HooDoo 500: When someone says recumbents Cant Climb (short vid)

Robert Volk

Robert Volk

Member
HooDoo 500 3 Day Stage Race:

Day 1 https://www.strava.com/activities/5876015454
Day 2 https://www.strava.com/activities/5876035111
Day 3 https://www.strava.com/activities/5876051378


The pre-race meeting was Thursday August 26th, where the race directory, Deborah Bowling, first went through all the rules for the crews, racers, talked about special ride zones, where and how racers could and could not be supported and then introduced all the racers. “Robert Volk will be riding a recumbent!” she stated as I walked up to the front of the room as everyone gathered for a photo. “You should have seen the look on peoples faces!” said my wife, “it was like… OkAAaaay… good luck with that..” It was the look of skepticism, after all, everyone KNOWS that recumbents can’t climb. I was the only recumbent there.

The best part of day one was a fun descent where the road was steep, straight, and mostly smooth. Everyone was doing their best to go as fast as possible. I passed a DF cyclist doing a supertuck, the V20 passing at 50.7 mph! That is a top speed for me ever on this bicycle! Yeah, this thing is super aero. Often on low to medium grades I would coast right past DF'ers that were still pedaling theirs!

The person I passed looked like they were doing maybe 35-40 mph, just a guess, I flew by them very fast. The crew member of the person I passed said to my wife, “I bet he was doing 60 mph, right?” to which my wife replied, “No, he said he won’t do anything over 40.” Well, that is just what we say to our wives sometimes I guess ;)

In the video I slowly passed someone on a steep grade.

60 Seconds:

Not sure of the %, 11 maybe. I don't look at that as I don't want to know hard it is. Later I asked what his easiest gear was later that day, he said 34-32, which is my easiest gear also. The best comment I got the day was from a crew member of another racer, we kept overtaking each other all day long. Their crewmember exclaimed to me: “They say recumbents can’t climb, but I’m calling BS on that one, at least with you on it anyway!”

Anyway, finish with a 34:36 cumulative time, 6th overall, 4th for my age group, out of 17 starters. Not too bad for my first time in the mountains!

My navigator heard the following at the finish line when I rolled in. "He did the 500?! On a Recumbent?! Every recumbent I've seen had to walk up hills, he didn't!"

"Well its a Cruzbike", my navigator replied.

"Still! A Recumbent?!"

Looking forward to the next iteration of the V20!
 
Last edited:
jond

jond

Zen MBB Master
Great stuff. Listening to your climbing breathing was giving me bad memories lol. That point where you go past the point of no return ..... the other riders peripheral vision. You have to keep going no matter the pain. Awesome well done and congratulations. You may have the best climbing bent but you’re still lugging extra uphill with a minimum stall speed higher than any rwd bike.
 
Lief

Lief

Guru Schmuru
@RRV - oh yeah! Thanks for the report and the memories!
My avatar pic is of me riding through snow canyon the year I did HooDoo500. I walked one hill at the end of Day 1 (wrongly-geared at 36/28 if memory serves in my low end) and was better for it. That descent tho...yeah; it was awesome.
I read back (https://forum.cruzbike.com/threads/hoodoo-500-stage-race.8815/page-2) and I claimed a top speed of 58+ (I think that was day 2 after Grand Staircase Escalante summit) - since my wife was following me in the RentalSAG she had a speedometer so; she knows. :D

Great job man! Keepin' it alive.
 
Jim Parker

Jim Parker

Cruzbike, Inc. Director
Staff member
Well done Robert Volk! You did the Cruzbike tribe proud with that performance. The Hoodoo 500 course has not been so kind to recumbent riders who aren't riding a Cruzbike. It takes a great effort no matter what you are riding.
 
