Thursday 28 February 2008
3 GEARS ON MY BIKE
Eschewing the 24 gears fitted to my bike, I am trying to use only three of them. I stick the chain on the 5th gear of the rear cassette and just use the 3 chain rings to alter the ratios. Madness? Possibly but there is also a sound reason. Buying a saddle just before a tour is not a good idea! By sticking to limited ratios it forces me to stand more than normal and so relieves the pressure on my behind. There are exceptions, like when going up a long steep climb (I can't stand up forever) but for the moment I am getting pleasure from this self imposed limitation. I have previous experience of this. In the Himalayas my transmission became so worn that in order to stop the chain jumping I had to fix it around the smallest chaining and 1 rear cog giving me just 3rd gear. Not too bad for climbing but any level ground had my legs whirring away... Luckily for me this area has limited flat roads. As an act of kinship which I shall never forget, our travelling companion, Paul also kept in 3rd gear. His bike however had a jammed freewheel so he descended with his legs lifted and pedals whirring furiously...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Can you gaffer tape a big pillow on (to the seat, not the gears ;-)? I used a fleece once. That was wierd. It was also only to Bristol, so it didn't matter.
Sorry, that's useless.
Hey have you ever wondered how much of a big impression that Jesus bloke must have made for people to have gone: "wah, you must be the son of God". He must have come out wearing a suit and a tie.
Post a Comment