Mont Ventoux On A Fixed Gear

Comments

  • 15peter20
    15peter20 Posts: 293
    :roll: yawn. What ?????
  • OffTheBackAdam
    OffTheBackAdam Posts: 1,869
    It's either heroic or insane!
    Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.
  • pdstsp
    pdstsp Posts: 1,264
    Insane, but I would pay to see how fast his legs were going round on the way down.
  • El Dude
    El Dude Posts: 9
    15peter20 wrote:
    :roll: yawn. What ?????

    It's climbing one of the hardest climbs in the world three times in one day, 19,000 feet of climbing, on a fixed gear bike. it's extremly, extremely difficult. Even more so by the the fact that you wouldn't get the usual time to rest, the descent, on a fixed gear as you have to work to control the bike. I wouldn't have thought it was even possible!
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Good story there - and the forest path sounds even better !
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    Good read but he does big himself up a bit. On the right gear then really it's not that much harder than riding up on gears - not easy but doable for a fit rider. The descent is another matter - supposing that you keep the same gear - I think I'd have taken the chain off.
    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • majormantra
    majormantra Posts: 2,094
    Nutter, but impressive. I think riding fixed on the descents is a bit of a waste of some fantastic terrain though. If I were set on doing the climbs fixed I'd consider putting a freewheel on the other side of the hub so I could enjoy coming back down. I suppose that would be 'cheating' though.
  • El Dude
    El Dude Posts: 9
    Tom Butcher wrote:
    Good read but he does big himself up a bit.

    Yes, defitinely! Altough admittedly it is quite hard to talk about yourself without sounding like you're bigging yourself up.
  • Lazarus
    Lazarus Posts: 1,426
    pdstsp wrote:
    Insane, but I would pay to see how fast his legs were going round on the way down.

    For a second I thought he was the guy my friend and I saw when we were ascending Ventoux this year..... Strangely he had both feet of the pedals as he descended at a rapid rate.... Around here I wouldn't dream of doing it but in France the roads are far better and the chances of hitting a pothole and crushing his nadgers were pretty slim.
    A punctured bicycle
    On a hillside desolate
    Will nature make a man of me yet ?
  • disquieting_museeuws
    disquieting_museeuws Posts: 601
    This comment from the blog strikes me as very weird (or are randonneurs all Ibuprofen junkies?)

    "The one statistic from the ride that I’m most happy about is that I
    took no pain relievers before, during, or after it. I’ve been trying
    to get away from using that stuff for years and getting up and down,
    and recovering from, Ventoux without any drugs (liberal amounts of
    caffeine aside) is an accomplishment I’m proud of."
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Taking the chain off does seem to be a genius idea ! Much better way to descend.

    My fixed climbs really well, and its only the descents that are harder.

    That said - 4 ascents in one day would be hard on any bike - fixed or geared.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    disquieting_museeuws wrote:
    This comment from the blog strikes me as very weird (or are randonneurs all Ibuprofen junkies?)

    "The one statistic from the ride that I’m most happy about is that I
    took no pain relievers before, during, or after it. I’ve been trying
    to get away from using that stuff for years and getting up and down,
    and recovering from, Ventoux without any drugs (liberal amounts of
    caffeine aside) is an accomplishment I’m proud of."

    Doctor suggested I take some ibuprofen re my hip a while back.

    Made a big difference to all my cycling. Those aches and pains you get 4hrs in just disappear.
    _
  • t4tomo
    t4tomo Posts: 2,643
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    disquieting_museeuws wrote:
    This comment from the blog strikes me as very weird (or are randonneurs all Ibuprofen junkies?)

    "The one statistic from the ride that I’m most happy about is that I
    took no pain relievers before, during, or after it. I’ve been trying
    to get away from using that stuff for years and getting up and down,
    and recovering from, Ventoux without any drugs (liberal amounts of
    caffeine aside) is an accomplishment I’m proud of."

    Doctor suggested I take some ibuprofen re my hip a while back.

    Made a big difference to all my cycling. Those aches and pains you get 4hrs in just disappear.

    and we wonder why doping EPO etc all started??

    It started with slugging red wine and brandy en route in teh early days of the TDF didn't it?
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    t4tomo wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    disquieting_museeuws wrote:
    This comment from the blog strikes me as very weird (or are randonneurs all Ibuprofen junkies?)

    "The one statistic from the ride that I’m most happy about is that I
    took no pain relievers before, during, or after it. I’ve been trying
    to get away from using that stuff for years and getting up and down,
    and recovering from, Ventoux without any drugs (liberal amounts of
    caffeine aside) is an accomplishment I’m proud of."

    Doctor suggested I take some ibuprofen re my hip a while back.

    Made a big difference to all my cycling. Those aches and pains you get 4hrs in just disappear.

    and we wonder why doping EPO etc all started??

    It started with slugging red wine and brandy en route in teh early days of the TDF didn't it?

    Pfft.

    I'm not competing am I?

    Who am I cheating if I take a little iboprufen for my hip which was damaged when a guy leaned out of a car window and pushed me off?

    I just happen to have noticed the other side effects.
    _

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