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When I was a kid...

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When I was a kid...

Old 08-03-18, 12:07 PM
  #26  
Colnago Mixte
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I remember pedaling my fake stingray, I think it was a Monkey Wards knockoff, up a huge hill, one I had been over in car a many times. This would be a 40-45 mph descent on my road bike these days. I had no idea how fast a bike would go down it, the thought never even crossed my 8 year old mind.

I can tell you that it's a sickening feeling helplessly flying down a hill like that when you're 8 years old, on a bike that small, with only a coaster brake.. But what was i gonna do, jump off the bike. I sure thought about, until I reached about 30 mph, and knew it would have been suicide.

Learned the art of "not soiling myself when I'm going WAYY faster than I would like to be going". It's a skill that still comes in handy every now and then.

Last edited by Colnago Mixte; 08-03-18 at 12:16 PM.
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Old 08-03-18, 12:12 PM
  #27  
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My bike(s) were my main transportation up until the end of High School. Rode to elementary school from grade 1. If I wanted to visit friends I had to use my bike. This was a time when there was no way in heck your parents were going to chauffeur you around. Nowadays it is the exact opposite.
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Old 08-03-18, 07:43 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by bikecrate
My bike(s) were my main transportation up until the end of High School. Rode to elementary school from grade 1. If I wanted to visit friends I had to use my bike. This was a time when there was no way in heck your parents were going to chauffeur you around. Nowadays it is the exact opposite.
My story as well. Most of the time when I was a kid, we had only one car in the family -- Dad's. Every other Friday, he'd catch a ride to work with a co-worker, and Mom used the car to go grocery shopping.


Swimming lessons at 8 years old? We rode our bikes three miles to the pool - no sidewalks. Boy Scout meetings on Monday evenings - I rode my bike ~2 miles to get there. 9th grade, I was on the wrestling team - practices after school. Yep, I had to ride my bike to school. 10th-12th grade, I was on the high school swim team, another Winter-season sport (mid-Oct through early February) - we had to be IN the water at the YMCA (2-1/2 miles away) at 6AM. That meant getting up at 5AM, bundling up, riding to the Y, practice for 90 minutes, shower and change, bundle up again, then riding from there to the high school (another two miles) by 8:10AM, then riding 2-1/4 miles home after school.


Oh, did I mention I grew up outside of Cleveland OH where we get ~ 60" of snow/yr?
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Old 08-03-18, 08:00 PM
  #29  
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‘Twas a white Mongoose Californian, white mag wheels, a laid-back seat post, checkerboard pads ... 1980something... she took me everywhere, and I never once put any butter on the chain, or made an appointment for a tune up, or even, for that matter, tossed a bead of water across her and called it a bath ... alas, most days I dismounted in motion and left the bike where she lay, only to find her the next day eager to spray across the neighborhood streets all over again, wheelies and endos and skids to the constant dismay of all the porch-bound parents.
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Old 08-04-18, 09:20 PM
  #30  
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And on tbe 15th day god said " let there be e bike "
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Old 08-04-18, 09:33 PM
  #31  
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And it was GOOD.

Yes, let there be no mistake about it, we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.

But the stars we could reach, were just starfish on the beach.
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Old 08-05-18, 04:40 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Colnago Mixte
I remember pedaling my fake stingray, I think it was a Monkey Wards knockoff, up a huge hill, one I had been over in car a many times. This would be a 40-45 mph descent on my road bike these days. I had no idea how fast a bike would go down it, the thought never even crossed my 8 year old mind.

I can tell you that it's a sickening feeling helplessly flying down a hill like that when you're 8 years old, on a bike that small, with only a coaster brake...
You'd have felt much safer on a real Sting-Ray:

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Old 08-05-18, 04:50 PM
  #33  
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Yes, but are those real miles an hour, or Schwinn Exercise Bike miles per hour?

That was terrifying, especially running the red light at 50+. If anyone had pulled out in front of that guy . . . I have my doubts as to whether the coaster brake would be enough
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Old 08-05-18, 05:59 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Colnago Mixte
Yes, but are those real miles an hour, or Schwinn Exercise Bike miles per hour?


That was terrifying, especially running the red light at 50+. If anyone had pulled out in front of that guy . . . I have my doubts as to whether the coaster brake would be enough

27" wheel drive on a 20" wheel bike???


gearing and wheel size = 50mph = possible

https://www.bikecalc.com/cadence_at_speed
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Old 08-05-18, 07:41 PM
  #35  
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"When I was a kid", my kids hated it when I started a sentance with that phrase.
in 1960, my folks got me a bike for my birthday.
it was like I had been given wings, wings of wheels.
Been riding ever since.
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Old 08-06-18, 08:12 AM
  #36  
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Someone ditched a black Huffy in the gutter in front of my parents house. They put up signs, etc. Nobody claimed it, thus I got my first bike and then had to learn how to ride. I rode that all over the neighborhood.

