The past ten days have been busy. Last Friday I went to Mt. Morris to pre-ride the course for the WORS Subaru Cup. I was setup with a 32x19 gear. The gear turned out to be a little too tall for Mt. Morris as there are a number of short but steep climbs. Since I didn't have anything smaller, I switched to my 1x9 setup and did another lap. Interestingly the times were the same.
I planned to race the next day; unfortunately, I came down with a flu like illness Friday night so didn't race. By Tuesday of this week I was recovered enough to start riding again. On Thursday I went to the Kettles and rode Loop 3 with a 32x19 gear. My previous best time on this loop was 44:13 (44 minutes, 13 seconds) set two years ago with a geared bike. Thursday with the single speed I turned 42:04!
I felt like I could have used a taller gear as I was spinning out in several places. So today, Saturday, I returned with a 34x19 gear and my time was 41:22. However, I felt like the gearing was too much and that a 33x19 might be perfect. I plan to test that gear either tomorrow or Monday.
The challenge is to find the right combination of climbing power and speed. Each course presents its own challenges and that is what makes riding single speed so much fun.
Next weekend there is a WORS race at Eau Claire, Wisconsin and that course should be a good one for my first single speed race. As I have stated before, I will just ride my regular age group but use a single speed. Eau Claire will be interesting as there are no big climbs and there are some fast sections of double track so gearing will be critical.
Mike
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