BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Nice! We got started to late to really get in on any lines today. I got stuck in the middle of the Penn Ohio Rehab group and they werent very happy about my presence but oh well.

Lets hear it for Canadian Government Whiskey.

I've got plenty of embarrassing photos to post.

ok so i didn't ask for screen names. did i meet you, boostuv? you don't look anything like your gravitar.

i didn't push it as much as i could have. i feared that i would burn myself out. i actually feel pretty good. dozed off on the bus, but was awake for most of it listening to the dude in front of me snoring loudly. only my lower back is sore for a minute when i stand up and walk, but i thought i would feel crappier. i probably used my lower back too much on hills, but i had to try to power up them. had to walk some of that crappy long hill on the century. overall pleased with myself. people seemed to like my new bike.

i forgot to turn my gps off when i was hanging out at and walking around at the rest stops. wondering if that had much effect on my averages.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91996369

my day one

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91996372

my day two.

didn't have a migraine this year after either day. i drank enough water and i took some excedrine migraine midday.

had a great time. nice to ride with some of you.

and this happened:

PS - please post pics, rob.

I was the guy that came with Nick and Kayla on the red Trek X02

ooooh ok. cool.

It was a great time! Thank you THICK BIKES team for the support & camadery! Maybe next time I'll be to able to bike 28 mph and joint the line!!!

Seriously, it was great!!

@StefB and P-Rob: you guys rock! Doing the century & the entire MS150 on a single-speed must have been rough! Good for you

Actually, the top moment was when bikeygirl showed me the photo of her helmet covered in snow. I seriously had been thinking ever since I saw the avatar that it was a piece of abstract art. I always wondered what the heck that was. Now that I know, I laugh because it seems obvious. Thanks!

We never set out to ride fast like that, it just happened. It was cool how it just felt like something we were crazy enough to try. I think that if we felt that we had to do it, then it would not have been fun at all.

@Stefb - yeah, i left mine on my bike so it stopped when we were at the rest areas. I think the cooler temperatures on the second day were key. The hotter it gets the slower I am.

And I walked the last leg of that same stinking hill too!!

Sorry I did not get a chance to thank Colin personally for the jersey design. Someone asked me if we were a group of police. I had to give an honest answer, but if one person did ask then maybe a bunch of others assumed we were....

The coolest police officers ever

I hope you guys weren't Adam's apples about your paceline...

I think pace lines are by default somewhat adam's apple-ish, especially on a ride like this, where other Adam's apples are taking up the entire lane and don't move over for you when you are telling them that you are passing on the left.

But in all seriousness, again thank you to everyone who did this ride and raised money for MS. My aunt has MS and this hits close to home. I saw that one of the pgh steelers did the ride, since his mother has MS. Hope he got a lot of money donated.

Hey guys its Marcus (tall guy, red Fuji). I had a blast ridding for THICK. "car up!", "monster truck up!","SH*T UP!".. The pace line was great, so great in fact that it inspired my name. mphm - Marcus Power House McGuire. I had a blast with everyone in shanty town, had a blast falling backwards off my bike when doing wheelies up "cardiac hill", and had a blast ridding with P-Rob and RickyTickyTac the second day.

P-Rob I am a bit surprised at our average. I thought it would be higher, but my goal was to have an 18 mph ave so at least I attained my goal.

Ha! Thanks for providing enough context for me to understand what you meant by Adams apples without sending a PM. We announced ourselves a lot because I remember what it was like having a silent string of fast cyclists coming up on me with no warning. People reacted in various ways. Our goal (which we accomplished) was to safely navigate the course and not unsaddle anyone by avoiding them and letting them know that we were there. That was not a team thing either as there were only 5 to 7 of us out of 68 people in the pace line. We picked up guests along the way but dropped them since they didn't have the advantage of super cool aero jerseys like ours. Or we smelled bad.

The team got a lot more support too. Check out the updated fundraising status: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/PAXBikeEvents?pg=team&fr_id=15151&team_id=224166

other great things that come to mind was getting to meet people from this board. I have not made a Flock ride yet, and there may also be a new Tuesday night OTB ride for those of us who can't or don't make the start time across town. Good times to be had yet.

If anyone wants to ride this next year single speed then I would be happy to train with them also. I intend to finish well on the century for the first day (meaning not feeling like crap). And then burn whatever is left the following day.

Since this is a super reliable team already maybe we can also seek out a food sponsor and a massage sponsor for our shanty town. I was envious of what the other teams had at the finish and intend to do something about that, provided Chris is OK with it.

We did have the best shanty-town in the field! The best thing, those cheese-balls! After a long day of riding, they were certainly delicious!

Regarding Adam's apples & pace lines, the thick bikes team was very supportive and courteous during the ride. There were seriously other ass-whipes from other teams who just plowed-thru without warning or courtesy.

And seriously? Our jerseys made us look like cops? Ha! Me as a cop = funny! They were indeep pretty cool!

@powerhouse - Yes, i was surprised too, but that is what the GPS says. Maybe aliens messed with the satellite signal? I did not have the wheel sensor on my bike and wonder if it would read differently if it was attached. Dunno, but we did slow down once in a while. To think that it took all that work to get close to 18 mph keeps me in awe of riders that train for A and B rides.

