that look
- Thread starter paul
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Spandex. A single word that defines an entire class of rider and bike shop owners for that matter.I"m 64, a battle scarred defensive lineman. I get an 'Evil' thrill
every time I pedal my little Honda gx35 powered huffy 3 spd past a
spandexter strugglin' up a hill on a $2000 road bike. It's damn near
as much fun as winning my first live poker tourny.
I get along with them for most part but I love it one wants to confront me with a scowl saying things like how I am ruining bicycling or cheating.
I give them a good long look up and down and depending on the comment I mention Lance Armstrong and that if I'm cheating, at least I am doing it in plane view on the bike and not lying about it.
If you have never seen a confrontational spandexter* put in his place it is a thing of beauty to watch ;-}
*SpanDexter: Noun. An obnoxious 'holier than thou' bicyclist acting like a Poindexter fool with total disregard for everyone or anything including motorists because they don't commute like he does.
I just came up with that this moment so I hereby proclaim I coined the word Spandexter and feel free to use it ;-}
Paul, have you ever come up to a stoplight line with a real motorcycle on a shifter next to you, looked each others rides over, and then surprised the **** out of them when you leave the line with them and they can't shake you until they throw all their extra horsepower at it to pull away?
It's even more fun when you reach the next light together again ;-}
I'm kinda in the middle on this. I still do a lotta pedal only riding,
and most cyclists have my wholehearted support. For that matter,
I'm for just about anyone not driving a big gas pig. I've met my
share of 'spandexters'. What they don't appreciate is that not all
of us are young, thin, and totally fit. Years back I pedaled as much
as 140 mi. in a day, but now I'm old, fat, and have had major injuries
to both legs. A motored bike is still preferable to a big V-8 any day.
and most cyclists have my wholehearted support. For that matter,
I'm for just about anyone not driving a big gas pig. I've met my
share of 'spandexters'. What they don't appreciate is that not all
of us are young, thin, and totally fit. Years back I pedaled as much
as 140 mi. in a day, but now I'm old, fat, and have had major injuries
to both legs. A motored bike is still preferable to a big V-8 any day.
I have always got good response myself around the small town where I live, one day I may ride one of the bikes to work, the next I may be on my 2007 soft tail H-D, the next I might be on the 1982 Yamaha Maxim, and when it as tagged and inspected I may show up on the little 150cc Roketa scooter.......... I get good talk and smiles from all my two wheeled pleasures, if it has wheels and an engine and I can ride it I'm having fun and most other feel the same way I find.
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They are ATHLETES you speak of- I was one of them for a long long time, 14 years USCF and long time Category 1,
and I never particularly liked them as a group, because as ATHLETES- like almost all ATHLETES- they are at their core overly competitive anai a large part of the time.
They, and you, miss the real essense of what bike riding is to a real purist- and competitve cycling has worked AGAINST cycling by taking it all into the EXTREME EXOTIC and of most corporate conglomerate editorial self-importance EXPENSIVE ranges,
and out of the hands of the more mass movement that once surfaced and is seen as a threat to the precious precious motor and motorSPORT world-
I entered into it at the RENAISANCE- the late 60's to mid- 70's and I've seen the forces working against it all all this time
including the latest chat board media BLITZ by angry frustrated motorists whose lives dangle by a growing more tense and expensive and more 70-car-piled- up MOTORING thread, and want then to blame those who now so much haven't embraced CYCLING but are turning to it as a WAY OUT- many with no other choice because the Politicall Correct Corporate machine has already deprived them of a chance of car ownership.
Lance is perhaps a sell-out- who may have taken a lot of money- or GIVEN it to a cycling enterprise naturally hoiping to expand it's influence, but again being shot intentionally down by WORLD Big Oil who forever sees it as a threat- The whole Lance episode may in fact be more manufactured than our controlling media would want you to believe.
I don't care much- Bicycle Racing means little to me now- although it once did. CYCLING means a lot more
and ALL motor interests could learn a great deal from the basics of the fundamental principal of it:
GETTING FROM Point A to Point B with the LEAST EXPENDITURE OF ENERGY.
and I personally believe transportation interests will adopt more this tenet, as Global Warming is more contuinually recognized as the growing problem it in fact already is. CYCLING will not get credit, because it's been led down a road of ruin by Big Oil, who will still sell us our gear- but just make sure it isn't very good and it's EXPENSIVE to a point of impracticality.
cycling can be both relaxing and practical, and it's great for one's health,
when not surrounded by media FUELED road rage
HAPPY MOTORING from "A man called Flying Horse".... HA!
