Introductions - Hello From NE Ohio

Hi Everyone!

This is quite a community here! I'm 33 years old and from the Akron/Cleveland area in Ohio. Although I've had both a road bike and mountain bike for years, I only just recently discovered I had at least a mild passion for cycling. I suspect it is something deeper...

I have a mid 90's Trek 6000 and also a late 80's Univega Vivatech 1050 with mostly Shimano 105 components. These days, I usually opt to take my road bike out.. I'm probably getting in 50 to 60 miles a week. I just love the feeling of speed, efficiency, and responsiveness the road bike provides.

My interests are mainly fitness and recreation at this point, but I'm inspired from many of the people using a bicycle to commute to work and I would like to try that someday.

Thanks for the chance to say hello!
Dave

Welcome to Bike Forums uplateinoh! Enjoy your stay :)

Welcome to the forums, Dave. It's nice to see another NE Ohioan here. Great place, these forums... lots of intelligent folks. :)

I also ride a Univega, newer vintage 2001 Modo Volare (Campy equipped). Have you done any organized rides in the area?

See you on the roads! :D

No, I haven't done any organized rides or anything yet. Most of my riding is done in Richfield, Hinckley, and the Cuyahoga Valley. I would like to join a cycling club this fall or maybe next season. I'm still a little slow and wanted to build up a little so I could keep up with the pack.. any good clubs around the area that you know about?

Originally posted by uplateinoh
I would like to join a cycling club this fall or maybe next season. I'm still a little slow and wanted to build up a little so I could keep up with the pack.. any good clubs around the area that you know about?

Hmm... I usually ride by myself, with my boyfriend, or with a couple of our friends. Haven't joined any bike clubs yet, but I know that there are a few around. There are several in the greater Cleveland area.

You appear to be south of Cleveland. (BTW, you may want to fill in the 'location' portion of your Profile, at least -- we have folks from all over the globe here and it's nice to see where a viewpoint is coming from.) :) Try the Medina County Bike Club (http://www.medinabikeclub.org/) or the Akron Bicycle Club (http://www.akronbike.org/) for starters.

Organized rides are done by folks of all abilities -- fast or slow; road bike, mountain bike, hybrid, recumbent... Typically, they don't involve a mass-start and you ride at your own pace. Listings for Ohio rides are on the Ohio Bicycle Events Calendar (http://www.crankmail.com/OBEC.htm) .

Good luck & happy riding! BTW, what sort of speed do you usually average? I'm usually around 15-17 mph, depending on terrain.

Thanks for the heads up on my profile... now everyone will know that I'm from Richfield, OH!

Hmm... I average about 15 mph on routes with moderate climbs. More severe climbs will drop my average a little, but usually not below 14. My top speed is 46 mph so far. I need a really big hill for that though! I'll bet upgrading to clipless pedals and real bike shoes would help. I currently use toe clips and regular shoes. Still, I've been making steady progress, especially on getting up hills faster than I used to. I was having trouble keeping enough speed to stay upright sometimes! In all fairness, there are some pretty decent sized hills out this way.

Hey! I was looking at that list of organized rides and there was just a really huge one here in Richfield... They expected 2000+ riders and I totally missed it! It was called the "Sweet Corn Challenge". I should really do that one next year; The starting point is only a half mile from my house.

Thanks for the links and have fun pedaling to the point!
Dave

Hi
welcome to the forums! I'm just down the road from you in Hudson. I also ride alot in the valley, Have you tried the Bike and Hike trail? We do that one alot-it's a little busy now that the towpath is closed.

Bye
Dana

Hi Dana!
I've ridden the Bike and Hike trail once... we went up there to get away from the crowded Towpath and barely saw a soul! Is the whole towpath closed down now? I haven't tried to ride it since the flood because I've been favoring my road bike lately, but I'm going to have to switch back to other bike for a while due to some wheel problems. The Towpath was usually part of my weekend ride when I was riding the wide tires.

Dave

P.S. Agressor, I never properly thanked you for the welcome... Thanks!

Hello there from Cincinnati!