Bicycle Enthusiasts

[HawkGold]

I was going to get into biking but I wanted an F-150 and my wife insisted that we get an Explorer instead and I'm too cheap and lazy to get one of those bike carrier things. We have a ridiculous amount of serious bikers here and because it is in the foothills it is inevitable that you will be stuck behind some asswipe on his bike going 2 mph up a hill. And oh by the way there are absolutely no shoulders on most roads plus all sorts of blind curves so you're stuck behind that asswipe until you hit the right spot to pass.

To be clear, I wanted an F-150 because I would NEVER ride my bike on the road here and wanted to truck my bike up to the mountains or to the trail system they have built. There are bicyclist fatalities all the time. One of my buddies almost died a few weeks ago when he spilled it on Paris Mountain, which is a tiny mountain. Dude was riding down and biffed while going over 35. Broke his clavicle and three ribs. Punctured lung. Said it happened around dusk and no one found him for almost an hour until the ranger was making final rounds. Dude was in the hospital for 5 days and thinks he would have died had the ranger not seen him.

A friend of mine about 15 years ago was coming home at dusk...was pretty dark. He cut the corner of his street and put his front tire in the ditch which threw him headlong into the culver. Cut his head wide and I mean wide open. He was always on his bike and made that corner hundreds/thousands of times. People couldn't see his body in the ditch and it took hours before he was found.

This morning with temps in the 60s going downhill among trees, sweating, and then hitting cool moist air..., nothing feels (well almost nothing) better than that.

 

[HawkGold]

I'll admit that I was one of those gomers who purposely went out there looking for KOMs to break. I don't anymore. Mostly because I'm old.

You are not old chronologically.

 

[Fryowa]

I was going to get into biking but I wanted an F-150 and my wife insisted that we get an Explorer instead and I'm too cheap and lazy to get one of those bike carrier things. We have a ridiculous amount of serious bikers here and because it is in the foothills it is inevitable that you will be stuck behind some asswipe on his bike going 2 mph up a hill. And oh by the way there are absolutely no shoulders on most roads plus all sorts of blind curves so you're stuck behind that asswipe until you hit the right spot to pass.

To be clear, I wanted an F-150 because I would NEVER ride my bike on the road here and wanted to truck my bike up to the mountains or to the trail system they have built. There are bicyclist fatalities all the time. One of my buddies almost died a few weeks ago when he spilled it on Paris Mountain, which is a tiny mountain. Dude was riding down and biffed while going over 35. Broke his clavicle and three ribs. Punctured lung. Said it happened around dusk and no one found him for almost an hour until the ranger was making final rounds. Dude was in the hospital for 5 days and thinks he would have died had the ranger not seen him.

If you do get a bike, do not under any circumstances cheap out. Spend as much cash as you possibly can even though it sounds frivolous.

With any bike or bike parts there are three ways you can have it---cheap, light, and strong--but you can only pick two.

My roadie weighs 13 lbs with Boyd carbon rims and it's a total pleasure to ride. Also get the nicest (unfortunately the most expensive) group set you can afford. I rode mid-level Shimano 105 stuff for years and it worked ok, went to DuraAce on this rig, and I don't regret it for a minute. Much more refined and lighter. I know that's a bunch of Greek to a non bike person, but the short version is when you're looking at bikes and decide on a model that you think fits your bill, go one trim level up even though you think it's unneeded. Buy once, cry once.

 

[racerhawk]

It is crazy. I almost always bike with the wife which keeps me in check. That and a concussion a few years ago. It is spectacularly beautiful. Lots of trails around the mountains. We bike when we can around Frisco.

I like to bike around Glacier, but there just isn't much in the way of actual trails. A place that was surprisingly fun is Saguaro both on the road and off the road. Of course, it was early spring. Not very busy. But at Vail Pass it's the corners. Also, I don't think people realize the closing speed.

My dad was a cop and I saw people with red lights approaching do strange things that can't be anticipated. Kind of the same way with bikes and bike trails.

