Biking is really fun (Read 125 times)

Recently a friend of mine sold me an old carbon frame Trek bike and I have been riding in the neighborhood and on some really cool paved river trails in OKC. Today I decided to get new foot peddles to replace the old shimanos with clips. After much thought decided to go with super big BMX alloy pedals (sealed bearings) by Stolen (brand name!) If you add the weight of my retired lightweight shoes (that I will start using biking) and the pedals they are about the same weight as Road Bike shoes & lightweight road pedals. Decided to just get some fun & cross-training in and not have to worry about getting my feet stuck in straps in a dangerous situation. Anyhow love the pedals and there's no way any shoe will slip on these. I realize my heart rate does not get as high as running but biking is great for an aerobic zone and recovery work-outs.

Agree. Did a 25 mile bike ride this morning going through Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Tempe. For me it's a great way to get pretty continuous movement with the ability to push or relax when I want. I usually ride the canals so most of the time I don't have to worry about traffic. And I have different routes that vary in elevation to make the workout more challenging.

A friend of my took to running a few years back and started on tris.  Not long ago she woke up in a hospital bed and the last thing she recalled was being on a group training ride and they approached an intersection with the light having turned red.  She shouted out to the group ‘Are we stopping?” to which came no response until the last second panic stop.  She apparently locked up the front, went over the bars and hit the asphalt face first, breaking her helmet, cheekbone and a couple of other areas of facial damage.  The hospital staff wouldn’t let her near a mirror for several days.  She did manage to heal up remarkably well with very little remnant evidence of what happened with the exception of some lack of symmetry between her left and right cheekbones.

My first almost response to her was the question -why didn’t you just stop?  It was a red light. - but instead just said ‘this is one of the reasons I rarely ride’.

Paved paths have the problem of pedestrians, dog walkers, slow moving cyclists on cruiser bikes etc.  They can be ok if you go early in the morning before casual users come out.

I’ve biked 1000s of miles over past 10 years, and only 1 time had an occurrence where I felt like I was out of control of my future.

It’s really not hard to ride safely.

The example you provided sounds like inexperienced rider and inexperienced group that she was riding with.  Should have easily been avoided if that rider was defensively expecting to stop.

Ride safe age and enjoy it.

Just like you all run safe and enjoy it. (There are unsafe ways to run too)

Its the same thing, but different.

With that said... watch this

police officer from Missouri hits bicycle rider while looking at his phone.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156074543343645&id=56053548644&refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2Ffox4kc%2Fvideos%2F10156074543343645%2F&_rdr

Be careful when you ride. Be attentive to your environment and the cars behind you, the cross traffic, the cars in front of you, pedestrians, etc.   just like you drive a vehicle defensively, you bike defensively. Never get lost in the moment and lose focus.  Don’t listen to music.  Don’t run through stop signs.  Use hand signals.  Look over your shoulder.   Listen.  Etc.

its a a great sport, and don’t allow others voices drive you from riding your bike.

(Just got back from vacation to the Netherlands.  They got bike highways and bike riding figures out!!!!  ... see next link...  They all bike.  And bike safely)

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2017/06/cruising-a-superhighway-built-for-bikes/531246/

A friend of my took to running a few years back and started on tris.  Not long ago she woke up in a hospital bed and the last thing she recalled was being on a group training ride and they approached an intersection with the light having turned red.  She shouted out to the group ‘Are we stopping?” to which came no response until the last second panic stop.  She apparently locked up the front, went over the bars and hit the asphalt face first, breaking her helmet, cheekbone and a couple of other areas of facial damage.  The hospital staff wouldn’t let her near a mirror for several days.  She did manage to heal up remarkably well with very little remnant evidence of what happened with the exception of some lack of symmetry between her left and right cheekbones.

 

My first almost response to her was the question -why didn’t you just stop?  It was a red light. - but instead just said ‘this is one of the reasons I rarely ride’.

Ok I am rather new to biking but did discover you CAN get your heart rate up just like running but have to go harder and push yourself. It's a whole lot cooler then running this time of the year. Those cycling shorts and jersy's are real nice and when you start sweating you get cooled off as you ride! This morning I rode 27 miles at 15 MPH and got my HR in zone 3 for 1 hr and 25 mins (burned 1258 cals in 1 hr and 48 mins)