RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (Full Version)

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joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/13/2008 1:36:28 PM)

Hey Stellaluna I have noticed more people on bike lately around here but that might just because I am so eager to get on mine that I notice anyone riding.

I think for many people it is not so much laziness as time. I love to ride so much laziness would not keep me from doing so......what does keep me from riding is commitments which require me to be certain places at specific times not allowing enough time to ride there on my bike.



stellaluna -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/13/2008 2:38:41 PM)

Yes, that's the reason I ended up driving last week--there was plenty of time to ride where I needed to go, but no time to ride back. [8D] I totally understand that.

But good planning eliminates at least half of that and that's half the gas you'll save for spending a little time (and burning calories) riding.



stellaluna -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/13/2008 2:50:03 PM)

An aside:

Every place I go without a bike rack now gets an email from me. Only one has written back. Walgreen's says they don't have bike racks because no one uses them. <shrug> It's my own little bike advocacy project. [:D]



joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/13/2008 4:04:36 PM)

quote:

But good planning eliminates at least half of that and that's half the gas you'll save for spending a little time (and burning calories) riding.
Actually good planning is what allows me time to see three students each night for an hour plus drive the 45 minutes to and from the town I tutor in LOL

If I were to ride it would be impossible.........



stellaluna -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/13/2008 4:35:17 PM)

In that case, you should make them ride to you. [:D]



joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/14/2008 10:27:38 AM)

LOL

I don't know if I will do it again next school year due to distant of drive, cost in money for gas and time, but for now I am really enjoying being a part of their families as well as tutoring them.

Last night after tutoring, one of my mother's insisted I joined them for dinner..........they are spoiling me from ever wanting to eat at our fake Mexican eateries ever again...........The mother made the best "taco's"........so very different then the kind we make........they were so good.

I know what you mean about riding everywhere Stellaluna. When I did my ride across America it was natural to ride in to the store or library from the church which was hosting us.

When I first got home driving seemed so foreign and wasteful.

Funny how quickly we get back into dependence on a car.

I would like to get to the point where I use my bike more then my car.

If I end up moving into the city I will.

Do you live in a city? I know you live fairly close to work (mine is 21 miles from my house) is everything else fairly close?



stellaluna -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/14/2008 11:10:27 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: joy2give2u
Last night after tutoring, one of my mother's insisted I joined them for dinner..........they are spoiling me from ever wanting to eat at our fake Mexican eateries ever again...........The mother made the best "taco's"........so very different then the kind we make........they were so good.

There is nothing--NOTHING--like authentic homemade Mexican food!!!

quote:


Do you live in a city? I know you live fairly close to work (mine is 21 miles from my house) is everything else fairly close?

I live in a city of about 175,000 people. It is definitely not set up for pedestrians or cyclists, although they have been putting bike lanes around schools the last couple of years. It's about a five-mile round trip to the nearest supermarket...probably a six-mile round trip to Wal-Mart. I live pretty much directly in the middle of the city, which makes it convenient to reach any destination in any direction in less than ten miles.

And something I tend to forget when railing at people about driving: I have been cycling/walking/avoiding driving for nearly ten years now. I chose to live where I live specifically because it put me in the middle of many things I need access to. My home was chosen because it lets me live this way and not depend on driving. That doesn't mean that others shouldn't try to drive less, but their neighborhood probably isn't as convenient because that wasn't their mindset when they moved into their home.



joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/14/2008 11:18:03 AM)

quote:

their neighborhood probably isn't as convenient because that wasn't their mindset when they moved into their home.
True..........when I move I really don't want to move into the city even though it would be more practical. I am a huge outdoors person and love being in the country with corn fields and woods surrounding me.

I don't even really like riding in town or a city. Most my riding I do on back country roads where my only companions are cows, deer, wild turkeys, raccoons and birds.....

The hardest part of living in town or a city for me will be the starless nights.......I don't know if I could stand the light pollution..........

I spend a lot of time sitting on the porch watching the stars.....



Miss Giggles -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/14/2008 8:44:46 PM)

I wish every place had a bike rack.

Yes there are more people biking this year. Even me, ha ha.

Seriously our bike stores are having probably their best year ever. I know some people are buying bikes and saying they'll ride them like I did the first time but some people are trying to commute to save gas. The first warm day of spring the bike store filled up the parking lot of the shopping center.

I notice it a lot in Ann Arbor which is michigan's "hippie" center along with it being a college town but the city actually has bike paths, lanes and lockers. Also the buses have bike racks and run on biodiesel .
If I lived closer to my job then I would ride my bike to work since I can leave it indoors and its a secured building but the cost of living is higher there so it would be a wash financially at this point.

May is commuter challenge month but I am not in shape enough to commute 24 miles to work and do not have access to a shower.

I barely did 4 at less than 10 mph [:D]



joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/15/2008 9:29:07 AM)

Hey Miss Giggles I have noticed a lot more people on bikes as well but the ones I have noticed are riding for exercise and enjoyment. I see them mostly on the country roads in the evening. I think a lot more people are just getting out and riding for fun and not so much for practical reasons like saving gas. Or at least that is the way it seems around here.

The small town I tutor in has done a great job with bike paths and you see people, especially older couples and kids, riding in the evenings. The one bike path is always so crowded there isn't any room to walk. LOL

quote:

May is commuter challenge month but I am not in shape enough to commute 24 miles to work and do not have access to a shower.

