Life on 2 Wheels: the bicyclists thread

[Linus]

One of the big things I've been looking forward to as part of moving to Cali was getting back on my bicycles (my custom touring Gunnar Rock Tour and my DaVinci single speed modded MTB). I know I'm not the only avid cyclist out there who uses their bikes for not only fun but also to actually get places.

I figure we could share war stories, race info (for those into competitive and non-competitive rides) and other stuff.

[SnackTime]

Great idea for a thread Linus!

I am hoping to use my bikes (mainly the mountain bike) to commute to some places next year. I am rather limited on riding at least until early spring.

At the moment, I have my Gary Fisher Advance mountain bike in the trainer. I also have a Trek road bike.

[Linus]

Well. I went out for an hour ride (truth be told I managed to get a little lost). But the good side was that the bike fared well so I should be able to use it next week. I did feel sa little naked without an helmet, gloves and whistle (i have a dingy bell but they are, IMO, useless in traffic and a pealess whistle is awesome). We'll be heading to a couple of bike shops today and probably REI. My current helmet, somewhere in a box, is about 10 years old so its due to be replaced.

What I found truly interesting was that it pretty much felt like I had never stopped cycling. And the roads in this area of Los Angeles are a cyclist's dream: perfectly smooth with no glass shards on them.

[shadows papa]

Awesome thread Linus! Anyone who is around me for any length of time is sure to find out that I LOVE all things bicycle! Hopefully when the weather cools down a bit here and I can figure out some system of book organization where I don't have to carry a 40 lbs. backpack each way, I will ride my bike back and forth to school a couple of days a week. We only live 4 miles from the campus, making it a nice little leg stretcher. This Saturday I am doing a 25 mile ride to benefit WoundedWarriors.org and the 11 mile mountain bike race in October is to benefit RideforReading.org. I like to ride for charity,for fun,for fitness,and just to RIDE. I have been seriously curtailed this year with my school commitments but I am,and always will be, a crackhead cyclist. I love to ride, find bikes for other people, work on bikes,and watch bike racing. I currently have a 1991 GT Timberline mountain bike, a 1990 Trek 1200 road bike and a 2005 Trek 1000 Discovery Edition road bike. One of these days,when time permits, I have a winter project in mind to build a bike or two or three from the frame up, full carbon fiber rigs that will fly down the road and cut the wind like a knife!! For now I ride when time permits and enjoy tearing through the woods on a mountain bike trail, at least once a week during a GOOD week!

[Linus]

Originally Posted by shadows papa

Awesome thread Linus! Anyone who is around me for any length of time is sure to find out that I LOVE all things bicycle! Hopefully when the weather cools down a bit here and I can figure out some system of book organization where I don't have to carry a 40 lbs. backpack each way, I will ride my bike back and forth to school a couple of days a week. We only live 4 miles from the campus, making it a nice little leg stretcher. This Saturday I am doing a 25 mile ride to benefit WoundedWarriors.org and the 11 mile mountain bike race in October is to benefit RideforReading.org. I like to ride for charity,for fun,for fitness,and just to RIDE. I have been seriously curtailed this year with my school commitments but I am,and always will be, a crackhead cyclist. I love to ride, find bikes for other people, work on bikes,and watch bike racing. I currently have a 1991 GT Timberline mountain bike, a 1990 Trek 1200 road bike and a 2005 Trek 1000 Discovery Edition road bike. One of these days,when time permits, I have a winter project in mind to build a bike or two or three from the frame up, full carbon fiber rigs that will fly down the road and cut the wind like a knife!! For now I ride when time permits and enjoy tearing through the woods on a mountain bike trail, at least once a week during a GOOD week!

Hehe.. you could always turn one of those bikes (probably the 1200 or the Timberline) into a single speed winter bike (with winter tires). I did that to my old MTB and it's awesome.

As for riding with 40lbs of stuff, take a look at Ortleib panniers and seriously consider getting a back rack on your bike. You back will thank you. The MTB should have the eyelets for this if the 1200 doesn't.

[shadows papa]

Originally Posted by Linus

Hehe.. you could always turn one of those bikes (probably the 1200 or the Timberline) into a single speed winter bike (with winter tires). I did that to my old MTB and it's awesome.

As for riding with 40lbs of stuff, take a look at Ortleib panniers and seriously consider getting a back rack on your bike. You back will thank you. The MTB should have the eyelets for this if the 1200 doesn't.

