Re: Non riding friend pi**ed me off today

[Barry Gaudet]

: From: RattRigg )

: Casual friend of mine is in the garage today, starts looking at my
: bikes (Bianchi Volpe & Raliegh M80) and asks how much I spent on "all
: this junk?"

: When I give him a rough number his reply was "Your crazy." It wasnt
: exactly a light hearted moment, at least not for me.

: I wish I had told hm that in the two years since I started riding I
: had lost 25 lbs, and that now I can actually walk up the stairs to my
: house without resting at the top. I also could have compared my own
: costs for riding to his costs for one of his more destructive
: obsessions but I did neither.

: still pi**ed off though.

: Seems like there is always some one around who can spend my money
: better then me.

The best revenge is living well.

But if that's not enough; I like to interject, every time my auto-junkie
aquaintenances who consider a bike with unconcealed contempt, bitch &
moan about skyrocketing car insurance rates how much I pay [$0/year].
Every time they whine & complain about gas prices getting jacked up how
much I pay, [$0/litre]. Then if I really want to twist the knife I
quietly comment how I hope gas/insurance price double and triple again as
I am invested heavily in said companies [doesn't matter whether or not
it's true or not. They won't know]

--

'Ooh I will make you a believer'
-Sass Jordan

[Eric]

That's true. Most 'Mart bikes aren't worth $200, and most LBS bikes
cost (slightly) more that that.

Eric

"Pete" > wrote in message >...
> "RattRigg" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Casual friend of mine is in the garage today, starts looking at my
> > bikes (Bianchi Volpe & Raliegh M80) and asks how much I spent on "all
> > this junk?"
> >
> > When I give him a rough number his reply was "Your crazy." It wasnt
> > exactly a light hearted moment, at least not for me.
> >
>
> Overheard in *Mart:
> "There ain't NO bicycle in the world worth $200!"
>
> Pete

[Seecyd]

Rattrigg wrote:
> Casual friend of mine is in the garage today, starts looking at my bikes
> (Bianchi Volpe & Raliegh
> M80) and asks how much I spent on "all this junk?"
> When I give him a rough number his reply was "Your crazy." It wasnt
> exactly a light hearted moment, at least not for me.
> I wish I had told hm that in the two years since I started riding I had
> lost 25 lbs, and that now I can actually walk up the stairs to my house
> without resting at the top. I also could have compared my own costs for
> riding to his costs for one of his more destructive obsessions but I
> did neither.
> still pi**ed off though.
> Seems like there is always some one around who can spend my money
> better then me.

Hope you're not still ****ed off... instead you should be really proud
of yourself, and forget those ignorant remarks.






--
You can't be good, unless you love it!

>--------------------------<
Posted via cyclingforums.com
http://www.cyclingforums.com

[Zoot Katz]

11 Jul 2003 14:01:33 +0950, >,
Seecyd > wrote:

>Hope you're not still ****ed off... instead you should be really proud
>of yourself, and forget those ignorant remarks.
\szip
>Posted via cyclingforums.com

This is USENET, where ignorant remarks are neither forgotten nor
forgiven. They're archived.
--
zk

[Seecyd]

Zoot Katz wrote:
> 11 Jul 2003 14:01:33 +0950, >, Seecyd
> > wrote:
> >Hope you're not still ****ed off... instead you should be really proud
> >of yourself, and forget those ignorant remarks.
> \szip
> >Posted via cyclingforums.com
> This is USENET, where ignorant remarks are neither forgotten nor
> forgiven. They're archived.
> --
> zk

How about you trash those archives then? negative archiving is not good
for the cycling soul - LOL





--
You can't be good, unless you love it!