I barely did 4 at less than 10 mph
A voice from experience.........the first 10 miles are always the hardest........if you can push yourself past 10 you will be able to ride much further then you think now.



stellaluna -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/15/2008 2:08:50 PM)

I may not be in the country...but...I still enjoy being outside. I was walking home for lunch today and there were some beautiful flowers and they smelled so good and I thought I wouldn't be smelling them if I was in a car. There's a lot people miss out on by driving around in metal boxes, no matter where they are.



joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/15/2008 2:21:32 PM)

quote:

There's a lot people miss out on by driving around in metal boxes, no matter where they are.
Agreed



Dred -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/15/2008 3:30:40 PM)

I only live 1.5 miles from work, so I walk when it is cool enough and ride the bike most of the time in the summer. My wife's car is set up with a child seat and sliding doors so we use that as the family car. I do sometimes use my car to get food for the office, go mountain biking, etc., but it is only used when I am by myself. My wife's car needs gas every 2 to 4 weeks. How often do I gas up my car? I last got gas in March and still have most of that tank left. The tank before that one lasted over 3 months.

Yes, we need to push for bike racks, bike lanes, and showers at work.

Ed



stellaluna -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/15/2008 3:35:47 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dred
Yes, we need to push for bike racks, bike lanes, and showers at work.

We have showers at my work. They're called wet wipes. [8|]

[8D]



joy2give2u -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/15/2008 3:49:23 PM)

quote:

We have showers at my work. They're called wet wipes.
LOL

Stellaluna that made me laugh out loud very loudly LOL



stellaluna -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/15/2008 3:57:46 PM)

Glad I could bring raucous laughter into your day.

(But here's a hint: buy UNSCENTED wet wipes, otherwise you smell like you just changed a diaper. [:)])



Dred -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/15/2008 3:59:00 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: stellaluna


We have showers at my work. They're called wet wipes. [8|]

[8D]


Interesting strategy, but I think a sponge bath in the restroom might be a little more effective. We do have one lockable restroom down the hall.

I actually don't worry about the stinkyness and helmet-hair so much, though some jobs might have higher expectations in that area. I do prefer to be all cleaned up when I can be. During the years when our building was being remodeled they made offices for us in one of the dorms; I was a bit spoiled by the shower just across the hall during that time.



Dred -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/30/2008 10:15:19 PM)

Hey, who's been riding lately? It's that time of the year. I have been doing a ride on our local rail trail across the state line to a little town with an old train depot made into a welcome center for bicyclists. It will soon be too hot here to go so far unless I get going before the sun. It's 74 miles round trip and mostly pleasant country riding in the middle of nowhere.



benelchi -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/31/2008 9:06:28 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dred

Hey, who's been riding lately? It's that time of the year. I have been doing a ride on our local rail trail across the state line to a little town with an old train depot made into a welcome center for bicyclists. It will soon be too hot here to go so far unless I get going before the sun. It's 74 miles round trip and mostly pleasant country riding in the middle of nowhere.



Just curious, but I am wondering if that old train depot is in PA next to a river and some water falls?

I was PA the last couple of years for the Jr. cycling National Championships, and on one of our days off we found a bike trail that sounds like what you described.



Miss Giggles -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/31/2008 11:04:20 AM)

I have only ridden a few times due to the weather (spring is late or something, its been raining)

I am still working on the small hills, before I go to the park. Remember I am still the beginner :)



Dred -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/31/2008 5:20:09 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: benelchi


Just curious, but I am wondering if that old train depot is in PA next to a river and some water falls?

I was PA the last couple of years for the Jr. cycling National Championships, and on one of our days off we found a bike trail that sounds like what you described.


No, this depot is in Georgia.



benelchi -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (5/31/2008 5:23:23 PM)

quote:




quote:

ORIGINAL: Dred

quote:

ORIGINAL: benelchi


Just curious, but I am wondering if that old train depot is in PA next to a river and some water falls?

I was PA the last couple of years for the Jr. cycling National Championships, and on one of our days off we found a bike trail that sounds like what you described.


No, this depot is in Georgia.



Oh well, a "an old train depot made into a welcome center for bicyclists" sounded so coincidently like what I had found that it was hard to imagine there being two of them.



Dred -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (6/1/2008 3:52:36 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: benelchi


Oh well, a "an old train depot made into a welcome center for bicyclists" sounded so coincidently like what I had found that it was hard to imagine there being two of them.


That's understandable; I think I would have asked as well. However, I wouldn't be too surprised if there were a few more of them. It's a good idea whenever these old depots are in decent shape to fix them up for rail trail users. I found a picture of mine so you can take a look at it:

http://railga.com/Depots/cedartown.html



Dred -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (6/1/2008 3:55:41 PM)

Hmmm...looking at my own link, I guess I was wrong in my assumption about the place. According to that page, it is a replica of "long demolished" depot. I think it was a nice idea for a welcome center anyway.



stellaluna -> RE: Bicycling....adventures, experiences, favorite rides etc (6/1/2008 5:52:40 PM)

I ride pretty nearly everyday, but my mileage varies according to whether I need to run errands or not. I used four gallons of gasoline in the month of May. [:)]

Edited to add that I did ride with my husband to some places in his car, though.



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