Chit Chat
babytis
Posts: 330 Member
I thought it would be nice hear where you're from, what you ride, your current 2015 mileage, any upcoming rides or anything else you might like to share:)
Happy riding,
Jenny
Happy riding,
Jenny
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Replies
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I'll start off:)
My name is Jenny, I live in SE Minnesota . I do most of my riding around home and the twin cities. I currently ride a 58cm 2010 Trek 2.1, but my dream is eventually get something carbon fiber! Right now I've only got about 1,200 miles on for this season.
I take part in a few big organized rides each year. My main big ride is the MN MS 150. I love it and I love the people I've met over the years. I also do the MN IRONMAN, St Paul Classic, Mankato River Ramble and I've done some RAGBRAI one day two different years (2010 & 2014). Some day I would LOVE to do the whole week
I tend to do most of my riding alone. Although I do have cycling partner I do a lot of riding with too, but he lives a ways away
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hi Jenny, don't want to leave you hanging.
My name is Brett, I live in Melbourne, Australia. Currently I have 2 main rides. One is for wet weather and general crappy weather; 2015 Giant TCX2 and the other is only for fair weather; 2015 Wilier Cento1 SR.
I managed to right off one bike last year in a magnificent stack which saw me in a neck brace for 6 weeks and off the bike for 3 months. The TCX is the replacement.
Most of my riding is along the coast, Melbourne is on a bay and there is a stretch of road (known as Beach road) that is frequented by anything from 3000 to 8000 cyclists on any given Saturday and Sunday. I only am doing one main ride this year which is Around the bay in a day - 210km. It is a mass participation ride so no winners or losers.
I have ridden just over 4500km so far this year. All things being equal should see me around the 8000km mark at year end. I am also mostly a solo rider however I do try catch up with friends on a regular basis.
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Hi, I'm Larry. I live just north of Philadelphia. I started riding again about 20 years ago and fell back in love with it. Some years are good and I can get over 2,000 miles and some are lean due to work or injury. My best was 3,600 miles, but this year due to work I only have about 600 so far.
I usually ride with a club or with my wife and we have a few bikes. I have a Titanium Spectrum and a Trek Madone which are the serious bikes, and a Steel Colnago which is my "cruiser". We also have a Tandem which is a lot of fun because I can ride as hard as I want and not drop my wife. It also leads to interesting conversations like "are you pedaling?" and "yes I'm pedaling, can't you feel it?".
We like to ride in Upper Bucks county which has some nice farmland and beautiful woods with great little destination towns to stop at for lunch. This past weekend it was 52 miles round trip, up to New Hope with a stop at Havana to drink beer and eat lunch outside, watch the bikers & tourists and contemplate the ride home.0 -
Hi, I'm Noel. I live in central North Carolina, in the Research Triangle Park area that more-or-less consists of Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham, NC. I lived on BMX bikes and skateboards as a kid and teenager but lost touch with it. I got sort of dragged, sort of kicking and screaming, back into cycling in early 2011 and pretty much immediately got hooked again. I currently have 4 bikes:
- Road bike - 2010 Specialized Roubaix SL2, tricked out with Reynolds carbon wheels, Power2Max power meter, and other little bits.
- Time Trial bike - 2011 Specialized Transition Pro "Frankenbike" tricked out with deep (88mm rear, 60mm front) carbon wheels, Quarq Elsa power meter, and other little bits.
- Cyclocross bike - custom built around a 2014 Ridley X-Fire frameset. Quarq powermeter, SRAM gruppo, FSA cockpit. I got a deal on the frameset on closeout and built the bike up after I got hooked on racing 'cross last year.
- Mountain bike - 2013 Specialized Rockhopper Comp. This thing is pretty much bone stock.
I've got a tad over 2,500 miles in my legs this year and I'm planning to get to 4,000 before year end. I ride in my area mostly, but where and what depends on a number of things including training schedule, weather, and available time. My wife and I bought a house a couple of years ago based heavily on the roads we ride, so I ride the road and TT bikes around my "neighborhood" quite a bit. I also have a park full of single track and another park full of hilly (for this area) gravel fire roads directly across the street from my office, so I ride the mountain and 'cross bikes there a lot.