>--------------------------<
Posted via cyclingforums.com
http://www.cyclingforums.com

[Actually34]

About a year ago, I ditched the health club I belonged to when its annual
family membership fees approached $1,000 a year (and my kids had both left home
to go to college) and took up cycling. I use my bike to excercise while running
errands to the store almost everyday, and commuting to work, school or the
library. By bicycling and not driving, I estimate I save about $520 a year in
gas and wear and tear on the car (more if you count parking fees). I've already
repaid the price of my Specialized Hardrock (used) and the modifications to it
for commuting. Over the next 10 years, I figure I'll save more than $15,200
just in health club dues and auto expenses. Maybe one of these days I'll
splurge, go hog wild, and trade up to a Co-Motion (I can't afford a Ferrari,
but can afford the Ferrari -- well, mabye the Mercedes Benz -- of bicycles).
I'll still be up more than 12 grand. Tell your non riding friend to ponder that
in all his smugness.

And the environmental benefits are for everybody.

David

[jmk]

Yeah, well, I have a friend that goes on about how she hates bikes using
the roads. She says, I know that you ride but I just hate them. She
lives just off a national bike route. Uh, cyclists are being DIRECTED
in your direction Susan...

RattRigg wrote:
> Casual friend of mine is in the garage today, starts looking at my
> bikes (Bianchi Volpe & Raliegh M80) and asks how much I spent on "all
> this junk?"
>
> When I give him a rough number his reply was "Your crazy." It wasnt
> exactly a light hearted moment, at least not for me.
>
> I wish I had told hm that in the two years since I started riding I
> had lost 25 lbs, and that now I can actually walk up the stairs to my
> house without resting at the top. I also could have compared my own
> costs for riding to his costs for one of his more destructive
> obsessions but I did neither.
>
> still pi**ed off though.
>
> Seems like there is always some one around who can spend my money
> better then me.

[Elisa Francesca Roselli]

mark freedman wrote:

>
> Everybody has their own crazy. You're just overly touchy about it.

My Italian father has a term for these, he calls them Le Dolci Manie, The Sweet Manias. Cycling is definitely a
Dolce Mania.

Cheers,

Elisa Roselli
Paris, France

[Michael]

RattRigg wrote:
>
> Casual friend of mine is in the garage today, starts looking at my
> bikes (Bianchi Volpe & Raliegh M80) and asks how much I spent on "all
> this junk?"
>
> When I give him a rough number his reply was "Your crazy." It wasnt
> exactly a light hearted moment, at least not for me.
>
> I wish I had told hm that in the two years since I started riding I
> had lost 25 lbs, and that now I can actually walk up the stairs to my
> house without resting at the top. I also could have compared my own
> costs for riding to his costs for one of his more destructive
> obsessions but I did neither.
>
> still pi**ed off though.
>
> Seems like there is always some one around who can spend my money
> better then me.



No doubt your friend drives an automobile; ask how much auto insurance
costs. Then inquire how much he spent on couch potato trappings: stereo
and tele. Avoid throwing his "You're crazy" back at him. Instead, tell
him, "Well, it seems we choose to spend our treasure at different
shops."

[GRL]

Reality check time rolls round yet again.

You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
Dick's.

You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
club, but you lost workout quality.

Buying your dream bike will not save you any money, will not help the
environment (does not need your help, anyway) any more than your riding a
$200 bike would.

If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even get
a better workout.



- GRL


" It's good to want things. "

- Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, graphic artist, Visual Basic
programmer)
"Actually34" > wrote in message
...
> About a year ago, I ditched the health club I belonged to when its annual
> family membership fees approached $1,000 a year (and my kids had both left
home
> to go to college) and took up cycling. I use my bike to excercise while
running
> errands to the store almost everyday, and commuting to work, school or
the
> library. By bicycling and not driving, I estimate I save about $520 a year
in
> gas and wear and tear on the car (more if you count parking fees). I've
already
> repaid the price of my Specialized Hardrock (used) and the modifications
to it
> for commuting. Over the next 10 years, I figure I'll save more than
$15,200
> just in health club dues and auto expenses. Maybe one of these days I'll
> splurge, go hog wild, and trade up to a Co-Motion (I can't afford a
Ferrari,
> but can afford the Ferrari -- well, mabye the Mercedes Benz -- of
bicycles).
> I'll still be up more than 12 grand. Tell your non riding friend to ponder
that
> in all his smugness.
>
> And the environmental benefits are for everybody.
>
> David
>

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 23:22:27 -0400, "GRL" >
wrote:

>Reality check time rolls round yet again.
>
>You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
>Dick's.
>
>You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
>health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
>club, but you lost workout quality.
>
>Buying your dream bike will not save you any money, will not help the
>environment (does not need your help, anyway) any more than your riding a
>$200 bike would.
>
>If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
>pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even get
>a better workout.

