Almost quit cycling, but I'm back on the saddle again
- Thread starter slo town
- Start date
Yeah, that tandem was flexing like crazy. I remember it being a thin diameter, steel tubed bike. I'm sure your Santana or our Cannondale didn't flex that much. Plus, who knows how old that frame was. Maybe it was a high mileage noodle.
Scott
There is no question tandems are wicked fast - so long as it's flats or rollers. Two engines punching one hole through the air.
I especially remember two centuries Sue and I rode on the tandem; Marin and The Delta in Stockton (which was flat as a pancake). I remember midway through Marin, Sue and I found ourselves on a flat section. We made a right turn somewhere, only to see literally 15 or 20 riders on our wheel drafting us. After making the turn we started hammering, wanting to drop everyone behind us. We were riding 55x12 gearing (a massive gear for the era). One by one we dropped every single one of them, leaving them spinning breathlessly behind us. Same with the Delta Century. Sue and I were absolute killers on the flats and rollers on that thing. We loved blowing people up with our speed! Hehe...
I have a good story about my 15 year old son and I riding The Delta. I can't find the PDF document at this moment. I'll find it tomorrow. It's great story. I think you'll especially like the part where my son and I had to stop (so he could pee), only for us to chase down this pack club riders like we were a hungry, rabid Cheetah. And then the mind game we played on them at the end. I love and remember it like it was yesterday.
Scott
AZjeff
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Speaking of tandems, we had a steel Yokota mountain bike tandem that was mainly ridden on the street. When my son was around 10 we entered a local road race with it. They had no tandem class so we started dead last. We started passing bikes and passed 95 or so by the finish. One guy drafted us on a slight downhill and at the bottom out he came around and said see ya. Didn't sit well with the boy and I told him just wait a bit. He gapped us going uphill but there was a roller section coming and I told Jason get ready to pin it. We got a good head of steam up and went by him on the next small uphill like a scud missile and Jason yelled SEE YA and he never caught us to the finish. That thing flexed like a swimming fish. Good times.
I'll chime in at 68 years Young. Started riding again after a short 8 month break while painting and doing things around the house as I retired just last year.
Yes I definitely do the same eating junk while not training.
Over the last 6 months I have been working my way back to my last longest Ride of 68 miles on flat terrain.
I went from a 38 mile Maximum Ride and jump right to a 68 miler. Yes I definitely shocked my system but a couple of recovery rides and feeling pretty good.
My current goal is to hit a century mark, I know I could do it, just get bored on Long rides must have music!
I try not to think about the past much as I live in the present and training and running definitely get you moving forward.
A sedentary lifestyle is definitely not healthy. You can do it no problem. Just do it! Good luck
Yes I definitely do the same eating junk while not training.
Over the last 6 months I have been working my way back to my last longest Ride of 68 miles on flat terrain.
I went from a 38 mile Maximum Ride and jump right to a 68 miler. Yes I definitely shocked my system but a couple of recovery rides and feeling pretty good.
My current goal is to hit a century mark, I know I could do it, just get bored on Long rides must have music!
I try not to think about the past much as I live in the present and training and running definitely get you moving forward.
A sedentary lifestyle is definitely not healthy. You can do it no problem. Just do it! Good luck
My wife and I had the same experience on the Holstein Hundred - on the flats, cruising a steady 21 mph with at least 20 riders drafting from us. Then the flats led into a climb and they passed us one by one, each yelling, "thanks for the pull!". Good times!
She just got a new hip and we are now starting to ride that bike again after about 10 years when she couldn't. I've been riding actively all these years by myself, almost sold the tandem a while back, now glad I didn't and really looking forward to riding it again.
Regarding your OP, I've been an avid cyclist since I was a teenager, pretty much my entire life. My engagement with it has varied in intensity over the years through different phases of life (high school, college, work, kids, retirement, etc.) but it's always been there and at this point there's no way I'm giving it up now.
