Yeah, 2013 was the hottest, driest and sunniest since 2006. I remember it well because I took the whole year off and remember thinking I picked a great summer to do it across. I was out doing 25+ miles a day on the mountain bike for months on end. The trails were never better. It was glorious!
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Bicycle age
- Thread starter elrechazado
- Start date
I rather cycle underwater than cycle into a headwind. The woods are always nice and calm once you get inside, but actually getting there can be a right pain in the ass on a really windy day, especially along the coast path.
Totally unrelated, but don't you just love getting your shins whacked? My left foot unclipped and slipped backwards off the pedal on the last of a series of three jumps that I hit a little hotter than normal yesterday, and the SPD embedded itself into the bone on landing.
Doesn't look like much but motherfucker I haven't felt pain like that in a looooong time, and my howls caused the old 'flock of birds taking off nearby' horror trope to become a reality. I had flashbacks of riding bear traps back in the 1990s and the state of my shins back then. I literally opened up old scars.
Totally unrelated, but don't you just love getting your shins whacked? My left foot unclipped and slipped backwards off the pedal on the last of a series of three jumps that I hit a little hotter than normal yesterday, and the SPD embedded itself into the bone on landing.
Doesn't look like much but motherfucker I haven't felt pain like that in a looooong time, and my howls caused the old 'flock of birds taking off nearby' horror trope to become a reality. I had flashbacks of riding bear traps back in the 1990s and the state of my shins back then. I literally opened up old scars.
Can't even gauge my power with my power meter into the wind now, because my powertap has gone up the swany, grrr.
I've become a bit lazy judging effort of P.E. due to riding with powermeters
Psychotext
Member
Aye, at least it'd look like you weren't just shit on your Strava trace. 
Psychotext
Member
Goldie Lookin Chain
TarpitCarnivore
Member
128 miles, 16.8 average pace, 7h41m moving time. Feel a hell of a lot better than I did last year.
Psychotext
Member
Nice one.
TarpitCarnivore
Member
I mangled up my knee/shin/IT band pretty good. The last 35-40 were rough because of it
Psychotext
Member
=/
TarpitCarnivore
Member
It's the muscle right below the knee on the left side (looking down) of the shin. Just worked it over with a massage stick and my hands. The hot shower helped a ton.
I know what went wrong. My cleat as positioned a little too much to the outside of the foot. So every up pull was like I was swinging my foot up and out, but with resistance from the cleat. I never noticed until today because of fatigue and duration.
I know what went wrong. My cleat as positioned a little too much to the outside of the foot. So every up pull was like I was swinging my foot up and out, but with resistance from the cleat. I never noticed until today because of fatigue and duration.
TarpitCarnivore
Member
Are you implying I'm an up stroke guy? Cmonnnnn you know what I mean.
Days 4/5/6 (Days 1 and 2, Day 3)
Day 4 started with some proper exploration of the Leavenworth area. Set out in the morning on the Chumstick Highway, which runs for a ways roughly alongside Highway 2 (Stevens Pass).
Chumstick Highway took me to Lake Wenatchee. Gorgeous place. And well equipped; the park operates a little store at the beach, so I grabbed some ice cream. It's pretty much direct snowpack runoff, so even in mid-summer the water is rather chilly... a few badasses were messing around in the swimming area.
A lot of people had recommended not cycling Stevens Pass to get back home over the Cascades, so I opted for Snoqualmie Pass farther south. Getting to Snoqualmie Pass meant taking Blewett Pass over a branch of the mountains. Much less climbing than the North Cascades Highway, but still a solid climb of a few thousand feet.
I set up camp for the night in Cle Elum at the base of Snoqualmie Pass, which is surrounded by some plains. And lots of headwinds.
Morning of day 5, I set out over Snoqualmie Pass. Cle Elum is at high enough elevation that Snoqualmie Pass is basically not a pass if you're doing it from the east. It might not qualify as "mountainous" even by Mascot standards.
