ReloadAg said:
I live in Austin I've been mountain biking almost weekly since 2020. Lately I've found myself starting to think about the MS150 which means I'd need to get a road bike.
Can anyone tell me about their experience doing the MS150 and also what are some good, adequate road bikes I should look into that aren't terribly expensive. For reference, my trail bike is a Trek Marlin 8 hardtail.
Thanks!
I have ridden something like 19-20 MS150s. It is personal to me since I have MS (diagnosed in 2006), so thanks for considering riding! Most everybody has covered it pretty well, but the main thing is to start training and riding early and go out and do some group rides/1 day charity rides, etc. as part of your training so that you get used to riding at speed around lots of other people. I agree with the folks suggesting to look at used bikes, but I would try to have a good idea of what size you need before you go looking. Different models will fit differently, even within the same brand, so don't assume if you ride a 56cm Trek MTB, that you will automatically want the same in a Specialized or whatever.
Once you buy one, take it to a good shop to get fit to it. Being properly fit and positioned on your bike is a lot more important on the road than on a MTB because you are not typically getting up and down and changing positions all the time on a road bike. You are going to spend a lot of time in one position and need it to be ergonomically friendly.
Get the shorts. Yes I know, nobody wants to be the dork in lycra, but shorts (or preferably bibs) with a good chamois are your backside's best friend. Cycling gear is built for compression, lightweight fabrics, and good wicking because you will generate a lot of heat and sweat while riding and trying to ride any significant distance with a tshirt flapping in the wind and sweat pooling up in your shorts is just miserable.
Look around where you live for a team to join up with if possible. Most teams will do weekly training rides of some sort leading up to the ride weekend and the better ones will have some sort of support. You should plan to try to build up gradually to rides of 60-70 miles before ride weekend. I don't mean 60-70 miles without stopping, but riding 60 miles in a few hours should not be a huge deal by the time you are ready for ride weekend. There are break points along the route every 10-12 miles, so you should be ready to ride at least that far without needing to stop for a break, and you will do yourself a big favor if you get ready to ride 20 miles at a time since it will allow you to skip every other break point.
During the ride, the break points are a huge time suck. The volunteers at the break point will try to make you park your bike as far as humanly possible away from the water/snacks/portajohns, so it takes time to stop and fill bottles, take a leak, etc. If you can minimize that time, you will be ahead of the game. Also, don't dally at the break points. Once your legs are warmed up, you want to keep them that way. Standing around chatting for 15-20 minutes at the breakpoint will give your legs time to cool off and start to tighten up and it will hurt more to get started back up than if you stayed warm. But make sure you can drink easily while riding. Plan to empty at least 2 water bottles every 60-90 minutes while riding. If you wait and drink at the break points only, you will get very dehydrated in a hurry.
Most of all, have fun! Make some friends while training, learn to ride together and take turns with the stronger riders at the front giving you a chance to draft. It is so much easier and more fun to ride with a few people you know than riding alone. It is really a cool experience and a lot of fun, so try to not get so caught up in the technical details that you forget to smile and enjoy it a bit.
