
But
here's the funny part -- the bike I rode is old, with
mid-level-for-the-day 7-speed components. In this particular area, that
meant that there were only 5 cogs wasted in the rear cluster.
We're talking flat terrain. The only thing that really forced me to shift was the wind.
Also,
I'm convinced that rims and brake pads essentially last forever in that
area. I mean, not only are there no real descents to necessitate
bringing speed in check, but the locals don't even slow down for
intersections. Sure, for most of them you've got a mile of sight
distance in any direction, but there's STILL a stop sign there. The
legal thing to do is stop. Or at least slow down. Of the maybe 12
cyclists I saw during my rides, I never saw one even so much as move
their fingers to the brake levers when approaching a 4-way.
Navigating
on these roads, even though they're utterly foreign to me, was easy.
Count the turns, or if the mind-numbing-ness of the flat terrain makes
me lose count, just use the direction of the wind to guide my route. The
entire county (I'd even venture to guess the entire region south of
Chicago) is laid out in a mostly rectangular grid. Land marks like the
water tower, a particular factory building, etc, are all well-seen from
quite a distance. Four turns usually got me pretty close to my starting
point.
Strava
said that my max climbing on any of my rides there was 316 ft. Over 23
miles. By contrast, a similar ride here would net twice that. When I
ride the rail-trail. Road rides start at three times that and go up from
there.
It's good to be home. Where I can use the whole gear cluster.
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