It sure takes a long time to ride 103 miles on a fixie. Sheesh. It was a great experience though, especially passing folks walking their triple cranks up "the wall." Those same people, however, sure go fast down the other side. I thought some of the longer descents were going to kill me, hehe. It was nice weather and the route was well marked and well supported. Well, 29,767 pedal strokes later, the deed was done and both me and my buddy survived. Cumulative climbing was 4600', which was significantly less than the number of calories needed to haul myself around the course. It took a little over 6.5 hours to accomplish the deed as well.

To quote a famous person, Owmynads.

It feels good to do a fixed century. It's like the feeling of accomplishment with a first century. In both cases, you don't know for sure that you can actually do it.

I know what you mean about those fast multi-gear descenders. I rode a fixed century last Fall with 7000' of climbing. On the descents I waas passed by every single rider but one.

Say, what gears did you use, and how did they work out for you?

Doug

It sure takes a long time to ride 103 miles on a fixie. Sheesh. It was a great experience though, especially passing folks walking their triple cranks up "the wall." Those same people, however, sure go fast down the other side. I thought some of the longer descents were going to kill me, hehe. It was nice weather and the route was well marked and well supported. Well, 29,767 pedal strokes later, the deed was done and both me and my buddy survived. Cumulative climbing was 4600', which was significantly less than the number of calories needed to haul myself around the course. It took a little over 6.5 hours to accomplish the deed as well.

To quote a famous person, Owmynads.

Which was just about right. There were a couple of short climbs that were challenging, but not near max effort. Another tooth on the rear would have been nice at times, but not at the expense of being able to enjoy all the flat stuff. All in all, I think we had a few percentage points in reserve. Maybe as my spin improves, the gearing will creep to the 17 for the same course, but right now, that is the best gear for me. How long does it take to get comfortable doing the 110+ thing for hours on end?

By the way, there is no rational excuse to imagine doing the 508 fixed. Holy mackerel.

I'm using a 41x17 now, and getting used to spinning. Just did the 5,000 foot climb again Saturday. It was almost a piece of cake this time. I'm finding that the descents are much harder on me than the climbs. I'm now up to 32 mph sitting, which is 168 rpms, but sustaining for miles at a time much over 25 mph is tough. After a lot of that, 110 rpms feels darn right slow and comfy.

I'm over dosing on Chamois Butt'r, mostly for the descents. There is just so much extra friction there that it's absolutely essential, lest my crotch catches on fire.

Going to do a double or the Davis 12/24 (just the 12) hour race this spring. That should be a good shakedown, now that 72 miles up to 5,000 feet and back seems routine.

The Wall isn't real long, but I seem to recall it's pretty steep. Good show climbing that one.

Doug


Which was just about right. There were a couple of short climbs that were challenging, but not near max effort. Another tooth on the rear would have been nice at times, but not at the expense of being able to enjoy all the flat stuff. All in all, I think we had a few percentage points in reserve. Maybe as my spin improves, the gearing will creep to the 17 for the same course, but right now, that is the best gear for me. How long does it take to get comfortable doing the 110+ thing for hours on end?

By the way, there is no rational excuse to imagine doing the 508 fixed. Holy mackerel.

The descents were defiantly harder than the climbs. I really do like to go up hill, even on the fixie (I am a little weird like that). It was both easier and harder than I thought it would be.

But it was a lot of fun, really.

I thought I would show everybody what my beast looks like. It's a 2004 Pista. I put a carbon fork on and brakes front and rear. I routed the rear brake cable through the top tube. The water bottle cages are just pop riveted on. It sounds cheesy, but it's been working just fine so far.

Stewart

In fact, I've got one on order. How did you mount the rear brake? I would like to do the same. Thx.

In fact, I've got one on order. How did you mount the rear brake? I would like to do the same. Thx.

It's really a front brake.

I used it because the threaded rod was longer than a rear brake. I took a piece of aluminum bar stock and used a dermal tool to cut a groove in it to match up to the frame to give a little more support (you can see it in the photo just in front of the star washer). It's about an inch long and 3/8 inch square.Then I drilled a hole through both pieces and bolted it together with a 6 mm nylon lock nut and lock washer. It's been working great.

To run the brake cable through the top tube, I drilled 2 holes about 3/4 inch apart and then used the dermal tool again to connect the holes. Making one long oval. One for the front and one for the back. The little plastic parts that the cable goes through that snap into the holes cost $2.11 at the bike store.