Sure. But is the workout fun?

That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
ride my bicycle.

Is that so much to ask?

-Luigi

[Tom Keats]

In article >,
"GRL" > writes:

> Reality check time rolls round yet again.

[brevity snip]

I don't 'get' ballet at all. If a ballet afficionado tried to
get me to understand their passion for it, they'd just be
wasting their breath. I think of that whenever somebody just
doesn't understand my own passion for cycling. It helps me to
be patient with those poor, deprived souls who just don't want
to understand about cycling.


cheers,
Tom


--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article >,
Luigi de Guzman > wrote:

> On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 23:22:27 -0400, "GRL" >
> wrote:
>
> >Reality check time rolls round yet again.
> >
> >You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
> >Dick's.

> >You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
> >health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
> >club, but you lost workout quality.

> >If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
> >pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even get
> >a better workout.
>
> Sure. But is the workout fun?
>
> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
> ride my bicycle.
>
> Is that so much to ask?

Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
attitude.

For me, there were two major factors in picking a bike as my major
fitness vehicle, and I think both factor heavily into the reason bikes
get picked as exercise devices. First, running tends to play havoc with
the parts of my body that have shown vulnerability to injury since my
teens: back and knees. I've been in physio for both, not due to a sudden
injury, but just because they caused me pain in the course of my
ordinary activity.

The second, and equally important reason, was that cycling is also a
form of transportation, which meant I could combine otherwise wasted
commuting time (I wasn't getting anything productive done driving to
work) and reduced the amount of time I needed to allocate to exercising,
since riding and showering only took about 30 minutes more than driving
(and is probably faster than transit). It didn't hurt that cycling was
really cheap compared to driving a car.

It hasn't worked out perfectly: I'm now bike-obsessed, devote as much
time as I can to wrenching, training, and racing, and keep buying more
bike stuff. Worse, I've managed at least one time-off-work injury caused
by cycling. Stupid me.

So, I guess what I'm saying is don't ride a bicycle, because you might
end up like me and enjoy it a lot, and who knows where that might lead.

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

[the black rose]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> In article >,
> Luigi de Guzman > wrote:
>
>
>>On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 23:22:27 -0400, "GRL" >
>>wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Reality check time rolls round yet again.
>>>
>>>You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
>>>Dick's.
>
>
>>>You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
>>>health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
>>>club, but you lost workout quality.
>
>
>>>If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
>>>pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even get
>>>a better workout.
>>
>>Sure. But is the workout fun?
>>
>>That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
>>the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
>>I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
>>ride my bicycle.
>>
>>Is that so much to ask?
>
>
> Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
> attitude.

Ah, but does Luigi *want* to make it to the podium?

I know I don't. I'll never be a racer. But I can have fun seeing how
*far* I can ride. That's a whole 'nother story (and a whole 'nother bike).

-km

--
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 12:21:08 -0700, Ryan Cousineau >
wrote:

>> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
>> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
>> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
>> ride my bicycle.
>>
>> Is that so much to ask?
>
>Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
>attitude.

What if I don't want the podium?

Seriously.

Every other sporting endeavour of my life has revolved around my ass
being handed to me in one form or other.

When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
but me.

I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
ride my bike.

