Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc

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joy2give2u -> Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/3/2007 4:51:31 PM)
For those who love being in the saddle and feeling the freedom of flying down the road or mountain, this is a place to share our biking worlds......... Discussion hopefully will including some of the following but don't feel limited to only these topics adventures wild experiences favoirite rides worse accident eqiupment advice organized rides you would recommend riding to work pros and cons I look forward to hearing and connecting with other riders. [:)][:)] [:)][:)][:)][:)]

tiffanyctd -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/3/2007 5:26:46 PM)
I haven't ridden in a long time. I gave up after having two bikes stolen in two years[:@]. But I did love to ride, and still borrow my Mom's bike when I visit her. I think my favorite adventure was while I was in high school. One summer, I was taking care of my little brothers (they were about 10 or 11 at the time), and we rode across Tampa to the zoo (about 15 miles each way). My mother met us for lunch at the park outside the zoo, where we had a picnic. It was just so out of the ordinary, since it was the middle of the week. It was also the first time my mom let my brothers go on an extended ride (boy, did they sleep well that night![;)]). Thankfully, I haven't had any accidents that resulted in major injuries, but the worst accident was on Christmas day, again while I was in high school. I got a beautiful new 10 speed. Took it outside to try it out. My first ride down the street (at very high speed[&:]). A squirrel ran out in front of my. I swerved. I flipped. I rolled. I said some very unsavory words[&:]. And promptly bent the frame beyond repair.[:@][:@][:@]

joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 10:31:06 AM)
Wow you took two boys 10 or 11 on a 15 mile bike ride? You are sure gutsy. My little niece keeps bugging me to let her go with me bike riding on the roads........Usually I take them(her and her sisters) to a local park to ride the bike path. I have taken the the older two for a short ride on a country road with no traffic just to see how they do but did they ever swear.......I worry what they would do if an actual car was going by them...........One day this summer I am going to take , the oldest at least, on a ride to another sister's house which is four miles away. LOL thinking about kids riding I guess when I was younger, my sister and I, rode everywhere. I remember once riding the country roads to a little candy store. Along the way one of the bikes had a flat tire, my sister didn't think it was fair my bike still worked and she had to walk so to be "fair" we hid both bikes in the woods and walked home. Later at night my father drove us to pick up the bikes and they were BOTH gone. We were poor and could not afford new bikes.....I was mad at my sister for the longest time because it was HER fault someone stole my bike. Funny how things which were such big deals when young are seen so differently today.

uncabeeil -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 12:30:47 PM)
I need to get my bike into the shop. I'm a weekend warrior, doing 99% of my riding on the road. I love to ride along the shore. My biggest adventure is always surviving the traffic. There are no bike lanes here, so it's a real risk some days. What kind of bike do you ride? I have a Pacific 300 trail bike that I mostly ride. I also have a 30 year old Fuji Tourer 10-speed that's been sitting in my basement for too many years that I want to get back on the road. It's the first thing I bought for myself with money earned from my first full time job.

tiffanyctd -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 12:49:43 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: joy2give2u Wow you took two boys 10 or 11 on a 15 mile bike ride? You are sure gutsy. Yeah, it was a pretty big deal. But we had SO much fun that summer.[:)]

joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 12:50:03 PM)
quote: What kind of bike do you ride? I have a Pacific 300 trail bike that I mostly ride. You are going to laugh but I don't know what kind it is..........seven years ago God opened the doors for me to ride bike across america.....with the open door he gave me a bike through one of my sisters employers. I have never really look at the brand or type.......figured she got me across america she is good enough for me....... Someday when I can justify the money I want to buy a real touring bike so I can do long trips and haul my gear. The bike I ride is a hybrid(not the best for riding cross country). I changed out the tires removing the mountain nubby tires for thinner smoother tires more suitable to tour riding. The gearing is really bad for road riding but I am use to it.......I did look into putting a larger gear on it but for some reason the maker welded the three smaller ones together and the mechanic said they would have to redo the whole system so I stay with the small gearing. I ride back country roads, very few of them are well paved, mostly pot holes, lose gravel and some dirt...........Due to weather I just started up again since last dec..........In the last two weeks I have worked up to 25 miles a day but now the weather has turned icy again so I am on pause........hopefully by sunday it will be nice so I can get out again.........I am just not the same person when I don't ride....... Have you ever done any organized rides on the weekends?

