Felt like it took forever to arrive. New bike arrives today from CA. Let's go.

As a runner who often is passed by bikers, for some reason a bell is much more effective than "ON YOUR LEFT!" I get to the right when I hear a bell but can find myself veering to the left when I hear the yell.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

two weeks in, i have been able to take the new horse out on two 24ish milers. once on lakefront path pavement and other on des plaines river trail.

the bike came with 47 width tires which kicked ass on the DPRT. however, they're sluggish on LFP pavement. eventually going to invest in a separate 700 pavement wheel+tire set.

overall the new bike scoots very well.

Past Saturday completed a Chicago cyclist rite of passage by riding to 3 Floyd's in Munster. Lawrence to Munster was around 35 miles and we did out and back. The way there wasn't too bad. Wind was slightly against us but nothing like Friday. The ride was very beautiful as you moved south of McCormick Pl with tons of nature areas.

3 Floyd's was packed was cyclists. All the racks were taken and the loading dock and patio was being used to lock up bikes. Probably around 20-30 bikes parked at 12:30.

The ride back was smooth until we got to South Shore golf course. We were thankful the wind was with us but by then my ass was sore from the saddle. Also I was definitely getting tired of pedaling. We powered through and made it back but holy hell was I exhausted.

I'll chalk it up to people forgetting days are getting shorter. It's absolute madness that people are riding their bikes with no lights at night. Coming home from the Loop at 7ish yesterday along the LFP and more than a handful of people were zipping around with no lights. Gonna cause an accident since not every inch of the path is well lit. Can't even imagine the lunacy of riding the streets without any signals/lights. smh

all this stupid ass rain got my chain and chainrings/rear derailleurs starting to rust. yes, some laziness on my part for not wiping my stuff down.

however, still dumb. now i have to do some unplanned scrubbing. dumb .

winter turned my commuter chain into a rusty skipping mess. dealt with it since it was only a 3 minute ride to the train station. tossed on a new chain as i've restarted biking to the loop for work and what a difference.


sunday was a beautiful ride on the DPRT. mowed down 35 miles. too bad this week is going to turn the trail into a soupy mess. oh well.

Anyone know of a good biking distance app?

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-- source

After many years I finally got my wife’s bike and the one I inherited from my dad up and running. Got a couple helmets last week and we finally took them out yesterday morning about 6 am.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Got my fat ass on the path to the forest preserve loop and back yesterday. 12.3 miles door to door.

I'll do a shorter one today and the same 12.3 tomorrow hopefully. Felt great to get out. Salsa Mamacita.

Maybe I can get up to Kettle before the season is up. Gonna take a solid month of training up before I'll even attempt it.

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MapMyRide is solid...it's free

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I use Strava. It has all kinds of shit if you're a paid subscriber but the free version tracks your time and distance just fine.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

+1 on strava, and I use the free version. love the app

I have a fairly basic bike computer.

I ride with one of these bungee'd to the frame, I'm not sure I can use Pandora and the cycling app at the same time.

https://www.ultimateears.com/en-us/wire ... oll-2.html

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What a difference biking when it is cloudy and 75 compared to sunny and 90-something. My 23-mile ride felt good.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

For me, the hotter the better. The hotter it is the faster I can go.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

I like it hot too, as long as it is not windy. Wind is my bane.
30 miles last night in deer grove on top of the 22 in the morning in streets of Arlington and Mt. Prospect.

Still recovering from torn Achilles so biking has replaced running this summer. Hopefully I'll get released for running before it gets cold.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Yeah, a headwind really sucks. Sometimes it seems as if I'm riding into a stiff wind and then when I turn to back the way I came somehow it shifted so I'm riding into it again.

I rode a really hard 40 miles on Wednesday. I averaged about 18 mph through the Forest Preserve all the way from Devon north to Dundee and then back to Tower. On the Green Bay Trail coming back south my knees were screaming. I crawled the last ten miles.

Before I left today I told my wife I wanted to do an easy 35 miles but that it's hard because if I'm out there feeling good I naturally want to go fast and I don't like guys passing me. I wanted to have enough discipline to ignore everyone else out there and just go an easy pace. Just north of Oakton I got behind two women around my age who were probably going around 13 mph. I figured I would just stay behind them until they turned around or left the trail. I followed them to Beckwith but it was just too slow and I had to go around them.

