Northern California - this forum is so slow

Does anyone else even check in here anymore?

Who is riding this weekend? What if there's rain?...

Yes, I agree. We need Beaker to start organizing us. Go, Richard!!

It's because this forum rides on a triple ... lol

It's winter. Just you wait.

R.I.P. Norcal. Where are David & Lisa, Big Sean, Ty, Miguel, Norman, Tim and others that posted during the golden years of 2007-08?

R.I.P. Norcal. Where are David & Lisa, Big Sean, Ty, Miguel, Norman, Tim and others that posted during the golden years of 2007-08?

I still have hope we'll get going when it stops raining. But maybe Facebook and Twitter are sucking peoples time instead on BF NorCal.

I hope things pick up when the weather improves and the daylight returns.
Once my wife does The Solvang Century and finishes with Team in Training things will pick up for me.
Right now I watch a lot of good Saturday rides go by on the forum because I am home with the kids while Mrs. O is with TNT

I do my riding on Sunday which seems like the less desirable day around these parts.

I have a 77 mile Napa ride in my hip pocket that I want to do as soon possible.
I will try to organize that as a group ride.

LanceOldStrong: Saturday ride problem: Solved!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41-K%2B-%2BNYRL._SS500_.jpg

Wait. you said kids

http://www.trail-a-bike.com/img/prod/folder-tandem-1.jpg

I think there are a few reasons. I have been riding, and catching up with fellow NorCal'rs on a pretty regular basis, but outside of the forum. I generally feel that any ride posted here should likely be a min 3-4 hour commitment (if you're expecting people to travel), and will also be a mixed pace, a lot of times lately my rides haven't worked with either criteria. Anyone who's organized a ride here knows that it's always a little more complicated than you expect.

I think there's also a component that a lot of people's lives have become a lot more stressful/complicated over the last year. Some looking for work, others swamped with increased workloads, some moving house, having kids etc. Any of these can easily get in the way of spending time chilling in the NorCal forum.

Finally I agree with Curtis. Twitter has been a good way of staying in touch. There's no denying that it's a superior way to keep up with the latest goings on, or informal plans and you get the much more rapid back and forth than you can on the forum. I know some rides get organized this way, but I don't think this is the only reason.

I'll bet it picks up round here once the organized ride season gets going and the weather is more predictable.

Does anyone else even check in here anymore?I do, but it is pretty dead lately.


But maybe Facebook and Twitter are sucking peoples time instead on BF NorCal.Ew. Say it ain't so, folks! :(

but outside of the forum.

[...]

TwitterBummer.

Bummer.

Actually for me, despite being a certified Twit(TM), I've tended to use (hold-on-to-your-hats-guys) good ol' email to hit up folks I live near for a quick hour and a half ride or something like that. Not really worth posting that sort of thing ya know?

Does anyone else even check in here anymore?

Who is riding this weekend? What if there's rain?...

Don't feed the troll...

Yes, I agree. We need Beaker to start organizing us.

Actually you're out of date. Last year was the year of the muppet. The recent lunar new year celebrates the year of the tiger. Now, if you take the word "tiger", add some letters and take some others away you get "RoboCheme".

A coincidence? I think not.

Where will the first ride be?

Actually for me, despite being a certified Twit(TM), I've tended to use (hold-on-to-your-hats-guys) good ol' email to hit up folks I live near for a quick hour and a half ride or something like that. Not really worth posting that sort of thing ya know?Email I get. I've used it for that purpose a few times. But MyTwitterFaceSpaceBook? Eugh.

Only problem with twitter for me, is that most of BF norcal have their accounts protected. So it's a little difficult to know about some of the planned BF norcal rides.

Also some people, like me, do not have twitter. I have facebook that I rarely use, and Myspace that I don't even remember loging password for anymore. lol

I recommend a norcal.roadcycling reddit!

Email I get. I've used it for that purpose a few times. But MyTwitterFaceSpaceBook? Eugh.

I'm with you.

[/Grandpa Simpson mode on]

I just don't really see a big use in my life for twitter or facebook. I friend of mine told me a year or so ago that I just had to log onto facebook to "keep in touch", so I did. So now I get up to the minute updates from people I really don't know that well, letting me know they just had a nice cup of coffee, or gave their dog a milk-bone, or are at (insert random location here), or wanting me to join a stupid cause I never heard of or don't care about, blah, blah, blah.......

