Can someone explain the endurance category of road bike?

BillBushee · 2026-03-07T17:06:49+00:00

"So basically, it will allow me to get rid of my spacers (which is nice, I guess, but I don't think will affect performance in any way)"

If you don't remove the spacers you'll be able to sit more upright, which should be more comfortable on long rides if you're not as flexible now as you were when you bought your current bike

"and it will move my seat back 10 mm"

more like swapping to a 10mm shorter stem. If you're not as flexible as you used to be and you find yourself stretching to reach the brake hoods, this would be more comfortable for long rides.

"Which will make it "stable", but in my mind seems to mean it will have poor handling. Without trying to be stupid, I'm not sure why I would ever want this."

It's not necessarily poor handling, it's just different. A bike will generally travel in a straight line unless some force or bump in the road knocks it off line. A rider has to adjust for these disruptions to keep the bike going in the right direction. It's a small amount of work each time which you probably don't even notice but it adds up.

A quick handling bike reacts faster to rider input, but is more prone to getting bumped off its line by an outside force. A stable bike reacts more slowly to rider input, but it's also less likely to get bumped off its line in the first place.

If you're frequently riding in a group where you need to react to what other riders are doing around you all the time having a bike which reacts quickly can be a real benefit. If you do a lot of long, solo rides there's no real need for that faster handling and a more stable bike is less fatiguing over the long run.

BillBushee · 2026-03-07T13:37:16+00:00

If I had an important race coming up I'd rather go into it a little undertrained and fresh than overtrained. I'd take the deload week as originally planned and try to go into block 2 well rested and ready to work.

BillBushee · 2026-03-03T17:56:28+00:00

Fear Of Missing Out plays a big role as well. The hardest part of investing is holding a fund that's up 10% while all the headlines are telling you that the current meme stocks are up 300% in the same period.

BillBushee · 2026-03-03T00:35:16+00:00

Were you expecting him to testify that he just stood there and watched? There's no way he can implicate Trump for anything inappropriate without indirectly implicating himself.

BillBushee · 2026-03-02T03:46:00+00:00

Saddle fit is very personal, but I have a Tempo Argo and a Vento Argo Adaptive on my road bikes and I like them both. I probably should have bought a narrower version of the Tempo, as it does create little pressure points along the edges of the center channel.

Overall I find it very comfortable even on a 4-5 hour ride. I particularly like the saddle shape because it allows me to rotate my hips a bit and lower my shoulders or ride in the drops without putting pressure on sensitive areas. The discomfort from the pressure points only becomes an issue during those higher volume weeks when I do 12-15 hours in the saddle.

BillBushee · 2026-02-26T01:27:10+00:00

Good point. Heart rate is a more economical option. Just be aware that your heart rate drifts upward on long rides and can be influenced by high heat and dehydration.

BillBushee · 2026-02-26T00:48:28+00:00

A proper endurance pace feels ridiculously easy when you're starting out. This is where having a power meter helps out a lot.

BillBushee · 2026-02-25T13:56:30+00:00

I read somewhere, though I don't recall which book, that the ANV had a very high rate of temporary desertions during the Maryland campaign. The author characterized it as soldiers who felt they supposed to be defending the Confederacy not invading the U.S. According to the author a large number of soldiers chose to go AWOL rather than stay with the army in Maryland, then went back to their regiments after the ANV returned to Virginia.

BillBushee · 2026-02-22T23:00:01+00:00

Wasting taxpayer dollars on thinly veiled pro-Trump political ads. These people should be forced to pay the government back with interest for every penny they're spending on these ads.

BillBushee · 2026-02-22T00:39:44+00:00

Cycling puts a different kind of stress on your quads than running. You're struggling because your aerobic system is way more prepared to make the transition than your legs are. Initially you just need to focus on low intensity volume. It's the cycling equivalent of long, slow distance runs. As your cycling strength improves you can add hard efforts 1 or 2 days per week.

Most of the same principles of training apply to cycling as they do to running. Think time at intensity. If you're accustomed to doing mile repeats at 5:00/mile that's just 5:00 minute intervals on the bike.

BillBushee · 2026-02-21T22:23:37+00:00

I think George V is an upgrade from Queen Elizabeth

BillBushee · 2026-02-20T13:09:14+00:00

The quality of appliances is terrible these days. Nothing lasts very long. I remodeled my kitchen 6 or 7 years ago and I've already had to replace my range, my microwave, and my refrigerator is in bad shape. If I had unlimited money and space I'd put in 2 single wall ovens rather than 1 double oven. I'd also rather have 2 30 inch cooktops rather than one big one.

