RR: FR1

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 at 23:57 GMT, NoZX6R (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

For the commemorative pic, see http://www.users.on.net/angrydwarf/fr1.jpg

Who's going to bring the panniers and hence camera to Alternative
Monday?

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
"On a clear disk, you can seek forever..."

NoZX6R said:

In attendance:
Koon Yong
Flyingdutch
Geoff
PiledHigher
and me.

For the commemorative pic, see http://www.users.on.net/angrydwarf/fr1.jpg

Cheers.
-Nick

Thanks for the ride guys. Even though the pace was alittle high for me (pretty sore legs now), I still came home with a hugh smile on my face. Riding fixed is great. Riding in a fixie bunch is heaps better.

Cheers
Koon

NoZX6R said:

My total ended up at 61km - my longest fixie ride yet, by about 10kms.

Highlights:
Nasty headwind on the way out
Nice tailwind on the way home
Silly triathletes
The biggest collection of fixies in one place I've ever seen
and the apple and cinnamon muffin.

Thanks for a great ride guys. Hope you had a good time.
Next time, I'm hoping to have a few more inches, so to speak.

not sure what my distance was but would be roughly PH's + 20k?
Man, that wind was nuts. Another reason to loath [censored] rd!

What was that comment as you past the Tri-hardletes geoff?
somethin like "What's with the funny bikes?"

Big call but possibly the best muffin I've ever had!

riding behind someone also on fixed is WAY easier and more predictable than geared wheels. no wonder them track peoples can go so close!

Brainwave on the way home with PH. Someone needs to invent a hub which you can alternate between fixed/SS with the flick of a switch/lever.

Need to sort out a shortcut & regroup plan for those with smaller gears. I think that Charman rd (beaumaris) is the plan ( (as discussed afterwards), with a regroup when you get back to the clocktower.

I expect a map of the route might magically appear.

Dutchy & Geoff must repeat 10x

I will not chase triatheletes
I will not chase triatheletes

We may have to have a rollout to ensure that there is a minimum gear inches reached.

PiledHigher said:

Dutchy & Geoff must repeat 10x

I will not chase triatheletes
I will not chase triatheletes

hey! I resemble that remark!! I'll chase anything!

PiledHigher said:

We may have to have a rollout to ensure that there is a minimum gear inches reached.

Im guessing that DOESNT involve tallyho product? 🙄
Something else to learn...

"flyingdutch" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What was that comment as you past the Tri-hardletes geoff?
somethin like "What's with the funny bikes?"

For those not there here's the long version..
Two triathlete types (saddle mounted bidon cages and tribars) pass by the FR
bunch on the approach to a rise in the road and get a little bit of a break
on us. Due to the gear I was riding (about 76"😉 I had to maintain a
reasonable cadence to avoid grinding up the rise. In doing so I catch and
pass the two triathlete types as if they where standing still. At the top
of the rise (there are no hills on beach road) I slow down to wait for the
rest of the fixed bunch to ride up to me. The two tri types catch up to me
and as they pass me one of them asks "what's with the silly bikes you guys
are riding?". A bit stunned from the question I just reply back with the
words "it's my track training bike". (Not sure if they would understand
what fixed meant). They ride on up the roads and the rest of the FR bunch,
which was getting a bit strung out by now, gets closer to me. The next rise
is a bit bigger, more speed required for this one, so I pick up the pace.
Tri types are now continually glacing over their shoulder to see if I was
catching them, which I was. I scream past them and another larger bunch of
tri orientated riders (FD, PH These were the guys you came up the rise
with). One of the two tri-riders says to his mate as I pass them "Wow, he's
good, look at him go". I'm not sure of the context in which this was said
but it sounded darn funny at the time. I then stop to wait for the others
to come up the rise. Nick arrives, Koon (who I know was on the back of the
bunch at the start of the rise) arrives but where are FD and PH. Had they
vanished. No they had just slipped past us by cleverly concealing
themselves in a pack of triathletes on bikes.

Quoted message said:

Big call but possibly the best muffin I've ever had!

I don't know about best ever but the smell sure suckered me into buying one.

Quoted message said:

riding behind someone also on fixed is WAY easier and more predictable
than geared wheels. no wonder them track peoples can go so close!

I prefer it better on the track (Velodrome) where the brakes factor is gone
making things even more predictable. Riding close quarters at speed is a
bit of a rush. You need to have a lot of confidence in both your bike
handling skills and the skills of those you are riding with. If you
race/train a lot with the same people you tend to develop a feel for how
each other rides and this makes for a far more relaxed, less twitchy,
atmosphere in the bunch and close racing becomes a lot more fun.

Geoff

"PiledHigher" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Need to sort out a shortcut & regroup plan for those with smaller gears.
I think that Charman rd (beaumaris) is the plan ( (as discussed
afterwards), with a regroup when you get back to the clocktower.

