bike fitter dude
As much as I goofed on the whole concept, I will admit my appointment with the bike fitter dude was beneficial.
I was still soaking in the experience of Saturday morning's ride, and recalling all the things I had seen and heard, trying to digest it all. It was a bit like drinking from a fire hose, but one I needed to get my feet wet in.
After the ride though, I went home, showered and ate something, read a bit of the paper and went off for my noon appointment with bike fitter dude. I also was supposed to get the bike tuned, so I was there a little early. They took the bike and put it in some kind of stand, and the guy I bought it from was asking if I rode it much...how I liked it...small talk. I told them I'd been riding quite a bit, and about the practice ride and my slightly intimidating first ride in a group. Meanwhile this guy in a red t-shirt is milling about, not saying a whole lot. He, you may have guessed, turned out to be bike fitter dude. The guy doing the tune up hands me the bike and says he just lubed the chain, so I'm good with that for at least a month. I'm thinking...since I never do that, I guess I ought to in about a month...and what else might I be neglecting on the bike?
So bike fitter dude introduces himself, and puts my bike in this stand with rollers under the wheels, has me get on it and spends...probably 20 minutes tweaking where my seat and handlebars are with respect to me...which was the main purpose. He'd have me pedal for a while...then he'd have me stop and make some measurements with respect to where my knee was over the pedal, and move the seat two centimeters. Then we'd do it all again and he'd move it back one centimeter. Then he watched how much I was reaching for the handlebars and move them three centimeters. Do it again and make another minor adjustment. The guy who sold me the bike is asking him questions about why he does this or that. I guess he aspires to be bike fitter dude II. He asks me if it's any better, and to be honest, I can't tell, so I told him so. Maybe I will after 30 miles or so, but after pedaling on these rollers for 5 minutes...no. We'll see.
In the meantime though, bike fitter dude says, "So today was your first ride in a group. What did ya think?" And I told him about trying to learn everything and be considerate to the people who are behind me. He gave me a lot of information, most of it reinforced by what I read when I went googling "paceline etiquette". Most of it was stuff that comes with experience...like when you ride in a faster group (which he assured me I would, soon) and you break off the front, don't stop pedalling. Move back slowly, and if you are the last guy in line, tell the guy moving back that you are last, so he merges behind you slowly. If he realizes too late that you were the last guy, he's going to be pedaling like crazy trying to catch up after he gets behind you and the gap opens up. Try very hard not to use your brakes..ever. If you have to slow down, try to sit higher and let the wind slow you. It all seems to be stuff to help your neighbors in the line and keep it all intact.
He told me about clipless pedals, which he recommends I step up to when I feel comfortable doing it. They snap your foot in the exact same position on the pedal every time, which makes for a more exact fit and more efficient cycling. I'll do that...eventually, I guess. Right now I'm not sinking any more money into the whole bike thing. Those pedals also mean specialized shoes that snap into them...and that expense can wait.
I asked him about bike maintenance, and he showed me how to lube the chain and spokes, and told me to never ever use WD40 on my bike. It breaks down too easy, leaves gunk all over the sprocket and chain, makes a useless mess that will contribute to premature wear. Told me I really should have some little repair kit on my bike to fix a flat if I'm in the middle of nowhere, especially since I'm going more than 40 miles on a ride now, which made sense. So I did spend a little money...lubrication stuff and a small repair kit, but I really need that stuff if I'm going to get serious about this bike thing.
I was still soaking in the experience of Saturday morning's ride, and recalling all the things I had seen and heard, trying to digest it all. It was a bit like drinking from a fire hose, but one I needed to get my feet wet in.
After the ride though, I went home, showered and ate something, read a bit of the paper and went off for my noon appointment with bike fitter dude. I also was supposed to get the bike tuned, so I was there a little early. They took the bike and put it in some kind of stand, and the guy I bought it from was asking if I rode it much...how I liked it...small talk. I told them I'd been riding quite a bit, and about the practice ride and my slightly intimidating first ride in a group. Meanwhile this guy in a red t-shirt is milling about, not saying a whole lot. He, you may have guessed, turned out to be bike fitter dude. The guy doing the tune up hands me the bike and says he just lubed the chain, so I'm good with that for at least a month. I'm thinking...since I never do that, I guess I ought to in about a month...and what else might I be neglecting on the bike?
So bike fitter dude introduces himself, and puts my bike in this stand with rollers under the wheels, has me get on it and spends...probably 20 minutes tweaking where my seat and handlebars are with respect to me...which was the main purpose. He'd have me pedal for a while...then he'd have me stop and make some measurements with respect to where my knee was over the pedal, and move the seat two centimeters. Then we'd do it all again and he'd move it back one centimeter. Then he watched how much I was reaching for the handlebars and move them three centimeters. Do it again and make another minor adjustment. The guy who sold me the bike is asking him questions about why he does this or that. I guess he aspires to be bike fitter dude II. He asks me if it's any better, and to be honest, I can't tell, so I told him so. Maybe I will after 30 miles or so, but after pedaling on these rollers for 5 minutes...no. We'll see.
In the meantime though, bike fitter dude says, "So today was your first ride in a group. What did ya think?" And I told him about trying to learn everything and be considerate to the people who are behind me. He gave me a lot of information, most of it reinforced by what I read when I went googling "paceline etiquette". Most of it was stuff that comes with experience...like when you ride in a faster group (which he assured me I would, soon) and you break off the front, don't stop pedalling. Move back slowly, and if you are the last guy in line, tell the guy moving back that you are last, so he merges behind you slowly. If he realizes too late that you were the last guy, he's going to be pedaling like crazy trying to catch up after he gets behind you and the gap opens up. Try very hard not to use your brakes..ever. If you have to slow down, try to sit higher and let the wind slow you. It all seems to be stuff to help your neighbors in the line and keep it all intact.
He told me about clipless pedals, which he recommends I step up to when I feel comfortable doing it. They snap your foot in the exact same position on the pedal every time, which makes for a more exact fit and more efficient cycling. I'll do that...eventually, I guess. Right now I'm not sinking any more money into the whole bike thing. Those pedals also mean specialized shoes that snap into them...and that expense can wait.
I asked him about bike maintenance, and he showed me how to lube the chain and spokes, and told me to never ever use WD40 on my bike. It breaks down too easy, leaves gunk all over the sprocket and chain, makes a useless mess that will contribute to premature wear. Told me I really should have some little repair kit on my bike to fix a flat if I'm in the middle of nowhere, especially since I'm going more than 40 miles on a ride now, which made sense. So I did spend a little money...lubrication stuff and a small repair kit, but I really need that stuff if I'm going to get serious about this bike thing.
Labels: It's all about me
John put this out here at 7:18 AM
2 Comments:
You know, this is all pretty interesting. Scary, but interesting.
It's not all that scary. You just have to realize that you're learning to swim by diving in the deep end of the pool. You will make mistakes. Learn from them and try not to get anybody hurt in the process. You might get embarassed. Learn from that too.
If you come out on the other side and nobody got hurt, you can't help but learn a bunch and all it costs is a little bit of pride.
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