I have been in full-on race mode this year, and have done two road races, five criteriums, six road bike and one mountain bike time trial, and a mountain bike XC endurance race so far this year. I still have one more road bike TT and at least six cyclocross races on the schedule before I call it a season. When I'm not racing or on solo training rides I get together and do longer rides with the friend I've been racing with all year or get together with one of a couple of different local riding groups for group rides.0 -
I live in Northwest Arkansas in the foothills of the Ozarks. I have been riding about 3 years and bought my Felt bike about 2 years ago.
I ride mostly with a local girls bike group. We have tons of great ride options around here including an extensive trail system. If I'm riding alone, I usually stick to the Greenway trails or ride in the local national park (Pea Ridge National Military Park).
Last year, I rode in the MS150 in Texas. That was an awesome ride and I hope to do it again soon. My favorite local organized ride is the NWA Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association. I'm riding the 100k route this year (this Saturday!). I've ridden almost 2,000 miles this year.0 -
I ride whatever I can get my hands on, and pretty much any kind of road or trail. I currently have -
Waltworks 29er singlespeed
Yeti ASR5
Specialized Roubaix
Cervelo P2
Next on the list... a fatbike and a unicycle.
My rides are always solo, unless I'm racing, which isn't a social event for me. I ride to work occasionally, but mostly I ride because I love being on the bike. I have no idea about mileage as I don't always track it.
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Hi there!
I'm Monica from Eastern Nebraska. We're not blessed with mountains by any means, but the rollers and wind speeds put together will trick lots of folks into thinking there are some. I reset my odometer in the spring so as of late April or early May it reads 694 (not including trainer time). This is my first year being more serious in the saddle. Before, I just had a short commute to and from classes and work.
My first century is in a couple of weekends, just did my first multi-day trip of 110 miles a couple of weekends ago and it was a blast! Before that, some charity/fun rides at lower mileage. I train solo for now but am looking at joining a club by next season. My training hours are 10-15 a week currently but starting next week will depend heavily on class load, volunteering, and possibly a part-time gig.
My only steed: 2013 Trek Lexa SLX compact, very stock. There is a mountain bike I can use but it belongs to my son.
I dream of carbon, a better groupset, and deep dish wheels. Always wanted a bike of Euro origin (Bianchi, Cervelo, etc.) and am saving my pennies!0 -
I'm Amy and I live in Denver, CO. I have too many bikes.
Salsa Warbird- This is what I ride most. For road, gravel, touring, etc.
Salsa Mukluk- for trail, winter riding, bikepacking and fun fun fun
Trek 2.1- relegated to the basement trainer
Trek 7.5fx - this one is pretty much my daughter's now
Cannondale something or other mtn. bike- I mostly loan this one out
Novara Buzz single speed- I really need to sell this...
I usually ride alone or with my bf. I've done a few group rides and I enjoy event riding, but I mostly prefer solitude. I used to be more of a roadie but riding alongside cars does nothing to soothe my soul. Now I normally ride paths (Denver has miles and miles) and dirt roads when I can find them. I'm trying to get more into touring and bikepacking. I did my first unsupported trip in June on the Mickelson Trail and it was the best thing I've ever done. More of that, please!
I don't keep track of my mileage or stats but I'm sure I've got a couple thousand this year. I do most of my riding in the fall, winter in spring. Summer is NOT my season.0 -
and back on topic...
I'm Mark, based in Gods Own County - Yorkshire, where the best stages in the Tour De France Happen
Riding wise, I'm sort of on my third comeback - used to race road, MTB and Time Trials in my 20's and early 30's, then after a major accident, I had maybe a 10 year layoff where I was basically terrified of even throwing a leg over the bike. Years of getting my personal and work life left me massively overweight, and I finally decided that enough was enough. Started back on the MTB, riding offroad, and eventually the terrors subsided, until I could happily return to riding on the road. At which point I had another accident, smashed up my knee, and spent maybe 6 months without riding. As I got a clean bill of health, It coincided with joining this site, and beginning to lose a fairly substantial amount of weight (70kg or so) over the ensuing couple of years.
By this point, I've accumulated three main bikes,
A very overbuilt "hardcore hardtail" MTB based on a On-One 456, which was specced to cope with 280lb of me bouncing around on trails in the Peak District and Lakes.
A custom specced Dolan Tuono SL with pretty much a full Shimano Ultegra groupset (right down to the wheels and pedals - i'm a little OCD about getting things "complete"), FSA Carbon finishing Kit, Stages Powermeter and Fizik saddle. It's my baby, and I love it to bits.
