Althouse: Yes, I could in the woods of Wisconsin.

September 11, 2015

Yes, I could in the woods of Wisconsin.

39 comments:

Meade said...: Atta girl!; 9/11/15, 1:55 PM
Wilbur said...: I haven't ridden a bike for many years, but it looked like you were doing a lot of pedaling without the bike in gear, i.e., you were pedaling fast but thwe bike wasn't responding.; 9/11/15, 2:12 PM
Michael said...: Good work, Professor! I would click up a gear. Maybe two.; 9/11/15, 2:15 PM
Ann Althouse said...: You can't see how much hill, up and down, is happening there. The video flattens it out. But being in a low gear and pedaling faster actually is the right way to do it.; 9/11/15, 2:26 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "For steady power, a high cadence places the burden on your aerobic system and lets your legs spin easy. At the same speed, fit riders last far longer at 90 rpm than they do at 60 rpm. Experiment to find your optimum cadence. In deep sand, stay on top of a small gear. On wet moss, filter your power through a tall gear. You might spin fast and light at the beginning of a ride and then slog slow and heavy as you get tired. As your stroke gets smoother, your cadence will increase. When you first start riding, it takes all your concentration to churn along at 60 rpm. After a few years of concentrated practice, you can buzz along at 100 rpm and sprint past 120 rpm. When it's time to accelerate, wind those legs as fast as they'll go. If you can make power from 60 to 120 rpm, you can double your speed in the same gear. Shifting means changing your grip, backing off the pressure, and risking a case of chain-fu. So less shifting is better shifting-as long as you're making good power. How many racing engines make their power at low rpm? None. They spin to win...."

Brian Lopes;Lee McCormack. Mastering Mountain Bike Skills - 2nd Edition (Kindle Locations 642-649). Kindle Edition.; 9/11/15, 2:28 PM
Bill said...: At about the 30-second mark, just before the bridge, you look like you're poppin' a wheelie.; 9/11/15, 2:36 PM
dix said...: I think if I tried to remember all those instructions while riding I would fall even more often than I do; 9/11/15, 2:40 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Excellent! Looks like a nice enjoyable outing.; 9/11/15, 2:41 PM
Bob Ellison said...: As BAG said, excellent! I agree that your gear may be too low, but hey, whatever works for you.; 9/11/15, 2:44 PM
Michael said...: You would ride that bridge with more confidence in a slightly higher gear. Meade knows.

Don't read books about it.; 9/11/15, 2:54 PM
Clayton Hennesey said...: The question is, why would you ruin a perfectly good walk in the otherwise tranquil woods with a clanking urban machine? Need to conform?

Then again, it's Wisconsin, so who cares?; 9/11/15, 3:35 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "At about the 30-second mark, just before the bridge, you look like you're poppin' a wheelie."

There's a significant dip that forces that pop on you.; 9/11/15, 3:47 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "You would ride that bridge with more confidence in a slightly higher gear. Meade knows."

Nope. Meade's advice was to get into the lowest gear and stay in it for the entire ride. I shift quite a bit more than that, but I've learned that what I think I was taught about shifting was wrong. I had long thought you should get a cadence to the pedaling and then shift so that it stays pretty much the same. Meade told me not to do that and the book (which he recommended) backed him up.; 9/11/15, 3:50 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "The question is, why would you ruin a perfectly good walk in the otherwise tranquil woods with a clanking urban machine? Need to conform?"

Did you hear any clanking? My bike is called a "Lush." Does that sound clanky?; 9/11/15, 3:50 PM
Ann Althouse said...: We walked in the woods yesterday. The thing about biking in the woods is that the speed is different, there's a fun feeling of flow, and the ups are motivating (more than ups out on the streets), and the downs have the excitement of gravity. Also, it's easier to outrun any mosquitoes.; 9/11/15, 3:53 PM
tshanks78 said...: Don't care for the biking but I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers reference.; 9/11/15, 3:53 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Thanks, tshanks78!; 9/11/15, 4:06 PM
madAsHell said...: All the kewl kids mountain bike at Whistler!; 9/11/15, 4:23 PM
William said...: For that extra adrenaline kick, try it in a grizzly habitat while smeared with honey.; 9/11/15, 4:51 PM
Clayton Hennesey said...: Did you hear any clanking? My bike is called a "Lush." Does that sound clanky?

Yes, I heard your bike clanking. But maybe if you renamed it "Velvet" the noise would stop.

Protip: always keep your eyes peeled for OD 550 paracord stretched across the trail. Because sometimes people just forget to remove their hammock lines. Just sayin'.; 9/11/15, 5:07 PM
Bob Ellison said...: When your gear is too low, you spend more energy on balance, steering, and wasted leg energy. That might be desirable as an exercise goal. It's not ideal for speed or distance.; 9/11/15, 5:28 PM
David Begley said...: But is it a bike made in Wisconsin?

Trek?; 9/11/15, 5:30 PM
traditionalguy said...: Wisconsin mosquitoes must need better tactics to catch a biker. Down south they wait in swarms.

That was good form.; 9/11/15, 5:53 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Yes, it's a Trek bike. The model is Lush. It's a "woman specific design" bike.; 9/11/15, 5:54 PM
jimbino said...: “I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.”

― James Joyce, Ulysses; 9/11/15, 6:13 PM
Paul said...: People who don't actually ride mountain bikes really can't properly advise a mountain biker. I remember my transition from an elite road rider (former Cat 1 racer) to a beginning mountain biker as a very humbling and painful experience. I was hooked though and became a skilled rider with a lot of practice. You will need gears far lower than you would ever use on a road bike, and yes you will have a very high cadence at times.; 9/11/15, 6:34 PM
CWJ said...: jimbino,

James Joyce, yes.

But also Firesign Theatre, busted!; 9/11/15, 6:38 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Thanks, Paul.; 9/11/15, 6:48 PM
Roger This said...: Sorry to say, but at the 27 second mark you look like Hillary!; 9/11/15, 7:50 PM
pm317 said...: I think Meade has been a good influence on you.; 9/11/15, 7:52 PM
Rusty said...: I see your little legs chunkin' up and down, but I'm not seein' a lot of progress.
Nice butt though.; 9/11/15, 8:00 PM
chickelit said...: Ann Althouse said...
Yes, it's a Trek bike. The model is Lush. It's a "woman specific design" bike.

Obviously, they wanted to call it "tush" but lacked the cajones.; 9/11/15, 9:26 PM
retail lawyer said...: Its a great sport. Hope you stick with it.; 9/11/15, 9:42 PM
Jake said...: Good for you!; 9/11/15, 9:52 PM
Patrick said...: Good luck with that.

OT, not sure I'm buying all I'd what Suzy Favor is selling. Some, maybe, but not all. Didn't buy her tears, that's for sure.; 9/11/15, 10:19 PM
Anga2010 said...: A real "Walk in the Woods" (without cheating or pretending to have any companions) http://www.tetongravity.com/story/adventure/a.t.-record-setter-settles-with-katahdin-narcs-over-champagne-incident; 9/12/15, 12:18 AM
Deb said...: I expect you'l be doing
this before long; 9/12/15, 2:20 PM
james conrad said...: LOL, Oh Lord! The old woman is learning to ride huh, I dunno Ann, you're looking awfully tentative in this clip. Maybe with a lil practice..........; 9/13/15, 1:20 PM
james conrad said...: uhhh Deb, let's don't get carried away here, most men couldn't make that Red Bull run, neat clip though!; 9/13/15, 1:27 PM