Insight on Rule #34
Rule #34-Mountain bike shoes have their place-on a mountain bike.
During our very recent Cogal I gained some on-the-road insight on Rule #34. We were on a part of the route I have never ridden on a bike and had no memory of. The pavement was pavé, Maui-style. Somewhere deep down below the surface of the road was primordial road, patched with only scoopfuls of asphalt over the years until the surface is completely dimpled with mango sized mounds of road. This was good and expected. The Roubaix technique of big charinring (ahemmm, errrr, 50 tooth), powering along, keeping the weight on the pedals and handlebars had us making good progress through some of Maui’s most remote country. And it was raining and there was cow manure to ride over…almost Northern France.
I came around a bend and hit a steep berg. The tilted road kept curving right so it was impossible to know when it ended but it couldn’t end soon enough for me. I was quickly in the worst of straits: out of gears, out of the saddle and fully gassed with no end in sight. There were still two people behind me that had to be looking to get by; they could not possibly be going slower. I was unintentionally weaving over the pavé as my complete focus was on keeping the bike up and not hitting a hole or a bump big enough to stop me dead.
Totally redlined on a climb that has no immediate end in sight, these are the worst and best times for a cyclists. If you let your back wheel slip, you stop and the foot goes down, unacceptable. If you just say basta, pull on your brakes and put down your feet, that is worse. I assume all cyclists feel this way. If you are on the Koppenberg someone better have blocked your way. No one gets off halfway up that and says, nah, I’d rather walk. If I have a heart attack trying to ride up something horrible, that might be better than the alternative.
“He wasn’t the brightest, but he didn’t put his foot down”.
It is the best time for a cyclists simply because given all alternatives, there are none, it’s Rule #5. No need to think, better not to think, just keep it going up.
If I did put my foot down on a shiny, wet, steep berg, what then? I have speedplay cleats and those aren’t getting me anywhere if I’m not on a bike. No cleat covers that day so I would be laying down my sweet steed, sitting on this hill while I take my shoes off? That is not going to happen.
The only way my putting a foot down that would not end in a bad nickname for life would be if I was wearing mtb shoes. No one needs that temptation. Looking past the obvious reasons for Rule #34: the mtb shoe-cleat connection is sloppy, mtb shoes look lame on road riders and we are riders, not walkers is the cruel temptation to put a foot down and push the bike up to the top of a hill. This is something no one needs in their time of need.
You were riding thru Middle-Earth — nice photo.
Ah nice one Gianni, I’m proud that I haven’t yet put a foot down on a climb while my riding pal who nowadays shoots up the hills and waits for me at the top has, a few times, on his 6kg Cento Uno and he said he just couldn’t get started again with a 34-28!?! but he only had to walk a hundred metres or so to the Cairn ‘o’ mount carpark.
This summer we’ll be in France staying at a chalet within riding distance of Alp d’Huez so we’ll be seeing that stage for sure.
I come here every day to read about the V so you needn’t ask if we’re taking our bikes and passing the Tom Simpson Monument on them, as well as other cols. It’s gonna fucking ROCK!
It is quite an interesting point. Which is worse, to be caught by an unsuspecting wall that will have you thinking you are about to cough up a lung….or…..to know that the wall is coming up and the terror that strikes in to your soul as the anti-v stalks up, starts breathing hot sweat on the back of your neck and whispers in your ear “turn around, it is so much easier in the other direction”
Personally I find the latter far more concerning than the former, once I am in the shit I can see only one way out and that is to just concentrating on getting the crank the 360 degrees. Nothing else matters because at the top lies salvation! However the terror I feel as I approach a hill that I know is going to spank me is almost unbearable, to the extent I rush towards it in a headlong suicidal charge hoping that momentum at least get me some of the way up. (and probably tire myself out in the process of building up speed)…
Such is the price our minds make up pay.
Great article though Gianni!
@Deakus
Oh man, those pre-climb jitters get me every time. I can almost feel my legs screaming at me before I even start.
Stopping on a climb absolutely sucks – almost nothing is more demoralizing. This past summer I made it up two bigger climbs (~1,000m) without stopping, whereas the previous year on both I had to stop to catch my breath. That was certainly a victory.
Oops, we won’t be passing the Tom Simpson Monument, that’s on Mont Ventoux. My pedalwan status revealed.
i will admit to riding mtn pedals on my winter bike one year. why? because that was the first year i decided i would ride through the winter. in order to do that, i needed winter shoes; every other option i tried ended up with frozen toes after 1:30 of riding. and i knew i’d be riding the road bike when it was just cold, but the cross bike when it was snowy. i couldn’t afford buying two pairs of winter shoes and i had an extra set of mtn pedals. plus it came in handy, having to occasionally carry my bike for a bit while i walked through some snow/slush. but now i’ve got proper winter road shoes and i love ’em. however, i now have to put bags over my feet to avoid covering the cleats in snow/ice while i walk down the driveway to start my ride (gravel driveway; you can never completely clear it). i can’t win.
i will say that riding a road bike with mtn pedals does suck. the feeling is just not the same. i’m not one to talk about the intricacies of different shoes, soles, cleats, etc and how they’ll effect your magnificent stroke. but when i changed back to road pedals that spring, the sense of power i felt in every pedal stroke was incredible.