T

ts40m

New Member
Seems like a pretty amazing ride. Not something I can do for sure. But honestly I think we should call it like it is and cruzbike does not climb as well as a DF and no amount of promotion will change that simple fact. The only climbs my S40 matches my DF are short steep rollers or climbs in the 3 to 4 percent range. Clearly the tool of choice for big mountain climbs for me is a DF. Doesn’t matter to me if I can’t go as fast downhill I feel safer descending on a DF and a 8 to 10 lb heavier bike is just slower slogging uphill (not to mention the bio mechanical disadvantage from the reclined position in generating intra abdominal pressure - reducing hip flexor torque). I am hoping though that my descending skill on my S40 improves over time - on my regular rides and fooling around in the neighborhood my S40 is now feeling very agile (cruzbike owner since April and I now find control pretty amazing with this bike). However descending a real mountain this past summer was a bad experience filled with shots of anxiety which induced control issues. I didn’t mind so much climbing slower than normal but I didn’t like descending at all.
 
Last edited:
RAR

RAR

Well-Known Member
RRV said:
HooDoo 500 3 Day Stage Race:

Day 1 https://www.strava.com/activities/5876015454
Day 2 https://www.strava.com/activities/5876035111
Day 3 https://www.strava.com/activities/5876051378


The pre-race meeting was Thursday August 26th, where the race directory, Deborah Bowling, first went through all the rules for the crews, racers, talked about special ride zones, where and how racers could and could not be supported and then introduced all the racers. “Robert Volk will be riding a recumbent!” she stated as I walked up to the front of the room as everyone gathered for a photo. “You should have seen the look on peoples faces!” said my wife, “it was like… OkAAaaay… good luck with that..” It was the look of skepticism, after all, everyone KNOWS that recumbents can’t climb. I was the only recumbent there.

The best part of day one was a fun descent where the road was steep, straight, and mostly smooth. Everyone was doing their best to go as fast as possible. I passed a DF cyclist doing a supertuck, the V20 passing at 50.7 mph! That is a top speed for me ever on this bicycle! Yeah, this thing is super aero. Often on low to medium grades I would coast right past DF'ers that were still pedaling theirs!

The person I passed looked like they were doing maybe 35-40 mph, just a guess, I flew by them very fast. The crew member of the person I passed said to my wife, “I bet he was doing 60 mph, right?” to which my wife replied, “No, he said he won’t do anything over 40.” Well, that is just what we say to our wives sometimes I guess ;)

In the video I slowly passed someone on a steep grade.

60 Seconds:

Not sure of the %, 11 maybe. I don't look at that as I don't want to know hard it is. Later I asked what his easiest gear was later that day, he said 34-32, which is my easiest gear also. The best comment I got the day was from a crew member of another racer, we kept overtaking each other all day long. Their crewmember exclaimed to me: “They say recumbents can’t climb, but I’m calling BS on that one, at least with you on it anyway!”

Anyway, finish with a 34:36 cumulative time, 6th overall, 4th for my age group, out of 17 starters. Not too bad for my first time in the mountains!

My navigator heard the following at the finish line when I rolled in. "He did the 500?! On a Recumbent?! Every recumbent I've seen had to walk up hills, he didn't!"

"Well its a Cruzbike", my navigator replied.

"Still! A Recumbent?!"

Looking forward to the next iteration of the V20!
Click to expand...


Robert, Congratulations on a superb effort and result!
I'm so sad that I missed it seeing that I live in St. George, don't know how I didn't know it was happening.
Thanks for the report and for a job well done.

Rick
 
chicorider

chicorider

Zen MBB Master
After six years on my V20 and S30, I really appreciate how I can climb all day long (okay, that is an exaggeration, but seriously, climbing has always been my strength, and I can climb longer and with less fatigue on a CB than I ever could on a DF). I did a local 11 mile hill climb two days ago. My PR had long been 46:18, which I did on my last 15-pound DF bike during a time trial (the prize? A case of Sierra Nevada if you come in under your age. My age back then? 46. Missed it by 18 seconds). I did the same climb on Saturday on my 22-pound V20, without time trial conditions, in 44:05 (it was my first time up that hill with re-worked gearing, changing my 50/36 x 11-28 to a 52/36 x 11-30. It seems that the gearing change helped). My age? 53. None of this is to brag or argue, but only to say how glad I am that for me riding a CB has not meant making much in the way of concessions when it comes to climbing, and that in some ways (less fatigue), it has been to my advantage. (I will add, though, that none of this happened right away. It did take a while, some bike tinkering, and a lot of climbing).