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Lance was made the goat because he was a winner. They all do it one way or another.
Winning is doing what it takes. He made his share of sacrifices, and raised awareness
in the process. Motored or not, bikes are a fun & environmentally sound way to get
around. I'm glad of anything that furthers their use.
Winning is doing what it takes. He made his share of sacrifices, and raised awareness
in the process. Motored or not, bikes are a fun & environmentally sound way to get
around. I'm glad of anything that furthers their use.
I got an interesting look today. I was just coming back from Red Rock Canyon (if you are ever in Vegas you have GOT to go, it truly is a thing of beauty) on the paved bike trail near the highway and there were two spandexters. I was cruising about 25 or so and they were 150 yards in front of me, and as I started gaining on them they started pumping faster. So feeling a little playful I gave it a little more gas and got up to 30 to pass them. As I started to come along side of them one decided to flat out race me. So with a smile thrown over my should I gunned it, shot up to 35 or so and and blew past him. Best time I have had all week!
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Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee...! bet that was a fun time, just what I would have done, not to be mean but just for the fun of it....!
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The last time I did that Karma immediately jumped up and shouted "Explosive Blowout!" and my rear tire went Bang! as I approached the bridge. He rode on past while I started pushing the beast up the incline.
The job site we're on is close enough to ride to.
The other day we're all out having our coffee break and my boss, his boss (the owner), and my supervisor were talking and looking at the work to be done. The owner suddenly stops what he's saying to them, looks at the beast a second time and says "What the he|| is that?" I took a drag off my smoke and said, "It's my bike." The usual questions come next, How far can it go on a tank? How much did it cost? You bought it like that, right? Whaddaya mean you built it yourself? and so on. At the end of it my boss says, '"Yeah, but does it have a bell on it?" being sarcastic. I flicked my butt down, ground it out, and hit the AirZound, and said "Yep." When the 110 db sounded he just about jumped out of his boots. We were all trying not to laugh too hard on the way back up the scaffolding.
I had to dig this up after reading risingsung-
here I am back in the day- when I was camera doubling for Shaun Cassidy on the breaking Away TV pilot: at 26:10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL7kdIAHtl8
the close-ups are Shaun, the longer shots are me. Of course the Honda Mini trail has TWO kids on it- but not bad, on a HUFFY.....
here I am back in the day- when I was camera doubling for Shaun Cassidy on the breaking Away TV pilot: at 26:10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL7kdIAHtl8
the close-ups are Shaun, the longer shots are me. Of course the Honda Mini trail has TWO kids on it- but not bad, on a HUFFY.....
Lest we forget, cyclists are not the enemy even though it is great fun to
zip past them. They didn't have spandex or even derailleurs when I started
riding bikes. I'm old.fat, and have broken nearly as many bones as Evel Knievel.
That's my excuse for putting a motor on my bicycle. Bein' as how my motorized bicycle is
in the midst of unending 'modifixation', I drug out my old cruizeried rawly mixte
today and, much to my astonishment, I managed to pedal goodly distance in
serene silence. It lacked the excitement of a motored ride, but it was awfully
pleasant none-the-less.
If a stove-up old rounder such as myself can still hack it, it wouldn't kill you
younger, fitter, adrenalin junkies to do some pedaling once in a while just to
put yourselves back in touch with nature.
zip past them. They didn't have spandex or even derailleurs when I started
riding bikes. I'm old.fat, and have broken nearly as many bones as Evel Knievel.
That's my excuse for putting a motor on my bicycle. Bein' as how my motorized bicycle is
in the midst of unending 'modifixation', I drug out my old cruizeried rawly mixte
today and, much to my astonishment, I managed to pedal goodly distance in
serene silence. It lacked the excitement of a motored ride, but it was awfully
pleasant none-the-less.
If a stove-up old rounder such as myself can still hack it, it wouldn't kill you
younger, fitter, adrenalin junkies to do some pedaling once in a while just to
put yourselves back in touch with nature.
Attachments
Well said Otero!
I was thinking how nice it was the other day riding my next build bike without a motor. Just the hum of the tires and the fresh air to keep me company.
Then I ran out of breath ten feet from the house and parked it to wait on the motor kit.
Yup. I'm one of those who still rides a regular old pedal bike, too. No spandex, by the way. I'm a 'fred'. Though I love my motor assisted bike, I'm not at all certain that I would choose it over the pedaller. But having either and both available, whichever I want on that particular day, is terrific.
