measures inside where it should be comfortable to me, but it just works. I set a little lower than what could be considered a full efficiency ROM, but it's comfortable on my ass, so it's worth any loss in power.

[Sasquatch]

^:lol:

Let me know when you've gotten that proper taint punching, Sasquatch. Sorry to hear about you selling the bike tho.

I have felt the taint pain, switched out a few seats. I think you just need to put in a few thousand miles of conscientiously adjusting to proper position and resting on the sit bones. Eventually it gets much easier on the junk.

i wish i had time. family + work = me scheduling bathroom breaks.

[SuperFlyinMonke]

My only time on the bike these days is weekends with the family and commutes to work. It's always worthwhile time to me to plan more rides.

[Loop Bizkit]

Definitely miss riding. Haven't gotten on the bikes in a couple years. Went from about 2000mi/yr or better up to 2016, to pretty much zero since.


Now, getting back to race shape doesn't seem like much fun. Thinking about selling the MTB and the Roadie.

[Noah]

Hey I got a bike this year. A Giant mountain bike. It has 27.5" tires which was a little weird at first but now I really like it. Bright green frame. It's fun.

[ZEEGLER]

Do any of you have the seats with the gap in the middle? Do they help? I've been getting back on my bike a lot lately, and after a ride the numbness and tingling in my crotch is worrisome. In other words, I don't want to get nerve damage and stop my junk from working properly. I'm wondering if it's worth getting one of those seats.

[SuperFlyinMonke]

Yep:


https://www.jensonusa.com/Specialized-Toupe-Pro-Saddle

[Sasquatch]

Definitely miss riding. Haven't gotten on the bikes in a couple years. Went from about 2000mi/yr or better up to 2016, to pretty much zero since.


Now, getting back to race shape doesn't seem like much fun. Thinking about selling the MTB and the Roadie.

i miss it but i'll admit that the suit-up, try for best time, srs bidness stuff can sometimes suck the fun right out. i just want to get out for some fresh air and some leg pumping.

sell them. do it. then you can get a cheaper comfort hybrid bike. i have one. totally comfortable, sitting straight up, 7-speed, 700cc wheels with road, but not racing, tires. i just go pimp around here and there. i mostly hike though.

[andvari7]

As if being significantly slower (read: Fatter) than last year isn’t frustrating enough, my back wheel is ka-fucked, and I have to hope like all getup that my Lyft driver will allow my bike in the vehicle. They really need to have the option to specifically request a bike rack, especially in the summer.

See?

https://imgur.com/a/BY8DNfH

[TurboPablo]

I just dropped $300 on a new drivetrain for my 1997 Litespeed Obed. I can't wait to hit some trails once I rebuild it.

It's going to be light and nimble with big gears. 46/34 up front with a 11/34 9 speed cog in back. Ultegra cranks and Dura Race bar end shifters converted to top mounts.

Nothing shifts or can sweep a whole cog better than top mounts.

Fight me.

[BroSlinger]

Neat. My Basso is a litespeed, I think.

BTW, Bernal's sunglasses are pure fire. I LOVE them.

[itchyfingers]

I prefer Sagan's 100%'s but Egan's are very, unique.

Le Tour was crazy this year! Even though Bernal won, I feel like I will always look at 2019 as the year God prevented Alaphilippe from taking the podium, lol.

I bought my dream bike. It got finished being built 2 days before I got laid off. Awesome timing, Greg...

[SuperFlyinMonke]

I haven't been following the Tour at all, but the riding has been so beautiful this week. I backed off in June and early July because I thought I re-fractured my left wrist, but it turned out that it didn't heal the first time, after 14 years. I've been riding more regularly and being more aware, but hopefully the meeting with the surgeon goes well and I can get it fixed up before the end of the year...

[TurboPablo]

I seem to have been bitten by the XC MTB bug again. It's all I have been thinking about for a while now. I ordered the drivetrain a couple of days ago and now have tracking on everything. So I am getting rambunctious. There are some seriously killer trails about 45 minutes from here. I can't fucking wait to ride them again. It's been too long.

Here is my old school XC rocket ship just waiting for the flood of parts.

[itchyfingers]

Did my last big ride of the year a couple weeks back, the Tour of the Moon in Grand Junction, CO.

I try to do one organized ride with my father-in-law every year. We haven't always gotten along, but cycling seems to have brought us to some common ground. This ride had a long route (65 miles) and a shorter route (42 miles) with a fair amount of climbing - over 4500 ft on the long route, 2500 on the shorty, so I decided to also sign my wife up for her first group ride. Now, in June the farthest she had ridden was about 30 miles, and while you have to do some climbing in San Diego, she generally tried to avoid hills of any kind. So I started training Mrs Fingers to be able to do this ride. She did spin classes and rode by herself one day a week, then we'd do a long ride on the weekends. Each week I'd push the mileage a bit or add a few hundred feet of elevation, so every weekend ride was a personal best for her, and we made it up to 59 miles and 3500 ft the week before the event. I knew she was ready to do the long route, but didn't force it on her.

We basically rode out of downtown, then straight up to the top of the Colorado Monument. The incline was never super steep, there was just no reprieve. When we got to the top, my computer said we'd climbed 2400 ft and only descended 48 ft! It was amazing scenery up there, easily the most beautiful ride I've ever done. After a snaking descent we turned north and looped around the town of Fruita. Serious headwinds on the way back to Grand Junction, but we made it in safe. Wifey killed the long course with me and her dad, I was so proud! Mrs Fingers might have earned herself a new bike.

[andvari7]

I’m reviving this thread, because I have something substantial to contribute to it:

After enduring seven years of my fat ass, my poor, beleaguered, Stock Specialized road saddle is finally going to be replaced. My dad has persuaded me to buy a new one, but I don’t think he was expecting it to be the same model - an Infinity E3 - as he has. I should probably tell him, which I will do, on our next ride.

[itchyfingers]

Good for you man!

I slipped a disc in my back in 2021 and could barely walk, let alone ride. Balooned up to 265 lbs since I was still eating like a cyclist. Finally was able to get back on the bike last fall and slowly get my legs back.

I rarely get outside for rides these days, but putting in over 100 miles a week on the trainer. It's a sufferfest but I'm dropping weight like its a bad habit, and not getting run over by cars. So I got that going for me.

[Tortuga]

FINALLY have my own thing to add to this old thread… I’m getting close to my goal weight of 200 (down from my highest of 317 in 2016), and have set my first “real” ride to be the annual 75 mile ride around Lake Tahoe in June (with Greg / itchy). It’s been 15+ years since I’ve been on my road bike, and am really looking forward to it!

Been working my ass off in spin classes and doing plenty of other (almost daily) exercise, and will be starting up actual riding as soon as I get my bike back from the shop.

Speaking of, here’s the “old boy”, just before I took it in last week for a full overhaul/rebuild by the original builder. This is my 2002 Serotta / Campy Record bike I got 6 months before my first son was born…

[Tortuga]

Got my bike back from the shop last month...