Did you ride today?

[John Dorlon]

Eric -
  If it's any help for

Eric -

If it's any help for your baseline comparison, I have some ride data of me riding an old mountain bike on the roads vs me on a DF vs me on a Silvio. My avg on the moutainbike was 14.4 mph over about 650 miles of riding. That was when I was just getting back into bike riding after a 20 year hiatus. After that, I bought a decent DF (1600 miles on that) and my average on that was about 15.7. On the Silvio, which I've been riding since July 2012, my average is 16.9 mph over 1200 miles. I think my average is still going up, but I don't expect it to go much over 17. I have had rides that average in the 18's but there are some slower days too. My gut says if I got a V I could get my overall average up in the 18's with a fast day ride averaging in the low 20's, but it's just a guess.

I love my Silvio but I find myself wishing I just bought a V, because all I want to do on my bike is go fast.

-John

 

[John Dorlon]

35 miles this morning

I took half the day off from work and used 2 hours of that on myself, on a ride. It was a cold morning. There was frost on the grass as I left, and it was about 37 degrees. I wore 3 layers of clothes on top and 2 on bottom. By the time I got home I was down to a single layer. The cold really slows me down....the fastest part of my ride was the last 5 miles when it was starting to warm up...usually that's the slowest part of the ride. Does that happen for anyone else (cold slowing you down?)

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/ac33/f44f/4d28/b19a/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20121113-0750.kml

Then I did some early Christmas shopping with the wife after that.

-John

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi John,
I find I'm a lot

Hi John,

I find I'm a lot slower when it's cold outside. And I can't quite figure out why. Cold air is denser and harder to move through than hot air, but not enough to explain my differences. Must be a mental thing on my part...

Cheers,
Charles

 

[Eric Winn]

Yep, slowed me down to zero

Yep, slowed me down to zero miles today



It was supposed to have gotten down into the 20s overnight. Overcast and gloomy all day. I need to get some cold weather riding gear so I can ride outside while the roads are clear and weather isn't too gloomy otherwise it's back to the rollers.



Still keeping an eye on the Wahoo Fitness KICKR trainer due out in Jan. Should be a lot better than rollers and has ability to work with Kinomaps, TrainerRoad, etc. so if you upload your ride data I could ride your rides with you, so to speak. I'm not too keen on the $999 pricing - was hoping it would hit a lot closer to the LeMond Revolution at $600.



-Eric

 

[John Dorlon]

At least I'm not the only

At least I'm not the only one.

That's a cool roller. Pricey, though. I havent seen that one before. I did well on rollers on my DF but I can't ride them long on the Silvio. There's too much forward and backward rocking and I keep falling off. So my plan for this year is to try to ride through the winter. We'll see how that goes. It's only November but so far so good. I'd probably be singing a different tune if I lived in Michigan!

-John

 

[Eric Winn]

My first 2 hours on rollers

My first 2 hours on rollers to start training for events in 2013 and to participate in the UMCA Indoor Challenge. At the moment I'm tied for 6th place with 9 total participants - sarcasm alert - woot!

Interestingly my cadence on my prior outdoor ride averaged 72.8rpm and the roller ride was 70.3rpm. I usually tend to hit around a 60rpm cadence on my rollers but I made an effort to stay in lower gears most of the time to see what my average cadence would result in.

As you can see from my heart rate and other data I was not trying very hard - just trying to keep steady with a few harder efforts during commercials.

I intend to follow Dan's lead and work toward HR-based training but I need to get a mount for my iPhone so I can monitor my HR during my ride.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1017733

It was 28F this morning so I have switched to very early roller riding for now...

John, you could probably ride your Silvio on the TACX Galaxia that we talked about in this forum post: http://cruzbike.com/vendetta-rollers-instead-trainer which also has a link to a YouTube video of a Silvio. Those rollers are around $300 on Amazon and other retailers.

-Eric

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Eric,
If you've got a

Hi Eric,

If you've got a Y-frame mountain bike lying around (or could get one easily), buying a conversion kit isn't much money (well, not when you consider the price of the V) and would get you MBBed and ready to go. And I'm sure there will be days that you won't want to take your shiny new V anyways and having a conversion lying around won't hurt.

