Anyone into regular cycling?

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mwalsh

Well-known member
Leaf Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
9,781
Location
Garden Grove, CA
How about regular cycling? I started doing about 30 minutes worth (8 miles) daily on this bad-boy about two months ago, in addition to the 45-55 minute jog on my treadmill each morning I've always done:

4239B556-7527-4B1E-A0BE-724DFB6D3E53_zpsalty7p17.jpg


Though about buying a folder and leaving it in the trunk but glad I didn't now - I've seen one or two on the bike trail and they really look kinda silly in that context. Fits in the back of the LEAF fine with the rear seats down and even better with the front wheel off (fitted with quick release skewers, so easy enough).

Only battery power involved is from the 357 button cells inside the cyclometer.

Determined to lose a little weight between now and next spring! Appears to be coming off at the rate of about 0.5lb per week.
 
mwalsh said:
How about regular cycling? I started doing about 30 minutes worth (8 miles) daily on this bad-boy about two months ago, in addition to the 45-55 minute jog on my treadmill each morning I've always done: <snip photo>

Though about buying a folder and leaving it in the trunk but glad I didn't now - I've seen one or two on the bike trail and they really look kinda silly in that context. Fits in the back of the LEAF fine with the rear seats down and even better with the front wheel off (fitted with quick release skewers, so easy enough).

Only battery power involved is from the 357 button cells inside the cyclometer.

Determined to lose a little weight between now and next spring! Appears to be coming off at the rate of about 0.5lb per week.
Are you riding on pavement or dirt? If the former, get yourself some street tires, preferably a bit narrower if your rims can take them. A lot quieter and smoother, less energy too (although you' re trying to burn calories). I like the Continental Gatorskin (in 700C x 32) for my commute/errand hybrid, but there's lots of similar tires out there: http://www.continental-tires.com/bicycle/tyres/race-tyres/gatorskin

For the typical cracked/potholed/sewer-grated/railroad-tracked/uneven-gutter-seamed urban surface street I don't like to go narrower than 32mm (1.25"), and lots of people use 36s or 38s, but plenty of people use road bikes with 28s or 25s.

If you really want to burn calories, ride hills. Depending how disciplined you are (if you're using the treadmill daily, you're probably pretty good), try to use the bike for errands instead of just 'exercising'. Anything between .5 - 3 miles one way for sure, and up to 5 one way is reasonable for most people. Beyond that you're starting to eat up a lot more time.
 
I rode a regular mountain bike (on the road, mainly) before bad knee and ailing health got me into the electrics. Still, I find that my EZIP lets me burn quite a few calories/grams of carbohydrate without the pain. On the mountain bike I'd regularly but not weekly do about 15 miles, with occasional 15 mile rides added. With the EZIP I do about 30-40 miles a week.
 
I used to get a lot more time on a bike, before I had kids. I would commute / run errands on a road bike and hit the trails 2-3x a week on a mountain bike. Now I'm lucky to go mountain biking once a month. Errands involve the whole family, so I take the Leaf. And my commute should be on a bike, but frankly I'm often too tired to ride.

I definitely second Guy's recommendation for smoother tires for road riding. It is an easier, quieter, and more comfortable ride. It also gives you much better control in the turns. I use a skinny tire (25mm), but it's rough on the more frost-heaved parts of the road. I'm willing to take the cost of extra vigilance for the benefit of increased performance. YMMV.
 
I've used both slick LR tires and almost full knobbies for road riding. My preference is for a tread that's more like an all-season car tread. You want some grip in dirt available, because there's usually a lot of dirt close to the pavement.
 
LeftieBiker said:
I've used both slick LR tires and almost full knobbies for road riding. My preference is for a tread that's more like an all-season car tread. You want some grip in dirt available, because there's usually a lot of dirt close to the pavement.

I was forced into the dirt (by what I suspect was a drug deal) along the MUT yesterday - three guys taking up the whole paved part of trail while discussing their "business". Probably silly to do so but I yelled "Don't mind me!" in the most sarcastic voice I could muster as I went by. Was glad of my nubby tires. :D

Don't get me started on some of the homeless on certain parts of the Santa Ana River Trail. Haven't had any real problems with them other than a general disrespect for those of us who use it for the intended purpose, but the whole setup is generally unsightly and probably unsafe at certain times of the day.
 
One of the things I like about living in the San Bernardino Mountains is the great mountain and road cycling opportunities. Mountain roads have their dangers, but not having to deal with many intersections is a real plus. Most of the close calls I've had while cycling have been in or around road intersections. I haven't had too many scares up here. On the other hand, I try to avoid the main highways during peak visitation and traffic periods.
 
mwalsh said:
I may change out to some street tires when these are worn out, but for now I like the fatter tires for precisely the reason GRA points out - burning more calories! :D
Just depends on what you enjoy. Personally, I find riding off-road tires on pavement so much less pleasant than street tires that I'm less motivated to ride, and so do less of it. Right now, I've got an 'all-terrain' tire on the rear, because that's what the bike had when I bought it (used), and the slick on the front (replaced the other A-T tire when I had a blowout on that). I find this combo provides more than adequate grip and control for the occasional dirt trail (not steep single-track), without giving me the noise and vibration that I hate from a full knobby. Once the rear wears out I'll replace it with another slick, as I rarely ride dirt - I prefer hiking on trails where a mountain bike would be appropriate, although if I were riding in someplace like southern Utah my druthers would be different.