Eventually my Dad put me on his road bike, a yellow 10sp C'itoh. It was an adjustment at first, but I had something that I could go for rides with Dad on his new Cannondale (wait, was giving me the 10sp an excuse to get a new bike?)

It wasn't long before the 10sp gave way to a refitted Schwinn Traveler that Dad helped me tear down to a bare frame, clean, and relube everything. I also got to steal the 7sp downtube index parts and a few other parts from his Cannondale since he'd upgraded to a nice set of 8sp Campy Ergo levers. I continued to ride all over the neighborhood, to all my friends houses, and basically anywhere I needed to go. It got a Vetta cyclecomputer, aero bars and a set of drop-in bars, all inspired by Greg LeMond. Kept riding that bike all the way through High School and into college. Somewhere along the line, I stopped riding so much as other hobbies took over time. Still have the bike though and got back on it when a coworker talked about riding some local bike paths a few years ago. The bike needed some work and the 135mm stem combined with a mile of seatpost hanging out is too aggressive for my fitness level, but the bike got me back rolling again and on to more riding.
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Old 08-06-18, 08:35 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by Colnago Mixte
Yes, let there be no mistake about it, we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.

But the stars we could reach, were just starfish on the beach.
I cannot believe you went there. But I will admit, I loved that song as a kid.
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Old 08-06-18, 10:00 AM
  #38  
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I got my blue Schwinn 3 speed in the early sixties. I rode that thing like I was a King. Later in the late sixties I got a Schwinn Super Sport. That bike stayed in my bedroom when I wasn't riding it. My best friend and I would strap on a backpack, bike 30 miles to a local campsite in the hills, Sleep there overnight and then return the next morning. I must have been about 14 then. Most of my favorite memories either have a bike or camping involved with them.
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Old 08-06-18, 11:50 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by Metacortex
You'd have felt much safer on a real Sting-Ray:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ytgtsy7HI0
Not when you blow through a red light at 55 MPH.
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Old 08-06-18, 12:15 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by Metacortex
You'd have felt much safer on a real Sting-Ray:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ytgtsy7HI0
That was insane. Not just blowing through the red light, but making a right turn from the left-turn lane. Just barely managed to avoid rear-ending a car. That ride could have ended badly in all sorts of ways, all due to the operator.
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Old 08-06-18, 08:07 PM
  #41  
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He's done it more than once: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNO...view=0&sort=dd

And it looks like he took his baseball bat along for the ride:


Last edited by Metacortex; 08-07-18 at 09:29 AM.
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Old 08-06-18, 08:17 PM
  #42  
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There was a Russian woman who used to do sexy Instagram shots while riding her motoercycle, who was killed doing a stunt. She was known as "World's Sexiest Motorcyclist".

Instagram biker Olga Pronina dies in crash in Russia | Daily Mail Online



What she was doing had at least some redeeming social value, but 55 mph on a Stingray . . . not worth dying over. Or worth traumatizing the person who hits you.
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Old 08-07-18, 09:11 AM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by Metacortex
He's done it more than once. And it looks like he took his baseball bat along for the ride
any way to tell where Bill Worley lives?
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Old 08-07-18, 09:19 AM
  #44  
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Are you wanting to try out that descent? Looks like wicked fun, but I would do it on something a little more road-worthy that has more than just a coaster brake.

For the type of road it appears to be, you would not think it possible to get going that fast, especially on a Stingray bike with 20" wheels.

Somewhere I saw a chart that shows what kind of gradient you need to reach a particular speed. To reach 55 mph, I think the grade would need to be substantially above 10%, probably 14-15%.
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Old 08-07-18, 09:49 AM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
any way to tell where Bill Worley lives?
One of his descriptions says "This is Redwood Rd. in Oakland".
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Old 08-07-18, 09:51 AM
  #46  
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You can't reach 55 on Redwood Road, IIRC. That speedometer must be borked.
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Old 08-07-18, 01:56 PM
  #47  
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It appears he turns right on Skyline/Joaquin Miller and that's where the real speed begins. Those Huret-made speedometers are actually pretty accurate.

Last edited by Metacortex; 08-07-18 at 01:59 PM.
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