Forums

When do you retire the bike for the season

2008-11-11T23:09:53-05:00

I try to keep riding no matter what

Getting Dark out around 6 PM

2008-11-02T21:52:01-05:00

For you cyclist that are still riding in this great weather, do not forget that at around 6PM it is dark.
Light up and be seen and most importantly make sure that you use a light that you can see debris and all the other stuff that can take you out. If you don’t you can get hurt really bad and not enjoy any more rides.
When I was handing out candy on bager’ night. 2 cyclist came down the my street. One was dressed head to toe in black garb and NO Lights or reflective gear and on top of that riding fast on the sidewalk
the other cyclist had the rear and front flashers and in the street but I know that he was trying to use the street lamps to guide him home.
I know that most of use helmets and other safety gear but try to do something about your lights

What’s Your Ride?

2008-10-06T22:42:23-05:00

I might post pictures if I can remember to take pictures and then can figure out how to post them.

My current ride is a Trek Portland commuting bike that my brother bought for me the end of June after I rode a late ‘70s Fuji that I modified with parts from my early ‘70s Nishiki (which I used for my commute for the past 4 years till I retired in Jan.). So the Fuji hangs in my brother’s garage near Cleveland, TN, awaiting my return, and the Nishiki is parked in my basement, awaiting my efforts to restore it to working condition by getting bar end shifters and a front derailleur.

Meanwhile, I rode the Trek on to Wake Forest, NC and back to Dayton, OH, in early Aug. so it now has just a bit less than 2,000 miles on it.

I also have a Raleigh hardtail mtb that I ride places I hesitate to take the Trek, like fishing, etc.

Interesting

2008-11-01T21:59:56-05:00

Here’s a link to a most unusual bike:

http://www.thedesignblog.org/entry/suave-italian-bicycle-concept-where-less-is-more/

I wonder about rolling resistance & durability…

Leaves and Wet bridges this Fall

2008-10-11T10:51:32-05:00

It is that time of year to ride with extreme caution.
The fallen leaves tend to be slippery on the path corners and right angle turns.
Small twigs can cause a slide-out as well.
Some of our wooden bridges in our area have exposed and untreated wood fibers that now microbes that produce a thin slime when wet has caused a few of us cyclist to partake on a unwanted ambulance ride.
A lot of cyclist say that the silver dollar size rivets on some of the bridges can cause some slippage as well.

Pending Posts

2008-10-13T10:10:07-05:00

What exactly is meant by “Pending Posts”? I’ve used the link sometimes when there are no “New Posts” or “Today’s Active Posts”.

It seems that there are a few posts that come up “Pending” that have been there for more than a month, some with replies, and others without replies, so I haven’t figured out what makes a post “pending”.

thanks!
Bob

Fun!

2008-10-15T09:48:46-05:00

Something I got from Phred touring website:

http://laughingsquid.com/mark-growden-plays-the-handlebars/

Who’d ever think handlebars could be used as a flute?

You might be a cyclist if…

2008-10-11T07:18:34-05:00

I haven’t seen a thread like this here before… Kind of enjoy them.

You might be a cyclist if

you own more than one working bicycle

you own more than one working bicycle and still look at bikes in stores

you ride more miles than you drive

What do you find????

2008-10-07T11:47:16-05:00

Well! Summer riding is almost over. What intertesting things have you found on the
road or Bikeway this summer:
I found:
A couple bungee cables, one new in package.
A craftman 9 mm wrench
2 one dollar bills.
2 700c tubes along bike path, that just had samll holes
patched, then and they been good all summer
A smashed cell phone, no way to figure out who’s it was.
A Park chain tool.
That’s about it, so what goodies have you found?

Touring Thoughts

2008-09-07T17:20:37-05:00

During my recent tour, I had over 2,200 miles (except for about 50 on bike trails) ridden on public highways to contemplate. I distilled the contemplations into 6 simple bicycling thoughts, (generally in order of most imortant first) three are “BE” and three are “DO” thoughts:

-------------------------------
BE

Be aware.

Be visible

Be predictable
-------------------------------
DO

Shift before you need to

Drink before you are thirsty

Eat before you are hungry

--------------------------------
Expanding on the meaning of my bike touring in traffic thoughts…

Be aware has to do with your whole environment. Traffic ahead and behind (a mirror is nice), weather, upcoming hazards like dogs or trucks or road construction, the road surface, mechanical condition of the bike, your body (I had a cross-country coach who said “Listen to your body."). They all have to do with your safety as you ride, being highly exposed to vehicles, the elements, etc. I believe awareness is the most important thing for maintaining your safety while riding in traffic.

Be visible “should be easy to see” why it is important. Wearing bright clothes, having reflective material on yourself and the bike, having good headlights & tail lights. I made a full sized slow moving vehicle triangle and attached it to my rear panniers to be as visible as possible. Most drivers see cyclists pretty well, but there are those who are distracted or impaired chemically, mentally, over stimulated by other processes like eating or cell phones or kids or pets etc. Anything that makes a cyclist more obvious to a driver helps. Wearing reflective materials when riding in traffic at night is a good reflection on the rider.

Be predictable has to do primarily with riding in a straight line near the right edge of the pavement. If a driver sees a cyclist, normally they will try to avoid contact. If a cyclist is acting unpredictably, weaving, riding clear out in the lane, etc. a driver may unwittingly do something dangerous. Approaching an intersection, at a few hundred feet back, slowly drifting into the right-hand tire groove and then to the center of the right hand lane as the intersection draws closer, “Taking the lane” tells approaching vehicle drivers you want the lane and makes you more visible so you are no longer part of the scenery, but a vehicle to be respected. Of course, all the while, watching in the mirror for traffic from the rear that might be approching too fast so you can at the last second dart for the edge of the road. All of this to say you don’t want to get t-boned by someone who turns right as they pass you (or left as they approach from the front). Besides, as a motor vehicle driver myself, I have had the frustrating, irritating experience of a cyclist wobbling all over the lane as I approach. I want to stop and shake them by the shoulders and tell them to ride straight or walk.

If one gets the BE thoughts down, that takes care of most safety............

The DO thoughts are more for personal comfort:

Shift before you need to is important on a tour because riding a loaded bike up a grade takes a lot of energy. If one is out for a day ride, a couple hours of hard riding doesn’t do much but increase the fatigue at the end of the ride, but when one mashes the pedals for hours, going slowly up a grade (or into the wind) when a lower gear is available, and you are riding all day long, you bonk. (Not to mention the next day or so you need to recover) The body just can’t handle it. Knees hurt, the muscles run out of glycogen and go anaerobic. It is much better to spin a little fast and push a little less hard than to grind with a slow cadence up a long grade. Once the muscles go into anaerobic mode, it is difficult to maintain a reasonable pace, if you can ride at all.

Drink before you are thirsty should be evident to all. So much has already been written about how the body is already dehydrated by the time the thirst signals turn on.

Eat before you are hungry has to do with frequently eating little bits of food (granola bars, GORP, etc), keeping the blood sugar level up enough that the body uses the blood sugar from the food being digested instead of the glycogen reserves stored in the muscles so that when you really need the power to sprint across a busy road, or away from a barking dog, it is there.

Anyway, I just thought I would post it in case someone wants to tap into my experiences. Enjoy!

Persistence & determination outweigh talent & genius