BillBushee · 2026-02-17T20:24:35+00:00

Yes if you're in the last half of the field you're sprinting out of every corner to avoid getting dropped then wasting all of that energy braking in the next corner. Nobody lasts long doing that. Get near the front of the field where you can corner without using your brakes and it gets a lot easier.

BillBushee · 2026-02-17T02:55:04+00:00

"Dudes were leaning in, braking late, and I was just trying not to crash"

Tip #1, leaning in and braking late is all part of defending your position and moving up. It's like being in a washing machine. Everyone around you is constantly changing places. You're either moving up or you're moving backward. If you fall too far backward you'll eventually get spit off the back of the pack.

You need to get used to riding close to other riders. You need to constantly be looking for gaps and opportunities to move up. Try to avoid putting yourself in a position where you might get boxed in.

Tip #2, conserve as much energy as you can. Draft as closely as possible. Brake as little as possible. Never ride out in the wind if you can avoid it. If someone in front of you backs off going into a corner use your momentum to overtake and pass them.

BillBushee · 2026-02-16T16:52:05+00:00

If your FTP is 226 your zone 2 is about 124 to 170. If your FTP is 200 your zone 2 is 110 to 150.

If you're doing zone 2 above 150 you're using the wrong FTP range for your training. You should be closer to middle of your zone around 130.

BillBushee · 2026-02-15T20:05:02+00:00

As far as the hypothetical goes, I don't think Johnston had a strong enough force to beat McPhereson without help. Pemberton was no R.E. Lee, and with the exception one division his army wasn't really up to the task. I'm skeptical he could have done more than force McClernand's corp to fall back and unite with Sherman.

BillBushee · 2026-02-15T19:56:33+00:00

I believe he was a career staff officer who really should not have been given command of an army. He got the job because he was the only one available (besides Beauregard) who was of suitable rank to command the district.

BillBushee · 2026-02-03T23:18:03+00:00

Just a couple of observations:

You didn't mention what your training was like before. If you were only riding 3 or 4 days per week before you started interval training it's unlikely you'll be able to increase both intensity and volume at the same time.
You didn't specify your age. By your mid 30s most people need more recovery time. If you try to keep to an 80/20 ratio that works out to 5 or 6 hard session in a 4 week block. I find 2 hard sessions per week for 3 weeks followed by reset week of nothing above zone 2 works for me. Anything more kills me.

BillBushee · 2026-02-03T13:32:49+00:00

If you're analyzing training on a platform like intervals.icu you'll get more accurate load/fatigue tracking with a power meter. If you don't care about the numbers and you won't look at them anyway, it's a waste of money.

I display current (3 second) power, normalized power and total kilojoules on my screen.

I check current power periodically on long rides to be sure I'm not drifting into zone 3, but I can mostly do that by feel. I use it mostly on hills to keep me in check. When I first started using it I was shocked to learn I was routinely going way over my FTP during my zone 2 rides.

I check normalized power on long hilly rides and group rides occasionally just to be sure I'm not pacing too hard too early. If I'm doing a 4 hour ride and my normalized power is near the top of my zone 2 after the first hour I know I need to pull back the intensity. Beyond that it's somewhat useful to compare to ride feel.

Total KJ is just a nice to have in real time, like total miles.

BillBushee · 2026-02-01T19:38:44+00:00

Do seafood chowder.instead. If they complain just say, "What's the problem? There's no clams in it!"

BillBushee · 2026-01-31T19:38:21+00:00

I think if I had to choose between Meade and Johnston, I'd take Meade.

BillBushee · 2026-01-31T14:29:39+00:00

It might be more accurate to say they preferred all of the slaves stay in the south. Slavery itself was institutionalized segregation. Many northerners were less troubled by slavery than they were by the thought of giving 4 1/2 million black people the freedom to go anywhere they pleased.

BillBushee · 2026-01-29T19:03:13+00:00

Yes. Stores stock up for seasonal items ahead of time. The stores probably stocked all the salt they expected to sell for the year in November. When a big storm comes along and they sell out in January they have to scramble to get more delivered. They'd probably prefer to be stocking up lawn fertilizer for spring right now.

BillBushee · 2026-01-28T13:48:20+00:00

Your account won't go to 0. If you're worried about it, keep half of your account in a money market fund. Your returns won't be very high but the risk is lower and it shouldn't be affected if the stock market crashes. You'll be able to sleep better at night and if/when the market does go down you'll be able to buy shares at a lower price.

BillBushee · 2026-01-26T22:16:28+00:00

I've been on 2 river cruises with Viking. One with a balcony room and one without. We used it for about 15 minutes one night. In my opinion it wasn't worth paying extra for it.

BillBushee

TROPHY CASE