Fixed / Singlespeed ride - Sunday Aug 30th, 1pm.

flickerx

Hello,

Any fixie or singlespeed riders out there might be interested in this.

We're meeting up at 1pm in the Italian Quarter, on the north side of the Milennium Bridge. Come along.

blorg

You are clashing with the Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford and for that matter Lap the Lough in the North. Don't you know you have to book your calendar slots at the start of the season!

flickerx

Damn. Who'd a thunk it? And here was me thinking fixie riders were all urban fashionista tossers (yes, I am aware of the irony) in overpriced jeans when they're actually lyrca wearing road bike lunatics.

Oh well, maybe there wont be too much of a clash/crossover crowd...

Morgan

40 miles!

On singlespeeds!!

Impossible!!!

Chips Lovell

We could bail on the Sean Kelly to come and drop your skinny jeans wearing asses if you want?

TheToecutter

The Duane Delaney Memorial Track Meet is also on Sunday.

flickerx

I think you'll find that 40 miles / 65 km on a fixie is not "impossible". I've done it before - at high speed at night, it was great, and easily manageable.

I suppose geared road bike people might be welcome at the ride - but you may be sneered at for your complete faux pas-ness such as spd shoes, cycling shorts, jerseys, mudguards and computers, coupled with general lack of zen, one-ness etc with the bike.

nak

flickerx wrote: »

I suppose geared road bike people might be welcome at the ride - but you may be sneered at for your complete faux pas-ness such as spd shoes, cycling shorts, jerseys, mudguards and computers, coupled with general lack of zen, one-ness etc with the bike.

If you want one-ness with the bike get yourself some clipless pedals!

blorg

flickerx wrote: »

I think you'll find that 40 miles / 65 km on a fixie is not "impossible". I've done it before - at high speed at night, it was great, and easily manageable.

Unpossible! :pac:

flickerx

nak wrote: »

If you want one-ness with the bike get yourself some clipless pedals!

Yes I know, I'm joking / taking the p1ss out of myself and other fixie riders with our cliche mantras of zen with the bike etc. All said though I still do enjoy that sensation of being locked in, and after several years of riding fixed now I find it strange when coasting on a road bike.

If / when I get a payout from the insurance company of the driver who knocked me down, I think I will get myself a road bike. Then I can start yet another "first road bike advice?" thread here, and ask all sorts of questions about euro rules and the like (way over my head) which seem to excite people here, and lead to a deluge of in-jokes... can I be in your gang then, guys?

blorg

I think we all accept that a fixed or singlespeed is a good choice for an about town or commuting bike, but for a 65km jaunt around north County Dublin is just pushing the bounds of plausability. I just don't think it is possible. You need gears for that sort of expedition, not to mention lycra. Think of your knees!

Caroline_ie

blorg wrote: »

I think we all accept that a fixed or singlespeed is a good choice for an about town or commuting bike, but for a 65km jaunt around north County Dublin is just pushing the bounds of plausability. I just don't think it is possible. You need gears for that sort of expedition, not to mention lycra. Think of your knees!

I kind of agree w/ blorg. I have cycled the fixie for 160km ( my max ) and several other 50 to 80km spins and do so regularly, but w/ lycra and not in a group of people who are used to cycling in a bunch. And think of you knees too yes ...

Raam

flickerx wrote: »

can I be in your gang then, guys?

Of course you can

flickerx

blorg wrote: »

I think we all accept that a fixed or singlespeed is a good choice for an about town or commuting bike, but for a 65km jaunt around north County Dublin is just pushing the bounds of plausability. I just don't think it is possible. You need gears for that sort of expedition, not to mention lycra. Think of your knees!

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I'm not even in the same league as yourself (the same planet, more like) when it comes to fitness levels, but I've done 65km+ on a fixie at speed, on hills as well as flat, recently. With no lycra! Now, I was wrecked when I got home, and it took me time to wind down to go to sleep (the ride finished at 2am, but I couldnt sleep until 3.30), but after a stretch in a long hot shower I felt fine.

This ride is intended to be more of a leisurely pace then pushing it to the limit.
If people feel that its too much distance on the ride then we can always come back a different route. Its not a racing course where we'll get deducted points if we veer off course, jesus! But people on the fgss forum were keen to do a longer trip.

65km is nothing. Nothing!

Chips Lovell

Even at 65km people will be ringing for taxis and wishing they'd worn sensible lycra shorts.

DJsail

You know this is starting to take on a sinister level of rivalry, can we envisage some sort of gang warfare through the streets of dublin between the skinny jeans and stachels of the fixies and the lycra clad shaven legs of the roadies,:D What a camp westside story this will be, definitley worth a look!

snollup

Would love to join up for the spin but am not in the best of shape (fairly unfit). Are all levels of fitness welcome?

steinone

All fitness levels are very very welcome:D

flickerx

DJsail wrote: »

You know this is starting to take on a sinister level of rivalry, can we envisage some sort of gang warfare through the streets of dublin between the skinny jeans and stachels of the fixies and the lycra clad shaven legs of the roadies,:D What a camp westside story this will be, definitley worth a look!

This is a great idea. I'm always up for gang brawls. We could get shirts printed up to separate the two teams. We could even get sponsorship from our favourite stuff - the fixie riders get "Urban Outfitters" on the front, and the road cyclists can get "Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator" printed on theirs.

blorg

flickerx wrote: »

I've done 65km+ on a fixie at speed, on hills as well as flat, recently. With no lycra! Now, I was wrecked when I got home, and it took me time to wind down to go to sleep (the ride finished at 2am, but I couldnt sleep until 3.30),

Unpossible! Especially without lycra. I reckon the maximum distance possible on a fixed bike sans lycra is around the 15-20km mark, and that would be a long and sweaty commute. Avec lycra you could possibly push it out to 40km on a flat course if you were very fit and the course didn't have any corners (corners would likely cause a crash due to pedal strike.) Even the great Eddy Merckx (famous for cycling a geared bike very long distances faster than anyone else) was only able to manage just over 49km on a fixed gear before he had to throw in the towel, and he said that was "the hardest ride I have ever done."

