Today I went back out to try another 20 miler on my XC mountain bike after using the tips y'all gave me. I was around 2.3 km short of a 20 miler, so a little more than a mile, but that doesn't matter too much.
Tips I tried:
- Aired up my tires by 10-15 PSI (Now at 50 in the front, 55 in the back.
- Fixed my handlebar sweep (I had installed them backwards before...what can I say, it was my first time building a bicycle ๐ )
- Focused more on cadence than easier peddling - I.E instead of going to a low gear up a large hill and tiring my legs out by spinning, I kept it in a higher gear, pushing my cadence down a bit, but both getting me up the hill faster, and keeping my HR down.
- rode on the road more as opposed to the sidewalks to avoid potholes and obstacles.
Things to consider:
- I paused my smartwatch on stop lights, water breaks, pedestrian stop lights, and while I ate a snack.
- There were three rather large hills on this route I took and one pretty steady climb upwards. The last two of these hills would have been impossible for me to climb, as they were almost a kilometer long and just too steep, so I put my smart watch on pause for these hills as well.
Things I'm planning to do in the near future:
- going to buy myself some semi-slick tires: specifically, the Kenda K908. They seem to be a decent budget option, but if y'all have any other suggestions, I'd be open to hearing them!
Anyway, now for my results.
I don't know if these stats are more in line with what everyone else is getting, considering I paused on stop lights and 2 hills, but I would say I'm perfectly happy with a result like this.
Thank you so much to everyone who gave advice and help!
Sorry for the offtop, but what the fuck dude???
EDIT: I'm in the wrong here. I deleted this part of the post, but am leaving this up for you to shame me for my assholery.
Sorry man, unless you live in a place where bikers are allowed to ride on sidewalks (which I doubt even exists), you're absolutely in the wrong here.
Sidewalks are for the pedestrians. Period. You are the guest there, and it is you who have to respect their sanctified right not to be bothered by a 80kg bullet rushing through them.
I'm a biker too, and I sometimes use sidewalks if I don't feel it's safe to use the roads, so I do understand your sentiment. But yuu are still just wrong. They are on their turf and it's your bloody responsibility not to disturb them.
Bikes are allowed to be ridden on sidewalks where I live according to traffic laws, as are electric scooters. It's the electric scooters that cause 10x more problems. We have literally 0 bike lanes so it's either sidewalk or super busy road.
But you still have to yield to pedestrians, correct?
I don't know man, bikers with superiority complex seem like an issue to me imho
You aim to go fast, so I don't see the issue here
Yes, I agree.
In terms of electric scooters - it's the rented ones that are the problem. They actually want to ban them here. People under 16 years old get ahold of them and treat them like shit and practically destroy them. They do stupid tricks on them that are dangerous to pedestrians (and bicyclists as well). There's so many stories of them running full speed into pedestrians because they have no business riding them. That's why I hate them.
I have 0 issues with the people who buy them because I've never seen them riding irresponsibly.
Doesn't matter if you're allowed to ride on the sidewalk, when doing so you need to make sure not to bother pedestrians. They shouldn't have to be paying special attention to cyclists. You have to make sure you're paying attention and not getting in their way, not the other way around. If that means riding at walking speed, or pushing your bike, then that's what you have to do (or ride on the road). Remember, pedestrians are vulnerable road users too.
You are correct.
If it matters, my complaints about pedestrians apply even when I'm on foot, they act like idiots and as a group can block the whole sidewalk without realizing that there are people with places to go standing behind them waiting to pass.
It just bugs me twice as much on a bicycle, but you are correct.