I want to get in shape and start cycling. Anyone else into that sport? Tips?

[Dr.Demento]

Long time no see HL2.net. I've noticed a tonne of new members since the last time I was here. Welcome to atheist/helplife/Halflife2.net!

Anyways, I was wondering how many people here are into cycling? (Dan maybe? Is he still around?) I used to love riding everyday once upon a time many years ago before I had a close call and nearly got ran over by an idiot rural U.S. motorist and got my precious bike destroyed and ever since, (7 years ago) I haven't felt my balls flapping in the wind nor the fresh air in my face. I was in the best shape of my life too. My thighs and calves were as solid as steel and my glutes were so strong I could probably bend a metal spoon with them. Those were the days.

Now I'm 7 years older, dumpy, and out of shape and I miss those days where I had plenty of energy to spare and could run a mile without breaking a sweat. Problem is it's tough around here in rural country for me as I haven't had the bravery to get on a bike and try again since. Nor do I have a bike

I need some good ol' HL2 encouragement fellas. Do your worst! I want to be slim and sexy again!

 

[Adabiviak]

I ride my bicycle a lot, mostly off road trails, but will ride on pavement on occasion. Do you live in California? It snowed today, but I'll be bike camping before the end of this week (tomorrow night, actually). What kind of bike was it? I take it you have a replacement?

 

[Dr.Demento]

Do you live in California?

Nope. Even worse. North Florida.

It snowed today, but I'll be bike camping before the end of this week (tomorrow night, actually). What kind of bike was it? I take it you have a replacement?

I wish. I'm going to get one soon though. My old bike was a sort of "middle-of-the road" bike that could go off or on road pretty well. I may get another like it.

Also, I envy you guys who live in the mid-lands that have milder climates and nicer scenery. Florida's just so boring, flat, and hot.

 

[xcellerate]

I know how you feel about the location, DC is a terrible place for biking because any sort of trail is like 30 minutes outside of town and the city is filled with tourists who don't know where they're going but it's always in my way... but I make do.

I don't know if there's any secret to getting back in shape other than just being out there and taking it slow for the first few days; just enjoy the outside and riding around.

Here's my trek:

 

[Higlac]

I'm going to be doing a 475 mile ride in about a month, and I only recently got a decent road bike last Wednesday. I'm probably going to die. I've also got a decent hard tail mountain bike, but I mainly use that for getting around campus.

 

[Gargantou]

Good thread, I have been pondering getting a bike to get some exercise myself since my last one was stolen by an drugged-up addict who bled all over the pedals a few years back (True story.)

I myself am looking at getting a hybrid-bike myself, since I'll be riding mostly in urban areas/the city.

http://www.nishiki.se/Hybrid (Warning, Swedish link so if you aren't Scandinavian don't be surprised by the gibberish) that's the one's I've been looking at.

Anyone here that have any experience with hybrid bikes?

 

[StarBob]

I stopped reading when you said you could bend a metal spoon with your glutes. Please get the spoons out of your ass... then we'll talk.

 

[Escaep]

Florida's just so boring, flat, and hot.

Tell me about it. There's the Canaveral National Seashore about 15 minutes or so away from me that has some pretty nice biking paths.

 

[Minister]

Anyone here that have any experience with hybrid bikes?

I got a hybrid a couple of years back when starting University (therefore relatively cheap one) and it has done me well so far. There is a load of canals and hence towpaths around where I live so the hybrid was my best bet. My only advice would be to not try and cycle with a road cyclist. Most of my Uni mates have road bikes and cycle a lot, even going out for a casual ride it's difficult to keep up.

 

[Higlac]

I got a hybrid a couple of years back when starting University (therefore relatively cheap one) and it has done me well so far. There is a load of canals and hence towpaths around where I live so the hybrid was my best bet. My only advice would be to not try and cycle with a road cyclist. Most of my Uni mates have road bikes and cycle a lot, even going out for a casual ride it's difficult to keep up.

Make sure you plan the route next time and make sure there are a lot of hills, so that way you can take advantage of your superior gearing going up the hills and better momentum when coasting down the hills.

 

[Dr.Demento]

I got a hybrid a couple of years back when starting University (therefore relatively cheap one) and it has done me well so far. There is a load of canals and hence towpaths around where I live so the hybrid was my best bet. My only advice would be to not try and cycle with a road cyclist. Most of my Uni mates have road bikes and cycle a lot, even going out for a casual ride it's difficult to keep up.