uncabeeil -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 1:19:35 PM)
quote: Have you ever done any organized rides on the weekends? No, it's just me, so I just hop on and go. I live a couple of blocks from the ocean, so it's a nice scenic ride no matter the weather.

joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 1:32:53 PM)
quote: No, it's just me, so I just hop on and go. I live a couple of blocks from the ocean, so it's a nice scenic ride no matter the weather. Have you ever ridden the whole length of highway 1.

joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 1:42:45 PM)
quote: Yeah, it was a pretty big deal. But we had SO much fun that summer. So are you going to get your bike out and ride this summer tiffany? Maybe you should call up your brothers and go for a ride "for old time sake"[:)]

hotsaucygma -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 1:51:13 PM)
Adventures in bike riding... Well, about 4 yrs ago, I became "single again". For some reason I also decided I had to become "foolish" again shortly after that, so [:D] I bought a bike. Now, I had not been on a bike in about 40 years. I made the mistake of telling one of my new friends that I bought the bike, so they called encouraging me to go on a bike ride with them. I decided, [sm=icon_smile_idea.gif], I should "practice" first. So I got on the bike... I wobbled around a bit...actually quite a bit... stopped and started a few times trying to get on the bike and actually keep it upright (read panicked attempts here)... finally got on, got going, thought Wow, this is great... then I needed to stop. [8\|] I peddled backwards furiously.... to no avail- who'd a thunk they'd put brakes on the handle bars??!! [:D] While trying to discover where the darn brakes were, I ran into the back of my son's car and put a hole in it's tail light! [&:] So, I called my friends and told them I didn't think I'd make a 10 mile ride with them that day... LOL! A couple months after that I had knee surgery. What do you supose the Dr. said would be good for my knee - [sm=icon_smile_yikes.gif]bike riding[sm=icon_smile_faint.gif]!! It was an evil conspiriacy between my friend and the Dr., I'm sure. So, I drove up to a empty parking lot one Sunday afternoon and got on that darn bike! I wobbled around until I could actually ride the darn thing! Yeah!! Last summer I actually went on a couple rides about 6-10 miles or so, that was enough for my ahhh, ah-hem, bottom to handle [:)]. This year I bought a exercise bike and have been "riding" for a few weeks now, trying to get my anatomy in shape for real bike riding in a month or so when the weather around here gets nice enough to do it. [:D] I am actually looking forward to it, is that crazy or what!

John_O -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 3:51:21 PM)
quote: ......In the last two weeks I have worked up to 25 miles a day but now the weather has turned icy again so I am on pause........hopefully by sunday it will be nice so I can get out again.........I am just not the same person when I don't ride....... Joy, I'm jealous. I wish I could find the time to get out and ride more. One of my co-workers just bought a new bike. He does about 30 a day. With the Girl I don't have much opportunity except at lunch so I've got to get the bike out and haul it in here. quote: adventures wild experiences favoirite rides worse accident eqiupment advice organized rides you would recommend riding to work pros and cons I used to ride about 5 miles down to lake michigan when I was justa lad, about 13 or so. The world was a different place then. Nowadays I wouldn't let me little one go so far alone. But the family never knew I was gone.after the folks would leave for work I'd get on the bike and head out. about 7 hours later I'd get back after having explored the lakeshore. My favorite ride was probably the bike trail that runs from the Lincoln memorial to Mount Vernon in Virginia. Nice trip and varied scenery about 16 miles one way. Worst accident happened when I was in the eigthth grade. I was going to watch the girls play softball and I was coming down a big hill on 35th street in Milwaukee. There's a stoplight two blocks off the bottom of the hill and if you timed it right you could keep your momentum by blasting through the light as it turned green. (I did this routinely) One day as I'm coming through, pushing as fast as I could, this girl pulls out in front of me on her bike. I t-boned her and we were both tossed to the pavement. She was very cutewith long dark hair but I was so ticked at her that I didn't notice. We were both just scraped up and even the bikes survived. Fast forward to two years later. I met this very cute girl (short hair) and we started dating. On oneof our outings we discussed bike riding. She said she hated it becuase something bad always happened when she rode bikes. I told her the only bad thing that happend to me was when I crashed into some dumb girl on 35th street. She puts her hand over her mouth and says "that was me!" It's a small world after all.