65km? Unpossible!

Caroline_ie

Blorg,you mean you are better than Eddie Merxcks ( simply the greatest rider of all time. Nicknamed “The Cannibal” for his insatiable appetite for victories) ?

flickerx

blorg wrote: »

Unpossible!

[snip]

Unpossible!

Is there some in-joke I'm missing here? Forgive my ignorance, I'm ignorant.

15-20km as a maximum possible distance on a fixie? I presume you jest.
I'm going to do that this afternoon just going back and forth into town to do a small bit of shopping without breaking sweat.

flickerx

blorg wrote: »

that would be a long and sweaty commute

I dont think anyone will be commuting to work to the middle of nowhere in the wilds of outer Fingal on a Sunday.

Morgan

flickerx wrote: »

I dont think anyone will be commuting to work to the middle of nowhere in the wilds of outer Fingal on a Sunday.

Priests?

I'd love to come on this but I think i'd be in a bundle after 10km ^_^

blorg

Deleted User wrote: »

I'd love to come on this but I think i'd be in a bundle after 10km ^_^

There you go! My point exactly!

Glitterangel76

flickerx wrote: »

I think you'll find that 40 miles / 65 km on a fixie is not "impossible". I've done it before - at high speed at night, it was great, and easily manageable.

I suppose geared road bike people might be welcome at the ride - but you may be sneered at for your complete faux pas-ness such as spd shoes, cycling shorts, jerseys, mudguards and computers, coupled with general lack of zen, one-ness etc with the bike.

What if you have a hybrid bike and are a newbie? Can they come along too?

flickerx

blorg wrote: »

There you go! My point exactly!

What, one person says on an internet chat forum that they'd be wrecked after half an hour of riding and your point is proven? Weak. :P

That might be your point exactly, but it doesnt mean its any more valid.

I drink a good bit and other stuff, dont exactly eat too well, 60km tires me out but in a happy, healthy way, if I can do it (and I have) then I think anyone can.

Anyway, enough for now. I win. Sunday 1pm @ The Last Supper in the Italian Quarter for the fixed ride.

Chips Lovell

Pics or it didn't happen.

flickerx

I'll make sure to gather some evidence.

flickerx

This is today! 1pm meetup at the Italian Quarter last supper fresco.

flickerx

Today's trip:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3144273
62km.
Slightly different then planned but it was nice to go along the Estuary Road from Malahide towards Swords.

We came back straight via the old N2 road and then via Finglas with the rain and time constraints, rather than cutting down through the Ward and then through Blanch & Phoenix Park. The road between Swords and Ashbourne is nice, quiet country road with very little traffic, decent surface too. The old N2 north road is a bit 'ardcore though, they've obviously not resurfaced it now in years because of the new road, and its quite straight and exposed so the wind (and rain) was in our faces on that stretch.

Add the 20km on top for me for the back and forth to Blanch, so 80+ km for me today, fixed. I didnt even break sweat. I could do it in my sleep. In fact, I was asleep. Also, I was so not sweating, I actually absorbed salty water from the atmosphere into my body, so there, blorg.



Ah no, obviously I'm a bit wrecked after it, and once or twice on the mild uphill inclines, I felt a bit of a twinge in my shoulder, its still not right from the accident. The twinges throw me off my stride a bit, I can instantly feel my cadence rate (or whatever its called) dropping, its a bit frustrating. But hopefully in a month or so everything will be ok when the bone tissue is fully grown back into the screw holes. I'm a bit stiff now but feel pretty good. 62km in two and a half hours (we left at 1.25pm, I was back at Georges Street at 3.55pm) given that we had to stop at Sutton Cross as well for a puncture repair is decent going, I think.

I got some video from my phone of us coming into Malahide, I'll youtube it later for el tonto's benefit. pothole_surfer has some pics but I dont think he's on this board.

BTW dublinfgss.com is now live (Thanks Tiny!) so any fixie riders out there come on over and register.

Raam

Did yis have many out?

**Timbuk2**

flickerx wrote: »

Add the 20km on top for me for the back and forth to Blanch, so 80+ km for me today, fixed. I didnt even break sweat. I could do it in my sleep. In fact, I was asleep. Also, I was so not sweating, I actually absorbed salty water from the atmosphere into my body, so there, blorg.

Well clearly you're twice the cyclist than everyone on this forum. I rarely go on a long cycle without sweating, never mind on a fixie.

I think we should all just give up cycling and start a new hobby. Possibly kite-flying? We can meet up by the Luas Bridge in Dundrum with our kites - it will be great :rolleyes:

flickerx

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Well clearly you're twice the cyclist than everyone on this forum. I rarely go on a long cycle without sweating, never mind on a fixie.

Yes I was sweating.
I was joking, of course. I would have thought that was obvious.
I didnt actually absorb sweat from the atmosphere, or cycle while asleep.
Unless you are joking too. The rolleyes smiley doesnt seem to say that, but forgive me if I am reading the tone of your post wrong, I'm wrecked now.

Raam, I'm never good with numbers, so hard to say how many of us did the trip.




There were three of us.

BRENT_EAGLE

You wanna know what the fixie and geared off would look like then look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIwMGkqa6Sw