rbent Forum - Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM

FlyingLaZBoy

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Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM
Mar 6^th, 2012, 9:30am

Greater Dallas Bicyclists presents the Lancaster Rally

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Make plans to enjoy a fabulous day of Texas springtime cycling in the luscious and calm countryside south of Dallas! For the 14th consecutive year, the Greater Dallas Bicyclists, together with the City of Lancaster, is staging the Lancaster Country Ride on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 9 am. Lancaster is a mere 15 minutes from downtown Dallas.

Join us as we cycle through the scenic countryside of Lancaster and surrounding areas. The routes traverse a variety of terrain, from flats to rolling hills, with a few challenging climbs. Rest stops every 10 or 12 miles with water, sports drink and fruit. The wildflowers are in full bloom in April and our routes feature picturesque meadows with dense concentrations of Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, and other colorful spring flowers.

Lancaster GDB socks for the first 1,200 registered riders!

Start/Finish: On-site registration and breakfast begins at 7 am. Ride starts at 9 am from the gazebo near the historic Lancaster town square off Main Street and Dallas Avenue. After the ride, stick around with other cyclists to enjoy the festivities on the square.

Mileage options: 23, 42 and 63 miles staggered start for safety. We have scouted and ridden the routes to ensure smooth roads and scenic countryside for all bicyclists to enjoy. The 42 and 63 mile options take you directly through the Bluebonnet Trial on beautiful and hilly Sugar Ridge Road. Note that GDB requires helmets to be worn during the ride.

Price/Registration: There are 4 ways to register/pay for this event:
1. You can register via active.com ($25 if paid on or before March 28th; $30 if paid from March 29th until April 13th).
2. You can register via US Mail ($25 if postmarked by March 28th; $30 if postmarked from March 29th until April 4th). NOTE: forms mailed after April 4th will probably not get to us in time and are therefore not guaranteed to be valid. You can also pick up a rally flyer (including registration form) at most area bicycle shops.
3. You can register at the Packet Pickup events listed below ($30 cash/check only).
4. You can register at the Lancaster Gazebo near the start line on the day of the rally ($30 cash/check only).

Packet Pick-Up: To ease rally day on-site registration, we’ll have packet pickup at six locations, before the day itself. You can go to these events to pick up your packet if you've already registered via active.com or US mail. You can also go to these events and fill out a registration, pay the fee there and get your packet. Ride participants must sign their own liability release waiver (either electronically when registering via active.com or by signature on the paper registration form).

Saturday April 7th from noon-3pm at Richardson Bike Mart (Campbell and Coit Road in Richardson)
Tuesday April 10th from 4pm–7pm at the Dallas Performance Bicycle (North Central Expressway at Walnut Hill)
Wednesday April 11th from 4pm–7pm at the Dallas REI (LBJ Freeway at Welch)
Wednesday April 11th from 4pm–7pm at B&B Bicycles (229 East FM1382 in Cedar Hill)
Thursday April 12th from 4pm-7pm at Plano Cycling & Fitness (North Central Expressway at 18th Street)
Friday April 13th from 4pm-7pm at Mad Duck Cyclery (721 E. NW Hwy, Grapevine)

Breakfast: Come early to purchase ($6) pancakes, sausage, coffee and juice from the Boy Scouts. They will be at the First United Methodist Church, 201 South Dallas Avenue, across the street from the town square starting at 7am.

Directions to Ride: To get to the start from I-20, take exit #470 and go south on Lancaster Rd (Hwy 342). Lancaster Rd becomes Dallas Ave. Continue 4.5 miles to the Gazebo area near the town square. For GPS users, the Gazebo is in the 200 block of North Dallas Avenue.

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Monkeywrangler22 Five Star Member rbent member Posts: 1308	Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM Reply #1 - Mar 6^th, 2012, 11:31am Hmm...sounds interesting! What is the 100K route like?
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bent_eagle Recumbents Rock! Posts: 102	Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM Reply #2 - Mar 6^th, 2012, 10:36pm http://www.greaterdallasbicyclists.com/lancaster/index.html
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aikigreg Moderator recumbent ninja Posts: 3685	Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM Reply #3 - Mar 7^th, 2012, 10:15am This is one Alexis and I always enjoy. We should be there.
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shellbear Posts: 476	Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM Reply #4 - Mar 7^th, 2012, 10:56am Sweet, I'm in!!
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jayg Five Star Member rbent member Posts: 4189	Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM Reply #5 - Mar 7^th, 2012, 11:32am Quote from shellbear on Mar 7^th, 2012, 10:56am: Sweet, I'm in!! You better install a triple crank on your Musashi, and be sure to bring your strongest set of legs with you.
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shellbear

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Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM
Reply #6 - Mar 7^th, 2012, 12:24pm

Quote from jayg on Mar 7^th, 2012, 11:32am:

Quote from shellbear on Mar 7^th, 2012, 10:56am:

Sweet, I'm in!!