By hybrid bikes you mean ones that can go either off or on road right? That's the type I want, and yeah it's probably impossible to keep up with a road bike that's primarily designed for speed. I mean even with my old hybrid I could get up to 40mph on a good hill, but I'm planning to take more isolated dirt roads so I need something that will handle off-road stuff pretty decently too. Also, when I think road bike, I think one of those Lance Armstrong things with the curved handles and smooth tires, so I'm just assuming I know what your talking about.

I've had a few wipeouts back in those days going pretty fast and managed to escape injury with only a minor road rash. Learning how to fall properly to minimize injury is all part of bike riding too, but getting run over by some fat, lazy, and undisciplined U.S. motorist scarfing a BigMac or talking on a cell is something entirely different Sorry for the semantics, but I'm still livid to this day over the douche in that white Cadillac Escalade that nearly creamed me because he didn't want to slow down.

Tell me about it. There's the Canaveral National Seashore about 15 minutes or so away from me that has some pretty nice biking paths.

You're lucky to have at least some terrain and scenery then. Northern Florida blows really hard, but our county just recently paved a 20 mile or so bike trail that runs along a major highway that's pretty decent so one doesn't have to brave the traffic mainly consisting of maniacal hillbilly motorists. That's a HUGE start. I'm thinking of riding that path every weekend.

I know how you feel about the location, DC is a terrible place for biking because any sort of trail is like 30 minutes outside of town and the city is filled with tourists who don't know where they're going but it's always in my way... but I make do.

I don't know if there's any secret to getting back in shape other than just being out there and taking it slow for the first few days; just enjoy the outside and riding around.

Here's my trek:

Very nice. How much would something like that go for these days? Is that a 5 speed?

 

[Destructo-Bot]

 

[Gargantou]

Boring.

 

[Dr.Demento]

No thanks, I hate stationary bikes. Takes the fun out of it for me, and that's the most important part of a successful workout plan.

 

[Minister]

Make sure you plan the route next time and make sure there are a lot of hills, so that way you can take advantage of your superior gearing going up the hills and better momentum when coasting down the hills.

Are we talking about the same type of bike? Pretty sure my hybrid doesn't have superior gearing to an equivalent road bike. Could be that I'm just terrible at cycling but I hope that's not the case

By hybrid bikes you mean ones that can go either off or on road right? That's the type I want, and yeah it's probably impossible to keep up with a road bike that's primarily designed for speed. I mean even with my old hybrid I could get up to 40mph on a good hill, but I'm planning to take more isolated dirt roads so I need something that will handle off-road stuff pretty decently too. Also, when I think road bike, I think one of those Lance Armstrong things with the curved handles and smooth tires, so I'm just assuming I know what your talking about.

Yeah that's what I mean. I'm not sure whether there are different degrees of hybrid, like one being more geared towards road and vice versa. Mine is closer to a roadbike by being pretty lightweight with no suspension, it just has fatter tyres, fatter wheels and regular flat handlebars. I can go fast going downhill no problem, it's trying to keep up on flat ground that's somewhat difficult but that's probably just because I go out with guys who enter road races and time trials or because I suck.

 

[Dr.Demento]

Yeah that's what I mean. I'm not sure whether there are different degrees of hybrid, like one being more geared towards road and vice versa. Mine is closer to a roadbike by being pretty lightweight with no suspension, it just has fatter tyres, fatter wheels and regular flat handlebars. I can go fast going downhill no problem, it's trying to keep up on flat ground that's somewhat difficult but that's probably just because I go out with guys who enter road races and time trials or because I suck.

No, it's probably not just you if your already in decent shape. Those road bikes have much taller wheels which is why they can go alot faster. Physics and all that jazz.

 

[Gargantou]

I myself am trying to decide what to spend on such a bike.

I guess I should probably go for the cheapest "entry-level" hybrids from Nishiki over here, but just that's 700 euros which is quite a bit of money. They seem to use quality parts since I've heard Shimano makes good stuff.

Not sure I want to try buying a used one instead since I have had bad experiences with used bikes.

