MFP Cycling Club

Good Luck Skywalker!! :bigsmile:

I'll have to take a pic of me with my helmet on too, I just got a new one, as the other one I have is too hot for summer, but will be great in the winter!

Ok, I admit it, I was weak........

I went near the bike shop today, and I thought, "I should just stop in and see how much they want for them SPD pedals...... ;-)]

I have a nice pair of Shimano SPD MTB shoes These ones......



and back in the day, I had these shoes and the matching clip pedals, they are the Shimano PD-A530 which have one side with the clip in binding and the other side is just a flat pedal. It is funny, I spent a lot of time 20 years ago learning how to spin, I had a road bike with clip in pedals and shoes and a mountain bike with just toe clips and straps. When I restored this bike, the clip in pedals were shot, the guts were rusted out. I bought some cheap plastic small pedals, and they are only a few months old and one of them squeaks all the time, I've tried several times to fix it but to no avail, so today I bought new pedals.

WOW is all I can say, being clipped in is just so cool, I rode down this big hill in my area, just so I could ride up it <Big Grin> I've not done that in a while! Being able to spin is so cool, I'd forgotten how much more you get out of your work when you can do that.

I also bought some bar ends, as I was getting sore hands having only one hand position.


I have to admit to spending a bit on the bike this month, but my lovely wife basically said " you are losing weight and getting in shape, good! This is still cheaper than a gym membership"

Also, as I use the bike and trailer for doing deliveries for the L shop, I can write off these things

I really want to get some more miles in today!

While we rode on Saturday, I kept noticing how many other bikers were not wearing helmets. True, many of them were on comfort or hybrid bikes and on the paved bike path and not in the road, but some were in the road... cars whizzing past. I wanted to give each of them a little safety lecture on WHY they should always wear helmets even for a little recreational ride on a bike path or sidewalk, much less on the road.

But, I limited myself to projected thoughts. All of our biking buddies wear helmets, and anyone new who joins us gets a lecture about it if they don't have one. Some people simply don't realize the importance, or some will complain it messes up their hair. No excuses! I even changed my hair style so it's helmet friendly.

I have 2 extremely cool, but slim cut biking jerseys I haven't been able to wear this year... but with our biking tour coming up in mid September, I absolutely plan on fitting into them... oh, and some biking knickers I bought in Europe two years ago... great in cool weather. I'm getting pretty close to them all fitting, but I must stick to my weight loss program for all of August for them to look OK. I won't have a problem with eating... I seem to have that pretty well in hand and we expect no company this month, unlike July which was non stop! Now, if I could just get the weather to cooperate and cool down so I could bike and power walk more often. Ha.

Ah, skywalker... hills... my bane. argh. But our tour will include what's described as "rolling hills"... so, despite our heat, I'll have to force myself to train by going up every overpass I can find. No shortcuts!.

Stu, I am a little afraid of clip pedals... can you get out of them quickly if necessary?

I currently use metal pedals with teeth, which don't slip, but I know I'm losing some pedaling power by not being clipped in.

snip........

Stu, I am a little afraid of clip pedals... can you get out of them quickly if necessary?

I currently use metal pedals with teeth, which don't slip, but I know I'm losing some pedaling power by not being clipped in.

Well the nice thing about the ones I bought is that they are half clips half regular platform pedals, the MTB shoes I were looks much like regular hiking shoes, the cleat on the bottom is recessed so you can walk in them fairly normally. I remember back when with roadie shoes and clip pedals, you could walk VERY carefully about 10 feet with those things one, they were hard plastic on the bottom and very slippy.