Still, it did pose one challenge: eternal construction work means that I-90 is closed to bicycles for eight miles along Lake Keechelus. The detour is a trail. From WSDOT's website:
Great, I've got 700x28c tires! I'll be fine.
Oh wait.
Umm.
It's literally ALL loose gravel.
To be fair to WSDOT, as far as I know, I didn't suffer any equipment damage. "Occasional loose gravel" is silly nonsense though.
Eight miles of constant fishtailing later, I was back on the highway. Got hit by rain on the top, but the descent was dry.
Probably could have made it all the way home yesterday, but I decided to spend the evening checking out the small town of Carnation.
Day 6 (today), enjoyed a short ride home, including some time on the lovely Snoqualmie Valley Trail.
Ran into a familiar group when I stopped in Snohomish for coffee, so the final miles were a casual small group ride, which was pretty neat.
And that's that. Tour toured.
Day 4 started with some proper exploration of the Leavenworth area. Set out in the morning on the Chumstick Highway, which runs for a ways roughly alongside Highway 2 (Stevens Pass).
Chumstick Highway took me to Lake Wenatchee. Gorgeous place. And well equipped; the park operates a little store at the beach, so I grabbed some ice cream. It's pretty much direct snowpack runoff, so even in mid-summer the water is rather chilly... a few badasses were messing around in the swimming area.
A lot of people had recommended not cycling Stevens Pass to get back home over the Cascades, so I opted for Snoqualmie Pass farther south. Getting to Snoqualmie Pass meant taking Blewett Pass over a branch of the mountains. Much less climbing than the North Cascades Highway, but still a solid climb of a few thousand feet.
I set up camp for the night in Cle Elum at the base of Snoqualmie Pass, which is surrounded by some plains. And lots of headwinds.
Morning of day 5, I set out over Snoqualmie Pass. Cle Elum is at high enough elevation that Snoqualmie Pass is basically not a pass if you're doing it from the east. It might not qualify as "mountainous" even by Mascot standards.
Still, it did pose one challenge: eternal construction work means that I-90 is closed to bicycles for eight miles along Lake Keechelus. The detour is a trail. From WSDOT's website:
Riders with touring bikes, mountain bikes,
and hybrid/commuter bikes should be able to ride the
John Wayne Pioneer Trail without equipment damage,
assuming a tire width of at least 28 mm (~1.10”
Great, I've got 700x28c tires! I'll be fine.
Oh wait.
Umm.
It's literally ALL loose gravel.
To be fair to WSDOT, as far as I know, I didn't suffer any equipment damage. "Occasional loose gravel" is silly nonsense though.
Eight miles of constant fishtailing later, I was back on the highway. Got hit by rain on the top, but the descent was dry.
Probably could have made it all the way home yesterday, but I decided to spend the evening checking out the small town of Carnation.
Day 6 (today), enjoyed a short ride home, including some time on the lovely Snoqualmie Valley Trail.
Ran into a familiar group when I stopped in Snohomish for coffee, so the final miles were a casual small group ride, which was pretty neat.
And that's that. Tour toured.
Epic stuff! My taint hurts just thinking about that saddle time.
Gorgeous! Sounds like a fantastic trip.
Psychotext
Member
Pretty much why I stopped using SPDs. I found I was extremely sensitive to cleat positioning and any significant ride with them even slightly off would result in a long lasting injury.
But surely having correctly-positioned cleats means your foot is correctly positioned for each and every stroke, whereas using flats means your foot position is variable and subsequently has a much wider margin for error, unless you can somehow manage to position both of your feet in exactly the correct position every time you place them on the pedal?
Cleats are digital, whereas flats are analogue. Wouldn't getting your cleats correctly fitted be a better option than abandoning them altogether and introducing randomness to a situation that you admit you are 'extremely sensitive' to?
Inb4 'just git gud with ninja foot placement'.
jakonovski
Member
You can adjust your feet as needed with flats?
