a1a

Cleaning the chain was a long story short deal. Filling in the gaps... Mike at the LBS showed me the spray bottle with dilute dish detergent method and then wipe down the chain method. So I tried this... for several days... and the amount of black grease that came off on my towel and hand did not let up. So... I brushed the cassette even more. And then I bought bike degreaser and same deal. So I finally decided to hose the bike down and not just use a bucket of soapy water. So I spun the wheels and sprayed the cassette... there was so much soap, degreaser and gunk it was 15-30 seconds of oil spill waterfall before the water coming off the cassette cleared up. I'm new to this. I'm not afraid to expose my blunders. People learn best when they witness others mistakes. I can be a really good teacher!

Regarding hand positioning. I am slowly learning to use the drops more and the uprights less. Averaging 20 on even a short segment is a ways off for now.

I can't believe McDaniel didn't go for the 3 to break the record. It was already a blowout. And to reward their letting the ball get turned over on downs... the Broncos ran a play anyway. It was fun either way. What was more fun was switching channels and watching the Ravens get beat! I am not anticipating a fun night however as we are a Bucs/Bengals family...but you never know.

It's already 4:42 am... gotta get riding

duffer1960

We had a medium-size parking lot with two light poles that made focal points of an oval, and we raced around them like stock cars on a little dirt track. I learned that cornering hard on an unclean surface resulted in skinned knees and elbows. I remember it happening more than once -- I guess I'm a slow learner. The 'electroforged', coaster-brake Schwinn never complained.

CrimsonEclipse

Learned by necessity, because I was poor and made whatever bikes we had work with what tools were available or cobbled together.

Made mistakes, bled a little.
Changed tires with rusty screwdrivers, poked holes in the tube, learned to patch tubes.
Learned better techniques, stopped piercing tubes when changing tires, kept patch skill for punctures.

Same goes for chains, brakes, bearings, mix and match parts, fit, derailleurs, and tire lacing.

Later came the skill of judging if the investment in time exceeded the savings in $
(still working on that one)

wheelreason

The new verb for that is Denvering...

Inusuit

I learned to look where I wanted to go instead of where I didn't. Painful lesson learned on my first bike about 70 years ago when I hit the side of a building.

groth

I wasn't in kindergarten yet, so I must have been 4. We had an asphalt driveway maybe 50 ft long. My dad got me a small bike (no doubt with a coaster brake) and I just kept practicing until I could do it. Took most of an afternoon after which I had no skin on my elbows or knees!

indyfabz

I had training wheels and my dad helped me in our alley, so I must have been around 6 or 7, because my parents split up after that. Don’t remember how long it took, but I remember being so happy that dad removed the training wheels long before he removed them from my sister’s bike.

In your face, sis!

RCMoeur 

Thousands of years from now, archaeologists will closely examine one of the few remaining vestiges of our civilization - Chicago forged Schwinn frames and forks.

RCMoeur 

My wife has noted that I charge my clients serious $$ per hour for my professional services, but I'll spend hours on end in the back yard puttering with bicycles - patching tubes, recovering saddles, degunking shifters, rebuilding bikes, and occasionally working on my own bikes. And several hours (or more) per week volunteering at the co-op and for other bicycle-rebuilding nonprofits.

I explain that is how I decompress from my professional duties, and I enjoy it for the most part.

Her response usually is: "And the loud language I hear sometimes is part of the 'decompression' too?"

This is the person who would be happy with a TV set, a crochet hook, and an infinite amount of yarn, so the ribbing is good-natured.

indyfabz

Like me trying to put together Ikea furniture. When I take a piece out of the box, I estimate the complexity of assembly based on how many times I think I will shout "F*** this!"

indyfabz

At first, I was thinking 4? No way. Then I thought....I have never had kids, so I am clueless when it comes to assessing a child's age, but my next-door neighbors'' kid is already learning on a pedal bike (she can also scoot with it). I think can ride better than she can talk.

pdlamb

Knitting needles in my house, but yeah.

I come close to my work rate some days when I'm patching tubes. 8 tubes @$8 in 45 minutes turns out to be a nice hourly rate!

And a detached garage keeps the audience for my decompression to a minimum...

CrimsonEclipse

I've seen Yarn-Induced-Tourette's-Syndrome in action.
(calming my [explicative deleted]!!!)

Fredo76

I learned that sew-ups were indeed faster than clinchers, especially the 1-1/8" clinchers of the time (mid '70s). Training on a Romana 120 with clinchers and racing on a Romana 300 with sew-ups was especially effective. Every little acceleration I made, even simply catching the back of the paceline, was made more difficult on a heavier bike with heavier tires, increasing my training effect relative to those around me on lighter bikes. And switching to my Dad's racing bike with sew-ups for a race was a lot like taking my heavy backpack off after a long hike. Like darn near floating...

Sew-ups cost as much as car tires, which nobody who hadn't bought a pair could believe. Leaned how to glue them, mount them and fix them, which I did myself. Learned about Barge.

My $10 road shoes, Hecho en Mexico, were floppy and needed replacing by stiff-soled Adidas shoes, which lasted through two re-soleings. I wore the same brand of shoes as Eddy Merckx!

