Book of Paul H

jumpa

Well-Known Member
I'll admit, riding with The Robin Hood noobs was quite fun. Remember, balls to the edge but never crush them. All about the hover!was nice to get out and socialize with you all! Thanks to @jumpa for the tube- it made my day, I owe ya Sativa lol

Thanks for the chase Rob, it turned my expected social pace to more of a "try to get'em" ride. Literally dusted me haha.

Good effort on the ride Paul. I would say practice being more dynamic with the turns on flats to build good habits and it will carry over to clipless for sure.

Thanks for the morning ride everyone.
 

Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
Back track to last Thursday... woke up with a sore throat and thought I was coming down with a cold and thought nothing of it. Monday rolls around and I feel like poop and the sore throat was only getting worse. Doctor tells me I have an acute respiratory infection.... bacterial infection and I am on antibiotics. Started feeling better but still not 100%. Why am I mentioning all this? To make excuses for myself for riding like crap today. Not to mention, went clipless at HM. I was on granny gears all thru out and bailed out way too early. Unclipped for sticks.... not logs... seriously... sticks... debris. But no clipless fail moments. Had a few close calls but with the low tension settings, managed to unclip and get my foot down. And to be honest, I cheated... and walked a lot of the rocky sections and pretty much stuck to the colored trails which are much easier. I was having a hard time clipping in and on couple of occasions, sticks got stuck on the cleats. Somewhat frustrating and during the ride there were thoughts of going back to flats. But I am going to take this as a start of a process and I do see some progress as I didn't think I would be able to unclip from my right foot. All my practice was done with my left but I did manage to unclip from my right couple of times. Perhaps more due to the low tension setting?

https://www.strava.com/activities/658371098

Lastly, at the doctor's office, they weighed me and wow... I shot back up to 187lbs. I guess I need to start running in the mornings again. :(
 
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Chris Nordt

Active Member
Back track to last Thursday... woke up with a sore throat and thought I was coming down with a cold and thought nothing of it. Monday rolls around and I feel like poop and the sore throat was only getting worse. Doctor tells me I have an acute respiratory infection.... bacterial infection and I am on antibiotics. Started feeling better but still not 100%. Why am I mentioning all this? To make excuses for myself for riding like crap today. Not to mention, went clipless at HM. I was on granny gears all thru out and bailed out way too early. Unclipped for sticks.... not logs... seriously... sticks... debris. But no clipless fail moments. Had a few close calls but with the low tension settings, managed to unclip and get my foot down. And to be honest, I cheated... and walked a lot of the rocky sections and pretty much stuck to the colored trails which are much easier. I was having a hard time clipping in and on couple of occasions, sticks got stuck on the cleats. Somewhat frustrating and during the ride there were thoughts of going back to flats. But I am going to take this as a start of a process and I do see some progress as I didn't think I would be able to unclip from my right foot. All my practice was done with my left but I did manage to unclip from my right couple of times. Perhaps more due to the low tension setting?

https://www.strava.com/activities/658371098

Lastly, at the doctor's office, they weighed me and wow... I shot back up to 187lbs. I guess I need to start running in the mornings again. :(

I'de have a party if I weighed myself at 187! I'm riding at a healthy 220 lol.. If you have a yard or a field/park close by, you should lay down a few different sized sticks/logs and practice going over clipped in. Start small till you are really comfortable and work your way up, even taking curbs will help. Did wonders for me when I first started with clipless, of coarse I was 16 and a bit more fearless but still a good way to train. ;)
 

Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
@Chris Nordt I think my problem is that I am chicken shit. I am going to take your advice and cruise around the neighborhood and ride the sidewalks clipped in in the mornings. Should do wonders for my weight too.
 

Chris Nordt

Active Member
Haha, take on a few more sticks/curbs while riding around the neighborhood and you'll be bunny hopping those suckers in no time!
 

Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
Wanted to take a quick spin this morning before the rain. I woke up early... like 4AM early and figured I would clean the chains on the Talon as it still had some red dirt from 6MR. Then I noticed a clicking sound and what do you know.... broken nipple and a bent spoke. Since this needed to be taken care of, figured I would also true all my wheels... including the road bike. Stuffed 3 sets of wheels into the car and off I go to my LBS. Got there as soon as they opened and dropped them off to be picked up at the end of the day. YAY!.... so I thought....

