[Note: this is partially just for me, it?s my first serious bike ride and I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, if your new too, or inexperienced with biking, it?ll also help you understand a little about what to expect on such a trip. And if I could write (which I can?t), you may even be motivated to plan your own ]
It started a week ago, my father and I went for a bike ride. We were originally planning on just going to where I?m starting work this week. I?ve been hoping to bike to work and my Dad said he often biked right by where I said it was on the way to longer rides. It?s 9 miles there, and so once we got there we were still up for more (especially my Dad, who I think had been planning on going farther anyways). So we went out another 11 miles to a little town called Hygiene (no clue why it?s named that, doesn?t look especially clean to me). It?s a popular bike spot because it has a couple little stores that sell all the stuff a bike would be interested in during a ride (namely: soda) and the fact that there?s a lot of good bike rides that go through it. We had to ride into a head wind and a pretty fierce cross-wind to get there, plus we left late in the day, so we turned around and came home. But while we were there, my Dad mentioned a longer ride he?d done a few times, up to a reservoir called Carter Lake, it was additional 30 miles from Hygiene (round trip) and had some uphill at the end. Well we bike back and my Dad leaves for a trip the next day.
He got back Friday, and I tell him I?m interested in going for a bike ride the next day, and he brings up Carter Lake again. So it?s settled, we?re going for a bike ride on Saturday, 70 miles round trip and some significant elevation gain (and loss).
I go to bed a little after 1:00am that night since I had to stay up to make my Grandfather?s cake (my Mom is a good cook but since my Grandmother died, I?ve become the best cake-maker in the family). Unfortunately, due to some nasal congestion and the fact that I?d been regularly going to sleep after 4:00am I don?t get to sleep until about 4:00. I get up at 7:00 and do all the prep stuff (breakfast, suntan lotion, get all the necessary gear packed and loaded).
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The Gear A spare tube - absolutely necessary, and make sure it?s an appropriate tube for the tire you?re using
A few tire irons - also necessary, practice fixing a flat at home if you?ve never done it before. Some prep work in the garage can save you a lot of pain, fear, and time on the road
A pump ? absolutely as necessary as the tube (a tube will do you no good without the pump). You can buy decent pumps that are designed to go on a bike for not that much. It?s more of a pain to use them than your standard pumps, but they work fine and you can?t exactly bring along the 10 pound, 3 foot long monstrosity.
A bike tool ? this could be multiple tools, but if you find a single one it?s much easier. What you need are Alan wrenches, make sure you have one for your seat and anything else on your bike that requires one. Also, it?s handy to have a Philips head, you may be surprised how often they?re needed on bikes that are entirely made for Alan wrenches. A typical bike tool will also come with a couple other screwdriver types, a whole range of Alan wrenches and a chain tool. Really you could probably get by with one Alan wrench but no one ever died from having too many ways to fix their bike.
A patch kit ? not really necessary unless you?re willing to try and fix the tire on the road, but in some circumstances it can be a life saver, if you blow two tubes on the trip (often times two tubes will go right in a row due to some problem with the tire, or ?pinching? on the tube by improper replacement)
Water ? even if you plan on making refueling stops at gas stations or convince stores, having a bottle of water along is really good for when your in between and just feel totally wiped out.
Rain gear ? the need for this can be based on the weather, but be careful. It may seem fine just walking outside, but you?ll be going many miles per hour on your bike, that type of continuous wind combined with rain can chill you a lot more than you think. If it?s a summer day, temperatures in the 80s, even a torrential down pour will just make you uncomfortable (in terms of temperature, it can be very dangerous for slippery surfaces) and bulky rain gear can be avoided (as we did). However, if there?s any chance of reaching even close to cold temperatures be prepared, hypothermia is a real threat, and one you?re out there on the bike, there?s no way to combat it if you?re unprepared.
Biking gloves ? not necessary at all, but if you?re going for a long ride they can do wonders for your hands.
Biking shorts ? I actually don?t own any, but I?ve certainly experience the effects of that. Long rides lead to very painful posteriors which these help with, they?re also more aerodynamic (typical shorts flap all over the place and use up more energy than you might realize, not to mention they aren?t really built for you using your muscles in just that way).
A bike computer ? not even close to necessary, but they can be a lot of fun. For about 50 bucks they tell you how fast you?re riding at any one time, how long you?ve ridden, average speed, max speed, just about everything you want to know.