You better install a triple crank on your Musashi, and be sure to bring your strongest set of legs with you. Cheesy

Hey, I did 62 miles in Aledo last year and 160 (in 2 days) in San Antonio with just a double, I hope I can make it in south Dallas! Don't make me eat my words. LOL

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"As soon as you're born you start dying, so you might as well have a good time." -Cake

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jayg

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Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM
Reply #7 - Mar 7^th, 2012, 1:45pm

Quote from shellbear on Mar 7^th, 2012, 12:24pm:

Quote from jayg on Mar 7^th, 2012, 11:32am:

Quote from shellbear on Mar 7^th, 2012, 10:56am:

Sweet, I'm in!!

You better install a triple crank on your Musashi, and be sure to bring your strongest set of legs with you. Cheesy

Hey, I did 62 miles in Aledo last year and 160 (in 2 days) in San Antonio with just a double, I hope I can make it in south Dallas! Don't make me eat my words. LOL

Talk to you after the ride.

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shellbear

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Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM
Reply #8 - Mar 7^th, 2012, 1:49pm

Quote from jayg on Mar 7^th, 2012, 1:45pm:

Quote from shellbear on Mar 7^th, 2012, 12:24pm:

Quote from jayg on Mar 7^th, 2012, 11:32am:

Quote from shellbear on Mar 7^th, 2012, 10:56am:

Sweet, I'm in!!

You better install a triple crank on your Musashi, and be sure to bring your strongest set of legs with you. Cheesy

Hey, I did 62 miles in Aledo last year and 160 (in 2 days) in San Antonio with just a double, I hope I can make it in south Dallas! Don't make me eat my words. LOL

Talk to you after the ride.

Ok, I'm sufficiently frightened. Lynn told me last weekend that you were instrumental in getting her 3 ring installed on her Musashi. Might I enlist your services to do the same for mine? I will PM you with details...

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"As soon as you're born you start dying, so you might as well have a good time." -Cake

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jayg

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Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM
Reply #9 - Mar 7^th, 2012, 8:18pm

Quote from shellbear on Mar 7^th, 2012, 1:49pm:

Ok, I'm sufficiently frightened. Lynn told me last weekend that you were instrumental in getting her 3 ring installed on her Musashi. Might I enlist your services to do the same for mine? I will PM you with details...

There were two hills on the Lancaster ride that were really difficult for me to climb. One of them had me thinking that I needed to get off the bike and start walking (I didn't, though). I was cranking maybe 142 pounds of body weight and 30.5 pounds of bike and tool weight up the hills. I was riding a RANS X-Stream (About 1 pound lighter than a Musashi). It had a 52/39/30, 170 mm triple crankset and a custom 11/30 cassette. The lowest gear-inch value for the drivetrain was 24.3.

The Musashi comes standard with a 10-speed 11/32 mountain bike cassette. The lowest gear-inch value for a stock Musashi is 27.9. Maybe the optional cassette Mike installed on your bike is an 11/34 or 11/36. You need to either count the teeth or look for the tooth count stamped on the big cog. If the cassette is an 11/34, the gear-inch value will be 26.3 and if 11/36, will be 24.8.

If you installed a 165 mm triple crankset on your bike, the lower gear-inch value would be 23.2 for an 11/34 cassette and 21.9 for an 11/36. The lower the gear-inch value, the greater the climbing power.

In addition to the new crankset you might need a new bottom bracket, you would need to replace your 2-speed trigger shifter with a 3-speed shifter, and might need to replace the rear derailleur with a long-cage derailleur (If the stock Rival mid-cage derailleur is still on your bike, it's gear wrap capacity would be exceed as much as 21% with the new crankset installed).

I would be glad to work on your bike, but before you spend all that money on components, you should probably try Lancaster with your current setup. The main reason Lynn installed a triple was she already had the crankset, and she prefers to ride in the middle ring of a triple, instead of the small or large ring of the Musashi's stock compact crankset. Why don't you try climbing Flag Pole Hill at WRL, sometime, to test the climbing ability of your current setup?

I currently have a 170 mm carbon triple crankset installed on my Musashi, because I'm running a 12/27 close-ratio cassette. Lower gear-inch value is 29.2. This setup is fine for White Rock Lake, but is probably not suitable for long, steep hills. Today, I ordered a 22T chain ring, which will give my bike's drivetrain a lower gear-inch value of 21.4. I'm preparing the Musashi for Ride Ataxia (I have forgotten what the terrain was like on that ride).

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« Last Edit: Mar 7^th, 2012, 8:34pm by jayg »

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FlyingLaZBoy

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Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM
Reply #10 - Mar 8^th, 2012, 9:05am

Quote from jayg on Mar 7^th, 2012, 8:18pm:

If the cassette is an 11/34, the gear-inch value will be 26.3 and if 11/36, will be 24.8.

If you installed a 165 mm triple crankset on your bike, the lower gear-inch value would be 23.2 for an 11/34 cassette and 21.9 for an 11/36. The lower the gear-inch value, the greater the climbing power.

Or, to put it in layman's terms -- a "24 gear inch" value means that with every pedal stroke of ONE of your legs, it moves you forward one foot (12 inches), and with every complete rotation of the crank (i.e., both legs), you move forward 24 inches. When hill climbing, it's a fine line between at what speed you are going up the hill (how many crank rotations moving you X feet forward each time) vs. keeping your balance... And the effort to go up a hill at a certain speed on a bike is essentially like the difference between walking up a hill and trying to jog up it.

