do you find yourself switching gears or sticking it out in only one? i know that headwind and elevation play a roll as a determining factor but just curious? i’m finding that i like the one gear only method because i have to work for it but then again, i’ve not run 20+ miles after meaning i’ve never had to conserve energy.
right now i’m staying only in 39 x 13 and can do 100 miles (it’s been a while but it’s still not a problem) and am working my way up to the 53 x 11 which is where i kept it when i first got my bike last year and was riding 250 miles a week.
anyone find even keeping just one gear a better training tool?
well, i did keep it in the 53 x 11 for a few months and tried to work myself into it but not for any 112 miles or anything close to that and i never mentioned my speeds. they weren’t good.
i didn’t understand gears when i first started, i only knew of that one and if i didn’t have the energy to keep up with whoever was in front of me than it wasn’t the bike’s but my own fault and so i kept it there for some time. i understand that gear, it’s speed and it’s dominance.
well, i’ll tell a little bit but the jist of it. the dood left the parking lot with an entourage of other weenies that dropped him as i later found out within the first few minutes. i got there one minute late and they had left and i thought they had but i wasn’t sure and so i waited for thirty minutes. then i left and thought to myself 'why waist this day?“, and rode hard. i caught the weenie at the halfway point and hollered " I didn’t even leave the ph$#ck%g parking lot 'till 8:30!!!” they had left at 8:00 a.m. on the dot.
i bulleted back to the start with some swcc riders who saved the day as drafting was allowed. good guys, SOME of them like Craig and the Vice President and that triathlete lady who runs 9 miles every morning and rides 50+ after. and the French guy.
anywho, i was riding at 27-29 mph for about twenty five of the first half of the 60 mile route in 53 x 12 or 13, i can’t remember, by myself.
in the end his truck was still there. i was pissed. i won. i left.
Do you also go by the handle “Opinionated Cyclist”?
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I came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed “Genghis Khan”, I started the Mongol invasions and raids of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. During my first life, the Mongol Empire eventually occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia.
Before I died, I assigned Ogedei Khan as my successor and split my empire into khanates among my sons and grandsons. I died in 1227 after defeating the Tanguts buTt was reborn in 1976 with a much more modern name, Preston buTt you can call me Sir, to take what is rightfully mine this time around too, the complete and utter domination of all things cycling. I was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia at a location unknown because I have fought long and hard to be able to post in peace and I for one don’t care to have my past life dug back up. My descendants went on to stretch the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering and/or creating vassal states out of all of modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, Central Asian countries, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Temüjin (help·info) (meaning “ironworker”), was the founder, Khan (ruler) and Khagan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history.
I do 53 x 11 for 50 to 100 mile rides into the headwinds and sometimes over the rolling hills too. Think it helps to make it easier to keep your pace and momentum going in a race over rolling hills. Yes it does kill me on the run. even in oly distance and halfs. It is getting easier now.
I wish !!! But no…:)… DID not say I am pushing it fast. But at times yes and it helps you climb the bigger hills when in a lower gear. Really only riding for three years age 40 now so I also guess anything I do is going to improve by just doing it.
I ride 110 minimum, and in a 56x11 as I have no other gears. I dont eat before and dont bring any water or drink as I am not a pussy. I do wear brass knuckles most of the time but often just carry ninja stars. I also make sure that my brake pads are rubbing.
