A bicycle is a beautiful thing.
07-23-20, 03:57 AM
#1
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A bicycle is a beautiful thing.
I have a fleet of expensive bicycles and I ride one of them 50 miles a day; I am 73. I saved a lot of money over the years from not purchasing thousands of cartons of cigarettes, a warehouse full of beer and fields of weed. I have sympathy for those who were shoveling powder up their noses 40 years ago when I was running 10 miles a day, but that sympathy can be measured in microns. Live and let live I say and if some choose self-inflicted disease and early death then let it be so. It is a free country so far.
I ride big circles these days so as not to cross state lines during these turbulent times. A ballfield is mostly silent and deserted. They built it and few come. I have no worries about foul balls crossing my path; there has been no one there until very recently.
I just keep peddling. A doctor told me many years ago that when my joints and ligaments began to protest from running impact, I should go to the bicycle. It was advice for the ages.
The sound of rubber on the road and the whir of a chain are music to my ears. My lungs are rich with country air and my legs are stallions! I see, do, and feel things that many can only dream of.
To each his own, it is hard work, but it is hard work that pays. The mechanical advantage of the machine I sit astride requires just the amount of effort necessary to keep the juices of life flowing freely. Gravity and wind speed work for me, not against me.
The hills are my friends while potholes and cracks in the road keep my mind alert. A bicycle is a beautiful thing.
I ride big circles these days so as not to cross state lines during these turbulent times. A ballfield is mostly silent and deserted. They built it and few come. I have no worries about foul balls crossing my path; there has been no one there until very recently.
I just keep peddling. A doctor told me many years ago that when my joints and ligaments began to protest from running impact, I should go to the bicycle. It was advice for the ages.
The sound of rubber on the road and the whir of a chain are music to my ears. My lungs are rich with country air and my legs are stallions! I see, do, and feel things that many can only dream of.
To each his own, it is hard work, but it is hard work that pays. The mechanical advantage of the machine I sit astride requires just the amount of effort necessary to keep the juices of life flowing freely. Gravity and wind speed work for me, not against me.
The hills are my friends while potholes and cracks in the road keep my mind alert. A bicycle is a beautiful thing.
Last edited by LAJ; 07-23-20 at 04:26 AM. Reason: Removed the Political Content
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07-23-20, 04:17 AM
#2
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There is a place for expressing certain beliefs that ARE NOT bicycle related --- please visit that site
https://www.bikeforums.net/politics-religion/
https://www.bikeforums.net/politics-religion/
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07-23-20, 04:31 AM
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Not sure how a thread describing a bicycle as a way of life isn't bicycle related.
I enjoyed his musing, but understand some people won't get past that one sentence.
I wanted to ask Ray9 what other forms of exercise you do to stay riding at 73? I've heard people say you can't use a bike as your only form of exercise, that it needs to be combined with some form or resistance training or yoga. At 62 I've been having some issues that are keeping me from riding, just wondering what I might need to do differently.
I enjoyed his musing, but understand some people won't get past that one sentence.
I wanted to ask Ray9 what other forms of exercise you do to stay riding at 73? I've heard people say you can't use a bike as your only form of exercise, that it needs to be combined with some form or resistance training or yoga. At 62 I've been having some issues that are keeping me from riding, just wondering what I might need to do differently.
07-23-20, 04:45 AM
#4
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Darn, I missed the political content. 
Yes, include body weight training and yoga for the win. But even if one can't (or shouldn't) run long distance any longer, it seems a good idea to continue to do some light jogging for shorter distances. I want to always be prepared if a situation ever came up where I literally needed to "run for my life".
Yes, include body weight training and yoga for the win. But even if one can't (or shouldn't) run long distance any longer, it seems a good idea to continue to do some light jogging for shorter distances. I want to always be prepared if a situation ever came up where I literally needed to "run for my life".
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07-23-20, 05:01 AM
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Keeps reminding us he's pretty special https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/1207888-me.html
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07-23-20, 05:12 AM
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I'm confused. Is the ball field paved with asphalt?
