[ebonho]

Originally Posted by shipnil

May be I need to plan ride on these routes too. Mostly I do rides within PCMC or highway only but not towards the town.

+1


I have got a bit more experience but I think it is going to take time to feel natural in them. Earlier I was unclipping prior to every intersection and being ready to stop. Now I just slow down to low speed and stay prepared. That's an improvement.

I am yet to get comfortable cleat position. I spent one ride only doing adjustments, every few 100 mtrs. Still something is not right. Also, I have the Decathlon MTB shoes which are tight and I am still getting used to it. The front part of foot gets numb after riding some 30 mins due to the snug fit.

A friend of mine is thinking of returning his BTwin shoes for the same reason. Narrow toe box. Cycling shoes are not like normal shoes. They do not bed in and stretch and mould with use to anywhere close to the same extent. They are not built to. Stiffness is everything. Shimanos are in general built for wider toe box areas. So you might want to check those out.

On the cleats yours are MTB cleats and not road cleats so I'm guessing front back and left right is the only adjustment you can do with them. Not tie in or toe out. One trick I learned (on You Tube, where else) is take the cleat as far back on the sole as possible, and as far in as possible (towards the crank side of the shoe). Try this and see how you feel. I'm running the same now after months of using them in fine degree increments and ball of the foot markings and all that theoretical jazz.

Remember, we are essentially amateurs. Not pros who need maximum sprint power . We do not have strong calves. We do not have flexible Achilles tendons. We do not need a sprinters snap. The full back and in position puts your foot into a much more stable and neutral position that will tire you out least over longer distances.

Cheers, Doc

[vb-saan]

Relaxed weekend, early morning ride - 70 kms.

Soaking in the sunrise…











An hour later – coffee break, bike parked outside the café…

[amvj]

Morning ride after a long time - 36.92km. Turns out it’s also the longest ride for me. After 30k, there is a pain in the neck and the shoulder, I suspect it could be because of the improper bike fit.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Relaxed weekend, early morning ride - 70 kms.

Super gorgeous photos bro. Especially liked the sunrise one. That's a great camera you have there.

35,001 km ride today. Dive ghat - Saswad - Bopdev ghat loop.

6 min more than my CAAD (in March of this year) over the 60 km and 620 meters of climbing. Not bad for wgat was essentially for the most part a Z1-Z2 spin (75% of the ride) with efforts only on the Dive and reverse Bopdev climbs (around 6 km and 320 meters).





Cheers, Doc

[amol4184]

Visited some parts of Pune after almost 8 years. EVERYTHING has changed. Out of control is an apt phrase for this city! It was a good ride.


Somewhere in Pune Camp



Famous Goodluck Cafe. Didn't have tea though.





My joy of riding on a bike lane was cut short in about 30 seconds. When I came across these barricades.

Who designed these and gave them a green light? Almost crashed into one of them. Forget motorcycles, an XL sized person will have hard time passing thru these.


P. S. Bike lanes on Nagar road don't have these barriers BUT in two places these lanes abruptly end in a ditch.
When I say ditch, a literal ditch of 6-8 feet depth with once flowing gutter, garbage, liquor bottles at the bottom not to mention large stones.
Just avoid these if you are in this area and tempted to use bike lane.

Such a shame really. These lanes are properly paved and smooth for most part but occupied by street vendors and just people living on them.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Visited some parts of Pune after almost 8 years. EVERYTHING has changed. Out of control is an apt phrase for this city! It was a good ride.

Who designed these and gave them a green light? Almost crashed into one of them. Forget motorcycles, an XL sized person will have hard time passing thru these.

Such a shame really. These lanes are properly paved and smooth for most part but occupied by street vendors and just people living on them.

You seem to have had a great coming home rode today.

Design is not the word. As far as cyclists are concerned the idea is to make life as interesting (and painful) for them as is possible.

So you have these masterpieces. There was heated discussion about them for a couple of months in the newspapers etc. when the lanes were unveiled. Them people got tired and people use them to walk on and cyclists continue to brave traffic on the road. As before. Normal service resumed.

