Bicycle riding

[MoValley John]

Got 20 in this morning. Nice morning to ride... kind of humid but not too hot. Rode with one of my hiking buddies (the new cyclist with the Huffy bike) who I’ve been bike riding with all summer. He just got back yesterday afternoon from hiking two 14ers in Colorado last week. Interestingly he told me that all the biking has really helped his hiking. He said that after coming down a 14er his knees generally would hurt, but since he started biking, no problems! I can confirm as he was flying between 16-18 mph on the K96 path and I could barely keep up with him (probably only due to the constant stopping and starting on that path), so I’m guessing biking really is helping.

16-18 on a Huffy? Wow!!! Is that flat or downhill? I can maintain 21-22 mph on my Giant, but I drop to 18 over 20 miles. 16-18 on a department store bike is cooking.

[MoValley John]

While I'm quarantined, I'm considering modifying my bike. I've got nothing but time. I'm thinking of going from a 2x10 to a 1x12.

[JVShocker]

While I'm quarantined, I'm considering modifying my bike. I've got nothing but time. I'm thinking of going from a 2x10 to a 1x12.

I'm riding 3x9 and probably only use 4 of them.

You could allways take up painting. This is how underpaid pro cyclists get the work done.

[MadDog]

Yep, 16-18 on a Huffy on pretty flat paths. I agree it is impressive. I hate to think how fast he would go if he had a higher end bike. And that is coming off of 6 straight days of high altitude hiking in Colorado with just Tuesday off to drive back to Kansas.

BTW, maintaining 21-22 mph for any distance is quite impressive! I can do that going downhill on a nice surface (I.e. 127th street between Central and 13th...about a mile). Normally I’m about a 15-16 mph guy, but I’m old and weak and terrified of falling down at high speeds. I’ve learned enough things the hard way, including this year.

[JVShocker]

Had to work a bit late so limited on time. 15 miles tonight at an hour and 9 minutes. I'm so flipping jealous of you riders that get to post big speed averages. There's just not a lot of safe riding in Wichita (IMO) at high speeds. Most of my routes are undulating and (anymore) incorporate neighborhood riding with lots of turns and stops to get to the outskirts of the bike paths safely. Yeah, there are a few trails you can hit where you can fly by at 30 mph, but then there's the dreaded stop sign or "watch for cars" in the neighborhood sign. Did go at the WSU parking garage climb again. Starting to think I have ZERO CHANCE of making that climb in :45. My best time has been :49. Legs were pretty tired two days ago but recovered nicely last night, so I give it a go and two runs up the parking garage at :51 each tonight. Problem lies with the sharp turns and having to accelerate out of each turn. Need someone braver and younger to tackle the 5 inclines (4 sharp-problem turns) to see if :45 is possible. To put it in perspective, you can coast down pretty fast and brake hard in every turn and make :51 on the descent. Best wishes to MVJ and family and hope they recover well. Some riders just do recovery better than others, though (see below).

[wufan]

I need to get a bike.

[JVShocker]

Yep, 16-18 on a Huffy on pretty flat paths. I agree it is impressive. I hate to think how fast he would go if he had a higher end bike. And that is coming off of 6 straight days of high altitude hiking in Colorado with just Tuesday off to drive back to Kansas.

BTW, maintaining 21-22 mph for any distance is quite impressive! I can do that going downhill on a nice surface (I.e. 127th street between Central and 13th...about a mile). Normally I’m about a 15-16 mph guy, but I’m old and weak and terrified of falling down at high speeds. I’ve learned enough things the hard way, including this year.

As I've gotten older, its not so much the speed that I could ride at that I miss. Its just worry about drivers who are texting or whatever on portable devices that scares the hell out of me. Surprisingly in 30+ years of street and path cycling I have never had an accident or altercation with a driver. I've never even had a fall on the bike. Could have, though....

