Bike test route I am probably crazy

[Mark cleary]

So I might be the crazy one here about riding a loop. I live close to a rural subdivision that has a continuous loop of 4.7 miles to ride. It is around a local Golf course but no traffic really. The street is smooth asphalt with nice big curves that do small 1 mile loops at each end. I use this because it is only a mile from my house to test my bike when I make a change or do something. I swapped the rear tire to the front ( yes I do that rotation) and front to rear. Then I will start my ride doing the loop just to see how things are.

Then when I do things mechanical like a new derailleur or something major I will again ride this loop. It allows good feedback and I am close if things go south.

The interesting thing is that in doing this the loop blocks the wind really well because of the houses on each side of the street. They have large yards and being rural it is not like riding in town. I found out in the winter this is the perfect loops to ride and beat the wind even if very cold. So in the winter I do these continuous loops for even 40-55 miles.

So normally I just go ride out in the middle of corn and beans and all pretty flat. Well I have been taking to ride this loops of 55 miles about once every 2 weeks even in the summer. It is a long 1.7 mile gradual climb up on one side but not steep at all just very gradual. This does allow for some out of the saddle work and to push what small hills we have. Also the odd thing is time riding tends to go by really fast sometimes doing this. It seems easier mentally then going out one direction 30 miles and turning around sometimes. So on goods days I go out and hammer this puppy 3 hours. My guess is some would call this boring but in many ways I find it more intense and interesting.

My tech test loop becomes my tempo training and break from other routes, ride. Anyone else this nuts.
Deacon Mark

[Sir Ridesalot]

I've read that it's best to swap a front tire to the rear wheel and put a new tire on the front. A blow out or other rear tire failure is on average recoverable but not if it happens to the front tire.

Cheers

[Mark cleary]

I do before the rear tire has too many miles. I get usually about 5000-6000 miles on Conti GP5000's so at about 1800 miles I check the rear. If the rear looks good no cuts or bad wear then I swap in to front. Then usually I can run them till I need a new set. I like to change in sets. The rear still has lots of mileage by looking at the wear dimples but I would not do the swap is the tire had anything that might compromise holding up.
Deacon Mark

[Lou Holtman]

I also do loops. One loop every ride. One way or the other I always end up at home 😊

Lou

[Rolf Mantel]

> I also do loops. One loop every ride. One way or the other I always
> end up at home 😊

In the early COVID days, I had two 30-minute loops: one flat and one
with an 8% grade. After a few weeks I noticed that I was unable to
motivate myself onto the bicycle at lunchtime, so I went back into the
office (first once a week, now twice a week). Not I have my 30-minute
"Straights" as opposed to loops; they are pretty much flat (<20m on
11km), the biggest "hill" being the bridges over a main road and over a
ditch.

[Roger Merriman]

Can’t say I have a set route, even my commute I vary. Though since I have
used GPS bike computers for decade or so now, I can compare mostly it’s
static, I’ve yet to find any bike kit change that changes speed in a
measurable way.

What matters is the bike, my MTB and Gravel bike are both vastly faster on
different terrain, and how fit I am, plus if I’m in the mood to put the
effort in!

Roger Merriman

[Frank Krygowski]

That's one of the points I've been making.

--
- Frank Krygowski