I'm not getting a commision from Cruzbike, I swear!

Cheers,
Charles

 

[BobD]

Early a.m. TDay ride...

Just got back from my third ride on my V2/K, and today I really noticed a difference. Muscle memories are beginning to take root. I was able to start off relatively well....though ran into a few challenges when practicing starting later in the ride....all in time.

In addition to the fun/challenge.....I think that another real plus to learning how to ride a Cruzbike has to do with enhancing our brain functioning given the neuroplasticity of the brain. Learning how to ride a Cruzbike creates all kinds of neat neural pathways....

I have been a tad apprehensive about going forth and purchasing a Silvio....due to the learning curve issue. I now see this as less of a challenge and more of a gift....perhaps both?

Was a blast this morning.....
For all who are celebrating TDay....enjoy!!!
Bob

 

[defjack]

   Bob if you can ride your

Bob if you can ride your conversion the Silvio will be easy with no learning curve. Jack

 

[kenhardwick]

Time in the saddle...

Bob...good to hear you got out and rode today...and continue to see that "improvement" happens pretty much with each mile ridden.
I'm up over 800 miles now with about 500 miles in last 6 weeks. I have ridden 16 days so far this month. I think riding almost daily, even short 5-10 miles, really helps in the learning curve. At this point now, I feel comfortable riding at 10-14 mps while riding around town in traffic, stop signs, signal lights, etc. I'm still more cautious/tenative in some situations on my Silvio than would had been on my Goldrush. Such as crossing busy roadways especially from standstill...sharp turns...loose gravel...etc.
Bottom line...very happy I've purchased my Silvio...and now spend much less time while riding my Silvio "thinking about how to ride it" and much more time enjoying riding it.

Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving day...

 

[psychling]

Eric ... HR device ..

Hi Eric .... Not sure what device you use to real-time observe your HR but I use my Garmin 500. I modify the settings to turn the GPS off, set the display to only time and HR and (because I train indoors in my bike shed where it is often dim to pitch dark) set the backlight to `on' all the time. Then I upload it to Garmin Connect that shows a decent graph of the pattern I was attempting.

When on the open road I attend very little to HR because the training session is a function of my larger plan, i.e., long duration v. short jumps (intervals) up the hills.

 

[Eric Winn]

I Dan,
I have a Wahoo Blue HR

I Dan,

I have a Wahoo Blue HR that I use with my iPhone 5 running Cylemeter and I upload to RideWithGPS.com to view my metrics, including HR zone info. My resting HR is 48bpm and my max is about 189bpm.

http://ridewithgps.com/users/122247

At the moment I don't monitor while I'm riding or rolling, I check my results at the end of my ride.

I would like to monitor my riding while on rollers so I can tailor my workout to different training objectives.

I may try a bike mount or I think I can get my phone screen to display on a TV. Alternatively I can run Cyclemeter on my iPad and mount that on a stand where I can see it.

-Eric

 

[BobD]

Great news.....

@ Jack: Sounds great to me! I have wondered exactly about what you just said.
My recall is that you have built a few conversions?
What are the differences you have noticed in riding the conversion vs the Silvio? How does the handling differ between the two bikes? I was actually hoping that my decision to start learning on my "mtn bike" Cruzbike would prepare me well for riding my Silvio.

I decided to build the V2/K for two reasons.....I really wanted to build a bike from scratch. And.....I wanted to learn how to ride the MBB prior to committing to the cost/committment of the Silvio. Although I have ridden it just three times.....I am confident that the Cruzbike will be a great choice for me. I find it a blast.

@Ken: Your progress is fantastic AND inspirational! I had figured that once my Silvio is "road-ready".....I will need to put about 1000 miles on it before feeling as comfortable as I do on my ER LWB. Your experience support my wondering. Great to hear you are still real happy about your Silvio purchase.

Tomorrow I graduate to riding on the resevoir road......paved road with no cars....cannot wait! Tomorrow I'll bring along the Garmin.
Enjoy!!
Bob

 

[BobD]

Great news.....

@ Jack: Sounds great to me! I have wondered exactly about what you just said.
My recall is that you have built a few conversions?
What are the differences you have noticed in riding the conversion vs the Silvio? How does the handling differ between the two bikes? I was actually hoping that my decision to start learning on my "mtn bike" Cruzbike would prepare me well for riding my Silvio.

I decided to build the V2/K for two reasons.....I really wanted to build a bike from scratch. And.....I wanted to learn how to ride the MBB prior to committing to the cost/committment of the Silvio. Although I have ridden it just three times.....I am confident that the Cruzbike will be a great choice for me. I find it a blast.

@Ken: Your progress is fantastic AND inspirational! I had figured that once my Silvio is "road-ready".....I will need to put about 1000 miles on it before feeling as comfortable as I do on my ER LWB. Your experience support my wondering. Great to hear you are still real happy about your Silvio purchase.

Tomorrow I graduate to riding on the resevoir road......paved road with no cars....cannot wait! Tomorrow I'll bring along the Garmin.
Enjoy!!
Bob

 

[MrSteve]

November 22 Ride

It was an exceptional day, as traffic was both light and respectful.

The bicyclists I greeted in passing looked pretty much like me: grinning.

The weather was fantastic.
Seventy degrees F., calm and sunny.
The roads were clean, leaf-free and dry.

After I'd warmed up, I headed for the fast road.
Specifically, the fastest part of the fast road...
-where it is sheltered from the wind by both trees and shrubs,
-is ruler-straight, I can see all the driveways for their full length
-and there is a slight downward slope.

On this stretch of road, I can keep up with the local racers,
can blow away the recreational riders and have never even been
paced by any other local recumbent.

Feeling warm and strong, I put all my effort into a burst of speed
on the fast-part-of-the-fast road...
and for a pedal stroke, maybe two, the speedometer read,
'29.7' miles per hour.
I really tried to make the speed 30mph.
I really did.
It's in reach though!

Today, the day after, my lower back is screaming at me.
That's how badly I wanted to reach 30mph....

What a nice ride;
what a beautiful day.

-Steve

 

[Andrew 1973]

Thanksgiving Day Ride

I took my two girls out for a short ride on Thanksgiving. I was on my soon-to-be-sold Peugeot (have to raise funds and clear garage space for a Cruzbike!).

It was great, even after my youngest got a flat and we had to walk the remaineder home

 

[defjack]

 Heres my fun factor for me

Heres my fun factor for me out of 50 the Vendetta 50,Silvio 49, conversion 41.5 to 45 depending on donor.If you want a fun exciting ride just take a Silvio or Vendetta for a ride and ride as hard as you can and you will always come back grinning they are that much fun to ride. Jack

 

[BobD]

Clipless in CT

I was able to squeeze in a 40 minute ride at our local resevoir road before dark........95% paved.....a FUN and at times challenging ride. By the end of the ride I was wishing for more daylight as the ride began to get smoother....and smoother.

I used my Eggbeaters for the first time, and most importantly got a GREAT glimpse of what folks have been talking about regarding hill climbing. Today I went up my first hill with the V2/K. I was able to compare it to prior rides on my LWB. It became very clear how beneficial the role of the handlebar can be in creating efficiency/ease of climbing. Also found it interesting as to how easy it was to handle the bike moving uphill....

I cannot wait to get out tomorrow when I will should be able to hit the bike trail for a longer ride.

So....is there a 12-Step Program for Cruzbike riders????
Happy post Tday all....
Bob

 

[kenhardwick]

Continue to enjoy my Silvio...Black Friday ride...

Wind was 15-20 mph out of the North...so wife was kind enough drive me and my Silvio out to start of group ride which was about 30 miles nw of home...rode 10 miles south with the group for breakfast then as they headed back north against the wind..I continue riding south with wind...great 31 miler mostly with the wind...

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/246019176

 

[kenhardwick]

Bob...way to go.....

Step 1 = buy a SILVIO then skip to Step 12...go for a daily ride...