Playing Roadie

No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the gnat
swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the only
one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek, mostly fast,
road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of thousand feet of
climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the flats, even in the dh but
just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was it
humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the east valley
and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary

GeeDubb wrote:
No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the gnat
swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the
only one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek,
mostly fast, road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of thousand
feet of climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the flats, even
in the dh but just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was it
humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the east
valley and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary



Gary, I know the feeling.

I took my 30 lb FS ride with slicks out last week and did a road century
on it (100 miles is a loooooong way on a 30 lb mtb, even with slicks).
And I was silly and did it when we were in the 80's here with a humidex
pushing towards the 100F mark. Not as much climbing (only about 1800 ft)
but a bloody headwind for the first 55 miles.

On the flip side, I did get a couple compliments from some roadies on
Marinonis and Cervelos....they thought I was totally whacked for even
thinking of a century on a mtb, but also gave me kudos for having the
rocks to actually do it.

Oh well....we're all nuts and proud of it

Michael

On Jul 22, 12:33 pm, "GeeDubb" wrote:
No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the gnat
swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the only
one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek, mostly fast,
road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of thousand feet of
climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the flats, even in the dh but
just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was it
humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the east valley
and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary


Fleabay and Craigslist can get you a vintage 27er for real cheap. The
PXH Metro is rife with great deals. A little elbow grease and you
will be flying along and doing the devil's work in no time.

JD

On Jul 22, 4:00 pm, JD wrote:
On Jul 22, 12:33 pm, "GeeDubb" wrote:





No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the gnat
swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the only
one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek, mostly fast,
road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of thousand feet of
climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the flats, even in the dh but
just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was it
humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the east valley
and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary

Fleabay and Craigslist can get you a vintage 27er for real cheap. The
PXH Metro is rife with great deals. A little elbow grease and you
will be flying along and doing the devil's work in no time.

JD- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Due to washed out trails I hit the road this weekend, but my road bike
is out of action and so I took out the free ride bike on slicks. Boy,
what a work out. Trying to maintain my average road speeds was near
impossible as I couldn't get the bike to cruise much above 17 mph. I
don't know if it was the tyres (HookWorm, 2.5"), the squishy frame, a
lack of any aero position, the 90f heat or even the fact that I didn't
raise the seat to roadie height that turned my ride into a 2 hour
slog. I'm looking forward to getting my road bike fixed or even
better, the trails drying out.

GeeDubb wrote:
No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the gnat
swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the
only one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek,
mostly fast, road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of thousand
feet of climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the flats, even
in the dh but just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was it
humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the east
valley and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary



Wow. A road bike would be way better. Good job for pulling it off the
hard way!

Matt

MattB wrote:
GeeDubb wrote:
No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the gnat
swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the
only one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek,
mostly fast, road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of
thousand feet of climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the
flats, even in the dh but just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was it
humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the east
valley and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary



Wow. A road bike would be way better. Good job for pulling it off the
hard way!

Matt


Oh please. He's pulling your leg. He maintains a 28 MPH on the canal
paths with those fat tires. I know this for a fact.

Gary...

They moved my conference to San Diego this year. No PHX this fall.
I'm bummed. OK, San Diego is not exactly a bad place to go.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot wrote:
MattB wrote:
GeeDubb wrote:
No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the
gnat swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the
only one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek,
mostly fast, road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of
thousand feet of climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the
flats, even in the dh but just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was
it humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the
east valley and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary



Wow. A road bike would be way better. Good job for pulling it off the
hard way!

Matt


Oh please. He's pulling your leg. He maintains a 28 MPH on the canal
paths with those fat tires. I know this for a fact.

Gary...

They moved my conference to San Diego this year. No PHX this fall.
I'm bummed. OK, San Diego is not exactly a bad place to go.


I'm sure he could do it longer and/or faster on a road bike!

MattB wrote:
Ride-A-Lot wrote:
MattB wrote:
GeeDubb wrote:
No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the
gnat swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the
only one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek,
mostly fast, road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of
thousand feet of climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the
flats, even in the dh but just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was
it humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the
east valley and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary



Wow. A road bike would be way better. Good job for pulling it off the
hard way!

