caloso

"Hippies"?!?

Who talks like that? I haven't heard anyone ranting about hippies since the Reagan administration.

zymphad

No apologies from me. When I see hippy on a fixie blasting through red lights on a busy intersection cutting off pedestrians and other cyclists, no sympathies from me if they do get run over. While rest of us are trying to get roads safer and get cyclists and drivers and pedestrians to use the roads safer, they're being dickheads.

HTupolev

Not that this justifies anything, but when you write "hippy", do you mean "hipster"?

Because the mental image I'm getting right now is quit odd.

jon c. 

The usage has me puzzled as well.

TMonk

it's also spelled: "hippie"

Scarbo

I think he means hipsters or bike messengers or people who ride aggressively like that.

Hippies--that's archaic.

95RPM

Carbonfiberboy, post #23: These are really good thoughts that I enjoyed reading. This is why I visit this forum. Thanks!

Maelochs

I did some riding around jax several years back. Can't say I enjoyed, t but then, I rode where I hasd to ride, not where I wanted to, and I never found the good places to ride.

What you say about "B' rides hold firm for most areas I think. !8-20 mph is probably Safe for a "B' group .... probably won't be up front all the time, but probably not dropped. I have not been able to get into shape to ride with the local "C" group. I got there shortly before i broke my collarbone, and since, I haven't had time to ride the 35 miles they do each Saturday.

I could probably hang for the first 30 miles, but I wouldn't enjoy it ... and the last five would probably be bad enough i wouldn't go back.

So ... back to an hour a day four to seven times a week---or Maybe a slightly longer ride on my day off, but biking versus sleeping versus doing house and yard errands to keep the wife in check ... it's a balance.

I have never ridden in Chicago ... I have ridden some of its suburbs. It is nice in the lat spring through, I guess early fall, outside of the city. (I Hate cities.) How's the winter riding?

Maelochs

@ Zymphad ... let's be careful here. Most people would probably call me a "hippie." I know I can be a dick on these boards, but do you really want me to die?

Also ... grouping is dangerous. people are people. Your groups are all in your head. If one must group, group by behavior, not appearance---you know, "contents of the soul not color of the skin"? Radical Idea in some parts still I guess.

As far as riders who endanger themselves and others ... yeah, people who endanger themselves and others are not good people. At least not in that respect (martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi endangered a whole lot of their supporters, but it was somewhat voluntary for them I guess .... )

And yeah, I strongly dislike people who endanger others in any fashion.

But ... riding today I met a couple teens riding All over the road. I saw them way ahead in the distance coming my way, taking the whole lane. Then they split the lanes on both sides, one taking the oncoming lane, one the outgoing. Then they both came head-on, salmoning, in my lane, forcing me all the way to the center line.

They were both high-school-age teens, riding cheap undersized Walmart cruiser bikes, from the brief glance I got. Both bikes looked a little old. I could almost believe they had just bought them from some guy cleaning out his garage, and they were all jazzed to be riding their new bikes.

Thing is they were so ignorant and happy ... they seriously didn't have a clue that they were endangering themselves, and me, and causing potentially huge problems for a lot of motorists.

I took one look at their faces and realized nothing I could say would make a difference ... they were Way too clueless to touch ... so I smiled and went right by.

Nothing I could have said or done would have helped them right then ... but there were things I could have said or done which would have made the situation worse. I only hope they smarten up before anything bad happens.

grolby

This take is bad, and you should feel bad.

kbarch

Yup. Nothing to be gained by yelling at people or stewing over their bad behavior in situations like that, especially when all's well that ends well and everyone proceeds on their merry way.
That said.... some would say we shouldn't let people get away with bad behavior, and I tend to agree. But that doesn't mean it's our place to reprimand or that we should wish punishment on anyone. An avuncular warning - "careful, guys; don't get run over!" - wouldn't have been out of place if it was the kind of road that got any traffic to speak of.
I try to remember that one can let people know they are doing something wrong without getting angry at them, but it doesn't always come naturally, especially riding the streets of Manhattan where sometimes it seems all one hears is people swearing at each other.

Abe_Froman

Cold, windy, wet, snowy, salty, and dark.

DomaneS5

Hippies are the least of our problems.

Machka 

I view cycling as a challenge and an adventure.

I've been into ultra cycling since 2001 ... and it's great to be in it still. Still experiencing the challenge and adventure.

Maelochs

I absolutely agree, and I wish I had had time to think of that. I wanted to say something but I din't want them to just see another fat old man pi$$ing on their fun.... "Crazy kids! Get off my road!"

I just couldn't come up with anything that wasn't what I wanted to say (which really was "Crazy kids! Get off my road!") and was something they would have listened to.

So busy trying to ride faster, when i need to think faster.

Next time I will stay to the inside and force Them into traffic ... when one gets hit, i will tell the other, Careful .... "

Maelochs

I bet the pub stops are longer .... and on the ride home, I bet there are more "natural breaks."

DomaneS5

I fall somewhere between group C and B. Probably closer to B.

