Cycling

[ddrueding]

No computer as yet. I'm tempted to get one with GPS to log hours, distance and speed (too lazy to do it manually).

My current cadence is (by my inexperienced estimate) well above 90, and possibly above 120. I suspect that my leg muscles are indeed overly developed relative to my lungs, as it is still incredibly easy to be out of breath before any muscle wear begins. Perhaps this is why I haven't felt the need for lower gears?

Some friends at work do standard and half triathlons, though I have no interest in swimming or running. Perhaps I could get my wife into cycling?

 

[timwhit]

Do you mostly ride alone, or with people?

Several of my friends have road bikes. There's usually at least 2 of us that ride together.

 

[Santilli]

I just had a similar experience. I was walking up a very steep hill, in complete umpire gear, and, I was amazed how winded I was.

I find that without proper stretching and warmup, if you just jump into something, you can find that the initial experience is somewhat like you are working against your own, tight muscles, resulting in tension creating exhaustion.

Best example I can think of is in boxing. If you aren't warmed up, and you get hit, you tighten up, and your opposing muscles actually tighten, forcing you to work against yourself as you punch, and, making you rigid to taking a punch. This sort of muscle tighteness can quickly exhaust you, like in 3 minutes.

However, if you are loose, and your mind allows you to relax in the madness, you can punch much faster, and much harder, and more often, with a 10th of the effort exerted if you are tight.

I was furious walking up the hill, and anger can create that same kind of tightness and exhaustion.

 

[CougTek]

So Dave...have you man up a little or you're still a moumoune on a bike? ;-)

 

[LunarMist]

So Dave...have you man up a little or you're still a moumoune on a bike? ;-)

Moumoune? That is new one word to me, but I get the point.

 

[CougTek]

Moumoune = wimp, weakling. It's only used by French-speaking people here. I don't think a French from France would understand the meaning. I was just poking at Mamooschka's son-in-law.

 

[ddrueding]

I'm up to 10-15 miles at about 16 miles an hour. Still a wuss compared to my triathlete coworkers (one just finished the Race Across America), but I'm feeling good about it.

 

[time]

CougTek could run faster than that.

 

[jtr1962]

I'm up to 10-15 miles at about 16 miles an hour. Still a wuss compared to my triathlete coworkers (one just finished the Race Across America), but I'm feeling good about it.

Not bad. I just did 20.7 miles today at a 14.6 mph average. The crosswinds, and mostly poor pavement conditions didn't help. It's really amazing how when I go from typical NYC bumpy roads to smooth pavement my speed jumps about 3-4 mph for the same effort.

Honestly, it sounds like you're doing fine. Even when I'm riding every day, I don't generally average much over about 16.5 mph. Just the nature of NYC riding. You can rarely keep a steady pace for more than a mile before something (traffic lights, potholes, cars, etc.) gets in your way. Back in college, I rode from Trenton to Princeton on route 1. Smooth road, no stopping, covered 10 miles in 25 minutes flat (24 mph average). I never even came close to doing that again.

 

[CougTek]

CougTek could run faster than that.

I don't run. People run from me, but nobody makes me run.

 

[ddrueding]

I agree with Coug, running is for when someone is chasing you.

 

[ddrueding]

Looking at one of these used from a friend.

Specialized Tarmac Comp Rival

More than I am ready for, but I don't think I could get as good a deal elsewhere.

 

[Stereodude]

I put a new suspension fork (Pro version, not the Expert version) on my bike yesterday. It would have been nice if the manual explained what all the adjustments on it do though.

There's an air chamber you can adjust the pressure on to compensate for rider weight. There's a knob on the bottom that adjusts the speed of the oil flow (adjusting the fork's rebound). Lastly there's a knob on the top that's a platform damper adjustment that controls the force threshold needed before the shock starts working.

 

[ddrueding]

Just ordered a Garmin Forerunner 610 watch and compatible cadence sensor.

If I rode with a group, I wouldn't bother. But since I ride alone I need data to know how I'm doing.

 

[jtr1962]

What's cool about GPS is looking at the logs after a ride. I just discovered a few days ago that I can make tours of my rides in Google Earth from GPS tracks. This lets anyone take a virtual bike ride over the same route I actually biked on, and at the same speeds (if replayed at 1x speed).

 

[ddrueding]

My ride last night got a little rough at the end. I started an hour later than usual, so it was pitch-black on the last 6-mile leg. Something was going on in Monterey, so the traffic was unusually high, and there must have been some work going on in the fields that day as the shoulder was covered in an inch of mud. That made my options:

1) 1" of mud
2) Aggressive rumblestrip/white line
3) Active lane of traffic

That was a long 6 miles.

 

[ddrueding]

Got the watch and my wife is pissed. Something about my pulse exceeding 190bpm...

Mental note, don't exceed 24mph into a 30mph headwind...

 

[jtr1962]

Got the watch and my wife is pissed. Something about my pulse exceeding 190bpm...

Mental note, don't exceed 24mph into a 30mph headwind...

190 bpm? Let's see, the maximum HR is 220 minus your age, so you were right about at maximum. For my age it should be about 172 bpm. I've hit 165 on the recumbent cycling machine (and probably climbing hills on the road) but I try and keep the average for an hour under 150 bpm.

I'm assuming you did 24 mph into a 30 mph headwind going downhill? Based on this speed/power calculator, you would have had to generate something like 1300 watts to do that on the level. Only a world-class pro can generate that kind of power for even a short time. BTW, my best one hour average so far was 188 watts. I can hold ~300 watts for a few minutes, ~250 watts for maybe 15 minutes. Peak is about 800 watts. Probably when I was your age you could add about 20% to these figures.

