As mentioned in another thread, I am thinking of doing the Breathless Agony ala fixie sooooooooo I took my new rig out to do the Orange County Loop, with a few changes. Here is the link to the Geoladders route, which I followed until the Santa Anna Canyon Road: Geoladders -- Orange County Loop First, I finally got my new fixie, thanks Bianchi!, here is a stock pix: The stock gearing is 48x17, which I used and nearly wiped me out!, and I have made a few mods to the bike, different stem, seatpost, saddle and handlebar and am waiting for a set of wheels from American Classic and some new brakes from Cane Creek. Anyhow, I started at Tustin and Chapman and made my way down Chapman and up, up, down, up, down, up and so on to Cooks Corner, it was a huge eye opener having only 1 gear to work on a long road ride, especially when it starts getting vertical. Live Oak was freakin hard with that gear! I had to creep and crawl my way up that thing. Once I passed the Holy Jim turn the switchbacks started and they were not too shabby. All the way to Lareda Ranch was fun and then a decent climb with the descent from heck on a fixie to Ortega Highway. I made my way to San Juan Capistrano and then hit the PCH via Dana Point. from Dana Point to Huntington Beach I was suffering, the fact that I could not stop pedaling and I was 4 hours in was wearing me down! I finally hit the River Trail to head back inland which was a lifesaver and went to Imperial Highway, turned right and then went left onto Santa Anna Canyon Road and back to my starting point......it was 5 hours and 41 minutes of zero coasting with a little bit of pleasure and a ton of pain!! don't have a computer but a buddy helped me figure out the mileage to be around 120k, it was ridiculous!!! I think I'll try this one next week with my geared road bike and see how it goes Breathless Agony, here I come!!:bang:
Doooooooooooooode, as much as I LOVE my fixie, I can't imagine doing vertical AND 50mph+ downhill for 100 miles. Of course, I've only ridden from HB to Belmont or Laguna (something like 20-30 miles). Have you seriously considered the repercussions of the downhill on the Breathless ride? I have the same gearing, but the bike came with 42-16. I thought my legs would fall off, they flew so fast, on each little decline....although, you can do what one fixie tried to teach me and "coast" with your feet on the down tube (I almost broke my water bottle mount). #-o Maybe I'm just not coordinated enough to ride my bike :-k
Hey Chelle, I have had a few Pistas and Steamrollers but the geometry is very close to my San Lorenzo so I wanted to see if it was realistic to ride on for more than a hour...the angles on track bikes are perfect for the wood, lame on long road rides. I know I am in for some serious self-induced punishment. You know how it goes on a fixie, you grunt to get to the top and cannot really enjoy a good and well-deserved downhill because you have to fight the pedal stroke and brake the whole way down. The downhill of Antonio Pkwy to Ortega highway was tough, I would brake,let it fly, brake, let it fly, etc. On the PCH I pretty much let it roll and just hovered over the saddle, spinning like a madman! I am thinking of packing a freewheel for the Breathless Agony so if and when I do make it up to Onyx summit I can flip the wheel and coast
ahhhhhhhhhh, packing a freewheel, the sounds of reason. The nice thing about the Specialized is that you can flip the wheel
I just rode 100 miles a couple weeks ago with a friend who was on a fixie and I was so amazed at his ability to stick it out. This is a guy I've done a lot of doubles with and he says this 100 was harder. I tip my hat to you guys, but I think I'll stay with the gears.
I just signed up for Breathless Agony. Seems wierd to be looking forward to Agony...Also, I said I was representing STR. So I guess we have a team now!
Here is my fixie with a change on the saddle, stem, tape,seatpost and tread. The only thing I am waiting for is a set of track wheels from American Classic, they said the should be built by the end of next week:clap:
