Century Strategy

[ny biker]

This is interesting. I started out like that - only using the big gear for downhills (and there weren't many of those - I live in flatsville). With the group I was riding with, it was the opposite - the coaches and more experienced folk were advocating - downright harping - on using the big gear on flats. NOW - I know there are some pretty similar gear ratios between the two chainrings - maybe that has something to do with it? The reasoning given was that you could go the other way, and wear yourself out aerobically too soon (as opposed to wearing your muscles out too soon by mashing in the big gear).

I do know that the advice was "most amount of power for the least amount of effort", which factored in cadence. I was trying to go for feeling like there was barely any grab on the gears, and maybe "almost too easy" would go just a little bit further?

The first century I tried - the timing and conditions were such that I was having to push harder, earlier - I needed to average higher than I was averaging in training, and in very windy, somewhat hilly conditions at that, just to make it back before cars were going to be towed from the starting point. That and I was a ball of nerves to begin with, partly because I had my doubts as to being able to maintain that speed for that distance.

This one I'm going to ride on my terms.

I would not do a bike ride if there was a chance that my car would be towed if I didn't finish by a certain time. Even when all the conditions are right, you never know when a mechanical will slow you down.

I personally pay no attention to other peoples' gear choices. If I ride too long in the big ring, my knee will hurt. So I only use it when I know the road well enough to know that it will be flat for a while, or when I'm doing spinning videos on the indoor trainer. Note that I ride to have fun, not to race.

[luvmyguys]

I would not do a bike ride if there was a chance that my car would be towed if I didn't finish by a certain time. Even when all the conditions are right, you never know when a mechanical will slow you down.

We didn't know that until we showed up that day. We knew that rider services shut down at 3 (they actually started shutting down at 1:30), but the "car towed" tidbit was a surprise on the morning of the ride.

I definitely learned a few lessons that day.

[ny biker]

Well if you can learn some lessons then even bad experiences can end up good in the end!

I was thinking about the "use the big ring when riding downhill" advice. In most of the places I ride, the downhills are followed by short bridges over small creeks which in turn are followed by big uphills. So if I shifted to the big ring going downhill I would have even more downshifting to do at the bottom than is already necessary. But then between the finicky right knee and the asthma, I probably ride up most hills in easier gears than many of my riding buddies.

[luvmyguys]

Well if you can learn some lessons then even bad experiences can end up good in the end!

I was thinking about the "use the big ring when riding downhill" advice. In most of the places I ride, the downhills are followed by short bridges over small creeks which in turn are followed by big uphills. So if I shifted to the big ring going downhill I would have even more downshifting to do at the bottom than is already necessary. But then between the finicky right knee and the asthma, I probably ride up most hills in easier gears than many of my riding buddies.

I actually do find that this helps me - it just means I'm going back and forth between the big and small chainring. If I hammer down the hill (and I can't do that in the little ring), I have an easier time getting up the next hill. I'm going faster and can use that momentum up the next hill, and if I'm not coasting, my pedal is at a nice rhythm going up the hill.

I did experiment a little more with the small ring today - I definitely need the big ring on downhills, but I did use the small ring a little more on flats today - and I did have an easier time going into some of the hills. I'm guessing it's still a matter of finding the happy spot? There were times in the small ring where I just felt like my feet were out of control, and not really being productive on the gears - and switching to a harder gear in back didn't seem to make much difference.

[Boudicca]

Back to the food, and another vote for beef jerky in the middle, or the back end, of a long ride. I can't stand the stuff normally, but there's something about easy-to-chew, super-salty protein that works for me. Eggs, bikes and me are just not a good combination, my stomach goes into can't cope mode and I suffer.

Another "does-not-work." Ice cold chocolate milk mid-ride. Works just fine at the end, but afterward?