[Certifried]

This is such a personal thing, I think only you can ultimately answer for yourself. I just bought a road bike not long ago, and already finding that I need a second that is better suited for my commuting. For me, I want to build it myself (with LBS mechanical assistance) so I have exactly what I want. I don’t know if this will be cheaper or more expensive, but I know it will be a bike I can build over time to exactly what I want it to be.

So, I vote build one (which isn’t one of your options LOL)

[Certifried]

@Tim Kelley 21322 wrote:

Helium balloons actually slow you down. I know from experience: http://www.twitpic.com/9ii38m

Towing a whole bunch of red balloons does have the effect of motorists giving you more room on the road though…

huh, interesting! I would’ve thought the weight loss gain from helium balloons would make you go faster. How about the clowns though? Maybe I’ll dress up as a clown for halloween and commute in on my bike. I think that would scare the hell out of motorists to stay away because I’m not dressing as any wimpy circus clown, I’m going full pennywise.

[Certifried]

It’s only cheating if you get caught being pulled by a motorized vehicle of some sort. Para sails and helium balloons are totally legit (so are clowns in clown cars pulling you, but that’s too scary for me)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Certifried]

All awesome advice above. Having just recently come back to cycling after a 10 year break, I can’t add much except my perspective of recently buying a bike. Although it’s an awesome bike and was a great deal (last year’s model, $400 off), I probably could’ve used a better commuter-appropriate bike. One with rack mounts, etc. Definitely ride some bikes and consider it’s main type of use, all the bike shops should let you take a free test ride.

[Certifried]

I really appreciate all the warnings. I was only paying attention to other humanoid obstacles on the trail in the past, and never thought about the furry obstacles. After seeing quite a few deer out on my “pleasure” rides this weekend, I realize how dangerous the CCT could’ve been with me not even considering a collision with deer, etc. It will definitely be at the front of my mind now!

[Certifried]

@jabberwocky 21075 wrote:

What messenger bag are you using? Not all bags are created equally. I’ve been commuting for 7 years with a chrome metropolis (I own 2 now) and have always found it to be a very solid bag that carries my stuff comfortably. I commute in bike clothes and carry my work clothes, toiletries, as well as anything I need for the commute home in the bag.

For tires, there are lots of solutions. I ran Panaracer Pasela TGs in 28mm guise for many years (and still run them on the CX bike and fixie).

Thanks for the suggestion on the bag. Revolution in Rockville has them in stock, so going to bike down there and snag one tomorrow. I’m going to go with this option first, since I can use the bag on days I don’t cycle. If it doesn’t work out, the bag will still be useful and I can go the Tubus rack route. Now, I just need to hope they have a color in stock that will match my bike! (I seriously need to get over the fashion statements)

[Certifried]

@btj 21153 wrote:

You can email them to Strava. I did it when switching from Runkeeper to Strava a while back and it worked great. Here are their instructions (from here: http://app.strava.com/upload/select):

I had tried that, and got an email back saying there was an error. Ultimately it was just an extra XML tag in the files, I stripped the tag and then the files uploaded to Strava without problems. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

If anyone else has problems, you can edit the files with any file editor, but notepad will work best so it doesn’t interpret the XML. The extra tag was always a tag without a closing tag.

[Certifried]

thanks for all the new responses and letting me hi-jack the thread. I ended up with these:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/road-tires/enduranceroadtires/roubaixarmadilloelite
from FreshBikes ($60), so saved the shipping costs and was able to get them immediately.

not sure if there’s any difference, but these were the ones I thought I was supposed to get:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/road-tires/training-allseasonroadtires/allconditionarmadilloelite

I don’t see a whole lot of difference between the “endurance” and “training” tires, except (I guess) the tread pattern. The all condition might’ve been better for the rain, the bike shop pro said he preferred the roubaix. I probably wouldn’t have noticed any difference lol

[Certifried]

@Certifried 21111 wrote:

I have been trying to export all of my runkeeper rides, but when I go to import then in to Strava, I keep getting “bad data” on 1/2 of the files

Has anyone experienced any “bad data” .gpx files? I don’t know what is causing it, I’ve even tried to re-export them out of runkeeper, but they still fail to upload to Strava. If all else fails I’ll try to export them as .kml files, then use a converter to .gpx and try that upload. I’d really like to get all my rides transferred over since I really don’t have too many.

edit: answered my own question. I downloaded the “activity” .gpx file, then used an online validator to find the errors and manually fixed them… what a PITA!
http://www.validome.org/xml/validate/

[Certifried]

Left work early, the drive sucked, but the weather was cool.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

edit 2: that’s just a cloud, by the way, not a tornado

[Certifried]

kelonwheels;21117 wrote:

whee! I think i’ll rent a cabi and ride home! If there’s a really good tailwind i can just sail right out of kansas with toto in my basket.

ftfy

[Certifried]

I have been trying to export all of my runkeeper rides, but when I go to import then in to Strava, I keep getting “bad data” on 1/2 of the files

[Certifried]

@vvill 21032 wrote:

If you’re on Strava, I made a BikeArlington “club” that’s open to all:

http://app.strava.com/clubs/bikearlington

Just joined Strava, the app looks really nice! I’ve had GPS issues with Runkeeper lately, and have been looking for a cycle oriented app, this looks perfect.

[Certifried]

Tornado watches are coming out now too

TORNADOES…HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER … THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH … AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE

[Certifried]

@Dirt 21095 wrote:

More documentation of my superpowers:
1) Cause OneEighth to get flat tires
d) Cause destruction of all Toyota Priuses
9) Make beer disappear.

f) cause Certifried to consider carrying Batter Blaster to 1) fix flats, 2) serve as powergel

[Author]

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