Interesting article

I've been reading Red Kite Prayer for a few months now. I discovered it by accident. There was a post about road feel, which got me thinking.

Road feel is really personal. What I consider "good" road feel is probably going to be very different than someone else. For example, a friend of mine hates aluminum and carbon frames. He used to ride a steel frame and loved it. When it was stolen, he tried to find a new bike and wasn't satisfied.

My wife has an old Kona mountain bike from the 90's and Trek road bike from the 90's. I have a Trek mountain bike. My Dolce is aluminum with a carbon fork. The Giant Avail is all carbon. The road feel of a mountain bike is complete different than a road bike.

At this point, I don't have enough experience. It's not like I can get on a bike and tell what kind of material the frame is made of. At the end of the day, I go by comfort. If my butt is comfortable and I can turn the crank without discomfort, it's half way there. Next is how well it climbs and turns. Some of the roads around central MA are in poor shape, dirty or dangerous. For example, a down hill street with a left turn near the bottom. On skinny road tires, it can feel a little bit slippery. It's even worse when there's sand and dirt. I tend to take these turns slowly. Pine hill road in Princeton is a prime example of a dangerous hill.

One thing I do notice is the effect tires have on road feel. My Dolce has 700 x 23 tires. The Avail has 700 x 25 tires. Turning with the avail feels "safer" on the wider tires. If all roads were in great condition it probably wouldn't make much difference, but New England streets aren't always in good condition.

Things I've seen on rides

This summer my wife convinced my father-in-law to get a bike and start riding again. One day he rode around North Hampton while waiting to have work done on his car. Afterwards he said to me "I see the world in a complete different way. Things that I normally don't notice in a car suddenly are there on a bike."

I'm sure other people have had the same experience. Last year while riding on the Holden Rail Trail, I saw a hawk catch a squirrel. Other things I've seen on the rail trail include deer, and turkeys.

Earlier this month I was climbing up to Wachusett and saw this on the road.

At first I thought it was alive, but it was dead. I didn't really notice it at first. If I didn't stop to take a drink from my water bottle, I wouldn't have seen it. I've also seen deer on mile hill road on the north side of Wachusett.

One nice thing about Fall

Even though I'm getting anxious about cold weather, there is one thing I look forward to.

Thanksgiving I usually make a turkey and get together with family. Cooking is a passion of mine and I enjoy making delicious dishes for everyone.

Great place for hill training

This summer, I climbed Wachusett mountain quite a few times. Many of them were with 7 Hill Wheelmen on group rides. Often I like to ride up to wachusett through holden, and princeton.

I don't have a picture of mile hill road, so I googled and found these picture.





Right now, summit road is closed. Hopefully by next spring they will finish the road work. According to Mapmyride, the climb from the base all the way up to the top is a CAT2 climb. Having ridden it a half dozen times this year, going up the steep side is harder than going up the south side of mount greylock.

Changing weather

September is almost over and October is just a few days away. Soon it will be too cold to ride and kids will be out in costumes. Back in 2009, the kids made a robot to give out candy.

Last year, I carved a praying mantis on a pumpkin and the kids made a different robot.

I hope farmer's almanac is wrong and the weather doesn't get too bad too quickly. It would be great if I can ride through October.

Holden reservoir

Today I took a few pictures of the road to the water treatment plant next to Holden Reservoir.

Reservoir street has lots of shade, so it stays cool on hot days.

The lower end of the servoir.

The road to the water treatment facility.

One of these days I'll take pictures of the reservoir itself.

My Madone Experience

Back in July of this year, I tried out a Trek Madone 3.1. I didn't keep it for several reasons. Before I go into the details, we own several Trek bikes. I have a Trek mountain bike and the wife has a classic Trek road bike. Trek makes good bikes.

The madone 3.1 is beautiful and light. I tried the Madone on hills up to Wachusett and flats. Before I decided to return the bike, I rode 75 miles. I'm glad I tried the Madone and learned some important lessons.

The first is that personal comfort is #1. Doesn't matter how advanced, fancy, light or pretty a bike is. If you don't feel comfortable on it, get something else. The biggest issue with the Madone was geometry. I felt too stretched out and the handlebars were too wide. The end result is I couldn't generate power efficiently and at high speed it didn't feel comfortable. I'm a short guy at 5'3". I have short legs and short arms. Someone might say "you need to fit the bike to you" and not "fit you to the bike". That's all true and good, but here's my take.

If I spend 2K on a new bike, I shouldn't have to spend another 600 to change the handlebar, stem and saddle. I shouldn't need to spend 150.00 to get a professional fitting. When I bought my Specialized Dolce last year, it just felt good. I adjusted the saddle height and moved it back a little, but that was about it. The bike shop tried to hard sell me on a fitting, which is a huge "turn off". I have no plans of ever going back to that bike shop.

The second big issue with the Madone is the saddle. It was totally uncomfortable and felt like someone was kicking me in the jewels. I'm sure there's plenty of people who like the stock saddle, but I didn't. Saddles are very personal. It either works for you, or it doesn't. On both rides with the Madone, I felt slower and was slower. Going up to Wachusett mountain I know how it feels on my Dolce. On the Madone, it didn't feel good.

For those thinking of getting a carbon fiber bike, the key is to take it out on a long ride with some good hills. Riding it around a parking lot isn't going to tell you anything. Seriously, it isn't going to matter.