cycling - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**buzzingtalk** · 10-02-2007, 01:34 PM

anyone else a fan?

recently ive dusted off the bike and got right back into the swing of things. im cycling about 10 or so miles a day at teh moment and preparing for some charity rides next sumer one is london to southend which is around 50 miles or so, and the other is london to brighton which is waay longer at around 140.

something else im working towards in the long run is cycling to asterdam and touring holland and the infamous lands end - john o groats. look up lejog online if you dont know about thsi trail

so, how do you preapre for longer journeys like this. any tips or advice or stories from fellow cyclists are more than welcome

**c0urt** · 10-02-2007, 02:55 PM

nah we didnt cycle much

to prep for longer rides i just rode more and more,
on the weekends I would ride from Orlando to the east coast of Florida to the west coast and then back to Orlando, it would be like a 120-140 mile trip depending on which route I took.

my story from when i rode 600 miles home can be found here

http://stupidhurts.org/tour-de-stupidity/

and for general bicycling related bloggy goodness look under my cycling section, if you start from the way back when i was in florida, there is an interesting change in tone as i went from casual cyclist to someone who does it every day

http://stupidhurts.org/category/bicycling/page/5/

any questions about cycling i will be glad to field for you.

I still ride daily and commute to work on my bike

**omisan** · 10-03-2007, 12:35 AM

I ride about 14 miles a day on my commute, 18 miles when I stay at my parents' house once in a while... I'd like to get into doing century rides. Maybe if I train alongside my girlfriend while she trains for triathlon season I'll be able to get a century in this summer. (Wishful thinking, I'm sure!)

We made (recreational) biking one of the focal points of our last trip. Some cycling in England, Paris, and Champagne made for good additions to the usual running around, eating, drinking, and looking at things.

I've biked around Holland before (Amsterdam and outskirts) and it was awesome - not just for the scenery, but the FLATNESS of it all. Of course, the flat land is countered by very strong winds along the sea. I'm really hoping to go back and do a full cross-country ride there.

**c0urt** · 10-03-2007, 10:03 AM

nice pic omi

i think if i ever get another fixie built i may have to learn this

**my retro career** · 10-03-2007, 10:59 AM

i cycle from my house to the train station to get to uni

it's only a one mile ride

but it's on a super-duper cool bicycle that my cousin gave me (yes, GAVE me...) like a year ago and it had been collecting dust....

it's a peugeot race bike....bumpy as heck, but who cares, it's free.....

so, now that i'm putting up my evo (my car...sob..) for sale, i'll be relying even more on my legs to get me where i need to go....

well, whether i love it/like it/so-so/hate it/, i have no choice....blah

**freespiritz** · 10-03-2007, 07:05 PM

I love to ride on a sunny spring day in Maine...

My old beat-up Trek got stolen and I bought a new 120-dollar ride from K-Mart, lol...unfortunately it got rear-ended by my friend on her bike the day after, and the whole wheel got bent out of alignment. I just got that fixed up about two weeks ago and have mainly been spinning around campus and downtown with it because my regular biker crew isn't around.

I haven't really done anything long-distance, the most I've done in a day is probably around 35 miles. Hope to change that though!

**TheJake** · 10-04-2007, 12:09 AM

yeah my calves are still huge from my cycling days. I currently have a 1500 dollar mountain bike collecting dust and a 10 speed ancient road bike that I have yet to ride. Now that it's not a 130 outside anymore I will be getting on them more often to stretch the old muscles. At one point people thought I had something wrong with my legs when I would flex from the huge cyclist bulge on the back of the calf. I want those days back!
In highschool I would ride 20-80 miles a day without a second thought. Those were the days!

**Sijuki** · 10-04-2007, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by my retro career

i cycle from my house to the train station to get to uni

it's only a one mile ride

but it's on a super-duper cool bicycle that my cousin gave me (yes, GAVE me...) like a year ago and it had been collecting dust....

it's a peugeot race bike....bumpy as heck, but who cares, it's free.....

so, now that i'm putting up my evo (my car...sob..) for sale, i'll be relying even more on my legs to get me where i need to go....

well, whether i love it/like it/so-so/hate it/, i have no choice....blah

Selling the Evo? WTH MAN!?!

I've been looking at bikes recently. I keep thinking about getting a cheap $200 bike, but then I keep looking at the Trek's and thinking I should drop $450 on a bike, but I just for some reason can't get myself to part with that much cash. Someone tell me these things are well worth it.

I'll be riding about 40 miles a day in the city.

