Introductions - Hello from the San Joaquin Valley

Hi, I've recently started riding bikes again after a 15 year hiatus. My wife and I have made the most of the time in the last year by touring in North Carolina and England with plans to tour southern California at Christmas and France next summer.

My wife and I have recently purchased a tandem, a Burley Duet S&S we've named Burley Baby. We have a number of other bikes as well and I've catalogued all but my wife's Huffy on our website. I've also written up our trips and the details on our bikes.

I'll probably focus in on the touring and tandeming issues on the forums and if that's your interests, I'll meet you there.

The San Joaquin Valley title caught my eye. Welcome to this great forum. I'm from Stockton and when I lived there, I use to bike all the time. I used to commute from Hammer Lane, up West Lane, to the Wherehouse Music on Kettleman Road... on a BMX bike (then eventually a mountain bike).

Your tour of the city and north bay reminds me of "exploring" the city when I first moved here... so much to see on two wheels.

The San Joaquin Valley title caught my eye. Welcome to this great forum. I'm from Stockton and when I lived there, I use to bike all the time. I used to commute from Hammer Lane, up West Lane, to the Wherehouse Music on Kettleman Road... on a BMX bike (then eventually a mountain bike).

Your tour of the city and north bay reminds me of "exploring" the city when I first moved here... so much to see on two wheels.

You know my neighborhood well, and you probably know as well that we're getting buried deep in valley fog about now. It's hard to get motivated when you live in pea soup.

San Joaquin Valley caught myy eye also. When I was a kid I use to live in Manteca (sp?) I use to ride my bike evrywhere.

Ahh. Manteca. When I was a kid I used to ride from Stockton to Manteca as well. There was one bike shop there that my friends and I would visit there.

Once we got caught in the rain on the way back home and our jeans were soaked. A couple of us had to pee and since our jeans were soaked anyway we just let it go. The urine ran down the soaked jeans like a rain gutter and warm our legs at the same time. A very interesting sensation indeed!

Ahh. Manteca. When I was a kid I used to ride from Stockton to Manteca as well. There was one bike shop there that my friends and I would visit there.

Once we got caught in the rain on the way back home and our jeans were soaked. A couple of us had to pee and since our jeans were soaked anyway we just let it go. The urine ran down the soaked jeans like a rain gutter and warm our legs at the same time. A very interesting sensation indeed!

On a somewhat related note - Up here in Maine during our Winter riding season, we have a problem with freezing derailleurs. About 10 years ago, I came upon a unique solution after some serious frustration over the damn derailleur freezing up. I was angry and I said, "well, P*ss on it then." And a light bulb dimly went off in the dusty and barren region I call my brain. So I Peed on the derailleur and it worked the rest of the ride. Now whenever we have the frozen derailleur problem, urination is the last thing we use, but it works.