Yeah, I understand about the standing. I only do that when i must, like riding up a 100 foot dune (on asphalt, of course.) Otheriwse my bot-tum stays on the nice comfy, cushiony seat and I try to keep an even pace. The canal I do about 20 miles on has no hills worthy of the name. Standing isn't necessary, on Cape Cod it was.

And forget my neat lil ole bike in SF. I'd go with the trolleys or a taxi.

Nichole

Well, all our buses have bike racks on them, so you can just bus it up the hill, and the route from the baseball park to the Golden Gate Bridge is as flat as a canal, very pretty too when the fogs not in.

Noted. Thank you.

N~

Hey if you ever get out here I'll borrow a bike for you, its a sweet ride with lots of stops for coffee or more adult beverages.

Sounds fun. And actually, we are discussing some therapy convention or another that's there within the next six months sometime.

I'd love to bike down Lombard some time. It looks both like fun and hell at the same time.

Bicycles! Bicycles!

Refuse to live without teh bike.

'Bout six months ago, sold my full suspension Cannondale and went for another Cannondale, just this time a hardtail. Have to admit I was worried at first that the ride wouldn't be as fun, but been loving it!

I think the hardtail gives me more of a "feel" for the terrain, an can go all crazy without killing myself.  >

I'd love to bike down Lombard some time

Not too crazy eh?  You got disc brakes?  And its a brick/cobblestone pavement. And its real, real steep.  Tell you what, when you go to do it call me so I can film it for some U-Tube deal.

Once a year they have adults (OK, so we don't have the most mature and/or sane people here) race big-wheels down it.  That's nuts.

I've never tried a full suspension bike, I would like to, I like a hardtail, but I do love my front shocks too. 

Biking down Lombard Street?!! Good grief, can't you just bike down the slope of Mt. Everest instead? > That seems like it might be easier!!

Nichole

Quote from: Nichole on August 13, 2008, 11:19:48 AM
Biking down Lombard Street?!! Good grief, can't you just bike down the slope of Mt. Everest instead? > That seems like it might be easier!!

Nichole

If I were to do Everest, I'd have to disassemble my bike and fly it out there. Lombard is closer home. 

The ride from the top of Mount Tam out to the Coast comes close.

I started out on a Susuki RF900:-p  Jumps up to 40 in a second, actually you could hit 80 on this bike and forget that you're still in 1st gear.

Then I downsized to a Yamaha Virago 250.  Really comfy.






MWahahahhaa.



No I have a hybrid Schwwin/Cannondale.  Basicly The frame is Cannondale racing.  I got it used for $400.  The handle bars and wheels and everything else is Schwinn.  I can pick it up with my pinky.
Before I got it bicycling was my only form of transportation and it was on an old rusy wal-mart bike.  A week after owning this thing and I was breezing through town at 25mph without trying, with a backpack pack full of textbooks and school supplies.
The one time I measured my distance vs. time(I don't have money for fancy gadgets) I hit a 42 mile ride in under 110 minutes.

Then I got into Olympic Weight Lifting and biking kinda went out.  I might start biking again... Idk.

But as far as all this oil business goes, I'm sick as hell of everyone getting pissed because Bush, "has a war for oil."  Who cares?  The fact is the majority of the American population is way too lazy to go around on bikes or scooters, so gas is what they use.  And people are hating Bush because he's trying to get more gas for the nation?  Liberalistic pacafist ideals are nice and stuff, but this world would never have gotten anywhere without a little bit of campaigning, "I'll take over your land" spirit.

Gee and here I thought that people were mad at the shrub because your average plant has a higher IQ, he could not even hold up the flag right in Beijing, and had to be helped out of his seat (on the sauce again?).

The problem is not the war for oil, had he sold it that way it at least would have been open for debate.  He lied, violated the Constitution, and when he got his way he couldn't even do that right, hell the Dems beat Hitler and Japan in less time then its taken him to not win in either place, neither of which had anything close to what could be called an army (much less navy or air force).

In the meantime he could not run the government to do even its most basic jobs, the economy has gone to hell, the currency is at its weakest point ever and manufacturing jobs have been offshored.

Its a record unblemished by success, for sure on that.

Oh yeah, the biggest terrorist attack in our history happened on his watch and he can't even find the guy in the cave who planned it. Way to go.

Quote from: tekla on August 12, 2008, 03:56:31 PM
Except for days when I'm feeling so particularly suicidal or when there is Critical Mass

Tekla, you seem to be the only person in the SF area I've met/spoken to that made a comment about Critical Mass that is not overtly negative.  Can you PLEASE explain to me that why, as a pedestrian, I am unable to cross side streets on Market during CM?  I get the whole 2 wheels good/4 wheels bad thing, but I'm on two FEET.  I live on Market and end up trying to schedule my last Friday of the month to not need to access my home during CM.

Well at least its predictable.  And you can cross Market at any number of places by going through Metro.  I suppose if there was a way to let the peds pass and not the cars no one would object.  The cars own the streets 30 days a month, one evening is ours, its not that big a deal.  And it does not always go down Market, the fact that its unorganized means it never knows where its going.

Quote from: tekla on August 13, 2008, 04:34:50 PM
Well at least its predictable.  And you can cross Market at any number of places by going through Metro.  I suppose if there was a way to let the peds pass and not the cars no one would object.  The cars own the streets 30 days a month, one evening is ours, its not that big a deal.  And it does not always go down Market, the fact that its unorganized means it never knows where its going.

It is a big deal when you're trying to get to/from work, do not bike (or own a car!) and are stuck walking between metro stops. And crossing Market in Hayes Valley?  That's quite the walk to either Van Ness or Church to cross...  not like the Church station is even accessible without being able to cross Church in the first place.

True, but it only heads that way every now and then, hell, the trans march meet critical mass and had a mexican stand off for a few minutes, till we all sort of threaded the needle and got on with it.

But even in SFO, you can avoid a lot of hills if you know what your doing.
Streets like broadway, or the stockton tunnel can avoid a lot of up and down.
OF course, if you live ON a hill, you get a good ride down, and a "nice" ride up....
But, even there, there are good and bad streets to get to the top.
I actually liked geting into a sort of low gear, but not too low, and
powering up. Don't really need special shoes or even closed pedals.
Its just takes really knowing your gears and choosing the perfect ones
for the grade of the street and changing them smoothly as the grade changes.
It takes practice and a perfectly adjusted gear system.

Ooooh a bike thread.... after makeup my favorite subject

I have a couple but the main one is a mid 80's Italian racing bike with all original campy components, really
old school by today's standards. I paid way too much for it back then, but it has worked great all these
years and I have no plans to ever buy a new one. I have changed wheels, tires, gears and seats
over the years. I bet it has 50,000 miles on it, I wish I had tracked my mileage all these years.

I ride a lot depending on the time of year. Not so much in the extreme temps like now and I'd rather be
in 30 degree weather than 90. I average 22 on the flats for as long as I care to ride, higher if
I really want a workout. There is nothing better in the world to me than a long scenic ride on a cool day. It's been really
awesome to see the growth in the sport too. When I rode in the 80's around here there were only a few bikers and people sorta
looked at my bike shorts and tights funny. Now there are packs of riders and everyone has the latest gear... really cool to
see. The Armstrong effect I guess.

Amanda

The Armstrong effect I guess.

The price of gas and I think with the general economic stuff its just got a lot harder to own and run a car in general. 

Other reasons, too many cars.  I can make any minor trip - say five miles or less, on my bike far faster than anyone in a car can drive and park it.  So that part of it.

But Northern California has always been a big bike place.  So even in the 80s there were lots of bike routes.