Way too much traffic for this I think and I’m going to be off the bike for some number of weeks. If this thread is still around when I’m in the saddle next I’ll give it a go.
the first leg of my ride, this is no problem. second leg of my ride is 4 miles on a busy MUP (boulder creek path). there would be many injuries.
FWIW the only brake pads i’ve changed on either road bike or commuter bike since i’ve lived here were due to age, not wear. it’s amazing how long brake pads work in a place with very little rain.
i have always wanted to do this in my car down the canyon tho… but… all the other damn cars really get in the way.
I used to try and do my ~3 mile commute without touching the bars. Braking using the cables running along the top tube was allowed. I made it a few times IIRC.
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And rims. I rode the same pair of Open Pros for like ~11 years in the Midwest and immediately wore them out, riding one winter in the PNW. That’s why I won’t swear off rim brakes; if I lived some place warm again, I’d love to have another nice, light, rim brake road bike with fat-ish tires.
no, dynamo is allowed of course. this is tarck.
they have to be loose enough to avoid a “save the cups” movement
yes, i routinely sit up as tall as possible to get the aero drag
i approve, you can start a separate campaign #savethepedalbearings
please report your progress in this thread
no, that is not legit. the whole point is to apply minimal friction. you can cyclocross dismount only at your final destination
oh yes, this is allowed! on my attempts to do this inbound, there is one stop sign at the top of a hill, so i can put a foot down without using the brakes.
please report progress herein
actually yes, sometimes if i’m lazy or i have too much speed i’ll ride into my own lawn for the extra drag
it will still be around, i started this campaign in roughly summer 2017, i just forgot to tell any of you for two years.
i have full housing runs but i will attempt this on the fixed gear!
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here is the way my report looked yesterday
- the left turn from the office: SUCCESS
- the long light at the bottom of the hill: SUCCESS
- the first short light: SUCCESS
4: the lights by the highway: SUCCESS by miracle! they were on a two-way stop where the cross traffic had to stop but i could go! this has never happened! - the blind off camber right at the bottom of the hill: SUCCESS
- out of the neighborhood across from mine: FAIL, car coming at exactly the same moment i had to either use brakes or get dangerously close to them while turning
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My man. I used to do this all the time. Now I have full housing/wet brakes on pretty much everything.
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This is awesome. Reminds me of when I was trying to get comfortable track standing and I was super excited when I was able to do my 6 mi commute through Atlanta without touching the ground.
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I made it 95% of the way to work today
When a little dude on a strider comes wobbling around the corner
I slowed up for him
It was worth it
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homebound commute yesterday was going so well until i turned out of the sneaky high school parking lot summer cut-through (that i only use in summer because i don’t want to die at the hands of a teen). there is NEVER any cross traffic there, but yesterday there was. and then i had to stop at a lemonade stand because always stop at lemonade stands
workbound today, there is a nasty left hander with no good way to avoid it. that gets me like 90% of days. got me today too.
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Last time I stopped at a lemonade stand I paid a quarter and got 44 oz of kool aid in a wax paper gas station cup that they wanted back (they just had the one). I had to chug it while they watched. Who knows how many neighbors drank out of it before me.
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ooh, I’ve totally done this one on my way home, since it’s mostly a very slight uphill. I usually do it on my big fat tire basket bike. There are a few lights that I have to hit just right, but I can usually do it.
The way in is mostly slightly downhill, so there’s too much free speed to not brake, as far as I can tell.
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dude. i got goddamned 8 out of my 9 mile long way home like this once. mild downhills on busy city streets, super busy crossings, a mup with some
intersections, then mostly uphill to the finish. i didn’t commit hard enough for the red light that surprise got me. i wouldn’t have died if i ran it.
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thought i was the only goddamned person who did this.
it’s so slow if you wanna play it safe, then as you go for longer time, you get riskier because you’re running out of patience. major head game.
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You are not alone!
Since my last update I failed three of three. Really not even that close on any of them. It’s the challenge that makes it fun
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I am pretty sure you posted about this before because I was thinking about it yesterday
9 miles takes too long doing this and the 6 mile route requires riding fast, as it’s just straight across north philly. faster you go, higher the risk, less likely the success
i tried this the other day, but i have no interest in ruining my shoes by using them as brakes.
- on leg 1, there’s no braking needed until i get to the bus stop, but at that point i’m doing 25mph on my slight downhill and coming in too hot to not brake to teh bus stop.
- on leg 2, i’m on a busy MUP. this seemed dangerous, but i made it several miles without braking by just coasting longer before turns. eventually i was caught running up on some wobbly guy on a singlespeed with bullhorns with a dad and small child coming the other way and i had to brake. i made it most of the rest of the way, but the final portion requires hopping a curb and cutting through some landscaping filled with river rock and there were parked cars on the other side of it. i did the curb hop no brakes, but my bars wouldnt fit between the cars so i had to stop and navigate their mirrors.
- on leg 3, return trip - impossible. i go straight downhill in the parking lot into those river rocks and i was not about to hit those full speed. then i have one other social trail cut through that is too steep going down. i could reroute, but it would add some time.
- on leg 4, uphill with no turns, easy for no brakes.
considering i’m on 1 change of brake pads in 5 years, i think i’ll just use brakes as needed.
i did get a clear shot experimenting in the car down the canyon on friday. unfortunately my previous theory that it would be possible to do the canyon with no brakes seems a bit too dangerous. i hit the steep part and shifted into 3rd gear and was still gaining speed at 60 mph, so brakes were very much needed. they built some permanent concrete guard rail in that section that i am not trying to test out.
I would love to attempt this… but man oh man… totally not feasible with my commute. Even if I somehow made it across the actual city proper and its multitude of out of synch stoplights… the downhill sidewalk that shoots between a toll plaza before dumping onto a narrow bike/ped bridge would probably end me and at least one walker.
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I shoot for minimal brake use on every ride, but I have an unfair advantage in that I have long clear stretches. The farthest I’ve made it is 13 miles, only 3 miles short of a complete lunch ride. I have one spot where there is a stretch of downhill before merging on to a busyish street and I’ve never had the cajones to sail out onto that street without braking to a near halt, although the turn would be feasible even at 25 mph+
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