On Sunday, July 5, 2015, I wheeled my Canondale CAAD10 road bike out of the garage, as I had many times that summer. I checked the tire pressure, adjusted my helmet, started Strava recording on my cell, and headed out. It was a beautiful summer day. Not too hot with negligible wind (a rarity in Northwest Ohio). I aimed South, down the Slippery Elm multi use trail towards North Baltimore, has I had countless times before. The out and back loop riding was peaceful, enjoyable and comfortable.
One hour and 50 minutes, 29.6 miles, and 78 feet of elevation gain later, I was back in the driveway. Little did I anticipate that my next ride on the CAAD10 would be April 7, 2023, almost eight years later. A new job. A move to New England. Life intervened. Over this period, I did enjoy a few off road trail miles on a fat tire bike. Through pine forests, Sandy soil. Good fun. Fresh air. But not the same as spinning out on the road.
Job responsibilities no longer a constraint. Another move. This time to the familiar surroundings of mid-coast Maine. Spectacular scenery. Limited traffic. The CAAD10 beckoned to be ridden again. The yearning to feel the wind in my face and road unfold under my wheels reemerged. Time to ride again.
April 2023. Almost eight years have elapsed since the CAAD10 and I last rolled. I'm now 62. I feel good. But what will it take to get my base back? I'm in decent shape from wrangling cords of firewood, and other household chores. But how will my body tolerate being back on the bike? Only one way to find out.
Layered up, I rolled out of the drive way. The plan was a seemingly modest 8 mile loop. The air was crisp; in the 40s. The snow bank lined roads were dry. Ah, the wind in my face! The sound of my wheels rolling over the pavement. After a slight downhill, the first climb arrived. Shifting to my lowest gear, I worked up the hill. Winded, I longed for lower gearing. Then down. Whew! Flat for a bit. Then down. Then up. Gear down, gear down, gear down. Wishing I could gear lower. Legs straining. Flat. Down. Slight rise. Climb. Although I've driven the loop many times before, I never appreciated the elevation change. Now, from the wheel of a car, does the roughness of the road surface, with many cracks and frost heaves, is not apparent. The hills, seemingly short but long enough to pose a challenge. Especially to legs with no base and bike gearing too high. Another climb. Lowest hear. Struggle. Made it. Flat. Whew! Slight down, then UP. Legs burning, lungs screaming, vision narrowing. I cleared the top of the hill, coasted down the short saddle before the climb resumed, and stopped. Plopping my exhausted self into the roadside snowbank, I phoned home to request a ride.
Lessons were learned. Riding mid-coast Maine is different from navigating the flats of Ohio, home of the Hancock Horizontal Hundred, billed as the flattest century in the United States, it accumulates 434 feet. Total. Wind is a near constant companion: sometimes it is a gift; oftentimes it is a curse. Spinning a groove for miles is common. Not here in the mid-coast where flat stretches rarely extend more than a quarter mile or so. Elevation change, up or down, is seemingly constant.
To accommodate the realities of road cycling in Mid-Coast Maine, changes in training technique and gear must be made. I address training technique changes, adapted to the reality of my 62 year old body, in a subsequent post. First, I'll review gear updates made to accommodate the hills and rough roads that I now ride.
To ease the hills, I lowered the gearing. I swapped the 11-26 rear cassette (perfect for the flats) for a SRAM 11-32 cassette. A SRAM Rival 22 Medium cage rear derailleur replaced the original derailleur with a cage too short to handle the 32 tooth cassette. A new chain completed the drive line updates. New brake pads increased the odds I could stop. I also replaced the break and gear shift cables.
Ohio roads and bike lanes are generally smooth riding. For as long as I can remember, 700x23 Continental GatorSkin tires have graced my rims. They are durable and grip well in various weather conditions. However, rough roads and 23C tires are a challenging mix. Descending rough roads vigilant for road imperfections to avoid is neither fun nor comfortable. I first updated to 25C GatorSkins. They provided some improved road shock absorption and road defect protection. But not as much as I had hoped. After a couple hundred miles, I upgraded to 28C Continental GatorSkins. The 28s provide cushioning and road defect padding that let's me ride more comfortably and confidently when the road gets dicey.
I've been riding since BC: before cell phone. My bike electronics tell the tale. The handlebar mounted Garmin Legend H Handheld GPS Navigator, a ride recording, location confirming, direction providing companion since 2009, developed the infuriating habit of shutting off. Randomly. A cell phone in a jersey pocket faithfully records my rides to Strava. Surveying the "bike computer" landscape in 2023 revealed a world very different than 2015, when I was last riding regularly. All sorts of devices now provide stem-top mapping, ride recording, Strava synchronization, bike data (e.g., cadence, speed; previously provided by mechanical devices), physiological data (e.g., heart rate), notifications of incoming calls and txt messages, etc., in one compact device.
A Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt V1 GPS Cycling/Bike Computer replaced the Garmin Legend. This little wonder features a black and white display. I see no need for a power hungry color display. It has worked flawlessly. Every time. And I give kudos to Wahoo for the frequent, (possibly too frequent) software updates that are delivered to the device via WiFi. Slick!
To facilitate training, a Whaoo TICKR chest strap heart rate monitor, which connects to the Bolt via ANT or Bluetooth, replaced an ancient Polar chest strap heart rate monitor (that beeped when certain heart rates were realized, but did little else). The chest strap is as comfortable as one can be. My first TICKR, after working flawlessly out of the box, refused to connect after a firmware update. Wahoo declared the TICKR failed and replaced it under warranty. The replacement arrived in two days. And has worked flawlessly. Kudos to Wahoo customer support!
Whelp, that's the bulk of the CAAD10 refitting I've done so far. The CADD10 with SRAM Rival components and a compact crankset, purchased on occasion of my 50th birthday (do the math) is otherwise stock. According to Strava, I've logged a bit more than 3700 miles on the CAAD10. The rims are holding surprisingly well. Speedplay pedals round out the kit. The aluminum frame is surprisingly forgiving. The carbon fiber fork helps considerably.
Please let me know your questions, suggestions, etc.
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