hotsaucygma -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 4:45:46 PM)
Hey John, could you get a "seat" for the Girl and she can ride with you? That could be fun for both of you!

joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/4/2007 7:29:09 PM)
quote: then I needed to stop. I peddled backwards furiously.... to no avail- who'd a thunk they'd put brakes on the handle bars??!! While trying to discover where the darn brakes were, I ran into the back of my son's car and put a hole in it's tail light You are right hsgrm I am laughing and smiling so much right now.........how completely funny........I can just picture you wobbling along trying to figure out how to stop ROFL LOL The other day I was helping skylar ride. Her peddles kept getting stopped in the up/down position making it hard for her to get going again.........After many trips between her and cassie(the baby who needs me to help her) to give her a push start I finally tried to explain to her to back peddle until her peddles are at an angle that she can push down on the top one........she kept saying "I can't"..... Shaking my head at her lack of understanding for the simple task I was trying to get her to do I walked over to show her what I mean........To my surprise the peddles did move backward as BRAKES!!! lol.............she couldn't do what I was trying to tell her because her peddles did not spin backwards...........I felt so silly...she was right she could not do it.........so now I have to figure out another way to move the peddles without her having to stand and lift her bike off the ground LOL quote: Last summer I actually went on a couple rides about 6-10 miles or so, that was enough for my ahhh, ah-hem, bottom to handle . Just so you know you bottom will probably always hurt for the first 6-10 miles.....after the 10th you rarely notice it.........until you get off the bike and feeling comes back to it LOL ..........Serioulsy though I have found the more I ride the less it bothers me.. quote: He does about 30 a day. With the Girl I don't have much opportunity except at lunch so I've got to get the bike out and haul it in here. Wow 30 miles during lunch break........you are much faster then I am........I am very slow.....I just love to ride. quote: Fast forward to two years later. I met this very cute girl (short hair) and we started dating. On oneof our outings we discussed bike riding. She said she hated it becuase something bad always happened when she rode bikes. I told her the only bad thing that happend to me was when I crashed into some dumb girl on 35th street. She puts her hand over her mouth and says "that was me!" It's a small world after all. What a funny story....and yes it is a small world. quote: Hey John, could you get a "seat" for the Girl and she can ride with you? That could be fun for both of you! agreed Hey John_O would you consider doing the Hilly? In bloomington? I want to set some goal of rides to keep motivated. Someone doing the event with me helps keeps me accountable.... Or maybe we could do a ride up in Wisconsin hsgrm.........like halfway between you and I.........It would be fun.

hotsaucygma -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 10:10:33 AM)
Funny, I was thinking last night how fun it would be to put the bike on the back of my car and head somewhere to meet you for a bike ride.[:D] However I was thinking it was kind of crazy thinking about driving probably a couple hundred miles to ride bike for 10 miles [&:] (just kidding here, I knew we could do more than that, but sure wasn't thinking of an "event" type ride!).

bcipam -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 10:33:13 AM)
When I first joined the Board I posted something on cycling and got no response. I have been riding for as long as I can remember. It was my favorite toy as a child as it came m freedom to escape... well at least until suppertime when I had to come back home. But that feeling has carried with me into adulthood and it's still me escape. It's my meditation time. Not only is it good for my body it's good for my head and soul. Most of my vacation involve cycling. In July I'm doing an Adventure Cycling trip through Montana. In the 80's I took a year off work and for 7 months rode my bicycle from California as weest east as Mississippi, up to the Dakotas, across Wyoming, down through Idaho, Oregon and back home. Talk about being lean, fit and tanned! Several years ago I took a wonderful week long trip through Utah. Utah is my favorite state for riding. Beautiful scenary, perfect roads, no traffic. I ride both mountain bikes and road bikes. I own a 2002 Lemond Zurich and have gone through a bunch of mountain bikes but have now settled on a Santa Cruz Superlight and a Specialized M4 Stumpjumper hard tail. Living in California I can ride year round and am blessed to live in an area (Orange County) made for cycling. I am also a volunteer docent for The Nature Conservancy and lead mountain bike rides through some of the Reserves private lands on the weekends. OK bicycle does have its hazards. 4 years ago I had a serious road accident. I sustained a head injury (with still plagues me) and a fractured collarbone with a year ago I had to have plated as it did not heal). I've also fractures my hip and wrist in another accident, had my share of cuts of burises, hematomas etc. But I still love riding. If any of you guys even come out this wy look me up I would love to ride with you all. If anyone have any questions about riding I may be able to help. I spend way too much time with friends taling about bikes, bikes components, equipment, rides etc. Edited to add: Bicycling is the perfect sport/means of exercise. It is good for joints and its a psort one can do way into their 70's and 80's without trouble. Some of the strongest riders in my road club are in their 70's! Amazing.

joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 11:01:15 AM)
bcipam wow thank you so much for posting........I really look forward to hearing more about your rides. Did you ride the 7 months alone or with others? I did a trip across america but it was with an organization........which was great but I have always daydreamed of riding across with just myself and another................. One of the things I love about riding is for some reason it makes you more approachable to others.......Walls come down and people are willing to open up.........Just going into a store to gets people asking you questions..........Some of my favorite memories on my trip across america were the people I stopped to chat with working in their yards or walking..........Even here I ride slow enough I try to notice others and take the time to wave and say hello.......or stop for a few minutes to chat. quote: It is good for joints and its a psort one can do way into their 70's and 80's without trouble. Some of the strongest riders in my road club are in their 70's! Amazing. And perfect for any size.......anyone can ride......and speed is not near as important as just getting out and doing it.

tiffanyctd -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 12:49:44 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: joy2give2u quote: Yeah, it was a pretty big deal. But we had SO much fun that summer. So are you going to get your bike out and ride this summer tiffany? Maybe you should call up your brothers and go for a ride "for old time sake"[:)] I wish! After having 2 bikes stolen in 2 years, I figured that was God's way of telling me to stay off of it for a while![&:] I sometimes ride with them when I visit, but I borrow my Mom's bike. If she wants to come with us, I put on my rollerblades (and of course, we don't go NEARLY as far).

John_O -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 2:36:27 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: hotsaucygma Hey John, could you get a "seat" for the Girl and she can ride with you? That could be fun for both of you! The Girl is 6. She'd see that as far too boring. That's her favorite word now, "bored" I'm trying to get her off her training wheels but she's somewhat timid about things. But we keep trying!

John_O -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 2:38:16 PM)
quote: Hey John_O would you consider doing the Hilly? In bloomington? I want to set some goal of rides to keep motivated. Someone doing the event with me helps keeps me accountable.... When is it. I'd have to check the various calendars to see if it fits in AND you'd have to promise not to show me up too badly. (My initial suspicion is I wouldn't be able to but at least I can look.)

mutinywxgirl -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 3:06:43 PM)
My biking is limited to the gym right now, as I have to use a recumbant one. But, at my peak, I was doing 250-300 miles a week. Once my back is better and I can use a regular bike, I do look forward to getting out and riding along our local trail that goes from the top of the county to the bottom - that's over 30 miles of trail in the city. It's great! Only thing we have to look out for are the afternoon thunderstorms that will come up quickly during the summer. That, and the oppressive heat and humidity. From Nov - May is the best outdoor riding time in my vicinity. As a child, I used to ride everywhere. My worst accident was running into a parked car with my guitar because I wasn't paying attention! This was on my way home from school as it was getting dark. I didn't see the car!

joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 3:13:40 PM)
Cool Lisa I didnt know you rode...........That is a lot of miles a week........very impressive. What happened to your back?

mutinywxgirl -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 3:19:35 PM)
Pinched nerve, still have it, thus the need for the recumbant. That was my sanity from the insanity of my job. I cannot tell you the number of calls I received while either on the treadmill or bike when at the gym that one summer.

hotsaucygma -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 3:47:11 PM)
They do make recumbent bikes for "real" riding too, don't they? I think I saw one when buying my bike. If you needed to, it would still get you out "on the road again" (do I hear music??)!

joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 3:48:41 PM)
quote: They do make recumbent bikes for "real" riding too, don't they? yes they do......

joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (4/5/2007 4:22:48 PM)
Hey hsgma I was just looking at a ride in the UP and a few in wisconsin.........Monday I will look to see what is up in MN.............If I find a 3 day weekend one with camping would you be interested? Okay that is better [:)][:)][:)][:)]

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