Winter riding, slow down



Yeah, Danny feels like a new man after a good workout, ten in the steam room with a lot of eucalyptus in the air, and a hot, hot shower. Plus I guess the cold meds have kicked in. Better, just gotta get through the day, no clients on the calendar, just more IRS and probate work. 5 pm outta here, be at the bike shop by 6, riding by 7:30. Yeah, buddy! Ok, my stupid **** aside, is there a way to post photos to this forum? I'd post a picture of the Pug after I get all of the gear on it if I knew how.
 
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Hey, guys, brought it home, did a quick mile both on pavement and turf, in my suit and tie, I was that anxious. Corners a little hard, but amazingly rideable. I can feel it in my calves, though, a little tougher workout than my Specialized. At this point, that's a good thing, I'm paying a trainer sixty bucks an hour to do the same thing, toughen me up. Tried it on both short and long turf, that's where it really excelled. Rode over turf like it was asphalt. Could have done without the bloody lip from being smacked in the face by an unseen low-hanging tree branch, that left me saying words I probably shouldn't post here. C'est la vie, it'll give me a story to tell the guys in the locker room Monday AM, I can get a little street cred if I tell them I got in a bar fight Friday night. LOL. Full report later, plus pics tomorrow in the daylight. Danny Oh, please excuse typos, I'm not illiterate, it's just hard to do hunt and peck typing on an iPad.
 
Ok, here's the scoop on the Pugsley. I wanted to make it a fair fight, so I took my Specialized out first to do ten, and I took a route including the only dirt road, a short residential street, that I know of in town. Then I took out the Pug on the same route. Only got through part of it, ended up doing about six miles, because the cold was getting me down even with meds. But I got to ride on the dirt as well as pavement and turf. I pronounce the Pug pretty awesome. Steering did seem a little stiff on the tightest curves/corners, but that may be just because it's not broken in. I really like the ergonomics of the bike, really comfortable. Where it really shines, no surprise, is off-pavement. In fact, the deep tread and wide tires actually grip textured concrete almost too much, resulting in a bit of drag. Mown turf with just a little frost on it was perfect, just right to ride on, fast and smooth, as was the dirt road. I see a lot of fun adventures in off-road/off-pavement cycling in my future. This bike opens up possibilities for new places to ride. Should tell you guys about my fall with the Specialized on the first half of the ride last night, it was pretty funny. I'm at a dead stop standing in the entrance drive to a Walgreen's waiting to cross a busy road. And I shifted my body weight to the left leg in preparation for taking off with my right foot on the pedal like I always do. Well, my center of gravity was off, I stumbled three or four times to the left, each time less vertical than the last, ended up flat on my back laughing my ass off because it was hilariously comical, with the bike on top of me and Walgreen's customers staring at me. Probably thought I was drunk, lol. Actually, I'm on an anti-seizure med for restless leg syndrome, and that makes me dizzy at times when standing. Riding is fine, I'm sitting then. Walking a bike, another story! Danny
 
The drag--rolling resistance actually--that you feel on pavement is the result of that deep tread and the tire carcass flexing in the contact patch. A slick tire of the same size would offer far more traction and much less rolling resistance. That's why race cars, superbikes, and MotoGP bikes use slick tires and not deep grooved tread: slick tires offer far more traction on pavement.
 
Really? Thanks. I'm pretty ignorant about these things, actually. Kinda sad I got through 47 years of life this way, LOL.. I'm glad I joined this forum, I can learn things. So, if I rode mainly on pavement I should swap out the tires for a smoother tread? Keep as-is for off-pavement riding?
 
You'll be burning more though. The body has to warm up in the cold weather so you are burning more calories. It doesn't matter that you are slower this is ok. Swimmers will go out into the ice cold ocean and it rips them up to swim in that cold water. It's good for you. The body works harder.
 
All things in moderation, and all that...

Just be smart about it and riding in the winter is no problem.