Some money ? if you stop at a convince store or the like it?s nice to be able to buy a pop or a snack on the way, and having a little cash on hand can be a life saver for bailing yourself out of unexpected situations (multiple tube blow-outs for instance).
A HELMET - I save this one for last, but it?s the most important. It may seem restrictive and? unbecoming but if you pay a little money for a good one it?s neither. And even if you don?t wearing one is still a must. These save your life. Period. The statistics on the effectiveness of biking helmets is just absolutely ridiculous, they?re far more effective than seatbelts. Ever go on a ride without one. Once again: Period.
If you want to know about how to store the gear, here?s a suggestion: you can buy for about $20, a small container that attaches to the bottom of your seat. It?ll hold everything I listed above (save the helmet, pump, and rain gear). Also, any decent bike pump will come with some way of attaching it to the bike so you don?t have to worry about carrying it.
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I?m going on three hours of sleep, but loading all this went fine (we skipped the rain gear and got everything loaded without needing any packs). We?re out the door and on the road by about 7:50am. It?s cool outdoors but not too cold, very good riding weather.
We live on top of a hill, a few hundred (maybe 600) feet elevation gain from where we are to where it begins to level off. Though this makes for arduous returns home, it?s a pretty nice way to start off the trip. We keep to back roads and pretty much coast all the way down. It?s not until around 5 miles in we really have to start doing work, and even there it?s flat.
After about 35 minutes we reach my workplace (we don?t stop, but it?s a good marker). After this we have to cross a major road, and then the up and down to Hygiene starts. We?re going pretty fast; it?s early in the morning and we?ve come just after some rain (perfectly timed). There?s no wind so we can really get moving. For the most part my Dad is leading us out.
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Small group drafting
If you?ve ever seen any professional cycling or read any news of it you?ve probably heard the word ?peleton? (and if you haven?t, well now you have ). The peleton is a large collection of bike riders, often more than 100 bikers. One person will lead the whole group, with people stringing out behind them in a kind of half-V shape. That person will take short turns at the front (often just a matter of seconds) and then cycle on to a new rider. Normally just a few riders switch around at the front, normally no more than about 15.
This strategy works for more than 5 or 6 bikers, but if you?re employing this strategy than you probably don?t need me to tell you how it works. Drafting takes some experience, and working in a group needs co-ordination. If you?re at the level you can actually learn from this than chances are you?re going for bike rides with 2 or 3 people.
For this size group you don?t need the same co-ordination you need for the bigger groups, nor same bike handling. Everyone can work out there own mechanics for it but I?ll suggest some that?s worked for me.
Drafting is essentially just getting in the slipstream every rider leaves. Most of the friction on a bike comes from air friction, and getting in the disturbance another rider leaves can drastically cut down on it.
So stay as close as you can to the rider, this distance is entirely dependent on your ability to control your bike (and the person your drafting), but typically the closer the better, Feel free to draft on to the side of the rider if you want, you should be able to feel the difference in wind resistance and just do whatever you think is the most effective.
In these smaller groups, especially amateur ones, the person who leads out should be the person who feels in best shape. Since that person is doing the most work, whoever is in best shape will change as they take their turn at the front. If you think whoever is in the best shape changes every few seconds then do it, but typically you should go for at least a few minutes each.
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We make it into Hygiene and take a short break. My body is feeling fine but my head (and my concentration) is really noticing the three hours of sleep I got the previous night. I take the opportunity to rest against a wall and try to get my brain to straighten out. After a few minutes we get back on the bikes and press on. Now I start to lead out more, it?s at least close to flat and with my lapse in concentration I like to have the ability to control the pace. We put in pretty good time and my head is really starting to clear up.
It?s an absolutely beautiful day for the ride, mostly blue sky, but the storm front we had missed was covering up the sun in the East so it wasn?t too hot. The route turns into rolling hills, which can lead to some fun but can also be draining going uphill.
I?m starting to get worried because my Dad has kept talking up the big climb at the end of the ride leading to the lake. I?m doing all right on the flat but I begin to feel my energy draining (we?ve gone about 25 miles so far). Well I continue to take the lead out, but as we approach the hill I start to slow down the pace trying to conserve my energy. I?ve been leading out almost the whole way on the assumption that once we reach the hill I have no hope of contributing anything to the cause.
We turn into the final road leading to it, and right before the climb there?s a semi-large downhill stretch, which is kind of nice since it can be pretty refreshing, though a little discouraging since it means we have to climb that much all over again.
