kiwashere

No. Black n' Milds are proven to make you stronger.

ianjk

Adding a brake will probably help if you ride anywhere other than closed streets and won't piss off other riders in a group when they need to stop and you rear end them while trying to skid stop.

mattheis

Pick up a trainer or rollers, so in the winter you are still riding and building leg muscle while your friends are sitting around getting fat. By Spring you'll be able to keep up.

Stezzy

sabotage the other riders till you are the last man standing.

Sherblock

dat cardio. running would help.

Santaria

My newspaper boy hat has HTFU embroidered on the back of it. Lots of people ask why. I'll give you the secret:

My 11-year-old son rides with me. He's at the stage in life where he thinks everything comes without work and believes that he can handle anything without trying. Then he "falls" 2 miles into a ride because "it's so much work." So the message is back there for whenever he glances with evil little beedy-eyes at the back of my skull wishing I was dead. It helps him to know to HTFU and keep up cause **** don't just happen - you gotta work for it.

+1 to everything else, except black 'n milds don't do it - you gotta really dig deep and smoke GPC brand smokes. Everything else has too few chemical additives to really "get ya flowin."

JesusBananas

Scrod, you can't "ride less" if none of us even ride bikes to begin with. Sheesh.

ianjk

Or nut up and keep riding. Studded tires are less efficient and slicks will feel so good in the spring, plus nothing beats actually riding.

Scrodzilla

Oh yeah. I ride so little, I forget that I don't ride.

DviousDave

What is "the dreaded bonks" and HTFU?

jdgesus 

a "dreaded bonk" is a like regular dreads in your hair, but in a mullet form

a white guy bumbaclot

prooftheory

bonking is running out of energy and HTFU is harden the ____ up. Google is your friend.

tessartype

Actually, just the opposite. Real food doesn't get digested properly during exercise - the simpler the better. Gels, bars and drinks are as simple as it gets. Dried fruit is also good.

DviousDave

True; Google is my friend. But there are so many acronyms out there Google could have steered me wrong. Hearing it from this community = the right acronym.

3 circles

Lmao!!!

But still, I have to give you guys/gals props for riding 75 mIles in one gear! Am I the only one that thinks this is both hardcore and amazing? I can do 75 on a RB, but on a SS...

Okay, I've now just added something else to my bike "to-do" list!! Talk about a burn.... Sounds both painful & fun!!

deleterious

Just to play devil's advocate, have you considered getting a bike that's actually intended to do what you are looking to do: go fast, far, and uphill/downhill efficiently? Talkin' bout a regular old geared road bike. I have a fixed conversion that I use for commuting (~5 miles each way), slow group rides, and general riding for fun, but when I wanna go long distance (20+ miles) at high speed I use something with gears (and brakes). If I gotta lose some street cred points, so be it. Right tool for the right job and all that.

All the fixed commuting has really done wonders for my legs though, I must say. Not so much for the lungs, although it has helped that a bit too. But long road rides are much better for cardio building, as others have said here.

xavier853

Yes, true and good points. It's also fun to do long haul rides on fixed though even if it's not the most efficient and effective ride.

hairnet

I don't even think about once I am out on the road. I have taken my fixed gear everywhere I have taken my geared bike except for routes with climbs over 10%. Climbing is fun on my fixed when I slow up and take it easy otherwise I will blow up trying to keep up with someone faster. IDK, this stuff comes with time.


a.k.a. "hitting the wall" - running out of food energy. total misery when you have to keep on going and work through it

bbattle

+100

Flat bar is fine for getting around town but for long rides in the country, I'd go with drop bars. Bullhorns would work, too.

I imagine your local cycling club has a mailing list and if you join it, you'll get notices of all the upcoming rides. The ride leaders will post the average pace of the ride along with the map and start time.

The club here has a beginner's course for group rides that starts with short rides then gets up to 100km by the end of the summer. Something like that would be perfect for you.

Does your bike have a flip-flop hub? Having a freewheel just in case is a good idea. So is having a front brake.

hwdxbassist

How can I improve my endurance and bike faster and longer?
Bike faster and longer. everytime you ride, ride at 85% speed. always take the scenic route, always climb those hills.

Is a there any type of good regimen or plan to improve?
go out to your LBS and see if they have local weekly rides. go get you @$$ handed to you and get smoked by the trollies in full lycra. keep at it until the whole group is trying to catch up to you while you calmly bike with your headphones on listening to the Beatles. Try out different gear ratios as they train different parts of your body ie. strength and acceleration.
Also, how can I get up hills faster?
get a 48-18 ratio and climb the gnarliest hill you can bike to and back home. time your self. next week try and beat that time. weeks later invite your bros and school them on proper hill mashing. Breath, Pedal, Ride.

also if your not already clipless get on it!!


but you wont get anywhere, get any faster, stronger, or smarter unless you start looking at your nutrition. improve on it.




oh yea and if your serious get a helmet and a front brake. all that brakeless $#!+ is for kids who ride their bike once a week. if you ride everyday 40 miles+ your going to want a brake, to save from buying new tires every 3 weeks.

yummygooey

Nutrition sucks. I ate like 5 hot dogs yesterday.

Kinkikowboi

Yo, stop the hatin'.

hwdxbassist

Those who think im hating obviously see the flaw in having to buy tires every 2-3 weeks-they just cant admit it ^_^. Im giving this dude a heads up, he said he wants to be more serious and ride more often. and that was just my opinion and recommendation.

Kinkikowboi

Haha whatever works =] Just saying, I haven't skidded in 3 months. It's a serious stereotype that brakeless people skid to every stop but on the contrary, a lot of brakeless people just slow their stroke to slow down. The last time I replaced my tire was earlier last year. Yea, if there a lot of hills and you don't feel safe without a brake, go ahead. Just saying it's pretty doable going brakeless if you want to. I commute 10 miles to school with no brakes. But I agree to the helmet part. That is a must.

seau grateau

True HTFUers bonk on every ride.