I'm not sure if you had the opportunity to ride the copper triangle route which includes Vail pass. Amazing loop with three high altitude passes. Children's Hospital Colorado does a ride (very well supported which starts and ends at Copper Mountain) that is a great way to do it. It's called Courage Classic.

Also, if you ever want to ride an awesome point to point ride, it is the Triple Bypass which starts in Evergreen, goes up Squaw, Loveland, and Vail passes. Shuttle ride back from Vail. 10,000ft of climbing and well deserved beers.

And if you ever get back to So Cal, I'm learning the Santa Monica mountains very, very well because I live very close to them! I can show you around.

I've never been to Saguaro. Is it great?

 

[Fryowa]

You are not old chronologically.

In road cyclist performance units I'm ancient.

Whatever you do, don't buy a power meter. I did when I was in my 20s and used it to great effect in my training. It helped me get a lot stronger by being able to monitor and track myself.

It also crushes your existential perception of yourself like a sledgehammer, as you get into your mid thirties and see your maximum output plummet while your perceived output keeps going up every year. It's not a linear drop, either.

It is a quite literal real time measurement of your body ever so slowly wearing out and failing that you can do nothing about. Doesn't bother me much, but I've actually had friends sell PM wheels because they can't stand to see their power output disappear as they get older. It truly slaps you in the face with cold hard data.

 

[racerhawk]

I'll admit that I was one of those gomers who purposely went out there looking for KOMs to break. I don't anymore. Mostly because I'm old.

I used to kinda be into that but since I moved to places where all of the KOM holders are UCI pros, I definitely gave up. I did a mtn bike ride (really challening) on Sat and saw that a pro did the descent in basically half the time I did. Ouch!

 

[Fryowa]

I used to kinda be into that but since I moved to places where all of the KOM holders are UCI pros, I definitely gave up. I did a mtn bike ride (really challening) on Sat and saw that a pro did the descent in basically half the time I did. Ouch!

Where I live in Iowa all the rural roads are a 1 mile by 1 mile grid, zero curves. So a lot of the KOMs in my immediate are are 1 mile drag races. There was one several years ago that is downhill and hadn’t been set yet. I went out on a crazy windy day (with the wind), and just frickin hammered it. Averaged like 33 mph. Wind must’ve been blowing like 30 as well. Did it that one time and basically forgot about it.

A couple months ago I got an email alert that someone beat it (right around Ragbrai season although Ragbrai wasn’t around here), and it was some 22 year old kid from NY state. No wind, either, he just frickin powered down and kicked my ass. I googled his name and he’s a collegiate Cat 1 in New England and had a whole bunch of crit and road wins. No idea what he was doing here but he lemme have it, that’s for sure.

 

[racerhawk]

In road cyclist performance units I'm ancient.

Whatever you do, don't buy a power meter. I did when I was in my 20s and used it to great effect in my training. It helped me get a lot stronger by being able to monitor and track myself.

It also crushes your existential perception of yourself like a sledgehammer, as you get into your mid thirties and see your maximum output plummet while your perceived output keeps going up every year. It's not a linear drop, either.

It is a quite literal real time measurement of your body ever so slowly wearing out and failing that you can do nothing about. Doesn't bother me much, but I've actually had friends sell PM wheels because they can't stand to see their power output disappear as they get older. It truly slaps you in the face with cold hard data.

I'm getting pretty ancient. I've been riding since I was a 16 year old, riding the rollers near Marshalltown. I'm in my 50s now. I was a very early adopter of power meter technology back in the day, and I completely appreciate your perspective.

I DO think it's still good to have one IF you can put the ego aside and realize there are training limitations as we age, as well as simple limitations related to aging. I used to put up MUCH higher power numbers than I do now, but I've learned to accept that, and use the power meter as a tool to gauge improvements over time, which I can still do (given my near-agedness). Testing FTP (functional threshold power) is great because you can tailor workouts (intervals or otherwise) and have a much better training effect. My peak 5 sec power used to be over 1700 watts but I haven't seen that in 20 years. I still have fun.

If you just want to have fun and ride, and aren't really training for specific goals, by all means don't buy a power meter. It would be unnecessary, especially if you hyper focus on it... would take the joy out of a really cool sport.

