My trike's been in for service for a wee while now, but I finally picked it up from my local bike shop today. Having taken it out in the snow and ice quite a lot over the New Year period (attempting (& succeeding) to master powersliding through corners) & put it away to move house, I neglected to removed the corrosive grime. Which killed the chain completely...
Actually, it's 3 chains joined together, so replacement tends to get a wee bit pricey...
Anyway, all is mended & functioning & lubed now & it's riding fairly well. I just need to sort the gearing now. The main problem is the wee 16" wheels, which make storage very easy, but getting decent gears fairly difficult. The trike is set up with a triple chainring (30-40-52), an 11-25 9-speed cassette and a Dual Drive hub gear (3-speed: -33%, straight through & +33%). This gives a decent range of gears (15.4"-103.5") & 81 gears, so no shortage of choice, however, most of them are squished in the bottom end of that range: I have 6 gears that are less than 20"; 23 (total) that are less than 30"; & a total of 42 that are less than 40". Given that coming home today, I was carrying over 10kg of luggage & only got down to about a 40" gear on a 6% slope, it might be a trifle under geared...
I'm lucky to have a good local bike shop who know me & are happy to look at solutions for problems I have with my "strange bikes." They are currently checking whether the front mech post will accommodate a 62t chainring & then how I can lose the granny ring (which is 104mm BCD, with the others being 135mm). This would give me a 19-123" gearing range, which is far more sensible & means I won't spin out at the first sign of a reasonable hill. The alternative to this is a Schlumpf high-speed drive, which are expensive & might not be happy working with my Dual Drive hub gear. Still, I don't need to check that out yet!
All that notwithstanding, the trike is a hugely enjoyable ride & it's no slouch either!
I've recently got a Garmin Edge 705, so will attempt to use it on my three main machines to compare & contrast speeds over my commute & post the differences up here.
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Autumn Days
Having returned from another holiday, getting up this morning to walk the dogs was a very depressing experience. I get up at 0630 on a work day & roll straight out the front door with the dogs. This morning, it was only just light. Having checked sunrise times, it seems that, from Monday, it'll be dark at that time in the morning until sometime in March.
I find Glasgow in winter very difficult with the sheer lack of daylight (if it's overcast, it barely gets light for about 2 months), so the obvious shortening of the days tends to lead me to feel quite melancholy.
To combat this, I'm starting to plan my winter cycling. My Fujin will be put away until spring before too long, so I've booked my Greenspeed X5 recumbent trike in for a service. My trike is incredibly heavy, but a solid workhorse, that's great fun to ride. The additional climbing in my commute, now that I've moved should be amusing on a bike that weighs about 16.5kgs. I also have 3 panniers that I carry. This is great for having space to move stuff, but I just tend to fill the available space, so end up with around 25kgs of bike & baggage, compared to 10-12kg on my summer bike, which makes quite a difference when the road heads upwards! Saying that, as currently set up, it has a bottom gear of 15.4", so there's probably not an awful lot that I couldn't climb, I just might not be particularly fast.
I'm going to try to re-organise the gearing on the trike at its service & get some shiny new bits put on it & try not to look too ridiculous on my first ride hitting the hill on the way home!
I find Glasgow in winter very difficult with the sheer lack of daylight (if it's overcast, it barely gets light for about 2 months), so the obvious shortening of the days tends to lead me to feel quite melancholy.
To combat this, I'm starting to plan my winter cycling. My Fujin will be put away until spring before too long, so I've booked my Greenspeed X5 recumbent trike in for a service. My trike is incredibly heavy, but a solid workhorse, that's great fun to ride. The additional climbing in my commute, now that I've moved should be amusing on a bike that weighs about 16.5kgs. I also have 3 panniers that I carry. This is great for having space to move stuff, but I just tend to fill the available space, so end up with around 25kgs of bike & baggage, compared to 10-12kg on my summer bike, which makes quite a difference when the road heads upwards! Saying that, as currently set up, it has a bottom gear of 15.4", so there's probably not an awful lot that I couldn't climb, I just might not be particularly fast.