07-23-20, 05:13 AM
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07-23-20, 05:23 AM
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I didn't read any discernible political content in the original post. You guys need to relax a bit. Not everything is a microaggression meant to victimize you...
I will say that the OP's style comes off as a bit "eye-poking". Maybe it's a defense mechanism. Who knows? As for the bicycling parts, I can identify with those. So I say that any one of us on [a bicycle is a beautiful thing].
I will say that the OP's style comes off as a bit "eye-poking". Maybe it's a defense mechanism. Who knows? As for the bicycling parts, I can identify with those. So I say that any one of us on [a bicycle is a beautiful thing].
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07-23-20, 05:31 AM
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Apparently a mod removed the political before most of us saw it. The self-congratulatory smug is legal
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07-23-20, 05:34 AM
#10
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Not sure how a thread describing a bicycle as a way of life isn't bicycle related.
I enjoyed his musing, but understand some people won't get past that one sentence.
I wanted to ask Ray9 what other forms of exercise you do to stay riding at 73? I've heard people say you can't use a bike as your only form of exercise, that it needs to be combined with some form or resistance training or yoga. At 62 I've been having some issues that are keeping me from riding, just wondering what I might need to do differently.
I enjoyed his musing, but understand some people won't get past that one sentence.
I wanted to ask Ray9 what other forms of exercise you do to stay riding at 73? I've heard people say you can't use a bike as your only form of exercise, that it needs to be combined with some form or resistance training or yoga. At 62 I've been having some issues that are keeping me from riding, just wondering what I might need to do differently.
07-23-20, 05:51 AM
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07-23-20, 06:04 AM
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07-23-20, 06:40 AM
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Ray9 is a "beautiful thing". Keep on keepin' on Ray!
07-23-20, 06:57 AM
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I have a fleet of expensive bicycles and I ride one of them 50 miles a day; I am 73. I saved a lot of money over the years from not purchasing thousands of cartons of cigarettes, a warehouse full of beer and fields of weed. I have sympathy for those who were shoveling powder up their noses 40 years ago when I was running 10 miles a day, but that sympathy can be measured in microns. Live and let live I say and if some choose self-inflicted disease and early death then let it be so. It is a free country so far.
I ride big circles these days so as not to cross state lines during these turbulent times. A ballfield is mostly silent and deserted. They built it and few come. I have no worries about foul balls crossing my path; there has been no one there until very recently.
I just keep peddling. A doctor told me many years ago that when my joints and ligaments began to protest from running impact, I should go to the bicycle. It was advice for the ages.
The sound of rubber on the road and the whir of a chain are music to my ears. My lungs are rich with country air and my legs are stallions! I see, do, and feel things that many can only dream of.
To each his own, it is hard work, but it is hard work that pays. The mechanical advantage of the machine I sit astride requires just the amount of effort necessary to keep the juices of life flowing freely. Gravity and wind speed work for me, not against me.
The hills are my friends while potholes and cracks in the road keep my mind alert. A bicycle is a beautiful thing.
I ride big circles these days so as not to cross state lines during these turbulent times. A ballfield is mostly silent and deserted. They built it and few come. I have no worries about foul balls crossing my path; there has been no one there until very recently.
I just keep peddling. A doctor told me many years ago that when my joints and ligaments began to protest from running impact, I should go to the bicycle. It was advice for the ages.
The sound of rubber on the road and the whir of a chain are music to my ears. My lungs are rich with country air and my legs are stallions! I see, do, and feel things that many can only dream of.
To each his own, it is hard work, but it is hard work that pays. The mechanical advantage of the machine I sit astride requires just the amount of effort necessary to keep the juices of life flowing freely. Gravity and wind speed work for me, not against me.
The hills are my friends while potholes and cracks in the road keep my mind alert. A bicycle is a beautiful thing.