Then you have drainage grates that have slats in the direction of your travel, so your entire wheel can suddenly plummet through one of them and catapult tou 20 meters ahead on your face.

And then Puneri favourite. The inch high white rumble trips for miles that ensure that they break your bike if not you (first preference) and taken to the very edge of the road so there isn't even a foot wide clean channel fir you to aim at and pass through unmolested.

Welcome to Poona.

Cheers, Doc

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Super gorgeous photos bro. Especially liked the sunrise one. That's a great camera you have there.

Thank you! All photos with my small iPhone

Originally Posted by ebonho

35,001 km ride today.

Awesome! I was just looking at my Strava – 3100 kms done since I picked up biking (from mid-April this year)

[AutoIndian]

Did the Practice ride#4 with two of my friends (who have participated along with me in the Arkade Sahyadri Classic event on 27-Nov-2021). We did Nigdi-Kamshet-Pavana-Hadshi-Kolvan-Ghotawade-Maan-Hinjewadi-Ravet-Nigdi, totalling 101kms in 5 hours 11 mins and an elevation gain of 661m. We wanted to test our capacity to do the 3 steep climbs from Pavana dam base to Kolvan village. These 3 climbs hardly posed any challenge and we could conquer these quite comfortably (I believe after doing Lavasa & Sinhagad climbs we have now got used to such climbs). From kilometer 44 to kilometer 50, an elevation gain of 175 m in just 6kms. Look at the Elevation Analysis below. Also sharing some other pics from the ride. Enjoy


Strava route map


Our bikes parked at first pit-stop, Chai Tapri


The small yet beautiful Kedarnath Temple bang in the middle of road at the top of Baur Ghat climb


The serene waters of Hadshi Lake


Reflections at Hadshi Lake


My bike posing in front of the lake


A lone couple enjoying pedal-boat in the calm waters


Ride concluded with a mug-full of refreshing cane juice


Friend's Shwinn bike admiring the Tikona Fort. Lieterally this fort has triangular shape from all sides, hence the name.


Elevation Analysis.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by ebonho

So you have these masterpieces. There was heated discussion about them for a couple of months in the newspapers etc. when the lanes were unveiled. Them people got tired and people use them to walk on and cyclists continue to brave traffic on the road. As before. Normal service resumed.

Then you have drainage grates that have slats in the direction of your travel, so your entire wheel can suddenly plummet through one of them and catapult tou 20 meters ahead on your face.

And then Puneri favourite. The inch high white rumble trips for miles that ensure that they break your bike if not you (first preference) and taken to the very edge of the road so there isn't even a foot wide clean channel fir you to aim at and pass through unmolested.

Welcome to Poona.

Cheers, Doc

How unfortunate is that? We have space, infrastructure, everything and that all is unusable because of one idiotic decision. Just can't have nice things one way or another.
Those rumble strips are horrible, for bikes and cars both. I can't decide what's worse : going over them on my bike or in the Jeep.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by amol4184

How unfortunate is that? We have space, infrastructure, everything and that all is unusable because of one idiotic decision. Just can't have nice things one way or another.
Those rumble strips are horrible, for bikes and cars both. I can't decide what's worse : going over them on my bike or in the Jeep.

Sad part is as part of Smart City hooha we actually have a "high powered" cycling committee. With high profile dudes who are supposed to be keen cyclists.

And this is the result

Wonder if the only cycling they do is on an indoor trainer.

Cheers, Doc

[dragntailonfire]

Morning beach ride. Missed the half-century by 2 kms.

[ebonho]

Post sleep workout photo. 9 hours flat of super awesome soaking of the body. Woke up with my second alarm at 5 am, went to the bathroom, then came back and lay back down on the bed and slept peacefully through all the alarms to 6 am, and then beyond.



Cheers, Doc

[foby.sebastian]

Paddy field bund ride, Solo! 48kms

[ebonho]

Solapur road, toll to toll.







Cheers, Doc

[vb-saan]

25 km short mid-week ride this evening