The other feature I like about the Shimano pedals I got is that there is an allen screw on each one that you can adjust the release pressure, this is very confidence inspiring if you are just starting out, all you have to do is twist your heel outwards and the shoe is free of the pedal. For around town etc, I like it set this way, easy fast egress :bigsmile: You do have to remember to flick your heels out, I almost, ALMOST did a crash today, I forgot to flick my heel out until the last second, I did get my foot down.......just :blushing: I also had to raise my seat again to get the position to spin I wanted, this allows me to run a higher gear and just simply go faster and easier, much less wasted motion. Better work out for the legs too, you are using more muscles so you are building more muscles too :drinker:

I would run the release pressure higher if I was going off-road, as things move around a lot more and you DON'T want an accidental release, that just sucks.:frown:

Really, the new modern clip pedals are really a treat to use, the ones I have are great for anyone, but especially for a newbie to clip pedals, as you can just simply NOT use them when you are in an environment that does not inspire confidence. For example, around the town center, buses, taxis, kids, dogs, kids with dogs, elderly hard of hearing peds and cagers, you might feel a LOT better NOT using the clips, makes sense, but out on a nice set of rolling hills, riding in the comfort of your group, the clip pedals are great (just remember to flick the heel out when you come to a stop!!).

You will be surprised at how much better you go up hills with clip pedals and shoes!

Any other clip pedals users out there?

Please chime in!

@BarbieCat: Get the clip pedals and shoes. There are tons of them out there, but I've stuck with the simple (and fairly inexpensive) cleat model. Nike makes some nice shoes, too. At first, it seems weird, but it becomes second nature very quickly to clip in and out. Most people will fall down once learning to use them. I had my fall in front of a group of boy scouts who were in the middle of a bicycle safety lecture.:laugh: No kidding.

And what in the world is a "helmet friendly" hairstyle?? :huh: I have big hair (though I cut it a bit shorter for summer), and would love to know.

Another nice ride this morning, a little over 21 miles, but upped the pace a little bit, and that was good. Happy riding!

Hey all! Getting kinda confused on which bike I should aim for... I am a beginner, looking for something reasonably priced and reliable. Right now I am on the Trek site looking at the 1.2 WSD... can a seasoned pro look at it and tell me if it would be a good start for a beginner? What should I be looking for? Thanks... StuAblett, if you have any info, shoot me a message- same to everyone else! Thanks! Oh, I should add, I am looking for a road bike. I really like the Trek ones or Cannondales so far from what I have seen.

How did you lose your banana, was it strapped to the bike?

One reason I love bananas on longer rides is that they fit nicely in the back pocket of a jersey, they are easy to eat, they have lots of good things in them that help with muscle strain, and you can toss the wrapper by the side of the road (in the countryside) as it is biodegradable :bigsmile:

The magical returning banana, cool :drinker:

I've set the image in my ticker to show the elevation profile map of the Endure for the Cure ride I'm doing on Sunday. Holy hill climbing, Batman!!! :noway:
At least the last 25 miles should be ok. :laugh:

WOWZER! :noway: :embarassed:

How did you lose your banana, was it strapped to the bike?

being a banana is squishy I didn't strap it down too well and it bounced off. hehe. I was using a bungie cord lol. I guess I need a little wicker basket. lol

Woohoo! My helmet and bike computer are here! So excited! Changing my profile pic right now! LOL! Gotta be one of the cool people with the helmet pics! :bigsmile:

I don't believe the coincidence... in my earlier post I repeated the oft repeated advice to never bike without a helmet... and sure enough, I had the lesson proved to me once again.... this time personally.


I had a bike accident this morning ... a damned fool maintenance man was doing something called "sidewalk" polishing... on the bike/walk lane... but took a break, leaving his big hose and slippery wet crud there on the sidewalk, without so much as a cone or warning... I had been at the gym and was riding my bike home. I saw his truck, over on the side of the road, but didn't see the hose which looked like just another crack in the sidewalk.... and I hit it [it was at a 45 degree angle], lost control of my bike and took quite a hard tumble.

I lay there near the road, half on the sidewalk, half on the grass... my bike upside down... stunned. I was conscious, but hurt. At least 10 cars passed, and no one stopped... until finally, one guy in a big SUV did.. he called out to me, came over and told me he was a retired fireman/EMT... he checked me over... and the hose situation... went over to the truck and almost pulled the guy out by his shirt, pointing out that I had been hurt and why hadn't he helped and why had he left the hose and mess there? The guy said he didn't see me, and didn't leave a red cone there because "no one pays attention". to them anyway. So, I have a witness now, to his negligence. Then my hero came over, helped me up carefully... and insisted on driving me home [really, just around the corner], and made the workman put my damaged bike in his truck and follow. I was less than two minutes from my house. Oh, and my prescription sunglasses were broken too.. they flew off on impact.