As to safety, I've been riding and commuting in heavy street traffic since I was nine or so, and I guess I'm inured to the danger, but I keep a very close eye on traffic (especially since I can't hear it coming now, as I ride without my hearing aids), and ride defensively, making use of hand signals, making eye contact, and generally riding very predictably while not putting myself in situations that are risky. OTOH, distracted/inattentive drivers have become a much greater risk since the advent of cell phones, and especially smart phones.

I started riding a lot at a time ('70s) when John Forester's "Vehicular Cycling" was the done thing (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicular_cycling), and while that's been mostly discredited as a way to get mass ridership, there are times when 'taking the lane' is entirely appropriate. At night I'm wearing a neon-green reflective vest plus two rear blinkies, one blinking headlight, plus side, front, rear and pedal reflectors. I find that constant-on lights are too hard to see against the background of urban light pollution, especially when coming up a line of cars between them and the curb where they're unlikely to be looking in any case. Learned that lesson after a guy right-hooked me while I had my headlight constant-on, but I saw him start to crank his wheel and yelled before he could move too far, so he only sideswiped me a little.

I don't need a headlight strong enough to light up the street as it's plenty bright to see the road in the typical city, just one that allows me to be seen. I've also used head-mounted lights at times so I can shine it directly at a driver, but don't use one at the moment.

Fortunately, the Bay Area has a strong cycling community and there are many cities here with good cycling infrastructure, although mine lags a bit when it comes to things like parking-protected bike lanes, and either those or separate bike paths are what's needed to get large numbers of riders other than fit young males (or fitter older males like me who've been doing it since we were young males) riding. Still, we do have bike lanes and some marked bike streets/boulevards.
 
...there are times when 'taking the lane' is entirely appropriate.

I call it "Carpe Lane-Um". ;-)

Accessories that used to be optional but are now mandatory for safety:

* Rear view mirror. Too many distracted and drunk drivers to do without one.

* Headlight (unless you never ride before 7:00am or after 4:00pm).

* Taillight with flashing option - even if you do only ride in full daylight. I never use anything but the flashing mode.

* Horn. Bells are ineffective. I use an electronic horn that sounds like an angry squirrel - a 300lb angry squirrel, with rabies.

* Helmet, of course. I never used one as a kid or even young adult, but now I'm reluctant to ride two blocks in my suburb without mine.
 
Riding 55 years now, it always feels like freedom to me. I try to ride 3-4 times a week, normal ride is 18 mile round trip with ~800 vertical feet of climb/descent and a few sprints. I consider riding my medical plan :) (Stay fit, Relieve stress). Have a Trek flat-bar hybrid that’s good for street and packed dirt or gravel trails, but upright enough to stay alert to traffic. Looking at electric bikes, but waiting till I “need” the boost. Have a folding Dahon with Nexus7 hub for away riding. My Fit EV did not have a hitch option, so bike went inside the car. I can also take it in the plane or on a train/bus/subway. New Bolt EV has a hitch so I now can take either bike. Like others I’m always watching traffic for the distracted. I pass 2 ghost bikes on my route as reminders to pay attention. Even so, I always enjoy being on the bike. Best rides I’ve been on where with my niece and nephew ‘s 5th grade class riding and camping from Yuma, AZ to Oceanside, CA over 5 days. Bikes are a great way to explore as they can go almost anywhere at a pace to let you take it all in.
 
I ride a Gary Fisher Sugar 4+ I bought new 13 years ago. It's got a lot of mountain trail miles on it. I've rebuilt it three times. The frame and seat post are probably the only remaining original parts.

2003-Fisher-Sugar-4.jpg
 
I still have my 1986 "Gemini 18" Taiwan-made mountain bike. Bought it off the Montgomery Wards showroom because I needed a bike for a weekend trip.

A search for this bike will yield various racing bikes. This ain't those.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Accessories that used to be optional but are now mandatory for safety:

* Rear view mirror. Too many distracted and drunk drivers to do without one.

Check (though not shown in the picture I posted). Find that I'm no longer supple enough to look over my shoulders.

* Headlight (unless you never ride before 7:00am or after 4:00pm).

Don't.

* Taillight with flashing option - even if you do only ride in full daylight. I never use anything but the flashing mode.

It's loose in the trunk of my car. Does that count?

* Horn. Bells are ineffective. I use an electronic horn that sounds like an angry squirrel - a 300lb angry squirrel, with rabies.

Don't have either, but I wouldn't mind having a small bell for signaling other riders that I'm about to pass them.

* Helmet, of course. I never used one as a kid or even young adult, but now I'm reluctant to ride two blocks in my suburb without mine.

