Introductions - Hi from Massachusetts!

Central Mass to be more specific. I don't see that many cyclists around where I live--it seems there are a lot more in Boston. Just recently bought a used Giant Nutra hybrid (it's probably from the early or mid '90's) because I wanted to start doing some of my errands by bike instead of by car since they're such short trips, as well as do some recreational riding. I was predominantly running for exercise, and decided it would be good to mix things up some. So far it's going well, it's just been a matter of getting more comfortable with traffic and trying to get a bit faster and stronger to deal with all the hills here (I thought I was in decent shape from running but it's a different set of muscles, so I've had to get off and walk up a few of the steeper hills and that has been rather embarrassing). I thought this forum would be a good place to learn from more experienced people and share with other new people any tips from my experience.

Hi Jolt--it's tough to get used to riding in traffic, and there's a whole forum devoted to the minutiae of doing so safely :D .

The Commuter forum will also help you get over that fear of riding in traffic, and they aren't quite as violent over there, either :eek: .

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

Central Mass, you say? Worcester is kind of my adopted home town - I lived there for 14 years.
Great area for riding. I even did the urban commute to work thing for a while.

Hills - yeah. I was probably a much better climber when I lived there! There is a Worcester-Leicester-Paxton loop that guaranties one nice, long, steady climb (and a decent descent!).

Welcome to cycling...

Bob in Charlotte, NC

Hi Jolt--it's tough to get used to riding in traffic, and there's a whole forum devoted to the minutiae of doing so safely :D .

The Commuter forum will also help you get over that fear of riding in traffic, and they aren't quite as violent over there, either :eek: .

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

Yeah, I've seen that forum and some of the posts there! There's some good info but a lot of garbage to dig through sometimes to get it. As for getting over the fear of traffic, you know what else has been helpful? Going out to ride somewhere and finding your usual road closed (due to repaving, which makes me quite happy as that road was filled with potholes), resulting in a detour that dumps you out on one of the busier streets that also has parked cars all along the side (lovely combination). Then riding along that road and finding that it's not as bad as expected. Actually, it did help that this road was pretty flat so I could somewhat keep up with traffic.

Central Mass, you say? Worcester is kind of my adopted home town - I lived there for 14 years.
Great area for riding. I even did the urban commute to work thing for a while.

Hills - yeah. I was probably a much better climber when I lived there! There is a Worcester-Leicester-Paxton loop that guaranties one nice, long, steady climb (and a decent descent!).

Welcome to cycling...

Bob in Charlotte, NC

Those hills certainly help get a person in shape, don't they? All I have to say about that right now is thank goodness this bike has a triple chainring! Comes in handy for some of the steeper stuff, though it does result in going aggravatingly slowly.

Yeah, I've seen that forum and some of the posts there! There's some good info but a lot of garbage to dig through sometimes to get it. As for getting over the fear of traffic, you know what else has been helpful? Going out to ride somewhere and finding your usual road closed (due to repaving, which makes me quite happy as that road was filled with potholes), resulting in a detour that dumps you out on one of the busier streets that also has parked cars all along the side (lovely combination). Then riding along that road and finding that it's not as bad as expected. Actually, it did help that this road was pretty flat so I could somewhat keep up with traffic.

^^^^
Word!

:roflmao:

East Hill