 

[ddrueding]

Probably a glitch in the data then, the speed (and heart rate) were peak numbers, with the wind pulled from the local airport a few minutes later. My wife has set a limit for me at 160bpm.

 

[ddrueding]

According to that calculator, my highest sustained power output was ~530W for 5 minutes.

 

[jtr1962]

According to that calculator, my highest sustained power output was ~530W for 5 minutes.

This might interest you-SRM data for the 2011 Tour de France. You're actually getting into the same territory as these guys if your numbers are right. My limit for the ~500 watt range is about 30 seconds on a good day.

I think my numbers would be higher if I could do something about lactic acid cramps setting in. Last ride on my stationary bike, my average HR was only 140 bpm with an average power of 188 watts. If I did any more, my legs would have cramped.

BTW, resting HR is a good indicator of how far your cardiovascular fitness has come. The lower the better. I used to get into the low 40s when I regularly rode 3000 to 4000 miles annually. Lately though it's something like 47-48.

 

[ddrueding]

An hour after my ride today it was still 78bpm

 

[time]

Can you ask your wife to post your status here when you're in hospital / the morgue?

 

[ddrueding]

She knows She actually set up that arrangement when I told her I was working on my Pilot's license.

 

[time]

This is more my style

 

[LunarMist]

They have rednecks in Europe?

 

[CougTek]

I would be curious to see which one would climb l'Alpe d'Huez faster : you on that thing or me on my mountain bike.

 

[Stereodude]

So, when did bike tires get so expensive? Even cheap tires are about $20 each. Higher end tires are closer to $40'ish. Last time I bought tires they were $13 each and $15 each respectively and they weren't the cheapest ones out there.

 

[jtr1962]

So, when did bike tires get so expensive? Even cheap tires are about $20 each. Higher end tires are closer to $40'ish. Last time I bought tires they were $13 each and $15 each respectively and they weren't the cheapest ones out there.

I noticed that myself. It seems the prices of all bike tires have doubled or more in the last year, including the airless tires I'm using. In 2008 I bought a pair for $60 shipped. Last I checked, I think the lowest price for the same tires was $108 per pair. Still a bargain though given that they last 3 to 5 times as long as air tires.

Anyway, part of the reason might be higher oil prices, but I suspect most of the price increase is simply retailers milking the growing popularity of biking for all its worth. Tires are one of those "consumables" you really have no choice purchasing. High tire prices notwithstanding, at least it seems you can get some really great bargains on bikes these days. I'm seriously thinking of buying this.

 

[ddrueding]

Heh, I had no idea Motobecane still made bikes. Mine is 33 years old at this point, and not made of Ti

 

[Stereodude]

High tire prices notwithstanding, at least it seems you can get some really great bargains on bikes these days. I'm seriously thinking of buying this.

At least in mountain bike land, bike prices seem to be about 2x where they were about 7-8 years ago, which is about 2x where they were another 7-8 years earlier. I can't think of anything else that gone up in that much in price over the same timeframe (commodities aside).

 

[timwhit]

JTR, why do you want a Ti frame?

 

[jtr1962]

JTR, why do you want a Ti frame?

I started a thread at CPF about it. In a nutshell, my ~25 year old Raleigh is starting to have rust issues, has had a broken rear chainstay for the last 12 years, and I'm just looking for a "lifetime" bike. Of the four common frame materials, here's my thoughts on each (cut and paste from the CPF thread):

1) Steel-probably the best all around frame material in terms of cost and performance. The primary drawback is rust, especially in places with wet, humid conditions such as NYC. In general I beat on bikes, so eventually paint will chip, and the frame will rust.

2) Aluminum-lighter than steel, impervious to rust, can be made into aero shapes. The biggest downside for me is the limited fatigue life of aluminum. Sure, aluminum frames are overengineered to account for this. Nevertheless, in a place like NYC where smooth roads are the exception, I would be very concerned riding anything with a limited fatigue life.

3) Carbon-light, aero, doesn't rust. I wouldn't even consider a carbon frame on account of the poor condition of the streets here, plus the typical sudden failure mode of carbon fiber. The bike might seem fine after hitting a huge pothole, such as the ~12" deep monster I hit at 22 mph back in April (surprisingly, I didn't fall, and my wheels weren't damaged). Later on, however, microfractures might suddenly cause catastrophic failure.

4) Titanium-similar characteristics to steel, unlimited fatigue life, impervious to rust, lighter than steel. Only drawback is the initial cost, although it seems titanium frames can sometimes be had on eBay for $300 to $400.

 

[ddrueding]

Have you considered wood?

 

[jtr1962]

Have you considered wood?

Wood looks interesting. Those frames are way out of my price range, unfortunately. A wood frame would be different though, that's for sure. I wonder what the maintenance requirements are? Also, how would they fare in humid places like NYC?

 

[ddrueding]

My brother-in-law has one and swears by it. It's out of my price range as well, I'm considering one of these for comfort.

 

[fb]

Have you considered wood?

Or plastic? =)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_bicycle

 

[LunarMist]

Have you considered wood?

What about termites or beetles?

 

[jtr1962]

My brother-in-law has one and swears by it. It's out of my price range as well, I'm considering one of these for comfort.

That looks like a nice bike. I'm personally on the fence about carbon bikes, but that's mostly because of the third-world condition of the streets here. If you have smooth roads by you, a carbon bike should be just fine.

 

[ddrueding]

Or plastic? =)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_bicycle

Wow, what a failure:

The fact that not every box contained every part to assemble a bicycle frustrated many customers.

I can imagine.


However, Carbon-reinforced plastic could do some neat stuff.