Cycling, anyone?

[MsP]

Greetings!

So is anyone into road cycling? I''ve been messing around with it on the weekends for a little bit now but couldn''t really do much because I didn''t have a properly fitted bike. I just recently puchased a new bike and I''m sooooo excited. I think I may have ''over-purchased'' but I figured I''d get what I wanted from the start instead of constantly wanting to upgrade. Now I''m just waiting for shipment!

Traffic still scares me so until I get out into the country I''m quite anxious but with time I hope to improve. Oh, and the clipless pedal concept?!? Impossible. I think I''m going to go with a basic cage or even flat pedals for a bit and then move the the clipless in a couple months. I have the shoes and pedals but I''m just a moron with them. Coupled with the fact I''m not too comfortable in traffic yet and I just think it''s a recipe for disaster. But soon I will try.

So, anyone? Recreational? More aggressive? Where do you love to ride?

I''ve been searching for cycling forums as well and they seem to be so dead. Any good recs?

 

[neatfreak]

I road bike (at least I did before my babies!) and worked at a bike shop for many years in hs and college, so I would be happy to answer questions for you if you've got them!

I'm with you on the traffic thing, people are just very inconsiderate and downright dangerous in some areas. Luckily I have always lived in places with plenty of farmland, which is ideal for road biking.

Clipless pedals aren't really as scary as they seem, especially if you loosen them up a lot. I promise. Cages are actually a lot more dangerous believe it or not because if you fall with cages your foot can get stuck in them, with clipless your foot will come out. If you aren't ready for clipless yet I would stick with flat pedals personally. Or, you could forgo the road bike clipless pedals and get something that is made for a mtn bike. Easier to learn to use because you can clip in from both sides (some road pedals you can do this too, but the platform is usually tiny and the clip mechanism hard to use) and the platform is a bit bigger. Just something to consider.

No idea on the forums, but I think we are spoiled by how active PS is! Most other forums I have ventured into are pretty dead compared to PS.

 

[iheartscience]

I road bike a little bit myself! I don''t do it as often as I would like, but now that I''m out of school, once it warms up I plan on getting out there a lot more often. I hear you on the clipless pedals-I have them and I am not crazy about them. Especially for riding in the city, because you have to stop so often. But I paid like $150 for shoes so I''m making myself keep them on! As for riding in traffic, I used to ride my road bike everywhere because I had no car, but now it scares me, too. There are a lot of parks around me with paved roads that allow bikes, so that''s where I like to go.

Like neat, my twin sister worked in several bike shops throughout college, so she is my road bike expert. And my fiance road bikes a lot, too-way more than I do. What you could do is call around to your local bike shops and see if they lead rides on certain nights. In my area one of the bike shops has a women''s ride once a week when the weather gets warm. I like that one a lot. And if they don''t lead rides maybe you can get them to?

 

[KimberlyH]

I spent some time riding over the summer, with all the wrong equipment (read: I was on a 10 year old mountain bike surrounded by road cyclers). I had a few girlfriends to ride with, which made it fun for me but less so for them because I was slower than they were. We would ride anywhere from 10-20 miles 3-4 times a week. I quit going because I was holding them back, they''d been riding a lot longer and more frequently than me, and it made me feel bad. We have a bike trail that parallels a freeway where I live, so that''s where we did most of our riding, we spent about 1/4 of the time on the street getting to and from the trail. I miss it.

 

[Skippy123]

I had this horrible bike from Target; it was like $150 or something and I felt every single bump when I rode. Well we went to Paris and did a biking tour and it was so much fun biking so when we got back hubby and I got me a good bike so mine in a road/commuter bike and I love it! In the summer I ride 1x a week and hubby rides to and from work. I love biking, especially with my new bike. There are local meet up groups where you can ride with people or check out your local city website and the have bike trail maps and I bet if you asked your local REI they have numbers to local groups?
How fun Miss P that you are riding!!!! Congrats on the new bike!!!!!

 

[elrohwen]

Yay road cycling! Great sport to get into

I''ve been pretty lazy the last year or two because (a) we live in a horrible area for cycling and (b) I''m never home. Even still, it''s one of my favorite sports and I hope to get back into it at some point in the near future. FI has a bike now too and is constantly bugging me to go out.

I hear ya on the traffic thing. Though after riding on a rail trail for a while I learned that people on bikes can be way more dangerous than cars. At least cars stay on the correct side of the road! It''s very tough to get up any kind of normal speed when you have 11 year olds riding all of the path.

I also feel your pain on clipless pedals. I fell down so many times when I started out with them. I love how they are so much more efficient and all, but there are definitely times I''m still nervous when using them (starting out from a stop on a big hill is the major fear). And it certainly doesn''t help when guys are like "Oh yeah, I gave some to my wife and she got the hang of them in no time." Thanks

haha

What kind of bike did you get?

 

[MsP]

I will check REI... I never thought of that. The local bike shop gave me some numbers to clubs but I''m really looking for some long, paved paths where I can just practice. Sounds ridiculous but I don''t want to get out there an embarass myself in front of others. Especially when I''m riding a non-novice bike. I know these big bikers will laugh at me. Haha... at least I''m trying!

I got like $2500 for a bike for Christmas. I ended up getting the Cannondale Synapse Carbon 3... in a mens version actually. Combination of duraace and ultegra. Decent wheels. The womens was just too tight for my long torso. Plus, I wasn''t really digging the womens coloring either. It''s way way way more bike than I really need but I like the sport and I''d rather get what I want from that start instead of getting something like a Trek 1000 and have the desire to upgrade in 2 months. I know that''s what I''d do. Plus, I got a great, great deal.