Bermuda Day and the Sinclair Packwood Memorial Road Race

Bermuda Day is celebrated next Monday on May 25th. Our first "real" holiday of the year. It's a day when we have the big parade in Hamilton in the afternoon, fitted dinghy racing, the half marathon and some fast and furious bike racing.

Thinking about this year's edition of what is arguably Bermuda's premier showcase for cycle racing, it's not difficult to cast one's mind back over some of the great races from previous years. There are a number which stand out in my mind because the winner was able to get away from the bunch and ride solo to the finish in what is usually billed as a "sprinters" event with the bunch arriving at the finishing straight more or less intact. However, without a doubt the best-ever victory was that perpetrated by Jeff Payne in 1997 when he and another rider got away early in the race and effectively did a two-up time trial all the way to the finishing straight where he out-sprinted his companion to cross the line first. 

Jeff is one of those rare perennial athletes. He was 58 years old then and while one of the strongest time triallists in Bermuda at the time he knew he was not the favourite for this "sprinters" event. His companion was a comparative (but very strong) novice and Jeff reasoned that if they could get enough of a lead to remain out of sight of the main group they might stay away until the finish and that's exactly what happened. Speaking with some of the other riders after the race it appeared that everyone else looked to the pre-race favourite to lead the chase and by the time they realized that he was having none of it the race was over except for the minor placings. 

It's interesting to note that Jeff is the only person to have won this race and also the Bermuda Day Half Marathon, a feat which he accomplished in 1980. I think its unlikely we will see that double repeated for quite some time yet.

More on compacts.......

So I've continued to ride with the 50/34 - 11/23 gears. Still not getting it. Top gear is way too high and the shifts from small ring to big are like a scary movie.

My dilemma is that I love my titanium bike because it is an evolution of all things comfortable and responsive and smooth......other than the current gearing.

Then came the moment of cranial clarity I was waiting for. Why not get a smaller large ring to fit my current crankset that allows less dramatic inter-ring shifts and drops the big gear to a more reasonable 110 inches or so?

This is exactly what I've ordered and on its arrival I will install and evaluate for the benefit of us all!

Compact gears in Bermuda

I've noticed over the last few years that compact gearing (basically substituting a 50/34 crankset for the old standard 53/39) has been creeping into the road racing and triathlon communities in Bermuda.

Drawing on my own limited and not very recent experience with bike racing, I don't recall ever running out of gears at the bottom end and usually kept the bottom 39/25 or 26 as a "bail-out" gear although most of the courses I raced on didn't have any really steep inclines. That said, I've not come across any hills on the public roadways on the island that I've not been able to haul myself over with a little huffing and puffing using a 39/25 bottom gear. Which leads me to the question of why bike racers and triathletes, who are VERY much stronger than I, feel the need to use bottom gears of 34/25 or even 28 for training and racing?

Thus I fitted one of my own bikes out with a compact crankset and 11/23 cassette, which approximates the gearing range on all my other bikes, and took to the road. I didn't find the experience unpleasant but couldn't warm to the huge 16 tooth difference between the front chainrings. Shifts were smooth enough but its so much more difficult to change down to the next lowest gear when dropping down to the small chainring, requiring about three up-shifts with the right lever while down-shifting with the left. Not nearly as smooth and easy as the single up-shift with the right and down-shift with the left which I'm used to using a 50/39 (yes, I normally use a 50 outer because it gives me a lot more usable gears) when performing this same task. 

One shouldn't form an opinion on something like this based on just a single 90 minute ride so I will continue with it for the next few months to see if I can adapt and if the whole concept grows on me. At this point its hard to see an advantage for racers over using gearing based around 53/39 rings. I can, however, see that this gearing would be ideal for use in hilly sportives, gran fondos or anywhere with long and/or steep climbs. One local rider I know, who doesn't race, swears by his compact gears but rides mostly in the big ring except for the multiple hill repeats he does several times a week and for him the gears seem to be perfect. I can also see that compact gears are great for anyone just starting out with a road bike and some of the new bikes I've sold have been equipped with 50/34 x 11/32 or even 11/34. A compact is also simpler to use for newbies than a road triple while maintaining a similar gear range.

I'll be back with more on compacts after I've put some miles on mine. Maybe I should swap that rear cassette......