jetbike

...that make you realise you're actually not a cyclist, just a guy with a nice bike? Had one this morning, climbing up the steepest hill I've seen for a long time, at the mid-point I got a horrible cramp in the right hamstring. I had to get off the bike to stretch it out and found myself sitting in the gutter, trying not to vomit.

Not my most dignified day. Awesome with hindsight, but not at the time.

The Weak Link

Quit. Sell your bike.

What kind do you ride?

achoo

Who but a real cyclist would bike up a hill until his legs failed and he puked?

colombo357

A n00b trying to justify his purchase.

carpediemracing 

I was climbing a hill pretty well for me out in SoCal. I was pretty pleased with myself until a guy rolled up to me at a light at the top of the climb.

"You okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You were climbing so slow I thought maybe you had a mechanical."

He was serious. But he also invited me to join him and his friends on what ended up being something like a 6 hour ride. One of the best rides I've ever had. I learned later he lives on the hill and uses it to gauge his fitness. He flies up the thing. He seemed more human on other climbs.

cdr

jetbike

Not a n00b, but certainly felt like one this morning. To add to the usual range of excuses this was my first challenging ride after a fairly long absence (2 months) due to illness.

Mekrob

[Flo from progressive ads]
Happens to me all the time.
[/Flo from progressive ads]

jetbike

The irony is that I had a great time. Can't wait t do it again.

roccobike

You had a great time getting cramps and puking and can't wait to do it again?


ok

jetbike

Doppio post

jetbike

Didn't quite puke.

Riding til you puke is a right of passage, isn't it? I enjoy pushing myself and then living to tell the tale. Periods of hardship are a part of riding and life in general. I'm sure that I'm a better rider than I was before this ride.

"Road-racing is all about generating pain" Tim Krabbé - The Rider, I wasn't racing, but you get the idea.

colombo357

Good, keep riding the hills. Challenge yourself by progressively using harder gears. Eventually, you'll earn the ability to humiliate other riders on the road, which is one of the most gratifying achievements in all of recreational sport. The cheaper your bike, the better it feels.

jetbike

That's annoying. I have two Colnagos.

gitarzan

It's not as embarrassing as having a sugar low and konking on a diabetic charity ride. I felt like a dick. A little teeny tiny dick.

I'd never had a sugar low on a ride before. WTF.

gumbii

did you have a fred-a-lization...?

chasm54

I rode in a local event yesterday. It's an annual gig, I normally do the hundred mile ride but yesterday my friend had brought his 17 year-old daughter, so we did the 63 mile ride to look after her. Misplaced gallantry - on all but the toughest sections she was comfortably as quick as me.

Anyway, about 15 miles from the finish there's a sharp little climb, very steep (touches 25%) then plateaus, then kicks up again to about 20%. Not very long, thankfully, but tough. As I approach it's carnage, there's a host of inexperienced and leisure riders off their bikes and walking, a couple of "real" cyclists who have rolled off into the grass verge with cramp, general mayhem. I'm hauling my overweight carcass up the steepest section, moderately pleased that I'm not making an idiot of myself and with my HR (as I later discovered) at 180 when a proper climber comes dancing past me as if he hasn't a care in the world. Admittedly he's about 25 years younger than me, and weighs about 9 stones when wringing wet, but still...

So, OP Colnago-man, don't worry about it. There's always a faster gun, but there are plenty of slower ones too.

(Memo to self. Must lose that 5 kilos I seem to have acquired from somewhere)

jetbike

In the sense that I'm not a pro-rider, and therefore (like everyone else) Fred-esque, correct. In the sense that I'm a 'n00b' with a couple of expensive bikes, that's incorrect. I've been riding for about 10 years and until recently rode about 1200kms per month.

If some of you people haven't ever gone on a ride that pushed you out of your comfort zone and through a pain barrier, then you're not riding had enough. War stories are awesome.

gumbii

HAD


oh i see...



and yes i have pushed myself that hard... but i have a high threshold for pain... so i usually just force myself like crazy and just ignore everything else... untill i stop pedaling and get off my bike i'm all lightheaded and dieing inside out...