massive. oil 'em up. I'll crush you like a little walnut /hans und franz

I took my Arnoldian thighs out for a 2 hour dirt road ride with the guys early this morning. 25 degrees F my lungs were burning and my throat's still raw but we did 'er.

Did 30 min on my trainer indoors Sunday, my legs were fine, but my tush cried uncle. It is still tender today. On my christmas list this year? A new seat. I still have the original one on both bikes, I was waiting to buy a new one as a reward for riding more, but I tend to not ride 'cuz the seat(s) are so uncomfortable. Gonna hit the bike shops this week and test a few.

How's your wrist Griff?

before youdrop coin on a new seat have you had a fitkit done to be sure your bike is properly set up for you? Most sore hinder problems are casued by improper postion on the bike or pedalling in too low a gear. Then again, there are some really really cheap seats out there.

Actually not even sure if Fitkit is still being done, but get a pro to check your bike set up. Then look at the $200. Terry saddles.

i'll be yer huckleberry. *cough* i mean - i got yer seat right over here. *he he he* maybe i just mean, good luck with your search.:blush:

Oh look out , you seat sniffer you !!!!!

The wrist is improving. You're going to find that riding on the trainer hurts more than regular riding. Fit kits are few and far between since the transition from bike shop to bike store.(did they have chains when you started riding F3? ;)) Pete found a Nasbar women's seat that worked for her after a Terry didn't work out. Womens seats are pretty personal so you'll probably end up going through a couple before you get it right. As always, the helpful guys at the cellar will be happy to observe your... position.

I bought both bikes from World Of Bikes, an Iowa City mom and pop shop (details earlier in this thread) and was fitted at the store. They are just really uncomfortable seats. I have gotten used to them in the past, but it's taken a few weeks. I want more cushion, and am also curious if cutouts are better. Also, I have never used the padded bike shorts before, and figure a pair of those will help too. I've seen ones that look like regular dri-fit shorts with the liner/padding inside and will likely get a pair of those instead of the traditional spandex type.

One of the bike shops in CR has a demo area with a bunch of seats on a wood plank so you can actually sit on them and compare. We are going there tonight, but I'll be leaving the camera at home, sorry ;)

Dirty birds!

Bought this last night. Won't be able to tell you how it works till after Christmas though. :rolleyes: It was the one that hurt my still slightly sore tush the least.

Yes, we had chains, but they were made of wood.

Lab, I've got the guy version of that seat on both my bikes. It works very well for me.

I always hated carving replacement links...

I did a three hour mtn bike ride Sunday with my bud. I never really got comfortable between the lungs and the stiff legs from doing fencing footwork with my kid. It was however a ride making it better than just about anything else.:cool:

for you folks in the snowy parts ,
www.ktrakcycle.com

Hi LR - the Specialised Body Geometry range works for me - I bought the MkI (similar to yours) 2 years back and was amazed at the absence of suffering it produced. I now have the MkII which I used on the Somme trip last summer and on the 100 mile one day excursion around Dieppe in September. When you are pedalling it feels hard but the weight is all on the pelvic bones and there is therefore very little soreness - dismount and any pain seems to disappear (as opposed to staying around as at least a 48-hour reminder with a conventional saddle).

Endorphin OD today from mtn biking. Good Times.

So, back in 2002 or so, before we were married, Mr. Clodfobble bought a rather expensive mountain bike, thinking he would really like to take up the hobby. Unfortunately he rode the bike a grand total of six times, and it has been hanging out in a series of garages ever since. We tried to sell it in 2005, but got no takers.

Completely out of nowhere this morning he decided that he wanted to take a ride on his bike (he's taking some vacation days from work today and tomorrow.) As he was leaving, I casually told him not to crash and get run over by a car.

About 15 minutes later he calls me.

"So what if I crash and dive headfirst into a stagnant pond instead?"

Did he get a duck kiss on his tuchis?

Surprisingly, no real injuries except a cut finger and a bruised pride. :) He sure smelled bad though.

I was just reading an article about cycling to work. The author is afraid that gas prices will put more inexperienced cyclists on the road. You're much more likely to crash when you first start. So now that your husband got that out of the way he should start riding seriously now!:)

With mountain biking, I've always felt that if you're not crashing, you're not learning anything new.

I hope the bike was ok.

Took a quiet pedal through the woods today. Feeling oh so mellow... I'm iceing my wrist, it may be improving all is right with the world.

