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@Tim Kelley 46723 wrote:

That hill never gets any easier–you just go faster.

So true.

[txgoonie]

Me: Doing a nice recovery ride on my beater at Hains Point

You: the golfer driving the white dually

When you speed up next to a cyclist and shout at her to “share the road,” it makes me think you might misunderstand the meaning and spirit of that phrase.

And as to your belief that I cannot, as you so aptly put it, “take up the whole road”: when it’s not safe for your d-bag-mobile and me to occupy the same space, uh, actually…yeah, I can.

If you hadn’t sped off (and you missed that stop sign back there, by the way), I would have happily apologized to the rest of your foursome for the [liberally calculated] 10 seconds that I delayed your arrival.

[txgoonie]

Folks, just try to remember, if you do decide to follow someone — whether you’re following with safe distance or drafting (with permission, always ask permission if you want to draft) — make sure your lights are not brighter than theirs. I think my lighting setup is on the dim side (by design — I tend to be rather conservative with my light usage). But when someone with a brighter light is behind me, it casts a shadow of myself in front of me, my eyes don’t know how to adjust, and it gets really sketchy.

[txgoonie]

@KelOnWheels 41452 wrote:

I ordered some shoe covers and a balaclava and a skull cap and some lobster gloves. It should all arrive in time for the weather to get warm again
“

Still, all good purchases. They will make you very happy!

[txgoonie]

29er MTB. Little air outta the tires. It was a blast! Only thing I kinda sorta messed up was going with the snowboard ensemble with my sensitive skin – I didn’t anticipate Goggle Face.

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@Dirt 41410 wrote:

When I use shoe covers, I sometime use chemical hand warmers between the shoe covers and my shoes. If I ever put them inside my shoes. I sweat enough to deactivate the chem warmers. They stop working.

This info from Dirt has helped me greatly before! You need dry airflow for those chemical warmers to work. That’s why they work better on top of your feet than beneath them and as far from your skin as possible. And your toes need wiggle room. No stuffing double fluffy socks into your cycling shoes – the chemical warmer will suffocate in there.

[txgoonie]

I’m finding the face area a challenge. I have a balaclava, but I just don’t dig it. With neck gaiter or Buff pulled up and sunglasses, I’m good, if not a tad warm. Combine with regular no-tint glasses, the lenses fog up. Use a scarf to cover the face, something — perhaps the thinness or the not-snug fit against my face — allows exhalation water vapor to freeze on contact and make my face COLDER. I will get the combination right! And then it’ll be 50 degrees.

[txgoonie]

I started commuting with the Crank Bros Mallets and found they worked for my purposes. Nice to be able to clip in, which is what I would do for commutes. And then if I wanted to run to the store, I could still hop on the bike and not change shoes. Granted, your feet do slide around a little bit, but for what I was doing, I kinda didn’t care. My biggest complaint is that they’re heavy. I’m not a weight weenie, but the different between the Mallets and the Eggbeaters is significant enough that I eventually switched.

I use the Eggbeaters for my commuter and off-road and love how easy they are to clip into. I’m still a learning MTBer, so when I need to get clipped in really quickly — on an incline for example — the Eggbeaters are so helpful. When I wanna run out or wear cute boots to work, I stick platform adapters on:http://www.amazon.com/Winwood-Decksters-Platform-Clip-Ons-without/dp/B001C6BJGK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1358521285&sr=8-5&keywords=clipless+adapters

Also, I’ll plug my favorite SPD/Crank Bro compatible casual shoes: DZR. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on mine and/or questions about what’s on the bottom of my shoes
https://www.dzrshoes.com/

[txgoonie]

My friend did that commercial actually:-) We were watching, not knowing it would be on, so it was a pleasant surprise. In fact, we thought it seemed like an ideal time for Giant, Specialized, Cannondale — anyone other than Trek really — to buy some ad time!

[txgoonie]

Oh, how did I miss this thread? Yay!

[txgoonie]

Does a Big Wheel count?

If not, it’s my Dad spray-painting my brother’s metallic blue hand-me-down bike to metallic purple for me. I was 5. That bike was followed by a Huffy Sweet Thunder – pink banana seat, streamers, oh, she was a beaut.

[txgoonie]

+1 RoadID Slim wrist band. Never take it off.

Not sure how many other people do this, but I also have a few numbers in my phone under ICE (In case of emergency). Allegedly emergency responders will look there.

[txgoonie]

I bonked on one of those really chilly nights last week, so in addition to being loopy, I broke into a cold sweat and almost froze to death [seemingly]. Lesson learned!

I’m in the experimental phase with the Skratch labs rice cakes, but so far it’s going well. It’s a good solution b/c you can put whatever you want in there. Go as sweet or as savory as your tastes demand. I don’t eat bacon, so I’ve pretty much thrown the entire original recipe out and made it my own.

How I fuel really depends largely on the kind of riding I’m going to do.

If I’m mountain biking or puttering around myself and able to take breaks, I’ll lean towards real food and Clif bars.

If I’m on a group ride where there aren’t many opportunities to stop, I’ll try to drink as many of my calories as I can (doing the Skratch labs mix at the moment, too), and supplement with chews or gels.

I like the chewy things better than gels b/c of the mess factor and b/c it feels like I’m eating candy;-) Sweet tooth. The Honey Stinger chews are ridiculous. But those and the Powerbar gels come in packets that are totally impractical to open and eat from while moving. So I’m doing the Clif Bloks at the moment b/c you can kinda squeeze them out of the pack with one hand. But don’t try to open Clif Bloks on the move. Really – how hard is it to design packaging that’s easy to open? I cut the ends off the packs before I leave now.

[txgoonie]

Someone in another thread mentioned blood getting cold on the way to the feet (i.e. if you’re wearing shorts or knickers). Is there anything to that, you think? I have been having serious problems with cold feet, but also generally wear knickers. You think if my legs stay warmer, my feet will stay warmer?

[txgoonie]

@Megabeth 39561 wrote:

On the bike trainer last night, part of what I did was pedal using one leg, alternating each minute.

I feel every one of those muscles today. Ow ow ow.

It’s amazing how isolating each leg makes you focus on the whole mechanics of the pedaling circle and the motions required to get you through that whole circle.

I’ve been doing this, too. It totally revealed how bad my mechanics are. If you had asked me before, I probably would have said that I had a nice, even pedal stroke. But I totally don’t. I’ve also been doing pretty much all my rides during the week concentrating on pulling up on the pedals. So much bang for the buck each time you pedal. Work on those hip flexors and stabilizer muscles, people!

[Author]

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