Biking: Catch-all

complexmath wrote:

I'm also hoping to start riding with my 4 year-old to school on one of those trailer bikes. They're surprisingly expensive though.

Man, I've got two of them I need to get rid of. Just check Craigslist though. They typically don't get a lot of use and the use they do get is light. So as long as you can find one that was garage kept you should be able to get a good deal.

Well, they're usually awake by then, but the youngest can't escape his crib, and the oldest: allow me to show you this incredible invention. It has saved our lives! Or at least our sleep.

I'd only seen the clocks before, and those all have always-on LEDs. I may just have to try this. Though with a 4 year-old and 2 year-old twins, all of whom can get out of bed themselves, it may be a vain effort.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Man, I've got two of them I need to get rid of. Just check Craigslist though. They typically don't get a lot of use and the use they do get is light. So as long as you can find one that was garage kept you should be able to get a good deal.

I only read this part of the post. I thought you were referring to kids.

EvilHomer3k wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:

Man, I've got two of them I need to get rid of. Just check Craigslist though. They typically don't get a lot of use and the use they do get is light. So as long as you can find one that was garage kept you should be able to get a good deal.

I only read this part of the post. I thought you were referring to kids.

Well, garage kept children are typically free of cookie crumbs and fudge stains. And the less of that they've tasted, the more that workhouse gruel becomes a special treat...

Minarchist wrote:
brouhaha wrote:

I thought I wouldn't be riding as much as I have this summer. Hard to squeeze in rides with a 10 month-old and soon-to-be 4yr old!

Man, my kids are the exact same age as yours. And yes, it's very difficult. If I didn't ride to work every day (a measly 8 miles each way) and set my alarm for 6:30am on the weekends, I'd never ride at all.

Speaking of, those 16 miles a day of work riding really are not good prep for a longer ride if I miss a few weekends. Did a set on Saturday with a lot of vert and just felt blown out by the end of it. 21.12 miles and a bit north of 900 feet of altitute. Lots of steep, steep rollers (most over 15%, all over 10%). My legs, they were not happy with me.

I try to ride to work every other week, which is 20.5 one way. Nothing like hitting the road at 5:30am! No traffic, no wind, sun's not too high. I bring a change of clothes, shower stuff and a lunch the day before which certainly lightens the load. My only other major ride is a weekly 38mi group ride; which BTW I just moved up to the A-group! Then there's an hour on the weekend. My smaller, daily rides are an all out balls-to-the wall (18-20mph avg.) 5 to 8 miles. These occur in the evening when wifehaha is putting our 10mo down, and our 3yo is watching a 20 minute show on netflix. I hate to say it but I'm already starting to see sun setting earlier. This'll certainly throw a wrench in the mix come mid-Sept.

complexmath wrote:

Wow, you can wake up at 6:30 and your kids are still asleep? Mine are at the bedside at 6am on the dot every day. Though that beats the 5:30 wakeup they seemed stuck on for a while.

Yup, 6am too. I swear they wake up earlier on the weekends and drag as$ during the work-week. It's a conspiracy I tell ya! /offtopic

complexmath wrote:

The free Strava membership gets you quite a lot. You can even "compete" in the timed routes thing that's on the site. As LiquidMantis said, the only thing that's missing these days is some advanced analysis of your ride. Maybe a year back you were limited to uploading only like 4 rides a month, but that restriction has been lifted.

Yes, just pulled the trigger on a Garmin Edge 500; can't wait to link up to Stava and yes, "compete". I haven't checked but I hope a bunch of you all are on there.

Damn, that's fast. I can hit 18 or 19 as an average on the way to work with a bit of breeze behind me, but I've never made it home faster than 16.5 over that same stretch (net altitude gain from work to home). My puny little lungs don't have that kind of power.

Minarchist wrote:

Damn, that's fast. I can hit 18 or 19 as an average on the way to work with a bit of breeze behind me, but I've never made it home faster than 16.5 over that same stretch (net altitude gain from work to home). My puny little lungs don't have that kind of power.

I can keep the high average during those short 5-8 mile rides. I can't however, during the longer rides; i'd burn out quick. Groups rides are altogether different— there's really something psychological going on since I find myself riding much harder than I normally would alone, yet not feeling over-exerted. Mob mentality...?

Probably drafting more than anything. Even one person in front of you can drop your level of exertion by 30%. A bunch of people takes that up even higher. Always easy to go faster with other people.

Serengeti wrote:

Less than 3 days until Ragbrai. The largest, longest, oldest bike ride in the world. I can't wait! This will be my 11th year living in the US and my 9th Ragbrai. Early indications are that it may be the best Ragbrai ever!

If any other Goodjers are going, let me know and I'll pm you my contact info so we can meet up along the way.

