25.70mi, 02:15:07
HV to Eureka Park and back. Hydration was 8 tea bags, 28g sugar, 8g salt, 1g potassium capsules (2x 99mg plus filler). Next time I’ll go with more sugar and less salt, but I want to stay under 4.5% total. Nutrition was a 4oz sausage, cooked, plus bread and a small nectarine for breakfast about 30 mins prior. During ride, I had a small-ish ham sandwich with mayo and lettuce at 1.3H and a few bites of another of the same at 2.1H. It started around 60F, and ended around 78F, so I only went through a litre of fluid.

I’m testing out my new 9-speed Epoch sprocket from DNP (11,13,15,17,19,21,24,28,34). The shifting isn’t quite what I’d like. It feels like it’s single ramp sometimes, and ultraglide other times. I’d like it to be dual-ramp on the 19+ tooth sprockets, because under load, on a double shift, it will move one sprocket, then spin all the way around plus some before moving to the next sprocket. This can be tough when hitting a steep incline.

Not completely sure about the 17-19 vs 18T, but so far it seems to be okay. I think I just need to get used to it. Hills were tough as expected, but recovery was good. Flats were good, and downhill was better, even a little faster than I’m comfy with. (New bearing grease shows up tomorrow). Downhill it was good, easy to rapidly upshift, and I hit a peak of 28mph. That blows away my 7-speed Shimano (14,16,18,20,22,24,34) which had me topping out at 24mph.

More shifting than on the old cone, but it seemed easier, due to more gears and slightly better spacing. Having the 28T gear in there was really helpful. I’ll hit the Grapevine NorthShore trails again on Thursday with Scott on the same drive and see how that works out. Should be better on the trails.

Garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/336436795
MapMyRide: http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/317047607
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/64236082