Blog-worthy bike ride

[nosrednayduj]

I haven't been on blog-worthy bicycle rides recently, but today I went up Blue Hill. Total ride 21.81 miles in 2:16 for an average of 9.6. Which seems lame, except for the 400 foot elevation gain in 0.9 miles in the middle. It took me 16:31 to go that 0.9 miles, for a sub average of 3.27. Then, after dinner, I had a short errand of about 3.5 miles, bringing me to a daily total of 25.33. I haven't ridden that far in a very long time.

It's been years since I've actually gone up Blue Hill on my bicycle, and it turns out that I can't quite make it anymore. There's a very steep bit, and I had to walk. I wish it were possible for me to get lower gears, but the drive train on my recumbent is funky, and the lowest gear already has the chain rubbing on things, and so having a lower gear would just make that much worse.

Comments

[lauradi7dw]

I walked up to the Great Blue Hill transmitter tower (namesake of WGBH) with a friend for his 60th birthday. There must be a straightforward road way, but in my recollection we spent a lot of time climbing awkwardly over rocks. I rarely bike, but when I do so, I always end up walking up the hill near my house.

[nosrednayduj]

I wouldn't say that the road is "straightforward", because there are switchbacks, but it is in fact paved, and wide enough for a car. That's how they get stuff up to the observatory.

[apparentparadox]

Going up hills is one of the places where e-Assist really shines. Rather than spend an inordinate amount of time on a small stretch of road that isn't very interesting, I can use e-Assist to get up that at a reasonable rate, and then enjoy the rest of my ride.

Not sure of what the gearing is, but the whole drive train issue is one of the reasons why I went with the Rohloff internal hub gears when I got my new trike recently. With 20" wheels and a regular gear/derailleur system, it's pretty easy to have the derailleur very close to the ground and susceptible to damage. With the Rohloff, I basically don't have a rear derailleur, so nothing to get hit by curbs/rocks, etc.

[nosrednayduj]

Ah but the hill IS the interesting part!