Crazydad

Rode the trail today (14 miles total) and only had to get off the outer ring once (steep switchback). Made the ride in about 50 minutes.

First time I did the trail about 6 weeks ago, it took me over an hour and I was in the middle ring the whole time. Progress feels great!

dbikingman

Good work. I know what you mean, I was just talking to my riding partner yesterday about doing most of my riding this summer in the big ring. I took him up a hill I haven't ridden in more then 3 years. I went up in the large ring, it didn't seem as steep as it did last time.

Spudd

I'm at the point in my riding where I'm wondering why they even bothered making the big ring, so I'm impressed! 10 minutes off an hour ride is a big improvement in time as well.

Askel

Me too! I've really only used the big ring on my mountain bike once. And that was when I was drafting off a pickup truck in a road race.

Crazydad

I really need a bike computer. I know I did it faster than I ever have and really pushed to keep a good cadence using the big ring, but did I really do 17mph average? I didn't check the clock right as I left, but it was 6:15 when I pulled into the parking lot. I factored in 15 minutes to change shoes, stretch (take my time on that due to back issues), get the bike off the rack, etc. and got back at 7:20.

Will have to try again on Thursday and take my stopwatch. Would do it tonight, but the legs are a little rubbery today....

dscheidt

Walmart will sell you a perfectly satisfactory bike computer for ten bucks or so. Even the cheapest of them are very accurate if they're set with the proper wheel diameter: all they ahve to do is count revolutions and keep time, which are trivially in the capability of really cheap electronics.

Mr. Beanz

What kind of hills/trails are you talking here? 17 mph average in the bigring, hills?

Crazydad

It is a hike and bike trail that follows a creek. The first 2.5 miles are concrete and the rest is crushed granite. It is fairly flat (overall elevation change is probably about 150'), but does have some steep sections where you go up or down 30-50 feet in a pretty short distance. There is one really steep hill that is a switchback on one side of a dam (that's the one I down shifted for).

https://www.wilco.org/CountyDepartmen...S/Default.aspx

Will get a computer and do it again on Thursday.

Mr. Beanz

Ah cool. Looks like a nice ride!

Crazydad

Ok, did the ride with a stop watch today. Didn't feel as good and my calves started cramping at about mile 10 but still did it in 57min 14sec. So, no way I did it in 50min the other day, but still did a respectable 14.7mph avg. Pretty happy about that.