David Singlespeed Unrau » Ride Reports

2008 Summer Solstice Pre-ride

David — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:54:40 +0000

We rode a couple of loops of the Albion Summer Solstice 24hr race course on Saturday. The course is very similar to last year, with a couple of minor changes and some new links between sections that have been on before, but in different orders. There are no big hills, and a number of flat open stretches – so slap a big gear on that singlespeed. I was riding 34:18 and it was not too steep.

Hot Weather Riding!

David — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:06:09 +0000

In spite of the hot weather, I just got in a great weekend of riding. It’s been in the low 30′s and very humid over the last couple of days, but I’ve been staying well hydrated and popping lots of Hammer Endurolite electrolytes while riding. I think I’m finally over whatever was dragging me down throughout the spring, and my chronic sore throat has finally gone away. It’s good to be getting lots of riding in, and to start catching up on my preparations for Crank the Shield this fall.

On Saturday, I got in a great 5 hour ride on my cyclocross bike. Right now it’s set up fixed (42:16) with Panaracer Pasela 700x32C tires. I rode down to Cambridge, where I met up with Dave Beer, then we headed south on the rail trail past Paris before looping back up on a mix of gravel and minor paved roads. The rail trail was pleasantly shady and cooler. The gravel roads were hot. The pavement sections were unbearably hot.

Sunday was the O-Cup at Kelso. I was not sure how this was going to go, given ~120km of gravel riding the day before and my less than stellar performance at the O-Cups so far. Well, things were grooving. Sunday was hotter I think, but at 9:30am it didn’t feel anything like the afternoon heat the day before. I took it easy on the big exposed climb then focused on turning the pedals over through the flats and technical sections. I ended up 8th, and only ~7min down from the leaders – by far my best result of the season. Kudos to Nick who ended up 2nd, and Dave Beer, who had a strong performance as well after braving the heat on Saturday with me.

The quote of the day goes to Dave Dermont, who raced to victory in Expert 45-49 in the 1:30pm heat:

Going up the climb, it felt like my head was going to explode like a piece of popcorn!

Riding 3 Stages

Dave — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:06:14 +0000

We finally made it out to 3 Stage for a ride yesterday. Well, it was worth the trip. Good technical trails, good descending, good climbing – all in one ride. We were out for around 3:30 hours and still left a lot of ground to cover on the next trip. Here is where we rode:

I was riding my True North Cycles custom 29er singlespeed, 34:18 gearing, with a WTB Weirwolf 2.55 on the front and a Geax Seguaro 2.2 on the rear. Tire pressures were 24psi front, 27psi rear. The tires were a good choice on the dry ground. A little more pressure might have been good – lots of rim contacting the ground, though no pinch flats!

Summer Solstice Pre-Ride

Dave — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 22:45:49 +0000

We were up at Albion yesterday to pre-ride the course for next weekend’s 24 Hours of Summer Solstice organized by Chico Racing. The course is mainly open with sections of the easier, faster single track. There are no big climbs on the course, and the course length is around 16km. Here is my map:

The course is going to be fast, which will make it tough on the fast teams. I think fast lap times will be around the 45-50 minute mark. It is going to be a tough call picking gearing for the 29er singlespeed. There are a lot of open sections, flat, uphill and downhill, and there are some sections of uphill singletrack. I think geared riders are going to have a significant advantage. We will see how the race unfolds!

The Hydro Cut

Dave — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:16:12 +0000

I managed to make it out to the Hydro Cut mountain bike trails last night for the first time this season. Highly recommended! The trails were VERY busy but in excellent shape. The layout of the trails is amazing. I did a fast circuit with Eva, Ricky and Taby (for part!) and never really noticed the high traffic volumes due to the directional layout and frequent crossing points. If you haven’t ridden these trails – you need to! Many thanks to Igor Dragoslavic and the Waterloo Cycling Club for all the hard work maintaining, improving and advocating these trails. This is an excellent spot for singlespeeding. The flow of the trails is a joy to ride on a singlespeed, with some good climbs, but nothing that should reduce you to walking!

115km Ride

Dave — Sun, 06 May 2007 01:41:01 +0000

Beautiful weather today. It was sunny, around 20 and with a bit of wind out of the south east. Adam and I headed out for a road ride fro Campbelleville. We ended up doing around 115km in 4 hours. Here is the route:

I was riding my custom carbon True North Cycles road bike. I just love this bike. For how responsive it feels, I’m amazed at how comfortable it is on long rides.

100km Ride

Dave — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 01:49:21 +0000

The weather was passable on Saturday, so we managed to get a bunch of people together for a 100km ride. We started in downtown Hamilton and wound up over Nemo and Rattlesnake to Campbellville before heading back.

100km Ride from Hamilton

We tried to hit as many hills as convenient – ending up with a good hilly ride for around here. As my first long ride since getting back from South Carolina, it felt pretty flat though!

Vertical profile from Hamilton 100km ride.

The weather was cold, but not windy, and no precipitation. Once we were moving it was good to be out. A bit of sun to start with, but then cloudy. The route was pretty good. Traffic was light except along Centre street, which we took from Mountsberg down through Flamboro Centre. The only problem with the ride was the nutbar on the fixed gear bike that we just couldn’t shake:

Just kidding. That’s Tricky Ricky from Ricky’s Whacky World of Wheels and Stuff. But yes, he is on his fixed gear.

SC Riding – Day 7

Dave — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 01:50:05 +0000

An epic day as our last day of riding. Sunny, warm, a little breeze. Today we road from Table Rock park, up Ceasar’s Head, through back roads to Sassiffrass (sp?) Mountain, then back down to Rocky Bottom and Back. No traffic to speak of. 90 km of riding. 1650m of climbing. Over 85 kph on the decsents. What more could you ask for? I rode on some 25C tires today. They were awesome on the rough chip and tar back roads, and super descending. Here is the route:

…and here is the vertical profile:

The two kicks on Sassiffrass Mountain are around 14%, while Caesar’s head is a mere 6-7%.

SC Riding – Day 5

Dave — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 02:19:16 +0000

What can I say. Another really fun day of riding. A bit of cloud, a bit of sun. It was quite hot in the foothills, and surprisingly cool in the hills. 100km of riding, 1450m of climbing. Here is the route:

…and here is the vertical profile:

SC Riding – Day 4

Dave — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 02:41:28 +0000

Two rides today. A 2.5hr hill ride in the morning. A 1.5 hour recovery ride in the afternoon. We climbed up to a smaller service road north of Salem, that has a final 3km kick of around 14%. The view from the top was awesome, the descenting was fun, the climbing was a little rough! Coming back down we went over 80 kph on a couple of the of the descents.