Originally Posted by
staehpj1
That has me scratching my head a little and wondering. Do you actually ride somewhere that you actually climb for 6 hours straight steeply enough that finding exactly the right gear is critical. Sure I have ridden into the wind for 8 hours, but a "6-hour long uphill slog" has me wondering.
At 4 mph that would be a 24 mile climb. I have never run across a 24 mile climb........perhaps with a bit of hyperbole. I apologize in advance if this comes off as me being a smart ass. I don't intend it that way.
no worries. i have skin of thickness, and this is the interwebs.
yes, these are indeed long slogs.........that go on forever..........up to 40km long.
so, sure, that would be 25 miles for the metrically-challenged.
average speed is around 5-6 km/h.....or topping out at 3.7 mph.
i be loving that 16-gi setup where i can "spin" up at 50-55 rpm.
this be in china's yunnan province, in what i guess would be the foothills leading to
tibet and eventually everest. you're following the grade uphill, but as the land is rising
almost as fast as you're gaining elevation, it just never ends.
exhausted, you come around yet another curve, you see a cellphone tower or a road cut
and you think....."haha! i've reached the top"....only to be cheated again and again and
again, when you pass thru the cut to see another wall to cllimb.
and you feel really small and insignificant when you (slowly) pass an elderly couple
pushing a wooden cart loaded with watermelons. up.....hill.
it's cool heading south/east........when you get to blast thru the rice terraces for an
uninterrupted 40km.
checking the free interwebs calculators:
26*1.95 tires. 22 ring 34 cog gives a 16.84 inch gear.
50 rpm = 4 km/h = 2.5 mph
56 rpm = 4.5 km/h
62 rmp = 5.0 km/h