I built my first one in the spring of 2008. At that time I had never seen one and neither had anyone that I know of around here. It got a lot of attention. Thumbs-up from Harley riders. One guy walked up with his jaw hanging open and asked, "Is that an original Harley?" Others asked if it was a Whizzer.
One day I was riding uptown and a motorcycle came from my right on the cross street and turned into the parking lot on the other side. As he made his turn I could see the profile of the bike; unmistakably an old Triumph. So I rode across and parked next to him to have a look. It was a Bonneville 750 in very nice shape. So I said, 'Well how about that? A classic Triumph!' The guy was looking down, just beginning to pull his helmet off. He pulled it off and then slowly lifted up and scanned my bike, side to side. He looked me in the eye and said, 'Nice bike...' That was a proud moment. But I admitted that it wasn't as nice as his.
Since then there have been motorized bikes in my neighborhood. Mostly china girls. But I can think of one 4 stroke. Most of them don't last long. I've seen many people once or twice, then I don't see them again. But I can tell now that they are more familiar to the general public. They're no longer as mystified by them. But many people are still interested. And there's an occasional hostile jerk.
I built my first one in the spring of 2008. At that time I had never seen one and neither had anyone that I know of around here. It got a lot of attention. Thumbs-up from Harley riders. One guy walked up with his jaw hanging open and asked, "Is that an original Harley?" Others asked if it was a Whizzer.
One day I was riding uptown and a motorcycle came from my right on the cross street and turned into the parking lot on the other side. As he made his turn I could see the profile of the bike; unmistakably an old Triumph. So I rode across and parked next to him to have a look. It was a Bonneville 750 in very nice shape. So I said, 'Well how about that? A classic Triumph!' The guy was looking down, just beginning to pull his helmet off. He pulled it off and then slowly lifted up and scanned my bike, side to side. He looked me in the eye and said, 'Nice bike...' That was a proud moment. But I admitted that it wasn't as nice as his.
Since then there have been motorized bikes in my neighborhood. Mostly china girls. But I can think of one 4 stroke. Most of them don't last long. I've seen many people once or twice, then I don't see them again. But I can tell now that they are more familiar to the general public. They're no longer as mystified by them. But many people are still interested. And there's an occasional hostile jerk.
I know the feeling 57,quitting smoking helped. I picked up a cheap
stationary bike & have been working hard to get this train wreck of
a body in shape. Learning to ignore pain is a big plus. It's been so
much a part of my daily life for so long I simply forget it.
Yah, Goat, on my most recent motored ride I passed a old geezer,
(even older than me), walking a chihuahua. He raised his arm &
gave me a big thumbs-up with a smile like I'd just won one for the
Gipper.
stationary bike & have been working hard to get this train wreck of
a body in shape. Learning to ignore pain is a big plus. It's been so
much a part of my daily life for so long I simply forget it.
Yah, Goat, on my most recent motored ride I passed a old geezer,
(even older than me), walking a chihuahua. He raised his arm &
gave me a big thumbs-up with a smile like I'd just won one for the
Gipper.
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I can relate Maniac, 35 years of 2 packs a day tends to take the wind out of my sails about the same time my legs give out which isn't far.Well said Otero!
I was thinking how nice it was the other day riding my next build bike without a motor. Just the hum of the tires and the fresh air to keep me company.
Then I ran out of breath ten feet from the house and parked it to wait on the motor kit.
That aside if you ever get a chance to ride an electric bike do so.
My electric trike won't run with spandexters but my electric Cadillac would and then some.
960W with a NuVinci shifter, very quite, not even gear change sound, and it would do 38MPH.
Let off the throttle and it turns off (no idle) and it coasts like the wind with no motor drag due to the motors sprocket freewheel, great for just pedaling as well.
I could blow by pedestrians walking the same way on the sidewalk I was going (back to me) and startle them a bit like a bicycle would but not like the Spandexters on the road with me.
I only got a chance to smile a couple of times with them when conditions were right to wind it all it all the way up and blow by dead quit pedaling slowly backwards and then *poof* be gone when I hit the throttle again.
Those couple of times were moments of Zen though my friends hehehe ;-}
Really though, it is eerie riding that fast with almost no noise but the wind and surrounding sounds so if you get chance try one.
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I still pedal my bike around. That's one of the things I like about the friction drive, that I can raise it up and pedal without any drag on the wheel.
Then, if I get too worn out, or have some hills, I lower the drive and have the FD assist.
I'm building a few others that aren't going to be FD's, but I will just keep at least one around for the option.
