Biking

Introduction

I Bike. Frequently. Weather permitting (another words I don't bike all year round). Currently 10 miles at a pop, every other day, on a local bike trail. Maybe I figured some stuff out, maybe not... Don't laugh I'm still learning.

The Goal

The goal is weight loss. I figure that bike riding can be good aerobic exercise. This somewhat goes back to a book by Covert Bailey called "Fit or Fat" (okay, so I'm leaning a bit more towards fat...). The general theory is that you elevate your heart rate for an extended period of time (minimum 15 minutes) and you lose weight. Of all the exercises that Mr. Bailey mentioned in the book, the only one that was vaguely appealing was biking. In the past it as proven to be effective at weight loss - but I'm over 40 now, so maybe the old metabolism isn't what it used to be. The goal plays into a bunch of factors.

The Equipment

Bike

I ride a used bike I bought years ago from a gent I used to work with named Dave Tirpak. Its a Trek 830 Antelope (practically worthless). I figured he was about the same size as me, and therefore the bike was probably appropriate for me. Its a cro-moly steel bike (heavy!). If I was going to turn into Lance Armstrong overnight this might be a problem - but I'm not, so its just more exercise. Bikes have changed over the years, and this causes problems when you go to upgrade. I've spent more on upgrades than on a new bike.

Some of the weird stuff:

• Head tube size has changed. So finding a high rise stem was challenging.

• The gearset is by Suntour - The shifters and the gearset are a matched set (due to spacing between the gears). A ratchet shifter wont work unless you change the gears. Suntour s obsolete. Oh well

• The gearset is eccentric (the gears are off center from the crank) - at some point someone thought this was better on knees, depending on the breeze maybe this will come into vogue

• The brakes were center pull, since converted to side pull. Center pull sucks when you go to adjust them.

• The cable guide on the bottom of the crank is non-replaceable.

Clothes

You have to wear clothes while biking (:-). So far that has been shorts and a tee shirt. Shortly after I started riding, I added gloves and a helmet to that. DON'T be a dumbass and not wear a helmet. I fell off my bike, once so far. I landed on my face, broke my glasses, scratched the shit of of my arms, hands, and watch. Luckily I'm not all that handsome to begin with. Set a good example for kids and wear a helmet. The gloves are mainly for the padding (in case you go down) and for comfort.

I'm still working out what to wear in cold weather. A long sleeve overly baggy shirt seems to work pretty good (at least down till the low 50's). You can roll up the sleeves if you get too hot. A sweatshirt was overkill the one time I wore one on the trail. Fine until you overheat. 'm not into wearing a fancy jersey, and I don't know if I ever will. The only advantage I can see is in really hot weather and most likely for 10 miles at a time its just overkill.

Also, most of the hardcore bikers appear to wear tights. The thing about regular shorts is that the seams are a pain. Elastic waistband shorts seem to be be better than ones you need a belt with.

Bike Rack

It stands to reason that you wont be riding your bike everywhere. At some point you will want to bike somewhere that you ant get to without the aid of a car, and thus you'll need a bike rack. Sadly, the good ones are expensive, and you get what you pay for. I opted for a roof rack, that can stow two bikes without removing the front wheel. Its a "Thule" (and the guy in the bike store will have a totally different way of pronouncing it than it looks like - avoid the hassle and save some money; buy mail order). So far the only disappointment is that the buckles on the straps have completely rusted (still work though). The paint is also flaking off, but its made out of anodized aluminum, so this is just an appearance thing (so why didnt they make the buckles out of this stuff???) - but realize that a rack on the roof doesn't exactly look cool (well, not generally...). Oh well. The rack is lockable to the car, the bike is lockable to the rack - Its not going to prevent someone that's determined to get your bike (But, as you saw up above, my bike is junk. As a matter of fact my car is junk too, the rack might be worth more than the car). It takes awhile to realize that the bikes aren't going to go anywhere when you drive.

You could get a trunk rack. The ex-GF had a trunk rack. What a pain in the ass... (purposely ambiguous....). She went thru two separate racks - the first was absolutely horrible, its a miracle the bikes didn't fall off this contraption and end up somewhere on the highway. The second (a CycleOps plastic jobber) was structurally sound. Anyways, the straps loosen when they feel like it. Its a major chore to re-install. You can't open the trunk. The bike sways back and forth (you'll scratch paint, maybe a dent...). The wheels spin. The tires stick out past the side of the car if you have a narrow car.

You could get a carrier that goes in a trailer hitch. My friend has one of these for an SUV. Its okay. Very sturdy, will hold four bikes with ease. On his particular vehicle, the rear glass opens independent of the hatch; of course it hits the bike rack when you try to open it. Of course you can't open the hatch either. The rack will lower into a position that will allow access, but you have to take the bikes off to do this. Also, since you'll most likely discover that you want to take the rack on and off as needed, you'll find that this kind of rack is one weirdly shaped piece of steel that demands you find some place to store it.

The Trail

Far be it for me NOT to be a chicken shit about riding on the streets... I'll take a nice flat straight trail any old day. There are only about three trails in the local area that are any fun.

Struble Trail - (Google search)

Valley Forge Trail - (Google search)

Ridley Creek State Park - (Google search)

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