As soon as we reach the bottom, the series climb starts. Turns out it?s not as big as I thought it was, my Dad talked it up more than it really deserved, but it?s still significant. About 3 quarters of a mile and 800 foot elevation gain. I take it very slow, and though I end up hitting a wall it takes just a short time and I break through it and end up reaching the top without really feeling as drained as I did at the bottom of the hill.
The top ends up right at the edge of the lake, and it?s about 3 miles around the edge of it until we reach our destination. I lead it out really fast, since I?m feeling great and we?re almost to the end. It?s a great view across the lake and up to the mountains that surround it.
The destination we?re aiming for is the north side of the lake and a small store. We buy a couple of sodas and sit down for a bit to drink them. It?s a nice rest but another problem is kind of coming in, and at about 30 miles an hour: a really big thunderstorm.
It was a 35 mile trip there, and it?s 35 miles back, if the thunderstorm is going to hit us there?s nothing we can really do about it; however rain leads to very slick conditions and we really want to get down the hill before this happens. So we set off as soon as I finish the soda (my Dad does everything faster than I do including drinking soda ) and we head out going fast. We switch off a few times on the way around the lake and then I take off going down the hill.
There?s two big switchbacks in the hill, and the first has a stop sign on it. Once I pass that I start pedaling hard, and don?t really slow down until around fifty feet in front of the next switchback. After that it?s mostly straight and I just plain open up. I put my gear all the way over into the highest gear, get down in the low, aerodynamic position, and just fly away at the gears.
The hill lasts about 45 seconds on this mode, but I?ve got so much momentum build up I cruise for minutes at high speed. My Dad was the one who had the bicycle computer and he didn?t pedal going downhill like I did, but he still made it to 38 miles an hour. I was pushing much harder, well over 40. I have to say, that was the most fun two minutes or so I ever had on a bike.
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Dealing with hills
Two ways to deal with them, up and down.
Up ? It?s long, and it?s hard, and it leads to the second way, and that why most recreational riders do it. However, there are a few good ways to approach it. The big key is gear ratio. Keep the gear as low as you can, the higher the rpm you can get and still be effective the better. You may think you?ll go faster if you keep the gears up but you?ll just wear out. Take my advice and keep it in low gear, make the pace constant and sit down as much as you can.
Down ? The fun part! Everyone like going down, it?s easy and it?s fast and it?s really dangerous. Make sure while you?re having all that fun you?re staying safe. Always break before you enter a curve, not in it. Keep the speed down if you?re going to have to make any sort of curves. And if the road is questionable (bumps or gravel or the like) then keep the speed down permanently. Other than that, enjoy the wind, the speed, and hopefully, the lack of crashing.
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Once my Dad catches up were heading home. We?ve beaten the storm so far (there were a few drops above the hill but as soon as we started down we left those behind). Now we?re heading due south, and the storm is already North and it looks like it?s moving that way.
We?re switching off leading now, and we make over most of the stuff without problems (including passing some fully decked out cyclists, which always make you feel good). As we approach Hygiene there?s a gentle downward slope going into it for a few miles. My Dad leads out and we hit 28 miles an hour for most of the time. This whole way we?re watching the West, the horizon is filled with clouds, mostly moving North but ever once in a while we get a few drops and we keep worrying about storms moving in. rain means cold and going slower in the much more slippery conditions.
Once we reach Hygiene we stop again for another soda. As soon as we finished those we head on again, there?s a slight wind, but it?s pretty nice all in all. I?m leading out again, and I?m still worried about the storms to the west. We?re making pretty good time, over 20 miles an hour all the way in.
We get back to my work and now we?re nine miles and one big hill away from home. The storms are beginning to look more threatening as we pass by. About 3 miles later it hits, and a series downpour ensues. We make a railroad bridge, but it?s not very good protection since about 50% of the roof doesn?t exist. We stay there for around 10 minutes but as soon as the rain begins to lighten up we head out again. Then it starts coming down harder so we wait under a bridge another mile and half down, but this one is wide and fully covered. We wait there about 20 minutes as a torrential downpour (including some hail) blows over. Finally, it stops and we head home. The last push up is grueling after 70 miles of riding, but by not going to fast (no more than 15 miles an hour) we make it up and in.
The final ride totaled to be 72 miles in 4:15 hours of riding. A very enjoyable time, and hopefully, fun to read about too.
Hobbes
[ June 16, 2004, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: Hobbes ]
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
*cough* Sorry, just a bit of a cold there.