Man, trying to get back into real life after RAGBRAI just sucks! I have absolutely no motivation to do anything other than hop on my bike with a 6-pack of beer and go for a ride...

LiquidMantis, if that's where you live, I'm insanely jealous. If not, I'm insanely jealous. There are reasons not to regret having moved back to Ohio from New Mexico, but...

Well, I don't live there but it's a couple of miles from the house. The reason we ended up in Golden is because it's something of a mountain biking mecca.

Also from today, at the same bike park:
IMAGE(http://goo.gl/jskSu)

LiquidMantis wrote:

Well, I don't live there

Bullsh*t, you lying Tusken bastard!

Seriously, great video. I wish I'd had those sorts of experiences growing up.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Well, I don't live there but it's a couple of miles from the house. The reason we ended up in Golden is because it's something of a mountain biking mecca.

Also from today, at the same bike park:
IMAGE(http://goo.gl/jskSu)

Are you teaching him the two-step riding technique you use?

PAR

par wrote:

Are you teaching him the two-step riding technique you use?

You won't like me when I'm angry.

IMAGE(http://goo.gl/RYoJM)

Now now... I know you're not used to using spin as a tactic but to get the full story one must know I was on vacation 2 of the past 4 weeks lol

PAR

Been aching to do something other commute. Took out for a late ride at 11:30 p.m. Ended up doing just under 17 miles through a mix of urban and slightly suburbanl areas. Need to adjust gearing as it was tough to get perfectly in-gear, but oh man was it exactly what I needed. Could've gone more but it was after midnight and I had no gear–no spare tube or tools, etc.—with me.

muraii wrote:

Been aching to do something other commute. Took out for a late ride at 11:30 p.m. Ended up doing just under 17 miles through a mix of urban and slightly suburbanl areas. Need to adjust gearing as it was tough to get perfectly in-gear, but oh man was it exactly what I needed. Could've gone more but it was after midnight and I had no gear–no spare tube or tools, etc.—with me.

Late night rides are awesome. Wise choice on turning back. While not that late I once took what was supposed to be a quick evening recovery spin. Against my nature, this was the one time I went out with my CamelBak and gear as it was just going to be an easy 45 minute 10 miler. I was doing an out-and-back along a greenbelt in Austin and literally at the very end of where I had planned on riding to, just as I was turning around, I ran over some glass and gashed my rear tire. So, no repair gear, no cell phone, no wallet. It was a nice five mile hike back pushing a bike with a flat tire in hard-soled Sidi bike shoes.

Actually though it's one of my most memorable rides. It's really neat how peaceful the greenbelts are in Austin. They go through the heart of the city but are amazingly serene. I was hiking through some of the densest firefly swarms I've ever seen, like some sort of enchanted fairy forest.

++

Just edited another shot from Friday. Not bad for under three weeks riding bikes.

IMAGE(http://goo.gl/EHHdT)

Now to go load gear and figure out where I'm going to take the family to ride today. This area is pretty rough for beginners. There just isn't a whole lot of choice that doesn't expect you to handle 5-10% sustained grades. Right now the family is struggling with 2-3%. There's an insane network of bike paths roaming throughout Denver though. Those are basically flat and you can get all the distance you want.

I've been drooling over bikes for the last couple months and have told myself that if I close the year out on or over quota, I'll get myself a road bike. The ones I'm looking at are all in the $2200-2500 range though (retail. I know I can get them for far less. Especially in December).

The ones I'm considering at the Specialized Roubaix Compact, the Trek Madone Series 4, and the Felt F5. The only one I've actually ridden so far is the Roubaix Compact and it very much appeals to my old bones.

Anyone have one or more of these for which they would like to extol the virtues?

LiquidMantis wrote:

Just edited another shot from Friday. Not bad for under three weeks riding bikes.

IMAGE(http://goo.gl/EHHdT)

Now to go load gear and figure out where I'm going to take the family to ride today. This area is pretty rough for beginners. There just isn't a whole lot of choice that doesn't expect you to handle 5-10% sustained grades. Right now the family is struggling with 2-3%. There's an insane network of bike paths roaming throughout Denver though. Those are basically flat and you can get all the distance you want.

That's awesome Will! I can't wait for my son to get to that point... The wife just saw this picture and said "awwww".

PAR

@LiquidMantis-- My biggest fear in having kids is probably the amount of biking time I would lose, so seeing you get your kids into bikes (and being able to ride by yourself, even with children to worry about otherwise) gives me hope

@Paleocon-- The Roubaix Compact is a great bike, though I personally don't go for compacts when recommending bikes, unless you're trying to climb a lot. Although I'm not well-versed in Trek bikes at all, Ican say that the Felt F5 is a fantastic bike, though you might feel a little more stretched out on it compared to the Roubaix-- the Specialized provides a slightly more upright, relaxed position on the bike, ideal for "lighter" (I use the term relative to balls-to-the-wall crit racing) rides and/or centuries. The Felt F series geometries are intended for all-out road racing, so you'll find yourself in a slightly more tucked-down/leaned-forward position, which will maximize aerodynamics and core efficiency. Essentially, you'll probably feel and be faster on the Felt. If you want to test a Felt that's similar in geometry to the Roubaix, check out the Z series bikes.

