Mountain biking, Cross, BMX, freestyle...

[Ziggy]

Haha, that guy is awesome. Funny video too.

[Hobie-wan]

So today's bike ride was an interesting olfactory experience. There was a pretty strong smell of perfume in the air as I went past the houses near my apartment. Perhaps someone was doing laundry and tossed a handful of dryer sheets in or something. On the northbound part of my trip someone was grilling something, but I think they'd used an entire bottle of charcoal starter as I could smell it for at least half a mile. When leaving the park I passed a guy running with his dog that had put a heavy dose of cologne on. Seems pretty pointless when it is obvious that you are exercising but he did look a little bit like a vain douchebag.

At first I was thinking my nose was just extra sensitive today, but I didn't really smell much from the restaurants I passed that sometimes give me a good whiff.

[Ziggy]

Haha, I was gonna make a joke about you smoking pot. But if you didn't smell the food, then I guess that's impossible!

I haven't ridden in a few weeks now, been too busy at work. Well, my brother's (my riding partner) and my work schedules have been conflicting too. I think it's November 1rst that all the DEC trails close until spring, so I probably wont ride again until next season.

[Hobie-wan]

Haha, I was gonna make a joke about you smoking pot. But if you didn't smell the food, then I guess that's impossible!

I don't even smoke cigarettes, but it is funny you say that. I totally forgot to note that I thought I smelled pot when I crossed the wooden bridge over the creek.

[Ziggy]

10 YEAR BUMP!

I just read through this thread, and wow, I can't believe I got my Cannondale 10 years ago! Also, so many people that I haven't seen around the forums in years.

Is there anyone that is currently frequenting the forums ride at all?

When I made this thread, that was probably when I was riding the most. After the 2011 season, I rode less and less due to work schedules. It's been quite a few years since I've been riding at all. I was begging my brother to go with me for a few years (I don't like to go alone) but he was too busy. But now he's been going riding often, at least once a week. So I went with him and another friend a couple of weeks ago. I did my old favorite West Side Loop of the RCA trails. It was fun, but damn was I out of shape! My legs just have no power to get up hill, and my ass was hurting (you know exactly what I'm talking about if you ever went mountain biking!).

I went riding again with them today, in a trail that I've never done before. I think in total it was about 12ish miles. Lots of crazy loops, it was a lot of fun. I did a lot better this time around. My legs still get tired fast, but at least my ass didn't hurt this time. I'm gonna try and go more often. Once a week would be good, but that's not always possible. But the more you go, the better time you have.

My Cannondale came with shitty pedals and pretty wimpy tires, both of which use to give me lots of grief. I would always slip a pedal, and those tires would cause me to wipe out easily in sand pits. Or I'd be trying to crank up hill and start slipping out, then have to jump off and to the shameful walk up the hill LOL. So a few years ago, I got some platform pedals and some pretty aggressive tires. I had installed them on my bike, but never had a chance to try them out. So this is the first time (the other week and today) that I'm using them. And I love them! I have almost zero pedal slips (sometimes you just go over rough enough terrain that it can't be helped). And the tires are awesome, I no longer fear sand pits. I'll slip out for a crank here and there up hill if it's sandy enough, but I really didn't have any traction problems. I was thinking about trying to get an even more aggressive tire, but I'll probably keep these for a while longer.

I bought a CamelBak (from Amazon, don't have it yet). I always wanted one, but they're kind of pricey. But it's just not an option anymore, I really need one. I have a water bottle cage on my bike, but one ~24 oz bottle is just not enough water for me. So I ride with a bottle in the cage and then a few more bottles in a backpack. But I hate riding with the backpack. Especially with water bottles loaded in it. Today, my arms and shoulders were a little soar from work I was doing this week. So the weight of the backpack was actually my biggest grief today, it was really hurting my shoulders to wear it. I know the CamelBak is worn like a backpack, but they're a lot more comfortable and form fitting (they're made for athletic activities, after all).

I bought an 85 oz model CamelBak, which I hope will be enough. I was thinking about getting the 100 oz model, but I was afraid of it being too big or heavy. I carried around 50-60 oz of water today between the 3 bottles, and it was barely enough for me to do the 12 miles. So I'm thinking 85 oz should be good, and I'll also still carry a 24 oz bottle in the cage. The thing about the CamelBak is you don't know when you're running low, which means you can't start to ration when you're getting low. So that's mainly why I'll still carry a bottle in the cage.

Oh yeah, and this is the first time I'm riding since I quit smoking. I can't believe I use to smoke before and after riding LOL. Although I wish I still had the energy I did in my mid 20's. Although I'm sure if I bump this thread in another 10 years, I'll be saying I wish I had the energy I do now.




edit: Here's a pic of my bike from when I was riding a few weeks ago. And yes, that's a Poland Spring bottle that I zip tied to my bike frame so I wouldn't have to carry it in the backpack LOL. You can make out the better pedals and tires in that pic, compared to the pic from the first post.

[Gucci]

I have a road bike I’ve been meaning to fix for at least a year. I have to replace the tubes and tires. I used to ride up and down the beach area by me. About five or six miles round trip.

As silly as it sounds, I bought those padded tight shorts for my ass and a chest rig to carry my phone, wallet, keys, etc., because I was always afraid of that stuff falling out of my pockets.

[Ziggy]

As silly as it sounds, I bought those padded tight shorts for my ass and a chest rig to carry my phone, wallet, keys, etc., because I was always afraid of that stuff falling out of my pockets.

