Sometimes you just gotta do it (i.e, I bought a bike!!)

Duffy Pratt wrote:
:: It sounds to me like you want to drive to other locations mostly
:: because you are not comfortable yet with riding in the traffic near
:: your house. You also describe the nearby roads as being narrow,
:: which I assume means they have very limited shoulder space.
::
:: Your confidence in traffic will develop over time.

Hit. Nail. Head. It comes down the confidence. Right now, I have a lot of
confidence issues. Traffic, imo, makes things more difficult. I like
living and being in good health

But you are
:: clearly right not to push yourself into places where you aren't
:: comfortable. I will ride just about anywhere -- I used to ride city
:: streets in Manhattan, and there is no place I have seen that is more
:: harrowing. My wife doesn't have my confidence, and probably has
:: more sense than me. When I ride with her, I'm alot more selective
:: about the roads we use. If you spend all your time worried about
:: cars, you won't have any fun, and you won't work as hard as you
:: could.

Right. I did some yesterday. For my evening ride, I went out of the
subdivision along the very narrow road (with zero shoulder) leading to the
major thoroughfare. I took a right and road in the shoulder, which is
fairly wide but develops a rightward slope after a ways. About a mile down,
there is a much bigger subdivision than mine with many streets, many of
which have long hills -- but there are plenty of short ones too. So I road
around in there for a good while, avoiding the bigger looking hills. I'll
work up to them over time. I then when out of that sub and road back to
mine, riding against the traffic but in the shoulder (I know that is not
wise, but that road is pretty wide with lots of traffic, and it didn't seem
smart to ride the other side -- I just kept a sharp eye out for people who
might enter the thoroughfare and not be expecting traffic from the wrong
direction), and did the loop again. It was a lot of fun and I got a chance
to push things a bit.

I won't let these issues become a problem so that I won't ride. Those
places I mentioned in the other posts are easy to get to with a bike rack on
the car and they give me plenty of variety. So, for the time being, I'll
neighborhood ride in the evenings after work (and before gym on WT nights as
a warm up), and use these other places on the weekends. After I get used to
being on the bike for an extended period, I'll join the group that leaves
from the bike shop. They do 25 mile rides in the evenings, but I'm unsure
about what they do in winter when it gets dark by 5:30p.

BTW, when I started dealing with the people in the bike shop early last
week, I was telling them I weighed 255 lbs (which is what the scales were
saying). By the time I made a decision and bought the bike (after a putting
a fair amount of test riding of their bikes) I was at 250 lbs. I don't
claim that was all from riding, since I was weight training hard and
controlling calorie intake, but I do think it helped. I had to go to the
next hole on my belt, too

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...

So, how does one properly judge if the gear is too high? Is it good to
change gears while fighting hard up a hill, or should one already be in a
lower gear before getting into a hill?

For normal riding, I keep my cadence at about 90rpms. Anything below that
and I try to pedal harder or shift to a lower gear. On a hill, it will fall
lower, but anything below 70 rpms is really slow for me, and I would
probably shift to lower gear. Standing cadence tends to be lower than
seated.

I'm not advocating 90rpm for everyone. You will find your own natural
cadence fairly quickly. But keep in mind that when you start out, you will
tend to want to spin more slowly than is probably right for you. So you
should try to push your cadence up. The rule of thumb is the faster your
spin at any given speed, the more stress you place on your aerobic system
and the less stress on your legs.

With the old friction style shifters, you could miss a shift while pedalling
hard up a hill. I've never had that happen with the index shifters, so I
would say shift when you need to. You might still miss a shift if you are
pedalling so slowly that there is nothing for the shifter to engage, but if
you are going that slowly, you will probably topple over anyways.

Duffy

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 09:29:53 -0500, "Pat" wrote:
But, you wrote your comments after he purchased a road bike. Therefore, the
remark about the third chainring was redundant because you knew he didn't
have the low gearing of a mountain bike.

They're not that much lower. If he lives in San Francisco, he might
use the low range. Whenever I've been on a hill steep enough to
require the lowest gears, I find that can get off the bike and walk it
up the hill faster than I can ride it up the hill.

