Cycling - a chat about all things bike.

[Dominique]

Originally Posted by Incubus

Do you have a high percentage of deaths on bicycles in your state? How about the whole of the U.S? I have no data to support this, but NO, not many.....one is too many. It's just another effort to encourage vehical operators to learn to share the road. Those stripped down, spray painted white bicycles DO make you (anyone seeing it) think.

How fantastic that you have 'secure' parking in garages.Yes! and no charge.... I'm waging a one-genderqueer-battle for the same here in my town. Our council has provided miles of new cycle tracks on the town centre roads (many of us believe some of them to be dangerous though)That is Next....4 are being layed this summer, in very busy bicycle areas, college towns and main routes into the city and lots of new bike parking stands but our thieves are devious and too many bikes go missing from town centre. I want to be able to park my bike in town, somewhere that is CCTVd and patrolled. I am quite happy to pay a sum commensurate with the service provided. Someplaces are charging a dollar....but council is capping that. I'm fine with paying a dollar for indoor, cctv and an over all piece of mind about my bicycle. Sure beats a few years ago, chaining it to any tree I could find.

To be fair our town is much more cycle friendly than it ever has been which can only be a good thing. There are lots of folks, like British Cycling and Sky Rides who are doing much to promote cycling around the area. Finally, it's progress in the making. It's good that we can see it, and can celebrate it.

What is it about cyclists and mountainous areas? My serious cycling back in the day was in hilly and mountainous areas.

Ha Ha, My S/O certainly wonders about this.......I think it's the chanllenge. After all these years, I no longer see these hills.

Originally Posted by Yellow band

Ha Ha, My S/O certainly wonders about this.......I think it's the chanllenge. After all these years, I no longer see these hills.

I wish. My legs like hills but are far, far stronger than my poor old lungs. So hills, even just inclines, are my bête noire nowadays.

In consultations with your council about the proposed bike lanes I would suggest that they think carefully about making them contraflow at any junctions. If I want to use the cycle lane that by-passes the one way system into town I have to cross two busy junctions in contraflow to the traffic and even me, as a really confident, road aware cyclist, finds it a tad disconcerting. It's going to take the motor traffic a long time to get used to the contraflow.

Apropos chaining bikes up. As we don't have any really safe cycle parking I utilize the centre-of-town-busy-pub ruse. I lock my bike to the railings outside the main windows at one of the Irish pubs in town if I'm to be leaving it for any length of time. It appears to be a pub customers bike and presumably watched over.

[pajama]

I discovered today, I do not like hills. Neither my lungs nor my legs. LOL Actually wasn't to bad I say now that I'm on the couch in the a/c. Hadn't ridden much all week 'cause I wasn't sure what the hand would do. But rode 13.5 miles today with Shadows Papa, my ex and her g/f. The weater was really nice this morning and the back country rodes had few cars, we actually passed more cyclist than cars. Hand did fine, thighs a little tired now, but not hurting too bad.

Happy cycling everybody.
A

[Diavolo]

Hills are your best friend. Trust me on that. I hated them for a long time. As a matter of fact we have an acronym on the Lifecycle. AFH. But hills make you strong, they do wonderful things for your body over time. Hills are your friend.

[Dominique]

Another
F effen
Hill
?

lol!

Hah! Yellow_Band, tha's the one!

Sadly when one has lung disease (proper) hills are definitely NOT best friends...they are there to potentially make one stop breathing...literally! However, efforts must be made to keep trying to get up them even if pushing the bike becomes the only option.

They will get easier Pajara...particularly if you don't have lung disease and continue in your progress in getting 'bike conditioned'. I can get up the 'inclines' around here much more easily than I did a year ago, although 'real hills' still defeat me for the above stated reason. Go you doing a 13.5!

Brilliant Sky Ride event today with 8km of the towns roads shut off to motorized traffic. It was fantastic to see so many folks riding, from young to old. However, it was quite dismaying to discover how many folks have no idea about riding bikes when there are other people around, let alone thousands of other people. After yesterday's ride again a killer head-wind I only managed a couple of circuits before retiring to one of my favourite cafe bars for beer in the sun with a good friend who's home from Spain for a couple of weeks.

I hope to have recovered sufficiently from yesterday's killer to manage a proper ride tomorrow.

Happy pedaling bikey-folks

[Dominique]

My mother had emphysema, and so did most of her brothers and sisters. Her father apparently did too. I worried I'd never get that. It didn't help that she smoked like a chimney. She died at age 47. Nothing worse than watching someone literally choke to death. Even way back then...The Dr's told her she had to do things to make her lungs expand.....walk, walk rapidly...leisurely ride a bicycle. Saddly, she did nothing but make [sic] comments about her coffin nails i/e cigarettes.

