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Bikes, anyone?

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DWill

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Bikes, anyone?

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I mean the non-motorized variety. Enough of all this heavy stuff for a while. Does anyone out there especially like bikes? They seem to be encoded in my DNA, and except for a period of foolishness during adolescence, I've always been riding. I don't even like to admit how obsessed I've been about them at times. I'm better now, but still pedaling quite a bit. My primary reason for getting satellite TV would be to watch the Tour de France in July. My cheapness, also encoded in DNA, prevents me.
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Suzanne

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Oh DWILL, you speak my language.

I ride inside and out. I have been a spinning instructor for over 10 years, and typically will ride 20-30 miles a week outside. I have reccently broken my ankle, and I am devastated, I've been forced to work out in the :rant: pool.

I also watch the Tour de France. I provide a 90 minute spin class based on it every year, all phases; time trials, Alps, and always finish with the Can Can (Vanessa Mae, classical violin) to the finish line. I even provide yellow head bands. We all get there at the same time in a spin class.

What kind of bike do you like? I have a racing, I tried the hi-bred, didn't like it.

You are sure right, something in the DNA. "I want to ride my bicycle I want to ride my bike". Queen.
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DWill

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Great! I was hoping for at least one response. I've never done the type of indoor spinning you give instruction in, but your class sounds like a total blast and I'm sorry you're so far away. I keep an old wind trainer in my basement, used to use it during winter, but for the past two years I've been riding part-way to work, even in winter, so the 24 miles/day (only 3 days per week) satisfies the urge. I just think a bike is the best way to get somehwere and that no machine has ever surpassed it. I have a beautiful book on bikes and bike history called The Noblest Invention, and that is how I see the bike.

I've had quite a number of bikes and currently have 3 plus two frames. The main bike, and the only one that is up to date and worth any money, is a Specialized Allez Elite, chrome-moly frame, with a triple chainwheel in concession to older age. This is a road/racing bike that I use when I want to ride a little harder or just go a long distance on the road. My other bikes I use for commuting or riding dirt roads. I don't have a true mountain bike and have never gotten into that type of riding, though I'm sure it's fun. Hybid bikes are a good idea, especially for commuting, but not as good for longer distance on the road.

Several decades ago, my wife and I rode half of the Bikecentennial Trail, from Colorado to Yorktown, VA. One of my plans for retirement, if that ever happens, is to ride the other half of the route from Pueblo, Colo., to Astoria, Or.

I'm amazed by the sophistication--and expense--of our modern bikes. A shop near me is full of bikes in the $3,000 to $10,000 range. To each his own, but for me the experience of cycling is the main thing, and I think that spending so much to get a 16-pound bike doesn't add appreciably to the joy of cycling.
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bikes and cars

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dWill if you really intrested in cars and bikes, what i suggest is, make a website or blog about bikes and car info and news and place google adsense ads on it . beside you can also make money online.
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Suzanne

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DWILL wrote:
I'm amazed by the sophistication--and expense--of our modern bikes. A shop near me is full of bikes in the $3,000 to $10,000 range. To each his own, but for me the experience of cycling is the main thing, and I think that spending so much to get a 16-pound bike doesn't add appreciably to the joy of cycling.
This amazes me too. I have a friend of mine, who thinks nothing about spending hugh amounts of money for her bikes. It's kinda like those expensive golf clubs, does it make that much difference? Tennis rackets on the other hand, in my house is a different story, tennis is king in my house, only the best will do.

I commend you for riding to work. Even in the winter, that takes disipline.
I can imagine the satisfaction you get from it.

DWIL wrote:
Several decades ago, my wife and I rode half of the Bikecentennial Trail, from Colorado to Yorktown, VA. One of my plans for retirement, if that ever happens, is to ride the other half of the route from Pueblo, Colo., to Astoria, Or.
Wow! Was this a group trip, or just you and your wife. I would love to do something like this. I have to tell you, when Ohphelia went hiking on the Ap. trail, I was so jelous. Sounds funny, but I want to hike the entire trail, alone. Should take about three months. It's number one on my "Bucket List". For now, I just read books about it, study lists about what I should pack. Ah, works for me in the mean time.

Keep on riding Will, keeps you fit, healthy, does your bit for the enviornment, and saves money on gas. I didn't realize men could be such multi taskers :smile:
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My wife and I used to ride our bikes once in a while, but now they're collecting dust hanging in the garage. Our subdivision is in the middle of an industrial area and riding out of it onto the busy streets is not very pleasant and just a little bit dangerous.

Our bike rack was destroyed a few years ago when a drunk driver hit the back of my car at high speed. So now we're not riding as we can't take our bikes anywhere very easily. I think a new bike carrier would be a good idea and if I end up purchasing and installing one I'll give you credit for my rekindled interest in cycling. :smile:
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DWill

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Right, where you live can make a big difference and can make cycling either a lot more or a lot less attractive. Nationally, opportunities for people to cycle recreationally are rapidly increasing with the conversion of railroad rights of way into bike trails. These are mainly flat trails with, of course, no cars. I was up on the Great Alleghany Passage Trail the other week. The trail connects Pittsburgh with Cumberland, Maryland, and from there you can hop onto the C & O Canal trail and go right into DC. It's about 350 miles total with a wide range of accommodations along the way.

I'm lucky to live in the northern Shenandoah Valley, where the population is not very dense and there are many good roads to ride on.

I'm following the Tour de France now, wondering if Lance Armstrong can really pull off another victory as an "old man."
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For you, DWill and everyone else interested in bicycling.

From the radio program The State We're In:
The right to bike
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Suzanne

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Very interesting site Saffron, thank you. It really put things into perspective doesn't it.
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I bought my first multi gear bike when I was 14 living in Vienna, Austria and rode it in the Austrian Alps that entire summer (1971) and brought the bike back to the States and began racing on it in '72. I planned a trip when I was 16 to ride from Seattle to Vancouver, up to the north end of Vancouver ZIsland and then back down to Seattle. I raced for several years until I went to College in Canada, and then just rode for exercise. Since, then, I have ridden an average of about 5,000 miles a year anmd for many years, including now that i am 53, it is my primary mode of getting to work, store, etc. In 2006, I gathererd a bunch of notes and essays I had written about cycling over the years and collated them into a book that was pubklished by Dreamtime Publishing. It's titled "Open Your Heart with Bicycling..." and won the 2008 Indie Book Award for Sports and Fitness and was a fianlist in the Motivation category that same year.
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