I'm going to try to re-organise the gearing on the trike at its service & get some shiny new bits put on it & try not to look too ridiculous on my first ride hitting the hill on the way home!
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Commuting again
Up until yesterday, I'd been off-bike for nearly four weeks: 2 weeks of illness, a week on holiday and a few days before all that of being lazy. Whilst being ill, I'd lost 7kg, most of which was muscle mass: I'd noted earlier my fears about where this was from; so it was with some trepidation that I got back on my bike this morning to head into work. The morning ride was a bit chilly, but surprisingly comfortable & I was relieved that I felt rustier rather than significantly worse than before.
After an absolutely shattering & fantastically busy day at work, I got back on my bike in gorgeous sunshine, feeling the relief that comes with knowing that you've got 10 days away from work. & I hit the roads hard: no point in holding back when recovery isn't an issue!
You know those days when things just flow? Those days when things don't phase you at all and everything just works? I had one of those!
It took my a couple of miles to find my legs, then I hit the hill on the way home & was delighted that I could climb it faster than last time I tried. I've lost about 4% of the weight of me & the bike just now (having put a chunk of what was lost back on), but appear to have lost less than this in power output. It's rare for me to do a heavily trafficked climb after a good while off & really enjoy it: I was actually disappointed when I reached the top. From there on, the road just rolls. & they've re-tarmaced the useless, side-of-the-road-full-of-potholes-&-grit cycle path, to make it incredibly smooth & pothole free & I just flew down it; riding over the lumps as if they weren't there, pushing 30mph up the 1 or 2% slopes. I lost everything that has been stressing me out over the last few weeks; forgot all the things I need to do tonight; couldn't feel my slightly sore wrist; no longer felt tired & worn out. I came alive & it was just me & the bike & nothing else.
On getting home, I had to explain to my puzzled wife why I was grinning like an idiot. 90 mins after getting home, I'm still finding that I'm smiling & the muscles in my face are getting sore. My legs feel great, I feel stunning, but my face hurts from smiling to much....
Today exemplifies what I love about cycle commuting: every now & again, you find a place that is filled with utter joy; where everything feels great; where you transcend all the limits & all the crap that drags you down & find yourself just riding fast & loving it. & what makes it even better is that you know that you've earned it; that you've got it through hard work. & you know that you'll get it again, but can't really control when, except by working hard & suffering on the less good days.
Today is why I cycle & why I feel slightly sad for folk who haven't experienced this.
I love my bike!
After an absolutely shattering & fantastically busy day at work, I got back on my bike in gorgeous sunshine, feeling the relief that comes with knowing that you've got 10 days away from work. & I hit the roads hard: no point in holding back when recovery isn't an issue!
You know those days when things just flow? Those days when things don't phase you at all and everything just works? I had one of those!
It took my a couple of miles to find my legs, then I hit the hill on the way home & was delighted that I could climb it faster than last time I tried. I've lost about 4% of the weight of me & the bike just now (having put a chunk of what was lost back on), but appear to have lost less than this in power output. It's rare for me to do a heavily trafficked climb after a good while off & really enjoy it: I was actually disappointed when I reached the top. From there on, the road just rolls. & they've re-tarmaced the useless, side-of-the-road-full-of-potholes-&-grit cycle path, to make it incredibly smooth & pothole free & I just flew down it; riding over the lumps as if they weren't there, pushing 30mph up the 1 or 2% slopes. I lost everything that has been stressing me out over the last few weeks; forgot all the things I need to do tonight; couldn't feel my slightly sore wrist; no longer felt tired & worn out. I came alive & it was just me & the bike & nothing else.
On getting home, I had to explain to my puzzled wife why I was grinning like an idiot. 90 mins after getting home, I'm still finding that I'm smiling & the muscles in my face are getting sore. My legs feel great, I feel stunning, but my face hurts from smiling to much....