If I want to keep in touch with acquaintances, I shoot out an email once in a while. If I want to talk with a friend, I pick up the damn phone and give them a jingle. What the hell is so bad about actual human contact?

And don't get me started on texting - what a frickin' waste of time, and it's making the current generation socially "challenged". I actually sat at one of my daughter's high school get togethers, watching a whole table of teens sitting together but not socially interacting - just clicking away and texting to each other while in the same room. WTF?

[/Grandpa Simpson mode off]

I recommend a norcal.roadcycling reddit!
Or dare i say it the new Google Buzz :)

Or dare i say it the new Google Buzz :)

It's better than wave, but is missing it's chance by launching with so many issues/bugs.

I do miss the golden 07-08 years.

I still have hope we'll get going when it stops raining. But maybe Facebook and Twitter are sucking peoples time instead on BF NorCal.

What you're not all on Twitter?

Wait. you said kids

http://www.trail-a-bike.com/img/prod/folder-tandem-1.jpg

That would be sweet but they don't make that anyone from what I've heard.

Anyhow, my boy Luke has just learned to ride two wheels! Time to hand-me-down his bike to little sis.

Only problem with twitter for me, is that most of BF norcal have their accounts protected. So it's a little difficult to know about some of the planned BF norcal rides.

Also, twitter is only really useful if you have unlimited Text messaging so you don't have to rely on a PC or Smart phone-based twitter client.

I'm with you.

[/Grandpa Simpson mode on]

I just don't really see a big use in my life for twitter or facebook. I friend of mine told me a year or so ago that I just had to log onto facebook to "keep in touch", so I did. So now I get up to the minute updates from people I really don't know that well, letting me know they just had a nice cup of coffee, or gave their dog a milk-bone, or are at (insert random location here), or wanting me to join a stupid cause I never heard of or don't care about, blah, blah, blah.......

If I want to keep in touch with acquaintances, I shoot out an email once in a while. If I want to talk with a friend, I pick up the damn phone and give them a jingle. What the hell is so bad about actual human contact?

And don't get me started on texting - what a frickin' waste of time, and it's making the current generation socially "challenged". I actually sat at one of my daughter's high school get togethers, watching a whole table of teens sitting together but not socially interacting - just clicking away and texting to each other while in the same room. WTF?

[/Grandpa Simpson mode off]



That part of texting is unfortunate. The convenience of texting for me is less synchronous communications yet not as delayed as email (most people have their mobile phones with them). I guess if more people have smart phones with email clients, it would be nearly the same.

I'm with you.

[/Grandpa Simpson mode on]

I just don't really see a big use in my life for twitter or facebook. I friend of mine told me a year or so ago that I just had to log onto facebook to "keep in touch", so I did. So now I get up to the minute updates from people I really don't know that well, letting me know they just had a nice cup of coffee, or gave their dog a milk-bone, or are at (insert random location here), or wanting me to join a stupid cause I never heard of or don't care about, blah, blah, blah.......

If I want to keep in touch with acquaintances, I shoot out an email once in a while. If I want to talk with a friend, I pick up the damn phone and give them a jingle. What the hell is so bad about actual human contact?

And don't get me started on texting - what a frickin' waste of time, and it's making the current generation socially "challenged". I actually sat at one of my daughter's high school get togethers, watching a whole table of teens sitting together but not socially interacting - just clicking away and texting to each other while in the same room. WTF?

[/Grandpa Simpson mode off]

I am with you Grandpa!

Regarding the teens it seems that if you are not texting in public it means you have no friends and are a loner. That's the worst category you want to be in in HS. Peer pressure to the max.

So one reason why you don't see me posting too much here is I'm a twitter-holic, and anti-facebook. I only go on Facebook because some of my friends are on there ...

[/Grandpa Simpson mode on]
[/Grandpa Simpson mode off]I always thought I'd be a lot older by the time I hit the wall of "I'm too old for this ****," but here I am, scolding kids to take their iPads and smartphones and get the hell off my goddamn lawn.

My cellular phone is at least four or five years old. It doesn't have a camera. It's not "smart". It's had maybe a hundred text messages through it in its life. It was my first cellular phone.

Twitter creeps me right the hell out. I've never touched Facebook and have no interest or desire to do so. I'm not sure which scarred me worse, accidentally clicking on a g*atse link or accidentally clicking on various MySpace pages.