 

[Fryowa]

I'm getting pretty ancient. I've been riding since I was a 16 year old, riding the rollers near Marshalltown. I'm in my 50s now. I was a very early adopter of power meter technology back in the day, and I completely appreciate your perspective.

I DO think it's still good to have one IF you can put the ego aside and realize there are training limitations as we age, as well as simple limitations related to aging. I used to put up MUCH higher power numbers than I do now, but I've learned to accept that, and use the power meter as a tool to gauge improvements over time, which I can still do (given my near-agedness). Testing FTP (functional threshold power) is great because you can tailor workouts (intervals or otherwise) and have a much better training effect. My peak 5 sec power used to be over 1700 watts but I haven't seen that in 20 years. I still have fun.

If you just want to have fun and ride, and aren't really training for specific goals, by all means don't buy a power meter. It would be unnecessary, especially if you hyper focus on it... would take the joy out of a really cool sport.

I used it with FTP training for quite a while. It helped, a lot. As I got older and my kid is involved in sports, I got involved in coaching (now I coach varsity level so I have zero time all summer), and we travel to Hawkeye games in the fall I don’t have the structure needed to train like that. I’m also not NEARLY in the shape I used to be. Not even close. To be honest I don’t even really look at power numbers anymore.

One thing I’ve come to understand with cycling or any physical training, is something a road racer and training mentor said to me at one point…

“Don’t overthink a workout. Pick something that sounds hard. Do it. If it’s hard you’re getting stronger.”

Applies to weights, running, etc. Too many people get bogged down in particulars. Unless you are training for 100% maximization of a specific phase of a sport you don’t really need to worry about it. Just do something that’s hard to do and you’ll be fine.

 

[HawkGold]

In road cyclist performance units I'm ancient.

Whatever you do, don't buy a power meter. I did when I was in my 20s and used it to great effect in my training. It helped me get a lot stronger by being able to monitor and track myself.

It also crushes your existential perception of yourself like a sledgehammer, as you get into your mid thirties and see your maximum output plummet while your perceived output keeps going up every year. It's not a linear drop, either.

It is a quite literal real time measurement of your body ever so slowly wearing out and failing that you can do nothing about. Doesn't bother me much, but I've actually had friends sell PM wheels because they can't stand to see their power output disappear as they get older. It truly slaps you in the face with cold hard data.

My soccer knee understands completely...

 

[HawkGold]

I'm not sure if you had the opportunity to ride the copper triangle route which includes Vail pass. Amazing loop with three high altitude passes. Children's Hospital Colorado does a ride (very well supported which starts and ends at Copper Mountain) that is a great way to do it. It's called Courage Classic.

Also, if you ever want to ride an awesome point to point ride, it is the Triple Bypass which starts in Evergreen, goes up Squaw, Loveland, and Vail passes. Shuttle ride back from Vail. 10,000ft of climbing and well deserved beers.

And if you ever get back to So Cal, I'm learning the Santa Monica mountains very, very well because I live very close to them! I can show you around.

I've never been to Saguaro. Is it great?

Thx for the tips. The wife's family lives from Redlands to Scripp's Ranch with Ranch Palos Verdes in between. Been out there 6 times in the last 15 months... I also really enjoy Moro Bay and Catalina for some biking. I also really like where I live... near Champaign as there are a lot of bikers and lots of hard roads and park trails. Will keep Santa Monica in mind though I have no trips planned. As I typically ride with the wife, I'm somewhat limited on how challenging the ride. She's really good, but... It's something we can enjoy together. I just have to keep remembering to look back. She doesn't like being in front for fear I'll run into her.

Smoky Mtn is also enjoyable though limited to the NC side where the Elk are and one needs to be aware of stupid people getting way close to them in the fall and making them mad. Through August they open Cades Cove to only bikers on certain days in the summer.

I really liked Saguaro as I also like photography and got some great pics. It's unique and not real crowded. Go not in summer.

