Secret Weapon #1......

I have the Davis Double Century coming up. It'll be the second double century of the year for me. Unfortunately, Davis hasn't been kind to me.

The biggest issue for me at Davis has been the heat. When the weather's decent, I usually do okay, but once the temps start jumping into the high 90s and 100s, it takes its toll. I've learned to better deal with this. You take it a little slower, you hydrate more that you feel like hydrating and you cool yourself down any way you can. I've overcome a lot by simply learning how to handle fluid intake and calorie intake. Using 3 water bottles-2 with Camelbak Elixir and 1 with Perpetuem mixed with Endurolytes and Hammer gel-I seem to do much better. As it gets hot, I can usually still stomach these even when solid food gets difficult to handle.

The last 2 times I've tried it, heat combined with a virus that my kids gave me caused joint swelling and pan and the following year, I had a massive allergy issue that had me hacking and coughing.

These, of course, can't be fully controlled. Other things can. One "thing" on the Davis Double is Cobb Mountain. It's a long climb. If memory serves it's a 5 mile long hill without much shade with pitches as high as 12% or more. I've never seen so many people walk or stop and sit in what little shade exists on a double century as I have on this climb. 

This year, I hope to have a better ride and hope to ride up that hill without problems. My solution? Here:

A compact drivetrain that I modified. Normally I run 50/34 chainrings in the front with an 11/26 or 11/28 cassette in the rear. Normally, this gets me over most anything. I can handle steep for short periods and I can handle long hills just fine, but long and steep just plain sucks.

Here's a closer look at the rear:

I installed a SRAM Apex rear derailleur and an 11/32 cassette. This lowers my low gear from 32 gear inches with the 28T to 28 gear inches (~12.5% lower). It's noticeable. Climbing up some of the steeper hills I've found near my home, it felt too low. On these same hills, the 28T was still a little bit of a struggle. (Note to those who want to ask: "Why no triple?" I don't like triples. I don't like the way they shift and I don't like searching for gear combos all day long. This system is lighter, easier to use, and gives me a low that is comparable to what you'd get with a racing triple set-up.

So, there you have it. My plan is to save my legs a bit of pain so I have something to get over Cobb with. The upside to this new setup is that I now have a gear or two of the big ring combination that allows me to stay in the big ring for shallower climbs.

This is not a genius move on my part. My brother's been using something similar on his bike. I'll let you know how it works.