Originally Posted by
greaterbrown
GB's April century (actually, a double metric) report
My ride up to Gettysburg was quite successful. and quite wet. I wore a goretex jacket and just let my legs get wet. soggy feet at the end of the day though. The route I took, (
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/131495), was basically wmnpkr31's route from bikely except I started from Hampden. Beautiful trip. It was this first long ride I've taken without a bike computer- actually quite nice not looking down at speed averages or mileages. I mostly anticipated upcoming turns by my watch. (figuring about 4min/mile). Gettysburg was much better than I expected. Very creepy natural terrain and then all the memorials tucked here and there. I really slowed down through the park. Made a quick stop for water in/water out, munched a couple of poptarts and headed home. The Kogswell is not a fast bike. It's heavy, the tires are 38's and the dynamo hub gives a bit of drag with or without lighting. However, it more than makes up for it in comfort. I was off the bike for less than 10 minutes during the whole 120 miles and felt great. I couldn't make it back to Hampden as darkness was closing in, so I stopped in Owings Mills and met up with some friends for dinner. A great day

I thought about you that day. I got soaked just commuting. I figured your century a month was in jeopardy. That's one tough way to get a century
Barry: I agree w/ GB on 2 bikes. One bike can't do it all. Speed and hauling usually don't go together. I think you will have lots of chain slop with that type of gearing so you better get a RD that can pick it all up.
Also:Long cranks can cause some knee problems. If memory serves me you just had some knee issues. I am not saying this will be you case but you will get more stress/flex to the knee joint with a longer crank.