being comfortable or being uncomfortable - discuss.

[Too Tall]

Please, the only Jelly Roll for me is Morton. I ain't (currently) no fatty.

He!! with you pal, re-direct all jellyrolls to me. "Waist" not want not yo. I love to eat.

PS - You all are killing it. Funny stuff.

[Bob Ross]

what if i run a compact with a 28 and get used to that gearing and then go to vermont where the hills and way longer or d2r2 where the hills are way steeper? im pretty much screwed.

I don't get this. What if you ran a standard double with a 39/21 as your lowest gear and got used to that gearing, and then go to Vermont where the hills are way longer or d2r2 where the hills are way steeper? You're still screwed!


[edit: ...unless you meant that when you got to Vermont you'd switch to a compact?]

[ergott]

Wow, I'm so impressed with how macho everybody around here is.

Just ride your bike the way you way you do and let others do the same. The beauty of the bike is it serves different purposes for different people. The "slow and fat" dude riding his bike has his purpose. He is less likely to run you over you in his vehicle when he's not.

-Eric

[DCT]

I don't get this. What if you ran a standard double with a 39/21 as your lowest gear and get used to that gearing and then go to vermont where the hills and way longer or d2r2 where the hills are way steeper? You're still screwed!
[edit: ...unless you meant that when you got to Vermont you'd switch to a compact?]

ya exactly. at least if i do 6gap and put on a compact i'll have a few extra gears to play with

[Badonkadonk]

ya exactly. at least if i do 6gap and put on a compact i'll have a few extra gears to play with

Another thread in which you threaten to do the 6 gap ride. Interesting. Now that you have the equipmemt planned, is this on the calendar?

[WayneJ]

I'm not comfortable

[Dorman]

I think the underlying theme I and several others have been trying to make is that if you don't put yourself in the hurt locker you will not improve/maintain your game. It can be mentally tough to go out and ride into that spot that you know you are not going to like. I know if I don't do this on a regular basis I will get slower. I will not be able to gorge myself like E-richie and my 30" waist will expand into Jitah's unacceptable range.

[DCT]

Another thread in which you threaten to do the 6 gap ride. Interesting. Now that you have the equipmemt planned, is this on the calendar?

my last 6gap date bailed on me. i need someone with a set of balls to do this with me. either that or im going solo

[Saab2000]

I still say folks are confusing 'comfort' with 'efficiency'. Lower gears don't make you more comfortable, per se, but they do allow greater efficiency (on steep and/or long hills I mean), which leads to a better cycling experience.

[jitahs]

Darren this is interesting. There are hills here I simply can't get up in my low gear (39x23 or maybe 25 I can't remember). Sharp hills that come after only 30 odd miles but I just can't do it. Been close but something always makes me get off. I don't know if I could do it on a compact but I suspect so, I aint about to find out though as when/if I ever get strong enough to make it it's going to be one hell of an achievement. That sort of comfort is what you are talking about I think. Pain avoidance due to being on a bike though is an interesting one. I'd love to do 'bike riding', go slow enough to see the scenery and enjoy the journey but the fact is going slow just isn't comfortable for me. It hurts just as much as going fast but in different ways. It took me a long time to realise this.

Jitahs most of what you've posted in this thread has been awful.

So this is your contribution. Nice.

Darrren says he agrees with me, Toots says we're killin it...and I'm supposed to listen to guys like you to stop?

I'm gonna side with the capos, not the punters.

[jitahs]

If this is really all you're getting at, you are, of course, correct. My grandma was hotter when she was 25, too. These are not cutting edge revelations. Also, I'd like to point out that you're not 'talking shit', you're typing it

Of course I'm typing shit and of course that's what I was getting at. Anyone who sees it else wise doesn't know how to read between the lines.

Added: It's not cutting edge to you and me but is, apparently, to some.

[jitahs]

Frankly, it also offends some of us who are under that arbitrary threshold too.
.

The truth is offensive sometimes.

[jitahs]

Wow, I go to bed and you guys go nuts here! Since it turned into being fat or not and riding a compact or not, here's what I went through. I weighed 135 to 140 when I raced as a kid, my gears were never smaller than a 42-23 and that includes doing Mt Washington. At 50 yrs or so I was 210 lbs, had a 38 waist, smoked a pack a day (Winstons, hard pack please), owned a big business with 70 employees and drove an A6. The American success story, except I was miserable. So I put all that shit in a bag, got rid of it and got back on my bike. I had a Cannondale (my wife got it as a b-day present, trying to tell me something I think). So I started riding, the weight started to come off, stopped smoking, sold the business. The bike had a 39-26 or 27 on it, I used to get off and walk up most of the hills, now go up those same hills in my 39-19 no problem, my waist is anywhere from 32 to 30. To the point here, while I love being fit again and can thank being alive today because of it, I wouldn't trade what I went through. All part of life's lessons I guess.

You said exactly what I was getting at but more eloquently and more graciously. I hate you.

[TJ]

I still say folks are confusing 'comfort' with 'efficiency'. Lower gears don't make you more comfortable, per se, but they do allow greater efficiency (on steep and/or long hills I mean), which leads to a better cycling experience.

Uncomfortable ......

[chasea]

I was 6'3'', 166 pounds in college and raced uphills. A decade and 25 pounds later, I get laid a lot more.
I'm not a pro, and I've got a few extra minutes to get to the top.
And I've never dated a girl who cared about my vo2max or power output. (Well- yeah- but less numbers and more of a demonstration).
And anyone who thinks they're a 32" waist because that's what the label on their jeans reads needs to visit a tailor and have their heart broken.

You guys are so 'core. Started off well, but now his thread kinda makes me sick.

[davids]

I think the underlying theme I and several others have been trying to make is that if you don't put yourself in the hurt locker you will not improve/maintain your game. It can be mentally tough to go out and ride into that spot that you know you are not going to like. I know if I don't do this on a regular basis I will get slower. I will not be able to gorge myself like E-richie and my 30" waist will expand into Jitah's unacceptable range.

My ah-ha moment came many years ago as I cruised along, "exercising" on my hybrid. This thought passed through my head: "If you're not getting stronger, you're getting weaker."

Thus began my effort to switch from riding my bike to cycling. These days the effort waxes and wanes, but it's always in my head when I'm on my bike. Call it an attempt to slow the aging process, or to keep myself healthy and strong, or even an attempt to ride the wheels off the guy next to me.

My discomfort on the bike makes me more comfortable, both on & off the bike. And then I do it again.

[Saab2000]

.....

[e-RICHIE]

i can't believe how many new framebuilders there are atmo.
are there enough customers?

[Saab2000]

Uncomfortable ......

Uncomfortable and inefficient!!!

That hill was fucking steep and the surface pretty loose gravel. Nobody got good traction on it. Hardest hill of the season and loved every second of it. Darren beat me to the top, but he's got a smaller waistline. By far.

[sloji]

Didn't swoop say 'ride beautifully'...in that is room for contemplation and hard work.