TT biking club

“backpacking, canoeing, bicycling...

no yoga for me, and I put XC skiing into my rotation. Need to get canoeing back in, would be easy if we move to Boise.”

“Stikmon: Make sure you have the tension loose on the clipless pedals when you start off. I had the bike shop put them on and then I headed home without taking them up on their offer to put me on a trainer and adjust the pedals. When I got home I tried riding the bike - clipping in was fine but I couldn't clip out, so I crashed. I went back to the bike shop to have them put the toe clips on and they talked me leaving the clipless ones on and riding the bike on the trainer. They adjusted the clipless pedals so they were easy to get out of. After about 15 minutes of clipping in and out on the trainer I was good to go. I only crashed one more time after that when I went braindead and forgot to unclip.”

“the bike shop is in Little Rock, so, I'm sort of on my own, but they said that they would walk me through the process over the phone, step by step on adjusting them, they also said the same thing, set them on easy at first. I'm really psyched to have them.”

“Did it this weekend.

After lingering at 1,776 miles for the season after my September century, I had only accumulated miles slowly. My riding season was pretty much over. I stopped at 1,968 or so.


I finally broke 2,000 this weekend.

A 40 mile ride with the usual crew Saturday morning.


7:00 am meet time. It was 22 degrees out. by the time I got on the bike my hands were already cold from fiddling with chain lube and inflating the tires (can't work a presta value in goretex overmitts).


I ride to meet the gang down a hill that nets me 34 mph on a glide. Its about 4 miles to meet them.

By the time I got off that hill my thumbs were gone. My feet did pretty well. I had them in a liner sock. Chemical toe warmers. Plastic veggie bag. Smart Wool sock. My upper body was silk T-neck. Poly pro zip t-neck, pearl Izumi long sleeve and my Marmot precip. Lowre body bike shorts and cycle tights.

Also balaclava.


At 21 miles we stopped an got coffee. Hands warmed up and I used the air hand dryer in the bathroom to warm up my gloves before putting them on.

Starting the ride towards home with warm hands made a huge difference.


Anyhooo.

Now I am done. 2,008 miles!!”

“wahoo - congrats!
:)”

“My last ride was a week ago -- sunny, light breeze, about 75 degrees as I pedaled alongside the Pacific Ocean.
Cycling shorts, short-sleeve jersey, socks, and fingerless gloves. Sorry Lee, had to do it!

My cycling season is just beginning. I should have 2000 miles by this spring, starting this weekend. Looking forward to a good season of sweet suffering.”

“good deal lee.

my cross training season. Bike and hike till snow, bike and xc ski (think snow!) when conditions permit. Lately been working too much. :(”

“congrats Lee - you made it!

My bike has been working great lately - thanks to the guy at REI who was able to adjust it and lecture me on the importance of a clean chain.

Yes, this is a really nice time of year for bike riding in Southern California.”

“great job lee!!

i bought some sugoi brand overbooties for cycling and LOVE EM!!! Low teens and my feet stayed toasty warm best $50 piece of bike gear in a looooong time!”

“check out this new bike

http://www.bikeforest.com/tread/index.php”

“I think I saw a version of that at the local bike shop, it was called the dorkmeister 2k6. LOL!”

“well I dragged out the bike and dusted it off last night...”

“as soon as we move to the new place im getting me a bike :) its been 3 years since my last ride :(. There is a nice bike path (rails to trails) right by our new home :)”

“I rode mine last week for a short one hour ride and it felt good to back out on the bike. After not being able to ride almost all of last year because of an injury, I'm looking forward to doing some mountain biking this year. I'll have to start slow and build up a base, but that's OK at least I can get out there and ride.”

“Can I join the TT bike club?

I haven't cycled (at all) for six months, after a crash I just got "lazy" and started working way way too much anyways.

A week before I crashed, I chased down a hit & run driver. I was on my bike during my commute into work. He got arrested (DUI/OUI)-nobody was injured. I've been to court once as a witness for the state, now the dudes requesting a jury trial. I'm going to court again for the state on the 13th.

