Bicycling On-the-Road

Levi · « **Reply #240 on:** 26 Aug 2010, 01:55 am »

I should have a picture here and there. Stay tuned!

I do night rides. Last night, no rain but only drizzle. I just have to try the new wheels. Tonight, I am doing night ride again.

Levi · « **Reply #241 on:** 26 Aug 2010, 01:52 pm »

I found some pictures I took when I was in Atlanta, Georgia. Picture was taken at Silver Comet Trail. The Wilier (pronounced "Vilier") was my brother-in-law's bike.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #242 on:** 26 Aug 2010, 07:18 pm »

Nice looking bike! I'm not a fan of the look of the Cervelo "aero" frames (S-series), but your R3 looks really great...

Regarding the Wilier...someone told me that you're not actually supposed to pronounce it?

Apparently, there is no letter "W" in Italian...and that the W is an abbreviation of the word "Viva". The whole name comes from the phrase "Viva Italia Libera E Redenta", which means Long Live Italy, Liberated and Redeemed"....

BikeWNC · « **Reply #243 on:** 26 Aug 2010, 10:43 pm »

A few pics from my ride this afternoon up on the BRP. It was a beautiful, cool 60s low traffic day up there.

Levi · « **Reply #244 on:** 26 Aug 2010, 11:48 pm »

Nice view! Did you climb 5,000+ feet?!? Wow!

BikeWNC · « **Reply #245 on:** 26 Aug 2010, 11:58 pm »

Quote from: Levi on 26 Aug 2010, 11:48 pm

Nice view! Did you climb 5,000+ feet?!? Wow!

Not today. I started at 4600' and had a 1650' climb to the top. If I ride from town it is about 4500' of total climbing to the summit.

Levi · « **Reply #246 on:** 27 Aug 2010, 02:37 am »

Do you use compact or triple cranksets? The view and quality of air looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

BikeWNC · « **Reply #247 on:** 27 Aug 2010, 03:06 am »

Quote from: Levi on 27 Aug 2010, 02:37 am

Do you use compact or triple cranksets? The view and quality of air looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

I have three road bikes all with compact cranks (50/34). Two of those have 11/28 cassettes. The other bike is setup for long steep rides and has a mtb rear der. with a 11/32 cassette. That extra gear can make all the difference on the last steep pitch of a century ride.

I built my wife's bike with SRAM Red and a XX mtb rear der. with the XX 11/32 cassette. It shifts so much better than a triple and the 34/32 gear is actually a bit lower than the 30/27 she had on her old bike.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #248 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 05:32 pm »

Did a nice ride with Levi this morning! Ended up with about 45 miles averaging 17.4mph...Levi did more since he rode from Queens to meet me at the GWB and also had to go home to Queens. He's a strong rider from his mtb experience! Just needs to get more comfortable drafting...nice job overall!

Levi · « **Reply #249 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 08:50 pm »

Thanks Phil for the tour of the 9W. Phil is a great lead rider.

I always wanted to ride 9W! That 9W ride was not for beginner. I had lots of fun. Boy I have lots to learn about riding on-road. Also nice to meet Harold. That was not his real name but for some reason, It was imprinted in my memory. Nice guy.

I did 70 miles today.

Until next time.

--Levi

JoshK · « **Reply #250 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 09:44 pm »

I would probably have died on that ride! I did only 14.7 miles off road today at 6 Mile Run. I had a friend with me for which it was his first ride in years so I had to wait up a lot.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #251 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 10:09 pm »

Josh...road miles <> off-road miles. And as long as you are comfortable drafting, you'd have been fine for the most part. The climbs would have been the only difficulty for you...

jackman · « **Reply #252 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 10:19 pm »

Hey guys, did 40 miles today with my group as a prelude to tomorrow's century ride. I have been having some really bad knee pain since my last century and today's ride was the first time I have been pain-free in a long time. My IT band has been getting inflamed and making riding difficult. The changes made to my fit seemed to have alieviated the issue. I'll bring my camera and take some pictures tomorrow for everyone.

Cheers,

J

JoshK · « **Reply #253 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 10:23 pm »

Never drafted before in my life, but I often tend to ride the ass of the rider in front of me off-road.

The reason I was not sure had more to do with the speed which you maintained for the distance you did. I haven't gotten a bike computer yet so I don't know what my average mph is on road.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #254 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 10:53 pm »

Hey jackman...glad the fit adjustments seem to have solved your knee pain issues!

Josh...on the road, if you can stay within 1-2 wheel-lengths' distance behind the rider in front of you, you save about 30% of your energy. On part of our ride today, we hooked onto a group of guys pace-lining at about 26-28mph for a stretch and were fine for the most part...it almost feels like waterskiing! The issue Levi had was that he wasn't comfortable riding right on my wheel and eventually fell off 10-15ft off the back...and at that point, it became hard for him to sustain the speed. But he and I were later able to find a good comfort-level with it and finished that section of the ride with good speed (~24mph)...

Drafting only really works if you're going over 14mph, tho...

JoshK · « **Reply #255 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 10:21 pm »

I think I could do that. Depends on whether I could keep my cadence steady I guess. Sucks for the front guy though I'd imagine. Or do you take turns?

BrysTony · « **Reply #256 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 10:48 pm »

Josh,
Check out this video for a good example of drafting in a pace line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhI8gWurWNQ

PhilNYC · « **Reply #257 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 12:57 pm »

Garmin just announced a new computer:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/garmin-edge-800-first-ride-review-27494

Levi · « **Reply #258 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 02:08 pm »

@BrysTony, nice video.

I was looking at the Garmin Edge 800. No one is selling them yet.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #259 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 02:36 pm »

Yeah, the release date for the Garmin 800 is in early October. I think I am going to get one to replace my cheapo Cateye...