Back to Basics: Cycling "101":



hohobike

New Member
Aug 11, 2003
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Purchase a good frame, good components, good
wheels and hubs. Wear a helmet, if you want to.
No jerseys, no clip-in pedals, no cycling shoes.
Cuts offs and a tank top. Start enjoying your
cycling experience.
 
Originally posted by hohobike
Purchase a good frame, good components, good
wheels and hubs. Wear a helmet, if you want to.
No jerseys, no clip-in pedals, no cycling shoes.
Cuts offs and a tank top. Start enjoying your
cycling experience.

I can see the spirit of this post, and how parts of it pertain precisely to the purist enjoyment of the core of what cycling is, but cycling has many faces, just as different people have widely different desires, even within a single sport...

What are "good" frame, components, wheels and hubs? I just started into road cycling recently from mountain biking and I bought a Trek 5200 for about $2300, which is alot of money, but I wanted to do it right the first time... Some cyclists friends said, are you nuts?!?! while others said "Nice bike"

I don't think wearing a helmet should be optional, nor should it be lawfully required, it should just be reasonable judgement. I saw an elderly woman tooling along at very slow speed on a bike trail fall over and hit her head on the pavement (she had no helmet) and I've seen a "ph33r me!" very capable mountain biker guy on a trail get nailed in the head by someone's flying bike as he and some friends were resting off to the side... I never thought a persons head could bleed so profusely (no helmet there either as the rear dropout banged him right on top of the head) To many things can happen that can involve your noggin while on a bike... Wear a helmet always... its not just about when you're bombing downhill at 40 mph or in heavy car traffic... s&$t happens :), always...

I have to wear padded cycling shorts on a bicycle, much more so on a road bike... Not doing so makes me have to ride much less... the Jersey thing is purely decoration I must agree until you get to the high level where the aero advantages actually start to make a difference, but how can you say that a helmet should be optional, but never wear a bike jersey? :) I admit that I am guilty of wearing a USPostal jersey sometimes while riding alone. Will people think I am on the USPostal team? Not a chance! but I wear it more because it makes _me_ feel a little more connected in some visceral way to a sport I love... No one ever looks a second time at rabid fans in the stands wearing the official jerseys of their sports teams (football, soccer, baseball etc) and they're just sitting on their bums drinking beer and yelling! at least I'm on the road suffering while engaging in my sport! *laughing*

Clipless and cycling shoes are a more nebulous area... in mountain biking they are far less critical to anyone other than topflite riders, but in road cycling, their advantages are much more justifiable and measureable as spinning efficiently and learning to spin efficiently are impossible without them...

I understand the overall spirit of your post... In many ways it is geared perhaps more toward those who have been repelled by the idea of getting on a bicycle not only because of the perceived discomfort, but also from the perception of the cost and material involved, but once you're already on, following the progression of the equipment that can inspire you and actually help make you better, is alot of the fun as well :)

I know that what you are trying to do is get more people involved and interested in cycling, but Keep in mind there are also potential cyclists who actually like and want to wear the cycling jersey and shorts, buy expensive bikes, and use the whiz bang gadgetry, to them, that is fun and fulfilling, and your post will make them feel that they may be ostracized for doing so or at least chuckled at :) which shouldn't be the case... If they were on a bike in a clown suit with a big red nose and wig I would still proffer them more respect than that big ol' slob in the El Camino with the burger king garbage on the dash and their arm over the passenger headrest (how do people drive that way anyhow?) *laughing*

Have a good one!

Feanor
 
Originally posted by 2LAP
Use a penny farthing!! or walk!!!!

Yeah! there you go! But if you use that Penny Farthing, you MUST wear a helmet! Can you imagine what kind of a header you could take on one of those damn things! I don't think the standard Bowler hat and tie was good protection in the day :)

And with drivers as nuts as they're getting, it might even be advisable for pedestrians to start wearing protective gear as well :)

Feanor
 
I enjoyed your post. I understand all of your view points.
I am not disagreeing with you. I wanted to bring out the
sense of freedom of getting on your bicycle without all of
the preperation. Hop on and ride. Ride to the store to by
your food....you don't have to go with full gear. Enjoy the
sense of freedom. Hop on and ride!

t
 
Originally posted by hohobike
I enjoyed your post. I understand all of your view points.
I am not disagreeing with you. I wanted to bring out the
sense of freedom of getting on your bicycle without all of
the preperation. Hop on and ride. Ride to the store to by
your food....you don't have to go with full gear. Enjoy the
sense of freedom. Hop on and ride!

t

:) I was pretty certain that was your goal; a more refined and explained version of the Nike "Just do it" Alot of people can get hung up on the "But what do I wear?!", "What bike should I get to be good?!", "Its going to hurt too much!"

Getting past the threshold of that and and into the zone of "Hey! this is kind of cool!" is an important threshold to cross... I knew what you were doing was trying to push people past their misconceptions and cycling hang ups and see how fun cycling really is :)

Have a good one!

Feanor
 
Feanor,
Are you telling me biking is NOT supposed to hurt? Man, I must be doing something wrong! ;-) I seem to have much more fun when I'm not plowing the earth with my helmet/head. (not that you have to laugh, but that was meant to be a joke). Today has been a hell of a day and I am glad I read this post. I am going home and riding my bike! Have fun folks.

K.
 
Then there is the flip side - the sense of accomplishment.

I have a 2 mile/600 foot rise/don't know what the grade is but it's a *****/ hill near my house. A real grind to get up it, I call it Death Hill. But, I keep telling myself - I will not give in to pain, I will not give in to pain... as I hammer away, and eventually make the top. The first time I did that without stopping, I felt fantastic. I had done something I couldn't do a month ago. Wouldn't even think of trying last fall.

Enjoyable? Not really. But, it's sort of a partnership. Just me and Death Hill. I got passed by a Harley the other day on that hill, but I had to think - he gets to the top of the hill, and it's just a road going somewhere. I get to the top, and I've accomplished something.

Cycling can be about pure enjoyment. It can also be about setting goals, and measurable progress to achieving those goals, things that last year might have seemed impossible. If I can climb Death Hill without stopping, there isn't much I can't do.