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#1
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Why the hate for Streamliners?
Dissing streamlined bikes as "condom bikes" is as misguided as folks on
uprights calling Recumbents 'wierd'. Streamlining is AWESOME. As I once said: Recumbent Riders and Designers of the class of '99: Ride Streamlined. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, streamlining would be it. The aerodynamic benefits of streamlining have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your glutes. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your glutes until they've faded. But trust me, after a 200 mile ride, you'll think back to the first hill you sprinted up and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much pain lay before you and how fabulous you really felt. You are not as fast as you imagine. Don't worry about a puncture. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to convince a roadie that a recumbent can be faster and more comfortable. The real troubles in your ride are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, like running over a bunch of nails at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday. Blow past one roadie every day who dares you. Spin. Don't be reckless with other people's recumbents. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. Lube. Don't wash your tires with gasoline. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with the same fellow who kicked your butt last time. Remember "cool bike" comments you receive. Forget the laughter. If you succeed in doing this, you should get your ears checked. Keep your old mile logs. Throw away your old bike shop bills. Stretch. Don't feel guilty if you don't know what kind of recumbent you want to build. The most interesting people I know didn't know 20 minutes before they started welding what they wanted to build. Some of the most interesting builders still don't know. Get plenty of cliff bars. Be kind to your LBS that doesn't stock recumbents. You'll miss them when they're gone. Maybe you'll race, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have win, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll do the 200m at 40, maybe you'll win the Decimach at 75 mph. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. You'll get beat by Andres Wiegel anyway. So will everyone else. Enjoy your bike. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own. Train, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. Read the directions, but don't follow them. Do not read normal bicycling magazines. They will only make you feel superior. Get some new brake pads. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your chainrings. They're your best link to your power and the part most likely to stick in the door of the next car to cut you off. Understand that riders come and go, but with a precious few you should draft. Work hard to bridge the gap between you and the pack of roadies up ahead, because the older you get, the more you need people you can wheelsuck. Ride in New York City once, but leave before it maims you. Live in Northern California once, but leave before Zach cuts you seat down to size. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Cannondale will be rumored to have a recumbent. You, too, will get a trike. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, parts were compatible, potholes were smaller and Campangnola ruled the planet. Disinfect your Camelback Bladders. Don't expect any narrow tires to support you. Maybe you have a tire liner. Maybe you'll have a thorn tube. But you never know when either one might run out of air. Don't mess too much with your seat or by the time you've ridden 40 it will feel like 85. Be careful whose recumbents you buy, but be a pain to those that ship late. Grabbing an old bike from the dumpster is a form of nostalgia. Dissecting it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, welding it up, painting over the ugly parts and riding it for it's worth. But trust me on the streamlining. |
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#2
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BikingBill wrote:
Dissing streamlined bikes as "condom bikes" is as misguided as folks on uprights calling Recumbents 'wierd'. Streamlining is AWESOME. Wild Bill, That is just "Monkey Poo Flingin'", and not to be taken seriously. Check out the name of this stretch fabric pattern http://www.paragonpatterns.com/Fabric/Knits/images/Sunset.JPG. Could it be a sign that I should make a bodysock for my favorite bike? -- Tom Sherman - Earth |
#3
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"Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... BikingBill wrote: Dissing streamlined bikes as "condom bikes" is as misguided as folks on uprights calling Recumbents 'wierd'. Streamlining is AWESOME. Wild Bill, That is just "Monkey Poo Flingin'", and not to be taken seriously. It is time for Mr. Sherman to take a stand. What was that about if good men do nothing, then evil prevails. Monkey poo can easily destroy this newsgroup. Ed Gin is consistently vulgar. That is because he is a *******. I should have taken him on long ago, but as long as he stayed on his own threads it didn't bother me much. But it should have. And now we have the Devil to pay for our appeasement of him. No more! From now on it is all out war as far as I am concerned. Death to that ****ing asshole! -- ****ing Regards, Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota |
#4
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Will Bill you are trying to reason with a crazy monkey who is having a crazy
monkey fit. It's kind of you to offer guidance, but what's really needed is an XXXXL size monkey straight jacket and some med's. Since none of that is likely to happen the next best possibility is to ignore him and let him calm down in his own time. skip |
#5
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wrote in message ... Will Bill you are trying to reason with a crazy monkey who is having a crazy monkey fit. It's kind of you to offer guidance, but what's really needed is an XXXXL size monkey straight jacket and some med's. Since none of that is likely to happen the next best possibility is to ignore him and let him calm down in his own time. skip I am afraid that does not really work Skip. These assholes like Ed Gin need to be called out. I am fed up with him showing up every so often and making a mess of the group. He is a crazy ******* and needs to be told that he is. I will tell him what he is if no one else wants to do it, but I am not going to bother with his interleaved posts as they are too just too stupid. Instead I will post new messages (copy and paste types) telling the world what I think of him. In short, I will make sure that everyone on this group knows that ****ing Ed Gin is an asshole and a son of a bitch. -- Regards, Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota |
#6
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Well you two Ed's have at it.
In the mean time I'm about two winters behind on my winter bike projects - getting a real Schwinn touring bike and a Raleigh Twenty back on the road. And I'll be packing up my Bike Friday, my folding Klepper kayak, and my backpacking equipment for an early spring southern adventure. We're going to a 17.5 mile long Atlantic Island with very few people and hardly any cars. No stores. No restaurants other than a fancy hotel on the northern end of the Island that doesn't exactly cater to kayak camper types [John John Kennedy was married there for privacy purposes]. But there is off road bike riding, kayaking, wild horses grazing in the ruins of a Carnegie family mansion, over 300 species of birds, really old live oaks, and a national seashore. My kind of go to place. Then we will head to Cedar Key on the Gulf side paddling along the way on the Suwannee and Waccasassa Rivers. I can hardly wait. The outside temperature where I live is about what it is inside your Minn. house and that's a bit chilly for me. skip |
#7
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wrote in message ... Well you two Ed's have at it. In the mean time I'm about two winters behind on my winter bike projects - getting a real Schwinn touring bike and a Raleigh Twenty back on the road. And I'll be packing up my Bike Friday, my folding Klepper kayak, and my backpacking equipment for an early spring southern adventure. We're going to a 17.5 mile long Atlantic Island with very few people and hardly any cars. No stores. No restaurants other than a fancy hotel on the northern end of the Island that doesn't exactly cater to kayak camper types [John John Kennedy was married there for privacy purposes]. But there is off road bike riding, kayaking, wild horses grazing in the ruins of a Carnegie family mansion, over 300 species of birds, really old live oaks, and a national seashore. My kind of go to place. Then we will head to Cedar Key on the Gulf side paddling along the way on the Suwannee and Waccasassa Rivers. I can hardly wait. The outside temperature where I live is about what it is inside your Minn. house and that's a bit chilly for me. skip Enjoy your trip. We are all envious of you. -- Best Regards, Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota |
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