DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
My V 2.0 has undergone a transition; the inner Q Ring which was 44t is now a 38t and to go with it was a long gated derailleur that now keeps the chain well tensioned. The hardest thing doing the change over was releasing the snap link in the chain. As the drivechain is now 11 speed the chain is thinner so more awkward in getting the pliers in between the links and pushing down hard. My friend who has the perfect toolbox and a garage workshop lives 10km away so I packed everything and off I went. Coming back was a little unnerving. Lots of workers were returning home for lunch and wanted to get a good look of me on the bike. I didn’t have any bags on the bike so I stuck a couple of things under my racing jersey, one on each side and looked a little odd. Well that was ridiculous and spontaneous – such are the events each day. LOL. I had some real treasured expressions from people. Typically WTF?#@^%*
To make things a little more awkward the smaller chainring had changed the dynamics with the front shifter so the large chainring was not engaging, so getting through the traffic was terribly slow. Funny the situations we find ourselves in.
Today, after adjusting the front shifter I was planning to have a real long ride, and up one of the largest local hills. I just had to see how good the bike was. It was a delight to be able to make it to the crest of the hill without too much effort and oddly enough getting use to burning rubber when using the two largest gears as the front tire slips with the force exerting on the pedals. Coming back down the hill was awesome. It’s just a smooth slope with a small long gradient with perfect scenes. Sometimes interrupted by the odd motorist beeping their horn. After warping down the hill and going through the next village there was a roadie with a fancy bike. For the next 30 minutes, on the bridges and ascending the rolling hills he would get closer. Then going down the hills the V accelerated so that this rider was almost non existent but I knew he hadn’t given up. It’s the second time since I’ve done this route and being about 70km there were places that I was a little unsure of so I didn’t run any stop signs but this rider behind sure did!
For half and hour this DF rider was in a horizontal position… he must have been absolutely suffering as he certainly wasn’t drafting off me. Anyways it must have given him great pleasure when he caught me up at a circular where I had to wait for traffic, the funny thing was at this junction he took a different turn so we never exchanged complements.
I feel exhilarated about today’s ride. I need to work harder going up hills. I usually pull myself forward on the bars but I guess the dynamics aren’t really going to be as good as the DF rider with a turtle back and off the seat posture on a carbon bike. If I could lie more horizontal, like a Luge rider, and not pull so much would make me more aero but then it’s more difficult to put the force thru the pedals. I certainly could improve my braking habits…. i.e. Slow down really quickly and get going instead of cruising with the pedals when being pursued. If you make so much distance between a rider it’s good to try and keep it.
To make things a little more awkward the smaller chainring had changed the dynamics with the front shifter so the large chainring was not engaging, so getting through the traffic was terribly slow. Funny the situations we find ourselves in.
Today, after adjusting the front shifter I was planning to have a real long ride, and up one of the largest local hills. I just had to see how good the bike was. It was a delight to be able to make it to the crest of the hill without too much effort and oddly enough getting use to burning rubber when using the two largest gears as the front tire slips with the force exerting on the pedals. Coming back down the hill was awesome. It’s just a smooth slope with a small long gradient with perfect scenes. Sometimes interrupted by the odd motorist beeping their horn. After warping down the hill and going through the next village there was a roadie with a fancy bike. For the next 30 minutes, on the bridges and ascending the rolling hills he would get closer. Then going down the hills the V accelerated so that this rider was almost non existent but I knew he hadn’t given up. It’s the second time since I’ve done this route and being about 70km there were places that I was a little unsure of so I didn’t run any stop signs but this rider behind sure did!
For half and hour this DF rider was in a horizontal position… he must have been absolutely suffering as he certainly wasn’t drafting off me. Anyways it must have given him great pleasure when he caught me up at a circular where I had to wait for traffic, the funny thing was at this junction he took a different turn so we never exchanged complements.
I feel exhilarated about today’s ride. I need to work harder going up hills. I usually pull myself forward on the bars but I guess the dynamics aren’t really going to be as good as the DF rider with a turtle back and off the seat posture on a carbon bike. If I could lie more horizontal, like a Luge rider, and not pull so much would make me more aero but then it’s more difficult to put the force thru the pedals. I certainly could improve my braking habits…. i.e. Slow down really quickly and get going instead of cruising with the pedals when being pursued. If you make so much distance between a rider it’s good to try and keep it.