I had thought about that Linus,and both bikes can be rigged for a rack and panniers but my budget won't let me do it. I've got a locker at school, it's just a matter of knowing which books to bring home on which day to cut the weight I'm carrying. Building a single speed is on my list of things to do once school is done. I think the 1200 will serve as a good commuter bike. I used it to commute 24 miles round trip to school at the first college I attended. The only think I may do is convert it to a flat bar bike as the drop bars are a bit of a reach when riding with a backpack and that isn't very expensive to do. Thanks for the info!

[Rockinonahigh]

Great idea for a thred,ive been intrested in bike rideng for a while but am haveing a prob with part of an injury that effects my tail bone and sciatica and am at lost what to do about it.When I ride i get numbdown the left side of my butt that goes down my left leg the longer I ride so when I get off the bike all I can do is stand for a while till I get the feeling back in my leg,the longer I ride the worst it gets.I had a mountain bike but never could get comfy on it,infact I have had a fue diffrent bikes but with pretty much the same configuration,at the moment im looking for a regular fat tired street bike that has some stretch room for me to be comfy ( chubby body hear) plus with a back injury I find being bent over on a multi speed bike very uncomfy after a while.Then I also have a slight vertago issue that comes and goes,since I started takeing motion sickness pills its a lot better.At the moment $$ is an issue so spending a lot on a bike is a consern,in thinking of checking freecycle to see if I can find a bike or maybe haunt garage sales or pawn shops...any sugestions of what I should/can do.

[shadows papa]

Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh

Great idea for a thred,ive been intrested in bike rideng for a while but am haveing a prob with part of an injury that effects my tail bone and sciatica and am at lost what to do about it.When I ride i get numbdown the left side of my butt that goes down my left leg the longer I ride so when I get off the bike all I can do is stand for a while till I get the feeling back in my leg,the longer I ride the worst it gets.I had a mountain bike but never could get comfy on it,infact I have had a fue diffrent bikes but with pretty much the same configuration,at the moment im looking for a regular fat tired street bike that has some stretch room for me to be comfy ( chubby body hear) plus with a back injury I find being bent over on a multi speed bike very uncomfy after a while.Then I also have a slight vertago issue that comes and goes,since I started takeing motion sickness pills its a lot better.At the moment $$ is an issue so spending a lot on a bike is a consern,in thinking of checking freecycle to see if I can find a bike or maybe haunt garage sales or pawn shops...any sugestions of what I should/can do.

Rockin' you may want to check on recumbent bikes. It is actually a 3 wheeled bike that you sit down in and pedal. I know several people who have chronic back pain that utilize these for fitness and to enjoy cycling. They are not cheap for the most part, but you might come across a deal on one using Craigslist, Freecycle or checking at any local bike shops in your area. Good luck in your search!

[Linus]

When I got up this morning it was raining (even though the weather forecast didn't indicate any). Go figure. Anyways, I watched some Big Bang to pass the time until it stopped and then went out for a hard 22km ride. It was glorious. The route I found was pretty decent and I think if I continue farther I may be able to log a return trip around 50km. I figure if I do that along with the P90X (once I figure out which box that's in) I should be able to return back to long distance touring form soon enough.

Life is good on two wheels.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh

Great idea for a thred,ive been intrested in bike rideng for a while but am haveing a prob with part of an injury that effects my tail bone and sciatica and am at lost what to do about it.When I ride i get numbdown the left side of my butt that goes down my left leg the longer I ride so when I get off the bike all I can do is stand for a while till I get the feeling back in my leg,the longer I ride the worst it gets.I had a mountain bike but never could get comfy on it,infact I have had a fue diffrent bikes but with pretty much the same configuration,at the moment im looking for a regular fat tired street bike that has some stretch room for me to be comfy ( chubby body hear) plus with a back injury I find being bent over on a multi speed bike very uncomfy after a while.Then I also have a slight vertago issue that comes and goes,since I started takeing motion sickness pills its a lot better.At the moment $$ is an issue so spending a lot on a bike is a consern,in thinking of checking freecycle to see if I can find a bike or maybe haunt garage sales or pawn shops...any sugestions of what I should/can do.

If a recumbent bike, like Shad suggested, is out of your price range, look into a Schwinn. I used to have one because I hate all the gear work on tenspeeds, competitive, etc bikes. They are old school with the bigger tires and seat and no gears if you wish. I had one while in Daytona. The shop fit the frame to me too and it wasn't too expensive. I don't remember what it cost, exactly, but I was working in a fast food joint, so it couldn't have been THAT bad.

Here are a couple of links for you:


http://milo.com/mens-schwinn-legacy-...bike-blue-26-1

http://www.trails.com/list_36342_bes...ess-bikes.html

[Jesse]

I have a bike like what you described. It's an old single speed fat tire beach cruiser, and I love it. I found listed on Craigslist for $50. I brought it home, took the chain off, cleaned it real good and re-oiled that and the sprockets, then bought two new thorn proofs tubes and put those on. I love that I don't have to bend over to ride and it has a nice fat leather seat on, so it sits very comfortable.

