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Bicycle age

trebbble

Member
I'm so skittish to jump or even bunny hop logs I can't imagine having much fun there unless there are ways around the jumps and I can just rail turns

That's the thing that's impressed me most about Whistler: it's set up with amazing progression. I'm nervous with jumping too. I've been rising for two days, already exceeded my goal for coming up here - riding B-line, did it first day - and haven't had to jump at all. Even higher end trails have run outs so you can bypass. There are some that are way out of my league, but everything is so well marked that it's hard to get into trouble unless you're looking for it. They've even got a bike park 101 that gets people up to speed with guidance even if they've only ever ridden on pavement. It's been so cool to see old and young here getting an introduction to the sport.

There are two types of trail types - flow and tech - and both are so well maintained that they're a joy to ride. My special lady came with me, and has also been riding along and made great progress with her riding. She did trail rides and single track with me for years, but was a bit nervous. this is her first time downhilling and they really took the time to make her feel at ease. Me too!
 
Two days into downhill lessons at whistler. You folks have to make the effort to come here one day, absolutely incredible trails, from mind blowing single track to World Cup level downhill. Amazing the progression I've been able to make as a rider here, even as someone who has been riding for ~20 years.

August 2019 baby! But only if I've learned how to jump properly. Would be a waste otherwise.

Going to do the elevation camp with a friend. Hopefully more than one if it can be arranged.
 
That's the thing that's impressed me most about Whistler: it's set up with amazing progression. I'm nervous with jumping too. I've been rising for two days, already exceeded my goal for coming up here - riding B-line, did it first day - and haven't had to jump at all. Even higher end trails have run outs so you can bypass. There are some that are way out of my league, but everything is so well marked that it's hard to get into trouble unless you're looking for it. They've even got a bike park 101 that gets people up to speed with guidance even if they've only ever ridden on pavement. It's been so cool to see old and young here getting an introduction to the sport.

There are two types of trail types - flow and tech - and both are so well maintained that they're a joy to ride. My special lady came with me, and has also been riding along and made great progress with her riding. She did trail rides and single track with me for years, but was a bit nervous. this is her first time downhilling and they really took the time to make her feel at ease. Me too!

That sounds super awesome. Salsa runs a weekend campout in Minnesota every year that has trail riding and skills lessons. Was thinking of doing that because it's $200 + travel.
 

ShapeGSX

Member
I've ridden more in the past week than ever before. 238mi, riding every day. Finally took a day off yesterday, as my legs were a bit sore. :)

I've been trying to do longer rides, in general.

That 70mi ride I did a couple weeks ago was my longest yet (17.9mph, too), and I pushed myself til my legs felt like lead. But after that, I have been able to kick up my average speed quite a bit on shorter rides. Hit 19.8mph average on the 40mi ride on 6/28 just a few days after it, which is one of my fastest averages yet. I still got dropped about 2/3 of the way through the ride, though. Some riders capable of 21 to 22mph average speeds have been showing up on what used to be a B ride on Wednesday nights, and I've been dropped every week since then. I'm going to keep trying!

Strava by shapegsx, on Flickr
 
I've had the week off because of this stupid cough / breathing issues. Have felt so ridiculously tired.

Stressing me right out. Totally not the prep I needed for Leadville.
 

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
Instead of trying to maintain a sustained speed of 30 kmph for as long as I can during my commutes, I have been riding slower, trying to keep the pace with other commuters (unless they are really slow), which is roughly between 17-25kmph.

What I don't understand is that my garming is telling me that I'm improving my commuting times and average times, even though everything else is telling me that I'm going slower. Well, mainly my body and me keeping track of the speed on the device.
 
Instead of trying to maintain a sustained speed of 30 kmph for as long as I can during my commutes, I have been riding slower, trying to keep the pace with other commuters (unless they are really slow), which is roughly between 17-25kmph.

What I don't understand is that my garming is telling me that I'm improving my commuting times and average times, even though everything else is telling me that I'm going slower. Well, mainly my body and me keeping track of the speed on the device.

Any reason you're trying to maintain speeds for a commute?