Today exemplifies what I love about cycle commuting: every now & again, you find a place that is filled with utter joy; where everything feels great; where you transcend all the limits & all the crap that drags you down & find yourself just riding fast & loving it. & what makes it even better is that you know that you've earned it; that you've got it through hard work. & you know that you'll get it again, but can't really control when, except by working hard & suffering on the less good days.
Today is why I cycle & why I feel slightly sad for folk who haven't experienced this.
I love my bike!
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Illness & Injury
Whilst I've been experiencing the normal post-TdF dip in cycling enthusiasm, I find it very hard to think about cycling, let alone write about it, when I'm unable to get on a bike.
This past two weeks haven't been a lot of fun. First up I had a tooth extracted: the operation was started before the anaesthetic had kicked in; which caused me to make some urgent gurgling sounds. This meant lots more anaesthetic, which knocked me completely sideways for about 5 days. Then there was a bit a of a family crisis for a couple of days, followed by a nausea and lack-of-appetite bug.
The last thing has been decidedly not-fun! I'm diabetic, so the vomiting after eating & having done insulin is something I'm almost phobic about, so having been violently sick after meals a few times has been the stuff of nightmares. I've also had close to zero appetite, which has been less than amusing. In the first five days of being ill, I'd managed to lose almost 6kg. This would be fine if I had a lot to lose, but, my BMI is about 22 normally, so there's not much to spare. I'd like to think that this would mean that I will be able to go up hills faster when I recover, but it's more likely that I'll be significantly slower. I think I've lost some significant muscle mass, which will prob be replaced, at least in part, by fat.
It's really quite depressing that I've probably managed to put myself back 2-3 months.
I'd planned to head through to Edinburgh this week to meet David (of Laid Back Bikes) to do some riding. I had Arthur's Seat on the agenda. Ideally, doing some repeats on it.
Arthur's Seat is a short, but vicious, climb. 1300m with 83m of climbing at an average of about 7%. This sounds fine, but, again, it's the undulating nature of it that is difficult.
The first 700m has a reasonably even profile with just 35m of climbing. It slowly twists round the hill, so it's hard to see what's coming & you get to wondering what the reputation is about. You then take a fairly sharp right turn & then you hit the ramp that makes it hard: 200m at 12%. Then there's a 5% section, then a 9% section. Short, but brutal.
The first time I attempted this climb was on the Sheldon Brown memorial ride in Edinburgh. I was riding a 15kg Nazca Fuego with 3-4kg of luggage & did fairly well until the steep bit, where my bike choice really showed me up (well, that & the fact that I'm a useless climber!). There's film of the climb on that day here (yes, that's Edinburgh in April!). The climb was quite a shock to me then, but I've since done it on my Fujin & on my first ride on a tandem. I want to keep going back. I like this climb!
There's a bunch of times up the hill here for anyone interested. I'm still in awe of anyone who can do that in the big ring!
Maybe when I'm riding again, I can get my day of hill repeats on Arthur's Seat before the summer's (completely) out.
For now, it's back to the Tour of Poland (I lie, despite being bored & miserable, there's no joy in watching this apart from the stage with the 5km climb at the finish with a cobbled section which was almost amusing) & looking forward to the ENECO Tour (this is another lie).
This past two weeks haven't been a lot of fun. First up I had a tooth extracted: the operation was started before the anaesthetic had kicked in; which caused me to make some urgent gurgling sounds. This meant lots more anaesthetic, which knocked me completely sideways for about 5 days. Then there was a bit a of a family crisis for a couple of days, followed by a nausea and lack-of-appetite bug.
The last thing has been decidedly not-fun! I'm diabetic, so the vomiting after eating & having done insulin is something I'm almost phobic about, so having been violently sick after meals a few times has been the stuff of nightmares. I've also had close to zero appetite, which has been less than amusing. In the first five days of being ill, I'd managed to lose almost 6kg. This would be fine if I had a lot to lose, but, my BMI is about 22 normally, so there's not much to spare. I'd like to think that this would mean that I will be able to go up hills faster when I recover, but it's more likely that I'll be significantly slower. I think I've lost some significant muscle mass, which will prob be replaced, at least in part, by fat.