 

[racerhawk]

Thx for the tips. The wife's family lives from Redlands to Scripp's Ranch with Ranch Palos Verdes in between. Been out there 6 times in the last 15 months... I also really enjoy Moro Bay and Catalina for some biking. I also really like where I live... near Champaign as there are a lot of bikers and lots of hard roads and park trails. Will keep Santa Monica in mind though I have no trips planned. As I typically ride with the wife, I'm somewhat limited on how challenging the ride. She's really good, but... It's something we can enjoy together. I just have to keep remembering to look back. She doesn't like being in front for fear I'll run into her.

Smoky Mtn is also enjoyable though limited to the NC side where the Elk are and one needs to be aware of stupid people getting way close to them in the fall and making them mad. Through August they open Cades Cove to only bikers on certain days in the summer.

I really liked Saguaro as I also like photography and got some great pics. It's unique and not real crowded. Go not in summer.

I frequently ride from my house on a bike trail to the ocean, then head south to Rancho Palos Verdes. PV has some nice little climbs and it really beautiful over the ocean.

I rode a bit near Knoxville TN back in the day over Deals Gap into NC and that general area. Beautiful roads and climbing. Have to get back to the Smoky Mtns someday...

I do miss the rural Iowa roads from my teen and young adult years, although I'm sure even those roads are much more dangerous these days (texting, drunks, white pickup trucks with truck nutz).

 

[HawkGold]

I frequently ride from my house on a bike trail to the ocean, then head south to Rancho Palos Verdes. PV has some nice little climbs and it really beautiful over the ocean.

I rode a bit near Knoxville TN back in the day over Deals Gap into NC and that general area. Beautiful roads and climbing. Have to get back to the Smoky Mtns someday...

I do miss the rural Iowa roads from my teen and young adult years, although I'm sure even those roads are much more dangerous these days (texting, drunks, white pickup trucks with truck nutz).

If I lived where you did, I'd be pretty happy where I was...

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Bikers generally know which roads to stay away from. We had 2 fatalities last year and most bikers wouldn't think of riding in those spots. On one of them a rich guy in a sports car was drinking and when the truck in front of him moved over to go around a family, he moved further left, killing the husband/dad right in front of them. He was a medical doctor.

That said, back in the 70s something like 1 in 60 people would eventually die in a car wreck. People drove anyway. What you say is correct. Actually one of the most dangerous places I've ever ridden a bike is going east from Vail pass due to bikers flying by going downhill. I prefer the afternoon during a thunderstorm as the serious crazies don't ride then. Then that leaves lightning to think about.

As I mentioned in IL, most rural roads are somewhat hard-surfaced, unlike the Iowa gravel roads. Leaves a lot more options for biking.

That used to be the cases but I think that has lessened over the years due to distraction. Yea, you can limit a bit but drivers still aren't paying attention and there are plenty of cars on those blacktopped county roads.

We selected routes back in the day training for RABRAI, but this was just in the infancy of cell phones and I'm not sure texting was all that popular at the time. It has completely changed over the years. I wouldn't let my boys ride on the road, especially a county blacktopped road.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Where I live in Iowa all the rural roads are a 1 mile by 1 mile grid, zero curves. So a lot of the KOMs in my immediate are are 1 mile drag races. There was one several years ago that is downhill and hadn’t been set yet. I went out on a crazy windy day (with the wind), and just frickin hammered it. Averaged like 33 mph. Wind must’ve been blowing like 30 as well. Did it that one time and basically forgot about it.

A couple months ago I got an email alert that someone beat it (right around Ragbrai season although Ragbrai wasn’t around here), and it was some 22 year old kid from NY state. No wind, either, he just frickin powered down and kicked my ass. I googled his name and he’s a collegiate Cat 1 in New England and had a whole bunch of crit and road wins. No idea what he was doing here but he lemme have it, that’s for sure.

Damn it. Now I have to Google biking and KOM's. They are logging records in your rural area in Iowa???? WTF?

 

[Fryowa]

Damn it. Now I have to Google biking and KOM's. They are logging records in your rural area in Iowa???? WTF?

With cycling it means 2 different things.

