biking

[TurdBerglar]

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.

[abbott]

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.

[Guy Incognito]

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?

[TurdBerglar]

Originally Posted by Guy Incognito

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?

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

[Dorothy Wood]

Originally Posted by Guy Incognito

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?

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

[The Notorious LOL]

Originally Posted by Guy Incognito

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.

who cares

[Guy Incognito]

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

[TurdBerglar]

Originally Posted by abbott

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.

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.

[Yeti]

Originally Posted by TurdBerglar

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.

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

[TurdBerglar]

the creeper trails looks amazing

[Yeti]

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.

[TurdBerglar]

I want this thing but it's way over priced

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

[TurdBerglar]

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.

[TurdBerglar]

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.