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Interesting theoretical point here. Speed is proportional to the cube root of power. If a tandem has the same total drag (rolling resistance and air drag), with twice the power it should go 26% faster [2^(1/3) = 1.2599]. That's all else equal on the flats. Of course power is never twice, since one rider is always stronger than the other. And drag isn't the same, it's slightly higher than a single bike. But it's not that much higher. So call it 15-20% faster overall in the real world. As for weight, quality tandems weigh around 35-40 lbs., about twice as much as a good road bike. Theoretically, climb speed depends on P/W ratio so it should be similar to a single bike. Again not quite, because power isn't really 2x. And when you hit steep hills on a tandem it's easier to downshift and spin than stand on the pedals together.
Overall, it's significantly faster on the flats, WAY faster on the downhills, with a slight penalty on the climbs.
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Nice. Any exercise that a person enjoys, is great exercise. I'm not much of a cyclist, but when its not hot and super humid here, I like to take out my Wired Ebike and leave the motor off for 90% or so of the ride (I'll use it a little on some of the steeper hills). That thing is HEAVY (115 lbs) and a work out between the weight and the wide arse tires (4").
But now that I have more time and energy of late, I've started to consistently exercise again. "Japanese style" walking on a treadmill (varying intensity via speed and angle) almost everyday for about an hour, and some resistance training every other day.
I'm hoping this summer, I can lose at least 20lbs of fat. I'm going to be using chia seeds as sort of a natural ozempic (grind them up, blend with some protein powder and milk of some kind, make a pudding out of it. Between the high fiber, high protein, bit of fat, and the water gelling properties, becomes quite filling/satiating but relatively low calorie).
But now that I have more time and energy of late, I've started to consistently exercise again. "Japanese style" walking on a treadmill (varying intensity via speed and angle) almost everyday for about an hour, and some resistance training every other day.
I'm hoping this summer, I can lose at least 20lbs of fat. I'm going to be using chia seeds as sort of a natural ozempic (grind them up, blend with some protein powder and milk of some kind, make a pudding out of it. Between the high fiber, high protein, bit of fat, and the water gelling properties, becomes quite filling/satiating but relatively low calorie).
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@mikeduf, you being a Cali resident, sign up for some organized rides. Get a bit more training in and sign up for a 100K or something. Be carfeful not to sign up for an event that has boatloads of climbing. Riding long distances by yourself can be isolating and boring, but if you do an organized 100K or something with 3,000 others, the ride will be much more enjoyable - and feel easier.
You can do it too! Congrats on your retirement!
Scott
PS Hey also, and please don't be insulted, but I strongly discourage people from riding with earbuds. You need to hear when automotive traffic is coming up behind you.
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"Thanks for the pull!". I remember hearing those words! In fact, I used to hear those words even when I was on my single bike. I'm a big rider (6'5"), and when super fit about 205 pounds. In the old days with my training group I was called "Big Rig". People loved wheel sucking me (drafting). To those who don't ride, wheel suckers who never take their turn pulling up front are lower life forms.
Regarding climbing, Sue and I earned maybe a B minus on a good day with our standing out of the saddle climbing skills. Sometimes we got it right, other times we got so out of sync we had to sit back down on the saddles to "reset" ourselves.
That Santana of yours has to be super sweet @MRC01. Here's our Cannondale. Lots of goodies on it, Phil Wood and all. I sold it a few years ago for just $750 (!!) because Sue no longer rides, and the following pictures were taken to sell it. You can see it's perfect. We built it up in 1991. Notice the fade paint job I had done by Spectrum in Colorado.
Scott
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Is bike porn allowed here?
Here's our '99 Santana having 26 years and thousands of miles, with a few dings, scratches & dirt picked up along the way.V-Brakes with mechanical leverage - state of the art 25 years ago! They still work great.
Steel frame, Columbus double-butted tubing, feels solid as a brick house and weighs 38.5 lbs. ready to ride. Note Ultegra and XTR because they were believed to withstand the stress of a tandem drivetrain better than Dura Ace.