Sounds like a good option for those who aren't used to the distance just yet
or haven't really got the ideal gear on for such a ride. I think the wind
today was also a huge factor with regard to some peoples ability to
comfortably do the whole distance.

Quoted message said:

Dutchy & Geoff must repeat 10x

I will not chase triatheletes
I will not chase triatheletes

Can I change that to " I will not upset triathletes by passing them as they
go up small rises in the road"

Quoted message said:

We may have to have a rollout to ensure that there is a minimum gear
inches reached.

Nicks 60 something gear was a bit small for my personal liking but if he can
spin it and keep up they why not.

Geoff

"flyingdutch" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Brainwave on the way home with PH. Someone needs to invent a hub which
you can alternate between fixed/SS with the flick of a switch/lever.

Buy a Suzue flip-flop hub, fixed/free. Track cog one side - freewheel
single-speed on the other. Turn/flip the wheel around, and bob's your uncle
(i know, not as good as a switch!)
Met a guy Neal in Las Vegas late last year. Has an incredible collection of
track p0rn, including some ultra-nice Suzue Promax sealed bearing hubs that
are fixed/free for sale. Now has an ebay store, tell him I sent you and you
want your stuff posted in a USPS prepaid $9 envelope... these are the nice
p0rn hubs, with a fancy sparkly label
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58099&item=7144425174&tc=photo

Gemma_k said:

Buy a Suzue flip-flop hub, fixed/free. Track cog one side - freewheel
single-speed on the other. Turn/flip the wheel around, and bob's your uncle
(i know, not as good as a switch!)

Safer but. Imagine freewheeling and brainlessly flicking the switch.

"NoZX6R" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In attendance:
Koon Yong
Flyingdutch
Geoff
PiledHigher
and me.

My total ended up at 61km - my longest fixie ride yet, by about 10kms.

Highlights:
Nasty headwind on the way out
Nice tailwind on the way home
Silly triathletes
The biggest collection of fixies in one place I've ever seen
and the apple and cinnamon muffin.

Thanks for a great ride guys. Hope you had a good time.
Next time, I'm hoping to have a few more inches, so to speak.

For the commemorative pic, see http://www.users.on.net/angrydwarf/fr1.jpg

Cheers.
-Nick

Thanks all for an enjoyable ride.
Well done to those that set a personal distance record for riding fixed.
A special well done to Koon for not realising that he was travelling at
38-40km/h for the Blackrock to Brighton section of the ride. This speed for
my gear had me spinning at between 105 and 110RPM so the rest of you were a
couple more RPM above this.

My total ride for today was 87km.

It consisted of:
40km of North Road 6:00am Ride trying to chase down the bunch that I missed
by about 3 minutes. Due to the bunch having some sort of mishap I caught up
to them in Mordialloc. Everything looked under control so I just kept on
going. Once back on beach road I had an awesome tailwind that allowed me to
just tick along at 40-45km/h.

36km of FR1

11km of extra stuff in a futile attempt to bring the total km's for the day
to 100km by riding past my car (yes car, the start point for today was more
than a 70km round trip from my place) that was parked near Elwood and back
into that wind, that was even stronger now, toward Brighton. The wind
eventually got the better of me and I decided enough was enough.

Geoff

Gemma_k said:

"flyingdutch" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Brainwave on the way home with PH. Someone needs to invent a hub which
you can alternate between fixed/SS with the flick of a switch/lever.

Buy a Suzue flip-flop hub, fixed/free. Track cog one side - freewheel
single-speed on the other. Turn/flip the wheel around, and bob's your uncle
(i know, not as good as a switch!)
Met a guy Neal in Las Vegas late last year. Has an incredible collection of
track p0rn, including some ultra-nice Suzue Promax sealed bearing hubs that
are fixed/free for sale. Now has an ebay store, tell him I sent you and you
want your stuff posted in a USPS prepaid $9 envelope... these are the nice
p0rn hubs, with a fancy sparkly label
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58099&item=7144425174&tc=photo

I got an email from Neal a couple of weeks back. He had lots of nice
things to say about you Gemma 🙂

BTW, I agree about the Pro Max hubs - real nice. Too bad I just got some
record track hubs cheap, otherwise I would've bought the Pro Max from Neal.

--
Nick

Geoff said:

"PiledHigher" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Need to sort out a shortcut & regroup plan for those with smaller gears.
I think that Charman rd (beaumaris) is the plan ( (as discussed
afterwards), with a regroup when you get back to the clocktower.

Sounds like a good option for those who aren't used to the distance just yet
or haven't really got the ideal gear on for such a ride. I think the wind
today was also a huge factor with regard to some peoples ability to
comfortably do the whole distance.

Quoted message said:

Dutchy & Geoff must repeat 10x

I will not chase triatheletes
I will not chase triatheletes

Can I change that to " I will not upset triathletes by passing them as they
go up small rises in the road"

Quoted message said:

We may have to have a rollout to ensure that there is a minimum gear
inches reached.