A Cannondale CaadX 105 Disc Cyclocross bike that does "split duty" - in summer it's my offroad towpath and bridleway basher - probably best thought of as a "Gravel Racer". In Winter, it gets the Powermeter fitted, road tyres and mudguards, and becomes my winter hack bike, while the Dolan gets to stay in the Storage room nice and warm and dry.
Sadly, over the winter, I've had (yet another) setback - Heart/Lung issues which are still causing my mileage to be in the *kitten*-can for the year - I've gone from happily doing back to back centuries to being shattered at the end of 80km, and my average speed is frankly pathetic. On the upside, I'm still here, and considering i've had 3 rides in Noisy Vehicles with flashing Blue Lights on the Top over the winter, I can't really grumble I suppose.
Riding Wise, I'm getting back to more road stuff, but the chest issues I've had meant that for months I was far more comfortable riding a more "upright" bike than my main roadbike, so I've done lots of non-technical offroad stuff, whilst studiously keeping my heart rate and power well in the "base endurance" bracket. Frankly, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of it now, and i'm itching to actually go out there and hammer it and feel like I've actually tried at the end of a ride.
Distance Wise, Veloviewer tells me I've done the following
Activity count: 174
Total dist: 3,273 km
Total elev: 26,185 m
Total time: 214:20:11
Upcoming rides... well - i'm hoping to complete this years third MFP Grand Tour Challenge, 21 days of riding based on the Vuelta Espana (along with a bunch of other reprobates from this fine forum), I'm aiming to ride all 21 stages, and hopefully complete the full distance of at least two of the stages, with a total ride distance thats longer, faster and hillier than I managed on the Giro and TdF challenges.
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Ha! Terrible error on my part. Apologies. In any case, it will take me long enough to save for whichever purchase comes next that I can educate myself fully on its company history.
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I'm Clive, I live in North Yorkshire, UK with my wife & two kids (well, my son is 19 & my daughter is 18, if you can call them kids?) I do most of my riding around North Yorkshire's finest roads and hills, but occasionally get further afield, such has France, Holland, Belgium, Fuertaventura to name but a few...
I hadn't thrown my leg over a crossbar since I was 13 or 14 years of age, so with trepidation, I decided to purchase a bike through my employer on the Government backed 'Cycle to Work' (C2W) scheme in April 2011 & haven't looked back really.
My first commute was a painful affair to say the least; 19.7km (12.2 miles) which took me 1h 06mins https://www.strava.com/activities/138567966
I now complete this route in circa 35mins: https://www.strava.com/activities/309257250
I own 4 bikes;
2014 Planet X Nanolight:
2011 Boardman CX Team:
2010 Boardman Team Carbon:
And an ancient Raleigh Pioneer 18 speed 'commuter':
Note, all the above images are library pictures from Google - not my own images
So far this year I have ridden 4609.5km (2864.2 miles) & since getting back on the bike in 2011 I have ridden 27793.8km (17270.3 miles)
I've been riding with my local club since the middle of last year which I really enjoy, but do most of my riding/commuting alone. If it hadn't been for cycling, I'd have never dropped the amount of weight I have already!
I have started eating a plant-based whole food diet since Oct 2014, which I am also really enjoying.
So, this is me
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Hi, I live in SoCal, the Crit capital of the USA (and maybe the Crit capital of the world ?) My focus is racing. It starts in mid January and runs through beginning of October.
I'm currently riding a Ridley Helium SL, full DA DI2 11 speed. Quarq Elsa RS, Shimano C24 TL and the new Shimano C50's on race day. I have last years BH Ultra Light with full DA DI2 10 speed hanging in the garage along with a Rocky Mtn MTB that I almost never ride. Also have a custom track frame with Cane Creek tubies for training and a disc / IO 5 spoke for race day.
I ride between 8-10K miles a year depending on the year's goal. For the most part I don't keep track of miles, it's hours and getting the work done that matter most.
There are some very knowledgable people here that can give really good accurate advice on any number of subjects. My speciality would be racing.0 -
I'm Tom, from the wilds of NE Arizona, the capital of nowhere but we've got a Walmart!
The only racing I do is racing storms home trying not to get soaked in the summer monsoon, rarely do I ride with others and the only event I'm doing this year is a gravel grinder (Tour of the White Mountains) in October. 80%+ of my riding revolves around commuting (which I'm hitting around 85% of days worked I commute - even in terrible weather!) as I extend my commutes to get the ride time. Riding a 2011 Marin Muir Woods, which basically is a hybrid but I do singletrack, double-track, dirt/gravel and regular road riding with it where I've put over 10,000 miles since June of 2012 (when I started keeping track). Was off the bike earlier this year after crashing and banging up my shoulder (on a dirt road, go figure) but have just turned over 2000 miles this week. this week.
