Changing Gears ~

 The more miles I've ridden my Verve 3, the more I've decided I'm struggling on the long gradual grades.  It's been hard to compare my speed over the same route from last season - both my due to my leg injury & the change in bikes from the Townie.  Coming close to 600-miles for the year, the grades have become a real chore.  

I seem to pedal, pedal, pedal, then have to actually stop, take a short break & return to pedaling.  Yes, I did that before my injury & with the Townie, but not as often as I have been.  It's hard to compare apples to oranges, or 7-speed Townies to an 18-speed Verve, but it's felt like my work load has increased.

I'm certainly nowhere near the category of a strong rider, but I don't feel like I'm a weak one either.  Maybe more middle-of-the-trail.  I did like longer sections of the trail, but my riding has been more sporadic than I'd hoped this fall.  When it feels more like a chore than fun, my motivation wanes...  Butch, on his Verve 2, with totally different gearing, has been moving out way ahead of me.  Before - on our Electra's - he usually brought up the rear.

We loaded my Verve & visited the Bike Rack in Omaha this afternoon.  We were the only ones in the store & were lucky to find their most knowledgeable tech person on duty.  He too, kindly listened to my complaints (& praise of the Townie) before getting on his computer. 

He came up with a idea he thought might help solve my issues.  A new $45. Cassette Sprocket.  He said it sounded to him, like I was looking for gears I just didn't have.  On the original rear cassette - CS-HG-200-9 - first gear was literally useless.  Second wasn't much better, my feet would spin, but the bike was traveling almost nowhere.  Over several miles, I would end up in third or fourth & then need rest breaks.

The expense to totally change the bike out to the gearing of a Verve 2 would be a couple hundred dollars & there are literally no parts to be had anywhere.  Luckily for me, he found a cassette he thought might improve my ride & actually had one on the shelf!  It was installed in just a few minutes.

New Cassett Sprocket CS-HG-400-9

Butch decided I should try it out on a flat, smooth stretch of trail first.  We drove to the north Wabash Trail-head, where it connects to the  Lake Manawa trails.  I was wearing street clothes & the wind was brutal!  Coming right at me as I headed to the trail underpass.

The first thing I noticed, was how smoothly the bike was shifting.  Going into the wind I quickly moved down through the gears from 6 to 5 & right on down to second!  I still had a decent bite to each rotation of the pedals.  Finally, with a big gust, I moved down to first.  I could still make headway!  It was slow going, but I was making forward progress!

Into the wind~

There's a short but steep hill on both sides, I navigated them easily.  The trail was closed further on, I couldn't see why, but turned back to where Butch was waiting.  From there, we drove to the Mineola Trail-head.

My turn-around - north of Mineola~

Thankfully, the wind wasn't as strong.  It was such a nice day, 70+ degrees & several people were out riding.  Both directions are uphill grades, I decided to ride north.  

(I was tired, Nika had escaped last night & I spent the night looking for her & worrying about her.  No sleep for me :-(  By early a.m. I had finally passed out when we heard a knock at the door.  The local police officer telling us our dog was loose.  Butch finally corralled her...)

I'd only planned to ride maybe a mile out, but soon realized pedaling wasn't the effort it had been.  As I again moved down through the gears, I was still making decent forward progress in second & even first.  The low gears had more of the bite - of the lower gears on my Townie.  I rode a little further before turning back.  I shifted into the second set of gears, now on the downhill grade.  The shift was whisper smooth & as I moved up through those gears, found them totally useable.  

New Cassette box - original cassette~

It was a short trial run, but I felt it was successful.  It will take a longer ride to see if the improvement is enough to keep me on this bike.  I've put so much into it & do not like the new version we saw at the store.  Many of the parts are replacements & they do not have the upscale look, or smooth design features of the original 2021 Verve's.  The only bikes left in stock were either large or extra large.  

Breezy on the Keg Creek Bridge~

On the way home, we both commented on our luck in buying our bikes earlier this year, when the bikes had all original components.  I'm hoping to get in another ride this week, though the weather is looking more iffy & the winds aren't due to calm down until the weekend.  Fingers Crossed~