For those about to bike, I salute you.

[Kali27]

So happy to see other people doing the bike thing... I used to just use it to get around my lil town at the beach but since I moved inland by a lake, I've started discovering the joys of mountain/trail biking...

... and we always bring our pot with us... there's this waterfall which is our smoke break point, where you can park your bike and hike down the rocks... last time we found a couple guys there with guitars smoking so we just listened for a lil while... it was nice...

I'm going for one later this afternoon... I'll have to take pics for ya'll...

[marooko]

why dont any of you live with 50 fucking miles of me. my friends are fucking lame when it comes to riding.

ex: i have a friend who has a kona with a brand fucking new 500 fox shock. he rode that bitch like 3 times. (the bike is older, the shocks are new). its been sitting in his garage for about a year and he wont sell me those fucking shocks. pisses me the fuck off. would i be a bad friend if i stole it?

[Hopeless Semantic]

Fuck it, marook. Steal the shocks lol. If he ain't using it, its just wasting space. Put it to good use and leave a note if you have to explaining he's being a lazy m'fer and you'll bring 'em back if he's going to piss all over himself like a jackalope.

[marooko]

i want to sometimes, man. it pisses me off. i cant quite spend that much on a shock, and he's got one just collecting fucking dust. ass face.

[Kali27]

Just ask if you can put it to use since its been rusting in cobwebs... sad to let such a good thing go to waste.

[downingthief]

Peugeots are great bikes. My husband is really into road biking. I'm just to scared of the cars and the speed.

We had a friend the other day who was on the road and some lady in Corona del Mar just swung her door open into him. If he'd hit the door head on he'd probably have fared better. Unfortunately the side of the door caught him on the arm sliced open his forearm and threw him from his bike. That sucked. Another friend got hit by a car being driven by an old lady that was in the midst of a stroke. He's lucky to be alive. I got tons of those road horror stories. Seems like once a month a friend meets pavement, thus I like to stick to the dirt or my beach cruiser.

I had a near-death experience (or so I think) while on a training ride years ago. I stopped riding cold turkey after that.

I was doing about a 15-20 mile ride that I had done a week prior with a group. It was only the second time doing the ride, so I was not too familiar with the surroundings (Ivy...it was in the PV area, near the north side of Camelback).

I was going down one of the hills at a pretty good clip, enjoying the wind on my face, when I noticed a stop sign peeking out from behind a palo verde tree. I proceeded to pump my brakes as best I could, hoping there would be no car coming the other way ( the other way had no stop sign...something I should have paid attention to the first time I rode that route).

Of course, yes...a car was coming the opposite way. So, at this point, I am saying every prayer that I can think of that the driver will see me. Luckliy, she does, and slams on her breaks. I remember looking down at my spedometer when I passed in front of her...I was going 30 mph. I would have been killed, or at least really, really f'd up.

I kept pumping my breaks until I stopped completley. I then, got off my bike with my legs shaking, and proceeded to puke my guts out.
I walked my bike for a good mile or so, and got back on going VERY slow.
When I got home, I hung my bike up, and didn't touch it for years.

[marooko]

last year a friend of mine hit a drainage ditch on a trail. i looked at my speedometer, i was doing 29mph. i looked back, and see him flying in the air. i was fuckiing scared as hell for him. luckily he just had minor scrapes and such. very lucky. we were going downhill and it was pretty rocky.

[Hopeless Semantic]

A very good friend of mine--one who I grew up with since kindergarten--told me a sad story that occured during his lunchtime in Anaheim, CA.

He was eating lunch at a Rally's one day, and was looking out on the traffic where he saw a guy biking with his headphones on. The biker was one of those prick careless types and so my buddy saw this guy come flying into the oncoming path of a OCTA bus. Let's just say my friend never finished his Rallyburger and the biker became hamburger. It was straight Red Asphalt status.

Edit: He then asked me if he was demented for kinda laughing at the guy's tragic misfortune when he drove back to work after his lunchbreak. (probably noting that since I was the darker and more sinister thinking of us two) and I said well, no, Darfuckinwinism provides us with moments where you can't help but laugh. Because if you're going to ride down a busy ass street like Harbor or Beach Blvd--with earphones on and carelessness exuding, you deserve what you get.

[Mockingbird73]

used to mtn. bike all the time, and would love to get out more often. i have a '98 specialized rockhopper that i upgraded. i love that bike soo much fun on technical singletrack!

some really great trails up here around pasadena and calabasas...

i would LOVE to be able to ride my bike to work, but that just will not work due to my weird commute

[Kali27]

I love the fact that I am able to bike to work... or walk depending if I'm in a good book or not...

[AJS415]

Just recently got a commuter bike and started riding to and from the Cal Train and then riding from my stop to work. I think its great, I hate sitting in traffic. I get in about 20 miles a day doing this.

I've been road biking regularly this year and my rides have gotten way up there in distance. I also do a lot of climbing (Nor Cal has hills everywhere), which means a lot of decents. I have close calls it seems like every other weekend. Everyone I know (including myself) who has been riding more than a year has hit the pavement for all the various reasons (cars, parked cars, hitting potholes going downhill, taking turns too fast, etc.).

[mountmccabe]

When the weather is nice I sometimes bike to work once or twice a week. It currently is less than 2.5 miles so it is barely a wake up ride. And sometimes on weekends I'll bike to my parents or do that and then to my sister's through the mountain preserve. But again, not during the summer!

I also like taking my bike up when we go camping, riding it on the dirt roads/trails up there. I'm not taking it this weekend, though, because I doubt I'd even get the time to ride.