No goal except to have fun. My motto is: ride bikes, drink beer, repeat. And I'm one of the "reprobates" Mark speaks so fondly of!0 -
I'm from Wisconsin, yup the land where the Trek bike was created. I am 60 yrs. old and was re-introduced to biking at the age of 48. Totally hooked. I have 5 bikes: 2 Schwinn trail bikes, one Giant hybrid, a Giant one-piece carbon frame ocrc3 (from 2005), and a classic Trek 2300, combination carbon and aluminum frame (about 1991 or so) that I updated to meet my personal tastes. I had been averaging near 3000 miles a year for the past 10 years of biking. My max year of miles was a bit over 5100. Fabulous weather for Wisconsin enabled me to bike through the winter. Sweet. My leasters were due to a variety medical difficulties that had to be dealt with. I am currently "off the bike" as I am rehabbing from major back surgery (multi-level fusion, disc replacement, & laminectomy.) Nasty business. I continue to be a biker at heart and look forward to next spring when I will see how capable and steady I am. Until then, I log into this site to keep in the loop with other avid bikers. Enjoy it. I bike through you all !!0
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My wife has had 2 major back surgeries and now has a total of 5 consecutively fused lumbar vertebrae. She got back on the bike after both and doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects from it. Hoping that you have the same results.0
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Hey, I'm Mike from Long Island, NY. I had a Raleigh Grand Prix with a Brooks saddle when I was a young teen. I grew into an old school MTB that I rode a bit when I lived in Florida. That MTB was later stolen from my shed on Long Island about 8 years ago. So I allowed career and family to dominate my days. I gained a lot of weight as a result. In 2012, I returned to cycling and purchased a Trek FX7.4 Fitness bike, which is now set up as my go-to errand bike. In November 2013, I bought a Trek Superfly hardtail MTB, which is a lot of fun to ride on local singletrack trails. I really love the deep woods, so I then picked up a Surly ECR in 2014, which is my two-wheeled Jeep with pedals. After joining a club, I decided to buy an endurance roadie in 2015 to give long distance riding a try. I enjoy road riding at night when traffic subsides, but not so much in daylight during heavy traffic conditions. I wanted to try a light Touring Bike out, and I had decided upon the Vaya. You can see a pic of my 2016 Vaya X0 in the Schwag thread. It's more of an any road bike than a touring bike. But I luv it! In truth, I really luv all my bikes because I custom configured each one to my taste and for my particular wants and needs. My goal is 15 to 25 miles a day on weekdays, and lotsa' miles on weekends depending upon weather and family commitments. I just wanna' ride!0
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This looks like a good place to say HI. I've just returned to bike riding in the last couple of months. I used to ride a lot but would have never considered myself a cyclist. Through all my younger years, I used my bike as a mode of transportation, especially throughout my college and university years. After I got married, my husband and I did a fair bit of riding as we lived in a great area with great cycling paths. My main/only bike in all that time was a basic good old mountain bike. I'm sad to say that I hung it up around the time I got pregnant with my first child and never really got back into it. My bike hung in the garage and even when it was time for the kids to learn how to ride bikes, I'd walk with them rather than ride with them. My father-in-law, a very, very avid cyclist even took the time and energy and put work into that bike for me so it was road worthy again and we took it out once or twice. Over the last little while I was really mulling around getting back out on that bike. After all, those darn kids are now 9 and 13.
Interesting circumstances led to me trying to arrange a get-together with a work colleague (who had just left our organization) and she's an avid cyclist. Well, something got into me and I asked her to take me out for a ride along the trails where she lives and rides daily. Of course, she jumped on it. I was so nervous leading up to our bike date. I had no idea if I could do it. I was worried I'd embarrass myself in front of her. All kind of what ifs..... but I stuck to my guns and met up with her. We picked a 12 km route of quiet streets with rolling small hills and then into an easy trail along the river and through some woods. And lo and behold..... I did it!! I know I slowed her down but I did it... on that almost 30 year old mountain bike. On that day, I decided I wouldn't hang the bike back up again but that I also wanted to go out and find a bike that suited me better in fit and other things. Didn't really have the money but.... that all got itself worked out and I ended up with my new Specialized Ariel Sports Disc. I haven't gone on any long rides yet but we have been out most evenings for short rides getting used to each other. This weekend, I'm trying to get my husband and maybe even my teenage daughter (teenage girls are unpredictable... LOL) out for a longer ride. We just installed a bike rack on one of our cars last weekend so we're ready to roll.
