Has anyone taken up Bycyling?

[OH Juli 15]

ZZ.

We decorated gingerbread houses tonight with some friends. The holidays wreck havoc on good intentions. Bastard holidays!

Lisa, hi and welcome.

Neveragain, like BG said, get on at least 4 different bikes and talk to the folks at the LBS. What part of the country do you live in? In the north you can get some sweet deals this time of year due to the weather.

If you are a glutton for punishment you can go back around page 100 and find some good more specific advice.

XO everyone.

[mbsbike2002 0]

I just took a quick look in the early hundreds to see if I could find any of the advice that was offered at that time, and I found this pic of HP's poor burnt chickens ...

Figured I'd put them back out, because they make me smile, and they might remind some of the more frozen among us that there is summer, and warmth will return...

HP - hope you're doing well - check in when you get a break from all that OT.

B

[OH Juli 15]

OMG, that's funny.

Did you find the posts where BG flipped on her bike with an audiance? That was priceless. Of course she was fine...or where she later threw her bike in a fit of rage?

HP, we miss you and your pictures. Hope you are well.

[areellady 1]

Oh man, I needed that laugh tonight. I had one of those days at school, and I am almost done too, J!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooo excited about that. I am not sure when I go back, but I know that next week ends my torture for this year......

Boy, those burnt chickens made me laugh...and thinking about babygirl flying over her handlebars in front of construction workers ( I think), that was a priceless memory too!!!!!!! Welcome Lisa and Neveragain.....jump in and talk, we are quite friendly and nice around here....

HP and JC better say hi soon. The post office here told me I had better get my package out like right now if I expected it to get there......so I did.....hehehehehe.....I know we will know who it is from the address but it is still fun....

[JennJenn92 0]

Okay, I'm inspired to get back to the gym...thanks MB and BG! BG how much is your membership where you are.....think I might need a partner...is it month to month or contract.....?? And I can't figure out how to change my tracker....

[JennJenn92 0]

Never mind....I figured my ticker thingey out

[JennJenn92 0]

Why is it that when I have to work early the next day I can't sleep, yet when I have the next day off, I'm in bed by like 10? I think I'm just rambling because I don't wanna go to bed....

[TexasFire 84]

Oh shit! I thought we were mailing on the 17th! I won't have time tomorrow, but will Thursday morning.

I missed the burnt chickens, but the pic is funny! Never heard about BG taking flying lessons, either! Sounds like something that would happen to me.

Welcome, newbies! Don't fear the natives here...they are quite harmless! (And hilarious, I might add.)

Sorry about the ice, ZZ...and your insane cold, D...and everyone else who is in the real cold. I know I whine about it here, but I'm just flat not used to it and it goes to my very core. Plus, we don't typically do all the bundling and layering here, and I'm at the gym everyday, so I tend to still go out in my thin workout pants, tee shirt and sweat jacket...not really adequate.

Tomorrow is Happy Hump Day...have a good one!

[babygrl1234 6]

Ha I will retell the whole horrid tale when I get to work.

[babygrl1234 6]

Okay because it is funny to relive I copied the crash incident from my blog.....let's go back to July when it was nice and warm outside......

Let me set the scene up for you....

Yesterday morning I decided to play Tour de Oakwood (pretty much I was trying to ride to work as quickly as possible.) About 2 miles from my house a bee flies into my face and gets into my hair. I am freaking out trying to swat it out because I am deathly afraid of them. I start to swerve right where there is a bunch of landscaping going on and as hard as I try I can't keep myself from falling into the 12 inch deep 6 inch wide ditch that is on the side of the sidewalk. I sort of dove headfirst over the handlebars and landed on this huge piece of plywood and sort of slide along it. Due to the dusty piece of wood I don't have a mark on me but I am covered in dirt. My bike was not so lucky. Chunks of mud everywhere, handlebars turned sideways, cracked pedal, chain popped off. Off course there are several people to witness this and my pride was wounded lol. I was shaking for about 5 minutes and once I calmed down I get ready to hop back on and go. I fix the chain and straighten the handlebars and try to get back on. The wheel is bent to shit and I can't ride it. So I walk the bike two miles home and drive to work.

Lessons I have learned.

1. If I had just been riding in the street I would have just hit the curb and fallen on the grass.

2. Wear a helmet. The main reason I was on the sidewalk was because I don't have a helmet. Funny thing is that probably 10 seconds before the accident I was thinking "Dang I really need to get a helmet". I am pretty lucky all that happened to my head was a little bit of dirt.

Of course later on I ended up with quite a few bruises. I did get my bike fixed and get back out this morning for a 20 mile ride. I also bought a helmet. I thought I was going to feel like an asshole riding with one but honestly I did not even notice it. I felt like a real biker lol.

So yeah that was the tale of the bike crashing. As for the throwing....yes i had a hissy fit and threw my bike on the ground causing about $80 worth of damage. If you knew my husband then you would understand why this whole fit was justified. ODB (Ol Dirty Bastard for those who don't know my bike's name) has been through a lot this summer culminating with the whole bouncing along the freeway fiasco. Depending on finances I might have to retire ODB next season. Mountain bikes are pretty cheap and if I have enough left over after getting my road bike I may just invest in a new one.

Jenn as for the gym I go to the Y. I am not sure if you want to drive all the way out to Northline and 75 but I would love to have you. I think an individual membership is like $40 a month and a family is supposed to be $70. They have been charging us as Southgate residents, however, so we have only been charged $33 a month. I am not quite sure how that happened but I am certainly not telling anyone there about it. You can get month to month but I think it is a little bit more expensive. I like it a whole lot but it really is no Lifetime Fitness. I have not showered there and the locker rooms are kinda blah. The classes are okay but the aerobic rooms are very very small. They have some free classes that wou have to register for since they can only have like 15 people per class and of course the cool classes cost money. You know once it gets warm we will be hitting up the metropark anyhow. If I were you I would save my money and get a sweet ass road bike. Speaking of which let's go bike shopping soon lol.

[babygrl1234 6]

Wow I think that was like my longest post ever.

[TexasFire 84]

BG - That is freakin' hilarious! That would have made the coolest video! I'm glad you were okay, and the bike was salvageable, though! I could SO envision the bee, and the erratic swatting, swerving...and DIVE! You're awesome, ya know?

[babygrl1234 6]

Thanks. I aim to please. You are pretty darn sweet yourself.

[babygrl1234 6]

HP I see you lurking on here. How you doing girl?

[OH Juli 15]

BG,

What a fantastic way to brighten my morning. It's hard to remember you being a newbie biker, not wanting to wear a helmet. But I remember reading that post one July morning and cracking up!

Jenn, it's so good to see you here. How are you feeling? Did you get a two letter nickname? I can't remember.

D, School is nearly out. I've got books and projects all lined up to keep me occupied during my free time. Of course Christmas planning will keep me busy for the next week and half, but after that I'll be able to do what I want to do!!!

I don't see me getting my Secret Santa in the mail before Friday, if I'm lucky...I'll try my best.