I, according to my father, was born on a bicycle. I adapted to a two wheeler very young and I rode and rode and rode. I wasn't in a major hurry to drive a car because I took my bicycle every place...Not much has changed. Thats why the hills don't bother me. I hardly ever/almost never use the first five gears on my bike. (not the beater bike, it slips gears on you and you find yourself in fifth gear alot)

It's been raining, heavily at times, today and I didn't go to any bicycle pittsbugh events. In fact took a long 3 hour nap. One of the things I enjoy the most about bicyle gatherings, is the post event refreshment (or what ever...even if its water) You meet all kinds of people, people who look like all the others, and you find this was this first ride.....or another who has been riding 30 years.

I'm attaching my favorite hill clibing event we celebrate every year. It's a little long. Enjoy. Also, you'll get to see what a beautiful city I live in.

I'm sorry to hear that about your parents Yellow_band. I was on course for a similar fate to your Mum, or at least have to carry an oxygen tank by the time I'm 50. Thankfully I've averted that fate for a while longer.

I was one of those 'born on a bike' too. In fact I don't even drive. I used my bike for leisure and transport since I was about 7yrs old (although was riding a bike before then) to being 33/34yrs...and now I'm doing it again.

I get really disheartened when folks tell me that hills are easy and that they just get easier because whilst the teeny slopes do get easier the other ones really don't. Even more disheartening is being dropped by the club ride the other week because I'm slower on the inclines.

[Dominique]

Originally Posted by Yellow band

I'm attaching my favorite hill clibing event we celebrate every year. It's a little long. Enjoy. Also, you'll get to see what a beautiful city I live in.

It just reminds me, snow is knocking on the Door!

[lettertodaddy]

I just got my fat butt on a road bike for the first time ever today (I don't count the yellow Sears ten-speed I had when I was a kid). Man, is it ever different from my 45 pound steel Dutch bike that I ride everywhere.

As I get older, I'm looking for ways to get fit that are kinder to the joints, and I think road cycling and weight training will be what I use to get me more fit as I get older.

I never ever thought I'd be on a road bike, and I'm a little stiff right now to tell you the truth, but I'm going to have the bike professionally fitted at a sports medicine clinic, and start with shorter rides to build up my endurance. I'm excited.

[Dominique]

I have not, until I read this

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/sc...dent.html?_r=1

Wooohoooo! lettertodaddy that's ace...I wish you many happy miles pedaling.

Originally Posted by Yellow band

I have not, until I read this

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/sc...dent.html?_r=1

Are you anticipating having accidents?

[Dominique]

Originally Posted by Incubus

Are you anticipating having accidents?

No, Incubus. I am not. Hopefully, my wipe out of the life time has come and gone.

My boss sent me this link. I asked her [the same question] you asked me.

Her response, as she was pouring coffee was this. When you find yourself on some ladies hood, and your head is going thru her windshield. Just because you said, if you can still talk, she was eating an egg mcmuffin, talking on her phone and ran the red right,that won't be enough.long sentence You will have to prove it, or you'll wind up paying for your own medical bills. This is what the insurance industry has become. [note all the reference to bad woman drivers]

Initially I was going to retort, Oh not the scum bag ambulance chasing, leisure suit wearing-used car sales mbehaving attorneys? This is an ongoing we banter her and I
have. But she is a litigator, makes a living convincing people the blue sky is purple. I've learned to pick and choose my arguments with her....at least once a week she goes on a tirade about some sleaze ball attorney who needs
an ethic investigation, so I'll slide it in then..... she likes toy bitching......it gets her away from the drama of the theatre that automatically comes with the job.


I did note these GPS's are $700......(heck, a pretty decent bicycle is $700)

[atomiczombie]

I just got the bike of my dreams as an early birthday present! 2009 Electra Rat Fink.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by atomiczombie

I just got the bike of my dreams as an early birthday present! 2009 Electra Rat Fink.

That is freakin' AWESOME dude! Welcome to the club!!!!

[Dominique]

Originally Posted by atomiczombie

I just got the bike of my dreams as an early birthday present! 2009 Electra Rat Fink.

I love these rims/ wheels with color. My s/o's new bicycle has colored *rims*....Now, I look at that long chain and how low that sits to the ground, do you ride it like a recumbant bike? It's like nothing I have ever seen! Making me like it even more. Have you been out on it yet Drew?