To make a long story short, this wonderful EMT insisted that I call my hubby who was out, but not far, and also called fire and rescue who showed up in minutes. I didn't really think I was badly hurt, but they pointed out that my face was badly scraped, I had a baseball sized lump on my thigh and more bruises here and there and had hit my head. When DH got home after a few minutes, we all decided that I ought to err on the side of caution so rode in the ambulance to the emergency room for a check over. After an exam and CAT scan, I was allowed to go home to nurse my wounds.

There's a huge lesson many of us have spoken about before ... I was wearing my bike helmet, fastened, even tho I was on a sidewalk and close to home. I might not be typing this had I not had my helmet on... as I hit my head on the cement ... but the helmet absorbed most of the blow, not my vulnerable skull.

Oh, and there's another huge lesson here about improperly marked dangers to warn people on public byways. This guy worked for our property management company. My hero made sure to get his name, and jotted down all the necessary info... this is not the end. At the very least, someone will be paying for bike repairs, a new helmet, sunglass replacement and any of the uncovered by insurance expense of my trip to the emergency room.

anyway... I'm a little the worse for wear, but I'll be OK in a couple days and will be out on my bike again soon.

Happy riding... and WEAR YOUR HELMET even if you're just going around the block !!

BIKE COMPUTER QUESTION! I just got a little Schwinn bike computer. It asks for my tire size and it gives me 4 digits... my bike tires are 26x1.95 So what do I put? I just assumed that the last two digits were for if you're bike has tires that are say, 26.25 or whatever.... So I just put 2600 because they are 26 even. Is that right???

Your helmet looks great!

Your question about the wheels size, the best thing to do is roll out your wheels, you want to put the circumference of the front wheel into the computer. Mine is 2025mm (for example)

Best way to do this is to put a piece of tape on the side of your wheel, and use a black marker to draw a line on it. Find a nice flat level area, like you garage floor or driveway. Put another piece of tape on the floor, put a line on it. Position your bike so that the line on the tape on the wheel and the tape on the floor are basically touching. Then roll your bike forward for one revolution of the wheel, the line with the tape on it goes around once, stop when it is again touching the floor, just put a mark on the floor, then measure between the two marks and you will have your circumference measured out.

I hope that make sense :happy:

BIKE COMPUTER QUESTION! I just got a little Schwinn bike computer. It asks for my tire size and it gives me 4 digits... my bike tires are 26x1.95 So what do I put? I just assumed that the last two digits were for if you're bike has tires that are say, 26.25 or whatever.... So I just put 2600 because they are 26 even. Is that right???

Your helmet looks great!

Your question about the wheels size, the best thing to do is roll out your wheels, you want to put the circumference of the front wheel into the computer. Mine is 2025mm (for example)

Best way to do this is to put a piece of tape on the side of your wheel, and use a black marker to draw a line on it. Find a nice flat level area, like you garage floor or driveway. Put another piece of tape on the floor, put a line on it. Position your bike so that the line on the tape on the wheel and the tape on the floor are basically touching. Then roll your bike forward for one revolution of the wheel, the line with the tape on it goes around once, stop when it is again touching the floor, just put a mark on the floor, then measure between the two marks and you will have your circumference measured out.

I hope that make sense :happy:

Thanks! I actually found the instructions for that part... it was still a bit confusing, but hopefully I got it right... Close, if not. I am going to try it out tonight! Tonight will be my first ride that counts toward my 100 mile goal I think that might be a fairly easy goal... but I can always adjust it Thanks to everyone for all your help!

@BarbieCat and Clare, feel better soon. We are thinking of you!
@Panda, nice helmet!