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when you stop to check the critters out, and the critters stop to check you out.....
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4487/2...8b7df0_c_d.jpg Steve in Peoria (but photographed west of St. Louis) |
When you meet someone who had the same bike for 40 years and they laugh and say they will never sell it and you realize there are other people who think just like you.
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Originally Posted by RobbieTunes
(Post 20367099)
Following someone who really does dance the chain.
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Seeing an attractive person (man or woman) along the way.
Seeing someone smiling at me for no obvious reason except maybe it's because I have a smile on my face. |
A brand new chain.
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Riding to work this morning on my Austrian bike, I flashed back to noodling around Berlin with my wife on the Cadillac-like boat anchor bikes that were free for use with our hotel. |
The wave from fellow cyclists, especially commuters
the feel of "oh this is different, but good in it's own way" when I ride one of my bikes I have not ridden in while The smile i get from helping kids fix a bike (my neighborhood and co-workers know who to go to :) ) Noticing something new on a route i have ridden a million times. the smile I get from riding |
don't care for the smell of dryer sheets. amazing how far & wide that smell can fly
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Looking down and seeing that picture perfect, gorgeous fork crown.
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I driver passes you in there car and says "great pace" instead of "@#$*"
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The silence that settles over me when my speed perfectly matches that of the wind at my back.
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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
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The good:
Warm weather, an early 70ies high end Italian race bike, a winding inclined road with no cars, jumping out of the saddle for the summit and then going downhill. Feeling the wind in your face and being ready for the next climb - and looking forward to it. The bad: Mounting your NOS 70ies Cinelli bars finding out there was a reason they were left unused. Trying to align the brakehandles just to realize the bars are not symmetric... The ugly: Life getting in the way trying to get to the good. |
Originally Posted by Fahrenheit531
(Post 20368294)
The silence that settles over me when my speed perfectly matches that of the wind at my back.
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Originally Posted by thinktubes
(Post 20366956)
Getting the left and right brake levers positioned "just right". |
Getting a pedal bearing adjusted just right on the first try.
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Fresh fat tires.
Finding a fresh herd of cows, who seem to think you're their best friend ever. 😁 |
This whole thread, and my RRA after I have just overhauled it.
But this one really made me smile (and feel a bit sad)...
Originally Posted by RobbieTunes
(Post 20367099)
The sound of silence from the drivetrain; in every gear.
Noticing the different tire sound when I am on the white line. Forgetting about the water until the ride is over. Being warm enough the wind doesn't matter. Brake pads making contact at exactly the same instant. Equal wrapping. Glittering spokes in the sun. A perfect pelvic weld. Riding alone and suddenly smiling. Climbing on a solo ride. Riding so hard you can't climb stairs for 20 minutes after you are done. Dripping sweat with 50 miles to go and it's no big deal. Shifting ahead of the curve the entire day, without thinking. Following someone who really does dance the chain. Friends who get it, on bikes. cehowardGS's hug. Quick fixes. Kids on bikes waving. Taking a new route, and seeing a zebra and a peacock on different farms. Smelling freshly cut hay. Green lights that last. Figuring out the squeak is just your new shoes. Giving away a bike. A fit so good you forget it. That spot coming off the frame with WD40. Having the part someone needs. Clean white hoods. Watching a steel C&V bike descend gracefully and quietly past loud carbon wheels. The clean pop off a Presta. New tires. Cable housing bulges that match on each side. Matching ferrules. Smooth QR skewers. |
Originally Posted by crank_addict
(Post 20367448)
Tossing those flimsy training wheels away on a tykes bike and then running and pushing along them until they finally get that moment.... and away they go!
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The sound of a happy drivetrain purring beneath you on an extended stretch of road.
Perfectly centered brake calipers. Light, crisp brake lever effort. A bike/frame that rocks and dances beneath you when accelerating or climbing out of the saddle. Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX tires. Modern, yet still shiny, components that revive an old frame, allowing you to focus on just how lovely it is (because everything else works properly and safely--not a distraction). Not having a headwind to fight. |
A top normal fd, an open cage rd, and supple tires.
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Originally Posted by nlerner
(Post 20368319)
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
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When I'm out on a long ride I love when I find a place to stop in the quiet countryside, where I can just watch as the breeze passes through the trees and grass, and realize that for a moment it's not about the exercise, or the machine, or anything else except that I'm there. My mind and body are put in such a state by the effort of riding that I can appreciate that solitude more than in almost any other circumstance. Perhaps that's why I ride at all.
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Some very interesting contributions! Some of you brought up things I'd never thunk of afore - thanks :)
DD |
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