Where are you from,what do you do?



I'm from Modesto, Ca. now living on the Tx/Ok border.

Enjoyed cycling since '86 - Centuries, TTs, Trails/ATB, Crits, LSD rides, ect...
Musician & former bike shop employee. Just turned 50, still doing approx 100 mi. per week. (Except rain!)

Ciao, Steve
 
I'm a retiree in Chiangmai, Thailand and have not seen a gasoline bicycle around here. A few shops show electric bikes but almost none on the road.

I'm a novice in this field and would like to know more about gasoline bikes. First, what are the comparative advantages/disadvantages among chain drives, friction drives, belt drives and others?

Thanks a lot.
 
Hello! I am a junior racing cyclist boy. I like road and xc and have tried track cycling too. I got my first 'real' mtb when I was 10 (old Kona Hahanna). For next season I move to U17. My other hobbies are playing guitar, xc-skiing and snowboarding in winter. My best results so far are national silver and overall cup winner in xc last season. In this season the best results are national bronze in rr and fourth in national track 500 (it was my first time ever, time was 41,44:D ).
 
from Victoria BC. I am a weekend warrior that dabbles in duathlons (branching out to crits...first one tomorrow).
 
hello everyone, from san jose california and i enjoy cycling. been doin it for all my life, mostly just recreational and commuting to and from work, but have always used it to try and stay in shape ha ha. but what i use it most of all is my stamina and fitness for my motorcycle racing success, ok maybe not successful now, but i can always dream huh?:D
 
I am from the the Great Lakes area (Michigan to be precise) in the US. Recent college grad doing the ol' job search for a web design/telecommunications gig, and about to be happily married. I've only biked a little till now, though a plan for an adventurous honeymoon has brought me here to read up and plan.
 
I'm a novice rider in Southeastern PA. I didn't know how to ride a bike until December of 2006 - I never rode as a child. So at age 40, I taught myself. I've ridden more than 2000 miles since March, and I'm training for my first century, the MS City to Shore, on September 29. I've completed 4 metric centuries this year, including two in the past two weeks.
 
I'm a 23 y/o male living in Florida - Fort Walton Beach to be exact. :) I'm in the Air Force, currently working as a surgical technician. It's a good job, but I am going to try my hand at cross training into loadmaster, I want to travel more, and fly! Next month will mark my first year here. I'm a military brat, and have lived all over, most notably Turkey, England, and The Netherlands, and The Netherlands is where I miss the most. Can't wait to go back!

Onto my cycling story: It was July 2007 - not long ago - I happened to come across versus, and saw the Tour De France was on. Normally I didn't care for cycling - but I watched it to see the European countryside. Little did I know at the time that it would take me over, and suck me into the greatness of the sport. I started watching it when the commentators were talking about Vinikourov's story. How he had 60 stitches and was riding with so much heart. That really inspired me (how you would count him out, and then all of a sudden out of nowhere there he was!). Then he went on to win the TT, which seemed incredible. The next race really didn't go well for him, and then to come back and win the next stage - insane right? Then the blood doping. That kind of sucked, but oh well the race went on and at that point it didn't matter what happened I just wanted to watch the cycling, teamwork, sportsmanship, and tactics they used.

The tour ended, I wanted a bicycle.

August rolled around, and not wanting to go out and buy an expensive bike right off the bat, I looked on ebay. I got a 1988 Schwinn Ontare. I don't know much about bikes, but I knew roughly what size to get, and this was the only one that was a decent price I was willing to pay - long story short, I got it and love it.

Ok, anyway that's my story, I've been on the forums since the tour, but I'm not much of a poster. Love this site though, and figured I'd finally do the introduction thing. :D
 
Hi. I'm 56 y/o. Have been riding for a year and I'm looking to switch from a Trek 7.2 (which I like alot) to a road bike. Looking at Trek Pilot 2.1 and 5.0 as well as Specialized Roubaix Comp. I like the forgiving geometry. Any feedback on these models or other suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.
 
I'm living on Yongsan Army Post in South Korea. I am 35 years old and just got back into road cycling about two months ago. I used to ride quite a bit around 12-15 years ago but stopped after burning out.

Now I am loving it again and excited about getting back into racing next year!
 
Hi all,

I am from Seattle Washington.

I am new to biking, just got my bike two days ago and did some riding yesterday. So, haven't started any kind of training yet.

i work at Boeing as an embedded software engineer

Nice to meet ya all.
 
the_drain said:
from Victoria BC. I am a weekend warrior that dabbles in duathlons (branching out to crits...first one tomorrow).
Hi everyone: I am from Tucson, AZ. I have been riding distances since I was 10 years old. Have ridden well over 175,000 miles in my life. Lots of self-contained touring all over N.A. and France, including coast-to-coast and Portland to Santa Barbara down the west coast. Mainly I'm a roadie, but I have a mt bike I ride often, and just bought a road tandem. My last adventure (last week) was riding mt passes in the Sierras. Fantastic! I'm in the money bz.
 