It's really quite depressing that I've probably managed to put myself back 2-3 months.
I'd planned to head through to Edinburgh this week to meet David (of Laid Back Bikes) to do some riding. I had Arthur's Seat on the agenda. Ideally, doing some repeats on it.
Arthur's Seat is a short, but vicious, climb. 1300m with 83m of climbing at an average of about 7%. This sounds fine, but, again, it's the undulating nature of it that is difficult.
The first 700m has a reasonably even profile with just 35m of climbing. It slowly twists round the hill, so it's hard to see what's coming & you get to wondering what the reputation is about. You then take a fairly sharp right turn & then you hit the ramp that makes it hard: 200m at 12%. Then there's a 5% section, then a 9% section. Short, but brutal.
The first time I attempted this climb was on the Sheldon Brown memorial ride in Edinburgh. I was riding a 15kg Nazca Fuego with 3-4kg of luggage & did fairly well until the steep bit, where my bike choice really showed me up (well, that & the fact that I'm a useless climber!). There's film of the climb on that day here (yes, that's Edinburgh in April!). The climb was quite a shock to me then, but I've since done it on my Fujin & on my first ride on a tandem. I want to keep going back. I like this climb!
There's a bunch of times up the hill here for anyone interested. I'm still in awe of anyone who can do that in the big ring!
Maybe when I'm riding again, I can get my day of hill repeats on Arthur's Seat before the summer's (completely) out.
For now, it's back to the Tour of Poland (I lie, despite being bored & miserable, there's no joy in watching this apart from the stage with the 5km climb at the finish with a cobbled section which was almost amusing) & looking forward to the ENECO Tour (this is another lie).
Friday, 23 July 2010
First decent ride of the year: Tak Ma Doon & Crow Road
I haven't done a decent ride for nearly 2 years now. Work and home commitments with a sequence of episodes of ill-health and injury have pretty much stopped me dead. I managed regular commuting & the occasional longer trip, but nothing particularly hilly nor especially long.
Part of the point of next year's trip & of this blog is to give me goals and a way of measuring my progress.
So, just now, I'm in about the worst shape I've been in fitness-wise for about 10 years... Things are starting to improve: with having moved, my commute has tripled in length, to 14km each way with 62/126m of climbing. With the shifts I do, I still haven't managed a full week of cycle commuting though, so there's still a lot of improvement needed.
I had the day off today & the weather was good, so I thought I'd find where I was fitness-wise. I planned a 60km route with some of my favourite roads: the Tak Ma Doon & the Crow Road, with the Carron Valley in between. The climbs couldn't be more different, but I love them both in different ways.
The Tak Ma Doon is probably my favourite road anywhere. It starts with a wee turn off the A803 in Kilsyth & hits a steep ramp almost immediately, then levels off to about 5% for a kilometre or so. Then 100m at 13%, then 300m at 3%, then 200m at 14%. It carries on like this the whole way up, with a few short sections on bends topping 20%. It's a properly vicious climb.
I find climbs like this really difficult since it's hard to get any rhythm. It's also really difficult to get any recovery from the 13+% sections which almost inevitably put you into the red...
Climbs like this demand a degree of respect & even reverence. The climb also takes you from a very urban setting to a view point with amazing views, onto a rural & remote-feeling valley. There is a sense of transcendence, in both a physical and environmental way.
Then the views from the top! On a clear day, you can see both Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh & Goatfell on Arran: the whole of the central belt lies in front of you. Today, the visibility was OK, without being great, still, there are some stunning views:
The loch in the second photo is Banton Loch: a reservoir on the site of the last decisive battle of the English Civil war, yes, 150 miles from the English border....
The Crow Road, from the North, has very similar numbers: 238m climbing at an average of 5%, compared to 270m at 6%. The difference is the consistency of the gradient. There are a couple of bends where the gradient approaches 10% for a few metres, but it's pretty much consistent the whole way through. The main difficulty with the climb is already having done the Tak Ma Doon & being tired. I like this road, but it's a different thing entirely: outstanding road surface, lots of traffic, wide road, consistent gradient....