Psychotext
Member
Yes, once you get them there, but in the mean time, you're fucking up your knees. Plus it gets a bit more complicated than that because of standing pedalling and fore / aft movement on the seat. With flats, your body is never going to naturally force you into a position where you're doing yourself damage... it just doesn't happen. I could feel when SPDs had been doing me damage after a couple of hours usually, but by that point it was far too late (especially as it's not the sort of thing you can really fix out on the trail).
Talking of the advantages of SPDs... how's your shin after your shitty jumping technique?
The whole flats vs. SPDs argument has been mulling in my head since last year. I'm used to biking with flats (I have five ten freerider shoes for riding the trails), but last year I had two instances of slipping off my pedals whilst going down hill, and let me tell you, losing footing on both feet halfway through a descent at a pretty decent clip is not a fun situation. I somehow barely managed to stay on my bike, but I nearly somersaulted off my bike into a tree.
Being clipped in should prevent those situation from ever happening, but on the other hand, I fear that being clipped in will lead to worse situations if and when I do end up crashing. Not to mention the mandatory first time fall at a stop light for forgetting to clip out.
What's the position of mountainbikers here on the flats vs. clipless debate? And if you are also riding on flats, how do you deal with the threat of slipping feet?
Being clipped in should prevent those situation from ever happening, but on the other hand, I fear that being clipped in will lead to worse situations if and when I do end up crashing. Not to mention the mandatory first time fall at a stop light for forgetting to clip out.
What's the position of mountainbikers here on the flats vs. clipless debate? And if you are also riding on flats, how do you deal with the threat of slipping feet?
Psychotext
Member
In short, it's go with what you like. Flats have advantages, SPDs have advantages.
As for slipping, get better pedals / work on technique. The last time I slipped my foot was on a particularly technical climb, mostly by virtue of being sat down and bounced all over the place when I should have been stood. That's with doing some seriously technical downhills at speed of late. More than anything you need to work on a strong attack position and to keep your feet screwed in at all times on a descent.
(and obviously don't try to cheat bunny hop, it doesn't work)
As for slipping, get better pedals / work on technique. The last time I slipped my foot was on a particularly technical climb, mostly by virtue of being sat down and bounced all over the place when I should have been stood. That's with doing some seriously technical downhills at speed of late. More than anything you need to work on a strong attack position and to keep your feet screwed in at all times on a descent.
(and obviously don't try to cheat bunny hop, it doesn't work)
Yes, once you get them there, but in the mean time, you're fucking up your knees. Plus it gets a bit more complicated than that because of standing pedalling and fore / aft movement on the seat. With flats, your body is never going to naturally force you into a position where you're doing yourself damage... it just doesn't happen. I could feel when SPDs had been doing me damage after a couple of hours usually, but by that point it was far too late (especially as it's not the sort of thing you can really fix out on the trail).
Talking of the advantages of SPDs... how's your shin after your shitty jumping technique?
There is (was) a guy on a time trialling forum swearing that there is no advantage in using cleated pedals, infact he went as far to say that he (you) create more power by using flats.
I use Keo (carbon spring) pedals, with a bit of a float (5 DEG If I remember correctly), and they just feel better to ride in than flats, for me, I also have a history of knee and ITB issues, but these any mainly affect by saddle position, and cleat position doesn't actually (for me) make a whole lot of difference.
Psychotext
Member
The argument will rage forever on the clips vs flats power issue. For me, I switched to flats half way through a training cycle last year and still managed to gain about 10 watts on my FTP on my next test. If there is a power difference, it's not a meaningful one (this also borne out by a bunch of testing that's been done).
That said, if your pedalling technique is shit (I'm looking at all you fuckers that try to pull up as part of your normal stroke), then you're going to be awful with flats.
That said, if your pedalling technique is shit (I'm looking at all you fuckers that try to pull up as part of your normal stroke), then you're going to be awful with flats.
