M4 on roadbike in Alps

[nom]

Just out of curiosity, what was your -ascending only- average km/h last time and how many km was your tour?

[nom]

I just checked the photos from your previous tours. I still think that a Ricoh GR1s or a Canon G5 digital would be perfect for the occasion but in any case I am sure that you will have a great time again. I wish I could come with you :O)

[joop]

Jordan,

I usually make tours of about 1500 km. By now, I ve seen all famous french and swiss moutain-roads. Still some things in the north of italy that I should go and see.

I have to admit 75 km/u is more a kind of max-speed.

average descending speed is about 60 km/h.

Patrick, try it yourself when cycling in high temperatures, anything on your back -a backpack or camel-thing - is terrible! i'm sorry.

[robert_clark]

I wouldn't pretend to be the sort of high level fitness cyclist that Joop is, but I think there is a little exaggeration about the ordeal/tour ahead here. I've just been riding in the alps with a touring bike loaded with 25kgs of gear (including two M bodies four lenses and flash) and while I often wished I had far less gear with me when climbing the passes, it meant that I could camp wild and really explore off the most beaten tracks. I usually made about 80km per day, which gave me ample time to look around in a relaxed way and enjoy being there. As for downhill descents, I never wanted to go over 60kmph, so, valuing my life, I would use my brakes to keep me at that speed or less. Yes this was with the barbag, and it made absolutely no difference to stability. Some people seem to want to make things sound more difficult than they are.

 

Enjoy your trip Joop!

[jay_.]

<<Jay, you're very knowledgeable in Leicas which you have shown on this forum, but when it comes to cycling, we are talking about a very different sport. First of all, the heading is M4 on roadbike in Alps.>>

 

Sorry Henry I mis-read. If you look at my post I was talking about a *motorcycle*. The term "roadbike" threw me off. If he'd said "*mountain* bike in the Alps" I would have got it right. Why anyone in his right mind would choose to ride a bicycle through the Alps is beyond the comprehension of this Floridian flatlander. I've got a 21-speed bicycle and I've never had it out of the same gear as long as I've owned it;>)

[stephen_w.]

Jay,

 

Fuuunnny!

 

Us bikers call bikes meant for the road "road bikes", as that is what Joop is using. We would never call a road bike a mountain bike, even if it was used on a mountain.

 

I suspect your bike is a mountain bike because of the 21-speeds you reported. Just because you ride on the roads in Fla. doesn't make it a road bike. Kinda like all those SUVs that never see dirt.

 

Mountain bike first got that designation because the first mountain bikes were tested at Mt. Tamalpais, Marin County, CA. By Fischer and ???

 

I like to ride my mountain bike off asphalt as much as possible. Although, I do use it to do some errands. I don't touch the car on weekends.

[stephen_w.]

Still laughing, Jay.

 

Gary Fischer , Tom Ritchey, et al initially just put fat tires on road bikes in the '70's. They're still in the bike business, and have good products.

 

I used to ride my skinny tire road bike down the hills in the Arboretum until I first got a mountain bike.

[dai_sieh1]

I cycle competitivly. Most of my training are done in the mountains, or cross the mountain to the Pacific coast and back. I always wished to photograph the spectacular views along my training rides. But the sad conclusion I reached was that photograhy couldn't coexist with serious cycling.

 

Stopping to take picture interrupts the rhythm during the ascent and is unwise during the descent. I would never risk anything more than a cheap P&S camera to the vibrations experienced on a roadbike. While everything will be saturated with sweat on the body.

 

Having said all that, I did witness one guy snapping picutures with a disposable camera while racing. But that was during the neutral start, and didn't fit with the mood of the rest of the bunch. Because there were 6 giant climbs in the eastern Sierras and 200 miles waiting for us that day and the next.

 

BTW 80 PSI seemed low. 115 PSI is what I use. I have seen others use 120 PSI. For very poor pavements, use 105 at the front and 110 at the rear. But I heard highways in Europe are better paved than the ones in the states. Maybe the road will be so smooth in the Alps that you can store camera on the bicycle.

 

Have a good ride,

[henk]

Joop,

 

"I might take a very small bag for just the body, that I can put around my waist only during the downhill-part to avoid too strong vibrations."

 

I have a small Lowepro beltbag(old model orion mini) which fits my M2 with 35mm cron(with hood) and my 90mm TE with collapsable hood and 2 extra rolls of film perfectly. It also has a top compartment which you can use for your wallet if needed. I sometimes use it in combination with 2 pouches which -when put together- can hold a complete slr system. I think i payed about $40 for the beltbag and pouches on a camera fair, so they arent that expensive. They are water/dust resistent by the way.

 

Dont buy the big beltbags by the way, balance thing. Ive used these small beltbags along time, and only go back to using larger backpack bags if i really need to....

 

Greetings,

[douglas k.]

Yeah, I ride a couple hundred miles each week in summer, mostly in the foothills and mountains here, and five pounds is a LOT of weight when you're climbing -- that's why people pay s**tloads of money for lighter bikes. I sometimes carry a tiny P'n'S in the back pocket of my jersey, as it only weighs about five ounces and I can then grab and shoot it while riding (not downhills, obviously). If carrying a Leica means wrapping it in foam and packing it away in a pannier, ask yourself how often you'd dig it out for a shot? Probably not as often as you'd reach into your pocket for the P'n'S. I think the Stylus Epic is a perfect solution.