NY to Baltimore for a Newbie

Trekker2017

With my Trek 830 loaded as it was, it was surprisingly stable at that speed. There was no vibration and the road was well kept and smooth. What worried me was if anything went wrong: what if I blew a tire or an animal jumped out in front of me? (A woodchuck did while I was speeding down a hill along the Deleware River and I nearly had an accident.) 54mph road rash was not something I was looking forward to.

Actually, I had much more trouble controlling my new road bike since it was so much lighter than my mountain bike. I was constantly over-correcting. It took me a while to get used to it. It reacted to far more subtle weight changes. Also I had to get used to the new clip-in pedals.

When I'm out for a fun ride, I tend to stop pedalling at about 17-19mph when going down hill. I'm not out to break any records or beat anyone and I ride alone so what I do only affects me. I have specific loops that I do where I know when I'll have long stretches of road to test myself. There are a couple where I can get on the big ring and try to hold top speed before the ubiquitious stop sign rears its ugly red head. With my old mountain bike and toe clips I never worried about stop signs. But with the clip ins I have to plan ahead to slow down and clip my foot out of the pedal. A couple of times, I've waited too long and ended up on my ass because I couldn't get my foot down fast enough. Now, (shame on me) I tend to look ahead and to see if I can run the stop sign rather than unclipping. I can get my right foot out fairly quickly, but not my left. Go figure.

jsirabella

I know what you mean about getting used to toe clips. I never used toe clips before because I felt in the NYC they would be too dangerous for me to learn on. But when I bought the Cannon there they were and the bike store guy in Jamaican said it can be a costly lesson but one worth while so he made me practice with a trainer first for about 15 minutes and than go out into the street. Well it took a few weeks but I can say I think now they are better than the straps.

A good example was during this winter, in NYC, they have all these large plates of steel covering potholes and garbage. Well it was slippery and I approached from the wrong angle, boom the bike just slipped from under me, but the clips quickly came off and I never hit the ground while the bike fell. With the straps I would have sent down with the bike. The clip in and out does become a pain and why I bought the two sided pedals incase angry taxis do not decide to wait.

BTW, what do you consider a steep or big hill, how long would you say you have to be pedalling up hill to consider it a hill of magnitude? Because to get up to speeds of 54mph requires some really steep stuff. I will see about the braking and how to do it where I feel comfortable.

Thanks for the advice on the position and pumping.

-john

Trekker2017

The 54mph came on the Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. It's a national park and the roads were built in the 1930s on the WPA program. The road has excessively long (by that I mean miles) climbs and descents that are banked like at a speedway. Because of the distance of the descent and the banking it's easy to build and hold speed for a long period of time. For people who love hill climbs it's a road I would heartily recommend.

Where I live in CT there are some 8% grade hills, the kind you see in the Tour de France only not as long. The area around the Housatonic River is cut by a series of steep ridges. A guy I knew got up to 80 mph on one (Ben Shermand Hill). He was clocked by police radar. They gave him a speeding ticket. Apparently the court room scene was hysterical when the judge asked him to identify the vehicle he was driving. When he said a bicycle, the judge thought he was being a smart ass and nearly hit him with a contempt of court charge. The guy finally go so pissed off that he told the judge to "fine my thighs and let me get out of here." The sad part of this story is that two weeks later the guy had a heart attack and died. Go figure... all his exercise and cycling... when it was his time... it was his time.

Two sided pedals... I never thought of that. Thanks.

jsirabella

8% grade, ok now that is good point of reference and miles of decents and climbs would be a new experience for me . I see now like you said I will need to be at peak condition and make sure I have everything else in place like directions and gear. I am starting to get ready for Boston.

80mph ?? Well if he can go that kind of speeds he should get a medal not a ticket. I have other people I know who do marathons and triatholons to hear suddenly they died from a heart attack. I believe these people sometimes are just too into it and push their body past what they should. In the last year in the gym my trainer who I use once or so a week has really pushed me to points. I see what he means that alot of it is in my head and I can see how the mind can be the strongest muscle in your body but when your body is in extreme pain it is telling you something.

He says if you can still walk that means you still have some left to give. I do riding everyday and some spinning classes. The days I do weights with my legs are the worst as I am still today limping from yesterday. The weather was bad here so I did spinning instead yesterday with weights in the morning. My aching butt It should be worth it one day.

As for the two sided pedals I would already be dead without them. Once that light changes the first thing they told me was just pedal, do not worry about clips, just pedal and clip in later. If I have one in the clip all the better but the great thing about these pedals is that it has clips on one side and grips on the other.

-John Sirabella

KnoxGardner

Hey John,

Just a quick note on your trip plans to Boston from NYC.

If you are coming in summer you might want to consider a ferry from Long Island to Connecticut as a different way to get out of town.

