April Rides

[ny biker]

The charity ride that I did yesterday was great. We had a sunny day, a little cool at the start but warming into the mid 70s. I rode 48 miles. I felt kinda tired at the end; I haven't gotten much sleep over the past couple of weeks and that is definitely affecting me. But I rode with some nice people -- some old friends and a couple of new ones -- and enjoyed the post-ride picnic with other friends who had ridden the metric century.

I didn't stop to take pictures but the ride organizers had photographers on route. If they post any photos or videos, I'll share them here.

Looking ahead, I think my Wednesday post-work ride will be rained out this week. But the weather looks good (so far) for next weekend, when our club holds its annual May metric. It's a big multi-class ride with three distances to choose from. I volunteered to help out leading one of the ride classes on the longest route.

[Crankin]

Jolt, it sounds like you need some short reach shifters or shims, as well as considering a short and shallow bar. Switching to a short and shallow bar made a world of difference for me. Several companies make them; I have the Specialized one on both of my bikes now. It's reasonably priced for the aluminum one.

[Jolt]

Jolt, it sounds like you need some short reach shifters or shims, as well as considering a short and shallow bar. Switching to a short and shallow bar made a world of difference for me. Several companies make them; I have the Specialized one on both of my bikes now. It's reasonably priced for the aluminum one.

I will probably stop by the LBS in the next few days to find out if there are shims for these particular levers or if they will need to be swapped out altogether (they are just plain brake levers, the bike has bar-end shifters). How would the short/shallow bars help with the issue of having trouble getting one's hands around the brake levers? It seems like it's more the levers themselves.

[Owlie]

So...I just went on my first bike ride since Thanksgiving. (Combination of time, headspace and BF being a stick-in-the-mud.) My right hip and upper thigh are distinctly unhappy, and I've lost the cardiovascular fitness* and calf muscles that I had when I moved out here. (And the less said about my core, the better.) Still, I did pretty well for having a headwind on the way out and not much of a tailwind on the way back (WHY?!) and not having done much in the way of exercise for 5 months. 25 miles, give or take a bit, followed by a nice bubble bath and a smoothie.

*Cannot tell if it's an issue of cardiovascular fitness or just very dry, dusty air. Probably both.

[Crankin]

Jolt, the short and shallow bars help with reach (shorter) to the levers and shallow relates to the shape of the curve. If the shape is shallower, it's much easier to get your hands around the levers in the drops. Picture the letter C with less space in the middle. One thing to be aware of is that different brands of bars that are called short and shallow have different specs. I researched like crazy until I found the ones with the shortest reach and drop. Here is a link to the ones I have:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb...bend-handlebar
And here's another one:
http://www.qbike.com/product/s/Salsa...andlebar.shtml
Hope this helps.