Exceeding limits

Brevets tend to have their way of making people humble - Laurent Chambard

This is not a ride report. In May 2010, I rode my second Randonneuring event - a 300 km brevet. If you really want to know about the course and terrain, you will have to read another account. If you are looking for direction as to how to prepare, or what to expect, I have nothing to offer, other than my mistakes. I cannot give you an objective report, even though I vividly remember the details of that day in my heart and in my mind's eye. This is more like a confession, or perhaps, an admission of loss and of hubris, even in the appearance of success. 

It's taken me a while to tell the story of that day, and the events that followed, because I am still reluctant to discuss, even in a semi-anonymous blog, the burden it placed on me for every event after. Telling this story means sharing the reality of what it meant to push beyond my limits. But this year would not have been the same without that ride so, perhaps, the story needs telling. Because if this blog is meant to be an account of my experiences, then this ride is an essential part of the accounting. But be warned - I may delete this post any day. Denial is a seductive temptress. 

Night lights part 2

For the last year, I used Planet Bike Blaze lights for night riding. Two one-watt lights mounted mid fork and one two-watt light mounted on the handlebar. Together, the three lights made an adequate amount of light to ride by, but the set up was far from ideal.  The lights could illuminate reflective signs at a reasonable distance but lacked the ability to light the road far enough ahead to allow for fast riding. The circular beams made a small patch of rideable light to follow at a slow to moderate pace but, on long unlit stretches, they also created a feeling of riding through a tunnel. All in all, they are good lights for urban riding and commuting, but noticeably underpowered for distance riding and descending. I wanted to upgrade before the season began.

My R12 ride: reflecting, considering, remembering.

March 12, 2011 -

The 200 kilometer ride that would be my R12 began on Saturday morning. Each month, for the last 11 months in a row, starting with my first ever Brevet, I completed at least one timed ride at least 200 kilometers long. With the completion of this ride, I would earn the award for consistency that an R12 represents.

Spin cycle: Changing Gears part 2

I have to learn some things the hard way - experientially - by working through problems over and over again until a solution slowly emerges and makes me want to just slap my forehead and wonder why it took me so long to figure it out. 

At the beginning of the month, after 11 months of randonneuring, it finally dawned on me that a different rear cassette might make a better gear combination for my ride.

Having made the change, and done so with a greater appreciation as to how cadence and gears could work together, I've done one 200k and had a couple of training rides. The difference has been significant - gear selection has become more precise while pacing and efficiency have improved. I am much more able to use my gears to maintain cadence and use both to control effort. Seems like customizing gears may be the best upgrade going, especially considering the relatively low cost and immediate benefit.

Surprise surprise - it turns out that I am not the first to figure this out. In fact, Ken Kifer wrote a very informative piece (with links) on this topic over 10 years ago.  As he points out, this topic is for the nerdiest of bike nerds, but just in case there are some of you out there who want to really want to dial in their ride, don't know this already, and don't need to learn things the hard way, the information is out there.

Note: This is a link to the current page for Bicycle Gearing for Wisconsin Hills  which is referenced in Kifer's sidebar. The calculator at the bottom is a nice tool for figuring out gear needs.

200K - Beyond Hope to New Hope

Saturday February 12, 2011

18 degrees. The cold air pounced on me, reached into my chest and squeezed a gasp of air from my lungs. 7:35 a.m. I had just stepped out of my car into the parking lot of the Belvidere Diner in New Jersey. I was the last to arrive. The February 200k brevet had started at 7:30. The other Randonneurs were already on the course.

Changing Gears

I've been thinking about pedaling cadence - the number of times per minute that the pedals turn when riding. We are all supposed to have a "best" cadence, an rpm range that we can work all day. You might speed it up a bit with training but at some point you find your groove and that's your groove, so you live with it and groove with it. 

The Venn of cycling

A bicycle lies at the hub of divergent interests. A Venn diagram of cyclists would have circles of engineers and English majors, philosophers and physicists, athletes and artists, the privileged and the poor, introverts and extroverts, dreamers and doers. All those circles would overlap around the idea and reality of the bicycle.