Where do you ride?

Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Riding habits?
Road type?
Average distance?

I usually ride for the solitude, or "escape". I don't really use my bikes to run errands.
I ride on U.S. 6 a lot, and on some secondary and waaay out back roads. No in town or city riding except for the rare occasion when I go into a very small city (Jefferson Ohio, Ashtabula county.)
Average distance of my rides is around 35 miles.
 
I like to ride my motorized bike to work. It's only about a mile. I usually ride on the resedential streets. I have to cross a major highway so I always go down to where there's a light to cross...................
 
I'll also add that I have bought a 36T because the distances between things out here are pretty far and the 44T seems like I'm stuck in second gear when out in the great vast expance between point "A" and point "B" of boonieville.
 
I ride to work everyday, 30deg-110deg, from sunshine to the arizona moonsoon. I dont care what the weather is I alway's ride.
I also ride my MB for any errands that I might need to do, from going to the bank to grocery's to visit friends and family picking up parts at the auto parts store, whatever. As long as I can carry what I need, I use my MB; I use a back-pack and a trailer if I need too.

I have a 01 Ranger and in 07 I put just over 530 miles on it, that is huge considering I usually put between 10,000-14,000miles on it in a year. I also have a 83 F-350 that I used to haul my race car, I ran a limited schedule last year and this year to many sponser's pulled out of racing so I decided to stop for a while. I did not bother registering that truck, I parked it.

I mostly ride in the city, I think here in Tucson I'm very lucky because we have miles and miles of bike lanes in and out of the city. I have done alot of state route and highway riding and that is mostly just for fun. I've made a few trip's to Phoenix, Nogalas, and one crazy I'm not sure if I will ever do it again trip to Santa Ana Mexico. About 140 mile's, I raced a off-road rally on my Yamaha Raptor and was to pooped to ride back to Tucson. Not only that, my buddy who came with me rode my double suspension MB; i sold it in Santa Ana to a guy who would not leave me alone until I sold it to him.

I love to ride up Mt. Lemon, It's crazy when you can go from cactus to pine tree's, from 105deg. to 80 deg. Round trip from my house is like 60-70 miles.
I also love to ride at Saguaro National Park West, which is just a few miles from my house. That is where the last Death Race was, I just dont like it during the winter; Old Tucson studio and Desert Sonora Muesum is thier and all the snowbird's seem to flock thier and they drive like idiot's. Thier's nothing more scary then a 90 year old man from Ohio who look's like he's about to have a hart attack behind the wheel of a 40 ft motorhome.

Dailey I ride between 14-25 miles, when I ride for pleasure I can do anywhere from 10-70miles. Altough latley with gas prices I find my self riding less for pleasure.
I had a 36t and went to a 44t because thier is just so much elevation change here. Yeah, when I'm on a long flat rode I wish I still have the 36t. But I just slow it down and enjoy the time. :ride2:
 
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I ride for errands and fun when I can't dream up an errand. All of it so far is city streets. I try to do it when there is the least amount of traffic. After school and before lunch... or after lunch before school is out for the day.

I cross or ride on a couple of serious roads. There can be heavy traffic even in off peak times. I don't go very fast so I try to make it easy for them to pass me. I think ahead and try to use the same routes as often as possible, since I have them scoped out.

I find the staying to the right of the lane works except at a light where I am going through and traffic might want to turn. I get on the left side of the lane in that case then use the intersection to get back to the right.

If I'm in a left turn lane I stay to the right side so when I make the turn I am on the right of the next lane as well. I always check the mirror and look over my shoulder twice when I cross a lane of traffic or make any other move that might put me in front of a car.

It makes no difference. I had a pickemup pass me hauling a very long long trailer. He tried to stay in the lane and squeeze me to the curb. Of course it worked perfectly. I would have touched the trailer with my knee if I had pedaled. Lots of that going around. Stupidity is like a virus.
 
I ride for errands and enjoyment
I also pull my 2 granddaughters (3+5)to the three local kids playgrounds almost daily...approx 14 mi round trip
I average 100-150 mi/week
and...I got the biggest sh*t-eatin' grin for every darn one of 'em :):)
 
When I originally got my bike it was going to be for primary transportation, that didn't last very long since I had a 25 mile comute one way. I tried that twice with a low mile engine without much sucess. Now I use my bike for running erands around my small town. I'd like to build a trailer like the one that DJ did so that I could make grocery store runs with my bike. I also like to find a fairly level, curvey, scenic road and just head out and put on 30-50 miles. My favorite ride is riding around Silver Lake State Park, there a lake of course, sand dunes (the sand freaks really love my bikes and are constantly stopping me to ask questions) and it is a short ride to Lake Michigan on a very cool, twisty, windey, road where there is a historic lighthouse that you can climb up. I haven't been riding as much as I should for the last couple of years, because I have been pedaling more on my non-motorized bikes...Kelly
 
I ride in the suburbs, mostly on weekends. Since my bike is still "new" I keep expanding my circle slowly. I think most of the stuff that was going to fall off has already. :D

But now I am through my first tank of gas, everything is pretty well sorted out, I just need to work on tuning a little more (the thing can be a ***** to start, but I think a plug/wire change will help).
 
