What did you do TO / WITH / FOR your bike today!
- Thread starter Minlak
- Start date
Jpez
Down on the left!
Went for the first night ride of the year on Thursday at the Youis with @fjohn860 . He then decided to go off and save kangaroos.
Knew I wouldn’t get a proper ride in this weekend being Mother’s Day and the missos birthday but did manage to get out to the local dirt jumps and skate park with the kid and hooned around for a couple hours.
And today took the doggo for some laps. We managed about 16km and 600 something VM before she started looking tired.
Knew I wouldn’t get a proper ride in this weekend being Mother’s Day and the missos birthday but did manage to get out to the local dirt jumps and skate park with the kid and hooned around for a couple hours.
And today took the doggo for some laps. We managed about 16km and 600 something VM before she started looking tired.
beeb
Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
I miss Youies night rides so much! That picture invokes more nostalgia than it has a right to. Hope you enjoyed it!
Jpez
Down on the left!
I got bored with the Youis many years ago. It never changes. Except to be smoothed out for the odd race so riding at night in winter when it’s cool and not skatey is kinda fun.
You can almost pretend you’re somewhere else because you can’t see the surrounding bush. It’s a good way to keep fitness up.
Stredda
Runs naked through virgin scrub
Nice!
Did you do the 50 or the 100?
I did the 100 on my Stumpy last year. It's a solid loop!
pink poodle
ここには見るべきものは何もありません
That's some very lush soil
oldcorollas
Levin the moment
loam you say?
pink poodle
ここには見るべきものは何もありません
hellmansam
Likes Bikes and Dirt
It’s finally getting cool enough to want to ride again, I’d kept the tyres on my bike pumped up through summer but the rear on the Ripmo has always had a very slow leak so today I thought it high time I sorted it out.
The Stans has deteriorated into brown slime, I cleaned the insert, inside of the rim and tyre with a pressure washer which worked OK but for a sticky residue coating the inside of the tyre. So now that’s soaking in a bucket of soapy water. Looks like it will need more than just today to get it softened enough to clean off - if the soapy water does the trick.
The Stans has deteriorated into brown slime, I cleaned the insert, inside of the rim and tyre with a pressure washer which worked OK but for a sticky residue coating the inside of the tyre. So now that’s soaking in a bucket of soapy water. Looks like it will need more than just today to get it softened enough to clean off - if the soapy water does the trick.
100. I thought I would smoke the dirt roadies on the descents but I was getting dropped big time. Descending off road on a drop bar bike is definitely a skill I need to practice, and some of the terrain was gnarlier than I anticipated. I was actually taking back places on the climbs, so I think all the time I have spent on Alpe du Zwift over the past year has paid off.
I had no idea how to pace it and felt like I had more in the tank at the end. Super motivated for next year and looking for some other races I can do in the mean time.
Stredda
Runs naked through virgin scrub
Nice!
What was your finish time? I did it in 6:29:19 last year. I reckon I could go sub 6hrs now. I passed heaps of gravel bikes on the descents and topped out at around 74kph on the descents but didn't have the gears to pedal on the more gradual descents like the gravel bikes did.
I might give it another crack next year, and probably want a 34/36 front ring, some narrow bars and a bit more food on board.
I got around in 4:43 (on a gravel bike) and certainly learned a lot about pacing and bike setup. I ran a 44t chainring and was in my lowest gear on some of the climbs. The thought of not having a bail out gear was messing with my head so I think I was holding back a bit. Getting dropped on the descents was less about outright speed and more about maintaining momentum so I need to do a lot of practice descending on this bike. I also ran 40mm tires but the hype is real, all the big dogs were running massive tires and absolutely flying so I will be finding the widest tire I can fit from now on.
Stredda
Runs naked through virgin scrub
Wow that's a pretty good time!
I'd be interested to see how much quicker I would be on a gravel bike compared to the MTB. Most of the gain would be in the weight I would think.
Yes, the trend is to run wide tyres on courses like the Cardigan where it can be quite rough. I run 2.2 XC tyres and they seem to roll pretty well and there's no worrying about punctures.
It's one of those thing with big long endurance races, small differences make big changes over 100km. A mate of mine (who is 20 years younger than me) rode last years race with me. On a normal MTB ride we are pretty close in fitness and speed, but over the whole 100km of the Cardigan he was an hour in front of me, just because he could hold just 1kph average faster than I could.
I can see why the likes of Dylan Johnson is always looking at the smallest of marginal gains. I can easily see that with some of those big 200 mile gravel races like Unbound, these small improvements make a huge difference to the finishing time.
A mate of mine went in this year with a franken bike he built up himself. An MTB hardtail with 2x, suspension fork and drop bars. Unfortunately his body let him down, and he didn't beat last years time on an MTB.
ForkinGreat
Knows his Brassica oleracea
The American Gravel racer Dylan Johnson (has Youtube channel) runs 29x2.2 Conti Race kings, AFAIK, or was at one point.
Mr Crudley
Glock in your sock
Rains a' cometh for the next few days. Getting a quick one in.
beeb
Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
*Cue all the South Australian 'burners reaching for a dictionary to look up the meaning of the word...