biking
 

I know a lot of you guys bike. what do you ride? how often? where do you ride? do you keep track of how many miles you ride a season? anybody ride seriously?

I have a 2011 trek top fuel which has almost all custom parts:
http://www.trekbikes.com/images/bike...ilverblack.jpg

I ride a combination of road and steep trails. I try to ride at least 20 miles each ride. sometimes I hit 50 miles. the most I've ever ridden in one day is around 80 miles. that was a while ago when I would ride three times a day if I had the whole day off. last summer I rode 1100 miles. I use to ride 2000+ a year. i'd like to approach that again but I doubt I ever will. my riding season is usually from mid spring to mid autumn.

I have a bunch of old parts I've accumulated over the years that I plan to use to make a new bike. all I need is a frame. I just ordered this fame as a beater/spare/friend bike: http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/225...tail-Frame.htm

Re: biking
 

I commute if that counts? 20 miles a day in total, five days a week. Sometimes out at the weekend. I love it.

I recently gave away my BMX to a charity recently and right now I just have one bike - a good practical hard tail and rigid forks commuter-cum-tourer bike. Like with the panniers, dynamo lights, all the mudguards etc

I want to get a bit more into hill training (London is too flat but moving back up north soon - I hope) and maybe something I could do a proper epic ride with that can handle a few dirt trails. I've had an eye on this 29er by Corratec. It's been on my shopping list of while but I am waiting for a voucher code to come my way first. I was always a little dubious about 29 inch wheels but I read some reviews and the concept I like - a comfortable long fairly easy ride at. Travel round the coast of the UK doing around 20-60 miles a day camping light is on my to-do list in the next few years.

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http://bikesdirect.com/products/merc...gal9_bignr.jpg

^I have that thing. I generally just use it as a mode of transportation. I bike almost everyday 6-20 miles, unless temps drop below 20. It's all city biking, mostly flat except for bridges over the river. My longest ride was 75 miles.

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I used to ride my bike every Sunday for about 6km, I guess, but I never really kept track of the time and kilometers. Recently I bought a polar watch, but I never used. I love riding my bike, but I feel lazy, very lazy.:/

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29er's are more for more advanced trail riding. I don't really see why they'd make a 29er commuter bike. the whole reasoning behind larger wheels is that larger wheels roll over holes better. there's no reason for the added weight of 29inch wheels and the larger frame to accommodate them on a commuter bike(commuter bikes are already heavy enough). if you wanna go the 29er rout just get a basic hardtail cross country mountain bike. it may be expensive as 29ers haven't been around that long. affordable durable hardtails can weigh like 25lbs or less.

and for whatever reason commuter bikes are insanely over priced.

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road bikes are so smooooooth and light. I just find them to be too twitchy. I've always wanted one but I spend too much time in the dirt to warrant one. I wish I could ride all year long. well I can. I just fucking hate the cold with a passion.

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are polar watches one of those gps type things? there's these small gps devices that keeps track of where you went and how much change in elevation you experienced on your ride/run. you can upload it to your computer and it keeps track of what you've accomplished. they're huge motivators.

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I have 2 bikes. I plan on selling one.

I have an altitude moniter coming cause I climb some hills and want to know.

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I have a newer Schwinn Frontier I got for free. Nothing amazing, but it works for now and Im going to convert it to single speed in the spring. I didnt really start biking until late last summer, and Im not sure why it took me so long to get into. Minneapolis is a very bike friendly city, so thats a huge plus.

Near the end of the year I was biking probably 25-30 miles a day a few times a week. I'll probably pick it back up as soon as the weather warrants it.

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why a single speed? just curious. people seem to really like single speeds.

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altitude monitor? like you'd see in a plane? or is it like a gps type thing. I've been thinking about getting on of those for a while. I don't really climb up massive hills. but the constant up and down steep trail paths must add up and I'd love to know.

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less complexity I guess. The chain falls off my bike more than I'd like it to, and since the vast majority of the city is flat anyway...the extra gears arent a necessity. I used to think it seemed like a stupid gimmick until I used a friends single speed bike and I really liked it.

Fixed gear I'll never understand though.

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this is the kind of riding that i do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqTAk7Npm_A

I live about five miles from this place. I haven't been there much and I don't really know why. im forcing myself to go there once spring hits.

another place where I ride is more technical than the above. maybe I can find a video of it.

Re: biking
 

there are several trails near my home.

I stay on asphalt 95% the time, but dont ride a 100 % road bike.

I average 2 days a week for 45 minutes. I ride about 5-10 miles. I might change 2000 feet in a ride so my ride is up and down.

I do have an alternative flatter rout and I guess it changes at least 750 feet. Here's the video of that path ... http://youtu.be/k1ew4UDqfgY

oh yea, check out the lightning stike at the very end... three bolts become one...

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was that once a railroad track?

they do that around here. convert the old abandoned railways into bike paths. there's a real nice one a few towns up north that cuts through a couple typical picturesque new England college towns. it's real nice but there's always way too many people on it.