Nicks 60 something gear was a bit small for my personal liking but if he can
spin it and keep up they why not.

Geoff

The distance was fine with me but 42/18 means that my cadence was
probably 110-120 most of the time, which gets tiring after a couple of
hours 🙂

In the end, I broke the distance record by a mere 10kms or so and my
average speed was 26.8 - all in all a good effort I reckon.

Even so, I'll be putting a 44T on (cos that's what's in the cupboard)
and then maybe changing the 18T to a 16T later on.

I'm up for it again if you guys are.

--
Nick

PiledHigher said:

Dutchy & Geoff must repeat 10x
I will not chase triatheletes
I will not chase triatheletes

hehehe

Quoted message said:

We may have to have a rollout to ensure that there is a minimum gear
inches reached.

Nah.. just ensures everyone's hitting 200rpm 🙂

Good for the knees they tell me.. 😉

hippy

"NoZX6R" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Geoff wrote:

Quoted message said:

Even so, I'll be putting a 44T on (cos that's what's in the cupboard) and
then maybe changing the 18T to a 16T later on.

44x18 = 66" (126RPM @ 40km/h) which is probably a marginally better than the
63" (132RPM @ 40km/h) you currently have. Considering where you live and
depending on where you ride you may find a 70" or 72" gear to be a bit more
versatile. A 75.6" gear (42x15) like mine may feel a bit big if you are
riding in a stop/start <35km/h road environment especially if the terrain is
not flat but as you saw today it's fine for cruising along at 35-45km/h.
It's still even ok for sitting in a bunch thats getting along at 50km/h
where the cadence is nearly 140RPM

The 44x16 = 74.25" gear that you talk about here is definately worth a try
cos you never know it could be the one that suits you, and where you ride,
best.

Geoff

Geoff said:

Well done to those that set a personal distance record for riding fixed.
A special well done to Koon for not realising that he was travelling at
38-40km/h for the Blackrock to Brighton section of the ride. This speed for
my gear had me spinning at between 105 and 110RPM so the rest of you were a
couple more RPM above this.
Geoff

Aw shucks ...

In my 15 years of riding bikes, I've never owned a computer so I never really know how fast I'm going.

I had also never ridden in a bunch and probably pushed too much at the start of the ride with the headwind. But I recovered once we turned back and could at least stay with the bunch.

I've got a 16T cog handy so I'll be trying 44x16 for the next couple of days to see if i like it (rode 44x18 on the FR).

cheers
koon

Geoff said:

"flyingdutch" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What was that comment as you past the Tri-hardletes geoff?
somethin like "What's with the funny bikes?"

For those not there here's the long version..

[snip]

Geoff

I was sure there would be a long story - otherwise it would have just been a troll. Evidently, the attitude of Beach Rd riders extends to triathletes as well, sadly. I say sadly because there is a huge contingent of triathletes that also happen to ride in road cycling clubs - the display of derision by the particular triathletes in the FR1 story is an example of those who just do one or the other. They give us a bad name in the same way that aggressive road bunches on Beach Rd gives roadies a bad name.

I'd love to have a go at a fixie, but I'm only allowed to have one bike by She Who Must Be Obeyed - I can't road race, commute and train for IM on a fixie only...

Ritch

ritcho said:

I was sure there would be a long story - otherwise it would have just
been a troll. Evidently, the attitude of Beach Rd riders extends to
triathletes as well, sadly. I say sadly because there is a huge
contingent of triathletes that also happen to ride in road cycling
clubs - the display of derision by the particular triathletes in the
FR1 story is an example of those who just do one or the other. They
give us a bad name in the same way that aggressive road bunches on
Beach Rd gives roadies a bad name.

Roadies have a bad name? <chews head off small child, spits out remains>

Quoted message said:

I'd love to have a go at a fixie, but I'm only allowed to have one bike
by She Who Must Be Obeyed - I can't road race, commute and train for IM
on a fixie only...

Now THAT would be cool!

hippy

Geoff said:

Quoted message said:

Dutchy & Geoff must repeat 10x

I will not chase triatheletes
I will not chase triatheletes

Can I change that to " I will not upset triathletes by passing them as they
go up small rises in the road"

Geoff would it be safe to assume your missus doesn't read this? 😉

DaveB "dying to use the 'r' word"

DaveB said:

DaveB "dying to use the 'r' word"

die you shall, weenie puppy!

PS BBUG runs an ad for that ride in all our newsletters...

home.vicnet.net.aunewsletter.htmOpen ↗

PPS As we arent dong the TRUE reverse BR on Mondy, we wont see the new lanes bein marked out on Chandler currently...

PPPS: FINALLY some WKL's that actually are implemented properly.
See new/updated ones along belmore RD between Balwyn + Burke Rds North 'Boring'

F "I livin in the 70's" Dutch