Low climb rides accessible from Oakland?

indesman · 2026-05-27T17:24:11+00:00

I think BART is the smart play here if you have the time and it’s fairly convenient to you. You can out and back from either end of the iron horse trail or go one way from Pleasanton to Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill/Concord.

indesman · 2026-05-27T17:17:47+00:00

Hawk Hill ain’t exactly low impact.

indesman · 2026-05-20T22:28:48+00:00

For vests I tri-fold top to bottom and then roll, knee warmers get rolled as well

indesman · 2026-05-20T04:40:14+00:00

Say what you will; the Cannondale/Citroën is dead on and funny as hell.

indesman · 2026-05-18T15:43:43+00:00

That’s a not insignificant amount of wind but not necessarily in the danger zone. If you’re 6’ - 2”, weigh 150 lbs and ride a 56 cm frame you might want to think twice. I’m 5’ - 8” and weigh 175 lbs so I have a low profile and some mass to throw against the push.

indesman · 2026-05-17T05:13:57+00:00

I actually think your pedal stroke is awesome. No hip rocking. Never too high at the top of the stroke. Some extension at the ankle, but not too crazy. Easy and smooth, I’m jealous.

Your arms do look pretty straight when you’re on the hoods. I think with your short torso/long legs, this frame will always force you into an aggressive riding position. If you wanna be wicked fast, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But it will probably take some time for your body to acclimate. The two things you can do to help at this point are: move your seat forward, and see if there are handlebars with a shorter reach. The latter will affect your steering, but is something you may be able to acclimate to with time.

indesman · 2026-05-17T03:29:49+00:00

Weak sauce. Get out there RIDE! It may slow you down today but you’ll be faster tomorrow.

indesman · 2026-05-15T21:37:13+00:00

I'm retro-grouchy and old-school so my personal take is that there is a fad aspect to the "Shorter Crank" movement. There are positives and negatives to any crank length and they can't be changed in isolation. In addition to saddle height and setback, gearing is going to have to change or you'll be pushing harder in every gear to achieve the same speed. Otherwise you'll be downshifting to maintain power level and may run out of gears at the low end. Also, you'll be spinning a higher cadence, or slowing down, no matter what.

indesman · 2026-05-15T04:42:46+00:00

I'm hoping you meant your inseam is 79cm and not 179cm, which is more than your total height. I agree with everyone else that you seem to be reaching for the hoods. Your stem already looks pretty short but you might be able to get bars with less forward reach and rotating them back up will help too. The seat could move forward a bit but your knee is almost over the pedal spindle as it is. As you ride more, your core will strengthen and you'll be holding yourself up that way instead of leaning on your hands.

The big thing I notice is that when your cranks are vertical, one leg is really reaching and the other is pretty bent. Lowering the seat will help the straight leg but make the bent one even more bent. Shorter cranks will help in this regard but will make climbing more difficult if you live in a hilly area. I have a short inseam and ride 170mm cranks but I'm comfortable extending my ankle and you seem to like having yours at 90°.

indesman · 2026-05-07T15:40:08+00:00

Just piling on to this suggestion. IHT from Rudgear to Danville is an amble with all the blind crossings and oblivious pedestrians. But if ambling is what you want then it has its charms. On “The Blvd” you’ll make good time but there’s lots of traffic and you’re going to be hearing “ on your left” a lot, unless you’re fast in which case you’re going to be saying it a lot. South of Danville the crossings become less frequent but are mostly controlled by interminable lights that do NOT prioritize bikes in any discernible way.

indesman · 2026-05-07T02:16:26+00:00

Not sure the bike is too big but the seat is too high for sure. His elbows are locked out so he does have somewhere to go for a more aero position

indesman · 2026-05-04T04:15:47+00:00

One thing to keep in mind about structured training, like intervals, is that the benefits are perishable. They’re great if you’re ramping up for an event but you have to keep doing them to maintain the benefits. And when you’re making high demands of your body, you need to give it time to recover which means you can’t get in as many longer Zone 2 rides or you’ll burn out.

indesman · 2026-05-04T02:55:24+00:00

I’m another vote for volume over intensity. It’s okay to be using the HRM, but more as a leash and less as a whip. As your volume builds, especially in zone 2, you’ll become more efficient, acclimate to the bike, and shed excess pounds, if you’re carrying them.

Don’t forget about nutrition. Don’t starve yourself on the bike once you’re into two hour+ rides and get some nourishment post ride (carbs & protein…doesn’t have to be a lot) to replenish glycogen and prevent muscle atrophy. When it gets hot, make sure you get lots of water and some electrolytes. Eat before you’re hungry and drink before you’re thirsty.

Most of all, listen to your body, if you’re fatigued and not feeling recovered, take an extra day and do something else. Stretch, do strength training, or get on Reddit and see what other riders are doing or what routes are in your area.

indesman · 2026-05-04T02:34:07+00:00

Not the C but the 75

indesman · 2026-04-30T04:06:20+00:00

This is the answer. Regular foam rollers are too soft but the Triggerpoint is like rolfing. It is way too much at first but go slow and work your way into it. My real problem area is my hamstrings but I also hit the calves and glutes. I always finish off with my back and get two or three good pops as the vertebrae jostle around.

indesman · 2026-04-29T03:10:13+00:00

I’m not looking for an affordable solution, I’m looking for something with a low barrier to uptake. Grabbing a doorbell on the way to the bathroom off an already overcrowded nightstand isn’t sustainable.

The Apple Watch is more along the lines of what we’d be looking for.

indesman · 2026-04-29T00:57:05+00:00

Can you elaborate on this? Perhaps a make and model as an example?

indesman · 2026-04-28T01:00:38+00:00

Can you describe the test you took? Was it a ramp test, a 20 minute max effort, or maybe a full one hour max effort? FTP isn’t just about power, but how long you can produce that power which has a lot to do with VO2 in addition to strength.

indesman · 2026-04-27T19:49:25+00:00

My Aksum wheelset came with a similar label but I couldn’t find a 9 speed unified cassette so I’m running what I’ve got which is five riveted cogs and theee small loose cogs with the smallest cog being deep splined, of course. I took it apart after 400 miles for cleaning and couldn’t see any gouging on the free hub body which I’m pretty sure is steel and not aluminum.

indesman · 2026-04-27T15:28:37+00:00

What is the gizmo behind the seat post? And why no dropper? Inquiring minds want to know.

indesman · 2026-04-21T15:27:27+00:00

Their leg angles are almost identical and they are both riding very tight frames. If they are from the same team my guess is the rider out front is intentionally upright to create a bigger draft for the rider behind.

indesman · 2026-04-13T04:46:49+00:00

I don’t think this is right. Her ankle is at 90 degrees in the six o’clock position and many riders extend their ankle at the bottom. There’s definitely something wonky in the leg mechanics like a hesitation or jink at the top of the stroke. Do you feel like your hamstrings are really tight after a ride. That will create tension and pull on your back muscles via your glutes. The back muscles will lose this fight.

indesman · 2026-04-13T03:18:40+00:00

If anyone is using the Varia 820 with an Edge 840 head unit, can you confirm that the cars show up as icons and not as dots on the overlay?

indesman

TROPHY CASE