-Luigi

[Fx199]

>Subject: Re: Non riding friend pi**ed me off today
>From: Luigi de Guzman
>Date: 8/15/2004 6:52 PM US Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: >
>
>On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 12:21:08 -0700, Ryan Cousineau >
>wrote:
>
>>> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
>>> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
>>> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
>>> ride my bicycle.
>>>
>>> Is that so much to ask?
>>
>>Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
>>attitude.
>
>What if I don't want the podium?
>
>Seriously.
>
> Every other sporting endeavour of my life has revolved around my ass
>being handed to me in one form or other.
>
>When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
>me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
>but me.
>
>I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
>ride my bike.
>
>-Luigi
>


I agree...When I'm on my bike alone I'm free...the only person I'm competeting
against is myself. "junk miles" be damned...<snicker>

[Roger Zoul]

Luigi de Guzman wrote:
|| On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 12:21:08 -0700, Ryan Cousineau >
|| wrote:
||
|||| That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
|||| the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable
|||| results. I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed.
|||| I want to ride my bicycle.
||||
|||| Is that so much to ask?
|||
||| Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
||| attitude.
||
|| What if I don't want the podium?
||
|| Seriously.
||
|| Every other sporting endeavour of my life has revolved around my ass
|| being handed to me in one form or other.
||
|| When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
|| me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
|| but me.
||
|| I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
|| ride my bike.

Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it doesn't
imply that you have to compete with anyone other than yourself.

[Claire Petersky]

"Roger Zoul" > wrote in message
...
> Luigi de Guzman wrote:

> || When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
> || me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
> || but me.
> ||
> || I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
> || ride my bike.
>
> Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it doesn't
> imply that you have to compete with anyone other than yourself.

Plus, training rides are fun.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

[Hunrobe]

>"Roger Zoul"

wrote:

>Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it doesn't
>imply that you have to compete with anyone other than yourself.

I think Luigi's point was that the mere term "training rides" implies that the
ride is secondary to the training. That's why he put quotes around the word
"training". I'll bet he still does intervals even if he doesn't call them that.
Of course if he doesn't that could explain why he regularly gets whupped by old
geezers.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

[R15757]

Claire Petersky wrote:

<< Plus, training rides are fun. >>


To me, suffering for my sins on some brutal
climb is one of the best things about bicycling.
I don't really enjoy racing though.

Robert
magnolia road a few days ago
just for fun

[Bootboiler]

"Luigi de Guzman" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 23:22:27 -0400, "GRL" >
> wrote:
>
> >Reality check time rolls round yet again.
> >
> >You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
> >Dick's.
> >
> >You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
> >health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
> >club, but you lost workout quality.
> >
> >Buying your dream bike will not save you any money, will not help the
> >environment (does not need your help, anyway) any more than your riding a
> >$200 bike would.
> >
> >If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
> >pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even
get
> >a better workout.
>
> Sure. But is the workout fun?
>
> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
> ride my bicycle.
>
> Is that so much to ask?
>
> -Luigi

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like.

-Queen

[Luigi de Guzman]

On 16 Aug 2004 14:26:05 GMT, (Hunrobe) wrote:

>>"Roger Zoul"
>
>wrote:
>
>>Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it doesn't
>>imply that you have to compete with anyone other than yourself.
>
>I think Luigi's point was that the mere term "training rides" implies that the
>ride is secondary to the training. That's why he put quotes around the word
>"training".

Correct.

>I'll bet he still does intervals even if he doesn't call them that.

Well, it's route selection, mainly. One road is long and flat, and
it's fun to go like hell on it. Another is hilly and winding and
quiet, so cranking up and spinning down and ducking into the curves is
fun, too.


>Of course if he doesn't that could explain why he regularly gets whupped by old
>geezers.

Fat *******y has its many drawbacks, yes.

-Luigi

>
>Regards,
>Bob Hunt

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 15:41:55 GMT, "Bootboiler"
> wrote:

>
>I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle
>I want to ride it where I like.
>
>-Queen
>

You know, I almost forgot about that.

and there's the bit at the end of "fat bottomed girls" where he goes

GET ON YOUR BIKES AND RIDE!

[Roger Zoul]

Hunrobe wrote:
||| "Roger Zoul"
||
|| wrote:
||
||| Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it
||| doesn't imply that you have to compete with anyone other than
||| yourself.
||
|| I think Luigi's point was that the mere term "training rides"
|| implies that the ride is secondary to the training. That's why he
|| put quotes around the word "training". I'll bet he still does
|| intervals even if he doesn't call them that. Of course if he doesn't
|| that could explain why he regularly gets whupped by old geezers.