My old Schwinn Varsity 10 speed has a messed up rear wheel, so I haven't been using it much lately. Broken hub which means two spokes are missing and can't be replaced, and the spokes are all out of tension. It pings and pops if you try to ride it. It's been a problem, since my daughter wants to go riding, so I've been riding an extra kid's bike we have. A Mongoose trick bike.

Lucky for me, my neighbor just threw away his mountain bike last week. It looked to be in really sad shape, the tires were flat and falling apart, the brakes were out of adjustment and not working, it was all dirty/moldy, and the handlebars were all twisted around. It really looked like trash. I took it out of his trash pile, and an hour or two of TLC later, the thing is working like a charm. It still could use new tires, but other than that, it's in great shape. He's even my height, so it fits me.

All the logos on the frame are worn off so I don't know the brand, but the wheels say Specialized, and all the derailers, cranks etc. are Shimano. It's got some sort of eliptical cranks. Actually they aren't eliptical, they are Biopace chainwheels. Shifts smoothly and rides well.

Now that I think about it, the seat is really uncomfortable. Some gel thing with a hole/channel in the middle. Felt like I was messing up my junk on an hour long ride I took with my daughter. So I need to switch a seat from one of the other old bikes, or buy a new one. And get new tires. Otherwise, not bad. Free bike!! Anybody know what kind it might be?

Its probably a late '80s Specialized Stump Jumper or Rock Hopper. You can look here for the specific model. They were the bomb back in the day.
Nice find!

SonofV and I rode to the last scout meeting. After some griping about being ambushed with the change in wheels, we had a good ride. It's about 15-20 minutes and on the way there, we crossed paths with the SPL, who was driving. SonofV had his competitive fires stoked by the encounter and pedaled like a madman to "Beat him to the meeting". We didn't arrive first but we sure rode like winners! :)

I was going to Leadville, Colorado, for a meeting and decided to bring my bike so that I could ride the Mineral Belt Trail. When I got out of the meeting, the sky was black. The trail runs right past the Aquatic Center, so I decided to leave my car there and go clockwise around the loop.

I thought that I could stay ahead of the storm, and then sneak around behind it. I got 0.4 miles before the rain hit and the temperature began to drop, but I had brought my bike to Leadville, and I was going to complete the loop.

I said that if there was lightning, I would turn back. There was lightning, but I kept going.

There was wind and hail. There was a monsoon.

My shoes were full of water and I couldn’t see because of spray coming off my front tire.

Every time I pedaled, water would pump out of my shoes.

I was breathing through my mouth. Hail lodged in my esophagus. The temperature was 39°.

By mile three I couldn’t feel my hands.

There was a long down hill section with a road crossing at the bottom. The bike wasn’t slowing, and I couldn’t tell how hard I was braking. The brakes began to make a noise like a sasquatch trying to mate with a wood chipper. I remember thinking that at the time, “sasquatch trying to mate with a wood chipper.”

To occupy my mind I wrote a poem. I’ve already forgotten it. Something about death.

I finished the loop and got back to the car. My hands were so cold that it took me several minutes to get the car key out of my pocket. I think I had hypothermia and frostbite.

I’m glad I brought my bike to Leadville.

Sounds like you were crucified by the weather....

We encountered one of what the locals refer to as a 'pisse comme la vache' rainy day in France a few years back. Persistent rain hour after hour rather than the variety of stuff you had, but with much the same effect on vision and feet. It culminated in having to get through a village (there was no way around it) where the road that was flooded to crotch height - of course we didn't realise it was this deep immediately - for some twenty or so yards. Instead of approaching the obstacle in the correct way (hoisting our bikes over our shoulders - perhaps the fact that they were laden with full panniers for and aft had something to do with it - we tried to cycle through. Not possible, and extremely inadvisable - my pal's bike ended up with a broken/corroded crank while both of us enjoyed soaking wet clothing (both in and out of the panniers) as a result of our hasty decision to sally forth!

Who said cycling wasn't fun?

Cyclefrance - I think you had it worse. At least after my ride, I was able to go into the aquatic center and take a warm shower and dry my clothes a little under the air dryers.

These are the memorable rides.

Absolutely! We did the 100 mile leg of the MS150 in the rain one year, it leaves an impression. Watching the riders fall like rose petals in the heat a few years back left another.

Finally got the 'ole rig out again for the year a couple weeks ago. The pup fills her trailer out a bit more than last year :). She's pushing 45-46lbs this year, and I can definately tell.

