Darkstar_DD

I said hi before, i have been doing little solo rides trying to get in a semblance of biking shape. Just signed up for the Tour De Cure 70 miler so i have to get in shape now. Just picked up a new bike since i had to return a sweet loaner i was riding. Hopefully we will have some better weather soon and i can start riding every day!

travelmama

My goodness, I am very impressed by all of you posters/riders. I am Ingrid from Long Beach, self employed (DomesticExperience.com) and ride a Trek 7000 Hybrid and a K2 Mach1 road bike. I use my hybrid to commute to work, markets, malls, and just for cruising. The road bike is used for longer and straight through rides.
I run races and have done some half marathons and will soon compete in my first triathlon. If it all goes well, I am more than certain that I will be hooked. I am looking forward to doing some fun rides in the upcoming months.
If anyone is in the North Long Beach area and available to ride during the week or weekends, give me a shout!

Happytime

Welcome Travelmama and Darkstar!

merider1

Nice bike, Darkstar, and welcome (in case I haven't already said so). Yes, I think we are all very ready for Spring to get here and better riding weather!

merider1

Welcome, Travelmama. There are several triathletes on here (including Happy), so you will feel right at home.

alicestrong

I'll deal with you later..

andyflo

Greetings All,

I usually ride in Griffith Park, Los Feliz and Hollywood Hills. Try to ride to work as much as possible when call time permits. Work long hours so riding home solo late at night doesn't really thrill me.

I am 52 and have been married for 12 yrs. Started riding in the 80's then stopped in the 90's. I have a arthritic condition that is fusing my spine. Cycling not only relieves the pain but helps with my mobility.

My pal Eddie C. has re-ignited the cycling bug about a year ago. He has since introduced me to Mark J. & Herb M., some forum members. Great Guys.

I have a Specialized Allez Comp w/ a compact double otherwise stock. We also have a Lifecycle that gets good use.

Looking forward to some new routes and group rides.

Cheers,

Andy Flores

From beautiful Santa Burbanko (sure hope I didn't post this 2x)

merider1

Hey, Andy!!! Welcome and nice to see you on here! I'm sure we'll be riding again, and I hope Tom joins as well. Great ride with you recently...well, except for that little crash thingy. That doesn't happen on all the rides here, I promise!

0O0O0

Hello, I ride out of the San Fernando Valley, and sometimes do rides out from Redondo Beach with a friend from work. I've been doing laps around the local park now for several months and have moved on to doing 30-50 mile rides at least once a week which is a lot more fun! I still do laps if I'm short on time and I just need a quick 15-20. I'm getting ready for my first metric in April and hopefully soon after, a real century. I have a 2006 Felt F80 which has been an awesome first roadbike for me.

I also have a Specialized Hardrock MTB that has been converted to a singlespeed. It is mostly used for local short runs and shredding pavement etc.. I have recently started taking it out to some easy dirt trails which I have found to be a blast and plan on doing some more in the near future.

Also, just picked up (for free) a 1985-ish Univega Gran Rally. I am very excited about this bike. It was sitting in my dads garage for who knows how long, in near awesome condition. Filled up the tires and took it for a spin and all of the Shimano 600 components work beautifully. With a few modifications, I plan on turning it into a reliable commuter and getting some extra saddle time. Thanks!

merider1

Welcome...um...00000??? First metric, huh? You'll be doing your first century in no time!

SDBluefish

Hi - I'm new here. I ride in San Diego. Just moved from an office that was nearly 20 mi from my house (but right by the beach) to another office that is 11-14 miles away (depending on route). So I am taking the plunge and seeing if I can commute by bike.

I managed to ride to the old office about once a week if I split the commute over two days (drive to work, bike home, bike back to work the next morning) but it was too complicated and took too long to do regularly. I am giving the new routine a month to see how things shake out, but the first week has been pretty great - making good time and not too sore!

This may be some consolation for giving up being able to swim in the ocean on my lunch hour.

DaveSANYYZ

Welcome, SDBluefish!

jsigone

Welcome to our Zoo, don't be shy

SanDiegoCyclist

I'm not new here, just haven't introduced myself before. I live in San Diego, having been here for 16 years. Only intended to stay here for three years, but just can't take myself away from the great year-'round cycling. I cycle most on weekends (luckingly I get every other Friday off) with my wife. You can see us on PCH, especially at Swami's for breakfast or at Pannekins for coffee. (What's a bike ride without food, coffee, and pastries?). We do practically all of our errands on the weekend by bike, including the Del Mar farmers market on Saturdays. We also tour (self-contained) two weeks a year somewhere in the U.S. My yearly goal is always to do 5000 miles a year. Some years I get there, some years I don't.

I've been riding a Waterford touring bike, which is great for touring, but "clunky" for day rides. So I am steeping up my cycling this year. I bought a gourgeous Specialized Roubaix in December, and plan to do a century a month this year. (Hadn't done a century for 16 years). I did the the Tour de Palm Springs and have my first two centuries in this year. I am also attending Lon Haldeman's bicycling week in southeastern Arizona in April, where we will ride 620 miles in seven days. Definitely will be a stretch for me.

