Just as I was ready to send this, BrightSpeed stopped functioning for
a couple of weeks. Since the conversation will be long over before I
can read it, I changed the newsgroup from .tech to .misc
On Mon, 24 Oct 2022 12:06:52 -0400, Frank Krygowski
<
frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Bicycling - Have You Ever?
Have you ever:
- Joined a bike club? -- yes
- Ridden on a club ride? -- yes
- Led a club ride? yes
- Ridden your bike to a bike club meeting? *
- Volunteered for a bike club committee position? yes
- Been a bike club officer? No
- Volunteered for a bike rodeo? No
- Served on a bike advocacy committee or board? No
- Run an invitational bike ride or event? No
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Read a book about bicycling? Yes
- Written a book about bicycling? No
- Had an article published in a bicycling magazine or newspaper? No
- Had a photograph published in a bike magazine? **
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Taken a bicycling class? Yes
- Taught a bicycling class? No
- Practiced a rock dodge? Yes. Didn't take.
- Practiced emergency braking? Need to. Can't figure out how to practice being surprised.
- Practiced an emergency evasive turn? yes
- Jumped your bike over a pothole? No. Fell off road edges a lot. By good luck never one of those where you land in a treetop.
- Been chased by a scary dog? Single dogs annoying. Whole pack scary.
- Been bitten by a scary dog? He wasnt' scary at all.
- Trained someone’s dog to not chase you? Yes
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Displayed a bike-themed decoration inside your house? Are you nuts?
- Displayed a bike-themed decoration in your yard? Are you nuts?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Biked to work? I commute by carpet slipper.
- Biked to buy your groceries? Almost always.
- Ridden at night for fun? Yes.
- Ridden at night for transportation? Dark I can handle. Cold I can handle. Tired I can handle. All three? Nope.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Used a generator headlight? No
- Put a rack on your bike? There are bikes without one?
- Put fenders on your bike? There are bikes without them?
- ... with a mudflap? Yes.
- Put a kickstand on your “good” bike? ***
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden a bike wearing lycra? I think there was lycra in some of my jersies
- Ridden a bike wearing wool instead of lycra? You've got that backward.
- Ridden 25 miles in blue jeans? I think I managed two miles once.
- Ridden with toe clips? Yes
- Ridden with clipless pedals? No
- Ridden with a rain cape? I mounted up wearing one once, looked back, got off and took it off.
- Ridden without a helmet? Yes
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Repaired a flat tire? Yes
- Adjusted a derailleur? Yes
- Wrapped your own handlebars? No.
- Built a bike wheel? No
- Built a bicycle frame? No
- Built a bike from the frame up? You mean adding components to a frameset?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden a racing bike? My first real bike was an outdated racing bike.
- Ridden a fixed gear bike? No
- Ridden a mountain bike? No
- Ridden a recumbent? No
- Ridden a tandem? As captain? As stoker? No
- Ridden an adult tricycle? Yes
- Ridden an antique “ordinary” or high wheeler? No
- Ridden a unicycle? First saw one after I was much too brittle to try it.
- Ridden an eBike? No
- Towed a bicycle trailer? No
- Ridden carrying a kid in a bike child seat? Absodamnlutely Not!
- Owned more than three bikes? Yes
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Visited a bicycle museum? No
- Watched an organized bike race, in person? Yes
- Competed in an organized bike race? I came in next-to-last in the Travers. I was terribly disappointed to learn that I'd lapped the guy I was behind.
- Won an organized bike race? Snerk.
- Competed in an organized time trial? No
- Ridden on a velodrome? No
- Competed in a velodrome race? No
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Crashed? Yes
- Ridden more than a year without crashing? Yes
- Ridden more than ten years without crashing? Probably. Some crashes not worth remembering.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden 50 miles? Yes
- Ridden a metric century? (100 km) No
- Ridden a century? (100 miles) Yes
- Ridden a double metric? No
- Ridden a double century? I think I'd ridden a double metric when an old calf injury reactivated and stranded me in the Glendale In, which mutated into "in Glendal" by the time the double-century people got the message.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden faster than the speed limit? Probably
- Ridden faster than 35 mph? Possibly; after thirty I'm too busy to count.
- Ridden fast than 50 mph? I doubt it.
- Gotten a ticket while riding your bike? Had my welfare checked a few times, but I was on foot when a cop made me cross a state road twice to avoid ten feet of right shoulder.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden across Ohio? No
- Ridden across Pennsylvania? No
- Ridden across any other state? Probably, or at least a province.
- Ridden across the U.S.? No
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden 2000 miles in a year? Don't keep track.
- Ridden 5000 miles in a year? Don't keep track.
- Ridden 10,000 miles in a year? Don't keep track.
- Done an overnight bike trip? Yes
- Done a multi-day camping bike trip? Sorta
- Done a really long bike tour? Yes
- Done a bike tour overseas? Yes
- Planned and navigated your own bike tour? The four of us did.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden on a bike path? Never saw one, but I use a lot of recreationways.
- Ridden on a four-lane road? Yes. Frequently if you count Center Street.
- Ridden on a freeway (where legal)? It wasn't exactly legal, but I knew no other way.
- Ridden somewhere that was definitely not legal? I don't *think* so.
- Ridden your road bike where most people would use a mountain bike? Yes
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden in the rain? Yes
- Ridden in the snow? Yes
- Ridden hotter than 100 degrees? Nineties is about as hot as it gets around here.
- Ridden colder than 32 degrees? Yes
- Ridden colder than 0 degrees? Not sure. Used to get icycles on my fenders.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden a month without missing a day? No
- Ridden a year without missing a day? No
- Parked your car for a week and used your bike instead? I've been known to use the car instead of the bike.
- Parked your car for a month and used your bike instead? What a silly stunt!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ridden in a Tweed Ride? What's a Tweed Ride? 1890s re-enactment?
- Ridden in a Naked Bike Ride? Yuck.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Attended a regional bike convention? September Century
- Attended a national bike convention? GEAR
- Thought about other items to add to this list? No
* I remember changing clothes in a handicap stall, and I'm pretty sure
that the meeting was about bikes. The regular meetings of the MHW
were after dark, and on a road with a sharp drop-off at the edge that
once caused me to spin the car, narrowly miss a twenty-foot snow bank,
and end up in the other lane pointed back the way I came. Before I
found a place to turn around, I had an attack of common sense and went
home.
On another occasion, I intended to work out at a gym, backtrack to
Burger King for supper, and then go to the meeting. While waiting for
the light, I worried about whether I could get out of my parking place
at Burger King. When the light changed, I went straight through from
the left-turn lane and went home. Since I was the only one daft
enough to be out in that weather, the lane I was in didn't matter.
** I was interviewed for the Albany Time-Union, and I was photographed
for Ink-Free News.
*** My first bike came with a kickstand. I took it off when I learned
that it was impossible to keep it clean enough to keep it from rusting
my frame. Many, many years and a sprained knee later, I bought a
"comfort" bike with an integral kickstand. One day I parked by simply
getting off and walking away, and just as I was thinking "maybe I
should re-think my stand on kickstands", I heard a crash and looked
back to see my bike lying flat and the basket and its contents
scattered over the parking lot.
--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
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