"Mom? Why are we going so slow?"
"Because, *pant* we are going, *huff, huff* uphill, now *pant* shush!!"

I didn't know Iowa had a hill.

Har Har. You are thinking of Nebraska.

LR - that's a nice bike. Does it have a double or triple front chainring?

Triple. I rarely use either of the extemes though.

If I was towing that much weight, I'd be using the full range of gears. I spend a lot of time in granny gear (which still isn't low enough).

My neighborhood ride is just a 9 mile loop through the subdivision, but has cumulative elevation gain of about 1300 feet. It takes me almost an hour to ride those 9 miles. I need everything from the smallest combination to the biggest. (My max speed last week was 40.1 mph, but for 2.5 miles I didn't get out of granny gear.)

Definitely right HLJ, as we put years on our knees we have to be careful about use and form. I was talking to a college fencer last night at practice and he mentioned that some guys on his team went down with knee injuries.

Now we know who sees LabRat's ass more than anyone else.

He shoots, he scores!

So I'm riding to work the other day and I catchup to a 20-something comely lass riding a softail up off the seat -- expending most of her energy with the whole bike going up and down. I was just about to tell her that she needed to firm up her rearend when I though better about it... :blush:

I did a 6 miler Wed night with the pup in tow and paid particular attention to what gears I was using. Oooooh, long one I know. But that's all my tush could take. It's still getting rebroken in. I need to switch my seat to my new one off my road bike this weekend.

I used the front granny chainring twice, for two longer steeper hills for the easiest gear ratios. The rest of the time I used the middle one and just shifted the rear. My right knee made itself known a couple times, not painfully, but sort of an *Ahem* little catch. I know I'm due for new running shoes so until I get those I am chalking it up to my milage increasing on shot sneaks... Experience has taught me that when my knees start to bug me, it's time for a new pair.

I guess I figured that more pedalling in lower gears was worse on your knees than breaking a little sweat in a slightly higher one. But you guys are making me see the possible error in my thinking.

LR - Everything I've read indicates that you should keep your pedalling cadence high - maybe 90 RPM (when possible). This is the reason for using the granny gear (smallest front, largest rear chainring) on steep terrain. It's supposed to be better for your knees and endurance.

Yeah but, you get a lousy finish time...:D

For running, I know I'm not 'pushing' myself too hard when I can breathe in for 3 footfalls, and out for 2. (IN: left,right,left OUT: right, left IN: right, left, right etc.) Pushing myself I fall into a 2/2 and get tired a lot faster. Stride length however matters.

Also, I like to run to music with a certain beat/min, which is escaping me right now. (150?) I own several aerobics music CD's that have the BPM listed, and they sell this type of thing for cycling too, though I don't own any of those

What do you use to gauge how fast your cadence is?

The computer on one of my bikes includes cadence (it requires an additional magnet on the crank) -- unfortunately, the two bikes that I ride most often do not have cadence, so I just try to stay in a gear that keeps me spinning pretty fast.

Lest you forget.
http://www.bikerag.com/bike_crash_pics.htm

A guy I ride with came into the shop one day with a perfect print of an 8" maple across his shoulder and chest. The guy with him was sure he was dead, but he just couldn't catch his breathe.

Spectacular finish! click Hushovd wins stage four.

Good ride today 2 and a half hours on the pavement. Pete road to work this morning so I road in to ride back with her. nice

Griff -- that sounds great. I've hardly ridden this year.

Thanks Wolfie.

I'm not doing well either. I've been fencing twice a week, so squeezing in the rides has been hard.

I don't intend to make a habit of this, well not more than once a year anyway, but I am cycling again next month for the UK Seeability charity that works to help partially sighted people lead a normal life and gain employment.

If there's anyone out there who is doing a charity event themselves and would be interested in some cross-sponsorship, please let me know. If we can boost both our charities then that can't be bad thing now, can it?

My event takes me over 150 miles in two days from the county of Surrey near where I live to the town of Le Mans in France, scene of the annual 24-hour car endurance race. So probably not surprisingly the Seeability event is all about getting to Le Mans within 24 hours... by bike.

If you want to know more you can visit the Seeabilty Le Mans website here and also see my online donation page here

Thanks for looking.

Interesting government-backed scheme over here.

If you are salaried and get paid through the PAYE tax scheme, then you can qualify for a thing called 'cyclesheme'.