So, what have I learnt:
-I'm not as unfit as I thought I might be;
-I've a long way to go, however, in getting properly fit;
-The Tak Ma Doon is a properly difficult climb;
-You can't hide lack of fitness on a difficult climb;
-That SPD sandals are great as commuter shoes, but really poor on steep hills;
-That I'm descending ATM with the grace of Bambi... In roller skates.... On ice... Seriously, I could take lessons from Andy Schleck in descending just now, it's something I really need to improve;
-That I'm not a good climber;
-That, despite the above point, I love difficult hills;
-That, if I ignore the 20 mins of taking/making work phone calls when my mobile phone signal came back, I managed the route in less (just) than 3 hours, so held an overall average of 20+kph....
There is a oneness that you can reach on a difficult hill: the moment before it defeats you. That oneness with the bike, with the gradient, with the pain, is something almost spiritual & is uniquely beautiful. There are very few moments in life of utter unity of purpose & thought & intent. This is why I love the Tak Ma Doon: I can have those moments thereon.
Numbers for the day:
-57.9km distance
-926 metres climbing & descending
-high point of 338m above sea level
Part of the point of next year's trip & of this blog is to give me goals and a way of measuring my progress.
So, just now, I'm in about the worst shape I've been in fitness-wise for about 10 years... Things are starting to improve: with having moved, my commute has tripled in length, to 14km each way with 62/126m of climbing. With the shifts I do, I still haven't managed a full week of cycle commuting though, so there's still a lot of improvement needed.
I had the day off today & the weather was good, so I thought I'd find where I was fitness-wise. I planned a 60km route with some of my favourite roads: the Tak Ma Doon & the Crow Road, with the Carron Valley in between. The climbs couldn't be more different, but I love them both in different ways.
The Tak Ma Doon is probably my favourite road anywhere. It starts with a wee turn off the A803 in Kilsyth & hits a steep ramp almost immediately, then levels off to about 5% for a kilometre or so. Then 100m at 13%, then 300m at 3%, then 200m at 14%. It carries on like this the whole way up, with a few short sections on bends topping 20%. It's a properly vicious climb.
I find climbs like this really difficult since it's hard to get any rhythm. It's also really difficult to get any recovery from the 13+% sections which almost inevitably put you into the red...Climbs like this demand a degree of respect & even reverence. The climb also takes you from a very urban setting to a view point with amazing views, onto a rural & remote-feeling valley. There is a sense of transcendence, in both a physical and environmental way.
Then the views from the top! On a clear day, you can see both Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh & Goatfell on Arran: the whole of the central belt lies in front of you. Today, the visibility was OK, without being great, still, there are some stunning views:
The loch in the second photo is Banton Loch: a reservoir on the site of the last decisive battle of the English Civil war, yes, 150 miles from the English border....
The Crow Road, from the North, has very similar numbers: 238m climbing at an average of 5%, compared to 270m at 6%. The difference is the consistency of the gradient. There are a couple of bends where the gradient approaches 10% for a few metres, but it's pretty much consistent the whole way through. The main difficulty with the climb is already having done the Tak Ma Doon & being tired. I like this road, but it's a different thing entirely: outstanding road surface, lots of traffic, wide road, consistent gradient....
So, what have I learnt:
-I'm not as unfit as I thought I might be;
-I've a long way to go, however, in getting properly fit;
-The Tak Ma Doon is a properly difficult climb;
-You can't hide lack of fitness on a difficult climb;
-That SPD sandals are great as commuter shoes, but really poor on steep hills;
-That I'm descending ATM with the grace of Bambi... In roller skates.... On ice... Seriously, I could take lessons from Andy Schleck in descending just now, it's something I really need to improve;
-That I'm not a good climber;
-That, despite the above point, I love difficult hills;
-That, if I ignore the 20 mins of taking/making work phone calls when my mobile phone signal came back, I managed the route in less (just) than 3 hours, so held an overall average of 20+kph....
