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Saddles

03.17.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

Saddles are a sore point with most cyclists (pun intended). It seems to be an article of faith that upon purchasing a new bike, the first thing you do is get rid of the stock saddle, and put on something else.

Sadly, there’s no “best” saddle recommendation available. Since everybody is built differently, everybody has a saddle that is going to be the best fit for them. The problem is, how do you find it?

When my wife started training for her charity ride last year, her old saddle began falling apart. It was an Avocet gel saddle, and she liked it quite a bit. The local bike shop suggested the Specialized Dolce Gel to replace the Avocet, and despite what looked like an odd shape, my wife found that she liked it.

dolcegel.jpg

The Specialized Dolce Gel saddle.

Back when she had first put the Avocet on her Trek hybrid, I grabbed the Trek’s saddle for the Raleigh. It was a gel saddle, and I figured it would be more comfortable than the stock seat.

treksaddle.jpg

The Trek gel saddle.

I was right. For casual rides around town, and even some longer rides on asphalt “rails to trails” bike paths, it was fine. But on my 50-mile organized ride, it put me in agony with 15 miles to go. I went shopping for a new saddle right away.

Performance Bike, the online bike catalog store, has two brick-and-mortar stores in Austin. They carry a good variety of saddles, ranging in price from more than $200 to quite reasonable. The saddles with cutouts intrigued me. The cutout — to relieve pressure on sensitive areas of the bottom — seemed to make sense. I got the Forte Classic saddle. Forte is Performance’s house brand, and I assumed I was taking a risk of sorts, but the saddle won.

forteclassic.jpg

The Forte Classic.

But this one never really worked out. Although I rode it in the metric century, I was very uncomfortable during the last 10-15 miles. I had had the saddle for about a month at the time of the ride, and thought I would be accustomed to it by now. Didn’t happen. I was making plans to buy a new saddle when I bought the new bike instead.

The Specialized Allez Elite comes equipped with Specialized’s own Alias saddle. It’s part of the “body geometry” line of saddles, which come in different widths for different sized butts. The saddle is the firmest I’ve ever ridden. But firm doesn’t necessarily mean uncomfortable.

specializedalias.jpg

The Specialized Alias saddle.

The wings of the saddle hit my sit bones dead on. All I have to do to get comfortable is stand up on the pedals for a little while, or slide a little bit back or forward on the seat. That’s enough of a change to keep me feeling energized. The “Body Geometry” line of saddles has different width sizing, so the buyer can get a saddle that’s 155 mm across, 143 mm (the default, and the one I have), or a narrow 130 mm saddle. This was an eye-opening sensation. It caused me to rethink my attitude toward saddles — that they must be gel, or wide, or whatever. This saddle works. It’s the stock seat for this bike.

Don’t be afraid to try several different kinds of saddles before finding the one that fits you. And check with the store for their return policy. Maybe after riding on your new saddle for a little while, you might discover that it doesn’t feel so good 20 miles from home. Many bike shops will exchange saddles within a reasonable trial period. Others won’t. Ask.

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Categories // Components, Equipment

Metric century

03.16.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 14 Comments

A metric century is a 100 kilometer (62 mile) bicycle ride. It’s a common goal for cyclists to complete a metric, because it’s a good barometer of where you are in terms of endurance, fitness, and speed.

After I completed a 50-miler, a metric century was a logical next step. Conveniently, one was coming up in five weeks — the “Wurstride,” on the first Saturday in November, 2007. It’s conducted in conjunction with the annual Wurstfest in New Braunfels, Texas (wurst is the German word for sausage, and New Braunfels loves to celebrate its German heritage). The ride starts in Austin, and follows little-used country roads on a roundabout way to New Braunfels, which is only a 40-mile drive by Interstate highway.

Because I had trained for the 50-miler, I felt I was in good shape for 100K. I tried to ride often, and did a 30-miler one Saturday. But an attempt at a 40-miler the weekend before the race was cut off at 17 miles, after my second flat of the day. Now I was concerned that I might not have enough stamina to finish a 62-mile ride.

The ride started in the parking lot of a local utility in Austin. I had a new rear tire and tube, after the flats the week before, but something seemed out of whack. The tube was actually bulging out from the tire! I took it to the SAG tent run by a local bike shop, and a mechanic I’d dealt with before checked the trueness of the wheel, deflated the tube, remounted the tire, pumped it up, and I was ready to go.

But as soon as the ride began, I sensed a problem. The rear tire was bumping on every revolution. I tried to check on it as I rode along, which is a dicey thing to do when surrounded by other bikers. I figured out that the tube was bulging once again, just as it went bang!

Just a mile into a 62-mile ride, and I’m trying to fix a flat along the road. I could see that I was in for a long, lonely day trying to catch the pack, and started wondering if it was in the cards for me to finish. Then one of the SAG wagons came along, driven by the same bike mech who had tended to the tire earlier. He immediately recognized the problem. “I put 100 pounds in your tire,” he said, “but with this wheel, it shouldn’t take more than 70.” He found a new tube, put in 70 pounds, and I was on my way — last in a field of about one thousand riders.

I pulled into the first rest stop, about 10 miles from the start, took only about five minutes to get a sports drink, then set off again. That put me ahead of a couple dozen riders who lingered at the rest stop. Now we were out in the country, southeast of Austin, and I had a lot of easy downhill stretches to make up lost time. I didn’t push it, but a steady pedaling pace sent me past many other cyclists.

