Another picture of the toughest climb on Bridal Path

Disclaimer: These tips are for the blog author, pls seek professional instruction as this sport may be dangerous!


This is the hardest climb for me.

I did it once using GRANNY gear up front and SECOND BIGGEST ring in the back ("my magic gear"). Seat post fully extended, climbing in sitting position.

"Magic gear" for climbing on Bridal Path

Disclaimer: These tips are for the blog author, pls seek professional instruction as this sport may be dangerous!

I discovered a gear combination that works practically for any kind of difficult Bridal Path terrain that requires any kind of climbing over obstacles.

It is GRANNY ring up front, SECOND BIGGEST gear in the back.

Here i one example of a little tricky rooty climb at the beginning of Suicide connector going East

Deceptively easy climb- Bridal Path going East

Disclaimer: These tips are for the blog author, pls seek professional instruction as this sport may be dangerous!


This small climb is tricky as it involves several small turns and one needs to calculate them so pedals don't hit the side roots and the log.

Successful for me gear combination: GRANNY and SECOND BIGGEST ring in the back. Did it is sitting position.

I used to do it with the MIDDLE ring and the BIGGEST ring in the back but it is less smooth and most likely I will need to stand. Too much available torque (the use of the MIDDLE ring up front) I find on such stretch is not necessarily good.

Climb going towards Golf course (East)- Bridal Path

Disclaimer: These tips are for the blog author, pls seek professional instruction as this sport may be dangerous!


It's all about gears!

I had hard time at the top of this climb turning right and going over some roots.

MIDDLE ring up front and BIGGEST in the back did not work well for me.

Successful gear combination: GRANNY and SECOND BIGGEST ring in the back.

I tried to stay to the left as much as possible before turning right and going over the roots. It worked.

I was sitting while climbing this part.

MAVIC UST 819 tubeless setup

Disclaimer: These tips are for the blog author, pls seek professional instruction as this sport may be dangerous!

After a month of riding my rear tire started losing too much air (i left the tire inflated to 22 PSI overnight and in the morning it had hardly any air)

The original setup was : Mavic UST 819 rim, Mavic stem, Maxxis Minion 3C 2.5 tire. 2 scoops of Stan's sealant.

Today's modifications: cleaned all solidified Stan's, added 3 scoops of sealant instead of 2, added Stan's rim strip.

Inflating with the rim strip was very easy using the floor pump which was not the case in the original setup.

I will post updates to keep track when the setup may fail...

Update 1.

Jan 6, 2012

First ride excellent! No air loss at all.

Update 2
May 1 , 2012
Detected air loss, dismantled the tire, found quite a bit of dirt where the rim clinches the tire, cleaned all, added sealant, re-inflated, all works well. Conclusion: I have to watch for the dirt in the "clinching" area and clean it once in a while. I will try adding a little bit of sealant once a month, rather than waiting for the next significant air pressure loss

Scariest stretch on Bridal Path

Disclaimer: These tips are for the blog author, pls seek professional instruction as this sport may be dangerous!

This is where I flew over handlebar and hit the hip pointer. Result: huge painful hematoma.

Descending and making a relatively sharp turn is still the biggest weakness. So I walk biting putting a lid on the ego. Ego has no hips that may hurt after all...

Toughest climb

Disclaimer: These tips are for the blog author, pls seek professional instruction as this sport may be dangerous!


If for the long time I can't climb a certain stretch, I am most likely use the wrong gears!

This is the steepest climb on Bridal Path that finally after many months I was able to do on Dec 31, 2011.

Some guy suggested this gear combination:

GRANNY up front and the SECOND BIGGEST ring in the back.

I climbed it mostly sitting and to my biggest surprise I did it.

Until this attempt I was using the MIDDLE ring up front and the BIGGEST one in the back, no way it was doable!