Also I am not much for real mountain trails; I probably should've gotten a hybrid rather than a straight mountain bike.

[marooko]

When the weather is nice I sometimes bike to work once or twice a week. It currently is less than 2.5 miles so it is barely a wake up ride. And sometimes on weekends I'll bike to my parents or do that and then to my sister's through the mountain preserve. But again, not during the summer!

I also like taking my bike up when we go camping, riding it on the dirt roads/trails up there. I'm not taking it this weekend, though, because I doubt I'd even get the time to ride.

Also I am not much for real mountain trails; I probably should've gotten a hybrid rather than a straight mountain bike.

you can get a lot out of a new stem, handle bars and a raised or lowered seat.

[mountmccabe]

you can get a lot out of a new stem, handle bars and a raised or lowered seat.

That won't really drop that much weight, will it?

My friend actually has two sets of tires for his mountain bike, the ones that came with it and racing tires. It looks kinda funny with the racing tires on it but it works well if you're going for a ride only on smooth pavement.

[marooko]

there are a lot of things you can do to cut weight on your bike. the only draw back to that is that the parts are more expensive. if you go to the bike shop and pick up the cheapest handles bars and the most expensive, you'll notice the difference in weight.

[Kali27]

My afternoon bike ride around Lake Hodges...




the smoking waterfall...

[algunz]

When I got home, I hung my bike up, and didn't touch it for years.

Oh sweetheart, that's the worst thing you could have done.




I asked my husband (he's a total nerd when it comes to this shit) and he suggests that the best way to lose weight on your bike is in your tires & wheel set and in the components. Unfortunately Maroo's right in that the lighter the stuff the more expensive they are gonna be.



Oh and Kali, that ride above looks like just my speed. Nice hit.

[marooko]

I asked my husband (he's a total nerd when it comes to this shit) and he suggests that the best way to lose weight on your bike is in your tires & wheel set and in the components. Unfortunately Maroo's right in that the lighter the stuff the more expensive they are gonna be.

yeah, i totally left out the rims. absolutely correct.

[downingthief]

Oh sweetheart, that's the worst thing you could have done.

Yeah, it probably was. But, at the time...was pretty shaken up about it. I'm just looking forward to getting back in the saddle again. I do really like the bike. I'll have to take a pic, and post it.

[chairmenmeow47]

i remember when i was in second grade i cracked my head open doing a backflip in gymnastics. i never wanted to go back, but my parents made me. and while i still hesitated a lot, i'm glad they made me go back. i stayed in another 4 years and eventually did a little competing. it's hard to make that choice on your own though.

[Pixiessp]

I had an incident where I swerved to avoid hitting a small kid that decided to just stop suddenly in the middle of a bike path. I hit a bump or small log and flew over my handlebars and in turn landed on a much larger log.
When I came to there were all these people huddled around me asking me if i needed medical assistance. The father of the little kid was yelling at me for almost hitting his unattended child. Anyway,what I'm trying to say is that as soon as I could I got back on my bike(not same bike as that one was toast)and continued riding.

[Mr.Nipples]

want

[marooko]

daaaaaaaaaaaamnmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnn. nips busted out the 3 speed for the win!!!! fucking sweet.

[BROKENDOLL]

After reading this thread last nite, I had dreams of riding with all of you, except in the dream my bike had been stolen. The whole dream was about trying to find the damn thing instead.(Funny, since I've only seen pics of afew of you, but everyone was helping me look.)The first thing I checked this morning was my bike, which was still there...with 2 flat tires! Now I feel bad for wasting your riding time.

[algunz]

want

Georgeous. I swear there's few things more beautiful than two wheels and some fancy color with chrome.


I don't want this thread to fixate on the scary side of bikes, but Pixies' story above reminded me of when my friend in college was road riding around Central Park in a pack. A woman crossed their path and most were able to dodge out of the way including my friend, but unfortunately his position in the pack gave him only 2 choices. Hit the lady or risk hitting one of those poles that keeps cars from coming through. Unfortunately he chose the latter and he went face first into the pole. His face was split from forehead to chin. He lost five front teeth and stitches that ran the length of his face. Brutal. I gotta admit though, it was really fun trying to make him laugh and watch him to try not to split his stitches. He never looked quite the same again.

I LOVE BIKES!!!!!

[marooko]

Georgeous. I swear there's few things more beautiful than two wheels and some fancy color with chrome.


I don't want this thread to fixate on the scary side of bikes, but Pixies' story above reminded me of when my friend in college was road riding around Central Park in a pack. A woman crossed their path and most were able to dodge out of the way including my friend, but unfortunately his position in the pack gave him only 2 choices. Hit the lady or risk hitting one of those poles that keeps cars from coming through. Unfortunately he chose the latter and he went face first into the pole. His face was split from forehead to chin. He lost five front teeth and stitches that ran the length of his face. Brutal. I gotta admit though, it was really fun trying to make him laugh and watch him to try not to split his stitches. He never looked quite the same again.

I LOVE BIKES!!!!!

thats kinda mean trying to make him split open again. but funny im sure. haha. and i love the ending.

[Wheres the beef?]

Good thread algunz. I saw this just before I went for a ride today and decided to bring my camera to share....

[algunz]

For some reason, the above pictures made me think about the movie "Breaking Away." Go Cutters!!



(Hey, that'd be a good Halloween costume. Easy and comfy. Hmmmm, Selena might have just gotten ousted.)

[algunz]

Mammoth


Montana

[marooko]

anyone ever do the angel island loops? thinking of going this weekend and wanna know what to expect.