Introductions - Hi from Calgary

Hi all,
I'm fairly new to biking - just got my bike last year - but I'm pretty excited about biking to work this year! I came over to the BikeForums from Customers Suck, where I've posted for a while under the same username.

Edited to add, I suppose I should mention I'm riding a Norco Pinnacle, which is quite a comfy bike after a lifetime of handmedown ten-speeds, and I'm lusting after a couple of cruiser bikes at the local bike shop (mostly because I want a basket on the handlebars!! It won't work on the Norco...). My commuting options are 16 km mostly flat (following river) or 12 over lots of hills (I would like to know WHO put so many hills in a supposedly Prairie town??).

Cheers,
Kim

Hello Kim, love the name there! I will have to go check out this Customers Suck--I've never heard of it :eek: .

There's a regional forum for Western Canada, and yup, there's more than a few from Calgary. Stop by when you have time and say hi to those Albertans.

We're going to need photos of the handlebar basket when you get it and the bike :D .

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

Thanks for the welcome! The name... well, let's just say my friends are not quite sure why I like the "creepy crawlies," but I'm a giant nerd in general and ended up working with bugs for a while. Now I'm working on a psychology degree. Before that is was Classics. I mentioned the nerd part, right?

Well, as long as I have your attention:

Why do baby spiders clump together in a ball?

I don't remember seeing anything about 'nerd'--must be your imagination :) .

East Hill

Well, as long as I have your attention:

Why do baby spiders clump together in a ball?

1) because the eggs are usually clumped together, and they hatch all at once;
2) safety in numbers (predator might grab someone else, or think the whole group is too big a mouthful and move on)

(that second one doesn't last very long because pretty soon, the babies get hungry and start eating each other anyway...)

Oh, I forgot to tell you about Customers Suck - it's a forum similar to this one for people who work (or have worked) in customer service. Sometimes people are hard to deal with and one needs a place to vent :) www.customerssuck.com

Thanks for the baby spider answer--I've had someone ask me that recently, and I thought that those sounded like two good reasons myself. But now I am justified in telling my friend :) .

The CS site is most entertaining, but I don't think I can read too much at one time--it's heartbreaking after a while.

Last, but not least--those hills are good for you!

<<<<<< see screen name


East Hill

Hello ello! I to am a newbie. Welcome. From Calgary eh? I was born and raised in Edmonton. I feel sorry for you miss Bug.

Nah I kid. Do you manage to collect many samples while riding? Perhaps perch a net on the back of the bike to catch what flies by in the wind hehe.

Now since we have a resident bug expert what type of ant are those super tiny red/brown ones. The very small and tiny ants. Some times find em in the bathroom on the floor.

Jeez, that's a challenge... I have to admit that bathrooms are not my preferred identification setting... in fact any spider (or indeed anything with more than 4 legs) that comes anywhere near me while I am in such a vulnerable state (as one often is in that room) gets summarily squished!! I'm from the West Coast and it wasn't unusual to find SLUGS in the bathroom there, which means I learned to always always always turn onthe light...

I don't know how much I can help with ants, there are about a gazillion different kinds, but yours may be some kind of wood ant. If they are bothering you put down some borax powder and/or peppermint oil - they don't like it very much.

I've caught the odd bug in my teeth while cycling, never thought of mounting a net!