In most situations, silence is an ominous thing that signals impending doom. Having never been in any danger myself, I base this largely on my experience watching box-office movies. As a general rule, I use Hollywood as the principal source of information on all subjects as they relate to doom and politics, principally because I’m loath to do any “reading” or “research” of my own; the more thinking an actor or actress can do for me, the better. The more glamorous they look, the more trustworthy they are.
For the Cyclist, however, silence signals efficiency. Noise is loss; every creak, squeak, click, clack, groan, moan, or other emanation of sound from our machine or body is energy escaping the system. Energy that we put into the system through hard-fought application of The V. That includes uncontrolled, dog-like panting or wheezing, and the creaking and clicking of body parts, by the way.
Sound is energy carried on waves of vibrating air. Sound escaping our bicycle or body as a consequence of us applying pressure to the pedals is evidence that some portion of our energy is being expended to produce noise instead of moving us forward. This makes noise intolerable and infuriating in equal measure and in extreme circumstances may precipitate a Rule #65-violating Millarcopter. Drivetrain noise means loss with every link of the chain that passes through the derailleur and over a cog. A click in the bottom bracket or a creaking in the cleat signals energy poured into compression of bearings or plastic, not speed. Wheezing or panting indicates air converted from V-giving breath into the useless rattling of a larynx.
Silence the machine, control your breathing into a steady, muscle-fueling source, and maximum V will follow. The mind fixates on noises and is distracted from The Work; it is only through the Principle of Silence that we may find Rule #6.
But riding a quiet bike is far from riding in the silent vacuum that signals impending danger. On the contrary, a silent bike submits us to the genuine beauty of our Sport: the whisper of the wind in our ear, the song of a bird who encourages us along our way, the crisp click of a perfect shift, the rhythmic patter of rain on our helmet, cap, or the tarmac as we carve our path along La Vie Velominatus.
But the most beautiful sound of Cycling has come to me late in my life as a Velominatus. My reluctance to ride sew-ups has for many years denied me the sublime sound of a handmade tubular rolling along the road. This world opened up to me early last year when I finally built a set of Golden Tickets for my introduction to the Hell of the North. This year, almost by accident, I wound up riding my Café Roubaix Arenbergs for all of Keepers Tour 2013, glued to the best set of tires available – the FMB Partis-Roubaix. The amplifying qualities of the deep-section carbon rim allows the supple hum of the handmade tubular to sing like Merckx’s mighty rollers upon the rock of Mount Velomis.
This sound inspires. It is a reason to get out to ride. It is a reason to be a Cyclist. This sound is a reason to live.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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@frank
Yep, all of that and this:
I had a creaky front end on the CX bike for ages. Caused me to pull down and regrease the headset twice in 3 weeks. (Forgot I'd done it the first time. i'm a bit dim)
Found a sand grain in the QR interface that once cleaned out seemed to do the trick. 2 days later, the sound was back.
Turns out that i had some water get into the bearing outer surface. There was a bit of corrosion on the outer side of the bearing race where it sat in the aluminium hub shell. Once I gave it a bit of a buff with a scotchbrite pad and greased the bejesus out of it, it's been silent ever since.
Good Luck!
@Chris
No way is she going to be able to pull that top up. It's all pretty packed in there and those pants aren't going to let go of the hem without a fight.
Alright people. The problem with McSqueaks whip is not his "skewers" nor his headset. I won't bore you with the reasons I know this, but do you really think I'd let my pedalwan tear apart his rear hub without a bit of inspection? It's in the hub. Really.
That's what she said. Or was it a he?
@scaler911
mavics by any chance? Just curious.
@TBONE On what distance/time rides would you consume all that ? Seems quite a lot.
@Ron Certainly on long solo rides it is hard to maintain concentration - the mind wanders and I have had a couple of times when I've suddenly found myself about to ride into sand, or into the middle of a road. Eating helps maintain concentration, just with a bit of variance if nothing else.
For an up to 4 hour ride I would have:
Before - a banana smoothie (with soy milk and a weetabix thrown in)
During - water and energy drink, a couple of dried figs
Halfway - a date-filled biscuit (or an oat bar/flapjack)
After - immediately, a bowl of cereal if at home, or if out I will pack some wraps with rice and sweet potato.
I'm less worried about my body consuming muscle during a ride - I train to avoid that. More concerned with replenishing glycogen afterwards.
Over 4 hours I would eat more regularly, but a little bite every 45-60 mins - no more than a mouthful. Home made rice cakes or flapjack squares and figs or dates. The roast potatoes sound nice.
@frank
I see another big volcano to the NW on that island......so, you weren't tempted to tag it on to the end for shits and giggles?
@ChrisO
What helped to finish me off at the end of me and @upthetrossachs big 360km London to York day out (ably supported by @mrsEngine) was that after about 12 hours I couldn't eat without nausea - wasn't cramping or anything so I was well hydrated but I just couldn't eat anything. If I took a little recovery time I could get back to some sort of speed but it was difficult to sustain. I also noticed that I was finding it impossible to get my heart rate up to what I'd consider normal for a ride.
Training had been disrupted in the run up by having a couple of colds so I wasn't on my best form but nevertheless I'd like to finish the ride next year (that'll be another 360kms the following day then) and eating is challenge I need to overcome otherwise the experience will be disappointing again.Obviously I'd like to hear from anyone who's had the same problem and solved it.
Thus far next year's planning consists of remembering to enter, being a bit more organised in travel to the start, sleep, kit checking and losing half our body weights.
By the way - when the Strava map shows an entire country to get your ride in - you know you've gone a long way.
@G'rilla @T-Bone I agree, it is an awesome photo.
It's the girl's hair and her expression that make it for me - she is trying to resist being sucked into the V-ortex of Merckx's slipstream.
You can see that the smaller child behind was also being pulled in but has been grabbed by an adult, who presumably had taken the precaution of tying himself to a tree, just out of shot.
As for the woman, she's well fit, with signs of nicely developed guns. It is in fact Marianne Vos's grandmother, and a genetic fusion has occurred spontaneously as drops of Merckx's sweat found their way into those delightfully clinging slacks. But as we saw with Axel, even Merckx's DNA doesn't work fully in the next generation.
I find that some freehubs are obnoxiously loud and ratchety sounding, while performing as designed, while others (thankfully mine) are virtually silent. I would think that loud freehubs would be avoided by Velominati.
As for the pic with that snugly clad woman, the seemingly unfortunate birth defect that precluded the young man having arms, likely saved his sister from getting pushed in front of the bike.