Pre-Blog Ride Reports - Jan '09

Originally emailed on January 10, 2009 5:57:36 PM under the subject, One down, eleven to go - Ride Report

I set myself a cycling goal this year to do a century ride in every calendar month of 2009. And as if doing a century in January isn't punishment enough, I decided to do my first century of the year on my single speed Bianchi. I'm running a 46t chainring with an 18t freewheel cog in the back. For perspective, this gearing is basically equivalent to putting your chain on the small ring in the front and smack-dab in the middle of the cluster in the back (assuming you have a standard 53/39 double crank with a 11-23 cluster), and then wrapping duct tape all around your shifters so you can't mess with them for the rest of the day. In the flats it's a decent gear for spinning along comfortably at about 16 mph. But as we've all known since Columbus failed to fall off the edge in 1492, the world is not flat. I spin out at about 24 mph on the downhills, and have to stand up and grunt a lot if the uphills exceed about a 3% grade.

My route was pretty convoluted, part loop and part out and back. Most of my favorite routes for long rides are currently under water due to all the flooding we've been having. So I got a little creative. I started at 6:30am so I could get home at a reasonable hour and still have time to hang out with the family. Of course that meant I was riding in the dark for about the first hour. Starting from home, I went around Lake Washington counter clockwise as far as Kenmore, about 3/4 of the way around. From Kenmore I headed east and then north and then east again and south and west and then north (did you follow that?). My route took me through Woodinville, Maltby (wherever the hell that is), Paradise Lake, Novelty Hill, Redmond, Issaquah, Renton again and finally home.

Temperature was in the low 40s and it rained on and off the whole way. But I was dressed right, so I was pretty comfortable. Overall it was a fun way to spend an ugly day. I definitely didn't set any speed records. As a matter of fact, it was by far the slowest century I've ever ridden. I mostly blame that on the single speed, though it's possible the engine was partly at fault. Choosing the gearing on a single speed or fixed gear bike is an exercise in compromise at best. You give up speed on the flats and downhills in order to have a low enough gear to survive the uphills. After today's ride, I'm thinking I compromised a little too much on the low side. The hills were all manageable, but I could never do any better than about 16 - 17mph on the flats.

Ok, so that's my story. Who wants to join me for the February century? ;)

Steve

Ride Stats
Miles = 108.5
Ride Time = 7:28
Elapsed Time = ~8 hours
Ibuprophen Consumed = 800mgs