Have entered the Coast to Coast in a day again. Last year I fell off on Hardknott and Wrynose because at 33% I either stopped moving or because my back tyre lost traction and I started going backwards and then fell off. Regular readers will recall the magazine pictures of me collapsing in a heap and then walking. Fortunately I looked pro and fantastic (especially in the hat department) and the people around me did not – I also had my Speedplay cafe covers in my pocket.
This year I will peak at the end of June and climb the bastards on pure V.
Probably.
@the Engine
You do both those in a day plus the full route you get “double chapeau”!
Gotta love a Friday afternoon (for me!) installment of the V-article!
Damn, this is actually something I pondered back when I was just getting into road cycling and I think, to be honest, it is a question I have suppressed since I became a Follower. (Or was it virtual beaten out of my mind?) Either way, I haven’t thought about it in years.
And now here is Gianni with the answer! Chapeau, sir. I stopped two summers ago while trying to climb a mean peak around here. Headed out with three dudes who are far more accomplished than I & that was a long, painful day. I considered tossing my bike over the railing. Instead I sat on it, first told myself I don’t get paid to ride, then Rule V’ed it and I guess was able to clip in on the grassy shoulder and get going again. I have no idea, guess I blocked it out.
“He wasn’t the brightest, but he didn’t put his foot down”. This should go on a headstone at the required time!
“Hello, my name is Charles and I’m a walker.”
“Hi Charles.”
In my early Pedalwan days, on a few occasions I bit off more than I could chew climb wise and I ended up walking, generally on sustained 15%+ pitches. (Thank you Time for the Cafe Cleat and Sidi for making replacement heals) I’ll even admit to walking the last few miles of Mount Snow during the 200 on 100 as the guns were utterly out of ammo at km 256 or so. But everything I once walked up, I have since returned and climbed (except for Mount Snow, but it shall be done probably in 2014).
I find it’s such a great feeling to go back and conquer a piece of tarmac that defeated you before. And I get the same pre-climb jitters at he base, but knowing you’ve done it before is such a huge mental advantage that I’ve never failed to climb something I’ve climbed before.
@Deakus – I’ve also entered the London – Edinburgh in two days with @upthetrossachs at he start of May to get me in the mood – I mean how hard can it be?
Great, great, simply great article! Some (fools be they) may doubt the Rules at times, but there are solid reasons behind them and this illustrates that point beautifully. Well done Gianni!
that was intended to be ‘may doubt the Rules at times’
@the Engine Is that an organised event or just something the two of you are doing for fun? Sounds like just the sort of target I need to get kick started. Is there a web page?
Awright, this pic made me think of a question I need help with. (Threadjack warning)
I am reasonably familiar with the idea of a bike race. You start at point A, plan to go to point B. Shorterst time to do that wins. Yay. Easy. Also reasonably easy is tomorrow you go from B to C; again shortest time wins, but also shortest overall time from A to C is now a winner too. Yay. Simple. Even NASCAR fans can understand this. Only slightly more complicated is the points (we give points in decending order at a fixed place on the route. Think pinball. Easy) and the polka dots (race a short segment between aprime and bprime up the side of a mountain. Easy.)
Now here’s where eightzero gets confused: while I’ve done each of the above in some fashion, I hear there is a thing called “cyclocross.” This is apparently done in laps from point A to point A again (kinda like a time trial, a version of the above where B is colocated with A) and again. But apparently we don;t know how many times we are supposed to go to A? And worse, there is not a support vehicle behind you with a spare kike, but a “pit.” Maybe it’s just me, but I can see spending a lot of time in the “pit” simply drinking. And to make things worse, there is this concept of a “criterium” that is like “cyclocross” but is done on roads with less mud. Cyclcross also seems to have some pretty unintelligent people planning them, because they lay the laps out in places with steps and fences in them. Weird.
And while I hate to admit it, the Velomenati.com site is a place of locus poententae for me. I’ve actually heald a USAC racing license for one day to do that “crierium” thing. I understood you go as fast as you can around these laps. End of what I understood. Afterwards I decided it was one of the most dangerous things I ever did and vowed never to return.
Surely there is a link that explans how these “races” work? I mean, I like races, and want to appreciate them. But, I’m old now, so I won’t be participating.
We return you now to your regularly scheudled and much more interesting thread.