10-15 years ago I played cat and mouse with an incredible cyclist on a stretch of road along Douglas from Webb Road heading west. He passed me as we approached Rock Road. Light turned green and we head off towards Eastborough on Douglas. SO I decided (nice flat section) I'll pass him. SO I did and (again) we stop at the light at Woodlawn. Light turns green and he takes off even faster. SO I follow and he leads from Woodlawn down to Oliver (whch is mostly flat but a short bit of climb as you cross Edgemoor). The downhill portion to Oliver he's pushing 30 and I'm right behind him, like 5 feet behind him. actually made the light at Oliver, but then Douglas turns into a bit of rolling terrain as you head west to Hillside. There was a kids baseball game going on at the time at Blessed Sacrament and when I passed him next to the small field we were pushing 36 mph one behind the other. Anyone that's driven that section knows that at about Roosevelt, the road turns into a severe downhill to Hillside which was really unnerving. If I sit on my bike at the top and coast (no pedal) in an aero position, I would easily hit 25 mph at Hillside. Knowing there was nothing good going to come of this little race I bailed at Clifton before the downhill became severe. My days of "major street riding" are long gone until somebody gets rid of all the cars.

[revenge_of_shocka_khan]

While I'm quarantined, I'm considering modifying my bike. I've got nothing but time. I'm thinking of going from a 2x10 to a 1x12.

You will need to make a lot of mods for this to work.....primarily removing the front derailleur.

P.S.: Get will quick!

[revenge_of_shocka_khan]

As I've gotten older, its not so much the speed that I could ride at that I miss. Its just worry about drivers who are texting or whatever on portable devices that scares the hell out of me. Surprisingly in 30+ years of street and path cycling I have never had an accident or altercation with a driver. I've never even had a fall on the bike. Could have, though....

10-15 years ago I played cat and mouse with an incredible cyclist on a stretch of road along Douglas from Webb Road heading west. He passed me as we approached Rock Road. Light turned green and we head off towards Eastborough on Douglas. SO I decided (nice flat section) I'll pass him. SO I did and (again) we stop at the light at Woodlawn. Light turns green and he takes off even faster. SO I follow and he leads from Woodlawn down to Oliver (whch is mostly flat but a short bit of climb as you cross Edgemoor). The downhill portion to Oliver he's pushing 30 and I'm right behind him, like 5 feet behind him. actually made the light at Oliver, but then Douglas turns into a bit of rolling terrain as you head west to Hillside. There was a kids baseball game going on at the time at Blessed Sacrament and when I passed him next to the small field we were pushing 36 mph one behind the other. Anyone that's driven that section knows that at about Roosevelt, the road turns into a severe downhill to Hillside which was really unnerving. If I sit on my bike at the top and coast (no pedal) in an aero position, I would easily hit 25 mph at Hillside. Knowing there was nothing good going to come of this little race I bailed at Clifton before the downhill became severe. My days of "major street riding" are long gone until somebody gets rid of all the cars.

I rode around Fayetteville, Texas (about halfway between Austin and Houston), they have some good hills around there. Tried to see how fast I could go, keep in mind this was a number of years ago, but I hit 67.9 going on one of the downhills. I looked down and saw how fast the pavement was passing by and decided I was going too fast, but I was scared to put on the brakes. I just had to coast and let the next hill slow me down.

I have disc brakes on my cross bike. I would feel more comfortable at that speed with disc brakes, they are very stable and stop you quickly. Having said that, I don't have to drive to find hills anymore, I would have to do about a 35-40 mile out and back to start getting into hills like that these days. But there's not really a good way to get to those hills (streets are too busy). I have had my current bike up to a little over 45 on a downhill in the neighborhood but that was when a storm was coming in and with the wind behind me.

When I lived in Houston, I rode with a bunch of racers. I was by far the slowest person in the group. One of the people in the group used to go out and train with Lance Armstrong on mountain bikes. He could ride 'no-hands' a little over 20 on a mountain bike anytime he wanted to. He went to work for Shimano as a factory rep. One of the most interesting things about him was that he had a deformity that caused one leg to be a couple of inches shorter than the other one. I saw him walk one day (he walked with a limp) and after seeing him walk, I was amazed he was so fast on a bike.

