wrote:
On Mon, 20 Dec 2004 18:49:17 +0100, Derk
wrote:

Hi,

Some time ago I mentioned I feared I suffered from overtraining
syndrome.
Today I found out my specialized floor pump only inflated my tires
to 2 bar,
whilst 7 bar was shown on the meter. I never checked the tire
manually,
since I trusted the pump....

Boy, what a difference: I managed to get an average of 31.8 km/h in
spite of
0 degree Celcius temperature.

Greets, Derk

Dear Derk,

I'm surprised that you didn't notice dreadful cornering
problems with 30 psi instead of 100 psi.

The sidewalls would have sagged and wobbled under your
weight, and the contact patches would have tripled in size,
which make quite a difference in turning.

I occasionally find this out the hard way with slow leaks
from thorns.

If the faintly different feel of a softer and softer rear
tire hitting road cracks doesn't penetrate my daydreams on
the five miles of gentle curves into town, I'm liable to wet
my pants when I reach the first right-angle turn in the park
at 20 mph, lean over, and find that I'm riding a soggy blimp
that wants to sail over into curb.

When I approach the park now, I take a quick glance back
down at my rear tire to see if it's bulging from a slow
leak.

Carl Fogel

I always rode MUCH, MUCH faster after hitting 7 bars on "bar row" in
Anchorage.
Happy Holidays, John "-)