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Braff Zacklin

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Posts posted by Braff Zacklin

  1. On 5/9/2018 at 7:06 AM, Al_4_ISU said:

    Is it normal not to be able to climb steep, sustained pitches?  I live on the edge of a very hilly area, and that's where all the trails are at.  I ride road bike in that area, and chew up any paved hill I've ever come across.  I can't think of a single time I've had to walk my road bike up a hill.  However, on single track, when I hit anything very steep, I quickly become able to keep pedaling, even in my lowest gear and my feet going flying off the pedals, or my front end starts coming up.  It seems like I can hardly climb anything with my fat bike, at least on single track.

    Hey, Al. This response might be too late to be of much help, but I'll share what I've learned over the years and maybe it'll do some good.

    Also: word diarrhea warning. It's what I do.

    1) When your fork drifts or lifts, it's a sign that it isn't properly weighted. The steeper the climb, the more your weight will have to come forward. This means moving forward on the saddle. On the steepest ups, the nose of the saddle should be very close to a particularly sensitive area.

    That alone might not be enough for some ascents, however. You'll also need to drop your chest as closely to the stem as possible. It takes some practice, but when you get it right, you will feel like you are "wedged" between the handlebars and the saddle. With your weight distributed thusly, you should be able to climb anything that your lungs and legs allow.

    Another trick is to drop your wrists, i.e., the bottom of your palms will be below the grips. This helps because we tend to pull on the bars as we begin to struggle, but with our wrists lowered, we effectively pull down on the fork instead of up.

    2) If your feet are flying off the pedals, you are probably overtorqueing the cranks (pushing harder than necessary on the downstroke, which causes the cranks to rotate faster than what your other leg is anticipating). Roadies and beginners tend to do this because they aren't used to pushing such easy gears and haven't yet developed a lighter touch. Overtorqueing can also cause your fork to rise, especially on a steep incline (it's basically an unintentional wheelie).

    Practice is key. Using your baby gears more will help develop the timing and coordination for a smoother, more measured downstroke. It might sound like I'm pandering to you but I promise I'm not--it's so easy to spin out or overtorque in those big cogs.

    Another solution is to drop your heels slightly. This will help keep the pedal pins secured to the soles of your shoes. But don't drop your heels so low that you pull your feet down and off the pedals--this will cause your shins to be very unhappy.

    I only ride platform pedals with sharp grub screws as pins and Five Ten shoes. The grip is so outstanding you have to consciously lift your foot to re-position the pedal. But I went through many seasons of scabby shins.

    3) One final concern is weight. I tend to put on the pounds during winter. There's a very steep, rooty, scalloped climb on one of our local trails that I usually cannot clean if I'm over 210 pounds. My legs and lungs give out unless everything is perfect.

    Between 200-210, however, I will typically nail the section as long as my line choice isn't too bad and my back wheel doesn't spin out. And at less than 200, I will usually scoot up it, no problem, regardless of line choice or what my rear wheel does.

    Hope this helps. If nothing else, you've read your book for the month.

    Anyway, keep practicing and keep challenging yourself.

    -- BZ

  2. I could be 100 percent wrong, but Azubuike strikes me as a great college player whose game doesn't transfer well to the NBA. Seems like he'd have a very difficult time getting his shots off at the next level.

  3. Mayo is for degenerates who hate themselves and life. Not sure how anyone can detest olives, though.

    My mother made the worst spaghetti. The sauce was from an old family recipe and she was very proud of it, but honestly, all you could taste was oregano. Just ... oregano.

    To this day, it is difficult for me to eat spaghetti, and that's a shame because there are lots of great spaghettis out there.

  4. 23 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

    I've got a pretty strong feeling that, even without Steph, a couple of games into the series we're going to be saying, "Oh right, they're the Warriors, and they're the Pelicans."

    Yyyyep.

    Hope you're wrong, though.

  5. To those who follow the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, downhill competition gets underway this weekend in Losinj, Croatia. XC kicked off a month ago in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

    Claudio Caluori's course previews are must-sees. Essentially, he charges down each run with a chest cam and helmet cam, usually on the heels of one of the WC qualifiers, who is also cammed up. The alternating perspectives really put you in the saddle and demonstrate just how crazy--and talented--these fuckers are.

    Claudio is most famous for his non-stop, over-the-top commentary. His reactions to features, jumps, and obstacles are the sort of thoughts Average Joes like us would have even though he's a former WC DHer and extremely gifted rider in his own right.

    For example, here's his preview of last year's finale at Val di Sole (the chest cam shots are absolutely terrifying):

    Claudio had a nasty spill running Losinj yesterday, so no preview is available as of yet. Sam Pilgrim shot one last month, however, and it looks like the chunkiest, pedaliest WC DH course to date.

    Incidentally, the current best downhiller in the world hails from the U.S.

  6. Haha, right on. It's a great franchise, and many consider FC3 to be the best of the series. I also loved FC4, but others downrated it cuz they felt it was too much like FC3.

    And. You. Lech. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you chose that ending ...

  7. 5 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

    No.

    Admittedly, I'm biased because I'm not much of a Boogie fan because of his "effort." But the more shooting that you can put around AD, the better. They've played at the fastest pace in the league since Boogie went out; they were below average without him.

    If they pay him, they're insane IMO.

    It's interesting to me because before Boogie got hurt, I didn't think they had much outside of he and Davis. (Proves how little I know.)

    Still not much of a bench, but Mirotic, Holiday, and even a resurgent Rondo have been a force. And a healthy Brow is great for the sport.

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