How to flip the pedal over to get my foot into the toeclip, and tighten and loosen the toe-strap quickly and almost instinctively. I don't remember ever falling over while strapped in, just a few close calls.

How to ride smoothly, in a straight line, and follow a wheel closely, without being a 'squirrel'.

That I was more of a sprinter than a climber.

What 'all Campy' meant.

The wisdom of grabbing a 26" Paramount frame during Nixon's wage-price freeze. That everybody would hold their prices steady on a president's say-so, unfathomable now. Like a teenager with a paper route being able to afford the best bike money could buy...

What a busted collarbone and road-rash felt like after hitting a six-inch rock while at the back of a paceline, after my turn chasing Bob Cook and Stan Dunham. Not a word of warning to the out-of-stater.
But it was shadowy; maybe nobody else saw it, either.

I learned how to win a few flat road races and criteriums (not 'crits', btw).

OK, now I'm bragging, so enough.

Iride01 

Sounds like you haven't learned to chew gum and walk drink and pedal your bike at the same time. I've never cared for the idea of carb loading. I'm pleased it's going out of vouge. Back when I wasn't putting carb's in my bottles, I'd eat something high in carbs every 15 minutes while on the bike. A third of a power bar, a little bit of gel, a small candy bar. When I got tired of dealing with wrappers I started putting my carb's in my bottles which I've always drank from every 10 minutes (or there about).

Possibly your sporadic consumption of carb's while on the bike is reinforcing your belief there is something to carb loading.

Learning to stay very well hydrated while riding is one of the most important thing I learned about riding for most any distance other than around the block. I don't weigh but about 1/2 pound lighter when I get home from a 3 hour ride if even that much. And that has me recuperating and ready for another ride in just a short break, maybe just 20 minutes. And I don't feel tired the rest of the day or the next day as some do after long rides. I suspect they don't drink enough fluids while on the bike.

a1a

I was 50 when I got my first "real" road bike.

And I fell over at the end of my ride this morning... focused on Strava... focused on the jogger running by... unclipped the right... leaned toward the left...

On the plus side I am getting much better at falling over.

a1a

Not exactly. I know that just drinking water on rides more than 10 miles left me absolutely drained. Of course this occurred late Spring in Florida so it was already hot and I was pouring sweat. Maybe I just needed some electrolytes in my water. I do know that I feel better with my current drink mix. And I don't think consuming carbs during a ride counts as carb loading. A heavy carb meal the night before a ride likely doesn't count either. Was just an observation and I am definitely not eating like that on the regular nor for enhancing a bike ride. When I am not eating out... outside of the 180 calorie packet I add to my hydration, the only carbs I consume are 2 slices of daves or ezekiel bread, a couple tomatoes throughout the day, a cup of berries, a banana, and spinach. My current focus is upping my protein a lot.

From mid-October till Thanksgiving I plan on trying to become fat adapted, monitor my ketones, drop the carbs from my hydration (keep the electrolytes) and see how I ride and feel. I may need a longer window to try this out. I will definitely have to be rigid in my approach.

Iride01 

a1a Just to be clear, carb loading is consuming huge amounts of carbohydrates before the ride is started. Usually the recommendation for that was to carb load 2 hours before the ride. There are many variation of it. Some that involve the days before the ride. Consuming carb's while on the bike is not carb loading. At least not to me.

LarrySellerz

Was riding without training wheels a few weeks before my fourth birthday

indyfabz

Based on your posts, you should consider re-installing them.

Inusuit

Man, that's cold!

CrimsonEclipse

It's like, Insuit to injury!

(I'll be here all week)
((try the veal))

Sierra_rider

I got my first bike at 4...learned to ride w/o training wheels a couple weeks after that. My old man has always been the "tough love" sort...he refused to get training wheels on my first bike, he figured I'd learn if I wanted to ride bad enough.

Fast forward many years...I've never stopped riding since being a kid, but I definitely got more serious about it 5 years ago. I entered a XC mtb race on a whim, finished near the back of the field, and have been hooked ever since. I've since improved a lot and have done well in racing, but still have the drive to improve.

Things I've learned in that time were:

How structured training works. I used to just ride as hard as I could all the time, now higher-intensity stuff is just a small part of the riding I do. It's easy to want to go out for a ride when you aren't burnt out from the previous ride. Even if you aren't racing, it's not a bad idea to vary the intensity of your rides...if nothing else, it keeps things interesting.

Nutrition is key...I've done my share of bonking over the years. Being able to eat enough during the ride, has always been a struggle for me. This year I've finally worked on a fueling strategy that works for me.

Strava...don't take it too seriously. I enjoy battling over segments, but only when it fits my goals for that day's ride. Mostly it's a way to track what I've been doing, I don't even publicly post all of my rides/workouts. I often don't post the stuff that I consider "boring" like strength training, indoor trainer rides, etc.

indyfabz

The shoe is a perfect fit. Now if he would just wear a shirt.

LarrySellerz

My buddy claims his son was riding a bike when he was 3 years old