Standing and riding
11-19-20, 07:32 AM
#26
Member
cool, which bike you ride?
I did a 12 Miler today, and what I noticed is if I pic a slightly harder gear, it’s much better and my quads don’t get lit as much.
One thing I might add , lot of people saying I need to get fit, and is reason for my challenges, but being fit doesn’t mean you can cycle well if you don’t ride and are a beginner, there is lot of technique involved if you never ride bikes and are new to the sport . I.e cyclist would not go play basketball or box very well if they never done the sport no matter how fit they are
I get on these forums and such questions to Inquire about techniques and other exercises I can do to better myself at the sport
I did a 12 Miler today, and what I noticed is if I pic a slightly harder gear, it’s much better and my quads don’t get lit as much.
One thing I might add , lot of people saying I need to get fit, and is reason for my challenges, but being fit doesn’t mean you can cycle well if you don’t ride and are a beginner, there is lot of technique involved if you never ride bikes and are new to the sport . I.e cyclist would not go play basketball or box very well if they never done the sport no matter how fit they are
I get on these forums and such questions to Inquire about techniques and other exercises I can do to better myself at the sport
I also have a Cannondale Slate 105 that I love. Lots of gravel riding here in Maine.
You are right about needing to learn bike handling skills. I have a buddy that is a slower rider than I am but he is always faster through the turns. He actually rode up Cadillac Mountain with me and I beat him up but he beat me down because I wasn't nearly as comfortable with the turns, especially at the higher speeds. He finally talked me into trying MTN biking this year and it has opened my eyes to how much harder it is from a technical skills point than road biking. I was having a really hard time through the hard turns (translate: all turns
) on a MTN bike but now that I've been practicing and riding more I'm getting a lot more comfortable at cornering on the road bike. MTN biking was a real eye opener, I'm glad he talked me into it. He's still faster than me on the trails but I'm slowly getting better so he doesn't have to wait up so much. What about you, what bike did you end up settling on?
11-19-20, 08:40 AM
#27
Full Member
Thread Starter
For street riding I picked up a 2016 Trek Emonda SLR 8. I could normally never talk myself into spending that kind of money on a bike but I bought it used on Bicycle Blue Book Nov 2019 at the end of the season (pre pandemic bike shortages) It was one of their "old stock" and I picked it up for literally a fraction of what it went for new and I love it to bits.
I also have a Cannondale Slate 105 that I love. Lots of gravel riding here in Maine.
You are right about needing to learn bike handling skills. I have a buddy that is a slower rider than I am but he is always faster through the turns. He actually rode up Cadillac Mountain with me and I beat him up but he beat me down because I wasn't nearly as comfortable with the turns, especially at the higher speeds. He finally talked me into trying MTN biking this year and it has opened my eyes to how much harder it is from a technical skills point than road biking. I was having a really hard time through the hard turns (translate: all turns) on a MTN bike but now that I've been practicing and riding more I'm getting a lot more comfortable at cornering on the road bike. MTN biking was a real eye opener, I'm glad he talked me into it. He's still faster than me on the trails but I'm slowly getting better so he doesn't have to wait up so much.
What about you, what bike did you end up settling on?
I also have a Cannondale Slate 105 that I love. Lots of gravel riding here in Maine.
You are right about needing to learn bike handling skills. I have a buddy that is a slower rider than I am but he is always faster through the turns. He actually rode up Cadillac Mountain with me and I beat him up but he beat me down because I wasn't nearly as comfortable with the turns, especially at the higher speeds. He finally talked me into trying MTN biking this year and it has opened my eyes to how much harder it is from a technical skills point than road biking. I was having a really hard time through the hard turns (translate: all turns
) on a MTN bike but now that I've been practicing and riding more I'm getting a lot more comfortable at cornering on the road bike. MTN biking was a real eye opener, I'm glad he talked me into it. He's still faster than me on the trails but I'm slowly getting better so he doesn't have to wait up so much. What about you, what bike did you end up settling on?
So, here is my bike story. I been wanting to get into biking for quite some time, maybe couple years. Specifically riding on tarmac. During the pandemic, since I was traveling less (long work commute) and had more time,I pulled out my childhood old mountain bike from 1994 , called Jazz Voltage by trek, to see if I would like it. I rode enough, to make me realize I'm going to stick to this, albeit the bike was 26 years old, and way to small for me, and had tons of rust/flex and other issues that frightened me lol.
