Well Group, here are a few "secrets": -Keep pressure on the pedals consistent, use road gears accordingly. Some riders spin and go real fast, some push. All keep equal pressure. This will make the rear rider feel as if he were behind a motor. A good motor pacer is fully aware of the rear riders state of exertion. Keep that state equal and you will ride a good time trial.
-Here is the gear chart for sprint training: Nov.-Jan. 48x18 maintenance Jan.-Feb. 46x18 rehabilitation Mid Feb.- March 1 48x18 Pre-season build up March 1-15 50x18 beginning season/intense March 16-April 1 50x18 MORE intense April 1-all season 48x17 More miles and training These are used on the road training track bike.
_Here is the gear chart for sprint times on the track: 12 seconds 50x16 11.8 48x15 11.6 46x14 11.4 47x14 11.2 48x14 under 11.1 49x14 Leg speed will be approxamatly 140 rpm for the 200 meters.
-When sprinting, you will feel as if the crank arms are getting shorter. This is a post 140 rpm phenomenon fel esspcially durring down hill sprints. A way of knowing your in the right space. - Concentrate on smoothness, whatever the gear. This will mean you will relax. And will be in for the long run. This is one thing learning to spin will do for you. The French refer to this as "suplease" (sp.?). That is the ability of the muscle to relax. Since the human muscle can only do one of two things; contract and relax, it only stands to reason that if you are going to press down on the pedals when the crank goes around, you had better get the other leg out of the way first. Or you will just be working against yourself. And bouncing to show it.
-The "MAGIC" gear may be geographically dependent upon the terrain. In Brooklyn N.Y. it is mostly flat with a few rollers. That's why the Dutch liked it; it reminded them of home. 48x17 is the gear to use for superior training there. With it, a rider who is fit will NOT be dropped on a local up hill nor a downhill (except w/ the new 53x11 MONSTERS). A good 35 to 50 mile training ride is the daily derigure..with long pulls, sprints (downhill and on the flats and a uphill once in a while), and lots of tempo work.
-Have fun and use a lock ring!
John T. Pergolizzi
San Diego, Ca.
Previous posts not deleted. All very good info. Read and re-read.
> Pat,
>
> Spinning is what the fixed gear is all about. It's also important to use
short crankarms for this purpose; just as if it were a track bike. A smaller
pedaling circle is what you're after. If you are riding on the flats with a
group of people who are all riding fixed gears or in a mixed group with
gears, you can spin a higher gear than if alone. It's all about leg speed.
It doesn't matter if you are going 20mph or 30mph as long as the gear you're
riding is correct. Motor pacing at the track is not done in a 63" gear,
except in the very early training season. You should be able to motor pace
in up to a 92" gear or so as you become fit, as long as you're getting in
you base road miles also. Motor pacing in a fixed gear (on the road or the
track) is about as fun as it gets; riding behind Pergolizzi on the road is
next best thing. Seriously.
>
> Brian Baylis
> La Mesa, CA
> My legs feel GREAT today! Amazing how fast the pain goes away. I'm ready
for more!
>
> -- rocketman531 <rocketman531@earthlink.net> wrote:
> The posts concerning fixed gears were quite helpful...it is evident that
most riders of fixies Spin...Spin...Spin. Same advice that was so important
nearly 20 years ago when I first started serious riding.
>
> Pat Moffat
> Tempe, AZ Cooled off to 93 today
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: brianbaylis@juno.com
> Sent: Mar 23, 2004 2:32 AM
> To: rocketman531@earthlink.net
> Cc: brianbaylis@juno.com, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]A Beautiful Day in San Diego
>
>
> Pat,
>
> I determine which gear I will use on my fixie depending mainly on the
terrain and wheather I will be riding with people on geared bikes. The 73" I
used was for road use with geared bikes. I will suffer on the climbs in
order to stay with the group on the flats. My regular fixed gear is in the
68" to 70" range.
>
> My legs were/are really sore and tired today. I figure if I don't die from
this I will be stronger once I recover. I spent the whole day walking like I
was 90 years old and squating like I would never get up again. Painful, but
in a good way. That's why I love the fixed gear. You gan get TOTALLY whipped
in just 25 miles.
>
> Brian Baylis
> La Mesa, CA
>
> -- rocketman531 <rocketman531@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Brian,
>
> Thanks for mentioning the gears your group was running on your fixies this
last weekend. After reading so many posts from Chuck Schmidt about riding
fixed gears, I built three, and I really like them. Since I don't know
anybody who rides fixed gear, I just made it up as I went along. The first
was a world Voyager at 56.7 inches. That was fine for the neighborhood.
Next, an early 70's PX-10 at 70.9. Then I went to Bisbee last weekend and
scored a '51 Holdsworth. It's too pretty to hang shifters, cables and
what-not on it, so I'm making it into a fixie. Currently it's at 75.6
inches, but it seems a little long. I think the PX-10 at 70.9 seems the
best for me (mostly flats).
