T
Tim Woodall
Guest
Sunday I went out with the CTC for a nice gentle ride and took the oportunity to take my new fixer
for its first serious ride.
Changing the pedals so I can use my normal LOOK cleats rather than toe-straps helped enormously with
starting which has been the main reason I have been nervous taking it out on the road.
The first steep downhill was an experience. I was probably only doing about 30mph[1] but suddenly
realised that I was slighly out of control. My feet would go around fast enough but there was no way
I could slow down using them and I needed to brake. Unfortunately, my automatic instinct when things
start going wrong is to stop pedalling. Fortunately, possibly partly because I have the saddle about
half an inch below where it ought to be after other comments here, I suffered nothing more than a
slighly uncomfortable sensation as I bounced up and down on the saddle a couple of times before I
got my legs spinning again. With gentle braking I managed to keep things vaguely under control until
the bottom of the hill where I got back to a much more comfortable speed.
Then I met up with the CTC group and we set off on a much more sedate ride. This was thoroughly
enjoyable and I started getting the hang of controlling the speed with the pedals. On a few of the
steeper hills I did occasionally have to resort to the front brake as I lacked the technique (or
strength?) to keep the speed down using just the pedals but I didn't have any more scarey moments.
I had one longish, steepish hill to climb. I knew I had to just go at it and haul my way to the top.
At the top I was plesantly surprised how painless it had really been although the double incentive
of not being able to change down and knowing that there is no way I could get going again if I
stopped and so having to walk up the hill in LOOKs made sure there was no way I was going to give up
unless I physically couldn't continue
Monday I didn't ride at all but my thighs certainly knew they had had a hard day (I suspect I did
about 60 miles at a very lesurely pace but it felt like a 100mile hard ride) which I think is
partially at least due to the effort of slowing the bike on downhills.
Today I was back on the windcheetah on the way to work. First couple of junctions were no problem -
must brake and stop type of affairs. Then came a fastish bit approaching a roundabout. Me 25mph, car
starts coming around, me just starts pedalling a bit slower ..... hmmm, I'm going to hit that car.
HOW DO I SLOW DOWN. Grab for the brake. I doubt that the car even noticed my minor panic as I had
plenty of room and time although I ended up losing most of my speed rather than just 5 mph or so. I
was amazed how quickly the control of the speed just through the pedals would become ingrained.
After another respectable ride I will probably consider the fixed wheel for my commute occasionally
although I will have to modify my journey slightly as I have a difficult hill and roundabout
combination that I would need a lot more confidence with starting before I would risk.
For those who are thinking of trying a fixed wheel, I can strongly recommend it. But, at the
beginning at least, make sure you have good brakes and keep your speed down when going downhill
Regards,
Tim
[1] No speedo on the bike (yet)
--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t," and there was light.
http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/
for its first serious ride.
Changing the pedals so I can use my normal LOOK cleats rather than toe-straps helped enormously with
starting which has been the main reason I have been nervous taking it out on the road.
The first steep downhill was an experience. I was probably only doing about 30mph[1] but suddenly
realised that I was slighly out of control. My feet would go around fast enough but there was no way
I could slow down using them and I needed to brake. Unfortunately, my automatic instinct when things
start going wrong is to stop pedalling. Fortunately, possibly partly because I have the saddle about
half an inch below where it ought to be after other comments here, I suffered nothing more than a
slighly uncomfortable sensation as I bounced up and down on the saddle a couple of times before I
got my legs spinning again. With gentle braking I managed to keep things vaguely under control until
the bottom of the hill where I got back to a much more comfortable speed.
Then I met up with the CTC group and we set off on a much more sedate ride. This was thoroughly
enjoyable and I started getting the hang of controlling the speed with the pedals. On a few of the
steeper hills I did occasionally have to resort to the front brake as I lacked the technique (or
strength?) to keep the speed down using just the pedals but I didn't have any more scarey moments.
I had one longish, steepish hill to climb. I knew I had to just go at it and haul my way to the top.
At the top I was plesantly surprised how painless it had really been although the double incentive
of not being able to change down and knowing that there is no way I could get going again if I
stopped and so having to walk up the hill in LOOKs made sure there was no way I was going to give up
unless I physically couldn't continue
Monday I didn't ride at all but my thighs certainly knew they had had a hard day (I suspect I did
about 60 miles at a very lesurely pace but it felt like a 100mile hard ride) which I think is
partially at least due to the effort of slowing the bike on downhills.
Today I was back on the windcheetah on the way to work. First couple of junctions were no problem -
must brake and stop type of affairs. Then came a fastish bit approaching a roundabout. Me 25mph, car
starts coming around, me just starts pedalling a bit slower ..... hmmm, I'm going to hit that car.
HOW DO I SLOW DOWN. Grab for the brake. I doubt that the car even noticed my minor panic as I had
plenty of room and time although I ended up losing most of my speed rather than just 5 mph or so. I
was amazed how quickly the control of the speed just through the pedals would become ingrained.
After another respectable ride I will probably consider the fixed wheel for my commute occasionally
although I will have to modify my journey slightly as I have a difficult hill and roundabout
combination that I would need a lot more confidence with starting before I would risk.
For those who are thinking of trying a fixed wheel, I can strongly recommend it. But, at the
beginning at least, make sure you have good brakes and keep your speed down when going downhill
Regards,
Tim
[1] No speedo on the bike (yet)
--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t," and there was light.
http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/