Mmm... I'm really not convinced that you'll be putting your foot exactly where it's 'best' every time you adjust position, or even every time you put it on the pedal when getting on the bike and setting off. As you said yourself, knee pain from bad foot alignment didn't manifest itself until a couple of hours in, so how do you know your feet are correctly placed on flats in those two hours? Hell, even if you could feel it, adjusting your foot position on flats is far from easy when under any sort of power, then you've got to somehow find that exact same position under duress after dropping a foot on a sharp high-speed turn? Nah.. I can't see it, even with ninja skills. Properly-positioned SPDs take all of that guesswork out.
Talking of the advantages of SPDs... how's your shin after your shitty jumping technique?
I'd forgotten the feeling of pedal meeting shin as it had been so long, and that's a testament to SPDs. When I rode bear traps back in the dark ages of the last millennium it was a weekly occurrence.
Psychotext
Member
I think you're misunderstanding. Best positioning? No. Positioning that isn't going to hurt you... yes.
Your body is quite capable of recognising when you're fucking yourself up and adjusting to compensate. Except obviously when you're physically attached to something you lose one of the points of adjustment completely.
I went out on my road bike to a group ride, with flats... and wearing baggies. The number of times the lead group tried to drop me was hilarious.
By the end, a lot of the veterans of the group had all been spat out of the back, including my friend that had taken me to the ride in the first place (and this guy does the alps every year). Silly roadies.
Your body is quite capable of recognising when you're fucking yourself up and adjusting to compensate. Except obviously when you're physically attached to something you lose one of the points of adjustment completely.
Flats on road bikes look stoopid anyway
I went out on my road bike to a group ride, with flats... and wearing baggies. The number of times the lead group tried to drop me was hilarious.
By the end, a lot of the veterans of the group had all been spat out of the back, including my friend that had taken me to the ride in the first place (and this guy does the alps every year). Silly roadies.
II went out on my road bike to a group ride, with flats... and wearing baggies. The number of times the lead group tried to drop me was hilarious.
I'm not surprised, guilty by association!
jakonovski
Member
What I like best are old people riding old commuter bikes and going crazy fast.
I just don't feel safe on flats for the type reasons you state above. It's no doubt due to technique and decades of using SPDs, but I like to feel tethered to my bike at all times. My SPDs are dialled out to the weakest spring strength which makes disengagement easy (I've got permanent ligament damage in my left ankle, so have no 'twist' strength at all) but still 99% of the time keeps me clipped in when i want to be, unless I fuck up a landing or something.
Jimmy Savile rode flats and look what it did to him.
So why not have your cleats adjusted to not hurt you?
BECAUSE YOU LOVE JIMMY SAVILE?
Psychotext
Member
You know me, if I'm not in pain it's not worth doing.
I remember doing a 100km Audax one year, and being rinsed up a hill by an old guy on a touring bike with panniers and wearing sandals!
Psychotext
Member
I always like to think that they're ex tour de france riders. Makes me feel better about myself.
Unrelated, I need to find myself some lighter pedals and lighter shoes for my new race bike. I could go disco slippers, sure, BUT THAT'S JUST WEAKNESS TALKING.
Unrelated, I need to find myself some lighter pedals and lighter shoes for my new race bike. I could go disco slippers, sure, BUT THAT'S JUST WEAKNESS TALKING.
TarpitCarnivore
Member
I still like using them. It just happened this was the kind of day where we didn't stop for more than 30 minutes, it was just constant go. I'm also planning to move to a more carbon sole instead of what I have now which is more of a commuter shoe.
I was OK up until around mile 100, then the padding started hitting that point of not really being padding anymore. As soon as I got out of the shower and dried I grabbed the bag balm. Lots of bag balm.
Psychotext
Member
I know quite a lot of ultradistance guys that don't use padding at all. I can only imagine the horror show that their taint is...
TarpitCarnivore
Member
A guy I know who does touring only wears jeans and just uses a Brooks leather saddle.
LONG jeans? Madness. Double denim with Daisy Dukes and a bandana? Perfectly acceptable.
TarpitCarnivore
Member
Every time I've seen him riding it's either jeans or daisy dukes. Maybe dickies
Morning BikeGAF
Last week my wife surprised me with a new mountain bike! This is a 2015 Trek Marlin 7.
