Rob P.

Well this is it for those who have been missing this little topic for the last few minutes.

Went for a ride today with a friend who hasn't been road riding that long. We took off for a nice little 14 mile "warmup" at 19 MPH average speed. I love my new bike. After that, we started on the 9 mile climb from Santa Paul to Ojai. This climb was rated as "moderate" on the grand tour last weekend.

Today's weather was in the mid 90's with a cool crosswind but we still held out for 9mph up the hill. Near the top I surrendered and dropped to 7MPH for the last mile. OK, OK, so I quit. It's all good though, Karma gave me a flat 3 miles after topping the summit.

Fixed the flat by changing the tube and buzzed down into Ojai. We stopped for water refills, a banana, and a quick iced tea at a friends house and then left heading back home. On the way, we decided to see if we still had enough legs left to climb Casitas Pass to the summit there and maybe go on over the hill.

This is where I once again learned that I really suck at hills. My friend has a 2007 Orbea Opal with a std crankset. 52 X 39 with an 11X25 in back. I'm riding with a compact 50X34 and an 11X25 cassette. Needless to say, I got totally dusted (again ) on the hill. I had to tack back and forth in between traffic clumps to just make the hill. I did it, but at 4MPH. My friend says he never dropped below 7MPH. I told him I hate him but he doesn't believe me.

I got to the top and collapsed. We were going to see if we could continue on to Carpinteria but I didn't have anything left for the next hill. So we turned around and went home to Ventura. 70 miles total with over half of that in climbing. My legs hurt. :whimper:

I do have one question. On the downhill at about 20 mph I hit a small crack in the road and my frame gave out the loudest "CRACK!" I've ever heard. We stopped and looked everything over but found nothing wrong. No broken bits or cracks; nothing. My friend says his bike did the same thing once when he accidentally hit a pothole. He didn't find anything wrong with his bike either. Anyone know if this is "normal" for carbon frames or not?

I do know I"m going to tear it apart and check the steerer. My headset came a bit loose on the climb for some reason. We tightened it at the top but I"m going to check that I didn't damage anything inside there. We took it easy on the ride home but the bike never showed any sign of damage.

Edited to add:

Could this possibly have been chain slap? The crack in the pavement wasn't that big but it was covered in tar and make a decent bump. (and for those who know this hill, NO, it wasn't where the pavement drops by 6" halfway down the hill.)

adriano 

please say.

umd

The noise was almost certainly the bars or your stem slipping. The latter would account for the loose headset.

It's Santa Paula btw...

There is nothing particularly steep on the climb out of Santa Paula, it's just long. The last mile is about 4% and looking at my data I averaged 11mph up it in the grand tour, with temps near 100, cracking with severe dehydration and fighting a potential cramp.

The casitas climb averages about 6%, with a few spots up to 8%. It doesn't look like my speed dropped below 7-mph except where I had to stop pedaling for a moment when my keg nearly locked up.

valygrl

umd's e-peen > Rob P.'s e-peen

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ericm979

No wonder you had problems! Next time leave the beer at home.


OP, if your headset was loose that was probably the source of the noise. Threadless headsets need to have a bit of preload on them. See the Park Tool web site for instructions. Some carbon bikes also make chain slap noises when you hit big bumps, and if your bars slip in the stem you'll hear a sharp creak/crack and of course the bar angle wil change.

As far as getting faster on hills, you need to increase your power to weight ratio. Work on losing fat and increasing the power you can put out. For most riders, riding hills more often does both of those, and gives you experience in pacing yourself to the top of a climb.

umd

Oops, that's the problem with typing on an iphone...

Rob P.

OK, so I hate you too.

I've been working on my leg strength but I just can't seem to build muscle like I did when I was younger. More repeats up Sulpher Mountain Road on the mtn bike are in my future. I also think I need to add a bit more protein to my diet. I've been strong on carbs and a tad lean on protein lately.

RLRider

As far as building muscle goes (I don't have enough exp to speak to the hill climbing) protein is key. Make a protein shake within 30 minutes of a hard workout and it will do wonders. Also, low fat cottage cheese makes for a great snack. The protein to fat ratio is really good.

ridethecliche

You don't need to get more muscle to climb well. You just need to train your body to have a high power output for extended periods of time.

It also helps if you're skinny.

umd

It's an aerobic sport