Good points. There's no doubt that the gearing was not ideal; 66" is just too high, even when I'm in better climbing shape, though when I am, it's pretty easy, and though I have climbed i 10 gi higher. But 60" would be pretty well matched to the hill when I'm hill fit -- I can sit and turn. But again, I like standing and climbing.
I actually felt pretty good, given that I hadn't climbed a hill to speak of for a couple of months. I've ridden the hill many times; just not recently! I recall how, as a young 30/40-something, I'd pass roadies on hills while riding my mountain bike. Well, 20 years later, guess who gets passed! Really, I'm just chuffed that I made it without suffering too much, given my shape. It was fun even at 9 mph! On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 1:10 PM, Ian A <attew...@gmail.com> wrote: > Three things to contemplate: > 1) Gearing on the climb might not have been ideal > 2) You mention feeling not being in peak shape, but some days climbing is > just easier. The right breakfast and hydration makes a massive difference > for example. > 3) How many times have you ridden that hill? I find it takes a while to > learn a hill and its "release points", where it looks as steep, but has > actually leveled a touch. The other riders might do that hill a lot. I've > surprised roadies by passing them uphill on my grocery getter, but only > because I know the hill. > > IanA > > > > On Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 4:56:02 PM UTC-6, Patrick Moore wrote: >> >> While Catie was skating this afternoon at The Outpost, the rink at the >> top of Tramway hill, I took the '99 (18th birthday later this month! How >> time flies!) gofast west down the hill to the 4 mile point -- where the >> 2-lane becomes a dual carriageway; pushing back against the 76" gear to >> keep speed in check -- it gets ahead of you even with the strong, >> prevailing westerlies; crossed over, switched to the 66", and ground my way >> back up. I'm out of shape, or at least, out of hill-shape, since I live on >> the Westside and generally ride N-S, which is along the river, and flat. >> *And* I just turned 62, which I am sure gives me all sorts of excuses >> for all sorts of things. >> >> I alternated sitting and standing; when sitting, pulling up >> conscientiously to help my alternate knee, but stood for most of the 1-2 >> mile long steeper section, so that overall, I climbed in equal amounts of >> sitting and standing. Standing would have been easier in the higher gear, >> but sitting would very definitely not have been. I added a couple of miles >> at the end to bring the total to 10 and change. >> >> I thought to myself while climbing: Old school rider, wool and steel and >> leather, Bianchi/Coppi retrohat (twee, I know), doing pretty well for an >> old person who hasn't climbed a decent hill in a couple of months. >> >> But, Oh, no, not at all. First a young 40 something on carbon fiber >> breezed passed me turning away at 80-90 rpm; and he was a good half mile or >> more ahead by the time I got to the top. >> >> Then, even more distressing, a white-haired man* on an old steel classic >> powered past me, "chuff, chuff, chuff" went his breathing; he slowed and >> stood on the steepest section and I had hopes but no, off he twiddled once >> the slope slackened. >> >> * White haired, but I'll bet he was only a 50-something, the young >> upstart. Sheesh! >> >> But I made it. >> >> Seriously, I really like climbing, though I'd rather be in better shape. >> Frankly, I enjoyed the uphill as much or more than the downhill, though on >> the steepest section I was beginning to entertain thoughts of stopping to >> admire the view. >> >> After that excessively long and self-indulgently personal windup, here >> comes the question. Does anyone know of a link that takes you to average >> climbing speeds in the big races, over the years, so that you can compare >> say, Romain Maes with Gino with Jacques with Eddy with le Blaireau with Big >> Mig with the more recent fellows whom I have not troubled to follow? IOW, >> did climbing speeds climb when multispeed, on-bike-shifted gearing systems >> were allowed into the peloton and, further, as these were refined? >> >> (I have a very interesting book the official centennial history of the >> Tour de France, with a chapter giving the highlights of each year from 1903 >> to 2003. Text is largely cribbed from contemporary news copy. There's an >> interesting account from the 1937 (?) Tour, the first where derailleurs >> were allowed, describing the team director leaning out of the window of his >> Peugeot or whatever and shouting, as the terrain changed, "17! 15! 16! 14!" >> -- telling his neophyte shifters what gear to use. Anyway.) >> >> -- >> Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews. >> By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. >> Other professional writing services. >> http://www.resumespecialties.com/ >> www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/ >> Patrick Moore >> Alburquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Vereinigte Staaten >> ************************************************************ >> **************************** >> >> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews. By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. Other professional writing services. http://www.resumespecialties.com/ www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/ Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Vereinigte Staaten ************************************************************************** ************** -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
