Join in the fun; The Calorie-Count Cycling Club...

Welcome to all who have an interest in anything cycling of any kind.( road, mountain, commuting, stationary, whatever).

This is the place to come to ask that question you have been wanting to ask,

or tell that story about your latest adventure riding your bike,

find out how to use cycling to get in better shape, or anything else you can think of.

So, to start, tell us, what you ride, where you ride and what type of riding you enjoy.

Come back often too check out what's going on and see what's on everyones mind or add your knowledge to the group. 

 

jc343 is giving sound advice for riding in the dark. I too ride home at 12:30 am. In my situation I have excellent 6 foot wide lanes right next to a 4 lane roadway. You would think that would be an ideal place to ride. It is,during the daytime. At night I try to stay on the darker less traveled mup. At that time of night there seems to be a fair amount of Aholes about that think it is fun to chuck beer bottles at the bicyclist. this does not happen every night but frequently enough that I am fed up with them. It is better that I avoid the situation so I ride the path less traveled. I use a planet bike 10 watt halogen for my head light with a white led strobe on the front and I have one blinky on my trunk and 2 others on the seat stays down by the quick release skewer. I am very visible. I have had police officers compliment my lights from behind.

one note on lighting : it serves 2 purposes 

(1) to make you visible to others (motorists)

(2) to light your way when ambient light is insufficient (between the streetlights & where there are not streetlights)

a strong, well-mounted red rear flasher (or 2 or 3 or 5) will make you visible from behind. they're cheap - i've worn as many as 3 at a time. 

smaller lights and strobing front lights work well for #1, but not so well for #2. you'd be surprised how much stuff (actual stuff and potholes/bumps) is in the road when you can't see it. bottles, trash cans, tree branches, rocks, dead things, etc. it's been ages since i shopped for a lighting system. i use a Nightrider halogen light and it has 3 settings, all of which are sufficient to light my way. from what i've seen, some LEDs are bright enough to light the road for you, but usually the halogens are brighter. if you are not on well-lit streets, definitely get something bright enough to light your path.

also, don't outride your light. that means : never ride so fast that you can't stop in the distance illuminated in front of you (either by your headlamp or streetlights).

Sorry I haven?t been in lately, but my work has been crazy!  I just finished my 4th week of riding to work, and I am very proud of myself.  It?s only about 3 miles each way, but now it?s becoming less of a chore and much more enjoyable.  I?ll be able to do longer rides before I know it!  And I am starting to get some serious thigh muscles.  I keep looking at my legs, and because of my weight loss and the new and improved muscles, I keep thinking ?Who?s legs are that?!?  I find that I like not recognizing my body parts.  :D  Now if the heat would calm down I?d be all set.

Dan- I have a 54 dollar Roadmaster Mountain Fury.  Lol, isn?t that an impressive name for a 54 buck bike!  But hey, it?s purple and it gets me to work.  My fiancé says that in 2 and a half months, it will pay for itself because of the gas I?m saving.  So now I can feel healthy, thrifty, and environmentally conscientious. 

Gmule and NightC- You?re right, the best bike is one you ride! 

Jane- you sound like me!  Good for you for getting a bike!

Thank you so much for all the excellent advice. I am going to take the well lit road this first time, but I may try the darker on later.

Throwing beer bottles at bicycles. Good grief, I never even thought that could be a problem. There sure are some "bright" people out there.

I am definitely going for it tomorrow and then hopefully my car will be "boarded up" for the rest of the summer.

Jane

Night-Thanks for the info on the bike racks.... I will know now, not to pick up whatever's at the store and to shop around.  (at least this bike rack was a freebie)  :)

I tied a small piece of rope on the front tire and tube and there isn't hardly any swinging at all.  Plus, since I am in downtown Denver (and not the nicest areas either) I picked up a cable lock and have it run through the rack, the bike and the Jeep's spare tire (which has locking lug nuts on it too).  Hopefully that will keep it safe.  I looked at roof racks BUT with the Jeep that would make it really hard for me by myself to put a bike on because there is SO much height on it. 

Here's a funny story too:

A friend of mine just got a new bike and top rack... Was all set and ready to go.  Looked great and everything.  Well, last week he drove into the garage forgetting that he had the bike on top of his car :P.  Argh...and he's a doctor too!  The car, the bike and the garage door all need a little work done....... 

deannad70, I have neighbor that did the same exact thing to his bicycle on his rooftop carrier. I wonder if that happens more often then we think. 

The guys at the bike shop laughed when I told them about it and they said that that was VERY common and they had repaired more than one bike because of that :).

accidentally hitting the garage is a BIG concern for me! you definitely forget they're there. when we use the roof rack, part of my routine is hiding my garage remote, so that when i arrive home i have to search for it, reminding me that the bikes are up on the roof.

HI gang, there was a great article that was in bicycling mag about hitting your garage with a bike on top your car, guess it happens a lot.  From what I understand the worst part is trying to get your insurance to cover the loss.  Turns out your home owners policy won't cover it!

What I do is I have an old traffic cone (those orange things) that I put in front of the garage door when the bike is on the roof. that way when I pull In my drive I go OH YA THE BIKE IS UP THERE!!

The beer bottle throw I have heard about from a friend of mine who does milage that makes my riding seem like nothing. this guy does 24 hour rides in the area of 350 miles at a crack and he has experienced that bit of insanity himself.

plaidpooka, Hi ya!  I use to be big in boating and what I always noticed was that the little beat up boats where the ones that got used and the big fancy ones never left the dock. So regardless of what something costs it's if it get used that matters.  purple!  My daughter would love it, her whole room is purple!! 

