Shooting Myself in the Foot: Corporate Q's

[Len]

Today I was ten miles from the house and the boss called and said "can we leave in an hour and a half?" I said yeah no problem! I was at lactate threshold all the way home. I got home, showered, and preflight at the airport before he even got there.

25 miles on my trusty Cervelo Soloist Carbon and 2.7hrs in my trusty Baron. Home before 3pm. Life is good!

 

[BushwickBill]

Today I was ten miles from the house and the boss called and said "can we leave in an hour and a half?" I said yeah no problem! I was at lactate threshold all the way home. I got home, showered, and preflight at the airport before he even got there.

25 miles on my trusty Cervelo Soloist Carbon and 2.7hrs in my trusty Baron. Home before 3pm. Life is good!

So far I'm voting this as the coolest thread of FI so far. Lets keep it going -publish your riding/flying stories here. Bike Geeks Dominate!

 

[Corona]

So far I'm voting this as the coolest thread of FI so far. Lets keep it going -publish your riding/flying stories here. Bike Geeks Dominate!

Who cares about flying?

When I lived in AK, I did a 50-mile+ mountain bike ride in & out of Denali (Mt. McKinley) National Park on the gravel road. It was early fall, and the scenery was incredible. Come to think of it, all the mountain bike riding in AK was awesome. I still have that bike frame (20 yr-old triple-butted cromoly Univega), but it's waiting in the garage for new parts when I get extra cashola.
The only thing that sucked in AK was I couldn't ride in winter (military wouldn't allow 2-whl vehicles on base during that loooong season). I'd have killed for a modern Hase trike or something to git me around instead of driving my car.

Good memories (& good thread)!

C

 

[Goose Egg]

I've been having some fun messing around with my old Specialized Hardrock. Last night I took off the crankset, front deraileur, and the front shifter. Stripped down the crankset and then rebuilt it using only one chainring (the biggest) and put the spacers on the opposite side to keep the chain from falling off when I shifted to the highest cog in the rear. It was fun! I now have a partial single-speed.

Anyway, these folks here in the Northeast think that they go mountain biking, but they really just ride through the woods. I grew up in the West though. That was some real mountain biking. I could have gotten to Moab in about 3 hours of driving, but honestly I never bothered because the stuff that was 20 minutes from my house was SO good. I was there almost daily. I miss that. I'm glad I discovered road, wrenching, and CX, otherwise my cycling universe would have collapsed on itself, but those were good times. My typical day was: Get up, go to school/fly, eat, bike/golf, watch Simpsons, eat, and go to bed. Oh yeah, I guess I would do a little working in there too There was some prime single-track, no doubt about it, but I think what I relished was the climbs... oh the climbs. Fire roads ascending into the sky, like some sort of washboard staircase. I MISS that! Some guys love to bomb, I love to climb. (Which I guess is a bit ironic because I have the build of a sprinter.)

...and the thing was that I was having the time of my life on a mountain bike that cost $600 new. (that Specialized Hard Rock that I was talking about earlier) I just threw on some bar-ends and clipless pedals and went for it. Good times.... Great times!

Which is not to say that there isn't good mountain biking here in the east... there definitely is, it's just that you have to drive a lot further, and you have to share it with a lot more people when you get there.

And to think I got into mountain biking because I was reacting to some stupid girl who broke up with me... all things considered, I think I got the better end of the deal.



-Goose

 

[BushwickBill]

Who cares about flying?

The only thing that sucked in AK was I couldn't ride in winter (military wouldn't allow 2-whl vehicles on base during that loooong season). I'd have killed for a modern Hase trike or something to git me around instead of driving my car.

Good memories (& good thread)!

C

Hey do you have a link for one of these trikes? The riding in AK sounds epic. I just finished putting a new chain on my MTB. Gearing up for the Turkey day ride. It starts in Fairfax (the self proclaimed birthplace of the mountain bike). Last year they stopped counting riders at about 750. The weather here has been all time. Surfed at Ocean Beach this weekend and there are quite a few good rides on the menu for next week. Stoked the Captain is at recurrency.

Life is good.

 

[AA717driver]

double post

 

[AA717driver]

I just got into MTB'ing (the roadie thing just didn't do it for me...) because it's something that always interested me and I'd been riding the hills around my house and wanted more. (AND...I'm 48 and my weight was up to 225 @ 5'11" and that was bull! I've dropped 27 lbs. and still going.)

I'm doing trail running now and have slacked off the riding because I dinged the tendon in my elbow and can't pull up the steep hills or off the logs without reinjuring it. I'll be back in the spring.

Another guy in the department started riding about the same time. He got a GF Hi-Fi. Great ride--weighs about half what my 'Horse comes in at. Talking carbon fiber, there was a guy out in PHX who wrote a report on ridemonkey a while back. He broke three or four carbon stumpy frames and had pics of the frames and where he was riding--no huge drops. Specialized replaced them all and finally gave him his money back.

I just don't think carbon is the answer.

What we need to know is where to rent mtb's in LAX? There are some awsome trails on the ocean-side of Palos Verde just south of the Torrence airport. Any suggestions? We thought about throwing the bikes in the back but we airline a lot.

Good topic! Keep it coming. TC

 

[Goose Egg]

Carbon on an MTB is nothing but a misapplication of a good thing. When I first heard that they were making mountain frames out of carbon, it even caught me by surprise then. I certainly wouldn't buy a carbon MTB (although the point is somewhat moot because it's more of an economic barrier right now ) Besides, the advantage due to weight difference would be negligable to anyone but the elite mountain biker. That's just what I think though...

-Goose

 

[Bank-n-Yank]

AA717Driver,
May I suggest building up a bike with S&S Couplings ( www.sandsmachine.com )? You can bring your current bike to any local frame shop or quality local bike shop and have them installed. Also on the website, scroll two-thirds down the site and you'll see a hard shell carrying case that is 26"x26"x10". It truly makes the whole bike really portable and does away with oversize airline fees.

I'm in the process right now of working with a local frame builder so that I can bring a road bike with me in the Beechjet. So what if the pax's have five sets of golf clubs..... my bike is staying with the plane. Ha.

Anyways, congrats on the weight loss. Cycling is an excellent way to get some fresh air and maintain that 1st class medical.

Happy trails.

 

[Len]

I'm not sure I would ever ride a carbon MTB. I would consider it dangerous. Maybe I'm just uneducated on the subject but thats my opinion. Who makes them anyway?

Road bikes are different though. I used to be a 'steel is real' guy with my 853 steel Lemond w/ Ultegra. Let me tell you, I don't care how fat you are, I was too. Carbon in a road bike is it. You CAN tell the difference. I am a true believer. Expensive wheels? You CAN tell the difference. Next I'm gonna try a bottom bracket w/ ceramic bearings. They're not that expensive. We'll see.

Goose. Good luck on your employment!