Riding a bike after 37 yrs!

[just us]

Well today I took a friend on a bushwalk, what do you ask does that have in
relevance to the bicycle newsgroup? Well it has plenty! We park the car, get
the bikes off the back and she gets on and says "where are the brakes?" as
she peddles madly in reverse! OMG she then admits she has not ridden for 37
yrs... LOL at 46 yrs old her last bike was lost at the age of 9.
Anyway, she got on, and rode to the first slope, rather gingerly, then I
tried to tell her what gears were - she did try, but failed and fell off.
Not to be beaten she got straight back on the bike again and we rode for 12
kms before leaving the bikes in the bush and setting off through the bush
back to the car!
What a hero, she fell off once, her bum was screaming for mercy, but she
persisted and is now so excited about actually being able to ride again that
she wants to go out there and buy a bike!
The moral of the story? We are never too old to get out there and ride a
bike
Kathy.

 

[hemyd]

"just us" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Well today I took a friend on a bushwalk, what do you ask does that have
in
> relevance to the bicycle newsgroup? Well it has plenty! We park the car,
get
> the bikes off the back and she gets on and says "where are the brakes?" as
> she peddles madly in reverse!

I have a friend who has been riding for many years. He insists that changing
down to a lower gear when going downhill slows down his bicycle. Hey, maybe
he's right! Am I missing something???

Henry.

OMG she then admits she has not ridden for 37
> yrs... LOL at 46 yrs old her last bike was lost at the age of 9.
> Anyway, she got on, and rode to the first slope, rather gingerly, then I
> tried to tell her what gears were - she did try, but failed and fell off.
> Not to be beaten she got straight back on the bike again and we rode for
12
> kms before leaving the bikes in the bush and setting off through the bush
> back to the car!
> What a hero, she fell off once, her bum was screaming for mercy, but she
> persisted and is now so excited about actually being able to ride again
that
> she wants to go out there and buy a bike!
> The moral of the story? We are never too old to get out there and ride a
> bike
> Kathy.
>
>

 

[hippy]

"hemyd" <[email protected]
> I have a friend who has been riding for many years. He insists that
changing
> down to a lower gear when going downhill slows down his bicycle. Hey,
maybe
> he's right! Am I missing something???

Assuming it's a freewheel hub on the rear (most bikes are)
then changing gears wont do anything to slow you down.

If you change to a harder gear and pedal faster/harder
you will move faster. Changing to an easier gear will
simply mean you have to pedal faster to put any power
into moving forward, or, you can just stop pedaling and
coast along.

Your friend either has a very strange bike or they
forgot to take their medication.. ;-)

hippy

 

[Resound]

"hemyd" <[email protected]
> I have a friend who has been riding for many years. He insists that
changing
> down to a lower gear when going downhill slows down his bicycle. Hey,
maybe
> he's right! Am I missing something???

Assuming it's a freewheel hub on the rear (most bikes are)
then changing gears wont do anything to slow you down.

If you change to a harder gear and pedal faster/harder
you will move faster. Changing to an easier gear will
simply mean you have to pedal faster to put any power
into moving forward, or, you can just stop pedaling and
coast along.

Your friend either has a very strange bike or they
forgot to take their medication.. ;-)

hippy

Or they need to stop lubricating their rear hub with marmalade. I suppose that comes back to the medication bit really.

 

[John Henderson]

"hemyd" wrote:

> I have a friend who has been riding for many years. He insists
> that changing down to a lower gear when going downhill slows
> down his bicycle. Hey, maybe he's right! Am I missing
> something???

No, he's just wrong.

Reminds me of the group of elderly ladies I met in Brisbane who
left lights and appliances turned on all day because "the nice
nman from Energex" explained to one of them that the more
electricity they used, the cheaper it gets.

John