Due to the bike shortage, I really could not find anything, finally a friend let me try his trek fx 7.3 (2016 model), I tried it for a few minutes I was in love, with the speed and comfort.Especially coming from a beat up, small, rusted budget(at the time of) bike. I had always wanted a TREK since I was a child.
I confirmed with trek , the geometry didn't change with current year fx 3 from 2016 fx 7.3, and started just calling random places, and finally one shop had a close enough ETA date for a black 2021 trek fx3, in size Large, and I pulled the trigger. Rest of the places required waiting a year or so, while this one shop was month out ETA (I was ecstatic)
SO I literally ONLY TRIED ONE BIKE. LOL LMAO.
But it is a great bike though, and superior to 2016 model, love the disc breaks.
If It had not been bc of the pandemic, I would have tried much more bikes, and types of bikes. I will probably buy at least one more bike in the future, if I stick with it. I think I want to experiment drop handle bars on an endurance bike, and more aggressive riding position.
Last edited by Awesomeguy; 11-19-20 at 08:44 AM.
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11-19-20, 08:48 AM
#28
Not a newbie to cycling
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So, here is my bike story. I been wanting to get into biking for quite some time, maybe couple years. Specifically riding on tarmac. During the pandemic, since I was traveling less (long work commute) and had more time,I pulled out my childhood old mountain bike from 1994 , called Jazz Voltage by trek, to see if I would like it. I rode enough, to make me realize I'm going to stick to this, albeit the bike was 26 years old, and way to small for me, and had tons of rust/flex and other issues that frightened me lol.
Due to the bike shortage, I really could not find anything, finally a friend let me try his trek fx 7.3 (2016 model), I tried it for a few minutes I was in love, with the speed and comfort.Especially coming from a beat up, small, rusted budget(at the time of) bike. I had always wanted a TREK since I was a child.
I confirmed with trek , the geometry didn't change with current year fx 3 from 2016 fx 7.3, and started just calling random places, and finally one shop had a close enough ETA date for a black 2021 trek fx3, in size Large, and I pulled the trigger. Rest of the places required waiting a year or so, while this one shop was month out ETA (I was ecstatic)
SO I literally ONLY TRIED ONE BIKE. LOL LMAO.
But it is a great bike though, and superior to 2016 model, love the disc breaks.
If It had not been bc of the pandemic, I would have tried much more bikes, and types of bikes. I will probably buy at least one more bike in the future, if I stick with it. I think I want to experiment drop handle bars on an endurance bike, and more aggressive riding position.
Due to the bike shortage, I really could not find anything, finally a friend let me try his trek fx 7.3 (2016 model), I tried it for a few minutes I was in love, with the speed and comfort.Especially coming from a beat up, small, rusted budget(at the time of) bike. I had always wanted a TREK since I was a child.
I confirmed with trek , the geometry didn't change with current year fx 3 from 2016 fx 7.3, and started just calling random places, and finally one shop had a close enough ETA date for a black 2021 trek fx3, in size Large, and I pulled the trigger. Rest of the places required waiting a year or so, while this one shop was month out ETA (I was ecstatic)
SO I literally ONLY TRIED ONE BIKE. LOL LMAO.
But it is a great bike though, and superior to 2016 model, love the disc breaks.
If It had not been bc of the pandemic, I would have tried much more bikes, and types of bikes. I will probably buy at least one more bike in the future, if I stick with it. I think I want to experiment drop handle bars on an endurance bike, and more aggressive riding position.
11-19-20, 09:19 AM
#29
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A few years ago I did a longish tour, but after about three days I was experiencing significant saddle discomfort. For the next few days, until we got to another city with a bike shop where I could get a different saddle, I worked myself up to be able to ride for very long distances while standing, resting on the saddle only very occasionally to give my legs a break. After a few days, I could stay in a paceline with my group for very long stretches while never sitting down.
THe main key, aside from training your leg muscles, is to put your bike into a higher gear than you can turn while seated so you can pedal very slowly while maintaining your desired speed.
