I love to ride and work on bicycles. On my carport there’s the one by brother built that’s always been too big for me, but it’s fast and just needs the shifting fixed. There’re three what belong to my kids, two should vanish and the third needs a tire, and a hub motor so the daughter who lives with me can have some fun. Or Daddy. :rolleyes: In the shed there’s a semi-recliner that just needs my knees to be better to be stupid fast. Back to the carport, there’s a one-speed trike that needs finishing so my lousy balance won’t kill me. Maybe it could go electric, too. For shopping.
I live a half block South of the Great Western bike trail and three blocks north of the original Rails to Trails trail, the Prairie Path. I may need a new pastime come winter, but I’m set for now!
Great Western just goes a couple towns east and I don’t know how far west. Prairie Path goes 17 miles to the Fox River. Maybe further; that’s all I got before turning around for food cuz my liver was empty of glycogen.
They are always a grade (angle) that trains can handle. The GW needs to cross over 2 streets and another railroad at about the same place so the slope starts a mile and a half away. The PP, like I said it was the first Rails to Trails is on an old trolley line so it’s flatter.
Electric front wheels with batteries are dear, so I may go with gas.
For some reason, this thread title sounded to me like the start to a country song.
When my knees and feet get better,
I plan to have some fun.
Gonna ride this spiffy bike of mine
to the Land of the Midnight Sun.
The ocean will not stop me
or even slow me down.
What the heck, I saved Beckdawrek
My super powers won’t fail me now.
Yeah, when my knees and feet get better,
I’m gonna have some fun.
Gonna ride in the Tour de France,
bike up K2 when I’ve won.
Gonna ride this bicycle
Faster than your souped-up cars.
I’m shredded, I’m hot, like a tater tot
and that’s my wife on the handlebars.
OK, that’s dreadful. My apologies. Once I started, I couldn’t seem to stop. Hope your knees and feet DO feel better pronto.
(ignoring Becky, which I don’t ever really do because I know what’s best for me)
I think my epileptic daughter (no seizures in months) would benefit (have fun with) the 'bent and I don’t think I could accelerate with it until I build up my calf muscles again. Li’l Bro was a serious mountain biker and he said he could kill for my calves back in the day. “But look how much they have to drag around.” Still, there was a trail with a long twisty climb. I would measure my horsepower climbing it and it was somewhere around 1.2hp. So I need a more vertical position so I can use my mass.
Yay, it’s spring! And it has been really dry this year.
For spring through to autumn, I have 13 rides of obligation which must all be completed at least once. 8 road rides in excess of 40 miles and designed to be as difficult as possible*; 5 off-road rides in excess of 30 miles, designed for smallest amount of road miles, difficulty, and getting me out into the middle of nowhere. For a really crowded part of the world (to the south of London) it’s surprising what you can find.
Some time this week I should complete the off-road rides of obligation (after which you repeat as you see fit) - completing the set TWO WEEKS before I started them last year. It has, as I said, been a very dry spring.
j
As an example, the zig-zag road, as included in the 2012 Olympic road race, is the feature climb in the only ride that traditionally is required to exceed 50 miles.
Ah, English bikes! Most of my rides, especially the long ones, were on a Raleigh 3-Speed, Formula 1 Lotus/John Player Special colors (black w/gold pinstripes). As God intended. It was not the first bike I destroyed, nor was it the last. I need another with a better seat–after 30 miles the vertical sheet metal in the seat began to cut into my butt.
I felt guilty so I finally joined the Rails to Trails Conservancy. I had to because the photo for the North Branch Trail was taken about fifty feet beyond where I killed a Schwinn Racer “lightweight” (skinny-ish tires and no fenders) one-speed (not a “single speed” because I like brakes and freewheelers and am not suicidal) by cranking so hard I ripped the hub out of the rear fork and twisted the frame because hubs aren’t supposed to go in that direction. I’d paid $15 for that bike!
When I saw the thread title I thought “Wait, when did I start this thread?”
I’ve spent the whole fall and winter recovering… from surgery, from torn tendons, from knee, leg and foot problems… And it was the iciest winter we’ve ever had, so I was living in fear of falling with my cane (and my hand in a splint) and undoing all the physical therapy. As well as popping stitches.
Well, progress be happenin’, mama! I’ve been using a recumbent exercise bike at a gym, and actually got on a real bike for a couple of blocks! I showed up at my old pickup soccer game and stood by the goal (they were nice enough to call it “playing defense”). But I kicked the ball! Back in the depths of the Polar Vortex, I despaired of doing any of these things again.
It’s going to be a good Easter season. I am risen… I am risen indeed.
I also plan to have some fun when my knees and feet feel better. In other words, I will never have any fun ever again, barring an unexpected breakthrough in the realm of placing brains in robot bodies.
Back to the carport, there’s a one-speed trike that needs finishing so my lousy balance won’t kill me. Maybe it could go electric, too. For shopping.