Doug-

Try pushing the tickler for 3-5 seconds and using partial choke. I could never get any of 'em to start real well with full choke.
 
I ride to work every day , well except in the harsh of winter. I have a urban commute of 6.5 miles oneway and enjoy riding on the weekends, of course I take the backroads when I can. I can cruise about 30mph real easy and sometimes W.O.T when Iam on a main road. I just hit 42mph yesterday, of course I had a 20 mph. wind behind my back and a small grade down hill helped too. but I would rather not push the R's that much. but it rides real good, real fast, when I really want it to.
 
I am using my bike for any trip that doesn't require hauling capacity and is reasonably close. I probably wouldn't try the 130 mi haul up to Phoenix on the cruiser. I am riding in town mostly short hops of 1-2 miles. Although I am getting moved to a different office after this week and the round trip will be about 7 miles. I get to play chicken with the busses on the main drag now although they haven't been a problem yet. I think as long as I don't start just ahead of one I move fast enough that they won't catch up with me. I used to put $30 to $35 a week into my Toyota 1/2 ton, I currently am approaching 3 weeks without a fill up and still have over 1/4 tank of gas! :D
 
I ride on the weekends with Lean Dean, W31John and Gary B just to get away from the weekly grind of work. We usually ride from Dean's shop to Alviso or Up in the hills of Milpitas or up in the Mountains.
...and of course being model citizens, we obey all the laws.:D
 
Easy Rider said:
I ride on the weekends with Lean Dean, W31John and Gary B just to get away from the weekly grind of work. We usually ride from Dean's shop to Alviso or Up in the hills of Milpitas or up in the Mountains.
...and of course being model citizens, we obey all the laws.:D
Click to expand...



we obey all the laws???
 
i ride everytime i get the chance. i ride to work which isnt far. its only 6 miles round trip. i run to the store and sometimes i just run around the neighborhood if i cant think of anything i might need at the store. i do pass some pretty heavy traffic here and there. i try and find backroads and try and stay off the el camino real. cant stand riding it even though i have to just to cross the freeway to get to work. my bike is still new so i dont push it but i really love riding it and cant go a day without it. :D

dont really have problems with cars but those spandex bicyclists give me crap from time to time.
 
so far I ride mostly for enjoyment, there's nothing like a ride after a bad day at work. It kind of takes the worries away.
So far my trips range from 5 to 20 miles. I average around 22mph. I've put 75 miles on the bike so far and still have 1/3rd of a gallon left...
Roads are city/suburb. I prefer to ride further out from the city portion and more int eh residential portion. I'm still working the kinks out of the bike and like to stay pretty close to home.

I like to ride after the commuters are off the roads. Which now means after dark, so until it warms back up, I"m not headed out after work anymore. So for the winter it's on the weekends only. I like to get up early and ride when there are very few people on the road. I hit Cabot street (our main) street at 7 am once and it was just me, I road right down the middle of the street like I owned it, best feeling in the world.
 
I commute every day, a total of 6 blocks round trip! I live right off of a very buisy State Route 99 which is 7 lanes wide. Can be a little like playing Frogger once in a while but I mostly have to ride 1 block past work, cross at the light and ride back. I like to ride on weekends too, I have ridden as far as 25 miles one way at least 10 times! The best is when I lock the bike up at the grocery store or gas station! I need to leave little cards on the bike with links to this site and others so people will let me leave the store before my icecream melts! SO many questions they all have, I do my best to give accurate info and encourage others to build and ride MB's.(^)
 
Here in Berks County, PA I'll usually go for 15-20mi rides. Lots of nice back roads while dodging the Amish buggies & road apples (they always smile & wave - they really like little machines). A few weeks ago my friend & I took our mb's on a 150mi round trip to the Chesapeake Bay and back. Made some minor field repairs along the way, and upon returning replaced several missing pieces of hardware with lockwashers and/or locknuts. It's always a work in progress. We were planning a trip to the NJ
-Pongo
 
Sorry - must have hit the enter key & suffered premature submission (that happens as you get older!). Anyway, we were planning a trip to the NJ shore when my frame cracked. If I can get back on the road with a steel-frame bike soon enough, we'll still get the ride in before it snows (again!).
-Pongo
 
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