Great accomplishment! Regarding the saddle...were you using a lubricant, and would changing into a dry pair of shorts mid-ride have made any difference? I only ask from personal experience on longer rides, since I tend to perspire a fair amount.
On Tuesday, October 8, 2013 1:57:42 PM UTC-4, Tony DeFilippo wrote: > Not on my Atlantis.... but I'd argue that my 650B Trek is heavily Riv'd > in setup. > > I took advantage of the Gov't shutdown last week to take off on a long > ride. I didn't set out convinced I would attempt a full century, in fact my > only goal was to exceed my previous long distance ride of around 50 miles. > But at about the 25ish mile point I realized that the weather was great, > the bike was handling good, my body felt right (at the time), and I really > didn't have anything I needed to be home for that night. So I decided I'd > push on to the end of the W&OD Rail Trail, having picked it up at its > beginning in Shirlington, VA. > > I ended up dealing with pretty persistant hamstring cramping from about > mile 35 on but was able to ride through it. I stopped alot to rest and > take in view's where they were and struck up a couple good conversations > with fellow furloughed riders out enjoying the day. I even had a > Riv-Spotting, running into Mary of the Chasing > Mailboxes<http://chasingmailboxes.com/>blog on her sweet orange Moonbeam. > > One dissapointment for me was the Selle An Atomica saddle, I guess it's > just not going to be the right saddle for me. I avoided any numbness > issues but was feeling significant pressure in my 'sit bones' the whole > ride. I initially thought that was a pretty good tradeoff given that I was > able to complete the long day in the saddle. But the next day I discovered > not just saddle sores but actual bruising corresponding to both sit bones > and even a week later I'm still recovering from them. This definitely > wouldn't work on a multi-day tour for me. I think I just need a wider > saddle and I probably will probably try out a Brooks Flyer, I've got a B67 > which I like but have found it to be less comfortable at 30+ miles. > > The other lesson learned related to bike handling, I discovered mulitple > times in high speed descents that there is a point where the bike develops > a wicked shimmy to the point of becoming a front and rear shimmy. Based on > my weight (250lbs) and the relatively thin tubes I'm not really suprised, > also the 650b conversion is probably contributing. I don't really feel > like its a deal breaker, more a good discovery of one of the 'edges of the > envelope' for this bike. > > The list of positives is far longer though; > > -Doubled my previous long ride > -Used the drops for the first time and actually liked it > -Noodle bars with cotton over inner tubes was fantastically comfortable, > no issues with my hands throughout the ride (I did put on gloves at the > turnaround) > -Discovered the ability to ride through the pain of the cramps > -Had somewhat random bursts of really strong riding even late into the day > -Front basket with 'bungie net' was extremely versatile and the best > 'gadget' of the ride > -I ate every 10-20miles in small quantities and never really 'bonked' > -Great views of the VA countryside especially past Herndon > > Pictures prove it happened... > http://dr2dc.blogspot.com/2013/10/shutdown-solo-century.html > > Tony > > > -- 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 rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