I suspect what is happening is you're expanding a lot of energy to maintain these speeds, so when you have to stop or hit a hill you have less energy to get going again. By maintaining a more relaxed and lower speed it's easier for you to go from stop to going again in a much quicker manner than trying to ramp back to 30 kmph with fatigued legs/lungs.
 
No much time to exercise/train otherwise. I guess I could be a weekend (well, Sunday) warrior? Does that works?

There's entire training programs around 4-6 hour weeks. You should look into them if you're trying to train for racing. Otherwise save the massive exertion for days with your buds where you can push each other.
 

Gray Matter

Member
Doing my first century tomorrow. Charity event, the route has about 4500' of climbing which isn't too bad, I've done close to that in around 30-35 miles rides before.

Any personal tips for making this ride as smooth as possible?
 
Remember to drink and eat, and do it before you get thirsty and hungry.

Def this

I like to use 20/60 intervals for drinking and eating.

Also it's likely supported and these stations will have TONS of food options. Be smart and don't ingest 4 energy protein bars and 7 gatorade energy drinks. Just because you burn 800 calories in an hour doesn't mean you need to eat 800 calories every hour. Your body can only handle so much before bloat/gut rut/etc sets in.

Don't try to do this solely on energy gels either. I did this once and it was absolutely brutal, i barely had any energy in body when I finished. There's just not enough calories in there.
 
Should I bother switching my original Giant tyres back in before I do the Velothon Wales tomorrow? I've got Continental 4 seasons on at the moment, but I'm guessing that the Giant tyres (fully slick) should be a little quicker?
 
Should I bother switching my original Giant tyres back in before I do the Velothon Wales tomorrow? I've got Continental 4 seasons on at the moment, but I'm guessing that the Giant tyres (fully slick) should be a little quicker?

I haven't noticed much difference in pure slicks & 4 seasons. If anything the 4seasons will be a little more durable.
 

Addnan

Member
Stock tyres might weigh a bit more as well though and be a lot more prone to puncture, not sure if that's worth the risk. 4season is not a terrible rolling tyre, about 5 watts slower than the best clinchers.

Invest in 4000S
 

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
There's entire training programs around 4-6 hour weeks. You should look into them if you're trying to train for racing. Otherwise save the massive exertion for days with your buds where you can push each other.

I mostly want to get fit/lose weight and cycling is really convenient while commuting. I have no buds, though :(
 

HTupolev

Member
Should I bother switching my original Giant tyres back in before I do the Velothon Wales tomorrow? I've got Continental 4 seasons on at the moment, but I'm guessing that the Giant tyres (fully slick) should be a little quicker?
The GP4S tread pattern is *practically* slick, shouldn't really make any difference compared with true bald tread.

Where GP4S loses a bit (on the rough order of a fraction of a mph) of performance to quality racing tires is in the extra puncture-protection features, including over the sidewalls (that's responsible for the weird brownish sidewalls on some Continental road tires).

Not sure what your stock tires are, but the GP4S are likely tougher, at least.
 
I've leave them on then. Cheers. I'm not looking to go fast anyway, and if anything worrying a little less about punctures is preferable.

Any ideas what I'm supposed to do with my numbers? I've got one that's flexible plastic which says "do not bend", and another one which is a fair bit bigger that's made out of tyvek.
 

Karish

Member
Is it possible to add a rear brake to the Aventon Mataro? Apparently it doesn't have a rear brake mount and only comes with a front brake
 
I've leave them on then. Cheers. I'm not looking to go fast anyway, and if anything worrying a little less about punctures is preferable.

Any ideas what I'm supposed to do with my numbers? I've got one that's flexible plastic which says "do not bend", and another one which is a fair bit bigger that's made out of tyvek.

Usually one goes on the jersey, either back or on the side/rib. The other usually goes on the bike
 

WedgeX

Banned
Rode a trail that I'd easily conquered a month ago. But made a fatal, yet delicious, error. Stopped halfway through to go to brunch with my wife. The ride back was brutal.

img_3009zoo9p.jpg
 
First century done!

