Believe it or not, last night was the first night I've been able to get out for a ride since the Lynskey showed up two weeks ago. It's been sitting there in the studio calling my name....and even mocking me for not being able to ride.
So, last night I got home as quick as I could after work and headed out. LOVE the ride. It taunted me, though. As fast as I could ride, it teased me that I couldn't ride faster. I pushed myself harder than I have since I started riding again...to the point my calves were cramping. It was awesome! 19 miles in 1:22:00 (with several stops to adjust seat position and height). I know, it's not TDF speed, but who cares. I'm out riding.
I have some work to do dialing things in, but I'll get it. So far, so good, though.
The biggest problem I'm having, though, is with the gearing. I have a compact with 12-25 (if memory serves me right). It seems that if I'm in my comfort zone I'm almost always cross-chained. If I'm in the small ring in front, I want to be on the smaller cogs in back. If on the large ring in front, I want to be on the larger cogs in back. That just seems to be where I am most comfortable at this point in my journey. I'm thinking my reduced strength in my right leg is playing into this a little, but mostly I'm still not in the shape I want to be in. When I was riding my old mountain bike, I could live all day long in the middle ring and use the center 5 gears in back for almost everything.
Rear derailleur and cassette are 5700/105.
12-25: (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25)
12-30: (12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 30)
So, to solve this, I'm thinking I may want to switch my cassette to the 12-28 or 12-30 option. Am I on track with this thinking? I figure if I have lower gears, that would move my comfort zone into a range that I would not be cross-chaining nearly as much. I truly don't see myself needing the 12 even. I'm not the type that needs every bit of speed on descents. I'd rather have a little lower gear for the climb.
Thoughts?
Oh....and let me start it off in true 41 style......HTFU.
I don't know jack about gearing. I'll learn, though. I will learn to do all my own wrenching as soon as I can. Hypothetically, and I'm not saying I would do this, but could I buy the Ultegra cassette and mix in some 105 rings with it to make a 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30 (or some variation thereof) once I learn what I really want? Again, not that I would. I'm more curious about how things work.