When I got to Glenview Road I was stopped at the light and I saw a guy in spandex behind me out of the corner of my eye. As soon as we got across the street the guy screamed, "ON YOUR LEFT" and went by me. I was slightly annoyed so I locked onto him. He was on an ultralight bike but I was staying right behind him. I think he was a little surprised. He kept going faster and I kept staying with him. At around Lake Street I got caught up behind some slower riders and he got away from me a little bit but I caught up to him again at Happ Road. From there we rode in tandem all the way to Tower. He kept trying to shake me but he couldn't. When we hit the Skokie Lagoons we were really flying and every time we got to a straightaway where I could see in front of me I pulled almost along side of him. That was a good fucking workout. I was top man on the leaderboard for several of those segments. At Tower he went right and I kept going north to Dundee. I yelled, "NICE RIDING!" at him and gave him a thumbs up. He was probably a little bummed that an old man on a mountain bike pushed him so hard.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

NICE! My death ride this morning pales by comparison.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

There's always someone out there to keep you humble. I rode close to 40 yesterday.



Just north of Glenview Road I ran up on a guy who looked like a serious cyclist. As soon as he heard me he took off. But I stayed right behind him. He was struggling and I was pretty comfortable. As we got close to the Lake Street bridge I decided I needed to go around him so I wound it up pretty good. In fact, I set my personal best going over the bridge and let me tell you, 17 mph dragging my heavy ass bike plus my own 195 lbs. over that hill is pretty good.



As I crossed Happ Road I looked back and I couldn't see the guy behind me. Right after I crossed Winnetka Road a big fat guy wearing a Maryland cycling jersey with that ugly ass flag on it came flying past me from behind. I have no idea where that fucker came from. I tried to go with him but my knees were killing me and I was pretty tired. I hate to say the guy is a stronger rider than I am but I didn't have it in me to keep up with him. I was slightly demoralized. To add insult to injury, the guy I passed back at Lake Street came busting past me. I got a little second wind and rode right on his ass. He was desperately trying to shake me but both he and I knew he couldn't. He got so crazy trying to get away from me he blew the light at Willow Road and almost got flattened by a truck.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

When did gravel bikes become a thing?

Road bike with off-road tires doesn't seem like a reason to drop $2K (the price point I most often see).

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Similar to Cross bikes? Great for river trails and transfer to road and back.


https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/cy ... nce-205556

It comes down to a need for speed. Mountain bikes are great for Kettle and other single track, but they're too much bike for our local forest preserve trails. Cyclocross and Gravel bikes are virtually indistinguishable. You can really fly through the trails around here and the slightly wider and knobbier than road bike tires really help out if you hit a little loose gravel or sand.

I highly recommend a drop bar cross/gravel bike for riding around here.

I'm looking for a new one now. My old one was a Jake The Snake...which was a nice frame with slightly above entry-level components.

https://www.konaworld.com/jake_the_snake.cfm

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Gravel bikes are glorious. I have a Kona Rove NRB that I rip up and down the DPRT. Have also done long tarmac rides like Ravenswood to 3 Floyd’s.

Like Golden Jet said, it’s the perfect Swiss Army knife bike for us flatlanders who want a bike that excels on pavement and off-road. In essence you’re are right, it’s a road bike that has fatter tires. A decent entry level road bike starts at 1K so not a shocker that a gravel bike is in the same range...

That being said, I’ve taken my daily commuter, Trek FX1, which is a hybrid on the DPRT and it’s been fine. But it lacks the snappy drive train and zip that my Kona has. The geometry and flat bars have it so you’re much less aero. Nonetheless, the hybrid has 700x35 tires so it can handle gravel, potholes, bumps, etc but the gear shifting is clunky. It’s a 3x7 Shimano Altus which is totally overkill for Chicago and performed poorly for the rare times I’ve needed to shift among the big chainrings.

Thanks for the explanations. I started following the DPRT page on FB and saw pictures of gravel bikes. I really wasn't aware of this class of bikes, or cyclocross bikes for that matter. The term "cross" seemed to be used interchangeably with "hybrid" back in the '90s. I could definitely see going this route if I ever decide to go with a 2nd bike.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

After almost 30 years and over 30,000 miles I finally bought a new bike today. I brought my bike in for a tire repair and to have them look at the crank. After going over everything that is wrong with it the Viking looked at me and said, "It's time." I guess COVID is wreaking havoc with the supply of bikes so I won't be able to get the new one until the second week of September. I'm not gonna go 4-5 weeks without riding so I fixed the tire. I hope the rest of her doesn't fall apart in the interim. I have a lot of mixed emotions about this. It's almost like having an arm cut off. But I bet I'm super fast on the new one.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Sorry for your loss.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Did you get a road bike?

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A fitness hybrid- Trek Dual Sport 3. https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bike ... 3/p/28839/

I have to have something that I can ride all winter and I don't really have storage space for two bikes.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Nice. Able to crush gravel trails, too.