There is a oneness that you can reach on a difficult hill: the moment before it defeats you. That oneness with the bike, with the gradient, with the pain, is something almost spiritual & is uniquely beautiful. There are very few moments in life of utter unity of purpose & thought & intent. This is why I love the Tak Ma Doon: I can have those moments thereon.
Numbers for the day:
-57.9km distance
-926 metres climbing & descending
-high point of 338m above sea level
Monday, 19 July 2010
The Route
The route is something that will probably evolve over time. I have plotted a route using TrackLogs software, but there are almost certainly numerous refinements yet to be made.
The original plan was to follow the Northern coast of Scotland from the central belt all the way back round to the start point. This is fairly straightforward on the West coast, where there are far fewer roads, far less settlement and, consequently, far fewer choices. It gets far more complicated on the East coast, especially as you head South of Inverness. Two of Scotland's largest cities are on the East coast, Dundee & Aberdeen & are fairly hard to avoid. One of the basic ideas of this trip is to avoid large conurbations, which would be very difficult if I follow the coast. I am therefore considering taking off the corner from Inverness & heading South from there, missing the coast entirely for the last section. This shaves about 100 miles off the route & includes 2 monstrous climbs (The Lecht Road & the road over Glenshee ski station, both markedly over 600m above sea level). This would mean that the route included the biggest road climbs in Scotland (Bealach ne Ba is also included on the West coast) and the highest road in Britain (Glenshee, 670m). At the moment, I'm tempted by the option with the hills, although I will probably end up hating myself on the day I have to do them!
I'll put the outline up day by day as separate posts.
The original plan was to follow the Northern coast of Scotland from the central belt all the way back round to the start point. This is fairly straightforward on the West coast, where there are far fewer roads, far less settlement and, consequently, far fewer choices. It gets far more complicated on the East coast, especially as you head South of Inverness. Two of Scotland's largest cities are on the East coast, Dundee & Aberdeen & are fairly hard to avoid. One of the basic ideas of this trip is to avoid large conurbations, which would be very difficult if I follow the coast. I am therefore considering taking off the corner from Inverness & heading South from there, missing the coast entirely for the last section. This shaves about 100 miles off the route & includes 2 monstrous climbs (The Lecht Road & the road over Glenshee ski station, both markedly over 600m above sea level). This would mean that the route included the biggest road climbs in Scotland (Bealach ne Ba is also included on the West coast) and the highest road in Britain (Glenshee, 670m). At the moment, I'm tempted by the option with the hills, although I will probably end up hating myself on the day I have to do them!
I'll put the outline up day by day as separate posts.
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Aerodynamic bikes
Please don't get me wrong. Pro Cycling is one of my favourite sports & the only sport that my wife and I both really enjoy, however, this years, "Tech Focus," sales-spin-off of the Tour de France just strikes me as daft, let me expand....
I like reading about the new bikes at different races, especially about those that race on the pave. I'm aware that part of this is about selling us the next big thing. Last year was Di2, Shimano's electronic shifting groupset. Many said that it was engineering to solve a problem that didn't exist & I would largely agree. This year, however, the engineering has been there to solve a problem that does exist (if you're a pro-level rider), but somehow completely fails to actually address & ignores the elephant in the room of the far more elegant solution that's already been in place almost 80 years & there have been numerous others since....
This year's new revelation has been aerodynamic road bikes. Yes, you heard right, not Time Trial bikes, but road bikes. Aero time trial bikes are almost understandable, especially where they exist to make the position more aero, however, an aero road bike?
Seriously, in a peleton, you're quite sheltered from the wind, on a climb, wind resistance drops massively, so where is it that you need this advantage?
Wind resistance rises as a square of speed relative to wind. Power to overcome this rises by a power of three, so the importance of aerodynamics on human powered vehicles is hard to overstate.
