Introductions - HellooOoOoooOoooooooooOoO

Okay, first things first, this forum is a riot. I happened to link into bikeforums.net while searching for "road racing how to" (or something along those lines) while sitting here avoiding work. The "women's" specific forum is GREAT...which brings me back to my original "this forum is a riot" comment...

As for me...I've recently purchased a used road bike (00' Fuji Team) after spending years mtn biking on all the amazing trails here in the Pacific Northwest...it's quite interesting going from one to the other...completely different sports. Am thinking I'll give *racing* a shot just to see where I can go...

One last thing, I'm going to be moving to Los Angeles this August - any bikers (M or F - I'm F) interested in showing a newcomer great places to ride? Road or trail?

Gruuvee.
KARNA

:beer:

Welcome to the Forum!

I don't live on the left coast but...

I doubt you'll have any trouble finding people to ride with in LA. I'd check with local bike shops and see if they know of local training rides. I know there are some BikeForums members that are from California.

Join a club! Great way to get to know the locals and make friends. Depending on what kind of rider you are will determine what kind of club. Some racing clubs can be tough to break in to. Lots of competition and testosterone (sp?). Don't let yourself get intimidated. Go with the flow and have fun. Most clubs have a distinct shortage of females and will welcome newbies into the fold. There are also more recreational types of clubs and that is a good way to judge your fitness and how comfortable you feel with those riders.

I only say all this because of a third-hand experience of some friends that were darn fine (fast) riders in the midwest and recently moved north of San Jose and said they are still testing the waters and trying to find the right group. Even the fitness/recreational riders in some clubs are very hardcore and fast compared to other parts of the US.

Good luck with your big move to the south and the road racing scene.

Hey Bikeman ~

Thanks for the reply! As for the competition reference - the MORE the better! I was a successful athlete at the University of Washington (crew from 94-98) and have always fed off of intense athletic situations. It's actually hard for me to participate in any kind of sport w/out some sense of competition...my friends all just chuckle and let me do my thing...and so, maybe the LA scene will be good for me...lol.

It would be great to find some women riders who can kick my a**!

Toodles.
KARNA

:cool:

Karna,

Cool! I wish you the best. You sound like a strong, athletic person so you should have no probs in the LA scene.

Crew huh! I've always wanted to try that, and we do have local people that crew on the local rivers, but I could never break myself away from the bike for long enough to give it a shot. I think I'll stick to my Litespeed.

I'll be looking for your name on VeloNews (http://www.velonews.com) before you know it;)

Have a good one!

Welcome Karna.


Dave