I'm just about done tweaking out my tourer (swapped brifters for regular levers & bar ends).

I fly into Paris on the 18th to start my Europe to Asia cycle tour, I have no definite end date.

How much are dues, and can I get a patch?

Tailwinds!”

“Dues are $50 for a year-

Just send me an e-mail and I'll send you an address you can send the donation to. Once I recieve your donation you will get your patch in 4-6 weeks.”

“Yeah but Spirit Coyote I won't have an address in 4 weeks.

No patch for me. Boo.”

“well, um, i can hold off untill you do!”

“Dunno, depends what it looks like.”

“I took my "new" cobbled bike out on tues for its first ride in its current form and had a blast. Full suspension is oh so comfy, my chain is kinkied so I will replace it sat.

Camel that is a heckuva ride, enjoy it.”

“Hey thanks birch,

I'll do my darndest to have fun! Shouldn't be much of a problem.

I do need to focus on enjoying wherever I am, because as of late I've been looking forward (too much I think) to the Tian Shan/Himalaya bits. :)

Cheers!”

“Camel, I'd love to read a trip report from your ride if you're up to it.”

“Hi sassafras,

If I have time I hope to set up an online journal at "crazyguyonabike". That site is a wealth of information for touring cyclists, with hundreds of tour reports. Most are US tours, but there are many written of overseas trips as well.

If you have a specific interest in cycling the Tibet Autonomous Region, Xinjiang or the Tien Shan give a look at a fellow named Corax site. Incredible cycling trips, as well as some serious technical climbing. (Google: Corax bike).

If/when I do get my journal up to CGOAB I'll post a link. I've a bit of other last minute "stuff" to take care of - I'm currently doing some surfing as a break/procrastinating...”

“Where ya moving to, SC??”

“Got 50 in yesterday. Nice ride. Out with three buddies

Great tailwind on some rolling flats for about 14 miles of the ride. . First guy was hammering along at 23 mph, so I just glued myself to his back wheel.”

“Sounds like work/fun/dirt........met a guy from a huge bike club in Houston. He travels around the race circuit and, as he told it in his British accent "goes like hell down the trail". I guess going riding with him some weekend will be my goat. We have a huge race taking place close to our trail on May 5-7 at a place called Double Lake Rec Area. He says about 300 bikers, wow. I think it's time to get the bike outta the shed and back in the dirt.”

“I did my longest ride in 6.5 years yesterday. 35 miles. Felt great. I expect to be soon doing 50 mile sunday or saturday mornings. Today, my new pedals for the Litespeed came and the shoes too. Crank Brothers Quatro SL's and top of the line Sidi road shoes. It made a huge difference in the ride tonight. 8 miles in 20 minutes. Not too shabby for a quick joy ride. I just wish I had someone else to ride with.”

“Awe are you a lonely rider stikmon?”

“I don't like riding with others...much easier to get out when I can go, go at my own pace, take whatever roads I feel like...

A couple friends of mine think I don't ride with them because I'm so much slower than them (usually I have to stop and wait for them a bunch of times, then at the end, when their average mph is low, it's MY fault, LOL) but that's not why at all...
We ride the same route, but my destination is the little park beside the road to watch people fish, watch the water rush over the dam, relax, have a snack...they stop at a store just before the park, hang out around the gas pumps gossiping and get donuts. blech!

...that said, every June I ride with a thousand or so other people for three days...”

“Got another 18 in this morning.

it is supposed to be 70 later today. But this morning it was 35 at my house (at 5:30) and dark. It was 25 down in the river valley with the sun just coming up.”

“I'm generally happy with a cheapo and reliable bike - I bike for fun and to stay in shape and don't care about speed or racking up miles. In fact the really good bikes are less useful for getting in shape, because any place that would be safe to go high speed are far away.

I'm feeling really tempted by the following:

http://www.biketoursdirect.com//?location=tourdetail&tid=13&searching=yes

The prices for the self-guided tours on that site are incredible compared to other places.”

