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12-13-09, 12:42 AM
Some background ... I've been riding since March 2009 with the aim of improving fitness and loosing some of the spare tyre around my middle. I've gradually built up my range from a tiny 6Km way back in March. My previous best effort on distance was 66Km on my somewhat heavy ( 22kg ) mountain bike. Since then i've been itching to go further.
Just recently I purchased a Giant Seek 1 ( the Australian (http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-AU/bikes/model/seek.1/5332/39067/) spec for a Seek 1 is different to the US (http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/model/seek.1/3924/36626/) spec ). It would be fair to say that there is a large difference in weight between my two bikes. I've not weighed the Seek but my arm tells me it is substantially lighter than the Iron Horse Warrior MTB.
Today I completed a 100Km ride on the Seek. My First 100Km ride !!!
I set off from Home @ 830 hrs and returned just after 1630 hrs. There was about an hour total in stops for food etc so I spent ~ 7 hours on the bike !
Ride details :
Weather : Sunny and hot ( It's summer over here in Oz ). Forecast was 26c and clear. I'd say it got closer to 30c so not a scorcher ( it can top 40c in Summer in this area ) but not really comfortable for a big ride either.
Route : Cyclepath to Hill60 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illowra_Battery) for a hill climb to the top (special detour because it whooped my arse on the MTB ) and then cyclepath to Lake Illawarra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Illawarra). Cyclepath and road for the ride around the lake. It's approx an 85Km ride from Home in Corrimal East around the lake and back. To make up the extra 15Km I rode north on the cyclepath from home to Sandon Point at Bulli (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandon_Point,_New_South_Wales) and return.
The route covers mixed terrain. Most of the route is either 0% grade or small enough that is still feels flatish ( ~4% ). The hills are mostly 10-15% grade but are thankfully short 1<Km.
I'd post a Google Earth track but some dummy ( me ) left the Garmin 305 in log data once per second mode. As a result nearly 1/2 the ride is missing due to the Garmin not having enough storage capacity to keep it all. Luckily i did take a burry picture of the screen at 100Km.
128558
Note to self for next time, either ride this again in Winter or wait for a cloudy day.
Just recently I purchased a Giant Seek 1 ( the Australian (http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-AU/bikes/model/seek.1/5332/39067/) spec for a Seek 1 is different to the US (http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/model/seek.1/3924/36626/) spec ). It would be fair to say that there is a large difference in weight between my two bikes. I've not weighed the Seek but my arm tells me it is substantially lighter than the Iron Horse Warrior MTB.
Today I completed a 100Km ride on the Seek. My First 100Km ride !!!
I set off from Home @ 830 hrs and returned just after 1630 hrs. There was about an hour total in stops for food etc so I spent ~ 7 hours on the bike !
Ride details :
Weather : Sunny and hot ( It's summer over here in Oz ). Forecast was 26c and clear. I'd say it got closer to 30c so not a scorcher ( it can top 40c in Summer in this area ) but not really comfortable for a big ride either.
Route : Cyclepath to Hill60 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illowra_Battery) for a hill climb to the top (special detour because it whooped my arse on the MTB ) and then cyclepath to Lake Illawarra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Illawarra). Cyclepath and road for the ride around the lake. It's approx an 85Km ride from Home in Corrimal East around the lake and back. To make up the extra 15Km I rode north on the cyclepath from home to Sandon Point at Bulli (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandon_Point,_New_South_Wales) and return.
The route covers mixed terrain. Most of the route is either 0% grade or small enough that is still feels flatish ( ~4% ). The hills are mostly 10-15% grade but are thankfully short 1<Km.
I'd post a Google Earth track but some dummy ( me ) left the Garmin 305 in log data once per second mode. As a result nearly 1/2 the ride is missing due to the Garmin not having enough storage capacity to keep it all. Luckily i did take a burry picture of the screen at 100Km.
128558
Note to self for next time, either ride this again in Winter or wait for a cloudy day.