I recall during this year's Tour at one point the pelaton was climbing some hill, must have been near the Alps, it was no HC climb, just a Cat 1 or 2 affair. Phil Liggett was giving a description, 7% for a couple kilometers than 12% for a kilometer or whatever it was and so on.
Yesterday the BCC did the hill at Rattle Snake Point for the first time in 2010. The first time I did Rattle Snake, Sunday June 22, 2008, I didn't actually do Rattle Snake. I bonked and cramped and wound up walking up to the top of the hill. I was such a wreck for the journey home Dan came up behind me and pushed me to help me catch up with the pelaton. At the time my steed was an almost completely stock 2006 Specialized Roubaix, except for two upgrades, she did have Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels, and blush, aero bars. Ironically that bike has a classic triple crank so theoretically was ideally suited for Rattle Snake a hill that seems to be, mostly 16% grade. (Okay for all you statistical junkies, the Stock 2006 Roubaix, my ride at the time, has a triple crank of 52/42/30 and a 9 speed 12-25 cassette, so in June of 2008 I could not hack Rattlesnake at 30-25.)
Well I did Rattle Snake yesterday and my legs, as one might expect, hurt today, but I did do said hill and could have made a second pass if I felt sufficiently masochistic (as well I hate the decent out of the escarpment, so I need to feel brave as well as masochistic) but anyway, it was the first time I did Rattle Snake on a standard double crank, granted I did have a swollen cassette, my crankset was 53/39 with a 11-28 ten speed in back.
So to the non technical folk, what do all the numbers mean, well its the number of teeth on the various cogs that make up a bike drive train, let me express it as a ratio, for every tooth on the crank on my old bike there are 0.833 teeth on the cassette, whereas on my new Roubaix (Jordan) for every tooth on the crank there is 0.718 teeth on the cassette now more cassette teeth do mean that you move slower climbing the hill, but that also means that there is less resistance so my new drive train is actually about 16% harder than the old drive train.
In short, I climbed the same hill that I could not climb two years ago. I did it with 16% more torque than I would have needed two years ago (not that I had that torque at the time). I made it to the top and still felt strong enough to hack the hill all over again.
I think I've improved a little bit, but lets be honest, its the machine, not the engine. I mean when a guy has a ride as sweet as mine, well I can't let the bike be disappointed in me!
Anyway I woke up this morning, checked the weather, saw there was a chance of thunderstorms and used that as an excuse to get another hour of sleep and drove to work. But I'm rather glad I got that sleep, and I think my legs are grateful I didn't ride today. I still hurt from yesterday, some things do not change.
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2 comments:
Hey Michael,
I was glad that you persuaded me to
ride to the Snake instead of hitching
a ride there. It was a fun ride. Too
bad that you didn't want to join me
for the hammer fest on the way back.
I knew you would had enjoyed it very
much. Straight out rolling terrains
with very minimal traffic lights.
Driving to the start of a ride is silly. To me it is like ordering uncooked food from a restaurant so one can cook at home. You've already got a vehicle, it's got two wheels and doesn't create noxious gasses.
Anyway I guess you did not notice, Jeff, Ian and eventually a few other people formed a nice little eachlon and were snapping up the gap with you hammer heads, remarkably while you guys were in Hammerfeast, we were effictively closing, so in this particular case I think you rode in the wrong pelaton. (Another 10 or 15k and I suspect we would have bridged the gap.) Anyway besides a few missed lights, I don't think we were ever out of visual range of you guys.
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