Jane, I hope you got out today, the weather here in Ohio was beautiful  60's, cloudless sky.  I did 116 mile today!

Gotta go to the store see ya later all, DAN

Dan, you've should have gone another 8 miles so you could double me. lol. 

I did my first organized ride (100K/62 mi.) of the season today and the weather was really nice here too.  I hooked up with a couple of guys about 10 mi. in I we stayed together for the rest of the ride.  They were good company.

I'm sitting a 235 mi. month-to-date.  I've got a party to go to tonight so if I don't overdo it I should be able to get some decent miles in tomorrow too.

trh, nice! 

Tommorrow me and the wife are doing a century ride.  It's in a town called Burton on the east side of Cleveland, the thing that makes it kinda cool is, this is where me and Tina meet 19 years ago!  Very hilly area should be a challenge.

DAN

Another bicycling adventure story.....

Went out for a ride today.  Beautiful location, great day, fantastic weather, yada yada yada.  Well, in the first five minutes, I had to chinge my tire b/c the pump got stuck to the valve when I was checking pressure and I ruined it getting it off (3 people tried to get it off...it was officially stuck)... after that ordeal, got going realized I forgot to fix the brakes before taking off, so I had no rear brakes (very nice!).  After that the ride was fairly decent and we did some hills and it was great loved it!  And then...my bag on the back worked it's way open and everything was scattered on the path.  Found it all (thanks to those who were riding behind me) except my car remote.  I take off my keys and stash them in the car but was riding with the remote and bike lock key.  We rode that path so many times and then we even walked it.  NO luck!  Wound up having to call the locksmith to come rescue me out at this remote park.  I am now home but really tired.....

Hmmm I think I am ready for a drink now. :P  Shower first though!!!  Hope you all have a great weekend riding....

deanna,  Oh boy, what can I say, glad to know you did get home safe and sound, enjoy the shower and cold whatever your going to have!

Do you have schafer valves or presta?  If they are presta your bike shop should have adaptors that let you use the schafer fill on your pump.  I use them all the time and I have'nt ruined a stem in a long long time.  Takes a little more time to fill your tires but is easier to remove than using the presta fill which can stick to the stem.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about then please disregard this as it would take a page just to explain it.

BTW my favorite thing to screw up is locking the keys in the car or taking the wrong key off the ring. Have ridden home to get other key a couple times. Hey but the miles count right? LOL

DAN

Well I finally got the new members added to our growing roster of riders, so,

please look and see if you would like me to add anything, like the type of your bike you ride or town you live in!

DAN

Here is a story I couldn't miss the opportunity to pass along.
Naked bicyclists!

Little to risque for me!  

I ended up last week with 106 miles bringing me to 1600 miles for the year.  It looks like I did 563 miles in May.

Today was something of an anniversary.  Last year, I did the Patuxent River Legacy ride.  It was my first metric century, my first ride over 50 miles and my first supported club event.  I rode the 62 miles in 4:42:30 (13.2 mph avg) but that took 6 hours partly because I was struggling with spasms in my thighs for the last 10 miles or so.  Today, I did the same ride in 4:08:00 (15 mph avg) and took only 5 hours including stops.

I did it!!!!!!!! Rode my bike to work and then home again at midnight. I bow to you people who told me about getting better lights. The cars could see me just fine but I couldn't see a darn thing. I ended up hitting a few potholes that way but recovered nicely. I have to tell you (and I know you will be laughing); when it started getting dark I was looking out the window at work and I realized that I just didn't have enough lights on the bike. I can't leave the store because I work with a bunch if irresponsible teenagers. So I have this pouch thing (no idea what they are called) with essential bike tools in it. I took all the stuff out and rigged the pouch on the front of my bike and put a flash light in it. Taped it up really good and it worked like a charm. Didn't look to good but hey safety over fashion, right. All the cars were really careful, slowing down and even flashing their brights at me when approaching from behind. I just encountered one moron who hit me with his brights head on. Do these people not realize that I can actually get killed out there! Anyways my goal of leaving my car sitting in the driveway seems so much more attainable now that I have proven to myself that I can do this. I am already looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

One of these days I will be posting here that I have done 60-70 or 80 miles but for now I have to be proud of my trip to and from work.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Jane

Dan, My pump has both and it got stuck on the presta valve. :) Oh well, lesson learned.  I did get pretty sun burned today.  My jersey left beautiful stripes on my arms :). 

For the roster, you can add for me: Castle Rock, CO. newbie/triathlete, Specialized Sirrus

Thank you!!!

Gray-Loved the article....I agree with you though!

Jane-Awesome job on getting your first ride home in.  Sometimes the first is the scariest!

Jane congrats on the commute. Keep after it when you get your routine down it will just be something you do.

I had something funny happen to me today. I ran up the grocery store to pick up some Ice for the cooler. I ended up buying way more stuff than I planned. I had to "Borrow" one of the stores hand baskets and bungie cord it to my rack so I could get the stuff home.  It worked so well that I want to find a basket with those dimensions that I can buy. Oh and I will be dropping the basket back off at the grocery store on my next trip there.

Jane, congrats!!  I love the improv on the light.  I will never get us to the idiots out there, What is their hurry and why do I cause them so much anguish, oh well if their hurrassing me at least it means they saw me.

gmule, maybe the story will sell you one?

DAN