Okay, short brag: I had the downhill KOM for this climb until a month ago. A local legend-type took it by 9 seconds. One of his buddies, a guy I don't know, commented on his Strava, "And on a real bike too!" which I knew was a dig at me. So I replied, "I rode 'real' bikes for 27 years until a bad lower back put me on my fake bike. But after having ridden both now for a while, knowing what I know, I would never go back to a 'real' bike. My fake bike is just too fun, fast, and comfortable to give up." The guy deleted his post, which meant that mine no longer made any sense, so I deleted mine too. But point made. Anyway, on my way back down on Saturday, I decided to give my new 52t chain ring a proper test and re-took the KOM by 4 seconds. If the local legend-type takes it back, it's his for keeps. That effort was all I had.
 
Frito Bandito

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
Nice going Chico. I am 53 now too, and enjoyed taking a few KOMs, even from myself on my V20 despite having less power. However, my highest FTP ever on my DF was 247w, and now I am at about 260w FTP on my V20, which is up from about 230w at the time of my DF 247w in January. I don't do much climbing now, but I could probably do some of the climbs faster now than I could on my DF. Maybe the extra power would be enough to cover the extra weight of my V20, maybe along with better aerodynamics too, but all I can say is that climbing on a V20 isn't so bad. I've taken 2 hard runs up Doshi road from Tokyo towards Mt. Fuji, 1 on my fast DF bike and 1 later on my V20. I got 38 PR's on my V20. It's not very steep except in a few places, but that shows it does climb. FWIW, my riding partner on his DF bike that I usually have to slow down for on the flats kicked my pants off on the climb :D
 
3bs

3bs

whereabouts unknown
there are three types of riding attitudes. flat, uphill, and downhill. bents own two out of three: flat and downhill. i hated climbing before i rode bents, and that has not changed. i think the cb is a better climber than almost any two wheel bent until you get wheel slip. but if we are talking extreme climbs of endless distances, i prefer my trike. i can go as slow as i want, i can stop and start when i want, and i don't flop over.
 
Frito Bandito

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
Same here. I bought the V20 to go fast so I stay on the flats and only do hills when it is absolutely necessary. Alex with Fast Fitness Tips on Youtube did a small experiment on the aero differences between climbing on the hoods and on the drops, and concluded that aero on the hoods trumps power on the drops until you get under about 10kph, then it is better to get on the hoods. It would be nice to see at what slopes and speed the V20's and even S40's aeros trumps DF bikes power output.
 
T

ts40m

New Member
Frito Bandito said:
Nice going Chico. I am 53 now too, and enjoyed taking a few KOMs, even from myself on my V20 despite having less power. However, my highest FTP ever on my DF was 247w, and now I am at about 260w FTP on my V20, which is up from about 230w at the time of my DF 247w in January. I don't do much climbing now, but I could probably do some of the climbs faster now than I could on my DF. Maybe the extra power would be enough to cover the extra weight of my V20, maybe along with better aerodynamics too, but all I can say is that climbing on a V20 isn't so bad. I've taken 2 hard runs up Doshi road from Tokyo towards Mt. Fuji, 1 on my fast DF bike and 1 later on my V20. I got 38 PR's on my V20. It's not very steep except in a few places, but that shows it does climb. FWIW, my riding partner on his DF bike that I usually have to slow down for on the flats kicked my pants off on the climb :D
Click to expand...

About your FTP test, I assume it was indoor, were you sitting up at all or laying back? I assume laying back but just wanted to confirm. And do you notice a power output difference between laying back and sitting, and what is your position when you are trying to climb fast (say 7 percent or steeper) laying back or sitting up? I don’t ride with a power meter and haven’t gotten set up indoors yet but on the S40 I see a clear difference in speed between sitting up and laying back, unless it is a fast flat where being aero rules.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
visit our website visit our website
Top