OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

[8O]

Not strictly mine but I took the shots the other day, came out nice as bike pics go

...nice photo!

[jprime]

I live on Vancouver Island, we have some of the sickest mountian biking / freeride terrain in the world.
My weapon of choice:

Transition Bottlerocket:



Sending it like FedEx:

[aqua_tek]

^^ THat's a great looking bike, right there.

And the second picture is balls! Big air

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/wo ... et.cam.cbc <- CNN clip of a guy who now always rides with a video camera on his helmet to document the idiotic car drivers... I was going to say it looks pretty bad there in the US, but come to think of it, I've seen plenty of idiotic behaviour from drivers here too... just haven't had a camera to record it, plus I always assume that the drivers are going to do something stupid, so am way more cautious... like the way home the other day, a taxi makes a big effort to overtake me just so that he can cut me off, turning off (without indicating) to a side-road a few metres later...

His reaction to that first, red car was the best. "HOOOOLY SH*****!" Such an honest reaction. Made me LOL.

It's true, people out here drive like fucking idiots. I also keep that in mind all the time, so I ride my bike a little more cautiously than others. It's a sad reality that a lot of cyclists just ride their bikes like jackasses and that doesn't help the cause.


If it's bad in the continental US, it's worse in Puerto Rico, where I grew up. Supposedly, bike related deaths account for a high percentage of all car accident related deaths down there, so a new law is being passed to... get this... RESTRICT CYCLING! Many restrictions, including a 6:00 PM CURFEW, a MANDATORY orange worker's vest at all times, and other ridiculous things. Every other country promotes cycling and is taking measures to facilitate it... and the ass-backwards politicians down there are going the opposite way. It's a big "FUCK YOU" to anyone who rides a bike down there.


It all stems from a lack of education. Most drivers never learn to respect cyclists, because "streets are made for cars anyways"; many cyclists never learn to respect the safety rules of the road, maybe because they see their bikes as more of a toy and mode of entertainment, rather than an actual vehicle, so they think these rules should not apply to them... which in turn just ends up pissing drivers off even more.

[Tarekith]

Is the Mt Washington park open yet?

[jprime]

Negative on Mt. Washington. I think last winter they had the most snow of any resort in North America, so they are currently using the cats to try and push snow off the runs....hang on a sec - let me look out the window...

....yup - can still see snow up there

Anytime you're in the area though - holler for a tour. I'm up for XC rides, DH, whatever. It's all good.

[aqua_tek]

Anyone got helmet recommendations for the road?

Been reading and hearing about too many people cracking their skulls lately. Feels like a sign.

[bosonHavoc]

Anyone got helmet recommendations for the road?

Been reading and hearing about too many people cracking their skulls lately. Feels like a sign.

i hear ya, i picked up a bell at the thrift store for like 8 bucks..
the used road bike i just purchased makes me a little nervous..
i can go faster then i'm used to from riding a mountain bike and the wheel set sucks...
not sure how well it will work but i am wearing it... especially since i tend to drop my head when riding in the drops. i'm trying to brake that habit because i bet that is a sure fire way to land on the ol noggin. lol

[bosonHavoc]

Sending it like FedEx:

pretty freakin sick by the way!

[aqua_tek]

added black rims and new Conti Ultra Gatorskin tires.



Also took down the gearing a bit. Trying to do less mashing, and more spinning. Been reading up and it might be a good change for a while, to improve on my technique.

Felt good.

[smartass303]

added black rims and new Conti Ultra Gatorskin tires.



Also took down the gearing a bit. Trying to do less mashing, and more spinning. Been reading up and it might be a good change for a while, to improve on my technique.

Felt good.

sick.
took down the geaaring? what does this mean? less tooth in the rear "ritzel" (dont what it is in english, sry)?
a befriended messenger ruined his conti gatorskin in hamburg within three weeks.

cheers,

303

[aqua_tek]

took down the geaaring? what does this mean? less tooth in the rear "ritzel" (dont what it is in english, sry)?

