Thread: Cyclists Anonymous

One more thing, because I'll often ride in lieu of going out to lunch, I put a clock on the stem—because it doesn't take much to lose track of time.

Originally Posted by Thug

I don't know if anyone has heard the term or knows what "Everesting" is?

It's climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest (8 848m) in one bike ride. A cyclist who attempts it normally chooses a steepish climb and then goes up and down continuously until he/she has climbed more than 8 848m

Well, I had 2 mates that completed this feat this morning on a hill around the corner from me.
They started last night at 19:15 and after almost 15 hours in the saddle and cycling almost 256km over a period of 19 hours, their total cumulative ascent was 9 852m.

Heard of it, never attempted it yet. But I will.

Originally Posted by Bonbon

Have anybody used brooks saddle? I put one this season, haven't tried more than few hundred kilometers but I loved them. They are heavy but comfortable

Originally Posted by BloodOrange

I did, they're nice and all and I like the clip in bag accessory—but a Brooks saddle was one of the fist saddles to chafe my taint. I think of them more like they're angry rapists than comfortable saddles. I ought to revisit the Brooks though. I say that, but then I think of all the hurt and . . . .

I think for the price—and the weight, Fi'zi k's Kurve Bull, as far as universal mountain biking saddles go, is the most bang for your buck, billy bad ass saddle—especially because of its rails—and it also has a clip in bag accessory. On the other hand, the most taint friendly saddle to date that I've found, Adamo's Peak—it takes the taint out of the equation all together—has been my go to downhill saddle.

I rode them for a long time. In the 1970s if you bought a high end road bike it had a Brooks Professional saddle. That with the small rivets, then the Team Professional with the big copper rivets. Beautiful. I road a Brooks Swallow for quite awhile.

Jobst Brandt ( google him) Called them "ass hatchets" and hated them. I finally came to his way of thinking and ride synthetic saddles with the cut away in the center. Much friendlier. The Brooks aren't bad once broken in, but breaking them in is a contest between the saddle and your sit bones, which will give in first. Then, as Jobst says, if you're in the rain and saddle gets wet ....... tragedy. Anyway, that is IME.

I myself cannot think of a reason why 'ass hatchets' is not an apt enough descriptor for an old school Brooks saddle.

Taint-a-nator—taint-be-gone—the taint executioner—the taint despoiler—or the ass betrayer also all work equally well . . .

For me the bleeding taint experience came from riding with cycling shorts over underwear. I had no idea cycling clothes were designed to go commando.

For me, the quality of the saddle is relatively important, but the conditioning of my butt is more so. Learning to keep my sit bones in the right spot made a huge difference in comfort.

And then El Niño came along this year and I couldn't ride for a month and a half. (The apartment I'm in while the house I bought gets renovated has nowhere I can keep a wet or dirty bike, and also nowhere to clean it) -- my butt almost completely forgot how to be comfortable on the saddle.

It's only taken about 120 miles to remind it.

The other taint destroyer for me is those special times when I think I've clipped in, my foot slips off the pedal and the nose of the seat makes a full-body weight crater.

Managed that one today.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

For me the bleeding taint experience came from riding with cycling shorts over underwear. I had no idea cycling clothes were designed to go commando.

For me, the quality of the saddle is relatively important, but the conditioning of my butt is more so. Learning to keep my sit bones in the right spot made a huge difference in comfort.

And then El Niño came along this year and I couldn't ride for a month and a half. (The apartment I'm in while the house I bought gets renovated has nowhere I can keep a wet or dirty bike, and also nowhere to clean it) -- my butt almost completely forgot how to be comfortable on the saddle.

It's only taken about 120 miles to remind it.

The other taint destroyer for me is those special times when I think I've clipped in, my foot slips off the pedal and the nose of the seat makes a full-body weight crater.

Managed that one today.

I get it—and if I rode road bikes, I absolutely would free ball cycling shorts. I don't though, but most of my mountain bike shorts are made by Pearl Izumi or Fox. They either have padding or they don't—and if they don't, I'll still wear separate chamois underneath. But never underwear first then chamois—that's a recipe for disaster. If I know I'll have a few hours in the day to ride in between meetings and or appointments, I've been known to wear chamois under my work clothes—keeping it casual on purpose.

I did have to recondition my sit bones switching from a traditional seat, to an Adamo [it's a bit wider and the angle is different]—but the transition happened less than a week's time and all was good.



The worst—besides an on fire bleeding taint—is the transition between flats and egg beaters. I go to put my foot down, then——BAM! Every single time I laugh because it's beyond me, I'd laugh at someone else if they did the same—I'm not the exception, but that doesn't make it better either.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

The other taint destroyer for me is those special times when I think I've clipped in, my foot slips off the pedal and the nose of the seat makes a full-body weight crater.

Managed that one today.

Last year I hadn't clipped in right, my foot came out the pedal side rather than flipping forward, it tore right into my ankle cutting to bone. I carried on not noticing how bad it was at the time. Riding trails with an open wound was not a good idea, by the time I found out the cut was caked in mud and stuck to what was left of my sock. By the time I cleaned it up I was too late and already had an infection. Didn't stop me going back out the next day though. I now have a massive scar down my ankle.

If ever you're going to slip of the pedal, don't come off the side of it, that's my advice LOL

Originally Posted by monkeypuzzlebeefeater

Last year I hadn't voted in right, my foot came out the pedal side rather than flipping forward, it tore right into my ankle cutting to bone. I carried on not noticing how bad it was at the time. Riding trails with an open wound was not a good idea, by the time I found out the cut was caked in mud and stuck to what was left of my sock. By the time I cleaned it up I was too late and already had an infection. Didn't stop me going back out the next day though. I now have a massive scar down my ankle.

If ever you're going to slip of the pedal, don't come off the side of it, that's my advice LOL

Yeowch!

Yeah, that's an important safety tip alrighty! Reminds me of the time I tripped on barbed wire that'd been buried behind a barn and got a bit of it stuck hard in my leg. It was sheer, dumb luck that I didn't end up with tetanus. I don't clearly recall. My parents may have taken me for a booster shot. I was a young teen at the time, and that's been... A long time.

Since I picked up the cycling habit again last year, my worst injury has been when I failed to clip out and fell over, whacking my knee real good on the macadam in the process. I was honestly more worried about my bike until I remembered that if I'd injured my knee badly enough to be unable to ride that I was, at that moment 4 miles and 500' downhill on a trail with no exits but the end and beginning (and the end was another 4 miles ahead and a few hundred feet up). Luckily, my knee was mostly okay with riding and I completed my 25 mile circuit.

Thankfully I've always managed to unclip

Morning Gents!

I am a Strava addict, I ride lots, I actively seek out hills, I like to belittle road cyclists with my big knobblies, I have a problem!