Second outing

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers

Today was the traditional Boxing Day 10 at the cycling club. A distinctly
non-serious event. Now I thought Santa brought *me* the trice, but apparently
it is for family use.

Vernon rode it over to the start, Nathan did the event in it and I rode it back
home. Nathan's time for the 10 on Mr N Frosty... wait for it.... 42.40 which is
almost half the speed he'd normally do a 10 in ;-)

Today I felt slightly more used to Mr N Frosty. Vernon fine-tuned the gears
yesterday afternoon after lunch, and sorted out a stiff link in the chain, so
the ride felt much smoother. Mr N Frosty is fast downhill but loses momentum
*quickly* on any sort of upwards incline. On the plus side, there's no falling
off no matter how slow you cycle uphill. It's also still a smilemobile. Right
now, he's strictly for fun when time is not of the essence. So I intend to get
more practise in over the holiday period. It took me an hour & a quarter to do
the ride home today when I'd expect to do it well under the hour. Got a pic of
Vernon on Mr N Frosty & one of Nathan too. My son has a sense of humour - he
insisted on wearing his aero helmet to ride Mr N Frosty round the course -
obviously that saved him, ooh... a couple of nanoseconds on his time ;-)

Festive cheers, helen s




--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--

NC

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
> Today was the traditional Boxing Day 10 at the cycling club.

> ........... Nathan's time for the 10 on Mr N Frosty... wait
> for it.... 42.40 which is almost half the speed he'd normally do a 10
> in ;-)
> ......... Mr N Frosty is fast
> downhill but loses momentum *quickly* on any sort of upwards incline.
> ..................It took me an hour & a quarter
> to do the
> ride home today when I'd expect to do it well under the hour.

All of this ties in with your comments of Christmas day about different
muscle groups.

I've had a Pashley PDQ for a couple of months now*. My speed on it is slower
than my old Nigel Dean World Tour, but getting quicker with practise. After
two months, the muscles up the back of upper leg and over buttock are lot
less tired than they were after rides.
I currently find that sustained flat speed requires a bit more conscious
effort to spin the pedals than on the upright; I think because the bit of
the pedal stroke which normally goes from 10-to through to 10-past now
requires some effort to lift the leg weight. (being now 25-to through 5-to).
If I get a good rhythm going, I can fast-cruise quicker than I think the
upright would go for the same effort, but much of the time I drop below what
I'd expect on the upright. However, I look around at the scenary rather than
have my nose pointed down at the tarmac :-).


With time, I'd expect you to get a bit faster on Mr Frosty.

However, Mr Frosty is no lightweight; I guess 36-40lbs. That's double a
racing bike, and a big penalty for Nathan's race conditions.

Another thing to consider is the tyres; I don't know whether the standard
ICE tyres are a bit on the chunky side, more suited to load lugging touring
with no punctures than faster speeds? They look a bit heavy on the website.
I've some Schwalbe Marathon Slicks for the PDQ ready for when the spring
arrives. They should be quicker than the 1.75" section tyres it came with.


(* s/hand from Kevin at D-Tek).


- Nigel

--
NC - Webmaster for http://www.2mm.org.uk/
Replies to newsgroup postings to the newsgroup please.

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers

>All of this ties in with your comments of Christmas day about different
>muscle groups.
>

Indeed - my calf muscles are killing me today! ;-) Yesterday my thigh muscles
didn't bother me at all, when the first time I rode Mr N Frosty, they too hurt
- front of thigh. But oh, my aching calf muscles!!

>I've had a Pashley PDQ for a couple of months now*. My speed on it is slower
>than my old Nigel Dean World Tour, but getting quicker with practise. After
>two months, the muscles up the back of upper leg and over buttock are lot
>less tired than they were after rides.

There was a PDQ at Kevin's on Christmas Eve. A Nigel Dean World Tour is what
Nathan normally uses to cycle to college & back and it's what he used when we
were on holiday during the summer. Vernon refurbished and built up the bike as
he bought it second-hand. The frame was fine but the original paint-jobbie was
in need of work. We let Nathan choose the colour - had the frame cleaned and
powder-coated. New decals were supplied by Mr Whelan. The finished result is a
nice bike.

>I currently find that sustained flat speed requires a bit more conscious
>effort to spin the pedals than on the upright; I think because the bit of
>the pedal stroke which normally goes from 10-to through to 10-past now
>requires some effort to lift the leg weight. (being now 25-to through 5-to).
>If I get a good rhythm going, I can fast-cruise quicker than I think the
>upright would go for the same effort, but much of the time I drop below what
>I'd expect on the upright. However, I look around at the scenary rather than
>have my nose pointed down at the tarmac :-).
>

That's what I found - more concious effort on the flat, so far. Mind you, as I
tend to ride Gino & Luigi in a fairly upright position, I tend not to have my
nose pointed at the tarmac anyhow ;-) Cycling Mr N Frosty is still distinctly
smile-raising though.

>
>With time, I'd expect you to get a bit faster on Mr Frosty.
>

Yup, I think so. At the moment I view him as a thoroughly fun workout. Much
more enjoyable than going to a nasty, smelly gym filled with The Beautiful
People Posing ;-) Yesterday on the ride home, I was chuckling to myself at the
effect Mr N Frosty has on the local wildlife. Squirrels, in particular, seem
*fascinated*... Several I passed did not run off as normal when passing on a
bike, but stayed rooted to the spot in the verge and swiveled heads as I cycled
by, with puzzled expressions of "What the??" on their little tree-rat faces ;-)
They weren't scared at all, but interested!


>However, Mr Frosty is no lightweight; I guess 36-40lbs. That's double a
>racing bike, and a big penalty for Nathan's race conditions.
>

Good job yesterday was a distinctly fun-event. Mind you there was at least one
set of raised eybrows which felt a comment simply had to be made to Vernon
about Nathan not being able to ride Mr N Frosty in events... said eyebrows had
to be reminded that yesterday was supposed to be a *fun* event and not a
serious one and why would Nathan want to ride something in a serious event
which almost doubled his time anyway??? Sigh...


>Another thing to consider is the tyres; I don't know whether the standard
>ICE tyres are a bit on the chunky side, more suited to load lugging touring
>with no punctures than faster speeds? They look a bit heavy on the website.
>I've some Schwalbe Marathon Slicks for the PDQ ready for when the spring
>arrives. They should be quicker than the 1.75" section tyres it came with.
>

The standard tyres are distinctly chunky. They'll stay on for the winter as
when the weather is icy, Nathan will use Mr N Frosty to do the ride to college
& back. When the better weather comes, I'll have the front mudguards off and
narrower tyres put on all round.

>
>(* s/hand from Kevin at D-Tek).
>
>
>- Nigel
>

Festive cheers, helen s



--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--

Brian

wafflycathcs@aol.compomcom (dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers) wrote in
news:20041226144023.23249.00002767@mb-m03.aol.com:

> Today was the traditional Boxing Day 10 at the cycling club. A
> distinctly non-serious event. Now I thought Santa brought *me* the
> trice, but apparently it is for family use.
>

<snip>

TTIUWP! :-D

(or This Thread Is Useless Without Pictures!)

(or, do you have any pictures of Mr Frosty)

Sounds like you are enjoying the bike!

--
Brian

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers

>(or, do you have any pictures of Mr Frosty)

Sent via email ;-)

Cheers, helen s


--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--