Well, if that's the case, I totally agree with him. I like to train, but
only so I can ride better, ie, enjoy it better.

[black]

Let's not forget the real reason we like riding bikes - we think we look
great in spandex (despite all the evidence to the contrary). :)


"GRL" > wrote in message
...
> Reality check time rolls round yet again.
>
> You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
> Dick's.
>
> You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
> health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
> club, but you lost workout quality.
>
> Buying your dream bike will not save you any money, will not help the
> environment (does not need your help, anyway) any more than your riding a
> $200 bike would.
>
> If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
> pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even
get
> a better workout.
>
>
>
> - GRL
>
>
> " It's good to want things. "
>
> - Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, graphic artist, Visual Basic
> programmer)
> "Actually34" > wrote in message
> ...
> > About a year ago, I ditched the health club I belonged to when its
annual
> > family membership fees approached $1,000 a year (and my kids had both
left
> home
> > to go to college) and took up cycling. I use my bike to excercise while
> running
> > errands to the store almost everyday, and commuting to work, school or
> the
> > library. By bicycling and not driving, I estimate I save about $520 a
year
> in
> > gas and wear and tear on the car (more if you count parking fees). I've
> already
> > repaid the price of my Specialized Hardrock (used) and the modifications
> to it
> > for commuting. Over the next 10 years, I figure I'll save more than
> $15,200
> > just in health club dues and auto expenses. Maybe one of these days I'll
> > splurge, go hog wild, and trade up to a Co-Motion (I can't afford a
> Ferrari,
> > but can afford the Ferrari -- well, mabye the Mercedes Benz -- of
> bicycles).
> > I'll still be up more than 12 grand. Tell your non riding friend to
ponder
> that
> > in all his smugness.
> >
> > And the environmental benefits are for everybody.
> >
> > David
> >
>
>

[Hunrobe]

wrote:

>Let's not forget the real reason we like riding bikes - we think we look
>great in spandex (despite all the evidence to the contrary). :)

Speak for yourself. I ride because I like to ride. That the merest glimpse of
my lean sculpted body in spandex draws admiring stares from the opposite sex is
just a fringe benefit. :-)

Regards,
Bob Hunt

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article >,
Luigi de Guzman > wrote:

> On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 12:21:08 -0700, Ryan Cousineau >
> wrote:
>
> >> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
> >> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
> >> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
> >> ride my bicycle.
> >>
> >> Is that so much to ask?
> >
> >Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
> >attitude.
>
> What if I don't want the podium?
>
> Seriously.
>
> Every other sporting endeavour of my life has revolved around my ass
> being handed to me in one form or other.

That's funny, because the same was true for me. One joy of cycling for
me was finding a competitive endeavour where I didn't suck.

> When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
> me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
> but me.

In fairness, what got me into racing, basically, was that I realized
during my commuting that I was getting pretty fast, and I thought I
would enjoy testing myself against others. It turned out I was pretty
good, and that made racing enjoyable for me.

> I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
> ride my bike.

You see? That's the 'tude I'm talking about! :)

I have joked to my clubmates that I race so that I will be able to
commute faster. It's truer than you might think. There's something
liberating about knowing how seriously quick my commute times now are; I
have seen my average speeds over my 11.5 km commute go up by 4-6 km/h in
two years. I find that at some point it makes riding a bike in traffic
easier and more fun when you're fast enough to keep up.

As one of my benchmarks, I try to outrun an express bus over a
net-uphill section of my commute. I usually win.
--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

[Neil Cherry]

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:41:53 +0800, black wrote:
> Let's not forget the real reason we like riding bikes - we think we look
> great in spandex (despite all the evidence to the contrary). :)

I have no idea of what I look like and I don't recognize myself in
pictures. But I do love the fact that I can go out and push for hours
at a time. Today I kept the heart rate monitor pegged at between 160
and 178 (most 160 - 165) most of my 28 mile ride. It just hurts so
good!