**c0urt** · 10-04-2007, 01:24 AM

if you think 450 is a lot, you would shit bricks if you knew how much i have dropped on bikes in the past year.

but spend the money there is a difference among the lower price levels and it will make for a more enjoyable ride. granted i cant condone the guys who pay 1000+ for just a set 0f wheels.
but there is a difference between a $200 bike and a $600 bike

**Sijuki** · 10-04-2007, 01:33 AM

No, $450 is a lot for me... My buddies dad has bikes I know he has dropped $4000-5000 on. So it's not the concept, it's just broke ass ol me thinking about spending money on something I am afraid I might not be satisfied with.

**mbo108** · 10-04-2007, 05:25 AM

see its that money thing thats the starting problem for me. I'm pretty sure that i would love it if my had my own ride but i dont wanna drop that kinda cash without being sure.

I always rent bikes when i go abroad though just to tool around on. My favorite was in Bruges peddling around with my wife all day, stopping for beers, checking out all the little side streets.

sorry, back to cycling. I think i'm gonna try to start riding, maybe borrowing an old ride from someone and maybe do the Philly to AC ride next year ( i think its the MS 150)

**buzzingtalk** · 10-04-2007, 07:27 AM

oh wow c0urt that bike ride sounds amazing! when did you do that??

(oh yeah and how are you doing thse days, last time i was on here you were sounding quite ill, good to hear your getting better)

i really really want to get into long distance cycling. ive lost a silly amunt of weight lately, around 4 stone! so am excercising shit loads to help shed it and with lots of weight loss comes energy so ive refound my love of cycling. in the next month or so im gonna cycle from my uni home to my mums, about 40 miles, it will eb cool but right around the north circular of london so polluted dirty and smelly but its something. good to see so many tpunk cyclists!

**c0urt** · 10-04-2007, 08:18 AM

to what both sijuki and mb said.

this is where i messed up. I rode this one around a town before daybreak one morning while there was still fog in the streets and no one else was awake yet.

it was amazing, and i was hooked.

back in the states I couldnt get myself to drop the loot on a nicer bike at first so ended up going down to wal-mart, they used to sell a road bike for like $170
it sucked but it was enough to get me riding daily

it served it's purpose, and several times i put away 100 plus mile rides on it, but being what it was, parts where hard to find for it, and i dont think they ever really expected it to bu put through what mine was. but I do know someone who commuted on one daily for nine months so they can hold up.

it eventually got replaced with a more expensive bike after i made a trip to the bike shop and had thrown my leg over the nicer models.

and buzzing talk, my bike ride from florida was December of 06 I am itching to do another long distance riding. the camping and the sites and the people where awesome.

right now i really want to ride my bike somewhere and find a hot springs.

ok, i was going to keep this secret till it is done. but i am building a new fixie :-)

I am waiting on my wheels

**my retro career** · 10-05-2007, 09:03 AM

[quote=Sijuki;169087]Selling the Evo? WTH MAN!?!
quote]

yeah - what one's gotta do to get some dough in the pocket....

the monthly pymt was killing me + no financial aid whatsoever from rutgers (fuck em..) = Evo's gotta go.....

**Sijuki** · 10-05-2007, 10:36 PM

That is rough man.. I am trying to save up some dough to get a car right now.

**Maineartist** · 10-06-2007, 11:25 AM

This summer I stayed at a friends' and walking into town was taking too long so after I resisted the suggestion to buy a bike, I bought one. It was a ten-speed Raleigh and was nice for it's age.. 1940-1960? It was great to get around fast.

**lauren313** · 10-06-2007, 11:50 AM

I have a bike (not a particularly great one) that is just collecting dust. I had every intention of riding it to work on days when the weather is good, but I underestimated how much uphill there was, and haven't done it. I just can't face riding uphill! Especially not at 6:30am!

**c0urt** · 10-06-2007, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lauren313

I have a bike (not a particularly great one) that is just collecting dust. I had every intention of riding it to work on days when the weather is good, but I underestimated how much uphill there was, and haven't done it. I just can't face riding uphill! Especially not at 6:30am!

yeah you can, the first step is the hardest, then it gets a lot easier just like travelling was that first time.

dont quit before you start, just find some free time and give it a chance during the day and practice it a few times to get used to it. before trying to ride to work

**buzzingtalk** · 10-07-2007, 07:35 AM

its well worth trying. trust me youll feel great afterwards! even if it takes you a few weeks or months or whatever to be able to ride to work its worth it

**lauren313** · 10-07-2007, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by c0urt

yeah you can, the first step is the hardest, then it gets a lot easier just like travelling was that first time.

dont quit before you start, just find some free time and give it a chance during the day and practice it a few times to get used to it. before trying to ride to work

Thanks for the pep talk!! It has made me think I should give it another try, but the other things that puts me off is that it's quite a busy road. Birmingham is terrible for cycling tracks and stuff, and the traffic gets pretty heavy.