That said, it appears frighteningly obvious that 90+% of this drag is caused by the great big sail on top of the bike; the rider. These bikes are offering 1-2% less drag. That's pretty much unnoticeable for most of us & tiny & insignificant if you're a really powerful rider riding on your own into the wind.
It strikes me that you can't have it both ways: either drag is a real problem & use a recumbent, or that it isn't & don't worry about it.
Their marketing appears to take us as daft, are we really?
Manual Morand used the Mochet Velocar (a 4 wheel recumbent) in 1934 & was banned. Graeme Obree broke records with the "superman position" and was banned.
So it seems that, according to the UCI, saving some drag is good, but saving too much is bad.
The marketing seems to work in the same way: saving drag is good!!!! Unless you save too much of it, then that's bad....
I hate stupid marketing: upright bikes are fantastic, but even if all of the bikes had zero drag, they'd still be trounced by a recumbent!
Part of what I like about pro cycling is the absurd difficulties that must be overcome, but this current sales thing is about as sensible as a tyre that makes Paris-Roubaix smooth. It can't happen, stop lying to me!!!
None of this applies if you are a racing cyclist, bound by the UCI, however, for most of us, this isn't the case.
I just want to see people having access to the tool to do the job, that's not the current state of play & the current marketing drive merely emphasises how unfair & wrong this is.
I like reading about the new bikes at different races, especially about those that race on the pave. I'm aware that part of this is about selling us the next big thing. Last year was Di2, Shimano's electronic shifting groupset. Many said that it was engineering to solve a problem that didn't exist & I would largely agree. This year, however, the engineering has been there to solve a problem that does exist (if you're a pro-level rider), but somehow completely fails to actually address & ignores the elephant in the room of the far more elegant solution that's already been in place almost 80 years & there have been numerous others since....
This year's new revelation has been aerodynamic road bikes. Yes, you heard right, not Time Trial bikes, but road bikes. Aero time trial bikes are almost understandable, especially where they exist to make the position more aero, however, an aero road bike?
Seriously, in a peleton, you're quite sheltered from the wind, on a climb, wind resistance drops massively, so where is it that you need this advantage?
Wind resistance rises as a square of speed relative to wind. Power to overcome this rises by a power of three, so the importance of aerodynamics on human powered vehicles is hard to overstate.
That said, it appears frighteningly obvious that 90+% of this drag is caused by the great big sail on top of the bike; the rider. These bikes are offering 1-2% less drag. That's pretty much unnoticeable for most of us & tiny & insignificant if you're a really powerful rider riding on your own into the wind.
It strikes me that you can't have it both ways: either drag is a real problem & use a recumbent, or that it isn't & don't worry about it.
Their marketing appears to take us as daft, are we really?
Manual Morand used the Mochet Velocar (a 4 wheel recumbent) in 1934 & was banned. Graeme Obree broke records with the "superman position" and was banned.
So it seems that, according to the UCI, saving some drag is good, but saving too much is bad.
The marketing seems to work in the same way: saving drag is good!!!! Unless you save too much of it, then that's bad....
I hate stupid marketing: upright bikes are fantastic, but even if all of the bikes had zero drag, they'd still be trounced by a recumbent!
Part of what I like about pro cycling is the absurd difficulties that must be overcome, but this current sales thing is about as sensible as a tyre that makes Paris-Roubaix smooth. It can't happen, stop lying to me!!!
None of this applies if you are a racing cyclist, bound by the UCI, however, for most of us, this isn't the case.
I just want to see people having access to the tool to do the job, that's not the current state of play & the current marketing drive merely emphasises how unfair & wrong this is.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
What bike & why?
I plan to ride on a Challenge Fujin SLII. Simply put, this is the best bike I have ever ridden....
This question might break down into 2 parts, however: why a recumbent; & why that recumbent. So I'll answer those one by one.
Why a recumbent
(the short answer)
Because it's more efficient. & why not?
