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. 

 

I had my first flat today on a brand new tire. I had the bike shop put a new front tire on and by the time I got 2 miles down the hill it was soft, then nearly flat. I got some air at the gas station and went back up the hill. Luckily it was slow leak. The bike guy apologised and fixed it--he said he thought he must have "nipped the tube."

I also put my seat up an inch and it feels great. I really like the local bike shop, they're always nice and helpful.

I broke a spoke last week and the local bike shop replaced it no charge, but I do a lot of business there.  It's always good to know the guys that work on your bike.

I bought a Bell no flat innertube a couple of weeks ago when I got a flat.

Breaking news -- a major interantional operation spearheaded by the US with cooperation from several other countries including China has uncovered and clamped down on an illegal drug supply network.  The major suppliers are Chinese factories.  So far 124 arrests but a database of somehting on the order of 100,000 users is being compiled.  Expect major repercussions in Professional Sports.

Wow, China is not doing too good right now. Lead tainted toys and now illegal drugs. It will be interesting to see who will get caught.

I just made a terrible mistake. Didn't eat anything this morning, wolfed down two Red Bulls and did 35 miles on the bike. I am shaking so bad right now! Did I learn my lesson? Probably not, lol.

Jane

Hi my name is Mike Peiffer and I work out at www.360fitness.com.  I have been working out there for over a year now and lost over 40 pounds.  Anyways I started taking spinning about 6 months ago and feel in love with it.  It helped me loose more weight and I gained a ton of leg muscle.  I liked it so much Im now a Group Ride instructor certified by www.bodytrainingsystems.com.

The bike I ride is a Star Trac stationary.  Next summer I am looking into buying a bike though.  I do own road shoes with clips and I wear bike shorts (makes it a ton more comfortable).  Anyways I love spinning!

 

Take care all. 

Hey all!  I posted a couple of days ago about my bike crash, and I just got the semi-good news that the only real injury I have is a partially torn elbow MCL.  So, it could definitely have been worse.  I have almost full range of motion at extension now, so I am going to try to get back on the bike this week.

You all should be amused to know that I, a so-called 'runner at heart', have been *really* missing my bike!  :)

panda, glad to hear you are OK!!  I crashed on my moutain bike a few weeks ago and also got a clean bill of health from my doctor.  Just some bad bruising of my ribs and no internal damage.

Jane, proper fueling is everything in endurance sports!

Well, had a real bad day on sunday riding, it was everything I had just to get back to my car.  Sure glad my wife was along to keep me company in my misery.  Just the effects of pushing my body to hard, too may days in a row and it said enough is enough.  couple days rest ought to straighten me back out.

so far I'm at 9300 miles, as my son said "just 7 centuries to go!"  Can't wait to get this over with.  BTW I figured I have spent around 600 hours on my bike this year, that is 25 straight days or almost 10% of the year sitting on a bike and I wonder why I'm so tired.

See ya all later, DAN

Dan: I feel your pain.  I've only put in a little over 3000 miles but that's more than I did last year.  Right now I am struggling.  Last week I commuted 3 times.  The times weren't great but I didn't push on any of the rides.  Still I was exhausted at the end of the week.

Panda: Sounds good.  A while back, I developed some sort of headache -- might have been a migraine.  At any rate, my wife finally took me to the emergency room where they immediately administered a shot that sort of knocked me out.  Then they took my pulse which was a raging 36.  My wife told me later that they were whispering and trying to figure out how to put a good face on it.  Finally they came out and asked her if I did any running.  Much to their relief she said yes.  And as you can tell, I survived.  Good luck with your runner's heart.

I just thought I'd give this thread a bump.  October is one of my favorite times of the year to ride.  The summer heat is gone and the leaves are starting to change.  There are several orginized rdie in my area in Oct., one this week that is a 100k ride.  My favorite is the following weekend but I'll have to miss it this year because my daughter has a swim meet in Nashville.  Hopefully i can find another good ride to replace it with before it gets to late in the year.  The bad news about October is that the days are getting noticably shorter.  It won't be much longer before I'll have to dust off the trainer.  I hope all is well with everyone.

SInce my last post I am getting more mileage in and am switching over to clipless for good.  Still a little tough on the starts, but it's getting much better.  I was having a lot of problems with my hands after riding (numbness, loss of strength), so I had a pro bike fitting yesterday.  It was eye-opening!  He ended up raising my seat about 2 cm, but pushed it back 4, and I ordered a longer stem.  I had no idea everything was so off!  And I found out that if I really want a bike that fits, I eventually will have to go custom due to freakishly long femurs on my 5 foot frame.  Oh well, I can already tell a difference, and I'm looking forward to leading my sub-group this Sunday!

