Thread: Well bugger me!!!

Ok so checked my average cadence and my preliminary rough calcs land me at about 50-60rpm LOL
I have short burst or downhill/flat speed runs of about 80-90 but I am just roughstimating these numbers.

Have just changed my seat position for the ride home, it's an inch higher and 10mm rearward and tilted back another 3 degrees. See if that feels better on my butt

Looks like the weather is going to be good for a sunday ride, and will be going for an evening run out the spit (seaway) this arvo if the weather permits.


Cheers
Grimace

Bikometer is now at 65.6!
Finally received my flats and fitted them yesterday arvo and have now completed 20K on the DMRs... wow!
They may not be pimp to you guys but I love them already. Either the DMRs are that good or my old pedals, being a generic temp fit, were that bad. The difference is unbelievable... the fact that I even noticed it was surprising.
I thought I loved my bike before, now I am excited about riding it even more so

Done a 10k loop out at the spit this morning with a relative and it was just too easy, need to pick up the pace a bit me thinks.. any ways got some ****ty phone shots before we headed off on the loop to show off the new flats

Bling bling Grimace! I agree with you. I think they set the bike off - vibrant colour.

Something you might want to consider is a shorter stem. You probably have a 110mm there but something like 90mm will make the bike a bit more "user friendly" and comfortable, and just generally handle a little better. It will sit you a bit more upright and shift your weight back a bit.

The seat angle is looking a lot better too BTW .


James.

Originally Posted by rainman

Bling bling Grimace! I agree with you. I think they set the bike off - vibrant colour.

Something you might want to consider is a shorter stem. You probably have a 110mm there but something like 90mm will make the bike a bit more "user friendly" and comfortable, and just generally handle a little better. It will sit you a bit more upright and shift your weight back a bit.

The seat angle is looking a lot better too BTW .


James.

I gots the 100mm stem , am thinking the 90mm might have been a better option handling wise, but then I think it would shift me back to far (seat is already at rear most position) and I'd need to step up to the 19" frame.

As for the seat it is much better, but I am going to take your advise yet again and tilt it up even more so (prob another 2-3degrees) prior to my outing this Sunday.

UPDATE - Bikometer now at 136km

Didn't get round to tilting my seat back as I didn't have access to an allen key that fit at the time of making the adjustments

Saturday I went early and did the 10K loop at the spit at my (safe) maximum pace, completed it in just under 25 minutes, but died in the ass in the last 1km.

Then I went home got showered and all fresh in prep for the road riding I had planned with friends. I completed a total road trip of 27K in a ride that took us from Labrador to Paradise Point a bit of a loop and return. It was easy to be honest.

Then Sunday came, it was time to hit up Daisy Hill with Pete & Sam. This was my first real XC/single track experience and all I can say is it was excellent fun.

I was slow, and I was packing my self most of the time but it was enjoyable. Except for the hills, turns out my knees are not in as good shape as I suspected and my saddle height was still too low.

I learnt heaps about my bike riding out at Daisy, and on Sunday afternoon I made even more adjustments. Priority was saddle height and my cockpit controls. Raised the saddle another inch (now 10mm from the maximum) and adjusted my cockpit levers down further.

Monday... time to test out my changes. Hit the spit up and parked further south to make the trip a 12k loop, bike position much better, lever angles better but can be angled down even further. Saddle needs to be tilted back still (just got to get a larger allen key ).

I noticed my knees were getting painful and seems I may have done some damage yesterday as now as I sit in my office my left knee is experiencing glancing pains in the lower outer frontal section... knowing nothing about this sort of thing I am wondering whether I should go see someone or just give it a rest and get on some natural medications to help my joints in general (probably something I should have been doing ages ago).

Enough about me how did the bike manage it? It was fine, I hit the ground three times with the same pedal and removed a lug and bent a couple more
I didn't stack but I did exit the track three times on the very last run for the day and almost fell over on the very end log section, LOL. I was knackered

All in all still very excited about getting out and doing some more single track stuff and am hopefully good to go for next Sunday

P.s. Thanks to Pete and Sam for introducing me to Daisy Hill and Scallops for the advice yesterday arvo.

Was a good ride yesterday despite me crashing 40 seconds after getting there on the bmx ramps, and then 40 seconds before leaving when I got highsided while messing about on that rough section down towards the car park.

I would suggest you give it a rest for a day or two Grimace to let your kneee recover.

It's good to see you're going head on into the this ridin' thing!

Putting your seat up a little was probably good start to helping your knees. When your pedal is at the bottom of the stroke, with the ball of your foot on the pedal, you want to have a slight bend in your knee.

As we've already discussed, working on spinning more than pushing will also help.

And finally - stretch. I only discovered this year how much your quad muscles can affect your knees (because I stupidly took up trail running). According to the physio, my outer quad muscle is much more developed than my inner from riding, so my knee cap was being pulled to the outside.

Doing the old standing on one leg while holding your opposite heel up against your butt stretch may help your situation. Supposedly 3 x 15 second sets for each leg is the go.

You've had a big week end of riding Grimace! As you've suggested, rest up for a few days .


James.

Originally Posted by Psimpson7

Was a good ride yesterday despite me crashing 40 seconds after getting there on the bmx ramps, and then 40 seconds before leaving when I got highsided while messing about on that rough section down towards the car park.

I would suggest you give it a rest for a day or two Grimace to let your kneee recover.

LOL that was a highlight! Looking up to see Pete in a cloud of dust 15 metres from the exit onto the road

I must say though I don't know how you do it at such speeds without coming off more often Pete. You hammered down trail 1 (possum box)!!!

Also Nirvana is another track that you would enjoy Pete. It's the trail that is located along the fence where we stopped for our final rest before heading out on the exit trail. I watched some videos to get an idea of some of the trail names and locations