Dad 2 3

This was my longest and fastest ride so far. My second metric century and this was a solo effort. This started out as a 50 mile ride with a 25 mile turn around point. I felt so good at the turn around point I thought what the heck, lets make it a metric century. I actually rode 64.5 miles, so slightly over a metric century. Moving time was 3:51:58 with an elapsed time of 3:52:27 which works out to a 16.7mph average for 64.5 miles.

Now for the ride report. This was on the local MUP, which has only about 10-15? cross street stop signs, which helps my average speed. Three 24 oz bottles of water and one 24 oz gatorade and one Blueberry Cliff bar was the fuel along with a bowl of Kashi cereal before I left the house. Heat was not a problem as the morning started out mid 70's and reaching 86 by ride's end. The humidity was very heavy though around 60-70%. Just a sticky mess. Not a lot of traffic on the MUP today due to it being morning and a weekday. I did run up on the back of a school field trip who had rented bikes and were strewn all over the place, stopping in the middle, riding 4 wide etc. I just took it easy around them and made sure to say hello and have fun. My usual 25 mile road ride which has 1100+ feet of elevation gain is helping me get stronger and increasing my cardio. I hadn't ridden this flat MUP for a while so it was a nice change with only 645 feet of elevation gain.

Now to what hurts. I did get a mild twinge in my right knee during the last ten miles, and the usual quad soreness now. What surprised me is that as soon as I climbed off the bike I could feel my back was very stiff. I'm not sure if I want a road bike or not. If my back is stiff after going a distance on a hybrid, I can't imagine my back after a century on a road bike. Maybe I just need to strengthen my back or do some longer rides like this to get my back acclimated to the stress? Anyway, I'm very happy I did it, but my last goal for the season eludes me.

My goal of riding a century before the snow flies is still in my sights, and I hope to reach it by the end of the month.

https://app.strava.com/rides/20946744

Beachgrad05

Seriously IMPRESSED by doing a Metric of any kind on your 7.2 FX. I use my FX for commuting now. My furthest ride on it is nearly 35 miles. I don't find the FX to be as comfy as my road bike due to the flat bar and lack of ability to change hand positions...so KUDOS!!!

I find I have issues with stiffness and pain in my lower back and hips (in part as a result of health issues in those areas) if I forget to 1. stretch and 2. pre-medicate with Ibuprofen/Motrin/Advil/Aleve type meds. I also carry some with me so if I need it I can while on my ride.

goldfinch

I also am seriously impressed with that ride on an FX and at that speed. You may find that your back does just fine on a road bike, with the slightly different position. You won't know until you try.

signed,

the temptress

TrojanHorse

Well done!

Of course you need a road bike... don't be silly. N+1 where N < S-1! (S is the number of bikes where your spouse will leave you)

Anyway, looks like you're well on your way to a century, it's mostly mental after 60 miles anyway.

rdtompki

Regarding your back stiffness - it's very tough on your back and arms to ride 3+ hours on flat terrain, usually without changing position much. Did you shift up and get out of the saddle at all? I wouldn't abandon the idea of a road bike just yet.

LiamSkymom

Despite not having one, I wouldn't abandon the road bike yet either. I think the availability of different positions would be huge. Who me? An enabler, no.

EL LUCHADOR

I am hella impressed at your speed on that bike, and jealous.

congrats. i hope to one day be that fast.

drmweaver2

Nice ride and report. As others have said, that's an impressive avg speed.

I wouldn't rush into buying a different bike too soon. You might only need a bit more time on bike and/or a few minor adjustments to alleviate some of the discomfort. If you didn't take an off-bike break and stretch a bit during the ride, that might have made the difference.

There are even fairly inexpensive bar extenders that could give you more hand positions - much cheaper alternative (~$30) than buying a new bike(~$500-$5,000).

Dad 2 3

I do try to change hand position every 10 minutes or so and even ride no handed and shake my hands out for 30-40 seconds at a time every so often. I think that even though I change hand position, my back is at the same angle due to the flat bar and not having drops. I do shift up to the big ring and stand up as well for a bit which does help. I'm not giving up the idea of a road bike yet, but it's not in the works probably until next spring.

Also, I signed up for a very flat century on Sunday. We'll see how that goes

CJ C

Dear gosh man!!!!!!!!!!!!! 65 miles on a hybrid at 17 mph average!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cant even get a 17 mph average over 15 miles on my road bike, i am sad now and shall go curl up and cry.

congrats and good luck on your century.

drmweaver2

At the risk of repeating myself, but actually for clarification/amplication purposes.... these are cheaper alternatives than a new bike and encourage/allow changes in body position, not just hand position.
Handlebar extenders .............. MTB drop bar extensions
.....
Trekking bars ......................... Aero bars
....

I've used trekking bars and aero bars with some success relieving back problems, before I ultimately switched to a recumbent.

Dad 2 3

Not to worry, I'm not rushing out to buy a new bike.

I have been looking at options, specifically some bar ends that I could point forward which would essentially stretch me out a bit, not only changing hand position, but changing the angle of my back. These would also make my fat butt more aero!



Please do not be impressed. Like I said this ride was FLAT, with few stop signs, and I recently put clipless pedals on the hybrid. I feel like I'm cheating with these new pedals!!