Someone posted here a couple years ago about being in his 70's and attending a high school reunion..he and his wife walked in to the event(they both bike-tour, I think) and saw many old friends. Of the ones that hadn't passed away, many others we're barely walking, in wheelchairs, with walkers, the occasional oxygen tank..... He considered biking as a fountain of youth..I believe he's right.
...and if you come across another really nice bike..buy it and have fun. (post pics though!)
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07-23-20, 07:50 AM
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Yeah, he is a little proud of himself, and justifiably so, but any healthy biker that’s under 73, is one up on him. But honestly, I read the post 5 times and could not detect any political content. He is obviously looking down on people with so called vices, but that’s being critical, not political. Or is anyone criticizing anyone for anything, considered political these days.
Tim
Tim
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07-23-20, 08:15 AM
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There were parts of the original post that were most certainly not bike-related and were, accordingly, deleted by a forum moderator. I believe it is those parts of the original post (not the entire original post) that post #2 in this thread refers to, as that post was made pre-deletion by the moderator.
07-23-20, 08:53 AM
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So I guess anything that isn't rabid anti-Trump is political, but stuff that is is OK.
Got it now.
Honestly I come here to get away from politics, race, covid, you name it so wish people would take that to other sites, but what Ray9 wrote was sincere and non polarizing. Mods should have left it but can also see how they didn't want to deal with it.
Ride your ride.
Got it now.
Honestly I come here to get away from politics, race, covid, you name it so wish people would take that to other sites, but what Ray9 wrote was sincere and non polarizing. Mods should have left it but can also see how they didn't want to deal with it.
Ride your ride.
__________________
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Bacchetta Giro A20, RANS V-Rex, RANS Screamer
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07-23-20, 09:15 AM
#20
WALSTIB
A bicycle is a beautiful thing. Always nice to ride in the CLEAN AIR and stop and refill water bottles with CLEAN WATER. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to ride in NATIONAL PARKS. Otherwise nice to find BIKE LANES or BIKE PATHS. WHO doesn't like to live a healthy life?
Enjoy your ride with the most important things in life.
Enjoy your ride with the most important things in life.
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07-23-20, 09:18 AM
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07-23-20, 09:20 AM
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07-23-20, 09:28 AM
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I enjoyed the musing, and agree, bicycles are beautiful, elegant machines. A morning ride this time of year is the difference between feeling invigorated or just sweating out another hot, muggy, Covid limited July day. Keep on cranking!
07-23-20, 09:46 AM
#24
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I'm no straight arrow. I have indulged in just about every vice the OP mentions at one time or another in my life. But the bike has always been a constant for me. It kept me sane (sorta), it preserved my health despite my lapses into bad habits, and it kept me fit.Having abandoned my wild ways a couple decades ago, I'm still riding and enjoying it more than ever. Yes, a bike is a thing of beauty.
But what's even more amazing is what it's done for me. A couple months back, I crashed rather heavily and ended up taking an ambulance ride to the ER. The EMS folks hadn't asked me for my date of birth before calling in to report my vitals and describe my injury. They said they had a middle aged man, about 59 y/o with severe hip pain and bleeding from the elbow and wrist. Folks, I'm 72 and when I did give them my BD, they re-checked my DL to be sure it was correct. What the bike has done for my life is also a beautiful thing.
If that sounds smug or self-congratulatory, I plead guilty as charged. I've earned it.
But what's even more amazing is what it's done for me. A couple months back, I crashed rather heavily and ended up taking an ambulance ride to the ER. The EMS folks hadn't asked me for my date of birth before calling in to report my vitals and describe my injury. They said they had a middle aged man, about 59 y/o with severe hip pain and bleeding from the elbow and wrist. Folks, I'm 72 and when I did give them my BD, they re-checked my DL to be sure it was correct. What the bike has done for my life is also a beautiful thing.
If that sounds smug or self-congratulatory, I plead guilty as charged. I've earned it.
07-23-20, 10:03 AM
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What good comes from declaring oneself superior to them?