And to slightly modify what Jay said, the lower the gear-inch value, the slower you can climb while still keeping a decent pedal RPM going -- it's not really climbing "power" as such, it's the ability to keep pedaling at slow speed (as long as you can balance!)...

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FlyingLaZBoy

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Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM
Reply #11 - Mar 8^th, 2012, 9:20am

Oh, and the Lancaster Rally 63-mile and 42-mile routes are definitely not a piece of cake... but it's a VERY enjoyable ride, with good rest stops every 10 miles or so and good SAG support. There is one tough 8% grade hill that is 5 miles in, but it's short, and the "Sugar Ridge Road" section from Mile 15 to Mile 19 is definitely hilly, with one particularly tough climb that a LOT of people walk up -- but the bluebonnets along that stretch are so pretty, you don't mind it!!! After that, the hill climbing is minimal, except for a short section around the 45 mile point. It's NOTHING like riding Muenster or any East Texas ride where there's nothing BUT climbing and rollers...

However, the WIND will be your enemy, if it's from the north, because the last 20 miles are northbound... but last year we had a south wind, which made the first half tough, but the last half NIIIIIICE!!!! But we're on recumbents, who cares about headwinds??????

Don't let the climbing scare you -- just plan for a lengthy, but enjoyable ride, with the occasional challenging climb that will make you appreciate it!!!

The 23-mile route is pretty much just for newbies, or those who just go out for 5-10 miles whenever they ride, and has that one climb at Mile 5 -- but it's basically just riding to Ferris and back...

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« Last Edit: Mar 8^th, 2012, 9:22am by FlyingLaZBoy »

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shellbear

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Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM
Reply #12 - Mar 8^th, 2012, 11:14am

Quote from FlyingLaZBoy on Mar 8^th, 2012, 9:20am:

Don't let the climbing scare you -- just plan for a lengthy, but enjoyable ride, with the occasional challenging climb that will make you appreciate it!!!

Well, Jay's post up there seems complicated and expensive, so maybe I will just deal with what I've got for now, and if I have to walk then so be it! I will definitely learn my gearing and see if my Musashi can be improved though. I definitely have used the lowest gear I have on several occasions, but only in San Antonio was it really challenging enough to have me going <6mph up hills and my knees started to hurt. undecided

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rmillay

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Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM
Reply #13 - Mar 8^th, 2012, 1:27pm

An 8% grade is equivalent to the grade on the Northwest Hwy. detour at WRL, or the grade by the dam there. If you can get up those at a uniform pace, your legs and bike are enough for a small hill like that.

The thing is, getting up hill is more than just gearing. Gearing is more important for us because we can't stand up on the pedals like an upright rider can. That gives roadies two advantages: They have a higher center of gravity which makes it much easier to balance at low speeds and pedal cadence. Standing also protects their knees somewhat from the pressure of hard pedaling. Almost any of us regular riders have more than enough leg strength to hurt ourselves by pushing too hard. So we must spin more than a roadie.

Then there is the nature of the hill itself. Taking a hill is a matter going into it with good momentum, getting into the right ring early on and keeping a high enough cadence that you feel confident in the power you are putting into the climb. But what if there is rough road, or potholes you didn't expect? And don't miss a shift! One problem with a hill at the 5-mile mark in a tee-shirt ride is all the slow riders in your way, weaving around and trying to pass one another. And the problem with a big hill near the end of the ride is your legs are shot. Handling the latter is best done by down-gearing and stopping for a couple of minutes to rest, getting your heart rate down. You will find that spinning up the hill at a stately pace after a short rest is comparatively easy. (Yes, I have used this technique, on Cherry Pie hill near the end of a 200k.)

How about BIG hills? Cherry Pie, on FM4, near Palo Pinto, is 350 feet of climbing in a little over a mile; that's an average of 6% grade. But, of course, the grade isn't uniform, and there are turns. Same with Camp Wisdom Road going up from near Joe Pool Lake. It's 200 feet in about a kilometer--again an average of about 6%. If you aren't in shape, it's best to have the gears. Most of the roads up the western mountains average 4% or less, and are no worse than slogging into a strong headwind for miles on end. There are hills, like in Eastern Pennsylvania that are 20% grade. For me, fuhgeddaboudit!

The best thing is, you can get in shape for hills--especially you young people! In the next three weeks look for hills you can ride up and repeat. Do this a couple times a week. Tell people who look at you oddly you are training for the Tour. You will polish your technique, shape up your muscles, and gain confidence. And when you talk to Jay you can say "the hills? Naah! they weren't so bad!" Smiley

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jayg Five Star Member rbent member Posts: 4189	Re: Lancaster Rally -- Sat April 14th, 9AM Reply #14 - Mar 8^th, 2012, 1:41pm Bob, how do you have the time to post on the Forum, when you're leaving for Spain today? I know, your wife must be packing the bags.
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