Bike ride adventures

[47of74]

And here was yesterday's bike ride along the NW Arterial.

About 30 degrees out when I went on my ride.  I layered up a bit so for the most part I wasn't too cold, but I need thicker gloves for the next few weeks.

[47of74]

Went down to Monticello today for a ride. 

Monticello is about 30 miles SW of me.  I just wanted to do something different today and it's been a while since I had been in the area for more than a couple minutes.

I'll catch up on some of the other videos in a bit.

[47of74]

This is the 47 badger out riding once again last Monday.

 

Edited November 21, 2020 by 47of74
it was Monday

[47of74]

And here's the ride I did down in Bellevue last Tuesday.

 

[47of74]

And today's ride around Dubuque.  Little cool but not too much wind so it wasn't too bad of a ride today.

 

[47of74]

Went for my Turkey Trot ride down in Cascade this morning.

Just under 10 miles total.  It was windy out this morning but I was layered up enough that I wasn't too cold. 

[47of74]

Got a post Christmas ride in today. 

It was right around 30 degreea and the wind wasn’t too bad so it was a nice ride. First time I ever rode this late in December. I might go for another ride tomorrow depending on the weather. 

[47of74]

Well I got my first couple bike rides in last week down in Waukee last week.  A couple lunch rides and one over to a new brewery just off a bike trail to pick up some beers then back to my sister's place.

I took the bike to the bicycle place today to make sure it's ready for another season of bike riding.

And the GoPro has been located and is charging up now.  The time lapse videos will commence in the near future.  Especially after DST starts next week and I have a good amount of daylight for bike riding after work. 

 

 

[47of74]

Got a nice ride in down in Maquoketa this afternoon after work.

It was 50°F down here today.  Not too windy either.  I think it's supposed to get warmer this weekend and I remembered what I did with the GoPro so the time lapse monster might be reappearing soon.

[47of74]

Yeah the time lapse gopro/youtube monster has returned.

It was almost 17 miles.  Mid 50s.  Bit windy but not too bad.

Yipee-kiyay!

[47of74]

Got all the way out to Dyersville and realized fuck. Left the battery at home. Did a quick ridw around Dyersville this afternoon. It would have been quite a bit longer if I had the battery. 
 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by 47of74

[47of74]

Rain let up long enough today that I got a nice post-work ride in today....

 

[47of74]

Got out for a decent ride this afternoon. 

I forgot to bring the GoPro so no time lapse today. 

No rain this afternoon.  It would have been a bit longer but it was cold and windy enough to make the cold bite so this was it.  Still almost 7.5 miles so not too bad.

Edited March 25, 2021 by 47of74

[47of74]

Got my first south end ride of 2021 in yesterday morning. 

 

[47of74]

And today I did my first one around Galena, Illinois.

I apologize for the shakiness.  I clipped the GoPro to my helmet this time. 

Bit windy out today but not too bad of a ride.  Got about 14 miles in on today's ride.

[47of74]

Got a nice ride in this morning before Easter Dinner.

It was nice out.  It was starting to warm up but with the wind going as it was I needed a coat for most of the ride.  Got about 16 miles in total going from house to the Mississippi and back.

[Alisamer]

Oooh, just found this, it's so cool! I'll watch some videos when I'm home later.

Yesterday I bought a bike off Craigslist. My sisters and I spent entire summers alternating between our bikes and the pool every day, but it's been decades since I rode. My sister? She did great. My mom has a cruiser bike she got a couple years ago to ride with the friend's daughter she babysits, so she did fine too. Later dad got on her bike and rode it a short distance like a pro.

Me? Ugh. I thought you weren't supposed to be able to forget how to ride bikes? I totally sucked, couldn't figure out how to do the gears, kept forgetting to brake, felt out of control turning, etc. 

