Clean Start

[rick81721]

Zion
1 Kevin McElwain 9:20 16.9mi/h
2 Norm Zurawski 9:55 15.9mi/h
3 james pearl 9:58 15.8mi/h
4 Utah Joe 10:08 15.5mi/h
5 Mike Williams 10:57 14.4mi/h
6 Matt Kempler 11:01 14.3mi/h
7 John Lewer 11:34 13.6mi/h
7 Rick Robinson 11:34 13.6mi/h
9 patrick mariani 11:44 13.4mi/h (ME - if you didn't know)
10 alex kochetov 11:56 13.2mi/h
11 Mike Chinea 12:00 13.1mi/h

Montgomery
1 Kevin McElwain 5:09 12.8mi/h
2 Eric Capers 5:56 11.1mi/h
3 Sean Runnette 6:01 11.0mi/h
4 james pearl 6:06 10.8mi/h
5 Norm Zurawski 6:31 10.1mi/h
6 John Lewer 6:33 10.1mi/h
7 Rick Robinson 6:37 10.0mi/h
8 patrick mariani 6:42 9.9mi/h
9 alex kochetov 6:51 9.6mi/h
10 J-dog Fenton 6:52 9.6mi/h

Damn you @rick81721 !!!!

Good job on the climbs and weight loss. Zion there are so many different segments it's ridiculous. I chose the "all climb" segment as my strava live to chase as I figured that was the hardest one.

On Monty, my PR is 2 years old - pretty sure I can get that one sub 6 min now - will try next week.

None of use should be on standard chainrings. If you can spin out a 50/11, then you need to learn to spin faster .

Good job on the climbs, now bury @rick81721

I notice all your PRs are 2-4 years old... I'm going after you, tough guy!

 

[stb222]

Good job on the climbs and weight loss. Zion there are so many different segments it's ridiculous. I chose the "all climb" segment as my strava live to chase as I figured that was the hardest one.

On Monty, my PR is 2 years old - pretty sure I can get that one sub 6 min now - will try next week.



I notice all your PRs are 2-4 years old... I'm going after you, tough guy!

Yes, they are. Beat them and I will come back.

 

[Patrick]

None of use should be on standard chainrings. If you can spin out a 50/11, then you need to learn to spin faster .

Good job on the climbs, now bury @rick81721

what i like about the mid-compact is the nice straight chainline - i'm in the middle of the cluster alot more on the rollers and flats - and use the small chainring more.
not even thinking about 39/53....and i don't need to go downhill faster. and i don't have any trouble climbing the small stuff (sourlands) with 36/28 and made ludlow station on it
(next to iron bridge) -

like riding a single speed, nobody likes to walk, so the body adapts because it has to.

 

[rick81721]

Yes, they are. Beat them and I will come back.

Serious question - are you faster now than 2-4 years ago? I'm still getting faster because: (1) I've only been riding for coming on 5 years, (2) I'm riding significantly more now that I'm retired and (3) I've lost 11 lbs in the last 10 months. I assume at some point (2-5 years) I'm going to plateau and then decline but that's just a guess. At what point do cyclists peak in performance? I know there's a local guy on strava (Dave Brown) who's my age and buries you on all these climbs so age isn't totally a factor - just something I've been thinking about recently.

Anywho, to have an apples-to-apples comparison, ride all these climbs when you are 60, and we will compare to my best times next year. Then we'll see who gets the last laugh!

 

[Patrick]

Serious question - are you faster now than 2-4 years ago? I'm still getting faster because: (1) I've only been riding for coming on 5 years, (2) I'm riding significantly more now that I'm retired and (3) I've lost 11 lbs in the last 10 months. I assume at some point (2-5 years) I'm going to plateau and then decline but that's just a guess. At what point do cyclists peak in performance? I know there's a local guy on strava (Dave Brown) who's my age and buries you on all these climbs so age isn't totally a factor - just something I've been thinking about recently.

Anywho, to have an apples-to-apples comparison, ride all these climbs when you are 60, and we will compare to my best times next year. Then we'll see who gets the last laugh!

see how you do against dave bitterman. I think he is 70+.

 

[rick81721]

see how you do against dave bitterman. I think he is 70+.

Eh just checked, we've got that chump!

 

[stb222]

Serious question - are you faster now than 2-4 years ago? I'm still getting faster because: (1) I've only been riding for coming on 5 years, (2) I'm riding significantly more now that I'm retired and (3) I've lost 11 lbs in the last 10 months. I assume at some point (2-5 years) I'm going to plateau and then decline but that's just a guess. At what point do cyclists peak in performance? I know there's a local guy on strava (Dave Brown) who's my age and buries you on all these climbs so age isn't totally a factor - just something I've been thinking about recently.