“Ped, I have looked at bike tours for the fall in New England before. They aren't to expensive. I haven't looked in Europe before but that would be nice.”

“Italy!!! I'm all over that.

And no, I'm not a lonley bike rider. I'm a solo rider who would like to ride with others once in a while.”

“I did a bike tour once, it was fun. Most of them are too expensive for what you get though.”

“pedxing also give a look at Bike Rides for Ordinary people (if you haven't allready) here:

http://europe.bikeridesfop.org/Prices.htm

Bruce sets up very nice European tours at pretty competitive prices. He also organizes group rides locally (Boston area) at a nice leisure pace.

I've no affiliation with him, but have gone on a few of his local group rides way back when I had free time. Nice folks.”

“recieving the Royal treatment? Very inexpensive vacation in my book. But, if you're comparing it to a week long float on the Rio Grand...well...then $1000.00 is alot of money, my BB week this year only cost me $350.00 or so...that of course does not include the $125.00 speeding ticket I got.

Riding on a bike in Italy for a week and having someone move my bags and feeding me fabulous breakfasts and dinners would easily be worth a grand.”

“stikmon, congrats on logging those miles. Those milestones are fun.

Sounds like everyone is getting some good sping rides in.

I bugged outta work 4hrs early and headed out to preride a local trail before a saturday race. It was awesome. 20.44 miles and no crashes lol. Lots of mud and some great hills. Adjusted saddle height and position, feels awesome.”

“21 this morning. A little faster average speed than yesterday .. .we were cranking along.

not as cold. 42 at my house, 35 down in the valley.


tomorrow I sleep. No ride.”

“Last night I danced 21 miles on the Litespeed and 5 miles on the Marin mtn bike, with Khatru trotting along beside.

I got my new pedals (Crank Brothers Quatro SL's [blue], and Sidi carbon road shoes. For the first time in 30 years of riding, I felt like million bucks and really felt in tune. What a great feeling. To leave something so important and then refind it again is a wonderous miracle. I'll never stop riding again. Now I'm a backpacker, canoeist and cyclist. The best of 3 universes. Now I just need the girl and life will be complete.”

“Rode 32 miles with the gang this morning. Beutiful sunrise over the marshes of the CT River.

Good ride.”

“for 8 miles. Should have road the Litespeed, but I got a wicked workout as a result. riding a mountain bike on the road is hard work. Today at lunch I road the LS 8 miles in 13 minutes, took a shower, ate lunch, road the Marin back to work. I'm so glad to be back on the bike.”

“Checked out a bike shop in Spokane, wanting to find out about bike routes, commuting here, clubs etc. Sounds good! They tried to sell me a carbon, Specialized MTB. HA!”

“I rode the route that Lance would ride when he'd visit with Sheryl. Nice ride, its 24 miles, FLAT with no mountains, but still a nice ride away from the highway. I'll make this my evening run after work on Wednesdays. I'm going to ride on lunch breaks for 25 or so minuets, I should be able to get in 10-13 miles.”

“32 is a nice workout.

walked 4 miles of the Centennial Trail this AM. Will be an awesome ride if I get/take the job.”

“Think the seller di his (her) own work on the bike??

http://boston.craigslist.org/bik/151711374.html

And thanks for the link Camel. It looks like the bike tours direct prices are much better than anything else bookable from the US.”

“Road bikes - how many miles should the tires be good for?”

“I don't know, but when I decide to replace a tire it's because the thread depth is too thin, the tire is too old or some other condition like cuts, sidewall damage or other things have compromised its performance. I think it's tough to say tires will last a set number of miles because of different rubber compounds, road conditions, rider style or other variables. You can rotate them to get more wear out of a set.
last edited: 4/19/06 12:33:41 PM”

“Thanks Rich!

just curious cause I took my bike to the guy I don't like and got the "you need this, this and this..." spiel...he's a very condescending little man...”

“Don't let them take advantage of you. You can tell if a tire needs to be replaced just by inspecting it like you would a tire on your truck or car.”