Get a call at 2PM and got the "good news and bad news" speech. Good news is the MTB wheels are done.... but the bad news is the rear of the road wheels popped a spoke and it needs to be ordered. They are Mavic wheels and they don't have my spokes in stock. I am thinking.... why the road wheel? Got the NYC Greenway ride tomorrow morning! The good ppl at the LBS offered to loan me their wheel but luckily for me, I have my back up set. I will be riding tomorrow with Ksyrium on the front and CXP22 on the rear tomorrow. Thought about switching out the front to CXP22 but since the Ksyrium front is trued, figured I keep them on.
 
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Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
Couple of things lately...

1. I've decided to lay off the MTB for a while and stick to road riding. Not because I no longer like riding the trails, far from it and its exactly the opposite. I want to be able to enjoy it more. I've always felt that I lack the endurance to thoroughly enjoy it. Make the climbs and I run out of gas and can't enjoy the bombing down downhills. I thought riding road will build endurance faster. The other alternative was to ride at 6MR but just too lazy and can't do it every weekend. I've extended my usual road route to 31 miles and eventually, gradually get it up to 50. I am also trying to pace my rides so that I am not in the red all the time on the climbs. I think the road riding will also help my stats on strava... lol

2. I've neglected my member for too long. I was never comfortable down there and until now, I thought it was part of riding. Not much of problem on the trails since you are shaking and baking and getting off the saddle quite a bit. But on the road, being in the saddle 90% of the time, it was getting numb. Not to mention, my toes were getting numb too. I thought it was the shoes and never made the connection b4. So I've been doing some reading. Either I don't have the correct anatomy and not built for cycling, lack the core strength or lack the flexibility to get into proper riding position. I started paying attention to how much pressure is being placed on the perineum and sadly discovered that it was quite a lot. With the seat bones, it was a freakin tripod and sometimes I had more pressure going to the perineum especially when I was pulling up on the pedals. I've also discovered that the padding in my shorts were getting bunched up in that area. I tried cutting out some paddings and altho it did alleviate a bit but still...too much pressure. I tried arching my back as much as possible and angled down the saddle just a tad. This actually helped quite a bit but now, I was pushing on the bar to keep my butt from sliding down which placed added stress on my shoulders. This took its toll and was getting numb in the hands. In the end, I went ahead and ordered the Selle SMP TRK as this was a bit cheaper and wider than the SMP Hybrid. I thought about getting a Alibaba knock off but in reading the reviews, the paddings were kinda firm. Not going to take a chance with my manhood and went with the real thing. I hope this works out.
 
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soundz

The Hat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
You should go get a fit. I got my first road bike fit with @jdog years ago and it was night and day difference. I haven't had the need to go get another fit after that because I figured out what was comfortable for me based on the adjustments he made for me the first time.
 

Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
You should go get a fit. I got my first road bike fit with @jdog years ago and it was night and day difference. I haven't had the need to go get another fit after that because I figured out what was comfortable for me based on the adjustments he made for me the first time.
If the Selle doesn't work, I guess I will have to.
 

Chris Nordt

Active Member
Something else you may want to consider with road biking for your leg strength is rollerblading/ice skating. I know it's old school, but the leg strength you can build up from skating will do wonders. Your quads on those mountain up hills will thank you lol
 

Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
Something else you may want to consider with road biking for your leg strength is rollerblading/ice skating. I know it's old school, but the leg strength you can build up from skating will do wonders. Your quads on those mountain up hills will thank you lol
I have a pair of Rollerblades that's been collecting dust in storage for 5yrs now but I doubt they will see the sun anytime soon. Nothing against them... just that I don't know how to stop. Lol
 

Chris Nordt

Active Member
I have a pair of Rollerblades that's been collecting dust in storage for 5yrs now but I doubt they will see the sun anytime soon. Nothing against them... just that I don't know how to stop. Lol

Haha, that's always the minor detail that comes up with skating.. stopping can be a bit tricky lol. If you want to get back on the skates let me know, I can come help you figure that stopping thing out
 

Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
Measured my seat bones... not sure if I did it right but came out to 135mm. 2 of my saddles are too narrow. Damn...
 

Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
Anyone ever told you that you have a big ass? lol
Google said men usually measures 100 to 150. Looks like I'm on the larger end. Never thought it would be a problem for me as I always thought I was on the average side or smaller. Eh... you wanna buy my saddle? Lol
 
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Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
Got the Selle SMP TRK today. Installed it on the bike and rode around the parking lot. So far... the damn thing is pretty comfy. I am figuring I need to take it out for a ride and do some fine tuning.
But wow.... that summabeesh looks damn goofy.... No pics! lol
 
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