We had a decent turnout yesterday. Twelve riders headed out along the rolling hills on top of the Illinois bluffs. Going out we had a brisk headwind but made decent time. We emptied out onto the Bluff Rd a little north of Maeystown (KK Rd I think) and then headed to The Sweet Shoppe for some refueling. Four riders turned back for various reasons at that point while the rest continued on for an additional loop that took us just beyond Fults. We cut off of Bluff Rd at Fults and headed to the deserted side road. I guess that is still called Levee down there. We had a pretty decent double paceline going, aided by a tailwind. Halfway back the wind seemed to shift and we fought more of a sidewind the rest of the way back. We finished with 72 miles. Not the advertised 80-100, but we didn't go all the way to Prairie du Rocher. We were gone for 4:15 but that includes the stop in Maeystown and a couple "natural breaks". Not a bad pace. Some slow sections and some fast sections. The legs felt pretty good. I'm satisfied since the ride was a good bit longer than typical 35-40 that I have been doing.
Oh yeah, one more thing. I must have assembled the 10-speed okay because it didn't fall apart along the way. The shifting was a little quirky in a couple places but nothing major. The biggest issue was when the ride started. We started riding and I was riding so low if felt like I was riding a 52cm. I was really puzzled as to why I felt that way. My first thought was that I was just accustomed to riding the CX bike and that the setup was more radically different than I knew. After a few miles I remembered that I put my old Look pedals on the bike. Combine that with the Carnac shoes that have the Look cleats and I'm certain that was the problem. My Carnacs have a very thick sole and Look's have a naturally bigger stack height to begin with. At the first "natural break" I pulled out the allen wrenches and raised the saddle about a centimeter. The change was quickly made and I guessed at how much to raise the saddle. Even if it was not perfect, I felt much more comfortable.
Oh yeah, one more thing. I must have assembled the 10-speed okay because it didn't fall apart along the way. The shifting was a little quirky in a couple places but nothing major. The biggest issue was when the ride started. We started riding and I was riding so low if felt like I was riding a 52cm. I was really puzzled as to why I felt that way. My first thought was that I was just accustomed to riding the CX bike and that the setup was more radically different than I knew. After a few miles I remembered that I put my old Look pedals on the bike. Combine that with the Carnac shoes that have the Look cleats and I'm certain that was the problem. My Carnacs have a very thick sole and Look's have a naturally bigger stack height to begin with. At the first "natural break" I pulled out the allen wrenches and raised the saddle about a centimeter. The change was quickly made and I guessed at how much to raise the saddle. Even if it was not perfect, I felt much more comfortable.
2 Comments:
So, you're the Troll... go figure that one.
Is that really Ivan Basso's sister?
Yes, thats really Basso's sister.
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