|
|
Post by strawman on May 24, 2004 19:00:01 GMT -5
...7 hours...damn bear, I don't think I have ever spent that long in the saddle in one hit...I admire you and your trainees for that. I think the longest I have ridden for is a bit under 6 hours for a 200km race that had 9000 vertical feet of climbing in it....yeah that was a loooong day, so best of luck for the 160km...
Back into a bit of training this week...knocked out a bit over 200km in the last three days...yeah the doc gave me the go ahead to ride my bike again yesterday (I did pre empt him a bit, including racing on Sat)...really I have to start slamming in the early seaon endurance stuff...I'm a few weeks behind now...and when the shoulder is better then start on the strength training...Seems like the regional mid season champs are next month so I'm not sure I can get up to be in with a realistic chance yet...we'll see.
And achn...did your frame arrive???
|
|
|
|
Post by strawman on May 24, 2004 19:02:34 GMT -5
where did that smiley come from in that previous post?...sure as hell didn't choose it...damn I really don't like smilies much, much less automatic ones....
|
|
|
|
Post by Kensterberg on May 24, 2004 19:09:39 GMT -5
Straw -- apparently certain combinations of punctuation (incl. question marks) trigger smilies. You can check the "disable smilies" button just above the "Post" button ... but you've got to remember to do it every time, I think.
Speaking of rides, I'm heading out in a few minutes myself for a quick dash 'round the block.
|
|
|
|
Post by RocDoc on May 25, 2004 18:27:48 GMT -5
A couple of hours of 'dashing', minimum, Ken! Lest you succumb to the inordinately insidious 'BBB Syndrome', otherwise known as the dreaded 'Bubble Butt Barrister Syndrome', oh sedentary one!
~
Wow, Straw AND *bear, NEITHER of your wives are cyclists either? Altho-o-o-o, wasn't it you who wrote about doing that in-the-rain ride a few weeks back, *bear? With your wifey?
I'd LOVE for my wife to cycle with me...we're a great hiking team, whether urban or rural or mountain, but for some reason she came to cycling very late, and although she CAN balance herself and ride in a straight line very well, she's got zero confidence to go through any sort of a turn. Fucking frustrates the shit out of me...unconfident to the point that she crashed BADLY one time when I'd actually talked her into trying to give bicycling one more try.
I was cruising ahead of her at Peninsula State Park while vacationing on the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin(A bee-yoo-tee-fool place, right on Green Bay!)and she just simply somehow MISSED the most ordinary 90ยบ turn and went off into the trees as I rode on for another couple of blocks, oblivious to the fact that she was, well, gone....
|
|
|
|
Post by strawman on May 25, 2004 22:16:53 GMT -5
Wow, Straw AND *bear, NEITHER of your wives are cyclists either?
yeah my wife refuses to bike...still she's a great support crew on the longer races...at the feeding stations she organises my food and drinks!!
I did get her a bike, but she never rode it...instead thats when my eldest son decided he'd start racing. He's now got a Reynolds 853 steel framed KHS with Ultegra...really great looking small bike...my youngest son has an alloy Trek with mostly Ultegra on it...yeah he's the determined one, but whiles away those summer months sailing....now he wants a Starling sailboat...
I swear the kids see me as one huge wallet...but I do try and support them in their sporting endeavours
And roc doc...I think bears wife has just started on the whole cycling thing....with others she is training for a 100 mile ride in a week or two.....any one that can ride 100 miles in one go gets my seal of approval....those last 40km can be killers!!!
|
|
the*bear
Struggling Artist
"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
Posts: 95
|
Post by the*bear on May 26, 2004 5:23:15 GMT -5
Mrs. bear's just getting into cycling, bought her a bike last year, more of a "comfort" hybrid. Her longest ride to date was last weekend, 85 miles. Century in ten days in Lake Tahoe. Don't think she'd be up to the cross-country thing, but who knows.
She's still a little on the slow side, I fully expect it to take her close to ten hours to do the century ride. Got to admire that, just for the durability of the sit bones.
She was supposee to do El Tour de Tucson with us last year, but was riding in an organized ride, and failed to clip out of her pedals at a rest stop. As she toppled over, she stuck out her arm to catch herself, broken elbow resulted.
|
|
|
|
Post by RocDoc on May 26, 2004 13:12:51 GMT -5
Yah, toe-clips can be a bit tricky when your're not used to them. And a broken elbow? OW!
I'll bet she knows to loosen at least one foot NOW, in plenty of time before a stop...
...and it was an 85-miler she did? Wow! Especially after this little 'incident'....
~
There's a decent women's bike with coaster brakes(since she complained that hand brakes had confused her)under our porch, in the unlikely HOPE that maybe I can talk her into going for a ride with one of her girlfriends who occasionally rides.