Hobbes Posted by Damien (Member # 5611) on :
I must have missed this the first time... interesting read, very informative! =) Thank you for sharing!
DXM
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I don't peddle fast enough to for wind resistance to be a factor.
Can I try the get-pulled-along-by-a-real-bike-rider technique?
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Hobbes, If the specs you give (800 ft in 3/4 of a mile are correct), that is a 21% grade which is friggin killer monster hellish steep. I can't turn over the lowest gear on my triple chain ring road bike on anything over about a 10% grade. The Alp de Huez (the infamous toughest climb in the Tour de France) averages an 8.5% grade. There was a section in the Vuelta Espana two years ago that included a 20%+ grade for about a mile and many of the pros were pushing their bikes over it.
It sounds like a great ride. I've usually been out on a century ride by this time of year but it looks like I won't be able to do that this year until I get to Germany.
You forgot the most important item to bring along for a serious bike ride -- red blood cells. I tried doing several long rides back before I had red blood cells and I strongly recommend that you have a full compliment of the little guys before making the attempt.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Ha, good suggestion. Yah, my words started confusing me, there was an 800 foot climb but 300 of it was done before the 3/4ths of a mile steep part. Yah, still really steep but not 20%!
Around here there's a 10 mile or so ride that averages 14% grade!
Dag, you can, but there's a limit to how much it'll help. The time trail stages in the Tour de France that last for around 60km will average close to 50 km/hr, very few people could keep up, drafting or not.
But if you really want to try drafting (it is fun ) I suggest going with someone to a decent sized hill, even if you don't think you can feel the effects of drafting on flat, anyone can go at a decent clip on a hill. However, choose a straight one because drafting around curves is dangerous.
Hobbes Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Last year David Millar finished the final 49 km time trial of Le Tour in 54 min 5 seconds averaging 54.4 km/hr or 34 mph. To put that in perspect, wind drag on a cyclist increases at roughly the cube of the speed (less if you have a really good aerodynamic posiition) so riding at 34 mph requires around 4 times the power as riding 20 mph. Riding 20 mph for an hour is, for me, an all out effort. These guys are incredible.
And Hobbes is 100% right about the bike shorts. If you are planning a long tour or even planning to do 20+ mile rides requently they are indispensable. If you are a women (and maybe if your a man too), riding very far in jeans could be made into an effective torture technique.
Since you mention Le Tour, I'm goingg to be working in Muenster Germany this summer which is not far from Liege where the prolog time trial is happening. We are going!!
Then if everything works out, we are going to ride south at the end of July to see the Time Trial stage on the Alp de Huez.
Does anyone else around hatrack bicycle?
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:I don't peddle fast enough to for wind resistance to be a factor.
You'd be suprised. I can start to feel the effect of a draft at around 15 mph. It gets much stronger the faster you go. If there is any head wind, you can feel the difference at even lower speeds.
The only thing worse than a stiff head wind is a gusty cross-wind that keeps knocking you into traffic. If you are ever our driving in the wind, give the cyclist a very wide berth.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I need to get a bike.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
I have an 80's era blue UNIVEGA in great condition which I would be willing to sell.
Posted by skillery (Member # 6209) on :
This thread should be saved as a milestone.
Hobbes: After I saw the pic of your new bike, I went shopping (but didn't buy anything...yet). Man have things changed on road bikes: a 10-gear rear cassette? Amazing. How is the seat on your bike? Is it one of those funky contoured seats with the groove down the middle? Does the groove help? Did you let your dad ride your new bike?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:You'd be suprised. I can start to feel the effect of a draft at around 15 mph.
I stand by my original statement. The only way I see 15 on a bike speedometer is if it's in kilometers.
Dagonee
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Rabbit, what's even more impressive about Millar's time trial is that, despite the fact that he had a good tail wind, it was incredibly slick conditions and he actually fell down. Well you probably know that but I'm pointing it out anyways, because I really like David Millar and I think the Cofids team should focus their energies on him.
quote:And Hobbes is 100% right about the bike shorts. If you are planning a long tour or even planning to do 20+ mile rides requently they are indispensable. If you are a women (and maybe if your a man too), riding very far in jeans could be made into an effective torture technique.
I'll just say this and then be done with it, the good Lord did not make man's sensitive parts in such a way as to encourage biking.
Skillery, it does have a groove type thing, it's very comfortable as far as biking seats go, but... well only as far as biking seats go. The bike takes a few adjustments to get my Dad to ride it and I think he's worried about the clip-in pedals, so he's tried it out a little bit but in the middle of the ride, you don't switch bikes.