(the long answer)
I got onto cycling as a roadie. Light-weight, Campagnolo-equipped bikes were what I rode & wanted more of. I got exceedingly fit (I was cycling 200+ miles a week), then had a freak accident & broke my wrist quite badly. The thought of not cycling for several weeks drove me mad, so I hit the interwebs. A good number of "Internet Forum People" (© Mark Cavendish) suggested that I try riding a recumbent, which wouldn't put any strain on my wrist at all....
After a few false starts, I found David at Laid Back Bikes in Edinburgh who took the time to teach me the differences and how to deal with them. With David's approach, it only took about 15 mins to get the basics. & how I enjoyed the differences!
After annoying David with numerous test rides & discussions over coffee, whilst still in a stookie, I decided to buy my first recumbent, a Nazca Fuego (you might need to click the flag icon to get it into English), which is a really good all-round bike. It was, however, 15kg. With my roadie head on, I objected to this. It is insanely good on the flat & downhill, but uphill was somewhere I couldn't hide my poor power-to-weight ratio.
So, rather than get fitter, I decided to try to find a proper roadie recumbent....
Simply put, recumbents are faster, more efficient & a lot more fun. They tend to be heavier, which offends my weight weenie instincts, so:
Why this recumbent?
I spent some considerable time trying to find a road-bike recumbent. There's a few of them around: this, this, or this, for example. Having checked out costs, I decided that I'd get a Challenge Fujin SLII. This is one of the few choices I've made that I've never regretted.
What a bike! It has incredible speed & handles amazingly well, it accelerates really quickly, is incredibly aero, is really light.... In short, it does everything that a road bike would want to do, but better.
If you have ridden a recumbent, but not ridden this model, then find your nearest Challenge dealer & ask for a test ride.
If you're still stuck on upright bikes, then find someone to teach you to ride recumbents....
Seriously, this is one hell of a bike!
(I must add that this is entirely my own opinion: there's no commercial interest in this expression at all)
This question might break down into 2 parts, however: why a recumbent; & why that recumbent. So I'll answer those one by one.
Why a recumbent
(the short answer)
Because it's more efficient. & why not?
(the long answer)
I got onto cycling as a roadie. Light-weight, Campagnolo-equipped bikes were what I rode & wanted more of. I got exceedingly fit (I was cycling 200+ miles a week), then had a freak accident & broke my wrist quite badly. The thought of not cycling for several weeks drove me mad, so I hit the interwebs. A good number of "Internet Forum People" (© Mark Cavendish) suggested that I try riding a recumbent, which wouldn't put any strain on my wrist at all....
After a few false starts, I found David at Laid Back Bikes in Edinburgh who took the time to teach me the differences and how to deal with them. With David's approach, it only took about 15 mins to get the basics. & how I enjoyed the differences!
After annoying David with numerous test rides & discussions over coffee, whilst still in a stookie, I decided to buy my first recumbent, a Nazca Fuego (you might need to click the flag icon to get it into English), which is a really good all-round bike. It was, however, 15kg. With my roadie head on, I objected to this. It is insanely good on the flat & downhill, but uphill was somewhere I couldn't hide my poor power-to-weight ratio.
So, rather than get fitter, I decided to try to find a proper roadie recumbent....
Simply put, recumbents are faster, more efficient & a lot more fun. They tend to be heavier, which offends my weight weenie instincts, so:
Why this recumbent?
I spent some considerable time trying to find a road-bike recumbent. There's a few of them around: this, this, or this, for example. Having checked out costs, I decided that I'd get a Challenge Fujin SLII. This is one of the few choices I've made that I've never regretted.
What a bike! It has incredible speed & handles amazingly well, it accelerates really quickly, is incredibly aero, is really light.... In short, it does everything that a road bike would want to do, but better.
If you have ridden a recumbent, but not ridden this model, then find your nearest Challenge dealer & ask for a test ride.
If you're still stuck on upright bikes, then find someone to teach you to ride recumbents....
Seriously, this is one hell of a bike!
(I must add that this is entirely my own opinion: there's no commercial interest in this expression at all)
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