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The biking thread....


mcsluggo

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there is a running thread.. with pages and pages and pages of posts. 

 

a thread for people that like to bike (the pedal type...bicycles).

 

afternoon jaunts through Annapolis?

weekend warrior slog over the Blue Ridge Parkway?

bike commute?

 

 

bring it on...!

 

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Gnarly+Bike+Wrecks17.jpg

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personally.. i bike commute from McLean-Downtown DC from april-ish through the end of October... and hang up the sexy bike shorts when daylight savings time ends (this upcoming weekend)

 

but... last year i packed on almost 25 pounds between november and march, when i stopped biking, but kept on eating that extra 1000 calories a day.

 

does anyone else bike commute?  and do you do it through the winter??  

 

i'm considering trying to bike a bit during the winter this year...but i'm unsure.   The cold isn't really what is putting me off (yesterday it was upper 30s in McLean in the morning, but i biked in wearing shorts and a t-shirt.. with some raggy old knit-wool gloves.    I think with some decent gloves and a decent thin hat, the cold would be easily manageable  (although ice on the ground will suck donkey nuts on a bike)

 

if you bike commute in teh winter:

 

--- what light do you use?  the bright ones are soooo fricking expensive!

--- what gloves ???

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 I have a question for cycle douches. What's with the lycra? Streamlining is what this guy is going for?

 

1-fat-cyclist-in-lycra.jpg

 

And for the love of god, black cycle shorts only:

 

Polish sausage

 

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And the Colombian women's team

 

colombia-women-s-cycling-data.jpg

Edited by Corcaigh
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i actually fight the biker urge to dress in the Greg Lemond lycra underoos uniform .. i promise!

 

i have one pair of black bike-shorts that my wife and kids bought for me last father's day... but usually I just wear old t-shirts (3/4 of the way to the rag-bag) and basketball shorts

 

 

 

unfortunately for everyone concerned SOME of those basketball shorts are 1980s basketball shorts.   I see old ladies washing their eyes out with Lye along my bike route all the time 

Edited by mcsluggo
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I tried to get back into biking recently, with an eye for possibly doing a small triathlon (I mean small, tiny, not much swimming) as well as getting exercise when my legs were tired from running.

 

My father hasn't ridden his bike in 15 years, so he gave it to me.  I got a tune up at the local shop (and endured some unwanted sass from the owner about the age and lack of style of the bike) and was on my way.  It went flat two weeks later, and I'm pretty sure fixing it would cost more than the bike is worth.  It was fun while it lasted.

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I tried to get back into biking recently, with an eye for possibly doing a small triathlon (I mean small, tiny, not much swimming) as well as getting exercise when my legs were tired from running.

 

My father hasn't ridden his bike in 15 years, so he gave it to me.  I got a tune up at the local shop (and endured some unwanted sass from the owner about the age and lack of style of the bike) and was on my way.  It went flat two weeks later, and I'm pretty sure fixing it would cost more than the bike is worth.  It was fun while it lasted.

 

that $6 inner tube is gonna break the bank!

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Bought a road bike last year. So far my longest ride had only been 35 miles but I ride to work most days. I'll probably be ramping it up now that it's cooling down plus Tucson is building something called "the loop" which is a 55 mile ride around the city.

Hopefully this thread takes off.

Edited by MrSilverMaC
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I ride about 100 miles a week.  Two short rides on weekdays before work, and then a long ride on a weekend am.  Before it gets too hot.

 

I wear the lycra shorts with padding, but havent bought myslef one of those cool bike shirts with the pockets in the back and some foreign company logo ont he front.

 

Also I swear by Chamois Butt'r.  No chafe.

 

I just added some aero bars to the front of my Fuji Ace road bike, because Im still too cheap to spend real money on a good tri bike.

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I'm an everyday commuter here in Chicago...I'll go all winter so long as the roads are dry and the wind isn't dangerous.  I don't mind cold, but i'm not dealing with idiot drivers on wet roads.  Of course, my 'commute' is less than 2 miles and I do it because there is no faster way to get around this town than a bike.

 

I'm currently on a '88 Bridgestone frame that i found a few years back that eventually became a single speed after the shift levers broke and i decided not to replace them. How many gears do you really need in a city with no hills, plus it makes winter maintenance really easy not having to deal with maintaining derailleurs. 

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I want to buy bikes for my kids and they're so damn expensive new. I don't really get it, apart from new materials, bike technology hasn't improved since I was a kid and even before. I don't really get why I can't get a basic bike for $10. 

 

Maybe if bikes were $10 people would buy more and we'd have a fitter country.

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I'm toying with the idea of getting an ElliptiGO for my seven mile commute. Though I feel I should wear a top hat or deerstalker rather than a regular bike helmet.

 

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I want to buy bikes for my kids and they're so damn expensive new. I don't really get it, apart from new materials, bike technology hasn't improved since I was a kid and even before. I don't really get why I can't get a basic bike for $10. 

 

 

 

Maybe not $10 but you get cheap functional stuff at Wal Mart or similar. Good enough for a rug rat who will out grow it before you know it, and if they have to work a little harder because it's not that smooth, then consider it bonus resistance training for their spurting activities.

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Biked the Great Allegheny Passage a year ago last spring with two friends.  It mostly follows abandoned railroad beds from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Maryland.  Absolutely beautiful scenery along the way, through the Laurel Highlands and the Ohiopyle State Park.  Much of the route parallels rivers... the Monongahela, the Youghiogheny, the Casselman.  We stayed in Pittsburgh right across the street from PNC Park, saw the Pirates play, then set off the next morning. We did about 50 miles a day, and stayed in B&Bs in Connellsville and Rockwood.  The ladies were our support crew.  They would sightsee during the day (Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater is nearby), meet us for lunch, and drive ahead to our stopping point.

