Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.Captain Slow
11-13-07, 06:24 AM
Hi all. Martin here from Columbia County, GA, just west of Augusta (Where? Listen for faint banjo music, and you've found it.) I've been cycling since about 1965, when my dad took off the training wheels, and since 1975 I've been a ride-to-work, work-to-ride bike commuter. I was never fast enough to seriously consider racing as a career... or even as a hobby, and now that I'm nearing the big 5-0, I don't even try for a high avg. speed. I plod to the office & back on my 40K mile Specialized hybrid, averaging about 15.0 to maybe 15.8mph each way. The guys I ride with on weekends sometimes call me "Captain Slow," and the name kinda stuck.
What I lack in speed, I more than make up for in stamina... I've pioneered a new sport... Extreme Commuting. My office is 4.2mi from my front door, but as most of you realize, that ain't worth getting dressed out for. So, I head off in the wrong direction, and stretch the morning commute out to 27.5mi in the winter, 30.5mi in the summer. I do the same thing in the afternoons. With long weekend rides factored in... mid 80s in winter, Sat & Sun centuries in the warm weather... I average between 425 and 475 miles per week. I've logged over 20K miles per year for the past five years.
I just bought a new road bike to replace my dearly departed C'dale R500 (getting run over sux, but that's a subject for another post.) New bike's a Specialized Allez Expert. Once I bugger it up with lights, a rack, and fenders, I'll send along a photo.
I'm always quick to help other riders, and I carry a basic assortment of tools and parts. I'll give you a tube if it'll fit your bike, or one of the three or four patch kits I have rattling around in my rack trunk. Just look for the guy with half a dozen blinky lights on his bike.
See you out there... Be sure to wave as you blow past me. Throw money.
What I lack in speed, I more than make up for in stamina... I've pioneered a new sport... Extreme Commuting. My office is 4.2mi from my front door, but as most of you realize, that ain't worth getting dressed out for. So, I head off in the wrong direction, and stretch the morning commute out to 27.5mi in the winter, 30.5mi in the summer. I do the same thing in the afternoons. With long weekend rides factored in... mid 80s in winter, Sat & Sun centuries in the warm weather... I average between 425 and 475 miles per week. I've logged over 20K miles per year for the past five years.
I just bought a new road bike to replace my dearly departed C'dale R500 (getting run over sux, but that's a subject for another post.) New bike's a Specialized Allez Expert. Once I bugger it up with lights, a rack, and fenders, I'll send along a photo.
I'm always quick to help other riders, and I carry a basic assortment of tools and parts. I'll give you a tube if it'll fit your bike, or one of the three or four patch kits I have rattling around in my rack trunk. Just look for the guy with half a dozen blinky lights on his bike.
See you out there... Be sure to wave as you blow past me. Throw money.