Whatever--you'll be randoing like a fiend. I'm thinking of going exclusively to flat pedals but I haven't done any rides longer than STP (2-day) with them. Maybe the trick is to wear fifteen year old Birkenstocks with worn soles.
Ryan On Oct 3, 10:16 am, Mike <mjawn...@gmail.com> wrote: > ...a 200k brevet on platform pedals. Actually it wasn't so bad but I > did get a bit of a hot spot at one point that was worse than anything > I've ever had with SPDs. Since finishing my SR series back in June > I've spent the summer doing 95% of my riding in platform pedals and > MUSA shorts or knickers. Things fell in place to do the Bikenfest 200k > and rather than switching pedals and dressing up in bibs I figured I'd > just wear the getup I've been wearing all summer. > > This was also the first brevet I've done in a long time with no HB bag > or fenders on the bike. For tires I used Panaracer T-Serves (700x35). > I ended up caring my supplies in my Sackville SaddlesBag (medium) > which was a bit of overkill. I hadn't done this ride before so while > the weather was predicted to be nice I still packed a LS wool shirt, > jacket, lights and other odds and ends I felt I'd need in case I > finished after sunset. > > Ten miles into the ride you begin a long and steady climb out of the > Gorge and up into the rolling hills of eastern Washington. The climb > was great, never too steep and offering stunning views of Mt Hood and > Mt Adams at times. I actually was riding well and didn't even really > notice the climb as I was enjoying the talking with other > randonneurs. > > We had and incredible descent to the Klickitat River which was > somewhat marred by a group of 8 or 9 motorcyclist flying down the > descent and somewhat crowding me and some other randonneurs. One of > the motorcyclist ended up overshooting a corner and going into some > rocks and the canyon wall but appeared to be up and okay by the time > we passed. > > The climb out of the Klickitat River was great but my feet were kind > of hurting. I had developed a hot spot on each foot. I was using a > pair of Patagonia Bagleys with MKS Sneaker Pedals. Fortunately it was > easy to move my feet around on the pedals and get some relief. We > stopped in Glennwood, ate and then continued climbing before heading > into Trout Lake where there was a short out and back followed by about > 25 miles of steady descending back to the Gorge and the final control. > After the stop in Glenwood my feet felt fine and I had no further > problems with the hotspot. > > We finished in 10:05hrs which was a fine. For some reason I had > thought this ride would be a lot harder. We were quite leisurely > through the controls. I definitely brought way too much stuff but > that's fine. Better to be prepared and it wasn't like I was shooting > for a sub 8hr finish like earlier this year. > > I had actually been contemplating laying off randonneuring for next > year but found myself saying "See you at the Birkie next year" at the > final control. I'll most likely be out there again next year but I'll > definitely be in bibs and wearing bike shoes. I gotta say though, I > really didn't miss my HB bag that much and loved the way my Hilsen > handled without it. I think for next year I may just try and use a > trunk bag on a rack. We'll see. > > Here are some photos. They're not so great as I took them with my > phone and often seemed to be shooting into the sun. > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/41335...@n00/sets/72157624961799637/ > > --mike -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