 

The first half is a barely noticeable uphill climb until about Ohiopyle, then it's a bit steeper climb to the Eastern Continental Divide just past Meyersdale. Near the Divide you go through the Big Savage Tunnel and after that its an exhilarating drop on the 27 miles to Cumberland, passing through Frostburg on the way.  One day we'll lengthen the trip and continue from Cumberland down the C&O Canal into DC.  And maybe do an autumn trip when the leaves are at their peak.

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my son just started riding a bike about 2 months ago. so, i had to break out the bikes i bought my wife and myself about 8 years ago. ive got a full suspension mongoose and shes got a giant with rox shox. . i had left these bikes outside in the weather for about 7 years. (yikes). 

 

so, when my son started riding, i had to fix them up. 

 

both chains were toast. i found out that i could buy a chain from walmart for like $10, which i did for both bikes. had to get a new seat for one of the bikes too, which ran around $20. and i also found out that the tubes for the seats arent stock, so good luck if you need a new one. fortunately, the derailleurs work well enough. 

 

in the past 2 months, i've biked assateague, a stretch of the c & o canal, and a nice path near my house around black hill park a couple of times.

 

fun stuff. 

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Used to love to bike back when I was living in NOVA a few hundred years ago in the 70's and early 80's.  Rode around all through the neighborhoods in Fairfax and Annandale on 10 speed Huffy. :)    I have cheaper all terrain in the garage I'm going to be dusting off so I can include some bike riding in the training. This area is pretty good for it though I have no intention of entering the Death Ride next year. ;)

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I'm a bicycle commuter, I just started doing it in June of 2013. I wanted to try and drop a few pounds so I figured this would be a good way to do it. I initially planned on riding just 2 or 3 days a week but I enjoyed it so much that I started riding everyday I could. I started using the MapMyRide app in July 2013 and since that time I have traveled just over 1400 miles. I ride to work in the winter time as long as there is no snow and ice, I just make sure to bundle up real good. My bike is an old 1969 Schwinn Typhoon beach cruiser that I put a banana seat and apehangers on, so its not the quickest bike but I have tried to make it be. I used to ride as fast as I could into work and set a new personal best time, which I accomplished back in June. I covered 3.5 miles in 12:01, unfortunately for me a clipped my pedal on the ground during that ride but didn't really think much of it. The next day, my crank broke at the pedal eye causing my to face plant the asphalt and bust up some teeth. It took me about 3 weeks to get some parts together and fix my bike, but I've been back on it ever since, albeit at a much slower pace.

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I love to bike when I can. I bought a nice bike for myself last christmas but had to put it away for the summer. I just cant take the heat and humidity down here. Weather has been great lately but now my knees are shot. Still I'll have to get back into the grove with some short rides. 

 

The funny thing though... I have permanent spinal cord damage that cut off the nerves to my calf in my left leg. Meaning I cant push off with my toes to balance at all. So when I ride, I have to make sure that when I stop, I do it so I can put my right foot down and get on and off on that side. If I don't I tend to just fall over like the character on the tricycle on Laugh-In. LOL

Edited by Mad Mike
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So do you shower when you get to work after riding a bike to work, or do you just rub deodorant all over your body and do a quick comb of the hair.

 

When I rode my bike to work along the W&OD Trail I'd take a shower at work. I'm not working the day without a shower.

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So do you shower when you get to work after riding a bike to work, or do you just rub deodorant all over your body and do a quick comb of the hair.

 

For me with just the 2 mile ride, so long as its not a crazy hot day (which is pretty rare in Chicago early in the morning), i dont really even break a sweat-- i use it as a faster form of transportation than the bus or train, not a workout.  

 

However, on the hot days i'll ride in different clothes and jump in the shower at the gym in my office building.

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As you can tell by my post count I don't post much, but I do enjoy the forums here. I used to bike a lot back in the day and tried to get back into it here and there. July of 2013 I went to donate blood and was told I couldn't because my blood pressure was to high (being a bigger man they didn't use the right sized cuff) and I have always been on the lower side. I immediately made an appointment with my Doctor, and was informed it was most likely a false reading, I was also told to maybe lose a few lbs. It was an eye opener for sure. I tried walking...bored me, I tried running...killed my knees and ankles. So Oct 1, 2013 I hopped on my Trek Hybrid I had in the garage a few years and started peddling. Not far at first. Popped a few spokes here and there. Since then, I ride a little over 100 miles a week (4 days 20 miles, 35-50 miles on Saturday). I have gone about 2500 miles to date. Lost 75 lbs and it seems like I am doing it now out of pure enjoyment of the ride and less about the weight loss. I live in SE Wisconsin (between Milwaukee and Chicago), if I am lucky, I will be able to ride until mid November. Then I need to figure out what to do during the Winter cold months.

 

I am not a fan of the bike shorts, but the padding is nice, and there are cargo shorts that have padding as well. I only wish there were Redskins cycling jerseys. Happy riding!

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Biked quite a bit during the summer of 2013 ... then excitedly spent like $85 on a JMU Biking jersey that was on sale last fall. Didn't get on the bike once this year, of course.

 

I even lucked into my father-in-law's hand-me-down Cannondale and still can't get it out. The roads up here in the north country are perfect for it, too. Just been running and lifting and haven't had time for it. I've thought about commuting to my office during the summer, but it's a 30-mile trip through country roads and I don't have any ability to shower when I get to work, so it's pretty much a no-go from a hygiene standpoint haha

Edited by JamesMadisonSkins
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