Any road bikers here?

Necros · #1 27th March 2009, 10:23 AM

I was reading this thread http://www.giraffeboards.com/showthread.php?t=951 and sublight seems to say he just went for 200K ride, so I thought I might start this thread and see if we have any other road bikers on GB.

I actually have been riding various types of bikes since I was about five, but picked up my first road bike last year, and rode the hell out of it. This year I decided to upgrade, and just picked up a 2009 Orbea Onix TDF, which I love so far.

I am planning to tackle my first century this summer, and have a metric century this June. I normally am only able to ride on the weekends, but try to put in about 50-60 miles a week. I live right at the base of the foothills here in Colorado, so the opportunities for varied terrain and beautiful scenery are boundless.

Any other bikers here? If so, what and where do you ride? And, sublight, if you pop in, I will be in Tokyo in October. Can I rent a bike for riding around the city?

KidVermicious · #2 27th March 2009, 10:37 AM

Boo skinny tires, yay fatties!

Is this threadshitting?

SoylentPopTart · #3 27th March 2009, 10:44 AM

Hello,
I ride but I'm not a roadie. I ride a Gary Fisher mountain bike and I ride primarily on dirt road or single track. I get in about 15-20 miles a week which ain't bad for fat tires.
Most of my riding is done on the C&O Canal tow path which is basically a dirt road that runs along the Potomac River.

lifeboat · #4 27th March 2009, 10:49 AM

Growing up in Chicago I had a road bike that I used for transportation to and from work. On my days off I would ride for hours along the lakefront, or up to the ravines in the north suburbs. Loved it.

Then the accident. Long story short, I was coming home from work in evening rush hour on a very busy Sheridan Road when a driver in a parked car to my right opened up his door right in front of me. I didn't even have time to brake and slammed right into his door.

Fortunately for me, traffic to my left was stopped for the red light ahead, so not getting mauled by an endless stream of cars was a good thing. Aside from some scrapes and bruises, I escaped without injury. My bike suffered the most damage, with the guy's car door a close second. But for some reason, that incident left me gun shy about riding on the roads for a very long time.

I always missed riding, so last year, about 20 years after that accident, I bought another road bike. It's a Fuji Newest; it was the cheapest one I could find. I started riding to and from work again - about 8 miles one way. I'm still a little apprehensive about riding in traffic, but the roads I take are much less crowded, have bike lanes on some parts, and I now wear the safety gear that's required. I love it.

Necros · #5 27th March 2009, 10:49 AM

I debated just saying "bikers", but then figured I'd get a lot of motorcyclists.

Definitely mountain bikers are welcome. I have one (old Research Dynamics hardtail), but haven't ridden it at all since I got my road bike.

Necros · #6 27th March 2009, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lifeboat

Long story short, I was coming home from work in evening rush hour on a very busy Sheridan Road when a driver in a parked car to my right opened up his door right in front of me. I didn't even have time to brake and slammed right into his door.

This is my number-one fear when bike riding in the city. :shudder:

lifeboat · #7 27th March 2009, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necros

This is my number-one fear when bike riding in the city. :shudder:

Me too!

On my route to work, there are very few sections of the road that have street parking, but every time I approach parked cars I strain to see if anyone's in them.

However, here in the north suburbs, there are huge numbers of road bikers and drivers seem to be pretty aware of their presence. But I'll never ride down Sheridan Road in Chicago again. I have too much to live for!

SoylentPopTart · #8 27th March 2009, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necros

This is my number-one fear when bike riding in the city. :shudder:

This is why I ride on the trail. In my area there are tons of roadies on these rural roads that aren't barely wide enough for two cars. People do not look out for them and they definitely don't slow down to pass them when it's safe. The few times I've ridden on the road I was so nervous that I didn't enjoy the ride.

Knorf · #9 27th March 2009, 08:50 PM

Roadie here, and love it.

I have a steel Ciocc with Campagnolo components. It's old technology, but it's beautiful and rides like a dream.

I've ridden in cities and the country, love both. I'd mostly rather deal with cars than multi-use trail users. Cars are far more predictable (of course, also potentially more deadly, but I recall statistics bearing out that serious injuries are not more common on roads than on trails per hour ridden.)

Necros · #10 27th March 2009, 09:08 PM

I agree; multiuse trails can be really annoying. Rollerbladers all over the place, and the people walking two abreast, both listening to their iPods. I really do prefer staying on the road and off the trail. However, it feels safer to dodge some pedestrians than having a huge dually pickup truck trying to graze you, while blaring its horn (last week's ride), even if it's not.

I had not heard of Ciocc before, so I did some searching. They seem to have a VERY good rep!

sublight · #11 24th May 2009, 08:11 PM

Whoops! Sorry necros, I completely missed this thread.

About the bike rental, there are stations set up at various points where you can rent a bike for a pretty cheap (few dollars a day I think), although they're fairly cheap beaters. I'll ask at the Tokyo Cycling Club's message board (http://www.tokyocycle.com/ - it's all in English, so stop by!) and see if anyone knows of shops that rent.

St. Urho · #12 24th May 2009, 09:46 PM

I missed this thread the first time around! I live across the street from Arvada and I ride a Felt Z80. I ride a lot of the roads around here and the Clear Creek Path. I've also been commuting into Denver with it, too.

blondebear · #13 11th June 2009, 05:44 PM

I have a Bianchi Campione d'Italia that I got years ago for a song. The roads around here are really lousy for road biking though, so I pretty much stick to my Rockhopper A1 Comp.

Only a few more weeks until Le Tour...if nothing else, this year promises a lot of drama!

running coach · #14 11th June 2009, 07:01 PM

My handcycle.

Taken during my first metric.

100-140 miles/week.
All flat ground around here, steady winds 5-15mph NW(mostly).
I've finished 5 metrics and 1 full century plus 11 training rides over 100K.

It's rather amusing how polite drivers are in my vicinity.

St. Urho · #15 11th June 2009, 09:01 PM

I picked up a Specialized Sirrus Elite a couple weeks ago, and I've been commuting to work every day that there's not a hockey game

It's about a 10 mile ride, three-quarters on the road and a quarter on the Cherry Creek Path. It's been really nice, except for all the rain we've been having.