Jesse

Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh

Great idea for a thred,ive been intrested in bike rideng for a while but am haveing a prob with part of an injury that effects my tail bone and sciatica and am at lost what to do about it.When I ride i get numbdown the left side of my butt that goes down my left leg the longer I ride so when I get off the bike all I can do is stand for a while till I get the feeling back in my leg,the longer I ride the worst it gets.I had a mountain bike but never could get comfy on it,infact I have had a fue diffrent bikes but with pretty much the same configuration,at the moment im looking for a regular fat tired street bike that has some stretch room for me to be comfy ( chubby body hear) plus with a back injury I find being bent over on a multi speed bike very uncomfy after a while.Then I also have a slight vertago issue that comes and goes,since I started takeing motion sickness pills its a lot better.At the moment $$ is an issue so spending a lot on a bike is a consern,in thinking of checking freecycle to see if I can find a bike or maybe haunt garage sales or pawn shops...any sugestions of what I should/can do.

[Linus]

Did 40km along the beach today. I am in total heaven. I think I'm definitely going to see about becoming permanent here in L.A. just because of the cycling alone!

[TickledPink]

Awesome Linus! Yep, life is always good on two wheels. I was going to do a 32 mile road ride today but two things got in my way; the rainy,windy weather and the fact that my thumb isn't healed enough hold the bars or change gears and brake properly. But I'll be back to it soon enough! It's perfect riding weather right now,not too hot and not too cold. So I expect to be back on either my road bike or my mountain bike by the weekend!Oh by the way,this is Shad! I forgot to log out Miss Pink and log in myself! OOPS!!

[Linus]

Another great weather day so I decided to do another 38km loop. About 6km in I feel a wobble and notice the rear tire is making a strange sound. My heart sinks as a realize I'm getting a rear tire flat. GROAN! And my portable repair kit is still in a box somewhere

Luckily, I was a 5 min walk from the nearest bike shop. I had them change both the front and back tubes from regular ones to thorn resistant tubes along with a new tire. An hour later (it was busy and they were short handed) and a cold coffee later I was blissfully back on the trail. I ended up biking home in the dark but i had recently purchased a Blackburn high grade light. It worked perfectly.

Now to do some work (aka reading)

[SnackTime]

Originally Posted by TickledPink

Awesome Linus! Yep, life is always good on two wheels. I was going to do a 32 mile road ride today but two things got in my way; the rainy,windy weather and the fact that my thumb isn't healed enough hold the bars or change gears and brake properly. But I'll be back to it soon enough! It's perfect riding weather right now,not too hot and not too cold. So I expect to be back on either my road bike or my mountain bike by the weekend!Oh by the way,this is Shad! I forgot to log out Miss Pink and log in myself! OOPS!!

HAHAHA! The color of font and the thumb was a dead giveaway (at least for me).

[SnackTime]

Originally Posted by Linus

Another great weather day so I decided to do another 38km loop. About 6km in I feel a wobble and notice the rear tire is making a strange sound. My heart sinks as a realize I'm getting a rear tire flat. GROAN! And my portable repair kit is still in a box somewhere

Luckily, I was a 5 min walk from the nearest bike shop. I had them change both the front and back tubes from regular ones to thorn resistant tubes along with a new tire. An hour later (it was busy and they were short handed) and a cold coffee later I was blissfully back on the trail. I ended up biking home in the dark but i had recently purchased a Blackburn high grade light. It worked perfectly.

Now to do some work (aka reading)

Fortunately, I have not had a flat while riding (WHEW) You were lucky to find a bike shop close by. I would not be so fortunate to have that since I ride in rural areas. Have you found your portable repair kit yet? lol

[TickledPink]

I am going to attempt 17 miles this weekend! I may or may not be NUTS! Oh, and this IS Miss Pink

Pray for me!

[SnackTime]

Originally Posted by TickledPink

I am going to attempt 17 miles this weekend! I may or may not be NUTS! Oh, and this IS Miss Pink

Pray for me!

Ya lil speedster on a bike! You will do just fine! I am sure there will be a few new cuss words at the end of the ride (or perhaps during) LOL

[TickledPink]

Originally Posted by SnackTime

Ya lil speedster on a bike! You will do just fine! I am sure there will be a few new cuss words at the end of the ride (or perhaps during) LOL

How about bike fuckery?

[SnackTime]

Originally Posted by TickledPink

How about bike fuckery?

LOVE IT!

Let the bike fuckery begin! <chuckles>