And now you have to live up to "Power House" so I expect to see you on a single speed next year...

18mph average is pretty damn fast fwiw. My GPS read about 2% lower than my wheel sensor, so that may be a factor but I doubt it's a significant one. GPS tends to "round off" the corners a bit due to the sampling rate and I think that leads to the error (not that the wheel sensor is 100% reliable either).

anyways, since I'm terrible at introducing myself, I was the guy in the Google jersey and/or surly t-shirt riding the grey cross-check (not on Team Thick, but pretty much everyone I know is...)

68 people! Okay, that's definitely too much for the Escape to Lake ride, unless you're already off the front of the group. Five is a nice number.

As stef says, when your paceline is clicking along at speed and you come up on a couple of people riding two abreast at 12 mph and one more passing them at 15 mph and you shout "on your left" and they don't get out of the way fast enough, you only have two options.

1. slow down, and cause a pileup

2. Cross the center line

A small paceline of two or three people can handle #1, but with 68 people (all of whom, it goes without saying, are not professional cyclists), it turns into a big ripple and the fifth person grabs his brakes and the sixth person swerves and the seventh person hits him and kablooey. #1 is guaranteed to get somebody badly injured.

So #2 is what people do instead, and y'know, there's only a tiny possibility of somebody getting actually killed, so, whatev. Which has happened on MS rides, which is why the MS society is concerned about pacelines.

But I am impressed and a little intimidated by stefb's 67.8 mph max speed.

I think the 68 people was in reference to the total number of people on team Thick...with only 5-7 in the paceline.

Oh, whew. Never mind, then...

Paceline was very courteous, positive and kind of cheery. At no time was it a huge group of guys seriously and silently blowing past (there were plenty of those types out there though). I rode with p-rob and mphm for the first half of the second day, then the 7 became 5 as a couple of us couldn't quite keep that pace. It was suggested and I think most agreed that crossing the center line was a no-no, so we just called out "on your left please!" and most people reacted positively to this, almost always with a smile. There was one group that I remember riding 3-4 abreast, with the left guy hugging the center line. After a few "on your left, please!"s the guy turned around, shot us a nasty look, and continued on talking to the person next to him, keeping his line. They all just refused to move...as if they were purposefully blocking the route for anyone else. Eventually it devolved into the dude cussing at us. Not sure who was the biggest adams apple there, but taking up an entire lane and refusing to move over either for a single rider or a paceline seems pretty high on the list.

pretty nifty paceline bible!

http://www.inlandempirecycling.com/Cycling/group_riding_and_pace_lines.htm

"Riding in a pace line draft can save 20 to 30% of your energy output. This energy savings is what allows the pace line group to travel at higher speeds. Concentration on what you are doing in a pace line is essential. That is, there is no time for sight seeing."

This was my first year doing the MS ride. Glad I got out and did it. I'm surprised at how I don't feel sore/awful this morning after doing all that pedaling.

I totally failed at riding with a group, despite making a couple attempts. I have no idea what my pace should be except when my body tells me I'm overdoing it. I actually like the fact that I have no computer on the bike, less for me to think about.

Although next year, I definitely pack a bit more warm clothes, at least for after the finish.

I think the 68mph max was because I turned the gps off and then back on at a rest stop and may have moved a few feet, accounting for the 68mph max

I accidentally lead 3 or 4 pacelines up to the second rest stop on the second day. My knee didn't hurt too bad so I was cranking pretty hard, then I'd turn around and notice three dudes on my tail.

After that second rest stop however, man, I hate that part.

i swear i turned around a few times to see random people drafting off of me up some hills. displeased.

Ps- post links to pics you took this weekend. I am regretful that I didn't take any

No pics here. Perhaps they will surface somewheres. Too bad there was so much chaos at the start too, since not all the team was together for the photos. Maybe next year.

The entire team never makes the pic haha

Only 18 mph average? I swear we were doing 35 for at least half of the second day thanks to good ole Pauerhause!

HAHAHA i was also surprised!! I thought we were ready for Le tour de France, but I guess not..

Also this new nickname of mine makes me laugh out loud every time I see it or think about it. Which is a good and bad thing. Good because its a kick butt nickname. Bad because I am at work laughing by myself at my computer.. and RickyTickyTac, I like the redneck accent added to the spelling. It makes it much more enjoyable.

No one would pace with me.

Well, Todd tried drafts off me, 20 ft behind me towards the end of the first day.

I tried drafting off the tall bike but a frame and cables don't provide nearly as much benefit as a body does...

@Nick, you should add a few panniers, to provide a better wind shadow.

--Dan (who needs a custom helmet shaped like a torso, for much the same reason)

I can't ride it fast enough. I think I was topping out at 12mph down hills. People on full DH MTBs with knobby tires were passing me down hills.

How heavy is that thing? I'm guessing somewhere north of 75 pounds. Awesomeness aside, that's gotta be a helluvaload to haul around, hills or no hills.

i object to you characterizing those magna-mart abominations as DH bikes!