>
> I would be interested in hearing what other list members
ride....especially the big guns. . . .Chuck?
>
> Pat Moffat
>
> Tempe, AZ, where it's well into the 90's for days on end (97 yesterday).
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: brianbaylis@juno.com
> Sent: Mar 22, 2004 1:15 AM
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]A Beautiful Day in San Diego
>
>
>
> Listmembers,
>
> We had one of our monthly San Diego Vintage rides yesterday. The weather
was perfect for a ride and we gathered at the Bicycle Shop Cafe for the
start. We sucked down coffee provided by Dave Taitano as we readied
ourselves for the ride. There is a regular gang that rides from the shop
every Sunday morning who were there planning to join us. In addition to
Paeng and Chuck Schmidt, listmembers Sterling Peters, Ken Robb, Charles
Anderws, and Rick Guytan were in attendence as well. I think there were a
total of around 15 riders when we left.
>
> Paeng and I were riding fixed gears, he in the Confente fixie and myself
on my blue fixie(one of my favorite bikes of all time). Paeng was running
around 68 inches, which was probably about right for the climbs, but not
enough for the flats with the other geared bikes. I was riding 73.2 inches
which was rather tough on a few climbs but about right for the flats. Chuck
rode a nice DeRosa as did Sterling, if I recall correctly. Charles rode his
classic Pogliaghi and Rick brought out an interesting (must have been an
older) Zues bike that had Nervex Pro lugs, including crown and BB shell.
None of us had ever seen that before. Ken was riding his "Stelvio" (I forget
what the frame actually is) with the JB paint job, which he says rides
really well. My friend "Tall Paul" showed up to ride with us also, aboard
his 1985 Baylis (66cm c-t).
>
> We took off and warmed up as we headed out to El Cajon through La Mesa.
There was a stiff climb near the base of Mt. Helix early in the ride, which
is where I first realized I might be overgeared for the hills. It was warm
enough to remove my tights as we stopped to regroup there. A long section of
down hill followed and then we hit the flats that goes for several miles. I
like this stretch of flat wide road through El Cajon; traffic isn't bad and
you can really get moving there. Chuck and a few speedsters motored and I
had to suffer greatly to stay with a wheel and bridge gaps as riders fell
off the blistering pace at times. It's actually excellent interval training
and I really got a workout there. Once out in the east part of El Cajon the
flat pitches up a ways as we approach a serious steep and winding downhill.
I wasn't sure what to expect on the fixie but I went down alright. I had the
rear brake on slightly most of the way. At the bottom I thought I smelled
the smell of burning brakes that one might recognize from driving behind a
semi truck on a steep grade. I looked around for the truck. There was none.
Then I realized it was MY brake pads. I never knew Campy pads smelled like
that if you warm them up. Learn something new every day. We regrouped there,
anticipating that maybe we might intersect the "JB" ride comming down from
Alpine and maybe even hook up with JB himself. The terrain is mostly flat
for the next 5 miles with only a few small rises in the road. I felt pretty
good under the circumstances. We were moving along at a good clip and were
just about where the JB ride finishes up when their group came up behind us.
They were flying and readying for their sprint finish. Richard Bryne (owner
and inventor of Speedplay Pedals) was there and hit me up for a leadout. I
wasn't able to cut loose on account of a boxed in position and my gear
limit, but I did what I could. We stopped for a bit where the JB ride
finishes and talked with JB for a few minutes. He was riding his '73 Colnago
Super, which he was telling us felt fantastic after riding his Ti bike for a
few months. He must have the mate to my early Colnago, because he described
a "magic" feel and ride just like mine. He lives very near there so he took
us on a "shortcut" around some of the heavier trafficed roads. He peeled off
to his house and left us to climb a gnarley hill just after he turned off. I
was struggleing really hard to get over the hill but I was too beat and the
gear was too tall. I got off for a few yards near the summit, it was too
much for me. From there the climbing was not too bad and we made the last 6
miles back to the shop without incident.
>
> For me it was an epic ride. The pace was fast at times and there were
quite a few climbs and a good number of downhills. I bridged a lot of gaps,
which is one of my specialties on the bike, and the benifit of that work
will pay off if I continue to ride. I still remember the suffering last year
at Le Cirque. I may avoid that this year if I keep this up. My legs have not
been this tired in a LONG time; and that's saying a lot, since I've been out
with Pergolizzi a few times lately. I think I mentioned what it's like
riding behind the "motor". The ride and the workout are great, but it's
greater to have a group of friends to ride with and trade war stories and
discuss old bikes from every angle (no pun intended).
>
> Thanks to everyone who showed up. I really had fun........as soon as we
stopped! ;-)
>
> Brian Baylis
> La Mesa, CA
/classicrendezvous