DustBowlRefugee
Guru
- Location
- Sussex, England
Hi all,
I started cycling again three months ago on my 1998 Specialized HardRock rigid MTB on a local shingle type off road trail, nothing too difficult (six miles but fairly hilly) primarily to lose some weight and get try to get fit again (42 in September) When my best time came down from 55minutes to 27minutes I decided to move to the roads (the onset of the summer holidays meaning lots of families, walkers etc. on the trail).
I subsequently found a route from Rye in Sussex around Romney Marsh. 26 1/2 miles - I'm not saying it's flat on the marshes but if you stand on a phone book you can see the curvature of the earth! My worry is this; my times have improved from 3hours 15minutes to a best time of 2hours 10minutes averaging just under 13mph. I thought I was doing pretty well until my wife reminded me that a runner (albeit a good one) could beat me......
On Friday I took the plunge and bought a Specialized Allez triple. Unfortunately it hasn't stopped raining since then so I've only taken it a couple of miles down the road and back. My question is this. How the hell can I get any sort of fast cadence going with the bloody great big gears on it? The big chainwheel looks like a dustbin lid compared to the one on the mountain bike! On my little ride down the road I struggled on the middle one and was blowing like an old stream train. What sort of speeds should I be averaging over any distance? I was hoping to move up near 18-20mph with little or no increase in effort but this seems like a dream now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Mark
I started cycling again three months ago on my 1998 Specialized HardRock rigid MTB on a local shingle type off road trail, nothing too difficult (six miles but fairly hilly) primarily to lose some weight and get try to get fit again (42 in September) When my best time came down from 55minutes to 27minutes I decided to move to the roads (the onset of the summer holidays meaning lots of families, walkers etc. on the trail).
I subsequently found a route from Rye in Sussex around Romney Marsh. 26 1/2 miles - I'm not saying it's flat on the marshes but if you stand on a phone book you can see the curvature of the earth! My worry is this; my times have improved from 3hours 15minutes to a best time of 2hours 10minutes averaging just under 13mph. I thought I was doing pretty well until my wife reminded me that a runner (albeit a good one) could beat me......
On Friday I took the plunge and bought a Specialized Allez triple. Unfortunately it hasn't stopped raining since then so I've only taken it a couple of miles down the road and back. My question is this. How the hell can I get any sort of fast cadence going with the bloody great big gears on it? The big chainwheel looks like a dustbin lid compared to the one on the mountain bike! On my little ride down the road I struggled on the middle one and was blowing like an old stream train. What sort of speeds should I be averaging over any distance? I was hoping to move up near 18-20mph with little or no increase in effort but this seems like a dream now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Mark