--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only)
http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II)

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 20:33:02 -0700, Ryan Cousineau >
wrote:

>
>> I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
>> ride my bike.
>
>You see? That's the 'tude I'm talking about! :)
>
>I have joked to my clubmates that I race so that I will be able to
>commute faster. It's truer than you might think. There's something
>liberating about knowing how seriously quick my commute times now are; I
>have seen my average speeds over my 11.5 km commute go up by 4-6 km/h in
>two years. I find that at some point it makes riding a bike in traffic
>easier and more fun when you're fast enough to keep up.

In town, I keep up just fine, I guess. For short trips, I'm as fast
or faster than the other vehicular traffic.

It's been a weird feeling lately, the few times I've been able to pass
cars on the left (OK, they were slowing down to make a right turn).
And I admit it's a lot of fun (although probably dangerous) to race
cars down my block and find the drivers somewhat surprised to see a
fat kid holding them at 20, 25, 28...30! miles an hour. Then they dig
deep into the fossil fuels, and I run out of steam.

My friend--who is similarly built and newer to cycling (compared to
me)--keeps talking with worrying seriousness about starting a racing
team with me. I keep telling him that the crack that he is
undoubtedly smoking is clouding his judgement of my riding abilities.
(To say nothing of endangering his chances for real competition).

So, race, me? No. Not next season, either. Probably not even the
season after that. Or the one after that.

I'd need to lose about half my weight and double my power output,
probably.

O for a velodrome! I wonder how it feels to ride a kilometer on a
banked track.

-Luigi


>
>As one of my benchmarks, I try to outrun an express bus over a
>net-uphill section of my commute. I usually win.

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:41:53 +0800, "black" >
wrote:

>Let's not forget the real reason we like riding bikes - we think we look
>great in spandex (despite all the evidence to the contrary). :)

Well, I guess I do. In the sense that when I'm hungry, sausages look
appetizing, and I look like a sausage.

Admit it folks, they're silly clothes. Functionally excellent, yes--I
have shorts. But just a bit silly.

-Luigi

[the black rose]

Luigi de Guzman wrote:
> On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:41:53 +0800, "black" >
> wrote:
>
>
>>Let's not forget the real reason we like riding bikes - we think we look
>>great in spandex (despite all the evidence to the contrary). :)
>
>
> Well, I guess I do. In the sense that when I'm hungry, sausages look
> appetizing, and I look like a sausage.
>
> Admit it folks, they're silly clothes. Functionally excellent, yes--I
> have shorts. But just a bit silly.

SHH!!!! Don't say that around my husband!!! He's still wedded to the
idea that riding in jeans is somehow safer.

I'm hoping to talk him into spandex some day. Mmmm, men in spandex. Meow!

-km

--
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts

[Hijo de la Changa]

"Bootboiler" > wrote in message
m...
>
> I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my
bicycle
> I want to ride it where I like.

Yeah, yeah, fine..

But get it the hell out of the library, OK? It's real funny, until someone
gets their eye put out.

[Pat Lamb]

the black rose wrote:
> Luigi de Guzman wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:41:53 +0800, "black" >
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Let's not forget the real reason we like riding bikes - we think we look
>>> great in spandex (despite all the evidence to the contrary). :)
>>
>>
>>
>> Well, I guess I do. In the sense that when I'm hungry, sausages look
>> appetizing, and I look like a sausage.
>>
>> Admit it folks, they're silly clothes. Functionally excellent, yes--I
>> have shorts. But just a bit silly.
>
>
> SHH!!!! Don't say that around my husband!!! He's still wedded to the
> idea that riding in jeans is somehow safer.
>
> I'm hoping to talk him into spandex some day. Mmmm, men in spandex. Meow!
>
> -km

Lycra is part of my personal safety plan. Anybody hits, me, they gotta
look at me while the cops come. Do you really want to do that, or will
you drive around me?

Pat