200 miles on a fixed gear?
 

What's this story I hear about someone doing the STP on a fixed gear and hanging with the pack?

Gonesh9 rode the 204 miles on his fixie, powering through with our group and taking more than his fair share of pulling time. 10 hours net and a 20.3 average. One of the most amazing displays of riding I've ever seen.

55/Rad

he's a beast. you should see him attack hills on that thing. whew...

He did this with the balloon tires he had on for those pics in the Oregon thread? (That would be even more shocking)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...sh9/surly1.jpg

what kind of gearing did he use (or did he change it around accordingly) ? Was the course hilly or not?

Whoa, a whole thread about this?? :)

But yeah, it was quite a ride. I changed out of the cross tires to some skinny 23's, which made a huge difference. My gearing was 46X16, perfect for the mainly flat double century, although the rolling hills at about mile 150 seemed like full-on hills at that point.

The way I see it is that it wasn't too much of a disadvantage... the only problem was not being able to give my legs a rest at all. Besides, a fixed gear pedals for you, literally! :D

gonesh9 wasn't the only one...

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=120836

That's why I want one. Fixed gear kind of reminds me of a stairsteeper or treadmill. Freewheel bike reminds me of an elliptical trainer because you have to consciously put effort into it.

On flat ground recovery days (when my legs are sore) this sounds like a more productive way to train.

I saw 5 fixies on the Davis double and I'm sure there were more.

Gonesh9 is far too modest. On the first half, we got seperated from 55/Rad and a couple others. So, myself, Gonesh9, FormulaBen, and one of Rads friends had to slug it out pretty much on our own, since there was no faster group to latch onto.
Ben seemed liked he was more than ready for the 100 mile break/lunch, so he chilled and hung back a bit.
Gonesh9 did the majority of the pulling, I switched off and/or rode abreast when I could tell he was really hoofing it. That guy is an ANIMAL ON TWO WHEELS. Ben seemed more than happy to suck our wheels. I don't blame him, we were pushing 23mph the whole way. But that's ok, Ben did some great pulling on the second half. I however, was a slug the whole ride and did nothing but complain. ;)
Anyway, I noticed at the first rest stop that Gonesh was really moving good with us, so I checked out his bike, and sure enough, the knobbies came off, and he put on some 23's. AH HA!!!

Just so you all know, thats about 54,718 pedal revolutions. ;)

peace,
sam

The neatest thing was watching Gonesh9 unclip on the descents, and watch his crank spin away madly while resting his legs. What was even more impressive, was watching him clip-in while going 25mph at the bottom of the hills.

Wholllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy fsk
I don't think I could do that. I let out a torrent of cusses trying to clip back in, especially when i have kicked off and am trying to get that stupid left foot in.

That just sounds scary!! :eek:

:rolleyes:

FYI, There was a thread on this subject NINE hours earlier than this

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=121100

So?

Let's see you do that. ;)

He deserves his own thread. He's Gonesh9. :D

You obviously didn't click the link I posted.

Yeah. I saw your thread, but it was in SS/FG forum and I wanted to hear the details from the guys that ride with him.

This sounds crazy, but I'd so it too if I rode 200 miles and couldn't rest my legs. (what pedals? Can't tell from pic)

Yup, and he deserves the praise. That was just awesome. I tried the link earlier, but the forum wasn't working right, so didn't see it till now. Right on!

Plus the road forum needs to hear about that accomplishment which honestly blows my mind. I've never ridden a fixed gear but even with "drivetrain momentum" it's got to be way harder.

Darn right this deserves its own thread!