I live in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. I'm the Deputy Manager of a Citizens Advice Bureau in South Shields, which is on the South bank of the Tyne estuary. It's an old port and there is still some ship repair going on there, but it's been hit hard by the decline in heavy industry and coal mining. There's a lot of poverty, so we're kept pretty busy. But the Geordies have a great sense of humour and Newcastle is one of the best places to go for a night out in Britain. I know that because I used to be in the Air Force and travelled all over the country. I married a local girl and settled here, though I'm from Portsmouth originally. I love country music, and as I type this I'm listening to 'West', the latest album by Lucinda Williams. My wife and I went to see her at the Sage Gateshead, which is part of a whole modernisation of the Quayside, which is the old shipping/trading area on the banks of the Tyne, not far from the city centre. When I first came here it was lined with old bonded warehouses and was pretty ugly. But now it's been modernised and the old buildings have either been demolished or converted into law courts, bars, apartments, hotels etc. It's sad that the old shipping jobs have gone, but it is really a beautiful place to go for a walk, especially on a warm summer evening.

On the subject of cycling; just up from the Tyne in Byker (remember Byker Grove?) is a shop called Edinburgh Bicycles, where I bought my Specialised Globe Sport to commute to work on. One of the best rides I have done was when I left work on a Saturday evening (I was working overtime); crossed the Tyne via the pedestrian tunnel (loads better than the road tunnel, there was nobody else in it; it's very old and the escalator is made of wood). Then I got on the Hadrian Cycleway, which is a new, very smooth and fast cycleway which runs from North Shields down to the centre of Newcastle. I needed to buy some new brake pads and stuff from Edinburgh Cycles. By the time I left it was getting dark, so I switched on my lights and crossed over the Tyne via the Millennium cycle/footbridge, which again is one of the great sights in Britain, especially at night. Then I climbed up the banks of the Tyne into Gateshead and followed the on-road cycle path down past the Angel of the North to Chester-le -Street. Wonderful. The North East is full of beautiful countryside and old castles and beaches. And it has not yet become overcrowded with tourists like the Lake District. This Pompey lad wouldn't want to live anywhere else; you can still breathe the air.

PS. As I type this I'm drinking a very cold bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale, which was invented the year my Dad was born and the Tyne Bridge was built - 1927. Delicious.

:D
 
hello all,

i am in Houston, TX
i work with autistic children in a public school

i bought my bike off craigslist about 6 months ago after a senior teacher rode to work one day and i thought hey if a guy in his 50's can bike to work i can too - and so it began.

at 1st i only rode twice a week - but now if weather permitting - yea i am a fair weather cyclist i ride most days
i also ride about 20 miles on the weekends either sat or sun sometimes both days - i am working my up to my 1st century

i have gotten compliments from the female teachers and some students - :p yea me!


that's about all for now

peace and love
 
Hi all!
I am from Norfolk,Va and yes I'm a squid! I own an Schwinn Jaguar 7 speed beach Cruiser:cool: .
After recieving it and riding a couple of times I went to the local bike shop and had them change out the rear cassette from an 14-28t to an 11-34t and I changed out my OPC chainwheel from an 44t to an 52t yes it is still OPC!:p Anyway after riding for a couple months @ 30 mile trips around 1hr 45 mins:D and 24 miles @ 1hr 25mins. Yes i am trying to burn my beer belly:p .Yes I went Down under the 200 lb mark from this and other PT fun.:D :D
I decided to change out my chain:( . Shortly after I was experiencing grinding and poping noise/ slipage in my 6th and 7th gears. went back to the shop and they told me of my fate! yes i should have known better! anyway i was looking to change out the whole system this time i went to the Shimano web site on their tech side and mached up an better combo for my use my new cassete will be an Shimano CS-HG30-I Cassette, 11-28T, 7Speed, and my Rear Derailleur will be the Shimano RD-CT95 Altus for 7/8 Speed and yes I will get another Pyramid Pro 52T 1/2X3/32 Chainring;) . But the chain Shimano sugest on the combo is an Shimano CN-HG50 Chain:rolleyes: . But I looked at others name brands and the only one that was stronger/better was the KMC X8.93 Chain:confused: . No sram 58/68 wouldn't work due to the whole size of it all! Plus hearing from others from around and via internet saying they are prestreched out and don't last as long! So if any one can tell me just stick with the CN-HG50 Chain or go with the KMC X8.93 Chain:confused: . Though I do believe both chains are made by KMC and thier web site doesn't give an definete answer. so if any one whom knows of the 7 speed HG series from Shimano could let me know if i can or should run the KMC 8.93 chain? Wew! this is an first! Thanks!
Clayton
 
Just got into riding, mostly road, but own a road and mountian bike. I live in northeast Texas, lots of little rolling hills and cow pastures, excellent places to ride. I own my own financial planning firm, part of a 23 office network across the state of Texas. I'm not your typical roadie, 6ft. tall 265lbs, down from 310 lbs, its Texas so I played football all my life and was always preached to, too get bigger and stronger, bigger, bigger, bigger. A way of life that I took to like a fish in water, actually loved it, but I'm 42 years old now, and bigger is not always better. I don't lift heavy any more and have decided that maybe concentrating on cardio fitness will actually lead to a longer, happier, more productive life. What good does it do to be able to pick up a bus, if you've gotten to the age where you would rather ride inside anyway? So, to publicly state my goal for everyone to see; I will ride the "Hotter Than Hell 100" next year(2008) in Wichita Falls Texas, 100 mile route at a body weight of 200 to 210 lbs(my actual goal is 225 but I would like to be lighter for the HHH). Well there you have it, all advice is welcome, I'll check in frequently and try to post updates on my progress, thanks in advance...TexasT:)