I think it was partly fear, partly the new bike being too tall, and partly not having a ton of space to ride. So I ordered a smaller bike I'm picking up this afternoon that will hopefully help, and I'll probably pass the Craigslist bike on to the friend's daughter who I'm sure is probably taller than me by now. I'm going to go to a cemetery to practice, I think. The one where my grandparents are buried is large and flat and has a loop of roads, so I can get settled on a long straightaway before having to think about turning. I remember enjoying riding bikes, and want to again!

Any advice for a total (sort of) newbie with a cheapo mountain bike? My old bike was just a regular kind with three speeds I think. 

And mentioning the old bike reminds me that the last time I remember riding was when I fell and got a viciously terrible cut and huge bruise on my knee that had me laid up in a lounge chair for most of that beach trip. So that probably contributes to the fear, I think. I ordered some knee pads but they aren't here yet.

[47of74]

This afternoon's bike ride.  First time on the county portion (the non-paved part) of Heritage Trail this year. 

 

On 4/19/2021 at 2:16 PM, Alisamer said:

Oooh, just found this, it's so cool! I'll watch some videos when I'm home later.

Yesterday I bought a bike off Craigslist. My sisters and I spent entire summers alternating between our bikes and the pool every day, but it's been decades since I rode. My sister? She did great. My mom has a cruiser bike she got a couple years ago to ride with the friend's daughter she babysits, so she did fine too. Later dad got on her bike and rode it a short distance like a pro.

Me? Ugh. I thought you weren't supposed to be able to forget how to ride bikes? I totally sucked, couldn't figure out how to do the gears, kept forgetting to brake, felt out of control turning, etc. 

I think it was partly fear, partly the new bike being too tall, and partly not having a ton of space to ride. So I ordered a smaller bike I'm picking up this afternoon that will hopefully help, and I'll probably pass the Craigslist bike on to the friend's daughter who I'm sure is probably taller than me by now. I'm going to go to a cemetery to practice, I think. The one where my grandparents are buried is large and flat and has a loop of roads, so I can get settled on a long straightaway before having to think about turning. I remember enjoying riding bikes, and want to again!

Any advice for a total (sort of) newbie with a cheapo mountain bike? My old bike was just a regular kind with three speeds I think. 

And mentioning the old bike reminds me that the last time I remember riding was when I fell and got a viciously terrible cut and huge bruise on my knee that had me laid up in a lounge chair for most of that beach trip. So that probably contributes to the fear, I think. I ordered some knee pads but they aren't here yet.

Cool!  Best of luck @Alisamer!   Last time I fell I fornicated up part of my right hand and wrist.  Right before I went on a trip to Peru.  So I spent most of that trip with a bandage and wrist brace on.  The airline people did let me board early so if I had trouble getting something into an overhead bin I wouldn't hold up everyone else.

[Alisamer]

I faceplanted a few days ago - threw the chain on the bike, messed up one finger, and skinned my knees lol! I’ve got to fix the bike but I’m letting myself heal a bit first. 
my sister says I’m too timid.  

[Maggie Mae]

On 4/19/2021 at 11:16 AM, Alisamer said:

Any advice for a total (sort of) newbie with a cheapo mountain bike? My old bike was just a regular kind with three speeds I think. 

I'm not sure what kind of advice you want, but do you have people who are experienced with riding to help you and make sure that the bike actually fits/your seat is high enough? As for gearing, I'm constantly shifting gears on my mt bike. Are you riding on pavement or grass or singletrack? One thing you can do to gain more confidence is to take it to a park and just play around with it, like when you were a kid. I took a Mountain Biking class a few years ago, and that was one of the things they had us do. Ride back and forth, practice dismounting, practice stopping, turning quickly, jumping off while the bike is still moving, ect. 

I always gear down to go up hills, if I get tired I just "spin" through it. It's really slow but it's easier on the body. Do you have a hardtail or is your bike fully suspended? 

What are you planning on doing with this new skill? (Long bike rides with the family? Gain fitness? Just fun?) Do you have intentions to try different types of biking?

