Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 44,231
Likes: 6,489
From: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
I'm 54 years old and have finally faced that I push gears that are too high. The last couple of weeks, I'm working on spinning faster in lower gears. I'm getting used to it, and if I'm not imagining it, I feel fresher after riding. In conjunction with this, I'm climbing more slowly so that I can be more kind to my knees. It's a challenge not to challenge myself, if you know what I mean. I feel macho when I climb, and I'm proud that I can climb faster than most young people. Another of my macho ego trips was to use as few gears as possible. I'm trying to give that up. Yesterday, I went through many gears to keep my effort level low. It's hard to give up this egotistical habit.