@the Engine
You in the draw…or have confirmed entry?, it’s been really well publicised. Personally I am so far off peaking as to be unfunny. I rang my surgeons PA today in tears pleading with her to sleep with him or me or I will sleep with him if I must and get me back on the bike. The turbo trainer is sapping my will to live….and my arse (ass for those over the pond). It’s been 10 weeks and I have to go 12 but I can’t do this indoor shit any longer.
Apparently he will call me back Monday…..good luck on your travels, I suspect I might be somewhere close to riding form by about September…..I would give you an unsmiley emoticon, but the abuse I would get would probably send me in to prozac territory…the best I can look forward to at present is tomorrows pyramid set on the turbo and a curry to comfort me in my sorrow.
@Chris
http://www.ratraceroadtrip.com/ will get you there – I intend rocking the V-kit for at least one of the days
@Deakus
I’ve a confirmed entry as does @upthetrossachs – there’s a four day version over the same course running Friday Monday if you can chuck a leg over for 160kms a day. Obviously any Velominati taking part will be bought a hoppy recovery beverage in Edinburgh by me. I wasn’t aware that it was oversubscribed but hey as you know, where I go others follow – colon, hyphen, close brackets.
I’ll sleep with the PA if it helps.
In my recent climbing up some very large hills I had to stop for as fellow rider in our group. The particular hill we have named “oh fuck hill” because as you round a lovely bend there it magically appears in front of you. It’s namesake escapes everyone’s lips as they realise the only way is up. Lucky the girl who stopped had stopped for a very good reason. Lucky for her in that in didn’t kill her or just make her roll back to the bottom ad begin it again.
that’s a great pic. the lonely road.
@snoov
Damn you! We will need full reports. I’m thinking Alp d’Huez is somehow doable, long but doable. Not that I have ever seen it in person. If in doubt, Rule #V.
@Deakus
Somehow I’m happier with the hill I know than the one I don’t, mostly because I have to know when it ends. The open-ended hill I find demoralizing because I’m afraid I can’t hack it.
@CanuckChuck
Oh yes. That is progress. Killing a climb that has defeated you, it’s the best. If you make it up once then you are good forever.
@VeloVita
Bless you my son. Glad you enjoyed the suffering. Full Cogal may be pulled together by next Sunday. A wild ride that I don’t need to do again for quite some time unless I find a drug more effective than espresso.
I accept Rule #34 on proper road bikes and proper road bike rides but I do have a bike which is equipped with MTB pedals. It was the bike that I used for audax rides and you do often have to be able to walk and get places without feeling like you’ve got two ice cubes strapped to your feet.
I would also add an associated piece of advice I was given, which is that there is no hill so steep you can’t walk up it. Again, not something that we should defile our Bianchis, Ridleys and Pinarellos with but when you’re on a 300 or a 600 with your finest steel there are times it really doesn’t matter how you get up. Horses for courses.
Wow. A moon rover would be a more appropriate vehicle for that road! Great photo.
I recall myself climbing a 27% slope on a road with holes 10 cm wide and 30 cm deep (there were potholes and the ground below was then totally washed away by rain). And what Gianni wrote is exactly what I was thinking at that time: “just don’t get off the bike, walking will be even more painful than climbing on the bike”.
THIS is the moment you understand what pain is and how much your state of mind and motivation can do for your performance. And this is the moment you realise how much happiness can result from moments of pain and exhaustion. This is what cycling is all about!
Great entry, Gianni! Thanks a lot.
@ChrisO You must mean there’s no paved road you can’t walk up?
I’ve never had a mountain bike and always avoided them so I’m not sure what a mountain bike pedal would be (SPDs?). I have a pair of SPDs on my CX bike which I swap with pedals from my BMX (Shmano DX clones by GT) if I’m popping into town or just nipping out on an errand which doesn’t warrant getting all the gear on. I admit I don’t look fantastic at these times but I console myself with the knowledge that any time on a bike is good for the legs.
@Gianni
Absolutely! Expect pictures from Dutch corner and if there’s any way to get my hands on a V-flag …
@ChrisO
Good work, ChrisO! You’ve opened up a slight angle on this Rule that I was a bit hesitant to enter myself. I have three proper road bikes with matching pedal systems so I can jump on any of them and go. However, I also have a more modest road bike I use for different applications than just strictly road riding & it’s my rain road bike. I have it set up with the same pedal system as my CX bike. This allows me to use my CX shoes in foul weather & also hit the trails for an hour then swap bikes and hit the road for an hour, if desired. This can be a fun thing to do on weekends, especially if lacking motivation for whatever reason.