Hadley hubs - I've serviced them over the years and they still spin like new with original bearings - they truly do last forever when properly maintained. Wheelsmith wheels, 14 gauge 40 spoke 3-cross.
Tandem frames are so strong, the stoker seat can be unforgiving. A suspension seatpost is a "must" if you love your stoker and want her to ride with you more than once.
That's sad. I thought for years Michelle would never ride again, but thankfully her new hip got her back in the saddle again.
That's a really nice piece, @MRC01. Although we used different manufacturers our tandems are amazingly similar in their configuration, down to the suspension post for the stoker.Is bike porn allowed here?
View attachment 285129
V-Brakes with mechanical leverage - state of the art 25 years ago! They still work great.
View attachment 285130
Steel frame, Columbus double-butted tubing, feels solid as a brick house and weighs 38.5 lbs. ready to ride. Note Ultegra and XTR because they were believed to withstand the stress of a tandem drivetrain better than Dura Ace.
View attachment 285131
Hadley hubs - I've serviced them over the years and they still spin like new with original bearings - they truly do last forever when properly maintained. Wheelsmith wheels, 14 gauge 40 spoke 3-cross.
View attachment 285132
Tandem frames are so strong, the stoker seat can be unforgiving. A suspension seatpost is a "must" if you love your stoker and want her to ride with you more than once.
View attachment 285133
That's sad. I thought for years Michelle would never ride again, but thankfully her new hip got her back in the saddle again.
I'll find my tandem story with our 15 year old son later. I think you'll get a laugh out of it because you'll be able to relate. It was one of my finest days on the bike. And the mind game part...I was at my peak on the bike and took no prisoners.
Scott
Yeah I quit using earbuds or earphones quite a while ago. I use noxgear, it's a little Bluetooth speaker you can pick this up online and there are many variations. It also accepts phone calls by just tapping the button so much better than any earbud or earphone. Just my two cents here. Photo attached
I've heard that earbuds can be set to allow ambient noise through? I'd think music would still drown out ambient.
I found that I prefer riding with a skull cap. My head gets hotter but less sunburn (I'm follicle challenged). One nice benefit of covering my ears, not only do I not have to put sunblock on there but there is way less wind noise while biking. I can hear through it but its almost to where I won't ride without it--maybe for slow rides it'd be fine, but not usually (for me).
Finally cracked 15mph today, that felt good.
I found that I prefer riding with a skull cap. My head gets hotter but less sunburn (I'm follicle challenged). One nice benefit of covering my ears, not only do I not have to put sunblock on there but there is way less wind noise while biking. I can hear through it but its almost to where I won't ride without it--maybe for slow rides it'd be fine, but not usually (for me).
Finally cracked 15mph today, that felt good.
My little piece of utopia on that short 11 mile sortie I mentioned in my original post.
Scott
Scott
Good to know. I've never worn skull caps. I have a really bad case of permanent tinnitus and my head is configured such that I hear a lot of wind noise. I ride with black colored Cat Ears. They look like Elvis' sideburns back when he was a young buck.
Scott
https://www.cat-ears.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoq4_D2C1QYIYyp-lv7PnFkv8VcZGxgTQ6IZhCy9G2iZpaA8CLxY
How do they change the sound? Have you noticed that when you turn your head to look toward the side the wind noise disappears? Is the effect like that?
They lessen the sound by directing some of the the airflow away from the ear.
My first impression of them was one of disappointment. It didn't seem like they did much. But I kept them on for several weeks before taking them off because I felt like the Elvis sideburn look wasn't worth the limited wind noise reduction.
Strange thing was, when I removed them the wind noise sounded like it doubled! I was surprised because when I first put them on they didn't seem to do much. Well, it became apparent that they did more than I thought.
They're inexpensive enough to try. I have the classic ones because they have the thickest fuzz.
Scott
