Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Is it just me or is this addicting?

Rode again today, just a short 16 miler. Only 4 rides since getting back in to this and I am thinking about road bikes! (yikes!). On a good flat stretch I am starting to be able to run the old Rockhopper in top gear (about 21-22). Am I correct in surmising that a road bike will run a little faster than my MTB with slicks? I do have bar ends, but find my self looking for places to put my hands.

Got the courage up to throw on the PI bibs and new jersey. Nobody looks at you or cares, and even if they did I guess I am getting to the point I dont care. The bibs and jersey did what they are supposed to do and kept everything as dry/cool as possible. Beats a bunch of wet cotton!

I see posts talking about cadence. I am having a hard time figuring out how anyone can concentrate enought to both count and watch a timer. Or is a function of a computer?

Thanks! This forum is great encouragement!
CB

It's next to impossible to count your cadence on your own. It's a function on some computers. People swear that the keep a 95+ cadence. I usually run in the mid 80's. My comp has been shot for a while so I just do a loop that I know is 10 miles and know my cadence is good if my butt is bouncing a bit. Get the road bike if you want it, there is nothing more efficient than a road bike.

I have a computer, but it doesn't do cadence. I use the clock on the computer to get a good estimate. When I first did this, I was counting around 90. However, after 5 weeks, when I'm in the "groove," I'm almost always right at 80.

John

According to Sheldon Brown's gear Calculator, if you are ar 42/11 in your highest gear, you are spinning 80RPM, pretty good. You won't be any faster on the road bike at this point, but you'll get there. If you want a gear equivalent, the 50 tooth big ring on a compact crank will give you basically 2 gears faster than what you have now, if you can spin them.

A lot of people quote their cadance but I think they leave out the hills. I am a spinner no way around it. On the flats I'm usually in my big ring, whatever on the back and comfy between 100-110 but we have a lot of hills ini our area and my cadance avg for year by Garmi specs is around 84. Remember 90 is just a number that evolved after a guy name Lance came back from cancer. IMHO anything above 80 is fine for the knees below that and you had better have a very good bike fit. AS for getting faster on a roadbike, yes you will be faster but not by leaps and bounds. The advantage of roadbike is comfort and abitlity to stay comfy for longer time. Even with the efficiency of a roadbike the easiest way to get faster is upgrade the engine although it seems to be the hardest.

You can get a cheap cycle comp with cadence.. maybe 30$ or so. Really helps in the beginning to establish a nice fast spin.

it's addicting...

wheels are in shop... i haven't logged a meaningful mile since tuesday last week?

UGH

HI,
I started with a MTB to, with rather large tires, I noticed a big difference in wind resistance and ability to mantain speed. Many MTB are built for off road and have considerable rolling resistance and in my case I had a shock that was sapping away my pedal power by damping the pedal stroke.Plus many MTB have a more upright ridding positon this creates alot more drag. when I go to the drops onmy road bike I usally speed up considerably without any additonal effort. Hey I ve only been riding slightly over a year. so there's alot more experts on this issue.
My first road bike was a used 86 steel and I really could ride it faster than the MTB .
Doug

ps I ve seen those cateye wired cadance PC for only 30 bucks on ebay (I now have 2)http://i14.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/99/d6/bc54_2.JPG

Yep, certainly is addicting. I started riding again last year on old mountain bike that hadn't ridden for 10 years. I added a road bike about 6 weeks after getting back into it and a cross bike this year. When I switched to the road bike I gained about 2 mph on my average. It is not much on a short ride, but it does add up on a longer ride.

Here's a cadence trick....

Find music that has 90, 95 or 100 beats per minute tempo and use that to set your cadence. :D

http://www.bpmdatabase.com/search.php?begin=0&num=1&numBegin=1&artist=&title=&mix=&bpm=100&gid=&label=&year=&srt=artist&ord=asc

The above link is to a list of 100 BPM music.

As to the addiction, yup, it is addictive, but it's a good addiction.

It's not just you. I got into riding in May and have found it is hard for me not to ride any more. I bought a Cateye Strada with cadence wired (http://www.amazon.com/Cateye-CC-RD200-Cadence-Bicycle-Computer/dp/B000R6QR2C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1251116622&sr=8-2) for $30.00 and love it.

It's like drugs. I wake up and want to ride, if it's raining or I'm tied up the entire day I start jonesing. I'm still slowly recovering from being bed ridden sick.

They need to prescribe methadone for cyclists who can't ride.

It's like drugs. I wake up and want to ride, if it's raining or I'm tied up the entire day I start jonesing. I'm still slowly recovering from being bed ridden sick.

They need to prescribe methadone for cyclists who can't ride.

I'm thinking Thorzene is a better approach for when you are banned from the bike.

I'm thinking Thorzene is a better approach for when you are banned from the bike.

Guess it'd put the rain gear I'm ordering to work, with the drooling and all.

I can stop any time I want! :p

I find a cadence right around 90 to be pretty comfortable. Anything above 100 and I am not smooth on the pedals. Of course, I'm not riding clipless (yet!). Getting a computer with cadence helped to keep me in the zone and gives me something to shoot for in higher gears.

Very addicting. And the worst part of addictions is they cost money.. $20 for this, $50 for that, $100 for those.. Sheesh!

sorry to be 'that guy' folks, but something's bugging me here: It's addictive, not addicting. please forgive me.

I can't stop, I don't want to stop, and if it kills me it's a great way to die.

Yep it's hard to not want to ride. Even with questions or whatever. :)