Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Around here there are no roads to cycle and there is no way I'm riding on the same roads as cars. Took me an hour and half to get to work today as I passed by 4 wrecks.

When I do cardio typically in the Spring, I ride the stationary bike a lot and switch between that and the treadmill which is walking fast and putting the incline to 8 or so...sort of like hiking up a hill. Burns those calories! Did I mention I have chondromalica of my right patella, meaning rep motion like bikes aggravates it

Can't wait until you turn 50 huh ??

My dad always says 'gettin old ain't for sissies'. Haha.

Pfft - http://walkbikenashville.org/maps

Really, though, if you go into an area bike shop I'll guarantee they have advice on where to ride. I know there are river trails since I've run on them before.

Like Freddie Mercury sez: "Get on your bike and ride!"

Well, I know there are places if I put the bike in my car and drive there. I was referring to opening up my garage door and taking off...figured I'd be dead within one mile If I knew how I would post a Google shot out my subdivision. I have to floor it in a V6 across traffic both ways to get out practically. Don't much stand a chance on a bike And then there is no shoulder. See I have tons of excuses!

Oh, and have I ever mentioned I'm danger averse? Really, I am. Figure it's tough enough to stay 6ft above vs. below and I don't plan to increase my odds more than is necessary. I catch a lot of flack on that too from family and friends.

And DVM called me a pussy so even he knows

Let's see...what other excuses can I come up with

Ohhh. Suburbs and subdivisions and blech ... yeah ... move!





I'm the same way, actually, if I have to load the bike into the car I won't ride. It seems counterproductive to me - my bike is my main form of transportation so driving it around feels sort of silly. Plus i just hate driving in general - lately I can't even stand to drive to the grocery ... I got get a few things at a time, on my bike. And all of this after taking a long time to getting used to riding in Pittsburgh in general - it's not like you describe here, but it's old infrastructure, not designed with bikes in mind and coming from out west where the bike is king, I'd say it took me a good 5-6 years to feel comfortable.

Had a different twist on the traditional 5k last night. It was at Gillette stadium. Started at ground level, went around the ring road around the stadium, UP all the ramps from ground level to the 300 level, around the stadium in the 300 level concourse, down some ramps, through the 200 level concourse, down more ramps, outside, through the players' tunnel, through the inflatable helmet at the end zone, and finishing on what would be the 50 yd line if it wasn't MLS season. Got up on the jumbotron both through the helmet and at the finish line.

And not that all of you non-Pats fans care, but I took the liberty of 'Gronking' in the end zone. Rob Gronkowski has a signature spike after touchdowns, and I did that with my hat cause I wasn't going to carry a football through the whole 5k haha. Friends and family got to sit in the stands and watch. I got to lay down on the turf after sprinting across the finish line. The whole thing was just awesome. Football fan's dream.

And I wasn't planning on a personal best 5k time given the ramps. Was only a min and a half slower though which I thought was pretty good. Plus there was a pretty big crowd at the start for this one so even with the timing chips, the crowd kept me slow at the beginning.

Nice run - sounds very cool! Yeah - we have some of those off-beat runs around here, one 10K is completely underground in mine shafts, and a 5K that is all steps, and I've always thought it would be fun. No Gronking, though, since I like real football teams!!

That's pretty cool TD.

My 2 yo won't stop talking about it. She was a huge fan of the jumbotron and the helmet. 'Daddy - a go through a helmet! Daddy - you're on TV!'. Looking forward to doing it again next year.

BTW I actually think going down the ramps was harder than going up. The pace in the crowd is obviously much faster, and it's rough when you're 190 lbs and have momentum on your side to pull a 180 in traffic and make sure you're simultaneously not a) running into the person in front of you who's slowing for the turn, b) not cutting someone off behind you who's moving faster than you, and c) not going so fast that you wipe out.

Oh yeah, and suck it nagoda!

I have always said running downhill is tougher to me, steps or otherwise. I know for a fact is is much more stress on the hips and knees. I also think there is a greater risk for tumbling down 2000 steps in your case

Sorry, man, it's just that I'm bound to speak the truth!

And I don't wanna hear about your skinny-ass 190 pounds!! I'm still over 200!! Try running that load down these steep Pittsburgh hills!!

I was 200 even until I started running this year. Dropped the first 10 that way now I've leveled off. I suppose either dieting or some form of cross training would help. Or not drinking so much beer, but like that's gonna happen...

I'm convinced weight loss is impossible, of any sustained significance, with beer drinking. I've tried many times. There is a 29 year old dude here who runs. Does half marathons a few times per year and other 5k's etc... He runs about 6 days per week he says. Dude can't lose weight unless he drastically lowers his beer intake. I would think that amount of running would outpace the caloric intake of beer but I guess not. Dieting sucks.

Seriously. I sat on my fat butt all winter and increased my beer intake because we had started the 'brewskie' thread and there was so much I wanted to try. Plus my neighbor and I started homebrewing. Leveled off just shy of 2 bills. I started running in early April and within a month or so had dropped to 190, but I've also been drinking less beer since I've been running. Been drinking alcohol less in general - so busy trying to rehydrate I didn't have as much 'room' for frosty beverages... So I can't even definitively say it was solely the exercise...

I just started cycling to work! It's amazing... I used to have about a 25 minute walk each way, but that's now down as low as 5 minutes(!) if the lights are in my favour and I feel like pumping.

I didn't even own a bike until one day in Ireland we wanted to rent a car, but ended up with bicycles for a week instead! 5 days and 300km later our butts were sore but we were hooked!

I've been itching to get a good road bike for the last year or so to get around. Hopefully in the next month or so I can find a decent used one, although there aren't many on CL around my part of Kentucky. There are a couple good shops that I may end up resorting to if nothing pops up. Might consider getting a fixed gear if the price is right.

When I was in my early teens and pre-teen years I would ride every single day in the summer. Eventually I would just ride up and down our road with no hands. Felt pretty badass doing that at the time.
I ran cross country my senior year of high school but haven't really done it since. Running alone is pretty boring and nobody around likes to run. So cycling looks like the ideal option for me. Plus there is pretty good bike lane coverage since it is a college town.

Seriously considering road cycling as a cross training option, to give my shins a break. Shin splints worse than I ever had in HS track... CL has been really hit or miss for me so far, though admittedly I've been looking for a road bike for my wife and not myself. She's doing a couple sprint triathalons this summer and right now is on a borrowed hybrid bike which is okay for training but will not cut it for racing. It will work, but it will slow her down. I want to get her one for her birthday but anything acceptable new seems to be at least 7 bills. Her training partners have had good luck getting older tech used road bikes for like a bill or two, but I haven't found anything like that yet.

Just took the plunge on an entry-level budget road bike for the wife. A Gravity (Liberty 2 I think?) from bikes direct. She's doing a couple sprint tris this summer and thus far has done her two wheeled training on a borrowed hybrid mountain bike.

Any tips on final assembly and setup?

Follow the instructions carefully! Those headsets can be tricky since they seem more simple than they are. You may want to take it into a LBS for assembly, though they may look at you a tad cross-eyed for bringing in a mail-order bike. The shifters and brakes are fun to adjust too - it's a steeper learning curve than you might imagine, but it's not impossible at all. The main reason you may want to have a pro do it first, though, is so that she know what it should feel like rather than what seems "good enough" based on her previous riding experience. There's a level of crispness to a brand-new, correctly adjusted bike that is a step above what you may be able to achieve on your own the first go-round. There are also lots of very cool tools which can make a tough job very easy, but they aren't cheap.