Originally it meant King Of The Mountain which was the informal title given to the best climber in a multi-stage road race.

Several years ago a company called Strava came along and let users track and share their rides via GPS on their social media sites. They created a feature where users could designate a route of pretty much any length, and it tracked other users' time through that route. You didn't even have to go looking for them, if you went through a route that someone had created it automatically entered your time on the leaderboard. The leading time was called the "KOM," and if you overtake someone it's called "stealing" their KOM. You get a little email notification congratulating you.

Anyway, it became sort of a fad to go out chasing KOMs and racking up as many as you can. It also gave people a chance to see how they compare to pro UCI riders. Some routes have hundreds of thousands of times recorded. There was a movement to get rid of the feature after people started getting killed bombing descents, etc. trying to steal KOMs, but they've kept it so far.

 

[HawkGold]

That used to be the cases but I think that has lessened over the years due to distraction. Yea, you can limit a bit but drivers still aren't paying attention and there are plenty of cars on those blacktopped county roads.

We selected routes back in the day training for RABRAI, but this was just in the infancy of cell phones and I'm not sure texting was all that popular at the time. It has completely changed over the years. I wouldn't let my boys ride on the road, especially a county blacktopped road.

Depends on how old your kids are. In the country you can see and hear vehicles coming from a long way and you can tell by sound what is going on. Then again, Iowa doesn't have the county blacktops like I'm talking about where those roads are really highways.

 

[Fryowa]

Depends on how old your kids are. In the country you can see and hear vehicles coming from a long way and you can tell by sound what is going on. Then again, Iowa doesn't have the county blacktops like I'm talking about where those roads are really highways.

I never heard a thing when I got hit. The only thing I heard was the air through my helmet straps and then bam.

I had a flashing red that was visible at over a mile. Sometimes it’s just your day to get fucked up.

Oh and no one should ever use one of those little dental mirrors on a stick that attach to your helmet. They look like a smart idea but just the opposite. Throw it away if anyone has one. Had a rider on the Boji campus ride a few years ago wipe out and the mirror broke off, the stem of it went through his cheek just below his eye and jammed in his lower jaw inside his mouth. Gruesome injury I wish I hadn’t seen, had to have surgery and was on antibiotics for a long time because of the infection. Why anyone would want to ride a bike at 20 mph+ with what’s essentially a knitting needle sticking straight out from their forehead is beyond me.

Last safety note of the day—don’t ever ride a bicycle with out handlebar plugs. Don’t ask me how I know because that’s a scene I don’t want to relive.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

With cycling it means 2 different things.

Originally it meant King Of The Mountain which was the informal title given to the best climber in a multi-stage road race.

Several years ago a company called Strava came along and let users track and share their rides via GPS on their social media sites. They created a feature where users could designate a route of pretty much any length, and it tracked other users' time through that route. You didn't even have to go looking for them, if you went through a route that someone had created it automatically entered your time on the leaderboard. The leading time was called the "KOM," and if you overtake someone it's called "stealing" their KOM. You get a little email notification congratulating you.

Anyway, it became sort of a fad to go out chasing KOMs and racking up as many as you can. It also gave people a chance to see how they compare to pro UCI riders. Some routes have hundreds of thousands of times recorded. There was a movement to get rid of the feature after people started getting killed bombing descents, etc. trying to steal KOMs, but they've kept it so far.

Interesting! I was wondering why a guy would be interested in traveling to Iowa to ride and break a record in rural Iowa. Like as you stated, a relatively simple route compared to a lot of places you all go to ride. It just seemed odd. Kind of still is when thinking about the record and specific ride he traveled for to break the KOM.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Depends on how old your kids are. In the country you can see and hear vehicles coming from a long way and you can tell by sound what is going on. Then again, Iowa doesn't have the county blacktops like I'm talking about where those roads are really highways.

Well, I was talking about county black top or rural highways, many concrete with markings.

If I remember correctly, you can't always hear the vehicles well, which can depend on the wind at times. You may hear them coming, but man, are they paying attention or see you. Then you have to trust they don't veer at the last second because not paying attention. Cars can easily and quickly drift.