JC Cyclists.

Pilotforhire587 said:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2275756

Ride was full of pretty good rollers, some stung bad, Avg speed was over 22mph and I believe the winning time in the 5's was around 1:55 or so. I finish 33 out of 50 at 2:03 I think. Race consisted of a hot start, 8 mile lead in, and then 2 loops of the course before a 1.3 mile climb that is over 8% for the majority of it. There is a 300 to 400meter section that gets down to 5% at about the half way point of the climb to give you a small breather but then its right back up again.

I have never seen yoyoing in a field like I saw in that race, it was nuts and dangerous, I tried to stay in middle of the peloton and near the double yellow line so that I had a place to bail if it hit the fan in front of me. Dropped guys off the back during the whole race. I finally got dropped at mile 23 on the last steep kicker on the loop. The field yoyoed so bad that the last 10 guys, including myself got shucked off the back, I tried to tt back for about 4 miles but didn't have the legs to do it alone so I slowed to a pace I thought I could hold and still make it up the climb. At about mile 33 a group of 4 guys that had been dropped before me and regrouped finally caught me. I started yelling to get into a pace line, take short, hard pulls and try to catch the lead group but it was to little to late. One guy that was in the group was quickly dropped leaving four of us, and only 3 of us were really willing to work to gain ground. Worked like that all the way to the climb, the two guys that had worked with me were dropped quickly on the climb and the wheel sucker paced behind me until about 100M to the finish. He finally started to work and was able to sprint past me. I WAS TOAST.

I learned a lot from the race. First and foremost I am glad that I didn't crash and that I finished. I am happy with 33rd, the top 20 guys in the race are all former triathletes or juniors that are at a cat 3 or 4 level but have to get 10 mass start races under their belt before they are allowed to Cat up. Behind them it was all about energy savings. The further back in the peloton you were, the more energy it took to accelerate after the damn yoyos. Looking forward to the next road race and my first crit. We will see what I can make with my schedule. It's fun though, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a serious rider.
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Good job on staying upright, the 5's can be sketchy. I think the 4's are worse and not really a whole lot smoother, just bigger fields and more strong riders. You may find yourself in the wind, but it's usually smoother, safer, and easier up front than it is towards the back of the field. You also have farther to drift back if you hit your limit on a hill.

You will find lots of people that aren't willing to work in a race, but that's part of bike racing. It's like chess on wheels when you're absolutely pegged, fun stuff!

Oh, and your elbow deal sounds like a fit issue. Great job on the ride!
 
So I am still undecided on what to get for a new bike computer. What I really want is heart rate and cadence with data recording. GPS would be a nice addition, though not essential for my purposes. If I had an iPhone I think I would be inclined to get something like the Wahoo Fitness RFLKT, but since I don't have one and don't need one (the iPhone), that doesn't really make sense. After that I am thinking something like the older Garmin Edge 500 would make the most sense. It is a time tested and fairly popular unit, and relatively inexpensive at $332 with the HR band and cadence sensor. It seems like the Garmin 510 might still be a little rough around the edges and also given its larger size, I am not sure it is work another $100 for my uses.

Does anyone have any recent experience with the Garmin 500? Are there other options that I am missing that do HR and cadence as well as record the ride data? Anyone using the 510? I think I am close to sold on the 500, but I feel like I could be missing something. BTW, the DC Rainmaker reviews for both of the Garmin units are outstanding as are all of his reviews:

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/12/garmin-edge-500-in-depth-review.html

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/01/garmin-edge-510-in-depth-review.html
 
I need some bike help. I'm looking for something to get some exercise on. It will have to be ridden on some gravel roads so a full road bike won't work. Is there anything hybrid type or should I just go for a mountain bike?
 
Cessnaflyer said:
I need some bike help. I'm looking for something to get some exercise on. It will have to be ridden on some gravel roads so a full road bike won't work. Is there anything hybrid type or should I just go for a mountain bike?
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I would consider a cyclo-cross frame, which mesh road and off road abilities. I have one that I use for early season riding as well as for the miles of gravel carriage roads that we have around here. If you are just talking dirt and gravel roads or even mild technical offroad riding, a cycl0-cross bike could be a great option. The nice thing is that the same bike will also perform well on the roads.

The bike concept comes from cyclo-cross racing, but the practical upshot is that the bike design works great for anything from training to touring to committing. I have a Specialized Tri-Cross Comp, but there are numerous other options from the usual makers.

