Originally Posted by
Classtime
Have a look at your cogset. I thought I swapped my normal 12-23 for a 12-28 in preparation to riding the Mulholland Challenge course. I felt awful and stopped several times wondering where my fitness went. Got back to the car and was relieved to see the 12-23 still on my bike.
The Mulholland Challenge is enough to make anyone feel unfit. The now defunct Mulholland Double was even worse ... all the fun of the challenge ... now with bacon! lol
The Mulholland Double cane in handy when I was explaining to a guy at a bike shop why I wanted low climbing gears. He kept telling me that I really didn't need them ... just get in better shape.
"Listen here. You can talk smack when you find yourself at my age, 170 miles into a 200 mile ride, and they send you up a 10-16% grade for several miles (that would be Decker)."
That kinda ended the conversation. I can honestly say that I have never found myself complaining that I should have saved a few ounces and left my climbing gears behind ... but I have OFTEN wished for lower gears.