Yes. Bought mine so I looked more like a cyclist and not a homeless person with a bike on the MUT.
 
Never wore a helmet until one day in 1993, when I was test-riding a bike (Bridgestone XO3 with the mustache bar) I was considering getting, and the bike shop had just that day instituted a policy that all test riders had to wear a helmet. I grumbled while they fit the loaner, and took the bike out. I was still grumbling to myself about it as I was coming down a hill about 15 minutes later, when a guy in a Subaru wagon passed me too close and hooked the end of my left handlebar in the gap between the body and the tailgate, causing the handlebar and the front wheel to immediately spin almost 90 degrees to the right, and arresting the bike's forward progress down the hill; my progress wasn't arrested at all, and I somersaulted over the handlebars, landing on my back and slamming the back of my head into the pavement - or would have, if the helmet hadn't taken the impact. While lying there and watching the bike doing its own somersault (seemingly in slow-mo) above me and wondering whether or not it was going to land on me (it missed), I decided that wearing a helmet was a really good idea. The damage to me was mostly minor other than some nerve damage in one hand that healed in about six weeks, although the bike was worse for wear.

I did wind up getting an XO3, although not that one and had it for a couple of years before it was stolen out of the back of my Subie wagon (never occurred to me that I needed to lock the bike while it was inside the car, and someone broke the back window and yanked it out). I always wear a helmet now, except when making a long slow climb when it's warm as I overheat easily. In that case it's strapped onto the back of my fanny pack, to be re-donned as soon as I reach the top. OTOH, there've been studies that show that drivers tend to pass people wearing helmets more closely, as they consider them more responsible riders and thus less likely to ride erratically; one of the classic studies (in the U.K.) found that looking female (the researcher put on a long blonde wig) also increased the passing distance, presumably for the same reason as not wearing a helmet.

As for bells and horns, I find my voice works fine, and shouts of "don't do it" or "watch it" have prevented many a case of dooring, right hooking etc. Overtaking other bikes, a quiet "passing on your left" still works, although less experienced riders can be startled by it and swerve, so I say it before getting next to them. A bell is probably less startling, and sounds less threatening to some; a loud horn may cause them to crash.

I really should get a mirror, as although I ride a flat-bar performance hybrid now (a used steel-frame Peugeot probably dating from the '90s; for some reason, all my used bikes have been French, two Peugeots and my first road bike back in the '70s, a Mercier) rather than a road bike with drop bars, checking behind me is still a bit of a chore compared to an even more upright riding position. I'm not a big fan of handlebar-end mounted mirrors, seeing them as a potential source of injury, but lean towards the helmet or glass-frame mounted variety. I'm a fan of steel frames for commuting/urban use, as I prefer their ride and the extra weight isn't a big deal for shorter rides.

I've been meaning to replace the flat-bar with a mustache, or at least add some bar-end extensions. but inertia has prevented that to date. I consider the mustache bar the best all-around type for commuting and shorter weekend rides (up to say 30 miles), giving multiple hand positions and allowing you to ride upright in traffic, more aerodynamically when you want to push yourself, helped by a shift in the brake and shift levers from closer to the the bar ends to the forward side of the curve - my 1993 XO-3 also had fake brake levers on the forward side, which gave you even more hand positions. For those who don't have a clue as to what a mustache bar is, this one's pretty close to the shape of the one on my XO-3: https://www.niagaracycle.com/catego...l_ms=9032009&gclid=CMvU_dX5hNUCFUtNfgodO_gEFw
 
As for bells and horns, I find my voice works fine, and shouts of "don't do it" or "watch it" have prevented many a case of dooring, right hooking etc. Overtaking other bikes, a quiet "passing on your left" still works, although less experienced riders can be startled by it and swerve, so I say it before getting next to them. A bell is probably less startling, and sounds less threatening to some; a loud horn may cause them to crash.

That's the difference between city/suburb riding and rural riding. No one hears you yell (or scream) in the country. I still have my voice to use when appropriate, but when entering a blind one lane underpass, for example, there is no substitute for loud noise. (Except when a train is going over, in which case it's down to the headlight strobe at night, or dumb luck in daylight.)
 
GRA said:
I really should get a mirror, as although I ride a flat-bar performance hybrid now (a used steel-frame Peugeot probably dating from the '90s; for some reason, all my used bikes have been French, two Peugeots and my first road bike back in the '70s, a Mercier) rather than a road bike with drop bars, checking behind me is still a bit of a chore compared to an even more upright riding position. I'm not a big fan of handlebar-end mounted mirrors, seeing them as a potential source of injury, but lean towards the helmet or glass-frame mounted variety. I'm a fan of steel frames for commuting/urban use, as I prefer their ride and the extra weight isn't a big deal for shorter rides.

I have about 20 different rejected bar end mirrors. I finally found this "Zefal Cyclop Rear Veiw Mirror" and bought 5 of them as they were going out of production. eBay still shows stock though. Plastic, adjustable, stable, decent convex balance of wide vs. distance. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zefal-Cyclo...677299?hash=item566996ca33:g:YDsAAOxy4YdTVExA
 
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