This what the 2010 Specialized I have looks like and it has Shimano 105.
specialized-tricross-comp-2010-cyclo-cross-bike.jpg
 
Acadia said:
So I am still undecided on what to get for a new bike computer. What I really want is heart rate and cadence with data recording. GPS would be a nice addition, though not essential for my purposes. If I had an iPhone I think I would be inclined to get something like the Wahoo Fitness RFLKT, but since I don't have one and don't need one (the iPhone), that doesn't really make sense. After that I am thinking something like the older Garmin Edge 500 would make the most sense. It is a time tested and fairly popular unit, and relatively inexpensive at $332 with the HR band and cadence sensor. It seems like the Garmin 510 might still be a little rough around the edges and also given its larger size, I am not sure it is work another $100 for my uses.

Does anyone have any recent experience with the Garmin 500? Are there other options that I am missing that do HR and cadence as well as record the ride data? Anyone using the 510? I think I am close to sold on the 500, but I feel like I could be missing something. BTW, the DC Rainmaker reviews for both of the Garmin units are outstanding as are all of his reviews:

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/12/garmin-edge-500-in-depth-review.html

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/01/garmin-edge-510-in-depth-review.html
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Garmin 500 and 510 are both great units. They are essentially the same as the 810 with out the moving map addition. I have never used the 500 series personally but based on my experience with the 810 I would HIGHLY recommend it.
 
Acadia said:
I would consider a cyclo-cross frame, which mesh road and off road abilities. I have one that I use for early season riding as well as for the miles of gravel carriage roads that we have around here. If you are just talking dirt and gravel roads or even mild technical offroad riding, a cycl0-cross bike could be a great option. The nice thing is that the same bike will also perform well on the roads.

The bike concept comes from cyclo-cross racing, but the practical upshot is that the bike design works great for anything from training to touring to committing. I have a Specialized Tri-Cross Comp, but there are numerous other options from the usual makers.

This what the 2010 Specialized I have looks like and it has Shimano 105.
specialized-tricross-comp-2010-cyclo-cross-bike.jpg
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Awesome, thanks! Is it ok for some trail riding as well?
 
Just so you guys know there was a herd of spandex clad bikers that slowed me to a crawl for over a mile on my drive home yesterday. I wanted so badly to run them the hell over, but I thought of you freaks.

Share the road, yes. But when the road is twisty and has no place to pass, at some point in time you should pull over and let those of us who may not be enjoying a hobby (and actually have somewhere to be) to pass. To me its no different than me enjoying a good game of street hockey on route 66 because the pavement is smooth.
 
Pilotforhire587 said:
Garmin 500 and 510 are both great units. They are essentially the same as the 810 with out the moving map addition. I have never used the 500 series personally but based on my experience with the 810 I would HIGHLY recommend it.
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Thanks. Trigger pulled on a 500. I also got the HR band, and spped/cadence sensors for both bikes along with mounts.
 
BEEF SUPREME said:
Check it out ya'll: Beef Supreme live in action!

http://www.hanskellner.com/2013/04/02/2013-tamarancho-flow-trail-episode-1/

You guys should try and make it out this way and ride.
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That's lots of work! We have poor drainage here in NC with lots of clay and totally understand your frustration when people poach the trails. Believe it or not, there is an excellent network of trails in the Charlotte area. I recently got a 29er and try to hit the trails at least once a week to change things up. If I'm ever out your way I'll look you up and we can hit the Tamarancho Flow!
 
EDUC8-or said:
You will love it, I have the 800 and have really loved it since day one.
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It should show up today and I am looking forward to getting both bikes setup. I did not need mapping, so for me it was either the 500 or 510. The 510 still seemed to have some unresolved issues, and the DC Rainmaker review was steering people to the 500 unless you really could use some of the new features the 510 offers. The 510 is also pretty darn big compared to the 500 and for a non-mapping unit that seemed a bit much.
 
Do any of you guys using Garmin have a preference for using GarminConnect versus Strava for sharing and saving ride data? I guess the easy answer is that more people I know seem to be on Strava, but the Garmin site looks to be more robust unless you pay for the premium Strava account.
 
I have the 810, one of the features is that it uploads all of my ride data to GarminConnect automatically but I rarely use it. I use the free version of Strava a lot more but honestly that is only so that I can compare efforts and rides with those of my friends and teammates.
 
I got the GPS all setup on both bikes. Can't wait for the first ride with it, but will be on the Tricross for a while I suspect. The National Park is opening a month late, which is great for cyclist in that the loop road and Cadillac Mountain will be our playground for that time. The down side is that they wont be sending anyone out to clear debris off the roads for a while. It's not too bad, but there is enough crap in places that I will stick to heavier tires on the cross frame for now.
 
Acadia said:
Do any of you guys using Garmin have a preference for using GarminConnect versus Strava for sharing and saving ride data? I guess the easy answer is that more people I know seem to be on Strava, but the Garmin site looks to be more robust unless you pay for the premium Strava account.
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I use both, just like you said the Garmin has more features. I use the free version of Strava to follow my friends and go for KOMs/interval training.
 
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