Hobbes Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
I'm leaning forward on my bike, with my head as far down as I can get it, only inches from the handlebars. The winds is whipping through my face, causing a giant roar as I cut through the air at close to 50 mph now. I turn my head to check for cars and suddenly the sound changes and I can hear the river to my right. I swing my head back forward and low and all I can here now is a continual WOSH as I continue my descent.
My Dad and I are approaching the midway point in our bike ride. We're up in the mountains now, we'd spent much of the morning climbing. In fact we'd taken a short break to bike about 2.5 miles of around 6% grade up to what we hopped to be a nice lake, only to be turned back about 1.5 (flat) miles from it because we didn't think to bring money for the fee. After that we'd plunged straight down into this valley. It was a 9 mile descent (not including the 2.5 mile down we then had to do after being turned away) and almost entirely down, some of it 7% grade or more.
As I plunge down into the valley my Dad is behind me, he's a much better climber (much more in shape than I am) but descending scares him, and while I've been spending my time getting down into an aerodynamic position he's been spending his time breaking. He's well over a minute behind me now. I approach the bottom of our trip and the road takes a sudden turn left and uphill. I simply cruise the bike up it, waiting for my Dad to appear. When he catches up we decide to go for one more little tour down to an interesection and then head back. I've had a lot of fun on this descent but I'm not looking forward to the return trip.
There's a little up to the interesection and we stop their to talk over our plans and have some water. It's about 10 miles back to the very top of our day, 8 miles of which are just about continual climbing. After standing around for a couple of minutes we turn around and start the climb.
It starts off worse than I had imagined. I ride my Dad's wheel up for a while, but even then the small head wind we have is killing me. Though I didn't know it, this was just about the steepest part of the climb, and not knowing I get demoralized, imagining 8 or 9 miles of this.
After a while the road turns 180 degrees and the slope lessens just a bit. It's relief, now with a small tail wind and an easier climb we're shooting up the hill. This continue until about 3 miles to go to the top. I'm not used to climbing, I've done almost all my biking in Indiana, and though it has rolling hills, that simply can't prepare you for this continual up. My Dad, of course, is way ahead. His bike doesn't have the same low gear, so he can't go my speed, and he's in far, far better shape.
I turn out the highest pace I can for the time, and start feeling better when, as we near the top, I pass a fully outfitted cycler (I still don't have any biking paraphernalia, shorts or otherwise, so I do get a boast passing someone who does, however silly that is of me).
The top levels out a bit thankfully; but now I'm completely worn out. There's a slight descent for a bit and then one pull up to the very top (though there's still going to be rolling hills for a while). The descent gets very flat at the bottom, and going into the wind I find it to be harder than the ascent that follow, with the tail wind.
We wind around the mountains for a while, more down than up, but now I'm exhausted and everything seems like it's the end of my endurance. We take a short break after one climb. Ahead of us is almost all descent until a 1.7 mile pull up to where we parked the car: we're almost there!
3 or 4 miles of 6 to 7% grade continual. I never pedaled, not once. I was pretty worn out so this wasn't as much fun as it could've been, but I was still having a great time all the way down (my Dad, once again, fell behind on the descent). Once we reached the bottom I cruised as long as I could and then just went at my pace all the way to the car (way slower than my Dad's pace).
Overall I had a really fun time, but I've learned that it will take a lot of training before I'm really capable of doing long, mountain ascents.
Hobbes Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
Wow. You're serious. I only ride to work and back. I use to be able to ride hard. I rode with a racer up Millcreek Canyon in SLC. I kept up with him and all his biker friends fell far behind us. Last couple of years I quit riding consistent. Now I'm going to the gym and finally started riding my bike again. But I am still taking it easy. I still can't quite "fly" over bridges yet.
I have to second the comment about helmets. Once I was riding out of a driveway and made a fast hard turn (I was very amature then) and it was too sharp and my front wheel slipped out and I landed right on my head. Didn't feel a thing. I can still remember the thunk though (this was 9 years ago). And sure enough, there was a nice crack all through my helmet.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
quote:I don't peddle fast enough to for wind resistance to be a factor.
I just had a really funny image of Dag saying shiftily, "Hey buddy - wanna buy a watch?"
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
]![[Wink]](wink.gif)
) and we head out going fast. We switch off a few times on the way around the lake and then I take off going down the hill.![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)