I don't have the words to describe how proud I am of this achievement. It was a phenomenal ride, majority of the ride was relatively flat with one bad climb, it was one of those long, not very steep climbs, came around the 70 mile mark and all down hill and flat after.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1073877262/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-US&v=1499537734

Great job! By the third or fourth time you do 75+ you begin to realize how much of these rides are mental + fueling over physical; assuming you're not trying to race. Make sure to get out and spin your legs tomorrow for 30-45. They're going to feel heavy as hell.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
First century done!

I don't have the words to describe how proud I am of this achievement. It was a phenomenal ride, majority of the ride was relatively flat with one bad climb, it was one of those long, not very steep climbs, came around the 70 mile mark and all down hill and flat after.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1073877262/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-US&v=1499537734

Congrats! I remember how amazed at myself first time I did it. Never ran a marathon but for my level of fitness it felt like the same kind of achievement. Then I did about five back to back on the aids ride and felt like Lance Armstrong but without the lying and hypocritical tantrums.

Also they mostly weren't full century days so maybe a bit Lancey.
 

Gray Matter

Member
Thanks everyone, feels good.

I also learned two things today. I definitely need a new pair of wheels, the ones I have are harsh, don't roll very well, terrible with crosswinds and don't look cool at all lol. Amd second, I need to upgrade my components. My bike came with a mixture of shimano tiagra/105. They do their job but I can feel myself being held back by the components. Been thinking about upgrading to a complete ultegra 6800 group, it relatively cheap now and it's one of the best gruppos in the market.
 

HTupolev

Member
Well, not holding me back per se, but when I'm riding, during flat stretches in particular, I can never find the right gear to be in. It's either that I feel like I'm spinning out of control or pushing too hard, no in between.
What's your current gearing configuration? Number of speeds in back, what cassette and chainrings are you using?
 
It's hilarious, this ride tomorrow is a nothing distance, and only has two climbs worth discussing... but I'm still far more nervous about it than I would be some of the monster mountain biking rides I've done.
 

T8SC

Member
Thanks everyone, feels good.

I also learned two things today. I definitely need a new pair of wheels, the ones I have are harsh, don't roll very well, terrible with crosswinds and don't look cool at all lol. Amd second, I need to upgrade my components. My bike came with a mixture of shimano tiagra/105. They do their job but I can feel myself being held back by the components. Been thinking about upgrading to a complete ultegra 6800 group, it relatively cheap now and it's one of the best gruppos in the market.

What part of those groupsets are holding you back? 2 gears?

105 and Ultegra are almost identical save a few grams in weight. As already said, wheels are the most worthy of upgrades to do, but select carefully as the type of terrain you ride will decide the type of wheels you buy.
 

Gray Matter

Member
What's your current gearing configuration? Number of speeds in back, what cassette and chainrings are you using?

11-32 tiagra cassette (10 speed) 50-34 chain rings

What part of those groupsets are holding you back? 2 gears?

105 and Ultegra are almost identical save a few grams in weight. As already said, wheels are the most worthy of upgrades to do, but select carefully as the type of terrain you ride will decide the type of wheels you buy.

Might not sound like much, but I think would benefit much from an extra gear in the back.

Ideally I'd get a 52-36 up front and 11-32 11 speed in the back.

But your right, wheels do sound like the better investment, i do strictly road riding, nothing off road, but good wheels are pricey.
 
Well, not holding me back per se, but when I'm riding, during flat stretches in particular, I can never find the right gear to be in. It's either that I feel like I'm spinning out of control or pushing too hard, no in between.

This isn't a groupset problem, it's a gearing problem. Maybe instead of a 46 up front you need a 48 or you need an 11/32 over a 11/25
 

Gray Matter

Member
This isn't a groupset problem, it's a gearing problem. Maybe instead of a 46 up front you need a 48 or you need an 11/32 over a 11/25

My riding varies from very hilly, to not so much so I need a wide range to suit both terrains. I've been told that 11-32/52-36 is place to be for both cases. Just basing my scenario on what I've been told, have to try it out for myself first.
 
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