Taking down the gearing makes you "spin" more, meaning it's slightly easier to pedal, slow down, skid, etc. but the trade off is that each pedal stroke moves you a shorter distance than with higher gearing. Makes you have to pedal a little faster on flat land to maintain higher speeds, but I've read it improves your condition and technique.

You can take down the gearing by either adding MORE teeth to the rear cog (i guess that's what you mean by ritzel), or using a crank chainring with fewer teeth.

I rely on this little applet a lot. Very useful info and lets you figure out and compare gearing.
http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/ ... pplet.html

I usually stay somewhere between the low and mid 70's (in gear-inches), but with this new ratio, I'm at 66 and it feels interesting, and kind of nice. Still need to get used to it. But so far I'm digging the change.

a befriended messenger ruined his conti gatorskin in hamburg within three weeks.

That happens when you skid a lot. I don't skid that much on mine. I pull the occasional skid and skip just for fun, but I usually just slow down by applying reverse pressure and backpedaling a few yards ahead of an intersection. I'll also use the front brake occasionally. Not skidding too often helps to keep my tires durable.

Your gearing also influences. Certain gear combinations will give you more skid patches than others. Fewer skid patches + skidding = burning through your tires quicker.

[aqua_tek]

We got into QUITE the little misadventure last night. Kind of sucked but was kind of entertaining at the same time.

Went for long-ish bike ride with my roommate and another friend and ended up getting lost somewhere in deep in Queens. Rain caught up with us quickly after... and it rained HARD. Made it hard to ride. We couldn't see fuck-all.

I ended up hitting a pretty bad pothole as a consequence and blew a flat. On top of that, I forgot to bring a spare tube and pump. So did the other two guys. And there were no bike shops around and it was already kind of late for any to be open. So we were stranded in the middle of nowhere, Queens.

I told the guys to ride along if they wanted, and I would find a way back home, but they showed solidarity by deciding to stick around and walk with me until we found a way back home.

After about an hour of walking in the rain... lost... we finally found the 7-train bridge underpass and walked under it and followed it til we got to LIC. There's some CRAZY reverberation and reflections under that thing. We had some fun with that for a while, hootin' and hollerin', clapping, making noises, etc. which distracted us from trying to find a way back home in Brooklyn.

After about 30 minutes walking under that bridge, the rain stopped and the sky cleared up. The weather actually got gorgeous after that. We figured it was pleasant enough we might as well walk all the way back. We were a still wet and it was a little chilly though, but we were having fun taking in the sights and "broing down", so we manned up and kept it going.

While we were walking, already on the Brooklyn side, we were almost mowed down by some crazy woman driving a Zipcar. I don't know what happened, but it kind of looked like she was texting while driving. About 15 seconds later, we hear a loud boom, only to see that she had rear ended another car. Her car was TOTALLED. The other one didn't look too horrible, but still had some damage. We hung around for a little bit, but a lot of people came to help, so we felt it was time to keep walking.

We made a pit stop at a Mexican restaurant in Greenpoint, grabbed some food to go, and kept on walking. Scarfed that stuff down once we got home, then I took a shower and hit the sack.

Quite a night. All in all, the walk back took about 2.5 hours.

I do feel like I may have the first signs of a cold (or I'm being a hypocondriac) due to being wet and walking in the chillly air last night, so I'm taking it easy and resting up. Took the rim to a bike shop just to make sure it was alright (which it was), changed that tube, and purchased a pair of extra tubes and a mini pump.

Lesson learned.

[smartass303]

...and purchased a pair of extra tubes and a mini pump.

Lesson learned.

i always have a mini pump and repair set with me. and some tools. extra tubes are a good idea indeed.

nice story btw,

303

[Tarekith]

What is this the walking thread now?

I always have a pump and tube with me strapped on the road bike too, but I don't live in NY where you have to worry about theft constantly.

[aqua_tek]

What is this the walking thread now?

yeah the cycling fad is so 2007. It's all about walking now... or if you're really hardcore... speed-walking is where it's at