I want to start Cycling

[Barinthus]

Originally posted by Flubber

4. NO you don't have to but I do recommend a good cycling short with good padding. You can wear something over them if you don't like the look.

Agreed. Worth it.

As for using an old bike, ensure you get a good tune up and you might also want to make sure the bike fits you. Have an experienced cyclist or the bike shop check the fit. Riding is so much better on a bike that fits

Yep. I don't know if Washington have Rei's - I have a membership there and they do a great service.

MRT144 - San Jose I wish I never had to move to Los Angeles. Only if I could find a good job up there I'd move back in a second.

[MRT144]

yeah i got the tune up today at this one shop. everything is a go! im gonna do my first ride monday. after i turn in my application at the movie theater

[Snotty]

The county council round here treats us well with special cycle maps. They publish free street level maps with all the different types of cycle path (pavement, road and offroad) coloured in on it. I found using a map a great way to explore far from my house without having to worry about getting lost, and found plenty of interesting stuff that I would otherwise have cycled right past.

Dont push yourself too hard at the start of your ride, at least until you know your limits. The last hour of your ride will be a lot more fun if you didnt knacker yourself in the first hour.

Ive not had many problems with cars to be honest, maybe its because I like to mostly ride in rural areas, or maybe its a UK thing.

[Snotty]

If youre going to be way from civilization for a bit its probably worth taking a little repair kit with you. Just the allen/hex keys you need for the middle of your handle bars, your seat and your gears.

I also take a spare inner tube with me, little hand pump, cable ties and a bit of gaffa tape/heavy duty selotape. My seat bust apart one time when I crashed so I just taped it back together and got on with my ride

[Asmodean]

5) I usually don't consider cyclists who use doping all that great. So no...I'll not beat you up for thinking Merckx was better. 'Cause he was

Asmodean

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Snotty
If youre going to be way from civilization for a bit its probably worth taking a little repair kit with you. Just the allen/hex keys you need for the middle of your handle bars, your seat and your gears.

I also take a spare inner tube with me, little hand pump, cable ties and a bit of gaffa tape/heavy duty selotape. My seat bust apart one time when I crashed so I just taped it back together and got on with my ride

All prudent-- I always take a spare tube and a patch kit as well as a couple of key tools. I actually hate using the patch kit but I hate the second flat more and carrying a second tube is a lot more bulky

I also always take a cell phone--- If you pancake a wheelyou might need a pick-up

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asmodean
5) I usually don't consider cyclists who use doping all that great. So no...I'll not beat you up for thinking Merckx was better. 'Cause he was

Asmodean

I have seen no proof of Armstrong doping and he is perhaps the most tested man on the planet. Have you seen proof?


Oh and I don't see Armstrong as the greatest cyclist ever. He has edged into position as the greatest Tour de France rider ever IMHO but considering that he pretty much ignores other events, he would have a long way to go to surpass the other greats who won the TdF while also winning lots of other things

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by Barinthus

Yep. I don't know if Washington have Rei's - I have a membership there and they do a great service.

Dude, REI started in and is headquarted in Seattle. They have the mother of all stores there, along with several other ones in the area.

[MRT144]

Originally posted by Flubber


All prudent-- I always take a spare tube and a patch kit as well as a couple of key tools. I actually hate using the patch kit but I hate the second flat more and carrying a second tube is a lot more bulky

I also always take a cell phone--- If you pancake a wheelyou might need a pick-up

i have a saddle bag with all my **** in it, including patch kit, extra tube, tools, etc etc.

im gonna go for my first long ride today

[Lawrence of Arabia]

heres how you get good.

1. for the first 500 km or so, put the bike in the lowest gear (1, 1) and pedal. work on keeping your legs cycling at the same rate. dont go crazy fast, but dont go very slow slow either. go at a regular slow pace.

2. once you have done that, then you are ready to go, your body knows at what speed your legs must be pumping at.

3. this sets you up, because to be a good biker, you must maintain the same speed of your legs no matter what the incline is. change gears immediatly as you feel your rotations per minute dropping. this keeps your legs and heart fresh, and you can go for miles and miles up or downhill, no matter what.

4. bring power bars, and water with you.

[ajbera]

I don't know if they're myths (and if they are I'm sure someone will pop up imminently and explain what an idiot I am) but I've heard that cycling can do some damage to little MRT144, if ya know what I mean. I'm sure those in the know will set me straight if I'm wrong. I just bring it up because I'm sure you wouldn't want any damage whatsoever down there.

And, Lance is the greatest, if only for overcoming testicular, lung and brain cancer to win, what is it, 6 times in a row. C'mon, that's just cool.

[Sava]

Lance Armstrong is a tool, and probably a blood doper.

But at the Tour de France in 1999 he failed a test for the corticosteroid triamcinolone - a banned substance which is found in some medicines and creams - although cycling's ruling body the UCI did not sanction him for the offence.

[...]

However claims by a former physiotherapist with the US Postal team, Irishwoman Emma O'Reilly, that Armstrong succumbed to using the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) threaten to take the shine off the American's glittering reputation.

O'Reilly worked with Armstrong for three and a half years from 1998 and was in almost constant contact with his close-knit team.

She reveals how, among other dubious tasks, she was asked by Armstrong to dispose of bags containing syringes after the end of the Tour of Holland in 1998, only months after the Festina drugs scandal at the Tour de France almost brought the race to its knees.

O'Reilly also says that in May 1999, while Armstrong was at a training camp in the Pyrenees, she was asked to drive to Spain to collect drugs and bring them back into France, which she later handed to Armstrong at a rendez-vous in a car park.

link: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori.../89817/1/.html

If these allegations are false, why has Lance not sued for libel/slander?

It's just like the Canseco book and baseball.

Lance is probably a cheater.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by ajbera
I don't know if they're myths (and if they are I'm sure someone will pop up imminently and explain what an idiot I am) but I've heard that cycling can do some damage to little MRT144, if ya know what I mean. I'm sure those in the know will set me straight if I'm wrong. I just bring it up because I'm sure you wouldn't want any damage whatsoever down there.

There was some evidence of problems but usually in people that were experiencing "numbness" in the area from long rides . . . I think the cycling industry has respondedn with better saddles so the nerve endings in question aren't so compressed.

[MRT144]

there is a definite improvement of seats. the main issue isnt nerve endings but penile arteries being crushed. and being the swinging bachelor i am now...well thats going to be needed.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Sava
Lance Armstrong is a tool, and probably a blood doper.

Hmmm -- it does appear that he may be a bit of a tool -- he seems arrogant-- but I still doubt the doping.


Do you realize that Armstrong has been tested randomly and by suprise frequently? Until a test turns up positive, I will take with a huge grain of salt any claims by some physiotherapist.

AS for syringes, I don't think it is at all rare for a cyclist to take injections for any number of non-banned reasons.

Armstrong may be a cheater but until there is more than one individuals alegation, I will continue to give him the benefit of the doubt