[Alisamer]

8 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

I'm not sure what kind of advice you want, but do you have people who are experienced with riding to help you and make sure that the bike actually fits/your seat is high enough? As for gearing, I'm constantly shifting gears on my mt bike. Are you riding on pavement or grass or singletrack? One thing you can do to gain more confidence is to take it to a park and just play around with it, like when you were a kid. I took a Mountain Biking class a few years ago, and that was one of the things they had us do. Ride back and forth, practice dismounting, practice stopping, turning quickly, jumping off while the bike is still moving, ect. 

I always gear down to go up hills, if I get tired I just "spin" through it. It's really slow but it's easier on the body. Do you have a hardtail or is your bike fully suspended? 

What are you planning on doing with this new skill? (Long bike rides with the family? Gain fitness? Just fun?) Do you have intentions to try different types of biking?

Bike is a cheap (Academy Sports, but I think Walmart carries it lol) hardtail "mountain bike" - I also have a Walmart level Schwinn "mountain bike" but I think the frame is too tall for me AND it has strange possibly after-market Shimano gearing. I really like the "cruiser" style bikes but they were all hard to find in stock, expensive, heavy, and were single speed - I need the help on uphills!I really mostly just want a fun way to get a bit of low impact exercise in like riding around the neighborhood or easy trails (the local park has trails that are asphalt and flattish). I had visions of taking my bike to the beach and riding it around in the area we're staying in, but those hopes are fading!

I don't have any real experienced bike people around, though I might be able to find one through a couple co-workers.

After I crashed the other day my sister let me ride her bike (a similar but slightly more expensive one) and it was much easier for me to ride. Our thought is that sometime this week we'll try to make my bike match hers as closely as possible, and see if that helps. I think the seat needs to come up slightly and the handlebars, too - also the brake levers on mine are in a wierd difficult to reach place so we're going to move those so I don't have to reach for them when I need them.

So far my main problem is staying steady, and turning. I really am too timid with it, I think. We were practicing in my sister's cul-de-sac but it's a mass of potholes and of course the time we are able to ride is the time the neighbors are in and out of their driveway constantly.  We went to the cemetery to practice, and that was better - until I missed a turn and face planted! What I think might be best would be to take it to the park and ride on the soccer field, but I'm not sure what the ettiquet of that is. It's the only open grassy public space I can think of, but is it OK to ride there? It's a community kids' soccer field so a casual type field, not like a high school playing field. 

Actually now that I say that I think my mom knows a guy who works for parks and rec. Maybe she can get me in contact with him.

I think I was mostly asking for advice hoping there was some trick I'd forgotten that would help me stay steady on the bike, but I think it really is probably "go faster and quit being so timid".

I miss how when I was a kid I could just jump on my bike and ride for hours. It's embarrassing both my (70's) parents can just do that, and here I am falling all the time!

[47of74]

Got off work early so I got a nice one in this afternoon.

Perfect afternoon for it too.  First time this year I didn't wear a jacket or a balaclava riding this year.  It was in the low 60s but not very much wind.  And I rewarded myself mid ride with a stop at the outdoor Dairy Queen for some ice cream. 

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by 47of74

[47of74]

Got a nice ride in this afternoon.  The parks are open in Dubuque now so I went up to Eagle Point and started today's ride from up there.  I rode down to the river. 

Nice and warm but it was pretty windy out today.  There was a high wind alert in place today.  Just over 13 miles.  Of course there was the 3/4 Dairy Queen reward stop. 

[47of74]

And today I went up to Platteville to ride for the first time this year.

It was in the mid 80s when I went riding so I didn't need a coat or balaclava today.  Got just over 16 miles in today.  Going back to the vehicle was a bit harder than coming in since it was so windy today. 

[Howl]

On 4/26/2021 at 8:51 AM, Alisamer said:

Bike is a cheap (Academy Sports, but I think Walmart carries it lol) hardtail "mountain bike"

My main advice is to stick with a flat handle bar and not a road-style bike with "dropped" (curved) handle bar.  There are umpty bazillion you tube videos on how to get the correct sized bike, so maybe start there. 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Howl