The weather was warming up, and at the second rest stop, I pulled off my windbreaker, rolled it up, and stuffed it into the back pocket of my cycling jersey. I planned not to take more than 10 minutes at rest stops, and was soon in the saddle again.

The county roads in Hays and Caldwell counties were chip seal, and rough in some spots. We rode past cotton fields that had just recently been harvested, and clumps of cotton lined the road. By the time I reached the third rest stop, at the halfway mark in Martindale, I knew I would finish the ride.

My cell phone rang as the route headed east of San Marcos. It was my son, calling from Minnesota to wish my wife a happy birthday — he’d hit my number by mistake. When I told him where I was and what I was doing, he was astounded, and got off the phone so I could concentrate on dodging the traffic.

Now, I was feeling the distance. There were hills along the route, nothing long or steep, but enough to make me work hard. I was still riding the steel Raleigh at the time, and it took some strong legs to handle the inclines. A cluster of four riders passed me going up a small rise. On the downhill side, I sailed past them. But at the next upslope, they went by me again. This passing back and forth kept up until the fifth rest stop.

Getting to that stop was a trial. It was along Interstate 35, at the point where the route crossed the highway and continued west and south to New Braunfels. But one of the longer hills of the day led to the rest stop, and by the time I got to the top, I felt like all the starch had been taken out of me. I tried to stick to my 10-minute rule, but in this case, I think I took a few more.

The rest of the trip wasn’t too bad. The ride organizers put the rest stops closer together in the last half of the ride — only about seven miles apart. I had put a new saddle on the bike after the Rip Roarin’ Ride, but hadn’t adjusted to it yet, and my butt complained. Much of this part of the ride found me coasting, with my weight on my feet, so I could just lift off the saddle. That helped.

The ride ended in a large city park in New Braunfels. Riders were treated to free beer and sausages. I was surprised at how good I felt. After a few minutes of walking around, my bottom didn’t bother me at all. Our bikes were loaded onto trucks, and we boarded buses for the return trip to Austin.

I didn’t set the world on fire, finishing 5 hours 26 minutes after starting. But deducting 10 minutes for each of the seven rest stops gave me 4 hours 16 minutes in the saddle, for an average speed of 14.59 miles per hour. I was satisfied with that. I knew it would only get better from here.

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Categories // Rides

Ride plans for the year

03.11.2008 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

Organized rides are a great way for new bikers to get a taste of longer distances, to test themselves against miles and terrain, and to see how they perform compared to other riders. I’ve had a couple of good experiences with organized rides, and I’m looking forward to taking part in more this year.

It’s pretty easy, at least where I am, to find rides. Several web sites list rides coming up in the area and the state. If you’re aware of a bike club in your area, visit their web site and see if they list rides. Local bike shops always have an array of flyers for upcoming rides. If you wanted to, you could register for a ride every weekend from now well into autumn. The problem is, how many to do, and which ones?

A good ride will have enough volunteers to handle the number of cyclists, SAG support (SAG = support and gear. These are the vans that travel along the course, and help cyclists with impromptu repairs. They’ll also give rides back to the start for cyclists who can’t finish the course.), directions and route markings, and rest stops (with facilities). The route should avoid heavily-trafficked highways, construction zones, and railroad crossings.

Most rides set up their own web sites with information about the route(s) and support. It’s easy to get a feel for the ride by visiting the site, and route maps are probably available for downloading. Many ride sites have online registration, making the whole process relatively easy.

Since most rides begin around 8 a.m. in the warmer months, figure in travel time to the start. You want to get there early enough to avoid that feeling of being rushed. But you might also be hitting the road before daylight, if the ride is any distance from you. To really make a weekend of it, you could arrange to travel to the ride site the night before, and spend the night at a motel or campground.

It’s probably also worth considering what you want from the ride. Just a riding experience? To see some new country? To gauge your improvement against the pack? To shoot for a farther distance than you’ve ever ridden before?

I’ve been visiting some ride calendars, and am building a short list of rides I want to try this year.

My wife will be riding the Hill Country Ride for AIDS again next month, and I might go, too. It does require each rider to raise $500 for the cause, and I’ve always been uncomfortable about asking people for money. So that’s still a maybe.

In April, the LBJ 100 Bicycle Tour celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Lyndon B. Johnson. It starts from the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Texas, and has 45 and 62 mile routes, either of which might work for me. I’ve been to the ranch before, and the countryside around there is quite nice.

On May 10, the Austin Cycling Association puts on the Armadillo Hill Country Classic in Liberty Hill, Texas. It will cover many of the roads I rode in the Rip Roarin’ Ride last fall, and I really enjoyed the countryside. This one is a local must do.

The Tour d’Italia in Italy, Texas in June has a reputation for excellent organization, but has been plagued in recent years by rain. It’s closer to Dallas than to Austin, so I’d probably drive up there the night before if I decide to go ahead with it.

One I’m seriously considering is the Hotter ‘n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls in August. Since completing my metric century in November, I’ve been thinking about going for the full 100 miles. This is supposed to be the place to do it. It’s also a major happening, with about 11,000 (not a typo) riders. If I wimp out, I can always fall back to the metric century route.

My actual organized ride schedule will probably turn out much different than this one, but it’s always fun to plan ahead.

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Categories // Rides

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