Question about Pedals

[Susan126]

goddess,

Well? How did the maiden voyage of your Terry seat go? I too rode on my new seat this weekend. Joe and I rode a 50 miler on Saturday and a 36 miler on Sunday. And my butt ain't sore no more! LOL Finally, I found a comfortable seat for my road bike. I may even get one for my mountain bike when it's time for a new one for her. It's a general seat I believe so it should work fine on both my road and mountain bike. Can't wait to hear about your "seat" report!

Oh, my seat is a specialized women's dolce all leather upper seat. I love it!

Sue

[goddess1222]

hi gals!!

missliz: thank you for clearing up the confusion for me. now i understand. and to stay away from steel, i will do. i have aluminum wheels now and love them. the front is radially laced and the rear is radially laced on one side and 3 spoke cross on the other. the wheelset is great, race ready and rockin'. but i would like another set, maybe with less spokes, more aero etc. i am still learning about spoke pattern and what not.

i took my bike out yesterday and today, and i am finding that even though the ride is rigid, i am sort of getting used to it. but i like the idea of not having that "click click click" when i coast.

p.s. i just love the open road. the scenery, the road, the MEN. saw a cutie patootie this weekend out there. the only time i can get away with waving and smiling. yum!!

goddess1222

[goddess1222]

hi susan. here is the update.

sunday i took the bike out early(church traffic is so much more polite). i didn't pay too much attention to the seat because i didn't have to. i barely knew it was there!!! such a difference from my Fuji. it's a hit.

45 minutes in i felt a little chafing but i wore a different chamois today and that took care of it.

i didn't go very far because i am still trying to build the mileage up. so the real test will come when i start rockin'. i have a great rolling hills area out here, and after the second rolling hill, i was ready to die. road riding is a hell of a lot harder than spin class. but i intend to supplement with other things like i have been doing. i would like to start swimming too. but i have a pretty active job, and it wears me out, so unfortunately, i can't do as much as i would like. i envy those who train long hours for centuries. i have wanted to make a century my goal.


goddess1222

[Veronica]

We did our very first organized century last June. I used Spin classes as my training during the week - but I'd try to keep my heart rate higher for most of the class. More towards the 80 - 85% range with blips even higher to try to build my aerobic capacity. Then we would do one long ride each weekend, 'cause that's all we could fit in. We started off with rides in the 25 mile range and eventually worked up to about 85 before the century. I'd been working out for a while - but my husband didn't really start until January and we didn't get out on the road until Feb. We did the ride on our old mountain bikes with slicks. When we did the century I felt great - even went and did Spin class the day after. You don't need to work out hours a day. Unless you want to do it wicked fast.

Pick a century a few months away, you can do it!


Veronica

[goddess1222]

ohhhh veronica you have no idea how great your post made me feel. i appreciate it so much. spin classes have really supplemented riding, however i have been taking a break from them the past 2 months because i got bored. now that the weather is a little better, i am getting out on the road more and loving every minute of it. thank you for your encouragement.

goddess1222

[Karen London]

....sorry ladies I defocused there for one moment, about the tanned legs and muscles !! Last year I was lying on my bed in a hotel in Italy watching television and they had this games show on. The highlight was that Mario Cipollini himself came on in cycling gear, and several girls got to feel all over his muscles ON TV. As you can imagine they are a lot more uninhibited in Italy! The entire audience including many non-cyclists, knew who Cipollini was and cheered and shouted every time these girls ran their hands over his arm and leg muscles!!!

[MightyMitre]

That's funny - I can just see Cippo totally enjoying lots of women with their hands all over him. He's such a tart : D

Just to return to the leg conversation again, waxing DOES go on. My boyfriend often has his waxed at the start of the season, after a winter of not shaving them or if he gets sick of shaving half way through the year.

Apparentley the girls at the salon he goes to are quite used to doing men. Infact, waxing does seem to be catching on. I live in a place where there's a very stong gay community and one of the waxes currently on offer for the gent is a Back, Crack and Sack. I 'll leave you to work that one out but I can assure you my boyfriend won't be having that one!!!!!

[Susan126]

Sharing about men and waxing I just have to share this ... my hubby is one of the last hold outs in our road cycling group. Well, him and one other guy in our group of riding friends. Every spring when it's time to shed the long pants for the shorts the big topic in our little group is "will it be this year that Joe and Don finally shave their legs?" So far they have both held out. BUT on our last road ride I did over hear Joe and Don discussing the "benefits" of shaved legs. I was shocked and tried to inch closer to them without them noticing but they must have because they quickly changed the subject! So once again another spring is almost hear and the question is being asked again .... "Will Joe and Don shave their legs this season?" I think Don is considering it .... but my Joe ... don't hold your breath! His reasoning ... he is both a mountain biker and a road biker. It's better to take the ribbing from our road friends then the heckling from our mountain biking friends! LOL I see his point!
Sue

[MightyMitre]

Susan126 - I can see Joes point, the mtb guys can be pretty cruel.

There's a guy in our club who rides both. He 's a total nutter. He took part in an off-road 24 hour challange last year and came 7th in the country out of several hundred people, with a distance of something like 250miles, Mad Dog David Clarke we call him. He's a good laugh, very tough but still keeps his leg hair.

Mind you, when it comes to a toughness test, mtb v roadies, maybe we should use the wax test and see which group yells the loudest! That'll seperate the men from the boys

[Susan126]

MightyMitre,

I love your suggestion for the toughness test! But we already know who the toughest riders really are .... the women!

Sue

[goddess1222]

yes susan126, i second that comment!!!!!!

[missliz]

I want to be on Italian tv and grope a world class rider... I'll put that on my list.

missliz

[MightyMitre]

And there was me thinking this was a serious discussion forum....

Count me in too - so long as it's before they ride!

Even had a whiff of a peleton go past you at full pace? All that sweat and embrocation. I often feel sorry for the podium girls at the Tour when they have to present flowers and kisses to some guy who's been sweating in the saddle for 7 hours. Now that's dedication...

[missliz]

Well, this is a very serious discussion - what would the world be without buff men to paw? And actually some, but not all, sweaty men are just yummy. Pheromones. Make your brain go ping.

missliz

I want my Italian cycling god freshly waxed, though.

[Hill Nelly]

Does anyone have a suggestion on a good headlight/ tailight to purchase? I'm looking at the Performance catalog and Zefal seems like a good one, but I can't tell how it attaches from the picture.

PS Winter training pays off! Today I out - distanced the dogs that last year had me so nervous. Keeping a steady and straight line past (and sometimes through) them still has me holding my breath a bit, though.