geckomafia

I'm from Southgate, KY and new to cycling. About 5 years ago, I bought a Scott Sportster P6 to ride with my 2 daughters. After about a summer of riding paved paths, the girls lost interest, and I .... well insert excuse here. Anyway, most of my Sundays and some Saturdays are now free, so I've decided it's time to dump the excuses and start seriously riding. Now I just have to wait for my LBS to finish tuning my bike so I can get into the saddle. In the meantime, I'll be digging through the posts and learning what I can. Also, is it weird that I really don't know what type of cycling I want to get into? Do I go road, mountain, cyclocross? (not interested in BMX) Only time will tell.

10 Wheels

Hello geckomafia,

Welcome to Bike Forums from a Texas Road Rider.

linnefaulk

Welcome. You may enjoy all types or just one. It is good you are going in with an open mind.

Lacumo

Welcome to BF!

rm -rf

You are near this easy 25 mile ride that I posted in another thread. On the ride, make sure you go see "Shark Girl" at the Serpentine Wall.



EDIT--oh, Shark Girl is gone. It was a temporary installation.

geckomafia

Reser (LBS) called today. My bike is ready to pick up tomorrow! Now I just have to wait until Sunday to ride .....

geckomafia

rm -rf I might have to try that route this weekend, or at least a portion of it. it looks easy enough for an out of shape beginner like me.
I like the name by the way. I feel like I need to use vi to reply to you.

Oldbmxguy

I also live in northern ky, off the AA highway in camp springs. Looking to ride in a group, tired of solo rides.

rm -rf

Did you post that you ride a hybrid? If you are a fairly new rider, looking to increase mileage and speed:

Call Reser Bikes in Newport. They used to have a Tuesday evening ride, with a group going at a relaxed pace. I don't know if it's still running.

Check the Cincinnati Cycle Club's calendar.

Many of their rides are at least 16-17 mph on the flats, making an average speed of 14mph or higher. The riders can maintain that pace without stopping, but there may be a short bathroom break in the middle of the ride. That's a little too fast and too far for some new riders.

But they do have some easier, shorter rides. You don't need to be member to try a ride.

* This one, the shorter Saturday Breakfast Ride:The regular Breakfast Ride is 40 miles. The roads are marked with spray paint, and many regulars know the route. So it breaks up into multiple speed groups. I'm guessing that the slowest of these is about 16 mph on the flats. Just about all these riders will be on road bikes.

* The Monday "No Brainer" ride is just about done for the year. It's 11 miles each way, out and back from Anderson Ferry to the western dead end of Route 8. It tends to split up into very small groups of 1-5 riders, since there's no navigation and you can't get lost.

* There's a new Oakley Cycles ride on Wed evenings that sounds good.

* There's some weekday morning rides that are a casual pace, too.

Cycle Club rides tend to get a little faster than the advertised speeds in the summer and fall. Contact the ride leader in advance if you aren't sure about being able to keep up.

Oldbmxguy

Excellent info thanks. Yes I'm on a hybrid. I did a 30 mile sat with a lot of hills, and averaged 15mph. On flats usually around 18mph. I usually start off on flat about 20 and end up around 15.lol it is all hills around where I live, so great training, but hurts your average. I have no idea how I would do on all flats.

roy

rm -rf

Wow, that's really good. It's all hills in N KY! The only "flat" roads I know of near Camp Springs is Route 8 and Route 10.

You'd be fine on many Cycle Club rides. Just about every club ride includes some hill climbs.

Oldbmxguy

Route 8 up here is a little dangerous riding solo, but I have done it. Also route 10, and even did some riding on route 27. There are a lot of riders that go by my house, but they are rolling. I would say 25 mph. I think they use the hills for training. I have a nice loop around me that is 3.5 miles, some good down hill and up hill. Sometimes I do that, but it gets old seeing the same scenery. My hybrid is a 21 speed. gears currently are 48-38-28 and 14-34. Just ordered a new cog 13-28 I want to try a little different gear for flats. 700x40 so the tire width holds me back, but the gearing is ok. The old engine holds me back.lol