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not a railroad. The city builds bike/walking tacks all over the city. There are 50 miles of connected bike trails around the city and along the river and they are building more.

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i realise that i am going to lose a lot of the small amount of man points that i have but you are all fucking mental.

I respect your bravery and love of the thrill, i get all that but being in control of a big ass bike is not something i would ever want or enjoy.

Serious questions: does it not constantly worry you that you are more likely to have an accident than a motorist or that you are less protected? Does thinking about being safe lessen the enjoyment of it? Doesnt the restriction of most roads frustrate?

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that sounds great. if they built bike paths through my city the hoodrats would just use them as ambush points to jump people for their bikes.

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I've been biking my whole life. it's like an extension of myself. totally second nature as would anything would be if done that long. and these bikes, well the good ones at least, are very light and nimble. and I don't really see myself as doing anything really all that extreme. that video I posted is pretty much the extent of what I do. to me that's very tame compared to what can be done. my bike is a full blown full suspension mountain bike and it only weighs about 25lbs. so it's not this behemoth that you need to lug around. it's not any different than playing any other sport. the person playing the sport never really worries about the potential injuries or how crazy it may be because they've just been doing it their WHOLE life.

if you're freaked out by that shit you should check out downhill mountain biking. that shit is insane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XByI0ifNXgY

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Honestly, it can get scary and it is a dangerous way to travel (where I am). But I stay as safe as I can, bordering on paranoid. It's a dense city, so traffic is never really going so fast that you'd be critically injured if hit.

The risk is somewhat thrilling, I feel very empowered. Getting from place to place with my own energy, feeling strong. Especially since I started riding year round. I took the past 10 days off because it was below freezing and quite icy, but I rode about 10 miles last night. Still some ice and snow, but pretty clear roads. I have kevlar tires, and they're really grippy, I was nervous because they have no tread, but the flat smooth surface actually works better in slick conditions.

Plus it's like, okay, I could've taken a cab to the show I went to last night, would've taken 20 minutes would've cost $15 or so...or I could've taken two trains for $2.25, 45 minutes to an hour travel time, plus about a half mile of walking. Or, I could walk out my door with my bike and get to the show in a half hour for free and also have a ride home. Fashion choices are limited of course, but I make it work.


Biking gets easier and more enjoyable with practice. My bike is not very big and pretty simple to operate. The key is finding one that fits. My mom never rides her bike, I tried to ride it and it was like pedaling through molasses. I keep trying to tell her that the bike sucks, but she just thinks I'm a snob. heh. Maybe I'll buy her a good bike for her birthday so she will listen to me for god damn once. :P

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who cares

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nothing like taking a half a post and having a go.

as for the real answers, thanks. I suppose i have thought about it too much to ever be comfortable on a bike. But fair do's if you enjoy it

and who cares? lots of people worry about people on bikes. I imagine members of your family for starters

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The best rail trail I have ever biked was along the Greenbrier River on West Va. Rail trail biking is fun for me because it is easy but it is also a great workout. Also, my 6 year old can come along. I still want to do the Creeper Rail Trail in Abington, Va.
http://www.vacreepertrail.com

http://www.greenbrierrailtrailstatepark.com

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the creeper trails looks amazing

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The Virginia Creeper trail is supposed to be awesome. There is an incline going one way and they say once you get to the end you can almost coast back the other way. It is about 5 hours from my house so this summer we are thinking of renting a cabin or something.

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I want this thing but it's way over priced :mad:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160&pID=69043

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so I just got an older used version of the thing I posted above from ebay. it's pretty cool. it came with a heart rate monitor that I wasn't expecting. apparently I have a very low resting heart rate of around 60bpm. I wonder what I can get it down to after I really start riding this spring.

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I need to find out how to prevent leg cramps. eating bananas and stretching before a ride doesn't seem to help and I drink a ton of water. I seem to get cramps before I've exhausted myself. I normally ride till complete exhaustion and have a difficult time even standing. but sometimes leg cramps prevent me from using up all that I have and have to quit early. really sucks when each muscle and its opposite muscle decide to cramp up and you're locked into this really stupid position and people are looking at you like you're some sort of dipshit.

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http://www.moredirt.co.uk/bikes/16965.jpg

Used to have this one until someone stole it. Can't bring myself to spend that money on a bike again but managed to pick myself this one up quite cheap instead.

http://www.beelinebicycles.co.uk/med...hiteSilver.jpg

I used to do a lot of road riding around the city when I lived there, did it more for the thrill of being a complete dickhead through the traffic than anything. Did a bit of downhill but my bike wasn't a hardcore downhill bike and I wasn't good enough to enjoy it. I prefer just riding trails through woods, nothing too crazy. The base I am at for the next few months has some really good tracks that people come from miles around to visit, so should be able to get some good time on the bike then.

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those are both great bikes