Biking anyone?

[Power Player]

Yes, a little. It matters where you live, but here bikers have a right to be on the road. I just don't abuse it. I ride to the far side and if I am with a friend I never ride next to him.

I am not sure where you are at, but you need to keep your awareness high and be smart.

[zanabel]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Yes, a little. It matters where you live, but here bikers have a right to be on the road. I just don't abuse it. I ride to the far side and if I am with a friend I never ride next to him.

I am not sure where you are at, but you need to keep your awareness high and be smart.

melbourne but i stopped riding cos i rest my legs for tennis now because i play tennis everyday.

[Power Player]

AU? Ok,I have no idea the rules there but if you stopped riding, it doesnt matter right? lol.

[zanabel]

Originally Posted by Power Player

AU? Ok,I have no idea the rules there but if you stopped riding, it doesnt matter right? lol.

yeppers australia but yep. my legs are like jelly if i ride a lot AND play tennis. i run a lot in tennis because my friend hits the corners a lot.

[Power Player]

Yeah I cycle to my courts (1 mile) as a warmup. I used to cycle 13 miles and play. Not bad, but if you are playing all the time you can cycle on off days as part of a fitness plan.

[zanabel]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Yeah I cycle to my courts (1 mile) as a warmup. I used to cycle 13 miles and play. Not bad, but if you are playing all the time you can cycle on off days as part of a fitness plan.

yep good i think i might, i guess good to use different muscles. when i dont ride for a long time and then ride i feel different muscles are used than for tennis.

[Power Player]

Yes and cycling is huge to keep your fitness up if you have to take time off from tennis with an injury.

[zanabel]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Yes and cycling is huge to keep your fitness up if you have to take time off from tennis with an injury.

ive never had an injury but i guess i might get injured one day

[zidane339]

Originally Posted by SlapShot

Well, I ended up getting a call at my desk as I was packing up my laptop, so I had to sit there for an extra half an hour. Ended up knocking out 25 miles in just a hair under an hour and a half, so 16.5 or so mph. Not bad.

Nice pace, I need to get up to that speed.

Friends and I biked to a outdoor Blues festival last night 12 miles away and ended up riding back around 9 PM. My first night ride and it was a blast. Took some bike trails and it was surreal to be in pitch black with nothing but my small bike light and the guy in front of me in view. Holding a nice pace line was definitely helpful when we were tired towards the end.

Ended up ending the trip at a local burger bar. Nothing like a slab of protein after a long ride! Fun times.

[LeeD]

Winters, I ride at night mostly, after 7PM, to pick up g/f and accompany her on her way home. Visit a bike store, light power as you need. I use 2 cheapo LED flashlights in front, helmet light in dark areas, and reflector + tail light for the back.

[vive le beau jeu !]

great thread !
i love biking too.



i do mainly mountain bike, although i'm not really into crazy dangerous downhill stuff but rather use it to get lost in the nature, do some exploration and picturesque climbs (the madrid sierra, where i've been living for the past few years, is really great for that).

i don't have much experience in road bike (only did 2 passes in the alps... something 10 years ago !), but i will get some more soon as i have a bike trip of several days planned in 3 weeks, finishing in the alps.

Originally Posted by JohnnyCracker

you guys are a bunch of wusses
this is what I do all day everyday
aerodynamic? what about it?

and you don't have the impression to be cheating a bit, taking so many energy bars with you ?

[LeeD]

Man, wide open trails, nobody around, give me a KX 500 and I'm in heaven!

[user92626]

My road bike will be delivered to my home this week.

In the mean time I bought this cruiser over the weekend and did a 30+ miles trail with my friend in 3 hours + 1 hour in between for resting and hanging at the beach.

It was fun but I thought my legs would fall off. A bit too much for the first time biking. But the next morning I felt fine and went out and played tennis for 3 hours.



Funny, when I was looking at the bike in the store, I had a bunch of ideas of what to do with it and also thought of finding a women's version for my wife but they didn't have one.


This couple have some of the same ideas and more...
http://www.pbase.com/abcdduke/schwinn_cruisers

[LeeD]

Man, that baby is trick.
Cadel Evans must be waiting in line for one, so he can try it at the TOUR.
Are you still using a wood 66sq in racket also?

[zidane339]

if anyone is in the ct/ma area, i recommend the farmington canal heritage trail. Its part of the east coast greenway. Not all the way complete, but there are miles of isolated paved roadway and mostly flat! I rode 50 miles on it from ct to ma recently with friends and it was a blast.

[LeeD]

We need something like that in California.
Everywhere, where there's protected trails, we get hikers, dog walkers, and bird watchers, so we can't cruise at 15+ by law.
On the road, every road seems to have a car or 3. Stopsigns and stoplights abound, every 4 miles if we find a clear space.
Just too many people enjoying the outdoors, even on weekday AM's.

[user92626]

LeeD is correct. CA seems very crowded. I hit the trail with my new road bike last Sat and it was ..kinda crowded. Every few minutes there are (groups of) cyclists passing by you so you can't exactly have the whole trail (a good stretch of it) to yourself. This was my second riding and we did 28+ miles in 2 roughly 2 hours. I'm a little out of shape but butt pain was killing me being inexperienced with fitting.

I took a bunch of photos of my new road bike and planned to post them for fun, but I lost the usb cable to transfer them to the PC Oh well.

So far cycling hasn't given me the kind of high that I found in tennis. Tennis, when you win, is exciting. Cycling is like running threadmill -- long and painful.

[LeeD]

Cycling is only an adrenaline rush when you compete against guys your skill level. Otherwise, it's basically training, which is like practice or getting fit in tennis...no fun.
We usually like to ride about 17 miles, stop for a chocolate and cake, then head back, killing 2.5 hours and warming up the legs for windsurfing in the afternoon. Helps to like the company of the person you're riding with also.

[user92626]

How long is your stop for a chocolate and cake?

17 miles one way and 17 miles back, assuming your stop is .5, in 2.5 hrs is VERY IMPRESSIVE. That means you practically go 17mph for 1 hr without breaks at all.

I could only do 15mph and break 2-5 mins every 20 minutes or so.

You're right. Cycling like this is like fitness training. I mainly get my enjoyment from the breeze, talking and paying attention to my gears. There are many people going way past me and there are quite a few I go past. My friend is fitter, has a bike 2x more expensive, ie lighter, and I'm not sure how exactly we'd compete even if we had the heart for it. My friend is very athletic but he thinks tennis isn't convenient. I don't feel like pushing anyone into anything.

[LeeD]

I"m a pretty old guy, so averaging 17.5 is out of my equation, unless it's flat and there is no wind. Our speedometers go to sleep when the front wheel is not spinning, so our average riding pace is not even 14 mph, considering all the stop signs I roll thru, and of course, stop lights we slow down to time thru rolling. Both kill the average about the same, since I usually slow to about 7mph for stop signs, and need foreever to reestablish my cruising speed of around 17-19 in the flats.
The longest stretch around here with no stop signs or signals might hit 3 miles, a pretty poor indicator of what we really average.
So what bike did you get? I'm on a 20.4 lbs CannondaleCaad8-6.