I figure I have five to seven years left before I'll just want to move into a shack in the woods with my typewriter, rotary telephone, film cameras, bicycles, simple computer, DVD player, and a few other things that by then will be "old tech." (And yes, I already have most of these items.) Neo-luddism here I come, apparently.

I was a Twitter skeptic, now I'm a Twitter addict, mostly as a follower. Never tried Facebook.

My irony-o-meter has red-lined as the thread lamenting the lack of activity in the NorCal forum has garnered as much traffic as any in the last few weeks.

Intrigued why folks are so spooked by Twitter though - take it or leave it, but it's a simple, effective concept IMO.

I simply refuse to get on Twitter, Facebook. Why? Probably because I have teens (well one is twenty) and I see how their life get consumed by them. On top of that I barely have enough time to answer to my e-mails and still get things done during the day.

The kids got me into text messaging as it is the only way to get them to answer when you need to reach them. Give them a phone call and you are assure they won't answer if friends are around, it's too embarrassing to talk to Mom or Dad when you are supposed to show the World you are a grown-up. But texting they will respond because 1) nobody knows who they are texting too, and 2) it's way cool to show that you know somebody else other than the group around you.

A client got me into LinkedIn. I opened an account, connected to the client and left it at that. Then after a year I got contacted by classmates from college in France. That was kind of cool to communicate with people I had not talked to for close to 30 years. But thankfully after a few exchanges it doesn't bother me too much, once a month update is plenty enough.

On the other hand BikeForums has been really cool. It has been super useful for technical stuff at first and then the NorCal sub-forums really kicked things up in a way of meeting nice fellows, discovering new routes, and bumping motivation. What I also prefer about the forum compared to other formats is that I choose when to be entertained by it, no beeping, no alarm, it is on my own terms.

some people may be, but i'm not spooked by services like twitter. it's just that the pervasiveness of social networking and instant communication via blogs, facebook, twitter, etc has resulted in mountain ranges of useless thought diarrhea / refrigerator buzz that makes me want to cancel my internet subscription and chuck my computer out the window. if i had a twitter account all my tweets would say "i farted." ok, i must admit i actually opened a twitter account. my username is ___Jesus, and i've tweeted twice.. "you ******* are all followers" and "be back in 3 days." #yawn

film cameras rock. RIP kodachrome.

For me, Twitter and Facebook status updates are a way to get a glimpse into the lives of friends or even acquaintances you normally wouldn't interact with. Even if you don't tweet, you can still follow and "lurk". It's no different than reading BF and not posting except you have to actively go to BF whereas Twitter updates come to you (if you have the tweet texted to your mobile phone).

Anyway, I have two tabs in my browser always open, BF Norcal and Twitter and I refresh them periodically throughout the day.

For me, Twitter and Facebook status updates are a way to get a glimpse into the lives of friends or even acquaintances you normally wouldn't interact with. Even if you don't tweet, you can still follow and "lurk". It's no different than reading BF and not posting except you have to actively go to BF whereas Twitter updates come to you (if you have the tweet texted to your mobile phone).

Anyway, I have two tabs in my browser always open, BF Norcal and Twitter and I refresh them periodically throughout the day.
Same here pretty much, expect that i use tweetdeck which is very slick. I have a column that i use for following tweets from BF Norcal people. I also subscribe to @henrymar/cycling-peeps list which might encompass some of the BF Norcal people on twitter.

Thanks to Facebook I can keep up with my in-laws (all in Texas) and many of my high school friends with whom I'd lost touch over the years. In fact, my best friend from grade school and I found each other; she lives in the area and we visited in real life -- it was great!

Twitter is fun and a quick way to connect with others. And I've set up Tweetdeck to update my Facebook account, so I don't spend too much time on either one.

As a Realtor I've gotten a couple referrals via Twitter and Facebook, a nice bonus.

Bah! You're all just a bunch of damned hoodlums! All that hi-tech gadgetty stuff is making everyone soft, I tell ya.

In my day, we were tough. None of this fancy-pants techno-crap. Why, if we wanted to change a channel on the TV, we had to actually get up and walk all the way across the room.

Now where did I put my pocket knife? I have to sharpen my quill pens . . . .

