On Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:02:34 -0800, bbaka wrote:

jj wrote:
Yesterday was a pretty good day as I hit 30mph on the flats for the first
time. Granted I could only hold it for 10-15 seconds when the road started
up hill, but uh, yay, me.

3 cheers for that mark.

I've been trying for 30 for about a month when I had to go on antibiotics
for 10 days and things dropped off...er, by that I mean ability. ;-/

Yes it does more than you would think as I have found that out this last
really rainy winter. The legs are still there but the long distance
endurance needs to be built up again.

In a spot where I normally get about 27mph, I noticed I was hitting 28 and
got psyched so I cranked it up and was able to hit 30.5 just before the
hill. It wasn't that hard. I can see getting 35 in the near future since I
hit that speed wearing my nylon shell:
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...egory_ID=1130#
....which acts a little like a parachute.

Now, the trick is to be able to sustain. BTW, it feels pretty cool to be
riding that fast. I remember hitting 30 in my Univ. days, but that was with
an old analogue speedometer so who knows how accurate it was.

Here is what I used to do way back in high school when I was riding
about a mile each way. Wait for a school bus to start out behind me and
then accelerate like crazy up to about 25 something. At that point the
bus would come up and just pass me and I would tuck in behind and catch
the draft. I was always able to draft the bus up to their cruising speed
of about 35 MPH for the 3/4 mile straight drive to school. Whether they
were doing 35 or 38 or whatever I stayed about 10-15 feet behind the bus
and peeled off into the bike parking area when they got to the school.
That was definitely a fun ride to school and this was on a pre-1963
Peugeot. Now I try big trucks but get lost when they start to go over
35-38 MPH.
Try it, it is fun, just pay attention.

So when they tell ya 'the legs are the first thing to go', don't believe
'em. Maybe this post will be a motivator for others in the ng. ;-)

I will bet that most people can still do a good burst of speed but not
for as long as at the end of last summer, and the same probably holds
true for the endurance rides over 50 miles.

jj

The sun is out again so Spring/Summer are trying to sneak in.
Time to get riding more.
Bill Baka


Obviously another April 1st post by little bill. I don't even think he
has a speedometer, so all the posts about speed, distance, and cadence
are all estimates [read exaggerations].


Life is Good!
Jeff