Anywho, to have an apples-to-apples comparison, ride all these climbs when you are 60, and we will compare to my best times next year. Then we'll see who gets the last laugh!

I think it is hard to pinpoint faster from year to year. Riding more doesn't necessarily equate to faster either. Cycling is cumulative, and you build strength over a long time. This is one of the reasons it is hard for young guys to get up to a level of someone who has been riding for 20 years and for more reasons than just fitness. There is a 75 year old guy that riders with the Newtown group I ride with weekly and on any sort of uphill, it is me and him and he can rip some legs off so age is relative.

As far as peaking performance, too many factors to consider. First 2 years, huge gains and after that smaller and harder to achieve.

But for answering you question, I was pretty maxed out in 13/14 and if we are talking segments, lost interest in them mostly since I was maxed out in the stuff I tried for in a 15 mile radius. Enter 2015, I was off the bike a bunch because of my twins and then I got the EVo and getting back out there re-energized me and I started making PR's more and more. I am not sure if faster or slower but I have definitely gained strength in the flats and rolling terrain, but I think I have slowed on the uphills. The thing about chasing segments in your local area is it will eventually happen to have your best day in the best possible conditions simply because you ride it hundreds of times.
.

what i like about the mid-compact is the nice straight chainline - i'm in the middle of the cluster alot more on the rollers and flats - and use the small chainring more.
not even thinking about 39/53....and i don't need to go downhill faster. and i don't have any trouble climbing the small stuff (sourlands) with 36/28 and made ludlow station on it
(next to iron bridge) -

like riding a single speed, nobody likes to walk, so the body adapts because it has to.

One point you may be missing is for the sourlands, if you have a 50, you pretty much never have to leave it, safe for maybe Spring Hill and Hippy Hill is alittle rough in the big too. I agree 34 is way small for these parts.

 

[rick81721]

One point you may be missing is for the sourlands, if you have a 50, you pretty much never have to leave it, safe for maybe Spring Hill and Hippy Hill is alittle rough in the big too. I agree 34 is way small for these parts.

I never leave the 50 anywhere around here. So here's another question - I know you've said spinning is better climbing hills than mashing. Do you sometimes go to the small ring and spin faster to get up the steeper climbs?

 

[Patrick]

I think it is hard to pinpoint faster from year to year. Riding more doesn't necessarily equate to faster either. Cycling is cumulative, and you build strength over a long time. This is one of the reasons it is hard for young guys to get up to a level of someone who has been riding for 20 years and for more reasons than just fitness. There is a 75 year old guy that riders with the Newtown group I ride with weekly and on any sort of uphill, it is me and him and he can rip some legs off so age is relative.

As far as peaking performance, too many factors to consider. First 2 years, huge gains and after that smaller and harder to achieve.

But for answering you question, I was pretty maxed out in 13/14 and if we are talking segments, lost interest in them mostly since I was maxed out in the stuff I tried for in a 15 mile radius. Enter 2015, I was off the bike a bunch because of my twins and then I got the EVo and getting back out there re-energized me and I started making PR's more and more. I am not sure if faster or slower but I have definitely gained strength in the flats and rolling terrain, but I think I have slowed on the uphills. The thing about chasing segments in your local area is it will eventually happen to have your best day in the best possible conditions simply because you ride it hundreds of times.
.


One point you may be missing is for the sourlands, if you have a 50, you pretty much never have to leave it, safe for maybe Spring Hill and Hippy Hill is alittle rough in the big too. I agree 34 is way small for these parts.

exactly - i left it in the 50, and cross chained the climbs. that beats the drive train up, and sucks the power.
now i'm anticipating the downshift, of the front - that gives me about the equivalent of 2 cogs in the back - work from there.

and i really do think if struggling, i'll downshift, before pushing harder - if there isn't anyplace to downshift, then the work gets put in. even if it is only a 5% difference in mechanical advantage.

i try to do some standing climbs in the short, steeper sections (rainbow hill?), or if buzzing along and want to keep the speed up over a bigger roller. no downshift, just turn the power up for 30 seconds, stay in the drops.
makes me feel faster anyway!!

 

[clarkenstein]

even with my busted up joints i haven't left my big ring yet. mind you, i'm not going for speed - i'm just trying to ride without pain. that said i didn't think about the cross chaining on the ups. is it really that much of a drag on power, if all you're doing is just trying to get up the hill?

 

[Patrick]

even with my busted up joints i haven't left my big ring yet. mind you, i'm not going for speed - i'm just trying to ride without pain. that said i didn't think about the cross chaining on the ups. is it really that much of a drag on power, if all you're doing is just trying to get up the hill?

bending the chain - think about how much side flex they have when new.
and isn't it one of those vector math things?