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I am from San Jose. This winter I rode a Yuba Boda Boda and I bought a Trek fx this spring. I am replacing the Boda Boda with a Bike Friday Haul a Day and after I build my Soma Buena Vista I am giving the Trek to my niece. I never thought about tracking my total mileage, but it is somewhere around 1800 miles as I commute to work and gym everyday now I just never thought about adding up the totals. Last winter I only rode 3-4 x a week to work because the Boda Boda at 55 lbs was beating me up. The Haul a Day I bought as a replacement only weighs about 38 lbs. The Trek I bought this spring to do a charity ride, and I like the weight and ride quality of the frame but the components suck for a commuter.0
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I'm from central Washington. I ride a Roubiax on the road as well as a race and train on a Specialized Crux for CX season. I take part in several supported rides every year. This year that was the Spokane WA ADA Tour de Cure fro which I was a Champion fundraiser and their billboard model. I also along with a couple ride partners did the Seattle to Portland ride in one day. I lead rides from my LBS 2-3 days a week or at least I offer to lead that many. Sometimes no one shows and I ride alone. Before the end of today I will move past 5,000 miles for the year. Cycling has helped me gain fitness and has literally saved my life. My Dr. has reversed my dx for type 2 diabetes due to mostly my exercise. In spite of gaining a few pounds I have kept good BG numbers for more than a year. MFP helped me lose 30 or so pounds a year and half ago , most of which I kept off.0
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Hi guys! I'm Maite from Miami. My usual ride is a Jamis Xenith Comp which I love--I'm easy to please. ;-) I also have an old Giant OCR3 which I use for pub crawls, running errands, and whatnot. And a Trek hybrid that I almost never ride and a Jamis Ventura Comp that I keep around as a loaner. I had foot/calf surgery last year and am just now getting back to riding consistently again so mileage has been low for the year. I'm lucky if I get in 50-75 miles a week these days, shooting to be back at 150+ per week soon.
Not planning many events too concretely these days so as not to get myself into trouble recovery-wise, but I will be doing a century charity ride in October and a super-fun 150 mile 2-day ride to Key West in December.0 -
Josh here from Virginia. 43 years old. 6' 7" and currently 245lb (down from 315lb). One 10 year old daughter that lives with me. (single dad here)
Always loved cycling on a recreational level but for some idiotic reason I drifted from it. Decades later, I get a freebie MTB bike that's far too small but I rode it back and forth to work anyways. A year later I give the beater to my brother and upgrade to a Diamondback MTB 29er. Still commuting and trail riding... A year after that I crash my bike and get a get a cheap used MTB and saved up for a road bike. Fast forward to 2015, I am still commuting to work every day @ 23 miles round trip. I joined the local cycling group RABA and it's been high miles and distance rides ever since. Preparing for my first century in 3 weeks.
Bikes:
2009 SE Stout (now equipped with an 8-speed cassette)
2015 Motobecane Grand Record
Miles (since I started recording)
2013 - 1,303
2014 - 1,712
2015 - 3,258 (to date)0 -
Today's ride included a little tug boat ferry to get us to the Island in the middle of the river. The ride itself is a dead flat and easy 10km but with a husband and cranky teen in tow.....
It was a great day for a mellow ride though because it was rather hot out.
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I'm Joe and hail from the state capital of California. I restarted riding after 23 years break to loss weight. This is my third year back and the most consistent. I was really in the sport in high school and raced in college but after an expensive and bad (ego) crash I stop riding - taken out less than 1k from finish and whole front end gone. Was just ok in races but the final setback was wake-up call to get serious and finish school.
So far this year I have ridden just over 4.6k miles. I ride mostly alone but joined a club beginning of the year. Club rides are mostly weekend and more race orientated. The rides also let me work on my climbing legs. Current I'm working on not sitting in no man's land and to finish the rides with the front pack. It's been a shock to the system restarting structural training after so many years of being sedentary. I hope to finish my seventh century of the year in October in under six hours.
My main ride is a Motobecane Le Champaign CF after toasting my Trek 660 at the beginning of the year. I hope to pickup a more aggressive steed in a year or two; just not loving the "sportive". My backup is a Schwinn Prologue.0
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