It just could be that where he lives is different from where you live.
Imagine that! He has already stated that the roads nearby are not the most
desirable or safe places to ride. As for the tools and gears and
clothes---he needs those. Not "you" need those--"He" needs them. He is,
after all, a newbie, and there are certain items that should be purchased to
properly outfit the bike and himself to give him a proper chance to actually
LIKE to ride the bike and continue to ride it. I am afraid you are coming
off as a kind of bicycling veteran making fun of the newbie when you should
be encouraging him to find his own way to enjoy riding his bike.

I didn't make fun of him. I said he was setting himself up for failure
by making riding too complicated and time consuming.

There is a guy in our club who makes fun of anyone who doesn't have
shifters on the down tube. He rides with a torn white tee-shirt, tennis
shorts, and only carries one bottle of water, no matter the distance or
temperature. He stands up to pedal on all hills. He does wear gloves, but
they are tattered and worn. No helmet. Just think: one of these days, that
could be you! (or maybe it already is)

I never stand up.

martin

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:20:53 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
wrote:
So, how does one properly judge if the gear is too high? Is it good to
change gears while fighting hard up a hill, or should one already be in a
lower gear before getting into a hill?

I change gears depending on how hard I am working. My high gear is a
55, but I only have one steep hill, so I usually stay in that gear. I
know when I need to shift down by when the frequency of my pedaling
drops.

Also, when going down hill, I've found that if the gear is set too low, then
all I so is spin while trying to raise it...a bit unsettling, since it tends
to throw my balance off.

I always shift up so that I have some resistance to pedal against, in
case I need to speed up for some reason.

martin

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 09:32:29 -0500, "Pat" wrote:

You said he shouldn't look good? You said that he shouldn't buy anything
that "might" make him look good?

I said he shouldn't *try* to look good. He can buy whatever he wants.
If he is buying to look good, he is wasting his money.

You said you're taking this whole thing 'way too far into the curmudgeon
territory?

That would be somewhere in texas?

martin

M. W. Smith wrote:
:: On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 09:32:29 -0500, "Pat" wrote:
::
::: You said he shouldn't look good? You said that he shouldn't buy
::: anything that "might" make him look good?
::
:: I said he shouldn't *try* to look good. He can buy whatever he wants.
:: If he is buying to look good, he is wasting his money.

Actually, I was buying to make sure I'd be easy to see while riding the bike
and also be protected in case of a crash. I had a choice of helmuts, and I
chose the one I liked best. The shorts were just a matter of what fit (and
for additional comfort on the bike), since they were all black (I'm
considering some with brightly colored panels off the net). I bought
brightly colored socks, too.

AFter I got it all on I thought - hey, I don't look too bad in this getup.
So, honestly, this looking good business was strictly an afterthought.
After having loss 117 lbs one kinda pays attention to looking good in all
situations, but that is not a motivation or even a concern when I'm
riding -- but like I said -- it can't hurt a thing.

"Roger Zoul" wrote:
Spinners bike? They don't have those at my gym. I do ride the stepper
thing and the recumbent bikes now and again.

It is a stationary bike. Spinners classes are quite popular at fitness
clubs in Europe. There is one room containing 30 or 40 of these
stationary cycles. They are very rugged cycles with no bells and
whistles. There is only a load control, which is a knob that you turn.
It can make pedaling very hard.

There is one cycle facing the class. The class leader rides that one.
He/she plays high-tempo aerobics type music through a big stereo
system and signals to the class when to increase the load, stand up,
increase the tempo, sit down, etc. The classes are 45 minutes, 1 hour,
75 minutes, or 90 minutes in length. Very hard training. We're having
one next week of 2.5 hours. I don't get bored when there are other
people with me and loud music.

martin

"Roger Zoul" wrote:

M.W. Smith wrote:
:: Roger Zoul wrote:
:::
::: Pat wrote:
::: I know having the smaller one really helps going up hill! However,
::: I can't imagine using the bigger one while going downhill! In
::: fact, the notion of peddling downhill sort of has me freaked, at
::: the moment
::
:: I never have a need for the third (low) range. I wish they wouldn't
:: even
:: put it on, but I suppose it would be useful offroad. On a roadbike, I
:: can't imagine where you would use it, but I don't know much about
:: road racing. You can coast downhill if you want.
::
::: Well, I'm the type to keep a car until it dies, so I guess the
::: scratches will come soon enough. Plus, someone keyed it recently,
::: so the newness is gone. I don't see much choice here, though. I
::: feel I need this biking to help me rid myself of my remaining
::: bodyfat -- and I'm more important to me than the paint on my car.
::: I only get one life, but I can get a new car!
::
:: Then just take the bike out the door and ride it.
::