 

[stb222]

I never leave the 50 anywhere around here. So here's another question - I know you've said spinning is better climbing hills than mashing. Do you sometimes go to the small ring and spin faster to get up the steeper climbs?

The ultimate is spinning in a high gear but it takes a really tuned engine to do that. Typically, if I am dropping to the small ring, j am dead as F or it is really steep and or long.

But like pat said, shift down in the front and a few up in the rear. The problem with the small in the front is that it take a lot of discipline to not down shift.

 

[jackx]

see how you do against dave bitterman. I think he is 70+.

That guy Dave Bitterman lives near me and he's always riding since he does around 12-13,000 miles/year.

He has a good tag - something like 'Geezer jock. Can you keep up?'

 

[Patrick]

Upset that I'm out of the July challenge.
But a new challenge has appeared!
Climb faster than.....well, just climb faster, and see where the time falls.

To help that, I put my bike on a diet. As Selene said, "Nothing wrong with throwing money at it" - or something like that.

And here she is!

Sorry, for NDS picture, with unappealing pedal position. That storm was rolling in.

15.5 lbs with pedals, and bottle cage. (should i put the other cage on?)
Didn't spend any $$ on handle bars or stem. Wheels could be lighter. In any case, it is 3.5lbs lighter than the CAAD8

took it for a short ride in this configuration.
Saddle nose is a bit low, and a bit too far back.

This baby is slammed! My old bike is slammed, but has a 1cm tall dust cap. Going to take some time to learn how to stay
down there.

SRAM Red drivetrain with ETAP.
Need to do a little fine tuning - in the smaller cogs, the front will shift off the big ring from the small.

bike is silent. I'm not really used to that.
Well, until about 25mph, then the front cable stops whistle! Gotta be some aero plug to put in there?

Look for some more PRs in the coming weeks as i feel better!

 

[stb222]

Upset that I'm out of the July challenge.
But a new challenge has appeared!
Climb faster than.....well, just climb faster, and see where the time falls.

To help that, I put my bike on a diet. As Selene said, "Nothing wrong with throwing money at it" - or something like that.

And here she is!

Sorry, for NDS picture, with unappealing pedal position. That storm was rolling in.

View attachment 55205

15.5 lbs with pedals, and bottle cage. (should i put the other cage on?)
Didn't spend any $$ on handle bars or stem. Wheels could be lighter. In any case, it is 3.5lbs lighter than the CAAD8

took it for a short ride in this configuration.
Saddle nose is a bit low, and a bit too far back.

This baby is slammed! My old bike is slammed, but has a 1cm tall dust cap. Going to take some time to learn how to stay
down there.

SRAM Red drivetrain with ETAP.
Need to do a little fine tuning - in the smaller cogs, the front will shift off the big ring from the small.

bike is silent. I'm not really used to that.
Well, until about 25mph, then the front cable stops whistle! Gotta be some aero plug to put in there?

Look for some more PRs in the coming weeks as i feel better!

Sweet ride!

Jesus dude, who fit you? Short stem, slammed, ton of seat post out. FWIW, UCI did change the rules about saddle tilt so you should be ok when you compete. Kudos on not putting one of them taint hater saddles on.

 

[Patrick]

Sweet ride!

Jesus dude, who fit you? Short stem, slammed, ton of seat post out. FWIW, UCI did change the rules about saddle tilt so you should be ok when you compete. Kudos on not putting one of them taint hater saddles on.

Slammed because! The steerer is cut all the way down. I can flip the stem
It's 100mm 17deg. Could use an upside down 6? And go longer, but I really have no issue bending like that, just need to become accustomed to it

Def need some tuning of the saddle position.

Need to take some measurements off the other bike.

 

[MadisonDan]

Great looking bike, 3 lbs is a noticeable weight loss. Which wheels would you get?
On the photo faux pas, also remove bidon and vavle stems at 6 o'clock, if you're into that sort of thing.

 

[stb222]

Great looking bike, 3 lbs is a noticeable weight loss. Which wheels would you get?
On the photo faux pas, also remove bidon and vavle stems at 6 o'clock, if you're into that sort of thing.

Also, double bottle cages with 20 oz (short bottles) over one bottle cage with extender bottle.

 

[rick81721]

Jesus dude, who fit you? Short stem, slammed, ton of seat post out. FWIW, UCI did change the rules about saddle tilt so you should be ok when you compete. Kudos on not putting one of them taint hater saddles on.

Yeah that looks painful, especially for an old guy like Pat! I have 1.25" of spacers on mine.

 

[stb222]

Yeah that looks painful, especially for an old guy like Pat! I have 1.25" of spacers on mine.

I have old man spacers too. I am about as flexible as that frame.