Dave

CritEastwood

That's leaps and bounds above the "I put my bike in my car to go ride it" crowd.

merider1

Welcome, Dave, and thanks for coming out of the lurker-lou pool. Did you like Palm Springs? Come over and give us a report in the repot thread if you are so inclined. We (well, okay...I) love to hear about rides and love pics, so please feel free to share.

buck65

Hello all,
My name's Tony and I'm new to cycling and have fallen in love with it, so much in fact that I'm actually looking into purchasing a road bike for distance rides and races....but that's probably about a half a year a way. In the meantime, I plan to use bike for commuting, running errands, and riding through the city to take pictures. I'm an avid fan of art and architecture so I'll definitely be taking advantage of the convenience of my bike to trek through LA for some snapshots. I'll definitely be posting lots of pics in the "random ride images" thread once I've built up the strength and agility to deal with some of the steep hills around here. Here are a couple pics of my bike:



I love writing and reading so I decided to take advantage of the blogger forum with the hopes that others would make blogs as well. Feel free to check mine out every couple of weeks if you're interested in hearing a newb's adventures in cycling. Hope to meet a lot of you at the local organized rides soon!

tony

thomson

Awesome bike Tony

merider1

Welcome Tony. Of course, you know I've been reading your blog. I think it's great how enthusiastically you've jumped into this sport. Feel free to ask all of us any questions you have. I've learned a great deal from many riders on here myself, and they are all willing to give their 2 cents!

buck65

Thanks Jim....it is pretty awesome, isn't it?


Thanks ME; I'm glad to be a part of a group filled with such fine people. I'll definitely be asking around for help and advice....especially when it's time to build a speedy road bike!

YOJiMBO20

I've been lurking here for a while, post every now and then, and figured I should actually post in here.

My name is Jim. I'm fairly new to the sport (got my first road bike back in May 2007). I, unfortunately, don't get a lot of time to ride as I work at 8 in the morning at a high school, go to school at 11, then give music lessons at 3:30. I try to commute as much as possible, but sometimes having time constraints make it difficult. I started road cycling when some of my friends went to Target and bought $200 Schwinn ("Schwinn"?) road bikes and I couldn't keep up on my MTB. But then one of them crashed, and none of my friends have really touched their bikes since and now I'm the only one that still rides. My cycling goals for this year are to make it up a hill not too far from where I live; do a half, metric, and then eventually an actual century; and also to lose about 20 lbs of fat by my 21st birthday and hopefully keep it off.

I ride a 2004 Tirreno Razza 2.0 (aluminum frame with carbon fork) that I got from Performance for about half price. Once I lose the weight and keep it off for about 2 years or so, I'm going to buy myself a carbon bike.

But yeah, I'm glad to be here.

merider1

Welcome, Jim. You and I have the same goal only I'm not turning 21...rats! As for the metric and century - you hang around here enough and come out on the rides, both will be met rather quickly.

BillyB

Hello,

I normally only visit these forums occasionally, but one of my goals for 2008 is to ride a century, so I guess you'll be seeing some more of me.

This is me getting caught by a group of Midnight Ridazz at the Ballona Creek Bridge at Marina del Rey:



They were chanting "Mustache to Pass", so I stopped and let them paint a mustache on me. I did a number of rides with the Midnight Ridazz, which was a blast, but now that I have an 8 month old daughter, I tend to go out for a quick ride and come straight back.

Before moving to LA from Charlotte, NC I rode Mountain Bikes for years, and before then I rode BMX bikes when I was a kid, but have never really done any competitive cycling.

I live in Mar Vista between Venice Blvd and the Ballona Creek bike path, so most of my rides involve taking one or the other down to the beach. I have season tickets to the LA Galaxy (the team the David Beckham plays for), and sometimes ride down to the Home Depot Center in Carson to watch the game.

When I was contracting at Toyota in Torrance, I commuted 38 miles round trip via the South Bay Bike Path on my "Urban Assault Vehicle" 2 or 3 times a week. Now however, I mostly work from home, so I need to find some other reason to get out cycling on a regular basis.

CritEastwood

Billy, another Tar Heel. Mountain bikes in the Pisgah beats the gang gauntlet of Ballona Creek, eh?

BillyB

I never actually Mountain Biked in Pisgah. Been on a couple dozen backpacking trips there though. Even though I've been to many spots on the West coast and the Rockies, my favorite backcountry camping spot to this day is Shining Rock in the Pisgah Wilderness area.

Besides which - I had great MTB trails right by my house. I lived right across the Catawba River from Charlotte in the little town of Belmont. From my house, I could go 2 miles down a country road and hit some pretty bodacious trails along the South Fork of the Catawba River. There was an unused railroad trestle going over the South Fork of the Catawba that I'd carry my bike across. It was a 5 second spit drop (200 feet?) down. Pretty wild looking straight down between the railroad ties with all of that air beneath you.

As for Ballona Creek - I've heard of gangs on this path, but I guess since I usually exit at McConnel Ave - I've never seen them.