> But I learned a few things. I > have no momentum. As soon as the grade changes to up, I'm > back in low > gear.
Cadence and spinning are the key things here. You need to learn to spin at about 85-90 rpm and change gear in time to maintain that cadence. It makes cycling much easier. You shouldn't ever feel as though you're really pushing the pedals unless you're going up a long steep hill and you're already in bottom gear. If you have derailleur gears front and back there is a lot of overlap on them, so it helps to learn how and when to double-shift so that you maintain similar spacing through the range and don't have sudden jumps that leave you spinning too fast or pushing too hard after a gear change. -- Bob > > > Yeah, it inspired me to go out and buy a trailer for the > kids. Went to > the local bike shop and looked at something called a d'Lite. After > adding a stroller conversion kit and a rain screen the total came to > well over $500. Schlepped my fat ass back to the SUV and drove to > Target. Bought a Schwinn trailer, stroller conversion and > rain screen > included, for less than a third the price of the d'Lite. Put it > together as soon as we got home, all the while Megan, our 4 > year old, is > dancing around me asking "Is it done yet? You're taking too > long. Can > you fasten my helmet?" Granted, it's not as nice as the bike shop > trailer, but the squeals of joy and constant laughter coming > from behind > me as we took it for a ride reassured me that it didn't > matter how much > I paid for it. We did a nice, easy pace for about a mile or > so. Every > time we passed someone out for a walk she started yelling > "I'm riding in > a trailer! I'm riding in a TRAAAAAILERRRRRR!" Fun times. I had > trouble convincing her that it was bed time and she needed to get out. > > After the bed time routine was completed I went out for > another ride. > Did about 5.2 miles according to google maps. About 1 > straight mile was > a gradual descent. Man that was fun! I even kept up with traffic. > Coming back was a bitch. I'm spent. But I learned a few things. I > have no momentum. As soon as the grade changes to up, I'm > back in low > gear. I'm too fat and don't have the horsepower, but I guess > this is a > good way to remedy that. I also need to move the saddle back > an inch or > two, but it's all the way back as it is. Plus, as much padding as I > have, there is apparently none under my sit bones. Looks like a new > seat is in order. > > Sorry for the novel. Time to start a freakin' blog, I suppose. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
