Introductions - Hello from Allentown, PA

Just found this forum! Used to be big into mountain biking in college in Pittsburgh (plenty of park trails and places to go for a city) running about 6'2" 172. Had a knee injury a few years back(sheared a majority of the cartilage off of my patella) while moving furniture for my now wife. Had surgery and recovery and shot up to 215 off of the bike. Now I get knee inflammation riding the trails. Street riding on the MTB doesn't aggravate the knee, but riding a MTB solely on streets isn't a lot of fun (for me). Hoping to get into a road bike soon and work on getting back to my lean mean self. Being a whopping mile from the Lehigh Valley Velodrome and a hotbed of cycling activity probably won't hurt to keep me motivated. Any recommendations for a reincarnated newbie would be appreciated!

Welcome Speednut!

I took a seven year layoff (to play hockey!?) and decided to pull the bike out in mid March. I've lost 40 pounds, and have never felt better. I'm three weeks away from the big 5-0, and I can say that I'm looking forward to it now. The dread of reaching 50, in the state of fitness I was in , was the motivation I needed.

I'm having more fun, I havent felt this good in years.

My advice.. have fun, enjoy those moments on the bike... to ride is to live!

Hey man, I grew up in Allentown. I wish I had gotten into cycling when I still lived there. I've heard there is some good mtb at south mountain, you should check it out. And you should definately check out the racing at the velodrome, there is some world class racing that happens there.

Hello SpeedNut, with a username like that, you should be flying around the velodrome, or at least watching the action!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k317/East_Hill/IMG_0767.jpg

A photo of me giving the Marymoor Velodrome a go.

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

Welcome! You should pay a visit over to the legendary Tom Kellogg who builds for Spectrum Cycles (http://www.spectrum-cycles.com) in that part of the country.

I stopped by the velodrome a few weeks ago on a slow ride on a Saturday. They have what seems to be local / club races on Saturday afternoons that you can watch for free. Definitely fun stuff! I remember back in high school when the US Olympic Trials were in town (1996) watching the Madison. I was totally amazed that they didn't fall off the bike during a "transfer" (not sure of the terminology, but definitely looked cool!). Round trip to the velo, around the Rodale Fitness Park track a time or two and back comes out to about 6 miles, which isn't too bad on the MTB. As for Spectrum cycles, I always wondered why the barn next to the Velodrome always had frames hanging from the rafters, and now I know why ;). Thanks for the info everyone!

Welcome! Don't forget to visit the Regional Forums and make a post in the 'PA representin here (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=222052)' thread.


Hey man, I grew up in Allentown. I wish I had gotten into cycling when I still lived there. I've heard there is some good mtb at south mountain, you should check it out. And you should definately check out the racing at the velodrome, there is some world class racing that happens there.
I grew up in rural Northampton County, did some biking there on my 'gas pipe' 10 speed back in the 70's. :)

Welcome! I will be riding out of the Velodrome tomorrow morning at 9:30 if you're into it. Look for a blue and green Vicious with puzzle paint. Looking to do somewhere between 40-50 miles.

My sister is going to Lehigh next fall. :(

My sister is going to Lehigh next fall. :(

Excellent reputation as an engineering school. A bit expensive, though. My sister lives across the road from saucon fields (Lehigh's athletic fields on the south side of the mountain).

Why the "sad face" about Lehigh, EJ123? It has an excellent academic reputation and should help her secure a good job someday.

Why the "sad face" about Lehigh, EJ123? It has an excellent academic reputation and should help her secure a good job someday.

Maybe he's afraid she will rob a bank to pay her internet gambling debts?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/14/national/main1127469.shtml

Welcome! I will be riding out of the Velodrome tomorrow morning at 9:30 if you're into it. Look for a blue and green Vicious with puzzle paint. Looking to do somewhere between 40-50 miles.

By the time I read this you were already out there. I'm nowhere near ready to do 40-50 at the moment, between hardware and fit level, but I'm working on it! Thanks for the invite!

Just found this forum! Used to be big into mountain biking in college in Pittsburgh (plenty of park trails and places to go for a city) running about 6'2" 172. Had a knee injury a few years back(sheared a majority of the cartilage off of my patella) while moving furniture for my now wife. Had surgery and recovery and shot up to 215 off of the bike. Now I get knee inflammation riding the trails. Street riding on the MTB doesn't aggravate the knee, but riding a MTB solely on streets isn't a lot of fun (for me). Hoping to get into a road bike soon and work on getting back to my lean mean self. Being a whopping mile from the Lehigh Valley Velodrome and a hotbed of cycling activity probably won't hurt to keep me motivated. Any recommendations for a reincarnated newbie would be appreciated!

Hey SpeedNut. Welcome to BikeForums from a fellow Keystoner. :)


... Brad

SpeedNut, come down and ride one of the best events offered in the area, the Central Bucks Bike Club's Covered Bridges Ride on October 14:
http://www.cbbikeclub.org/?body=covered_bridge_ride&nav=cbr&PHPSESSID=4a818fa560c1b7feb490d57312edc375