I support Rule #34 fully, but if you’ve got N+1+1+1, might as well toss a bit of variety in there, or lest be tempted to consider, in dark moments, an N-1 move…
My n and n+1 roadbikes are fitted with SPD pedals, the CX bike w/ mtb pedals, and my single speed with MKS Gr-9 pedals & toe clips (no straps). If I feel like hammering some V w/ the SS I will trade pedals for SPD. The SS is generally for on campus use hence the need to wear conventional shoes. Like Gianni, i would much prefer a coronary blowout to walking up a climb. I have pushed my HR to 97% of max, but thankfully have the ability to drop it reasonably in a short time. I will confess that the only time I find it acceptable to bail out is on an MTB climb, especially when I am riding my 1×9 and simply run out of gears.
Looking at upper 60’s here in East TN (although the roads are wet).
Ride hard, ride fast, ride often, and…..have fun!
jeez, when I glanced a the pic at the top of the article I thought, wow, a Scottish road ! Then I read on. Nice one !
@Gotta Ride Today
SPD is the mountain bike pedal interface, do you mean SPD-SL (3-bolt)?
I once got off and walked what turned out to be less then a hundred metres, I lost count of the number of bends when scaling my nemesis that I thought I was known here near the top.
I felt like such a loser and put in an extra 45km to punish myself for being such a pussy. With hindsight I should have coasted back down to ascend it again and teach myself not to be such a weak prick.
It was a valuable lesson learnt, never again will I get off and take the easy way up.
It’s the blackout moments when I am are deep in the pain cave and about to cry off that I learn the most about myself, it is exactly what makes cycling so fucking beautiful.
@SimonH
Hey I’ve done that too. Stalled and taken a rest on a bend that turned out to be the last one before it all levelled out the other side of the trees.
@Wojtek G
First off…beautiful avatar. And you just distilled my ranting into a few beautiful lines. Thank you.
@strathlubnaig
If it had been Scotland there would have been a cozy pub in a few miles with duck pie and pints and I would have gone in there and never come out. So I’m not sure if that would be better or not.
Great photo! Chasing the rainbow…
@Gianni
Is it even an option to ask if you did in fact put the foot down? Totally aside the point, of course. A cliffhanger if I ever read one…
That is the way to sum up what it means to evoke the “V” ! The manner in which we just ride and conquer what ever is around the next corner , just beautiful and in the rain no less. All weather is good weather.
@strathlubnaig
After the Scottish Cogal at Callander I can understand why you feel this way but it taught me that the roads around where I live are mostly in great condition (not as smooth as mainland Europe though). Hope to have the next Cogal around here so you can check them out, sometimes when the sun is out it can feel like the French countryside and we grin for miles. I think it’s possibly because you’re much closer to Glasgow so there’s a lot more traffic churning them up.
@Gianni
Duck pie? Can you deep fry that?
@snoov
Well this morning we also have about 10cm of snow lying so maybe our mountain influenced weather can do the roads in more too, that and shite local authorities who canny be arsed doing a proper repair job. Look forward to the next “Cogal Ecosse Est”
@strathlubnaig
I’m going swimming…
@the Engine
Er…I sincerely hope this exercise is not also going to end in a run! Personally I am going to go chop some wood, this will fill me with a desire to smash the pedals on the turbo this afternoon!
@the Engine Around christmas on of the Dundee Wheelers ended up in a waist deep puddle, I don’t think I’ve seen rain like it in my life, except over in the states, everything’s bigger in the states even the raindrops.
@Deakus
I can swim to a better standard than “not drowning” and when the sleet is hammering down and what passes for roads round here are slick with slush its a little better that being on “The Bastard Piece of Shit” or turbo as you so quaintly call it. That or observe Rule #5 I suppose.
@snoov
I had a 100m long axle deep “puddle” (loch really) on New Years Day over here…
@the Engine
Stalled on a climb momentarily where the Garmin went on autopause. Was still able to take a breath and stand on the pedal to keep going. Hit the ground hard yesterday as I went over a rain slick wooden bridge. I think I am ok although my shoulder is a bit still. Although shaken up, with the bike ok there was no choice but to Rule #5 and continue on.
@Gotta Ride Today
Through experimentation I’ve discovered that falling off when stationary is less painful than falling off when moving.
Generally.
@strathlubnaig
Out this AM, was snowing a bit at Blair, walked the dogs and it had went off so headed out half way round snowed, then snowed some more. Only about 0 (centigrade for your US residents) so warm enough to be falling as rain and snow.Got home and into shower and the pain in the toes was bad as they warmed up,must invest in a set of overshoes.
Better than the work of the devil that is lurking in the shed though! Save that for weekday evenings.
PS only managed about 45k and took me 2 hrs so a long way to go yet.
@Velosophe
Yes it is an option to ask and no I didn’t put a foot down. But I felt like I burned the whole pack of matches at once when I was 1/3rd the way through a ride I had doubts about finishing. I am the world’s worst/slowest climber.