THe main key, aside from training your leg muscles, is to put your bike into a higher gear than you can turn while seated so you can pedal very slowly while maintaining your desired speed.
11-19-20, 10:01 AM
#30
Member
So, here is my bike story. I been wanting to get into biking for quite some time, maybe couple years. Specifically riding on tarmac. During the pandemic, since I was traveling less (long work commute) and had more time,I pulled out my childhood old mountain bike from 1994 , called Jazz Voltage by trek, to see if I would like it. I rode enough, to make me realize I'm going to stick to this, albeit the bike was 26 years old, and way to small for me, and had tons of rust/flex and other issues that frightened me lol.
Due to the bike shortage, I really could not find anything, finally a friend let me try his trek fx 7.3 (2016 model), I tried it for a few minutes I was in love, with the speed and comfort.Especially coming from a beat up, small, rusted budget(at the time of) bike. I had always wanted a TREK since I was a child.
I confirmed with trek , the geometry didn't change with current year fx 3 from 2016 fx 7.3, and started just calling random places, and finally one shop had a close enough ETA date for a black 2021 trek fx3, in size Large, and I pulled the trigger. Rest of the places required waiting a year or so, while this one shop was month out ETA (I was ecstatic)
SO I literally ONLY TRIED ONE BIKE. LOL LMAO.
But it is a great bike though, and superior to 2016 model, love the disc breaks.
If It had not been bc of the pandemic, I would have tried much more bikes, and types of bikes. I will probably buy at least one more bike in the future, if I stick with it. I think I want to experiment drop handle bars on an endurance bike, and more aggressive riding position.
Due to the bike shortage, I really could not find anything, finally a friend let me try his trek fx 7.3 (2016 model), I tried it for a few minutes I was in love, with the speed and comfort.Especially coming from a beat up, small, rusted budget(at the time of) bike. I had always wanted a TREK since I was a child.
I confirmed with trek , the geometry didn't change with current year fx 3 from 2016 fx 7.3, and started just calling random places, and finally one shop had a close enough ETA date for a black 2021 trek fx3, in size Large, and I pulled the trigger. Rest of the places required waiting a year or so, while this one shop was month out ETA (I was ecstatic)
SO I literally ONLY TRIED ONE BIKE. LOL LMAO.
But it is a great bike though, and superior to 2016 model, love the disc breaks.
If It had not been bc of the pandemic, I would have tried much more bikes, and types of bikes. I will probably buy at least one more bike in the future, if I stick with it. I think I want to experiment drop handle bars on an endurance bike, and more aggressive riding position.
11-19-20, 12:29 PM
#31
Hear myself getting fat
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As other's have mentioned you can get better at riding out of the saddle by doing just that. It sounds trite, but it is what it is.
If your current "max" is 60 seconds then simply do 2 sets of riding out of the saddle for 25 seconds at a time and do that 3 times (2 Sets of 3X25sec). Spread these out over your entire ride. Now you have a total of 2.5 minutes of out of the saddle riding "practice". You could do that same kind of practice with out of the saddle riding for sprinting as well. Maybe not as long of periods of sprinting but getting out and doing it more in a kind of progressive manner will help a great deal.
Good luck.
If your current "max" is 60 seconds then simply do 2 sets of riding out of the saddle for 25 seconds at a time and do that 3 times (2 Sets of 3X25sec). Spread these out over your entire ride. Now you have a total of 2.5 minutes of out of the saddle riding "practice". You could do that same kind of practice with out of the saddle riding for sprinting as well. Maybe not as long of periods of sprinting but getting out and doing it more in a kind of progressive manner will help a great deal.
Good luck.
11-20-20, 01:18 PM
#33
Non omnino gravis
If you want to be able to stay OOS longer, do that. When you feel like sitting down, just don't. Stand until you have to sit down. In my first year on the bike, I decided to try to ride the "big hill" right near my house-- the same hill featured in the Highland Stage of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Hits around 15% at the steepest part, so there's usually some standing (for me.) I had the ambitious plan to lap it 10 times (the pros do it 25 times,) and everything was going well enough. I got to the base of the hill on lap 9, went to stand where the pitch starts to kick up, and my legs said "nope." Go til' failure.
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