I’ll let Chris give the full report, such as it is, but I’ll add my own *apercus* from my own perspective.
We started with out with 11 interested and dwindled down to 4 at the meeting point and further down to 2 (Chris and I) at the ~8 mile turnaround point. Chris and I did another ~30 miles including some big hills — note on that. I rode the Matthews “road bike for dirt” — note on that. I also wore my new Aussie (Kiwi?) extra-stout merino boxer briefs under Giro non-lycar, no liner shorts: note on that too. Finally, at a total 38.91 miles from my door back to my door, I felt fine — last note on that. Note 1: I’m out of shape on hills! I’ve been riding N/S along the Rio Grande where we have plenty of wind but few hills; all the real hills are East and West. I took the Matthews RBFD because with the Soma wheelset it is geared from 96” down to 32”, and it has a freewheel. I had hardly used the granny at all in my 9 years of owning this bike but man, I certainly used it today, and I got down to the very bottom gear, 28 X 25 (32”) and wished for a lower gear on the first, longest — what, mile? half-mile? and steepest hill. I also felt the weight: probably 35 lb with 2 full 550 ml bottles and the stuff in the seat bag. I brought gloves in case I should need them — I’ve not used gloves for 25 years except for rides over 30 miles — but I am very happy to announce that the new very thick and bright orange bar tape was so effective that I felt no need for them, even for my very sensitive left palm. Note 2: About 2/3 of the way through the ride I realized that I hadn’t given the saddle (Flite) or my pants a single thought. That shows success for the saddle/saddle adjustment/lower garments combination. I’m chuffed. Note 3: Apart from the 30-40 minute initial stop at the meeting point, I kept my clock running. I averaged 9.7 miles including numerous stops including 1 to unpack my unwieldy seat pack to dig out the finicky multitool and adjust the left pedal, several bathroom stops, and an extended stop — 15-20 min? — at a weirdly dystopian-seeming somewhat failed planned community (Mesa del Sol; reminded me of “Asteroid City”) — high on the SE mesa for ice cream bars and a nice sit down and chat. Then back through town and to the N/S RG bike path and home. Nothing remarkable for many or most riders, but I’ve not ridden more than 37 miles for years and my typical “long” rides are and always have been 30 miles or so, tho’ usually on a moderately high-geared fixed gear. With a bit more to eat I think I could have done 50 miles relatively easily, even with more climbing. This is the difference between riding at a relaxed pace and always pushing yourself. If I do more 40-50 mile rides, I do think I’ll want a derailleur road bike. We’ll see. The weather was lovely. Lastly, one of the other 2 riders rode his ~2004 understated custom Vanilla; such a lovely pure road bike. I’d like one; sure, wouldn’t we all. Chris rode his Homer, Anne her utility 1990s steel Bianchi Volpe. Anne rides 160 miles a week, btw. -- Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgsEsasqC2529newX%3DVExqBQxrN0-0wuKVfS8xgO%2B4uQSw%40mail.gmail.com.
