After our mini epic ride last week, Pantani wanted to try and reenact that feat and ride to Southport. I agreed but figured that setting off at 11am would leave us a bit short for time as I had to pick up my car from the garage at 5pm. I was riding 'Scott' today. Only been on her twice but tried to get the same position as I had on 'Jamis' which is perfecto. Met at the usual roundabout of doom and set off. We were keeping up with a roadie on a BMC bike when Pete shouted 'we have got to go to Southport you know' or words to that effect. He obviously didn't like the pace we had set and the next minute he screamed for me to stop. FFS I thought, what excuse has he got now? A flat tire was quite a good one. The tit had hit a pothole full on and nearly buckled his new wheels.
Southport was out of the question so a trip to Parbold was 2nd best. A nice gentle tail wind was with us to our destination and Pete was still showing his lack of fitness. He couldn't use the gearing as his excuse this time! Luckily there wasn't as much climbing. A6 was nice and quiet and generally uneventful. A quick toilet stop in some woods saw my shiney new Sidis obliterated by mud and leaves. Back and backside were starting to ache as the position on the bike wasn;t great, the saddle is rock solid too. I was using very little effort on the way to Parbold but very unhappy with the double chainset gearing and 11-28 cassette. There are too many gaps in the gearing. I tend to find I dont have the gear I want, cadence too high or too low. I also find I dont use the large chainring so whats the point in it? Even downhills I dont go that fast .Just as long as I have the right gears for hills. The ride is close to unbearable too. The frame sends all the vibrations up and down my spine. Im going to try the 25mm tyres and saddle from jamis on Scott to see what difference it makes. It only took 8months to get Jamis right I hope Scottie doesn't take this long. On the way we had another roadie join us for a couple of miles but he thought we were going too fast so took another route, not with Pete we weren't :)
Once at Parbold we scoffed hot cross buns in preparation for Parbold hill on the return. I didn't wait as long as I thought I would do but we were both going to suffer on the way back as the wind was really blustery and right in our faces. Back on the A6 I reckon I had to stand up to pedal more than 50% of the way home to batter my way through. It was a real test which destroys the spirits of lesser beings. What else was annoying is that the roads had been recently gritted and all the salt was being blown into our eyes by lorries and even worse into the drive chain causing crunching noises on each pedal stroke. The trip home wasn't pleasant at all! I left Pete as it was getting late and he was getting stuck at all the lights and I seemed to hit them all on green. In fact if I hadn't I would have missed the deadline to pick my car up as I got to the garage at 4.50pm. The last few big hills I sprinted up.
Distance 70miles
Av Speed 15.9mph
Ascent 4000ft
25mm tyres do help absorb the bumps. You can run them at a lower pressure without increasing the rolling resistance too much and without the risk of pinch flatting.
ReplyDeleteGOOD carbon seatposts are great absorb vibration but they don't absorb the bumps!