I just took a credit card weekend down to Newport, Rhode Island. We accomplished this by using the commuter trains out of Boston to get us almost all the way to Rhode Island. That could cut 50 miles off your trip, and often the worst bit of biking is always getting in and out of the cities. There is no shame is saving yourself the choas of getting in and out of the city, plus why spend forever looking at big box stores, etc? Platfroms and loading can be a bit tricky with a loaded bike and it might be worth looking into the "end of the line" to give you more boarding/unboarding time, but we found the MBTA employees very helpful.
http://www.mbta.com/traveling_t/sch...ommuterrail.asp

The Department of Transportation in Rhode Island will send you a free map of recommended bike routes there. It was extremely helpful (we took print out from the website, give yourself about 2 weeks for the map to arrive).
http://www.dot.state.ri.us/WebTran/bikeri.html

Also, a company called Rubel puts out excellent maps for cycling in MA. The non-waterproof ones are only 4.95. I have only used the ones for Eastern MA, but am looking forward to trying the others later this spring. They are great.
http://www.bikemaps.com/

It sounds to me like you are approaching your trip with the right frame of mind: trying to get in a bit better shape without being obsessive, looking at new gear without dropping bank before you even give it a whirl, and mainly trying to have fun, just make sure to stop now and again and get some great pictures and see some bit of history you've not seen, or try a beer you've never heard of, or eat some donuts!

Don't let the naysayers hold you back, my friends wanted to steal my bike too before I left for my first tour and they thought I was crazy. But it was so worth it and you will have a fine time.

Knox Gardner
www.bikenerd.blogspot.com

Trekker2017

As your plans finalize, let me know your route and I'll let you know what the terrain is like or if there is an alternative route I might recommend. Good luck with the planning.

jsirabella

KnoxGardner,

Thank you very much for all the great info. I will let you and Trek know my route once I have it down. I see I have lot of options. I am trying going to pick the easiest to Boston as this is my first trip. I just want to get it done in about 4 days...I hope I can make it happen while not killing myself.

I decided to go with my current Cannon F600 and get slightly wider tires for the ride. Someone recommended a great tire for touring. I am going to make this tour a "hotel tour" as someone told me but he said camping is the best. For this trip though I am playing it safe. Maybe my next I will get more and more agreesive.

I hope by end of April I will have no issues with snow or ice up here. Today I was riding when the snow started and boy it was heck. I need to find a better tire with snow/ice and in NYC cabs never care no matter what, they were still cutting me off.

-John Sirabella

jsirabella

Hey Trekker,

I will let you know my route once I have it down. I see I have lot of options. I am trying going to pick the easiest to Boston as this is my first trip. I just want to get it done in about 4 days...I hope I can make it happen while not killing myself.

Now let me know of tires that can work in the snow/ice?

-John Sirabella

Trekker2017

Unfortunately, the only tire I know of is a steel studded one that's made for mountain bikes. It's in the Performance Catalog. However, I'm sure if you post that as a thread here some one will know the answer.

KnoxGardner

You could look at www.icebike.com. They have a list of studded tires, chains and cables for bikes. The pictures are great, and the explanations given by these lunatics are swell.

This is my first winter in New England, having recently moved here from Seattle. I can not get over the fact that today there is new snow on the ground and it is March. However, despite the chill, most days it is fine for biking (I have a traditional tourer with skinny slicks though not racing tires). Certainly by mid-April, I can't imagine that one would even remotely need or want studded tires here in Boston or even on the backroads to get here.

If so, I am moving away. Too much winter! GRIN.

jsirabella

Wish I could move soimetimes but I am a New Yorker so it always feels strange to leave home.

As for studded tires that seems interesting especially since they outlawed it for cars. I guess we have one advantage for bikes over cars!!

-john

Trekker2017

For an April ride here in lower New England, all you should need is your normal road tire. It will still be kind of early for the road sides to be cleaned so expect a lot of sand and debris. (At some point during the year, the sides of the roads are swept and all the loose sand is picked up and discarded.) Expect to get wet with cold rains. You should work up a good sweat during the day; however, I tend to favor long sleeve shirts for this early in the season, rugby shirts and anaraks or some other kind of good wind breaker. The nights will be cool to cold; think in the high 40s to mid 50s range. Won't matter much if you're motelling it. Expect a wide range of temps during the day. Mornings will be cool to cold. Afternoons warm. Evenings chilly.

jsirabella

Weather sounds alot like NY...something to look forward to...ugh!! Lets hope I get lucky!!

Didn't think I would need the tires this year but may use it next year. That icebike site was cool to read...very interesting stuff especially the techniques section.

Well waiting for my maps and next week will start planning. I am in the video industry and been looking at the freeride mtb videos....talk about some wild stuff.

-john

jsirabella

Got some maps...and man am I confused...the maps from ACC have not arrived yet as they are backordered till end of month

the rubel are very detailed of western and eastern mass while the govt issued rhode island is also great but nothing connects...it is so different than when using a car...I can see how this trip from NY to Boston will be alot longer than a 200 miles!!

Well I am still a newbie and trying to figure out the best route ... can someone give me an idea who knows the area, the route that makes the most sense. I figure when I get the ACC maps this will make sense but now I am confused.

I still want to avoid too many big up or downhills...Also I still hoping to get to Boston in 4-5 days.

Should I look at the coast or first go in-land...just me rambling now...all help is appreciated

-jsirabella
Not just the maps are backordered but also wanting for my cannondale roam shoes which will hopefully not make me have to have two sets of shoes anymore.