I live in a rural area/ retirement community so the group rides are either hardcore rich cyclists with old money who have a lot of free time and can spend hours every day riding... or leisurely church group rides consisting of mostly middle class people who only ride bikes maybe several times a year.

My type is very rare here... the middle class sap who can afford a decent bike and is serious about cycling, but has to work 45 hours a week and doesn't have time to devote hours every day to riding. I'm lucky to get in a 10 mile loop ride in the morning before work hours and the weekends are the only time I have to go on longer rides of 35+ miles.

merlinextraligh

It's better than most people imagine. Obviously it's flat which is the major downside.


But you have 100 miles or so of riding alongside the Atlantic Ocean from Amelia Island to St Augustine, that is all either bike lane, or low speed residential roads. Good portion of that is through undeveloped protected parks.

I would put the ride from Mayport to Fernandina Beach up against about any ride I've done anywhere in the world.

West of town there are still lightly trafficed rural roads.

Riding in the City of Jacksonville is a bit hit or miss, but getting better. Anytime a new road is built, or an existing road is expanded, they are required to add a bike lane. As more roads have bike lanes, with some planning you can do a lot of riding in Jacksonville connecting bike lanes and low speed residential roads. Takes a little planning though given the gaps in the bike lanes.

And with a little drive, you can actually find hills in Central Florida around Claremont, and rolling horse country around Ocala.

So North and Central Florida is not nearly the cycling wasteland that people may think.

Maelochs

I went up the coast on A1A once .... that was alright, but I should have planned the route better. I guess I should have tried the Gulf Coast, too.

When I lived in Orlando it wasn't a wasteland, it was a death trap.

I found some decent rides but mostly I was hardcore urban commuting five days and pleasure-riding one. I didn't have a car ... I didn't even know what a hill was until I hit the Carolinas.

I really should look up some rides in case I get back out that way. Any ride a seemingly rational BF poster (rational other than being a BF poster) ranks among "the best in the world" Is worth a glance at Google maps, at least.

merlinextraligh

^ take the Ferry across from Atlantic Beach to Hecksher Drive. Head North on Hecksher. There's bike lane and not much commercial traffic. Hugenot Park and the ocean are on your right, Timcuan Ecological Preserve is on your left.

You cross Fort George Inlet, and get an awesome view of the Atlantic Ocean, and Hugenot Park.

Next, your riding through Little Talbot State Park, and Big Talbot State Park, with sand dunes, coastal forest, and no development in site. All with a bike lane, and portions with a bike path if you want to get completely away from automobile traffic.

Next you cross the Amelia River, again with great long range water views.

Then you're on Amelia Island, which is developed but tastefully so, and mostly low density. On Amelia you have both bike lane and bike path. You pass through Amelia Island Plantation. If you get off the main road, you can ride through Summer Beach, an historically African-American beach community with some interesting history, and great ocean views.

Staying on the back road you're riding through a residential section with tree covered roads. Past the Ritz Carlton, you ride through a section of older beach cottages, with views of the ocean again. At the top of the Island, you can go through Fort Clinch Park, which has tree canopy covered roads which are nice in the summer time. Turn left, and you go into the small town of Fernandina Beach with quaint shops, and several good places to stop for lunch.

It really is a great ride.

You can do a similar ride south to St Augustine, combined these rides give you 100 miles or so of riding along the Coast with bike lanes, bike paths, or low speed residential roads.

I'm not sure there are many Metropolitan areas in the Country where you can access 100 miles of riding along the coast without riding in high speed traffic.

Abe_Froman

Exactly same boat here...between C and B I would say. I 'try' to get 3 bike commutes in a week, totaling about 75 miles. A nice evening in the summer, after work, when it's warm and still light out, is usually my favorite ride of the week. I'm itching to get at the bike after work, and it's relaxing at the same time.

Abe_Froman

Heh, nah oddly, I'm MUCH more likely to make additional stops in the summer. It's nice out, I don't mind dawdling and extending the ride time wise to take up a whole afternoon.

In the winter...it actually isn't terribly unpleasant on the bike. But gearing up is a pain in the butt, and I really don't feel like taking all my crap off to take a break in a pub, or putting it all back on. Easier to just press on until I'm home, even if it's 11F and snowing lol. Of course...in the dead of winter, I'm rarely on the bike if I'm not commuting, or just going a mile away to the pub.

Maelochs

I am saving this. if I ever get back there I will try that ride. Thanks.

Piratebike

I can only speak for me locally. There is a group of roadies locally that ride a couple nights a week and some on weekends. Kind of a snobby group that if you can't ride 18-20 mph you can't be part of the ride. I understand they are serious rides and live and eat fast and in shape and latest gear and talk strava and such. Other than that group, there is no local group of "just bike riders" that like o get out for a "comfortable ride".

Abe_Froman

18-20 in a paceline would be perfect for me. It's the 25mph that leaves me gasping and suffering, with bad knees the next day.

Hrmm. I think I may try out this ride. It is sort of on my route home from work:

https://chicagocyclingclub.org/Home/ViewEvent/3042