Well, I feel my options are more limited riding from my house. the
neighborhood is very hilly, and one doesn't need to go far between getting
on the highly traveled very narrow rodes (with hills) -- making it hard to
see what is ahead. A bit further, and there is a four-lane road
thorough-fare. I'm not up to that. With the rack, I can take the bike to
one of a couple of locations I have found where riding is much safer. That
is my plan, and I've bought the rack.

One benefit of a mountain bike is it is a bit easier to ride in
traffic. Your head is higher, so you can see better, and the tires are
wide , so you don't have to pay so much attention to the road surface.

I predict that once you get into the riding habit, you will buy a
mountain bike and use it mainly for riding around town.

martin

M. W. Smith wrote:
:: "Roger Zoul" wrote:
::
::: M.W. Smith wrote:
::::: Roger Zoul wrote:
::::::
:::::: Pat wrote:
:::::: I know having the smaller one really helps going up hill!
:::::: However,
:::::: I can't imagine using the bigger one while going downhill! In
:::::: fact, the notion of peddling downhill sort of has me freaked, at
:::::: the moment
:::::
::::: I never have a need for the third (low) range. I wish they
::::: wouldn't even
::::: put it on, but I suppose it would be useful offroad. On a
::::: roadbike, I can't imagine where you would use it, but I don't
::::: know much about
::::: road racing. You can coast downhill if you want.
:::::
:::::: Well, I'm the type to keep a car until it dies, so I guess the
:::::: scratches will come soon enough. Plus, someone keyed it recently,
:::::: so the newness is gone. I don't see much choice here, though. I
:::::: feel I need this biking to help me rid myself of my remaining
:::::: bodyfat -- and I'm more important to me than the paint on my car.
:::::: I only get one life, but I can get a new car!
:::::
::::: Then just take the bike out the door and ride it.
:::::
:::
::: Well, I feel my options are more limited riding from my house. the
::: neighborhood is very hilly, and one doesn't need to go far between
::: getting on the highly traveled very narrow rodes (with hills) --
::: making it hard to see what is ahead. A bit further, and there is a
::: four-lane road thorough-fare. I'm not up to that. With the rack,
::: I can take the bike to one of a couple of locations I have found
::: where riding is much safer. That is my plan, and I've bought the
::: rack.
::
:: One benefit of a mountain bike is it is a bit easier to ride in
:: traffic. Your head is higher, so you can see better, and the tires
:: are
:: wide , so you don't have to pay so much attention to the road
:: surface.
::
:: I predict that once you get into the riding habit, you will buy a
:: mountain bike and use it mainly for riding around town.

That would not surprise me one bit -- and I really would love to ride around
town.....but my first and foremost goal right now is to firmly establish the
riding habit.

There is this 10, 28, and 66 mile bike trek to take place near here on
October 11. I'm going to do one of them.

http://greenvilleonline.com/entertai...3091514289.htm

www.freewheelers.info/biketigerville.html

M. W. Smith wrote:
:: "Roger Zoul" wrote:
::: Spinners bike? They don't have those at my gym. I do ride the
::: stepper thing and the recumbent bikes now and again.
::
:: It is a stationary bike. Spinners classes are quite popular at
:: fitness clubs in Europe. There is one room containing 30 or 40 of
:: these stationary cycles. They are very rugged cycles with no bells
:: and whistles. There is only a load control, which is a knob that you
:: turn. It can make pedaling very hard.
::
:: There is one cycle facing the class. The class leader rides that one.
:: He/she plays high-tempo aerobics type music through a big stereo
:: system and signals to the class when to increase the load, stand up,
:: increase the tempo, sit down, etc. The classes are 45 minutes, 1
:: hour, 75 minutes, or 90 minutes in length. Very hard training. We're
:: having one next week of 2.5 hours. I don't get bored when there are
:: other people with me and loud music.

Wow. That does sound less boring than just riding by yourself. I'd love to
try one.