That's not silly at all.

I was actually just looking at padded shorts. But not the tight kind, they make loose fitting padded biking shorts as well. And some even have zip up pockets. But, I don't know how comfortable that would be. Like, if it would feel like wearing a diaper. My ass really hurt after my first 5 miles ride. But after this last 12 mile ride, not so much. So I may hold off on getting padded shorts. The more you ride, the less it'll hurt.

I hear ya though about the phone/keys/wallet. I *constantly* check my pockets to make sure nothing fell out. I usually wear pretty loose fitting shorts that have deep enough pockets that it's not really a concern. But still, the thought of loosing that stuff in the middle of a trail... You know you're never going to find them! The shorts I wear usually have cargo pockets, which is where I keep my compact pump. But once I get the CamelBak I think I'll attach my pump to it. Then with my cargo pockets free, I could just transfer my phone/keys/wallet to them when I'm riding since they always zip or velcro shut. Or maybe I'll just get non-padded biking shorts that have zipper pockets.

[NotLuke]

*Sees thread date*
*Sees posters in thread*
*smiles longingly*


While taking my bike out of the shed a few weeks ago I had forgotten that my pup Cookie was also in the backyard. Cookie attacked the front tire, giving me a good excuse to get a new bike. Now, I'm not exactly sure what brand of bike it was, but if I had to give a police description I would say "Silver frame, black seat and wheels, bmx, seat will make your nuts numb". Besides the seat, I loved the bike for being what it was, a generic no thrills bike.
Flash forward a few days later and I bought an Ozone 500, 21 speed full suspension mountain bike. Boy is this thing goofy looking (if the bike could talk it might say the same about the rider). Super affordable at under $200 and offers a much smoother and easier ride. You can also loosen the tension on the seat to the point where you bounce with every push of the pedal (not recommended).

I think it is essential to happiness and a clear head to connect with nature early in the day. Going for a bike ride first thing in the morning is a wonderful way to do exactly that.

[Ziggy]

New bike!



I finally got a BMX bike. I've been thinking about getting one again for years and decided to just get one already. It's a DK Helio.

https://dkbicycles.com/products/2021-dk ... 2505540681

The frame, fork and bars are all chromoly. The rest of the parts, we shall see. I guess this would be a mid tier bike in terms of price and quality. I'm not too worried about breaking anything though since it'll probably be a long while before I do anything really hardcore with it. I have no chops for BMX right now.

I've already begun to do some tweaking on it. I hate having long bars, I always cut mine shorter. And I hate the grips that came on it, so I've already ordered new ones. The brakes will need tweaking still since they don't lock up the way I want them to. But I'm planning on getting a Gyro so I figure I'll wait until I install it before bothering to tweak the brakes. I've also ordered new pedals since I hate plastic ones.

I haven't owned a BMX bike for around 20 years now. A few things have changed.

You use to only see plastic pedals on low end bikes. If you did anything outside of riding casually around the block, you could count on those cheap plastic pedals breaking in no time. But now a lot of people are using plastic pedals, I guess they make them a lot harder now. They're lighter, cheaper, come in more color options, and people claim they hurt your shin less. But I'm a 90's kid, so plastic pedals just seem like garbage to me.

The tires are wider and sleeker, at least for the freestyle bikes. I don't know if racing bikes have skinny tires still, or are still knobby. And all of the mid tier bikes have 3/8" front axles, which was standard, but 14mm rear axles. You would see 14mm front and rear axles on freestyle and jumping bikes since they can take more abuse, but I only recall seeing them on custom built bikes and not on something you would buy in a store.

The crank sprockets are tiny now. The rear wheel sprockets are also smaller, so they have the same gear ratio that old school BMX bikes had. I was told the smaller sprocket is for clearance, and I guess that makes sense. But I never remember it being an issue, at least for me. I had loose pant legs caught in them once, but that was the last time I wore loose pants on a bike so it wasn't an issue after that. I guess smaller also means lighter.

A chrome finish is actually hard to find. Everything is colors now. In the 80's and 90's, pretty much everything was chrome. A painted frame was kind of rare. After the year 2000, I remember black frames being really popular. Also, mixing black and chrome (I still think that's the coolest look) was standard. And post 2000, I remember seeing some colors, but mostly dark. Now the color options are loud and crazy. I wasn't opposed to getting a color, but when I saw chrome it really hit the nostalgia factor for me.

Anyways, I really like it. I still enjoy the mountain bike and wont give that up anytime soon, but I just feel so much more comfortable on a BMX bike. That and, to ride the mountain bike is kind of a chore. I have to gear up and drive to a trail. Then once you start, you're stuck until you finish. With a BMX bike though, you can ride it any time and any where, and for as little or as long as you want. So with the mountain bike, I don't get to ride very often. But with a BMX bike, I'll be on a bike a lot more often now.




Anyone riding at all?

[prfsnl_gmr]

Still riding! I sold my vintage Cannondale road bike a few weeks ago because I just wasn’t riding it. My wife and I both have Gary Fisher mountain bikes, however, and I had both of them tuned up earlier in the summer. We have been riding them on some of the trails in Charlotte, when it’s not too hot, and we have a trip to Abington, VA planned for Pctober. We’ll probably, at my children’a request, ride the entire VA Creepwr Trail, which is about 34 miles. Should be a good time! (Also, I’m sending my children to mountain biking camp later in the summer; so, they’ll probably be better bikers than me by the time we go on the trip!)