That must have made for an awfully long day, Nick. I feel bad for plotting to make you ride the century.

@stu, I estimated it around 40lbs, a few others said it was at least 50lbs. I'm not really sure, but I would say it is definitely under 50 lbs.

@cburch, I'm talking about actual DH bikes. I got passed by a guy with a good 10in of front suspension travel going down a hill.

@lyle, I would have rode the century any how, but due to mechanical issues, I was leaving the first rest stop as they were packing it up.

Even though it is slow, I don't think one person passed me going up a hill. It was really interesting to observe riders' reactions as I passed them going up hills--some would pick up their pace, other walking would hop back on, and some would just make comments about how ridiculous it was.

I imagine you have the same affect as being passed by the dude who rides the unicycle.

sorry for the about the mechanical problems, nick. i would have liked to have seen which one of us could have done the century faster. probably you.

only one production fork ever had 10 in of travel and it has been out of production for years. here's the super monster t on a bike and then next to a couple normal (8") downhill forks.

it's got to be tough to judge a few inches of difference when you're sitting 6 feet in the air.

drafting off the tall bike was awesome, but no doubt nick was faster than me going uphill.

Colin, it was an estimation. What I was saying is they were not department store bikes like you implied.

i just wanted an excuse to post those pictures. josh bender is insane and the super monster t is the most ridiculous fork ever.

i have a hard time imagining trying to get up any of those hills on a downhill bike. going down not so much, the travel doesn't slow you down and the average dh bike has a high gear of 36:11 or 38:11. its the low gearing, or lack thereof, that would screw you. pushing a 35-40 lb bike with 8" of front and rear travel up those hills in 36:26 or 38:26 (being generous, my lowest gear is actually 38:23)? screw that. i saw a few mediocre to decent xc bikes and a couple ok trail bikes on the ride but a dh or even freeride bike is totally nuts, especially if they were using dh tires! the tread would be gone by the third rest stop! people are freakin wacky.

Pictures soon. In the meantime, I'll just leave this here:

Good thing there's nobody around to hear me laughing out loud at that gif.

He shakes the whole field with that wrench.

I bet you felt the tremors all the way over in your air conditioned dorm...

Yea, that must have been the shaking I felt from my private shower.

Photos are up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjdlc/sets/72157626848165185/

They're all fantastic photos, but that first photo is beautiful. They should put that on the front cover of the brochure next year Nicely done Rob.

That picture of me was taken right before it broke for the first time.

That picture of me was taken right after it broke for the first time.

Thanks, Dan! Lauren actually just contacted me about using my photos for their marketing materials

If you have one of me without a flag protruding from my head, I'd love to use it for a thank you postcard

Otherwise I'd really like to use the foggy road in the green forest shot. I'd hang that on my wall.

I had another great year with yinz, thanks for the camaraderie! I'm glad other people enjoyed the canadian government whiskey, even if i was doing most of the enjoying. ^___^ I thought I had learned from all my mistakes last year, but now I know to pack lots of warm things next time! They tried to get me in a medical van on day two when they saw me shivering. No way would i have finished the ride if they wrapped me in a heated blanket! Thankfully, Nick's snarky advice to just 'ride faster' worked, and i regained feeling in my digits.

I hit over 40mph on the lovely downhill on day one, which is faster than i've ever gone. That felt great.

Can't wait to see yinz again next year!

lots of fun riding with you all, especially the pace line with p-rob and marcus. I was on the redline cross bike. bummed my cassette came loose on saturday, but it gave me an excuse not to do the century. c'est la vie. till next year.

BUMP

Pictures from this year's MS ride are up!!!

There is a lot of Black & Gold & Thick Bikes jerseys in there!!

http://bikemswesternpa.shutterfly.com/pictures/643#645

Wow that is impressive how many Thick jerseys were there. So is does can anyone join Thick or do you have to actually have skill and speed.

That's not quite half the team there. The team is open to everyone. One of the reasons we are in all the pics is that we were so spread out on the ride.

I think I'll get more info about Team Thick

mr marvelous - as we've talked about in other MS 150 threads, the MS 150 is in no way a race, and treating it as such will get you taken off the road by the organizers.

"Team" for the MS150 just means a bunch of folks raising money and hanging out under the same team name - not team as in riding the whole thing together in a pace line or trying to win a race. You're free to find someone who matches your speed and ride together with them, or treat it as a day of you as an individual making your own time. Whatever suits you.

^ Oh well that makes more sense. I like the idea of a bunch of folks getting together as a more efficient way or raising money for good charity. I am to slow to race anyway.

hey, the pace line was not planned at all. Our goal was to encourage each other and the pace of our tiny group picked up when we got cold. Please do not feel as though you need to compare to any other rider out there. The goal was to go out there and ride to fight MS, and as a team we smashed that bad boy.

This was my 4th ride and the first with Team Thick. This was the best because we didn't set out to do anything more than ride. Some with one gear, some 5 or 6 feet off the ground.

Since that ride I have gone out with Chris and others mountain biking, and although I am but a beginner there has been no judgment, only humor and encouragement to keep at it. All decent folk who just like to ride.