Ohio bike trails:  has anyone ridden, in the NE corner of Ohio, on the Western Reserve Greenway.  The map says 'trail' and I'm assuming paved.  After my last bumpy ride, no more limestone for me.  And it isn't clear about parking.  May just call Trumbull county. 

My riding has become intermittent because of other demands.  This weekend was good.  We had baby daughter's children for an overnighter last night.  Taking care of young children is a lot of work.  I have no idea how I got through it -- or how they survived to become parents.  At any rate, I took a few hours to ride 36 miles yesterday afternoon.  It felt good.  It capped off a 110 mile week.  And it left me pretty exhausted.  Monday, I am participating in this travel survey, so I am commuting on my bike no matter what.  Have to make sure there is at least one bicycle in there data set.

I am at 3358 miles for the year.  So the question is "How far will I go before 2008 rolls in?"

Will I be riding all day New Year's eve to get in that last 100 miles? (very unlikely!)

I'm lucky to be in So. Cal. I think I can ride year round here, but it is starting to get a bit chilly and yes, I notice the shorter days. I'm more reluctant to go out in the earlier hours of the morning because it's still cool. I got my bike shorts and I really like them, and got some gloves too that help on the longer rides. I forgot to wear them when I went out yesterday and remembered after going about 8 miles. The bottom parts of my palms get a bit numb.

I've given up on increasing my speed too much. I did move the seat up a bit though and that helps. Wow, mlbtracy, the pro bike fitting sounds like it's really going to pay off.

It must be nice to keep track of all the miles... I've made a start at it on mapmyride.com but I'm not very diligent. Maybe in 2008 :)

Hi everyone!  well here in Ohio the leaves are  starting to change but it doen't feel much like fall, the temp was 85 yesterday and possible 90 today.

Me and the wife got in a beautiful 90 miles yesterday and are on for 50 or 60 more today.  I have 9700 miles in now and the wife is over 5000.

As for riding in cool weather, look into getting leg and arm warmers to help on cool mornings. They're nice because as the day warms up you can easily remove them and put them in your bike bag or jersey pocket.  We ride all year long, only stop when the roads are icey. I have ridden in temps as low as 10 degrees.

Looking forward to cooler  weather and the changing of the leaves, we have a very pretty ride this comming weekend through central Ohio called the "Fall-n-leaf" and it has some of the best cookies!!

Hope everyone gets in some good riding, DAN

I did my longest ride so far today, 21.1 miles at 12.1 avg.  Slow, but it was HILLY!  I was doing around 16-17 on the flats, but then I would get pounded to about 6 on the hills, and that's after running out of gears on my triple.  We don't really have flat expanses here in NC, and there were some hills where I seriously though I was going to have a pulmonary embolism.  But I rode clipless for the first time and only fell once (starting uphill), and that was just into some grass.  The fitting certainly helped because my hands feel fine today, I can tell I could get much better circles with my legs, and my shoulders are not stiff.  I also wasn't catching my shorts in my seat horn since it's moved back so much now.  I'm feeling tired, but accomplished!

mlbtracy, I'll say there are some hills in NC. Outside of Ferguson, heading up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, there's a little road called Jake's Mountain Road, that looks to be the longest single brutal incline I've ever seen. I went up it on a motorcycle, though. I need to get back there and try it pedaling.

leinad, how do you keep road salt from destroying your bikes in the winter? That's one thing that drives me indoors when I would otherwise go outside.

I've been off since the middle of last week. I strained a thigh muscle, and it still hurts. You really have to eat a lot less to maintain the weight loss when you're not riding!

behanna, I try not to ride wnen the roads are too wet, it is surprising how fast they dry out really.

I will just wipe the dust off after most rides and I haven't noticed any problems so far.

another good idea is just go out and buy a cheap old garage sale bike and putr some 28's on it and go..

BTW, hope you heal up real soon, the dirty dozen is just around the corner!!

DAN

Ok, so where is that cold weather?  :)  I know, that's an evil thing to say in here, isn't it.  But I just got a bunch of cold weather gear this weekend, so I'm ready!  I also got new, much pricier lights recently, and since I am finally back to commuting after the crash I tried them out this morning.  It is amazing how much that headlight illuminates the road in front!  And I swear the rear light is as good as a brake light on a car. 

behanna, I'm glad you asked Dan about the salt, it's a good reminder to me that I'll be needing to do a lot more cleaning on a more regular basis soon...  Should probably carry a rag with me to wipe down while it's 'parked' at work.

Happy riding, all. 

panda, nice to hear you are back at it, hope all is well.

cold weather riding is really kinda enjoyable as long as you got the gear.  I have found that as long as your feet and hands stay warm, you don't seem to mind the cold on the rest of you.

DAN