Thus far I really like it. One of the first upgrades I am planning to make is to swap out the tires. I'm curious if anyone happens to know if this bike would be able to accommodate a set of 29 x 3.0" tires with the stock Bontrager AT-650 rims?
If I need to swap the rims to accommodate the tires that is not the end of the world, and if anyone has recommendations on rim tire combos that would be very helpful.
Thank you.
Last week my wife surprised me with a new mountain bike! This is a 2015 Trek Marlin 7.
Thus far I really like it. One of the first upgrades I am planning to make is to swap out the tires. I'm curious if anyone happens to know if this bike would be able to accommodate a set of 29 x 3.0" tires with the stock Bontrager AT-650 rims?
If I need to swap the rims to accommodate the tires that is not the end of the world, and if anyone has recommendations on rim tire combos that would be very helpful.
Thank you.
That friend (in the pic above from our NA bike tour 25 years ago) STILL wears double denim and an occasional bandana, and one of his houses was recently valued at £1.8m. LIFE'S NOT FAIR.
Psychotext
Member
Don't put 3.0s on unless you're planning on doing full on downhill (which you wont be on that bike). Even on full on hardcore trails I've never felt the need to go past a 2.4. You can get some seriously beefy rubber at that size.
Chances are they wouldn't fit in the frame anyway.
Morning BikeGAF
Last week my wife surprised me with a new mountain bike! This is a 2015 Trek Marlin 7.
Thus far I really like it. One of the first upgrades I am planning to make is to swap out the tires. I'm curious if anyone happens to know if this bike would be able to accommodate a set of 29 x 3.0" tires with the stock Bontrager AT-650 rims?
If I need to swap the rims to accommodate the tires that is not the end of the world, and if anyone has recommendations on rim tire combos that would be very helpful.
Thank you.
What's the external width of the rims? I think you need a minimum 35mm external dim to fit 3" tyres. There's also the fork and rear stay clearance to consider, of course. I'm guessing it will be very tight indeed.
Sounds like you're trying to turn a no-fatty into a semi-fatty, which is normally a non-starter due to clearances.
jakonovski
Member
Morning BikeGAF
Last week my wife surprised me with a new mountain bike! This is a 2015 Trek Marlin 7.
Thus far I really like it. One of the first upgrades I am planning to make is to swap out the tires. I'm curious if anyone happens to know if this bike would be able to accommodate a set of 29 x 3.0" tires with the stock Bontrager AT-650 rims?
If I need to swap the rims to accommodate the tires that is not the end of the world, and if anyone has recommendations on rim tire combos that would be very helpful.
Thank you.
Nice bike! The Marlin's got rave reviews so your wife did good.
On the tyre issue, I don't think 3" will fit in the frame or fork. 2.4" is probably the biggest you can fit. The best thing to do is to choose a set of tyres with help from a local bike store. Maxxis Ardent 2.4" for instance is nice and voluminous.
Thank you all for the feedback. Yeah I was thinking that clearance was going to be an issue, but just wanted to make sure before I went any further.
Mainly I wanted to see if I could make this bike somewhat able to deal with snow so I could use it into the early winter.
I will look into 2.4" tires and see what is out there.
Thanks again!
Psychotext
Member
You'd be better off picking up a cheap fatbike on ebay or something. I see them on there all the time.
I guess people realise that getting all that weight up hills is bloody hard work.
I guess people realise that getting all that weight up hills is bloody hard work.
jakonovski
Member
For early winter snow, many mud tyres work well. Like Maxxis Beaver 2.25" (I have the 2.0", they grip really well in sloppy conditions). For proper winter riding with icy roads and such, Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro Evo is great. 45nrth also makes winter tyres that get a lot of praise, but they're hella expensive.
Double-check that 2.4s will fit. I wouldn't be able to fit them on my Trek 6500 hardtail due to seat stay clearance, even if I wanted to (MTB bikes often have narrower rear tyres to sink through soft mud and bite into the hard-packed stuff below).
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