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You are here: Home / All blog posts / 57 miles in two days; mechanical difficulties
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March 9, 2008 by Tien Chiu

57 miles in two days; mechanical difficulties

Rode 25 miles yesterday (1.75 hours) and 32 miles today (2.5 hours). Still not much in the grand scheme of things, but not at all bad considering (a) the still-recovering ankle and (b) how little training I’ve had to date (last week was really my first solid weekend of training).

I have also figured out why I was having back pain when riding. Without getting too deep into the technical details, I’m having seat-post problems. The saddle is tilting up at the nose, forcing me to curve my back while riding, which strains the lower back.

So I stopped into Palo Alto Bicycles and talked it over with them, and the net of it is that I need a new seat-post, and unfortunately because of my unusual setup there’s only one other seatpost that will likely do – and it costs $180.  Ouch.  But if I need it, I need it.

I’ll probably also need a fit adjustment since the two seatposts are not quite the same – I’ve called my bike fitter (Curtis Cramblett, who’s fitted me for the last six or seven years) for an appointment for a mini-fit.

My plan for next week is to bike commute four or five days (if the ankle holds up) – about fifty minutes total each day – and then do a 40-mile ride on Saturday and a 25-30 mile ride on Sunday, depending on how I feel. My target right now is the Cinderella Century, which is April 6 and 66 mostly-flat miles. I think I’m on track for completing it, which will be good.

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