As far as the Madones, I think they're Trek's "relaxed" geometry framesets, and I know Trek makes a great quality bike (and I remember some old shop friends going nuts over the Madone a few years back), but I have no direct experience with them.

Is there a hivemind consensus on the best form for car bikeracks?

I'm a biking noob, but it seems like:
Roof - you have to lift your bike over your head, but otherwise ok
Strapped to rear of car - looks goofy, but I guess it must not fall off
Hitch-mounted - need to add a hitch to my car

I use a trunk/decklid mounted rack for my stuff. Works fine, tends to be cheap.

Cod wrote:

Is there a hivemind consensus on the best form for car bikeracks?

I'm a biking noob, but it seems like:
Roof - you have to lift your bike over your head, but otherwise ok
Strapped to rear of car - looks goofy, but I guess it must not fall off
Hitch-mounted - need to add a hitch to my car

I think much depends on the car you have. If you have a tall SUV, roof mounting is a total pain in the ass. I used to have a Ford Exploder and it was tough enough getting bikes on one of them. I can't imagine how tough it would be on something a good deal bigger. Otoh, I imagine it would be pretty damned easy to get one on the top of my CooperS.

WipEout wrote:

@Paleocon-- The Roubaix Compact is a great bike, though I personally don't go for compacts when recommending bikes, unless you're trying to climb a lot. Although I'm not well-versed in Trek bikes at all, Ican say that the Felt F5 is a fantastic bike, though you might feel a little more stretched out on it compared to the Roubaix-- the Specialized provides a slightly more upright, relaxed position on the bike, ideal for "lighter" (I use the term relative to balls-to-the-wall crit racing) rides and/or centuries. The Felt F series geometries are intended for all-out road racing, so you'll find yourself in a slightly more tucked-down/leaned-forward position, which will maximize aerodynamics and core efficiency. Essentially, you'll probably feel and be faster on the Felt. If you want to test a Felt that's similar in geometry to the Roubaix, check out the Z series bikes.

As far as the Madones, I think they're Trek's "relaxed" geometry framesets, and I know Trek makes a great quality bike (and I remember some old shop friends going nuts over the Madone a few years back), but I have no direct experience with them.

I'm a bit more athletic than most folks my age, but I'm still pretty old compared to most folks here. And the mileage hasn't been terribly kind to me either. As a result, I've been shying away from harsh materials like oversized aluminum and more toward carbon fiber. I figure a more relaxed geometry (in particular relaxed head and seat tube angles) would also go a long way toward making rides enjoyable.

The way I figure it, even the Roubaix is going to be plenty aggressive for me to get the most out of a hard road ride. I'm not going to race it in a mass start race. If I do anything, it might be a novice triathlon in which I'm more interested in finishing than shaving seconds off my time. I have no doubt I would finish, but you sort of need a bike to enter.

I rented a road bike when I was out in Vail last year to do the climb up to Vail Pass and the white knuckle descent to return. It was a hell of a lot of fun and it really made me miss road biking (and biking in general). I also rented a full suspension mtb and spent a few hours getting to the top of the mountain and rode the singletrack back down (no ski lifts for me. You must earn your turn.) and the experience left me wanting a fully suspended 2niner as well.

Most of the rides I would likely do in this area, though, would be with my running partners who are also road riders, so the road bike seems the logical place to start.

I think the key to racks in general is to try and get one where the bike is secured by the wheels instead of hung by the top tube, since many bikes these days don't have a flat top tube. I have a Saris hitch rack and it's worked very well for me, but then I have an SUV and it came with a hitch. YMMV.

Regarding the bikes... I have a Giant OCR C1, which is a "comfort" bike similar to the Roubaix. I got it for the same reasons you're considering the Roubaix and I absolutely love it. For this style of bike, I think the notable difference is that the frame is designed to flex a bit more than typical bikes to reduce the rumble from riding on a bumpy road. I don't feel any less connected to the road than on a race bike though, so to me this is only a positive thing. The geometry is such that you're supposed to be a bit more upright as well, but that can be altered substantially by the position of the handlebars on any bike using spacers and different necks, all of which is done for free during a fitting, so I don't know that this is a huge reason to choose something like the Roubaix over another bike.

Waterton, nice And the whole 6 miles!

PAR

Here's something from today's ride with the family.

IMAGE(http://goo.gl/E9th9)

IMAGE(http://goo.gl/GZ4XW)

IMAGE(http://goo.gl/nBLne)