BREAKING NEWS: I picked up my new horse tonight.
All right, I know, it’s a bicycle, but as you know, that’s my transportation for this adventure.
The rationale for the new bike is that my current bike is really a gravel road racing bike. It’s not really made for long distance riding. The tires are too skinny, the frame is not heavy (aluminum) but not super light (carbon), and the gears are not made for long mountain climbs. So I fixed all of that with this purchase. No excuses now!
The biggest worry for this ride was climbing the through Appalachians. I wanted a bike made for this type of trip. I bought what’s called an adventure bike.
The picture above shows a Specialized Diverge. It’s a 1×12; meaning 1 gear in front by the pedals and 12 gears in the back by the rear wheel. The only gear in front has 40 teeth and the large gear in the back has 46 teeth. That means every revolution of the pedals travels 24.18 inches.
The bike I thought I would ride is a Jamis Nova; above. It’s a 2×11. The small gear in front has 36 teeth and the large gear in back has 26 teeth. That means every revolution of the pedals travels 37.27 inches.
That combination of gears is the “easiest” that both bikes offer. And that difference in every pedal stroke is huge. Instead of having to travel 3 feet to complete a pedal stroke on my old bike, I now will only have to travel 2 feet. You don’t go as far, but it doesn’t take as much energy to turn the pedals, allowing you to pedal quicker (rpm) and with less effort at that slower speed.
I was planning on going for a ride tonight. My buddy Frank and I were planning a quick road ride in Island Lake State Park. After I loaded the bike in the back of my truck and as I pulled away from Motor City Bicycles in Brighton, it started to hail. It only lasted 5 minutes, but with all of the rain during the last few days, I just couldn’t introduce my new ride to such weather. Not on the first day, right? Frank didn’t hesitate — he rode 18 miles in less than ideal conditions. I have a trainer in my basement that has completely weakened my desire to ride in lousy conditions. I better get over that soon.
So if you encounter bad weather on the trip, will you have the trainer in the support vehicle???
Just kidding Denny! What a great blog!
Sweet.