Does anyone else ride bicycles?

[rontaki]

Speaking of Italian racing bikes, at one point I was able to afford a used all-Campagnolo Colnago (top-notch machine), being sold by an avid rider who needed the cash, and didn't really want to sell it. A few years later, when I gave up on riding the roads in the SF Bay Area due to traffic chaos and insanity, I put it up for sale. The buyer ended up being the guy I bought it from, happy to be reunited with his two-wheeled buddy.
Karma? Bikema??

p.s. I still rode a lot on my trusty, heavy mountain bike on the excellent Bay Area park trails. That bike was the most fun of any machine I had, including fast cars.
I sometimes descended steep, loose dirt hills with the bike laid on its side, me standing on the frame holding on to the handlebars with one hand. Fun times, didn't hurt the bike one bit. Heavy, and tough. Delicate, not!

 

[rontaki]

Same here. Other than when I was a kid (pre-drivers license days), the only time I did much bike riding was in the early-ish 90s when I was between jobs, and getting by working p/t at a supermarket. $ was tight, so I cobbed together one from a couple broken ones I found in the metal pile at the dump, used it to go back & forth to work.

Nothing I ever found especially enjoyable, and as others have noted, with narrow roads with not much in the way of shoulders not how I want to go out when my time comes.

Must be fairly flat where you live. Here in northern New England, you need all the speeds you can get.

Never had to worry about anyone stealing my old beater bike either, didn't even need to paint it pink.

What's the deal with the bikes you see with what almost look like motorcycle tires on them? Can't help but think the rolling resistance would be quite high. Sure looks stupid.

Traction, baby, traction off-road. Sometimes never enough. Also the cushioning for rough roads.

edited for clarity

 

[Runner]

Nothing I ever found especially enjoyable,

I will put it this way, for those of us to need to burn calories and try to maintain cardio fitness, it's more fun than running.....

with narrow roads with not much in the way of shoulders not how I want to go out when my time comes.

Same here...which is why you hear so many of us talk about riding on trails. I can't ride ANYWHERE from my house without putting myself at extreme risk of getting hit. When I ride on the trail or on one of the very few road courses that's not dangerous, I have to put the bike in a car and drive there. What REALLY sucks is, there is a decent trail within about a mile of my house, but it's still too dangerous to ride to the trail head, so I have to drive.

 

[dodge man]

A couple of more pictures. One from Steamboat Springs Colorado where we rented e bikes and is why we bought a pair. The second is Moab Utah. Some truly spectacular riding. I generally only ride paved trails or roads. In the Moab area if you road gravel or mountain bikes there’d be a lot of trails

 

[kenmbz]

Yosemite we rented bikes for the family, like I did with a friend many decades ago.
Great way to see the park.

 

[subhunter]

Tour Divide/GDMBR
I really enjoyed some of these videos.

 

[George_B]

I used to ride on the road alot, and weekend group rides. Had several near misses even on a car driving on the bike path. Two friends got hit, one seriously. I gave up the road now ride indoors on Rouvy. I can stay in shape without the risk of being hit and killed.

 

[subhunter]

Hammer vs Carbon frame. Start at 7:35

 

[Captain Dirty]

As a youth I delivered papers from a balloon-tired bomber and an English 3-speed. In 1965 I bought my first derailleur-equipped bicycle to commute from college campus to boathouse and have ridden two wheels ever since. In those 6 decades I have noticed that motorists have become more numerous, less courteous, and more distracted, The changes have been incremental, so I have adapted to them and continue to ride, but I can understand how someone new to the activity or who has resumed after a long hiatus may be frightened. To them I recommend reading John Forester's book Effective Cycling. Mr Forester is a bit full of himself, but his guiding principle that "Bicyclists fare best when they behave like other vehicle users in the roadway" is sound advice. When I "take" the left hand lane of four-lane roads with my left arm fully extended, some drivers may doubt my sanity, but all drivers recognize my intention.

Some years ago I shifted my recreational rides from the afternoon to the morning. I discovered the morning commuters were more courteous, perhaps because they thought they were on the boss's time, than the evening commuters who knew they were on their own time and drove with no quarter asked and no quarter given.

 

[CalG]

I'm spoiled,
There are many times that I take one of several 5-10 mile loops on the back dirt roads that connect at the bottom of my drive. There have been numerous occasions where I have not encountered of passed by a motor vehicle. Horse back and pedestrians yes.

Of course, other times I am not so fortunate, and have two or three cars or pickups speeding by...
I ride with my blinders off, I don't put my head down and watch the front tire turn.