Matt


Oh please. He's pulling your leg. He maintains a 28 MPH on the canal
paths with those fat tires. I know this for a fact.

Gary...

They moved my conference to San Diego this year. No PHX this fall.
I'm bummed. OK, San Diego is not exactly a bad place to go.


I'm sure he could do it longer and/or faster on a road bike!

Shhh... Don't give away the secrets.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

"MattB" wrote in message
...
Ride-A-Lot wrote:
MattB wrote:
GeeDubb wrote:
No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the gnat
swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the
only one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek,
mostly fast, road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of
thousand feet of climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the
flats, even in the dh but just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was it
humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the east
valley and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary



Wow. A road bike would be way better. Good job for pulling it off the
hard way!

Matt


Oh please. He's pulling your leg. He maintains a 28 MPH on the canal
paths with those fat tires. I know this for a fact.

Gary...

They moved my conference to San Diego this year. No PHX this fall.
I'm bummed. OK, San Diego is not exactly a bad place to go.


I'm sure he could do it longer and/or faster on a road bike!

Had I been able to lock out the shocks it would have helped considerably.
It was a real effort to reel back the leaders when they'd launch (not that
they were launching hard but the acceleration away from me was fast). I
wore myself out the first half of the ride and never recovered. The long
extended climb killed me but I stayed ahead of the chase group.

Link to gps data
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3399336
from one of the other riders
Gary

On Jul 23, 1:40 pm, "GeeDubb" wrote:
"MattB" wrote in message

...





Ride-A-Lot wrote:
MattB wrote:
GeeDubb wrote:
No, didn't shave the legs but wish I had after the clash with the gnat
swarms.......would have been easier to wash off.

Sixteen mountain bikers showed up (MTBR-AZ group ride), me being the
only one on a 28 lb fs mtn bike (sans knobbies), the rest on sleek,
mostly fast, road bikes. Forty something miles and a couple of
thousand feet of climbing, the old butt is dragging. I hung on the
flats, even in the dh but just couldn't keep the pace on the hills.

Evening rains had reduced the starting ride temp to 73F but man was it
humid. 5 am start sucked especially since the ride was in the east
valley and I wasn't!

I won't do this again unless I get a road bike.....or train harder.

that's all, no mtb content other than the fact I was on my switchblade.

Gary

Wow. A road bike would be way better. Good job for pulling it off the
hard way!

Matt

Oh please. He's pulling your leg. He maintains a 28 MPH on the canal
paths with those fat tires. I know this for a fact.

Gary...

They moved my conference to San Diego this year. No PHX this fall.
I'm bummed. OK, San Diego is not exactly a bad place to go.

I'm sure he could do it longer and/or faster on a road bike!

Had I been able to lock out the shocks it would have helped considerably.
It was a real effort to reel back the leaders when they'd launch (not that
they were launching hard but the acceleration away from me was fast). I
wore myself out the first half of the ride and never recovered. The long
extended climb killed me but I stayed ahead of the chase group.

Link to gps datahttp://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3399336
from one of the other riders
Gary- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yer running in hiking boots.

Riding a mtb on the road sucks less than riding a road bike on trails,
but neither is much of a joy. Not to say that it can't, shant,
couldn't or shouldn't be done, but I've got a comical number of
purpose-specific bikes these days.

- hardtail mtb
- rigid mtb snow bike/beater (named "Lemme")
- track bike
- fixie commuter (hot pink w/rewelded driveside dropout)
- steel road bike for travel
- niiice road bike (that's likely too precious for me)
- bmx (old Haro Master)
- coaster brake bar/errand bike (my newest creation, swoopy black
aluminum frame with Grove Innovations Hothead glow in the dark bar/
stem combo and white Selle Italia saddle.)
- tandem single speed Schwinn for short jaunts and parades
- tandem 18sp Gitane for longer rides
- folding bike for travel
- 3 speed Rudge for guests and decoration (I like the hand-shaped
chainring)
- around 20 other bikes I need to sell for money before I move into a
smaller apartment next month

/s

"Please kill me."