All I know is that any sort of supervision from me ain't gonna work anymore...
|
|
|
|
Post by strawman on May 26, 2004 15:02:44 GMT -5
and failed to clip out of her pedals at a rest stop.
c'mon who hasn't done that!!....damned embarrassing when it happens. Usually you slip your cleat out of the pedal (with the bike basically stoped) and find your weight is on the other side, and over you go!!!...haven't had this happen for a long while, but it will happen again...I see an example of it at racing once every couple of weeks...
just unfortunate that mrs bear broke her elbow...that has to hurt....
|
|
|
|
Post by Kensterberg on May 26, 2004 19:38:49 GMT -5
I had that "forgot to unclip" experience when I was first learning how to ride with cleats on my old mountain bike ... was navigating through a tight rocky section, and just lost forward momentum ... and go to put down my foot by pulling back (a la toe-cages), when nothing happens, my bike goes over, and I'm laying on the ground looking at rocks and cactus up close.
Didn't happen again ... amazing what a little negative reinforcement can do sometimes!
|
|
|
|
Post by strawman on May 26, 2004 20:05:47 GMT -5
ha ha...and the embarrassment factor!!
some good news...the insurance has paid out on my wreck, so now I have $8 000 to spend on a new bike and $1 000 for helmet, sunglasses and clothing....yeah so do I go with my heart and look at De Rosas, Coppis, Fondreists, Casatis and Colnagos, or do I get sensible and get a straight up speed demon like another Giant except carbon and maybe 10 spd Dura Ace?
I've always wanted an Italian bike though...hmmm..maybe...and this is my personal bike, not subsidised in any way...
|
|
|
|
Post by Kensterberg on May 26, 2004 20:15:01 GMT -5
Strawman -- if it's your own personal bike, go with your heart. If it's gonna be your race bike, then think with your head.
You KNOW what achn and I will both tell you ... and Phil will suggest a good solid cast-iron tourer!
Too fucking windy to ride here tonight, which really pisses me off b/c I was home with plenty of time to do it in! Tomorrow will hopefully be better ...
|
|
the*bear
Struggling Artist
"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
Posts: 95
|
Post by the*bear on May 26, 2004 21:11:41 GMT -5
straw, do you buy stock bikes or custom?
Is that $8K in NZ dollars, about $5K American? If I had $5K to spend on a bike I'd probably be looking at a custom Ti, Serotta or Seven are the manufacturers that come to mind, though I would do a LOT more research into those types of custom builders before pulling the trigger on that kind of purchase.
Yeah, I toppled over in a failure-to-unclip incident just three weeks ago. Happens to everyone, just need to fall with grace (and without breaking bones).
The wife broke her elbow last October, not this season. She did ride another 50 miles after she broke it, though.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kensterberg on May 26, 2004 21:33:08 GMT -5
If I were gonna spend $5k on a new bike ... SHIT! I just spent $3k on one and now you wanna now what I'd spend $2K more on?   I wouldn't trade my Bianchi for any of the other bikes I tested ... including the comperably priced Litespeed Ti bike I road. I just don't like the feel of Ti that much. Give me Al or Carbon Fiber (or both!) ... Though I did look at some of the stuff on the Seven website and they do have some fabulous bikes. If I were gonna go further up from where I am, I'd probably go with some sort of custom frame-set, even if its just buying a frame from someone like Look and hanging my choice of components on it. At $5k I think you've got to think real hard about having someone build you bike, though. |
|
|
|
Post by Kensterberg on May 26, 2004 21:35:19 GMT -5
These automatic smileys are beginning to really piss me off!!!!!!!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by strawman on May 26, 2004 22:09:47 GMT -5
straw, do you buy stock bikes or custom?
I just get stock bikes...as long as it's about 55cm c to c (equivilent for slopers) and a top tube length about 55.5, I can get it to fit just right...may have to adjust stem length if the top tube is .5 too long or short...
Bikes are extremely expensive in NZ...probably something to do with the small market...a TCR 0 composite with 10 spd dura ace is just on NZ$7000 (multiply by 0.62 for $US)...a De Rosa Merak frame and forks is NZ$4000 and a 10spd dura ace gruppo is about NZ$2500...Record is about NZ$3500 I think...
There are deals to be had if you hunt around though...there was that Colnago Dream Plus with Dura Ace (9) for NZ$5800...still it was a run out model and was about 1cm too small for me...Top tube was only 54cm.
Well this new bike will be raced a bit as well, so it really does have to do the job...umm I am thinking it might be nice to have 2 identical bikes geometry wise.....dunno, I'll have to see whats available...and I'll get a pic up when I get it!!
A good site thats easy to use to put your pics on is http://www.imagestation.com...then you can copy the URL of your pic to here..
If I were gonna spend $5k on a new bike ... SHIT! I just spent $3k on one and now you wanna now what I'd spend $2K more on?
Ken I wish I were in the USA for this bike buying caper...honestly your bike would be all of NZ$8000..I haven't accurately priced Bianchi, although I could have had one for NZ$4200 (subsidised)...but it was too small!!!
|
|