You get your company to buy the bike net of VAT (saves 17.5%) and then pay back your company over 12 to 18 months by deduction from salary, with the bonus that your deductions are BEFORE tax (additional saving between 30% and 40%)

So you could end up with a bike for half-price. Officially it's part of the 'green' incentives from the government and meant for people who cycle to work, but it seems to me that it is open to all who get salaries through a company as there are no checks required on mileage riding to work.

I'm going to upgrade from my Trek 7.1FX Hybrid to a Specialized Tri-cross Comp Double - a bit like my old Record Sprint, but mich lighter and with up-to-date gearing, brakes, ansd everything else too! Can hardly wait to get it and put it to the test - the annual trip this year is Calais to Paris one way (train back)!

Underwater Mountain Biking. :rolleyes:
http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnp...123234635.html

Cyclefrance - did you get this bike? If so, can you give a report?

OK, let's dredge this back up to the top.

I'm toying with getting a bike to tool around on, just for general fitness, amusement, and getting out of my chair a little more often.

Coincidentally I'm looking for one for my son too. The one he has is all but too small, and needs more work than I think it worth it.

My question is... where do I look to buy one? I've pretty much established that, theoretically, we can get something for $100 or less at Target or Wal-mart. There are also a couple local bike shops whose lower end, price-wise, seems to be around $375-$400.

Now, I said theoretically... in fact, we went to Target and Wal-mart last night, having resigned ourselves to buying the cheapies, as the higher price just is not happening. As it turned out they had all but NOTHING in stock that would fit my son (he's just under 5" and everything was either 20" wheel kids' bikes, or bigger adult sizes). For me, there was nothing except a couple models of mountain bikes, which isn't really what I'm looking for (preferably more of a road or hybrid). I tried out one as much as I could on the sales floor and I popped the chain off. No doubt I violated some gear-shifting protocol, but it didn't inspire confidence.

Anyway. Having decided to settle for the ultra-cheap option, we discovered it wasn't really much of an option.

So. suggestions for a happy medium pricewise? Used? I worry about buying older models, even in good shape, when I read stuff like "modern gear shifts work so much better" etc.

If there are good shops around the Philly area with used stock, I'd definitely be interested in checking them out.

Ty looking at Sports Authority or Dick's
I think their prices are more in the middle of your extremes.

Portland has gone whole-hog with bikes, and Bend is famous for cycling.
I'm not into it, but I do enjoy the videos we get about how people are challenging the sport.

Here is an PBS episode of Oregon Field Guide about "free riding" on mountain biking in the nearby forests of Mt Hood. The biking segment starts at time 19:45 (link) and is about 10 min long.

"It's as safe as you make it."
"Just don't ride over your head"
"You definitely don't want to break your bike... that's expensive"

And here's an episode for the "unicyclists" among you...

Steve, I recommend used bikes over $99 rubbish from cheapo-mart. The latter will probably fall to bits within a year, probably while you are doing 30 mph down a hill. In six months, it will be a "used" bike anyway, just a used crap bike not a used good bike.

A decent second hand bike, 2-3 years old, for slightly more money, would be much wiser. The tricky things like gears and such might be better if new, but the (new) cheapo bikes will probably have old-style equipment anyway. 3 year old gears should be fine.

Beware cheapo suspension - not sure if you want it. Proper suspension uses gas dampers and springs, like in a car. Cheapo just has springs which cause bouncing which makes control harder, not easier. They just give the appearance of having cool suspension.

I have a few friends who are serious mountain bikers. When looking over a bike, the first thing they check is the brakes. Calipers are poor - disc brakes indicate quality. Easiest way to sort serious bikes from poser toys.

Is your son still growing? (God I hope so, since you said he is only 5 inches tall ... ;) ) He might need to upsize his bike every year or two. No point splurging on a new bike.

[worrywart] Buy a good helmet for him, force him to wear it. Pain fades, bones heal, chicks dig scars ... but brain damage lasts forever. [/ww]

Naw, it gives them a false sense of security, causing them to do risky things.:haha:

Funny stuff from Hyperbole and a Half on childhood experiences of riding bikes. (in this case, not representative at all of how I feel about bikes).

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.co...7/bicycle.html

We have Electra Townies Keryx's is a 21 speed, and mine is a 7 speed. They are very good bikes. The two bikes were rite at $1,000.00, you can get them used for about $200.00. I highly recommend them.