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Mt Washington and speed suit?
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Might be a dumb question but if the winds are sustained at 25MPH for half of the Mt Washington hill climb , might there be a benefit to a skin suit? Less drag even though the pace is slow?

Thanks,

Don
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [Piche] [ In reply to ]
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If you want to be 'that guy' go ahead. How do you know it will be a headwind? The road changes direction a lot.
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [endosch2] [ In reply to ]
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I once won a hillclimb TT by 6sec and was the only rider wearing an aero helmet and riding a TT bike.

No shame in being "that guy" in that case!

Eliot
blog thing - strava thing
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [Piche] [ In reply to ]
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Phil Gaimon will be wearing one - why not you?


He'll also be riding this:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BX3lDM3lmy-/


http://philthethrill.net/...rst-retirement-ever/

I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [tallswimmer] [ In reply to ]
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Mt Washington is a sustained 7.6 mile climb at average of 12% with no breaks at all climbing 4700 feet. The top riders are usually pro / cat 1 level climbers. If you feel that a skinsuit will help you go for it, but it really is a climb where weight trumps anything else.
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [endosch2] [ In reply to ]
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Weigh the speed suit and jersey/shorts. The weight weenies will be out in force for this hillclimb, so it only makes sense to save weight anyway you can.

Mt Washington can also be mighty windy (highest recorded wind speed in North America was observed at the top IIRC, though it was in the winter).. Just because you are going slow doesn't mean there isn't a significant amount of aero drag. If ground speed were all that mattered, then you couldn't measure drag in a windtunnel :-)
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [endosch2] [ In reply to ]
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Not thinking of winning, just shortening the misery...
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [tallswimmer] [ In reply to ]
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Saw that photo. Very cool
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [grumpier.mike] [ In reply to ]
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My thought was the wind. Drag is drag. Figured it might not hurt to reduce it. I think gusts might be 40mph
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [Piche] [ In reply to ]
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So there will be 2 people wearing a speed suit, Phil Gaimon the winner and that other guy who came in 178th at 1:35 wearing a speed suit.
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [grumpier.mike] [ In reply to ]
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grumpier.mike wrote:
Mt Washington can also be mighty windy (highest recorded wind speed in North America was observed at the top IIRC, though it was in the winter)..

At about 1pm yesterday, they had 70 MPH gusts at the summit. Right now, noon of Friday, gusts are 36 mph with 28mph sustained winds. Tomorrow is supposed to be just like right now.
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [endosch2] [ In reply to ]
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Challenge excepted. I will shoot for 1:33;)
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [Piche] [ In reply to ]
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I'm a roadie and I've never done a race without a skin suit. In fact I've never done a fat bike race without a skin suit. Not sure what the point of baggy kits is? Looks? Tradition?

24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [scorpio516] [ In reply to ]
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scorpio516 wrote:
grumpier.mike wrote:
Mt Washington can also be mighty windy (highest recorded wind speed in North America was observed at the top IIRC, though it was in the winter)..


At about 1pm yesterday, they had 70 MPH gusts at the summit. Right now, noon of Friday, gusts are 36 mph with 28mph sustained winds. Tomorrow is supposed to be just like right now.

You forgot the wind chill - 38. Wear a down jacket.
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [Piche] [ In reply to ]
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Having done the race a few times, most of the way it won't help as you will be going 6mph in the trees. Near the top it might help on certain stretches. Because there are switchbacks, half the time that big wind is at your back, at which point the skinsuit will actually hurt you :-). I'll bet it doesn't make any noticeable difference overall. However, dropping a lb will save you 30 seconds (for an average person), so by all means remove the rear brake and the outer chainring and whatever else you can think of.
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [lanierb] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks
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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [Piche] [ In reply to ]
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I love stories like this, guy is an absolute badass for his age:

https://www.villages-news.com/...nt-mount-washington/



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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Re: Mt Washington and speed suit? [endosch2] [ In reply to ]
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endosch2 wrote:
So there will be 2 people wearing a speed suit, Phil Gaimon the winner and that other guy who came in 178th at 1:35 wearing a speed suit.

So there will be 2 people riding a bicycle, Phil Gaimon the winner and that other guy who came in 178 at 1:33. Everyone else will be on a tricycle...

To the OP: Wear whatever you think will allow you to achieve your best time.
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