[NicDiesel]

Yep, that feeds right into the Greenway which is the bike highway there which will take you out to the first ring of the western suburbs, downtown MPLS, and, if you are so adventurous, over to St. Paul. We didn’t see many runners/walkers/dog people outside of the park paths so I can’t speak to what it’s like on the Greenway or in downtown MPLS or St. Paul day in and day out, but I doubt there are many people running in the bike lanes there like here. When I said “it is what is” in my first response to this thread that’s what I was referring to – few paths and too many people trying to use them tends to lead to passive-aggressive incidents that become aggressive far too often.

[NicDiesel]

@Dickie 65781 wrote:

Until I see a white stencil of a runner in the lane next to the bike stencil and the law changes I see no reason why you should be there. Now, I used to try explaining this to the offenders and as many of you have described, it only amounted to ugly situations. I now keep my mouth shut and ride on past… but that isn’t solving the problem and sooner or later is’s going to haunt me.

Funny you should mention that Dickie. When we were house hunting in the Twin Cities last week we noticed at almost all of the Minneapolis parks there are two separate paths – one for joggers and marked as such and another for cyclists with a white stenciled stick figure with a circle and a slash through it. I meant to take a shot of it but didn’t but here’s how it works in Cedar Lake:
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[NicDiesel]

Imma make this quick – if you’re going to be passive aggressive be prepared for someone to get aggressive with you. Is it fair? No, but that’s the price you pay living here.

[NicDiesel]

@5555624 65667 wrote:

You carry a bottle of Lipton Iced Tea instead of a water bottle?

That’s not me, that’s Bo Snyder, another larger rider that’s kicking ass and taking names. For some reason my Italian Tuxedo® shot from Hains Point isn’t in my Dropbox so that’s the closest pic I could find of someone my size.

[NicDiesel]

@MattAune 65659 wrote:

You wouldn’t be the guy in a blue jersey that blast past me at 19+ mph at gravely point only to then soft-pedal at 15mph past the airport? I hope not because this guy was making inappropriate passes and not even calling them.

I always wonder why guys will ride above threshold to catch and pass another cyclist, then can’t sustain the effort 30 seconds after they pass.

If it was yesterday I was in work clothes (dress shirt, sharkskin pants) so that wasn’t me. Besides, I’m usually the guy that vocally calls out the ELITE needledicks that don’t call their passes and do dumb sheeit like passing up the middle. I also look not too dissimilar from this so I’m pretty easy to identify:

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[NicDiesel]

@ebubar 65648 wrote:

Today’s slice of humble pie brought to me by the guy on a tiny, folding Dahon bike who flew right past me as I climbed the hills of Military Road.

You sound like the dude I passed on the MVT airport hill last night. Dude caught up with me at Crystal City and refused to believe he got passed by a dude over 350+lbs. Tri-studz be warned, I’m back to dropping a pound a week – Imma come for your plastic bikes and KOMs in 2014!

[NicDiesel]

Fun times yesterday at Hains Point. You can sort of see a would-be tri-stud coming towards me.
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[NicDiesel]

After a week plus layoff, I rode over to see the mess our elected bozos have created on the Mall. I’ve never seen so many confused tourists in my life. This guy from a Chinese tour group kept knocking on the window of the little concession stand near the Lincoln Memorial and shouting “WATER” and “CRACKER” as loud as be could. I didn’t have the heart to tell him everything was closed.

[NicDiesel]

Hains Point is closed but there were people there doing loops when I rode by earlier this afternoon.

[NicDiesel]

So, I have no intention of not riding from January through March outside in the Twin Cities so I need your help. Who makes good windproof jackets and gear (layers over long sleeved jerseys) for someone that wears a 3XL top?

[NicDiesel]

I have a similar setup to Hozn but I take it step further and strip all of the GPX into a MySQL using R. Right now most of this data is pretty lame (long and lats, cadence, HR, speed), but once I break down and get a power meter it’ll be a lot more interesting.

[NicDiesel]

Unless work manages to hold me back I will be at this and finally meet some of you fools. Good thing too, we just signed out lease in Minneapolis and leave at the end of October.

[NicDiesel]

I also highly recommend getting a good pair of tires as well. I’m running 32×700 Continental Contact IIs that picked up on Amazon for $60 delivered that are great for commuting and light off road riding (think crushed gravel). I used to run 28×700 Bontrager Race Lite Hard-Case slicks (~$50 each) but went with the Contact IIs now that fall is here. The Contact IIs run at about 85psi and are a much smoother and forgiving ride than the Race Lite Hard-Case slicks that I ran at about 120psi.

[NicDiesel]

You can’t go wrong with a steel road or cyclocross bike (think Surly Cross Check, Salsa Casseroll, Trek 520) or an old ’80s steel racing bike (Raleigh, Trek), frame wise for a commuter bike. I’m a super heavy rider (350+lbs) and ride about 80 miles a week on a Surly Cross Check with a stock 32h front wheel and a 48h rear wheel. Outside of replacing the chain at 5,000 miles and upgrading the cassette and saddle, I’ve had zero problems. If you’re a heavier ride (250+lbs) I’d try my best not to hit pot holes or drop off of curves, but normal street riding shouldn’t be an issue if you have a decent wheel set.

In the spirit of full disclosure, my rear wheel was pretty expensive (~$700) but it’s a Phil Wood 48h hub ($420, should last for 20 years) and Velocity Chukkar rim (~$90, perfect for bike polo and super heavy riders). After well over a year of riding it hasn’t needed to be trued or repaired yet and probably won’t for another 10,000 miles.

[NicDiesel]

@Tim Kelley 64710 wrote:

African American guy in a ratty tshirt? I saw him in Clarendon last summer.

That’s him! Seemed like a really nice guy, just a crazy way to ride.

[Author]

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