State of the TNUA
“So where is everybody?” asked one guy.
“I think they all stayed home to watch the President,” replied another.
“Don’t they know you can record that?” asked a third.
“Or that CNN will have it on perpetual replay for three days?” I added.
See? No mention was made of the weather. A smidge below freezing with snow isn’t enough to keep TNUAs home. Although I doubt a Presidential speech would either.
Twenty-five of us rode out into the snow. It was the toughest workout I’ve ever had on a bike. And I learned a lot about riding in snow and what the limitations of my bike are.
All but two of us tonight rode mountain bikes. All of the ride tonight was geared toward the off-road set. Big fat tires, full knobbies, itty-bitty chainrings and pie plate-sized cassettes made all the difference.
Contrast this with my narrow tires, which sink in rather than float over stuff like ruts and footprints. I got knocked around where others just rode on through. Although mine are studded snow tires, they’re cleated for smoother riding on pavement rather than knobby for biting into loose stuff off-road. So I also had somewhat less traction.
And the gearing makes a difference too. The mountain bikes could gear way down so that riders could keep their cadence up, which makes for smoother pedaling and less rear-wheel spinning. My bike, on the other hand, with a 48/38/28 touring crank and 13-23 road cassette, is simply geared too high.
I was mashing my lowest gear in order to go slow enough so I didn’t run into riders ahead of me, which meant my power delivery was pulsed at low cadence rather than smooth at a higher cadence. I was also having to stand on the pedals, which meant I was unloading the rear-wheel. Weight equals traction and my weight was off the wheel. Coupled with pulsed power strokes, it was a recipe for wheelspin.
I found that if I could get into virgin snow (First Tracks!) I could do all right. This, despite the fact that it was unfrozen lawn under the snow. I could spin up to a good cadence, which was about twice the speed as the MTBers (yet still only around seven or eight MPH). I kind of enjoyed that when I could do it. The snow was deep enough that my mudflap was dragging in it, and my feet went down in it at the bottom of every pedal stroke. (Which makes for interesting tracks in the snow.) That required a lot of exertion. I was sweaty, panting, and really felt the burn all night long.
For its part, Bike was a good sport about it all. Ordinarily it dislikes anything other than pavement beneath its tires and communicates its preferences by throwing its chain. It did that only once tonight. And that was in a section where I really should have been walking the bike anyway because of how the ruts were throwing us around. I walked it a hundred feet or so to better conditions, then hopped back on.
I stuck it out as long as I could. I’ve left early other off-road nights in disgust, but tonight I’d have liked to keep going with the group, but I realized I just don’t have the right equipment for it. Pushing it only made the night less enjoyable and increased the risk of breaking something—either on the bike or on me. When I could, I gave my number to the ride leader and took off for home on the roads.
This is where my bike does all right. I had a grand old time riding home. And after such a workout off-road in the snow, it seemed easy. I was cranking along at cadence over 90, speed of 17 or 18 in an inch of slush, just as easily as if it was dry.
I also tried something new when I got home. I carried Bike into the bathroom and stood it up on its rear wheel in the shower. Then I hosed it down. All the snow, slush, ice, dirt and salt went right down the drain rather dropping onto my hardwood floors all night.
The only side effect is that there’s a grease spot on the shower floor under where the drivetrain stood. Maybe I should use cold water so it doesn’t wash the lube off the chain.
I decided that maybe next fall, budget permitting, I’ll pick up a mountain bike on Craigslist for those TNUA nights like tonight. Meanwhile, when the ride goes off-road like tonight, I’ll do my best for a while, then make my own fun on the ride home.
By the numbers:
- 25 riders
- 0 flats
- dozens of falls
- 31°F, –0.5°C
- 10–15 MPH (16-24 km/h) winds from the SW
- 1:18:30 riding time
- 11.53 miles, 18.56 km
- 8.8 avg MPH, 14.2 avg km/h
- 19.0 max MPH, 30.6 max km/h
- 57 RPM avg cadence
- 111 RPM max cadence
- 4,510 crank revolutions
