Ok First Ride on the Tricross.
MontyCC
Posts: 46
Did the 40mile ride from Manchester to Liverpool yesterday and was majorly impressed with the bike. The bike actually felt more at home off road than on road. And I was only passed by one guy on a full carbon MTB.
But towards the end of the ride, it started to get to me and could only maintain approx 12mph most times and then this massive hill came along. Wasn't sure if to spin it or grind it - but then ended up spinning it and in no time I was in the lowest gear and really struggling. Eventually I gave up and pushed my bike the rest of the way up :oops:
But now I want to get better! How can I breeze thru hills and maintain at least 15mph on flat (without cheating and drafting behind someone) Any tips on how I could get better?
I'm doing liverpool chester this weekend and that'll have a lot more higher level cyclists so any tips on maintiain a high consistency? fluids, eats, pace etc.
But towards the end of the ride, it started to get to me and could only maintain approx 12mph most times and then this massive hill came along. Wasn't sure if to spin it or grind it - but then ended up spinning it and in no time I was in the lowest gear and really struggling. Eventually I gave up and pushed my bike the rest of the way up :oops:
But now I want to get better! How can I breeze thru hills and maintain at least 15mph on flat (without cheating and drafting behind someone) Any tips on how I could get better?
I'm doing liverpool chester this weekend and that'll have a lot more higher level cyclists so any tips on maintiain a high consistency? fluids, eats, pace etc.
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Comments
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If you want to go faster on the road you need to fit some road tyres. Your wheels will take 700C*25 or fatter. I use 25s on my Singlecross and they are fine.
On a 40 mile ride you should not need to eat and would only need a drink if the weather was hot. Good to have one though, energy drink, orange squash or water is fine for this. Longer rides an energy drink is better. Just eat well at least 2 hours before you start. I usually manage to do it about 15 min before but other than a bit of rumbling it does not seem to bother me. If making a hard effort then 2 hours.
As for consistency, training needed, you should not start off flat out. Start riding well within yourself with a cadence of 80 to 90 rpm. When you get to a hill use the gears to maintain 60 to 80 rpm while still riding fairly comfortably. Do not hammer up, that can come later when you have got fitter.
Basically the more you ride, the better you will get. It will take a little time so don't expect to be riding the Tour next year.0 -
I have a Tricross sport as my Winter/off tarmac bike.... great fun machine, and much better than hacking about on an MTB in my opinion... I would though get your tyres changed as suggested... I put some Vittoria Randonneur Cross Pro tyres on (32mm), because i do use the bike off tarmac a fair bit, but you could go more narrow for sure if you want more on tarmac speed0
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Nearly went for a Tricross (a lifelong MTBer) but opted for a full on road bike (Allez Elite)
My driveway is at least a 1 in 3 (about 150 yards long) and I just got up it fine.
Loving the lack of resistance of proper road tyres!0 -
...oh and im not sure about not drinking on a 40mile ride.... I'd certainly try and drink at least 1-1.5litres over that distance0
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If you start well hydrated you should have no trouble. If I drank 1-1.5 ltr in 40 miles I would be for ever stopping. I did not drink that much in the White Rose on Sunday and that was 80 miles on what ended up quite a hot day. Back in the 60s no one ever bothered about drinking, the pendelum has swung too far the other way now. 500ml an hour will be fine if not too hot and not making major efforts.mgcycleguy wrote:...oh and im not sure about not drinking on a 40mile ride.... I'd certainly try and drink at least 1-1.5litres over that distance0 -
Hmm, i kinda wish i went for a tricross now. I'd been looking for a road bike for ages, then a few months ago I went and got a Trek 1.2 and whilst I do love whizzing along the roads, I like to explore and sometimes find myself wishing I could go down certain roads, as I tend to cycle more down country lanes etc and dont think either my bike or my bones could take it.
Do you think I should hold on to the trek, or maybe sell it on and get a cross?0 -
Road bikes are stronger than you think. I have riden my Trek 5200 with Rolf Sestriere 1500gm wheels off road on several occasions. I used it for the Tour of Flanders sportive and also the Scotton 100. This is a 100K event with about half on bridle paths and farm roads. Many use cross bikes or MTBs. My only concesion was 25mm tyres. I would not recomend doing this sort of thing all the time but the bike stood the hammer with no trouble other than 1 pinch flat. I am no lightweight at 75kg. Your 1.2 will be fine on country roads and with care on unsurfaced ones. It will be quicker than a crosser on the road as well.0
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Not necessarily.. having learned lessons on this forum to qualify certain 'statements' otherwise it tends to upset the cycling coaching geeks . the link shows research which points out reduced blood flow to renal function.. lessening of urine .. importance of hydration to flush renal system however..John.T wrote:If I drank 1-1.5 ltr in 40 miles I would be for ever stopping.
what do I know
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6567 ... rom=pubmed0 -
since we dragged ourselves out of the primordial soup we have evolved to cope with a certain amount of dehydration, but I still wouldn't advocate trying a 40 miler without a drink. Individuals differ in what they feel they need to drink when cycling, some driven by thirst, some by what they read, some by common sense.
I don't subscribe to the theory that we should all be drinking 6 litres of water a day just to stay alive
I just aim to replace what I think I'm losing in sweat. If it's 28 degrees and I'm doing a hilly 50 miles at a brisk pace I'd probably drink 1.5 litres and not need to pee at all. When I get home I can tell that despite high tech wicking and evaporation there's still about half a litre of sweat in my clothing. If I'm doing a 25 mile recovery ride in winter I'd take half a litre and only take a couple of sips, and probably need a pee stop after half an hour.0 -
keef66 wrote:since we dragged ourselves out of the primordial soup we have evolved to cope with a certain amount of dehydration, but I still wouldn't advocate trying a 40 miler without a drink. Individuals differ in what they feel they need to drink when cycling, some driven by thirst, some by what they read, some by common sense.
I don't subscribe to the theory that we should all be drinking 6 litres of water a day just to stay alive
I just aim to replace what I think I'm losing in sweat. If it's 28 degrees and I'm doing a hilly 50 miles at a brisk pace I'd probably drink 1.5 litres and not need to pee at all. When I get home I can tell that despite high tech wicking and evaporation there's still about half a litre of sweat in my clothing. If I'm doing a 25 mile recovery ride in winter I'd take half a litre and only take a couple of sips, and probably need a pee stop after half an hour.
This will be more to do with the cold than what you are drinking as the cold makes you want to go more, learned that from just 7 years in the TA.0 -
I suspect you're right about the cold. That and my advancing years; used to have the bladder control of a camel, but sadly no more.
Another factor is likely that I'm wearing bibtights in winter, and there is a positive correlation between the need to pee and the difficulty in using numb fingers to extract shrivelled penis from skin-tight clothing via a dangerously sharp so-called "comfort" zip.0 -
Yep change the tyres for road work - perhaps 25 or 28mm. The ones it comes with are very slow on road - OK off road though.'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.0
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JGSI
Oi! what's with the mega long, page breaking, url?
tiny url is your friend ...blog: bellevedere0