 

[Adabiviak]

I didn't even think about how flat Florida is... and muggy during certain seasons? eek. Flat does lend itself to "comfortable" long distance rides though. I live in logging country, so the mountains are riddled with dirt roads and even better: abandoned railroad grades from back in the day when they didn't pussyfoot around getting the trees off the mountain here. That's some of the only level off-road terrain I get, the other being a makeshift ditch system to support that old logging industry that's maintained to this day. I've come across bears four times and a mountain lion once.

Florida is riddled with lakes, no? Or am I thinking of the peninsula? That's usually what I'll do when I'm looking for something new - grab a topo map, find an interesting geographical feature, plan a route to get there, and go. What's on your map there?

edit - sniffing around the panhandle in Google Earth shows that it's between 30 and 40 miles tall. How close do you live to the ocean?

 

[Higlac]

Are we talking about the same type of bike? Pretty sure my hybrid doesn't have superior gearing to an equivalent road bike. Could be that I'm just terrible at cycling but I hope that's not the case

I mean, if it's anything like the ones I've seen, they have smaller front rings and larger rears, so you can get up steep hills a lot easier than a serious road bike. Just put it in granny-gear and cruise right on up. Then use the added mass to coast for a longer distance down the hill. I rode over 400 miles last summer on a 30lb mountain bike, and I absolutely flew past the rest of our group of riders on the hills.

 

[Dan]

I still do a fair bit of road cycling. I've got a Schwinn LeTour I use for commuting to work and an aluminum Bianchi I use for riding on the roads. Both are road bikes. Another option for some offroad travel is a cyclocross bike, basically a beefed up road bike for trail use.

I can try to answer any questions but I don't really have any tips other than get out there and ride. Maybe learn how to patch and replace a tube when you're on your own.

As for buying bikes, if you know what you are looking for, you can pick up some decent deals off of craigslist, or garage sales or whatever used market is in your area. Generally speaking, bikes keep the value pretty well, and if you know how to do some maintenance you can pick up a 5 year old bike for %40 of the new price.

In the States, Bikes Direct is the cheapest online retailer. They sell some good bikes from less well known brands, but you have to know what you are looking for and what size and a little bit of assembly and tuning because they will ship it to you partially disassembled and there is no sales person to talk you through it or try out different bikes. Performance Bicycle is also a major retailer with stores in most major cities as well as an online presence.

 

[Raziaar]

If you want to get in shape just buy a hoola-hoop. Then put it around you.

 

[Dr.Demento]

I'll have to see about that Performance Bicycle chain and see if there's any of those stores in our area. As for buying online, I don't like the idea of purchasing a bike online because I like to test them first to see if I like the seats, height, etc. A cyclocross bike sounds pretty interesting, but I have to be sure it can handle easily, but I guess no type of bike is any good against soft sand. I've been thrown off plenty of times back in the day hitting sand beds too fast.

 

[xcellerate]

Very nice. How much would something like that go for these days? Is that a 5 speed?

It's a 2010 Fuel EX8 so maybe like $1800 new if a bike shop has one in stock still? But it's a 27 speed and I think the 2011's are 30 speeds. That's probably more than you want to spend but I really like Gary Fisher and Trek for mountain bikes.

 

[Vegeta897]

If you want to get in shape just buy a hoola-hoop. Then put it around you.

This, or a large picture frame.

 

[Gargantou]

Jesus, a 2011 Fuel EX8 over here is 4300 USD, only like one proper store seems to actually sell it though.

 

[xcellerate]

That's ridiculous, I wonder why they charge so much more for it there. I think it's $2,400 new in the US.

 

[Mr. Djees]

Taxes, import and higher income basically.

 

[Gargantou]

Yeah.

For comparison, the cheapest hybrid from Nishiki over here is 5990 SEK in price which is a bit over 1000 USD.

 

[Minister]

I thought Sweden was expensive until I went to Denmark. Payed about 50 quid for what was ultimately fish and chips for four people.

 

[Gargantou]

I thought Sweden was expensive until I went to Denmark. Payed about 50 quid for what was ultimately fish and chips for four people.

Yeah, Denmark is the worst Scandinavian country and when I seize power Denmark will be eradicated, rather than subjugated like Norway.

 

[Dan]

Everything is cheap and plentiful in America.

 

[Dr.Demento]

Everything is cheap and plentiful in America.

That depends on what your buying. Sometimes cheap is taken to the literal extreme over here, especially when your talking about automobiles and gasoline manufactured in the USA. Or what's left of these industries anyway that aren't imported.