About the only thing I have going for me these days is that, for some strange reason, I have lost very little speed as I have aged. I'm not fast, but I'm fast enough and I can go a long ways without breaking. I have rode with people I call rabbits - they go and sprint real hard for 5-10 miles and then they stop and take a 15 minute break. I can't keep up with the rabbits, but I most always pass them when they take a rest break and the usually never catch me after that. Sort of like the tortoise and the hare.

[MoValley John]

You will need to make a lot of mods for this to work.....primarily removing the front derailleur.

P.S.: Get will quick!

New front chainring, 12 speed shifter, 12 speed cassette, 12 speed derailleur.

[revenge_of_shocka_khan]

Yup, you have it all.

I have SRAM red on my folder, it is a 1X10 (or 11) and it never misses a shift.

[JVShocker]

I rode around Fayetteville, Texas (about halfway between Austin and Houston), they have some good hills around there. Tried to see how fast I could go, keep in mind this was a number of years ago, but I hit 67.9 going on one of the downhills. <snip>

About the only thing I have going for me these days is that, for some strange reason, I have lost very little speed as I have aged. I'm not fast, but I'm fast enough and I can go a long ways without breaking. I have rode with people I call rabbits - they go and sprint real hard for 5-10 miles and then they stop and take a 15 minute break. I can't keep up with the rabbits, but I most always pass them when they take a rest break and the usually never catch me after that. Sort of like the tortoise and the hare.

I'm done with fast. Don't care. Would rather be there to ride tomorrow.



If I recall, the turtle always won.

[MadDog]

I normally ride with two other guys... the hiker with the Huffy, and the “cat”, known for his cat like quickness. We’re all old buddies from high school, WSU grads, and now are retired old dudes. Cat has some good biking stories. Back in the day when he was younger, he too rode with a young Lance Armstrong back when Armstrong was a very good rider, but had not yet broken out on the national stage. He also lived in Seattle for a while and used to do these 100 mile rides with this group of biking studs. They’d be riding the coast and hit these blind dark tunnels at 60 mph. That sounds beyond terrifying to me! He’s much tamer these days. But if you’re ever out riding the Wichita bike paths and blow by three old geezers, and find one has chased you down and is drafting off you, that was the Cat. He never could let it stand if somebody blew by him.

Oh, and JV, I’m trying to imagine how you can ride 30 mph on Douglas. So much traffic, and not a great surface. I can’t even dream of doing something like that. It’s good that I’m happy doing what I can do!

[MoValley John]

Wife nixed the bike mod. She okayed me switching from oil to paraffin and teflon. Teflon powder, paraffin and a new chain arrived today. With nothing else to do, I dove in. It took several hours, mainly to clean my current and new chain. I may have broke quarantine after dark to try the bike out. It's amazing! Since I'm really not supposed to be out, I just rode through an industrial area, determined to avoid people at all costs. I didnt see a soul. Did a quick 7 miles. It was amazing how freaking quiet the whole groupset is with paraffin. It's also quick and responsive shifting.

Anyway, before anyone gets too upset, I was told by my Dr. and an expert at the med center if I rode early or late and didnt encounter anyone, it would be safe. They did harken that this is not advice given out normally, as it would be abused. I just tried the bike out with the waxed chain and wont ride again for 10 days-2 weeks, when I'll test again for covid.

The paraffin is supposed to be good for 150-200 miles depending on how you ride and the conditions. I'm going to buy 2-3 more chains and set them up. That way, its 10 minutes or less once a week to switch chains and once a month or so, you re wax all of your chains.

This first go at paraffin is a test. When I shake this covid bs, I'll give a better review. Also, it is tedious on the front end, you go through several soaks until the chain is clean from all oils and grease. You also need to clean your derailleurs, chainrings and cassette. It took 3-1/2 hours, all to complete two chains and meticulously clean my dtivetrain.

[MoValley John]

This is how clean I got the drivetrain. The paraffin is supposed to help keep it that way.