Bah! You're all just a bunch of damned hoodlums! All that hi-tech gadgetty stuff is making everyone soft, I tell ya.

In my day, we were tough. None of this fancy-pants techno-crap. Why, if we wanted to change a channel on the TV, we had to actually get up and walk all the way across the room.

Now where did I put my pocket knife? I have to sharpen my quill pens . . . .
Barefoot and Uphill both ways :)

Barefoot and Uphill both ways :)

In the snow. :D

Bah! You're all just a bunch of damned hoodlums! All that hi-tech gadgetty stuff is making everyone soft, I tell ya.

In my day, we were tough. None of this fancy-pants techno-crap. Why, if we wanted to change a channel on the TV, we had to actually get up and walk all the way across the room.

Now where did I put my pocket knife? I have to sharpen my quill pens . . . .


:50: It's not like when I was a lad and all we had was internet forums :50:

PS

twitter.com/RichardW1 - I'll be happy to let you follow my sad, insignificant world

:50: It's not like when I was a lad and all we had was internet forums :50:


Bah! You're all just a bunch of damned hoodlums! All that hi-tech gadgetty stuff is making everyone soft, I tell ya.

In my day, we were tough. None of this fancy-pants techno-crap. Why, if we wanted to change a channel on the TV, we had to actually get up and walk all the way across the room.

Now where did I put my pocket knife? I have to sharpen my quill pens . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N2E93VzQSA&feature=related

No twitter, no text. Though I do use Facebook.

For me it was like a bomb went off in my life last Spring...well actually the second bomb (first was Oct. 2007). When the first bomb went off I found so much comfort and support from everyone here on the NorCal forum...I don't think I've ever made so many friends in such a short amount of time. It truly helped make my life worthwhile, when I seriously didn't think I wanted to be here anymore.

I agree that I to miss so many good people that just don't seem to post here anymore and I see so many new people that I'd like to get to know.

The second bomb was last Spring around the time of the Davis Double when the reality of my life situation hit me like a ton of bricks and I kind of spiraled down. I remember being at the bottom of the last climb of the Davis double and It all hit me...all the **** I was about to go through and everything I had experienced since 2007. I bailed and hitched a ride to the top of the hill. As I sat there completely toasted and defeated, one BF member after another seemed to come through and offer me comfort and encouragement yet again. Then Curtis pulled me through to the finish.

I won't go on and on...you've probably heard it all (the whining). This last year has been the hardest struggle of my life. Again through Facebook, twitter and this forum I feel like the astronaut in outer space looking down and feeling like I want to get back to the life I had...It's getting very lonely out here. I actually feel a sense of guilt that I haven't been posting/participating with my friends.

Personally I want to get back to this community even if I have to force myself. I think the coming of Spring will stir things up a bit, it is a kind of dead time of year. The economic climate and the abundance of sadness in the world today has an effect on everyone probably deeper than we all realize.

I do feel a little better right now, I think I'm starting to come back a bit. I've had some nice things happen recently that are kind of pulling me out of the abyss I've been floundering in this year. Sometimes when I've been really feeling down and out I remember the great rides we had together. Arriving late to some rides when everyone is there waiting and that warm cheerful reception I'd get sometimes. What a great time I've had in those few years....I want more of that.

My biggest problem right now is time and the fact that I'm just not in the greatest shape for doing the big rides. I'm hoping this is temporary. I really like reading about what you all are doing and the great epic adventures, pictures so please let's not discontinue that.

Twitter and Facebook are OK, but we're all still NorCal'rs at heart ... Now cue music to "We are Family"...OK...I'm a douchbag!

Pete, come out and join me when I start recovery rides from surgery. Your company would be most welcome, and I'll even buy lunch!

I love you too...and I haven't even met you!

We did meet once Pete. You came out to a ride in the Delta with Curtis. It was 50 miles or so and there were some tandems along.

We did meet once Pete. You came out to a ride in the Delta with Curtis. It was 50 miles or so and there were some tandems along.

Err...Unhh....I mean, I never met you this year...my bad.
That was a star studded adventure, and I"m old dammit!

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/CurtisJoel.jpg

We did meet once Pete. You came out to a ride in the Delta with Curtis. It was 50 miles or so and there were some tandems along.

Err...Unhh....I mean, I never met you this year...my bad.
That was a star studded adventure, and I"m old dammit!:p

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/CurtisJoel.jpg