How I roll, err commute.
 

This ought to satisfy fred hater's curiousity as to how I commute, what I ride when I commute and what I wear when I commute.

First I ride a 7+ year old SWB, OSS Vision R40 recumbent. It is my ONLY bike. I own nor ride any others. I have no problem with it. I love my bike, wouldn't trade it for anything. She has carried me far and will carry me much further.

She has been carrying me to and from work for the past 4+ years. Over these 4+ years I have always worn some type of synthetic moisture wicking clothing to ride in, but not (dare I say it?) actual bike clothing. More along the lines of running cloths or general work out cloths, something someone would wear in an aerobics class, etc. Not that I have to justify it but I don't need padded shorts or snug bike jerseys. Though I do have and wear up to 4 actual bike jsersey's. 3 of them are from a ride called RAGBRAI, (google it), the other is a beer brand bike jersey, my favorite beer in fact. For shorts I wear Under Armour under short, kind of like a non-padded skin type short and Under Armour over short. I now prefere Smart Wool multi-sport socks. I do wear inexpensive crochet mesh back natural leather color gloves. Don't need gloves on a recumbent but I feel naked with out them and the really cool tan I get is a great conversation starter and ice breaker. I also wear road shoes with Look cleats/pedals. In fact I just bought a new pair of Specialized full carbon fiber sole shoes, can't wait to try them. Same upper as the nylon sole pair I have been using for the past 3 years. I do wear a helmet. A white Specialized Air Force with visor and a take-a-look mirror on it as well.

That is what I wear, now for what she, (the bike) looks like. First she is red and her seat frame/cover is black. In the front derailer mast she has a T shaped piece that holds the 2 front head lights, one is operated by a rechargable Li Ion battery and the other is operated by 3 AAA batteries. Just behind the T piece is a bottle cage strapped to the frame. In it is held the bottle for her Air Zound, on the top of it is the battery pack for the front head light. Going to the middle now is her steering. As I said she has OSS, or over seat steering. On her handle bars is attached the computer and horn for her Air Zound at each end of the handle bars is a mirror, yes I use 2 mirrors on the handle bars. The horn is attached to the bottle via a tube that is wrapped around the steering tube. Her front wheel is 20" and has a Planet Bike fender. Then there is her seat, the most comfortable bike seat I have ever perched myself upon. Brooks up your arse saddles don't hold a candle to my Vision's seat. Just behind the seat attached to the seat cover straps is the Camel Bak pack that holds my 70 oz water bladder. When riding, over the seat frame, covering the Camel Bak is the her Vision Day Bag. It holds things like spare tubes, patch kit, multi-tool, first aid kit, cell phone, credentials, money, etc. Most importantly though the bag holds my entertainment, or music. That's right my Vision loves me so much she carry's the MP3 player's and external speakers in the bag so I can more easily enjoy riding and she enjoys taking me where I need to go. We now move further back to the 26" rear wheel, which also has a Planet Bike fender. My Vision and I love these new fenders, just added last year. They help protect both of us from the road crap and water when we cruise in the rain. Over the rear wheel, attached to the seat stays and chain stays is a TREK rack. It is still in great shape but looks well used. It is what holds and supports the pair of saddle bags used to haul my change of cloths that I change into when I get to work. They also hold toiletries, my lunch, etc. My Vision loves the rack and saddle bags as much as if not more then I do. Prior to buying them I used to use a back pack behind the seat, this was pre day bag days too. Neither one of us like the back pack. We both agree and like the rear rack, day bag and saddle bags much better.

Other things I have attached to the TREK rack is Wald folding baskets. We use these when we run errands. We have hauled cans and bottles to the redemption center, recyclables to the recycling center and done grocery runs.

As I mentioned I use 2 head lights. I also use 3 tail lights attached to a piece of corroplast which is attached to the very back of the TREK rack.

On the fenders, frame, TREK rack, seat frame, fork, chain stays, seat stays, even the steering tube is reflectors, and reflective tape. We do a lot of comuting at night. Need to make sure motorists see us. After all we'd both hate it if something happened to the other.

When she is not wisking me to and from work or on errnads at around 12 mph avg., we are not using the saddle bags or baskets.

When I bought her she was only $900 with my $200 road bike trade in, so in total she was $1,100. Not too expensive and not too cheap. She has Shimano Deore group and a 9 speed cassette.

Do I care what others look like when they ride? No. Do I care what others think of me when I ride? No. Am I as uptight about what people look like and label them as freds like our resident fred hater? Hell no! Do I get pissed when people go zinging by me? Nope. Do I love riding? Oh yeah, especially commuting!

Do my bike and I platonically love one another? I'd like to think so. I take care of her and do right by her. After all she is my ONLY bike and at times my one and only method of transportation.

This is how I roll, err commute.

It got too long... I couldn't read the whole thing. A picture would have made your point.

Yea I read the first line then scrolled down and thought, hmm, if it takes that long to describe ones bike then the biker must belong to the family of 'Fred'

Chris

One thing that's nice about the commuter section of this board is that we don't have a lot of hate and discontent. The fred talk is all in good fun. I think all commuters should look like freds because of the time we ride and the amount we ride and because we're going to work.

That is a very long apology.

This thread is useless without pics.

I one day aspire to be a Fred, ah the commute, the extra luggage, dam long distance (40K's, one way) and the fact that my bike sucks and is heavy like someone from the biggest loser is hanging off the back wheel

Chris

The intricate detail of your bike's description prompted me to re-word this quote from "Full Metal Jacket":

"This is my R40. There are many like it but this one is mine. My R40 is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my R40 is useless. Without my R40, I am useless."

Seriously though, that's a good biking attitude.

You are only a true cyclist when you learn to become one with your bike.

Chris

Then if you have multiple bikes, do you have to have multiple personalities? ;)

Thanks for complete description Square & Compas. I see that we have come up with similar answers about carrying water on our recumbents. I also hang my Camelbak on the seat and then a backpack over it. How do you keep the mouthpiece handy? I tuck the tube in between my helmet strap and my neck, and while this works, I think that in case of an accident, that it would not be good.

http://www.pointhappy.com/gcf/BacchettaSm.jpg

What "fred hater" are you talking about?

I'm beginning to think that people who don't wear bike clothing think that the people who do wear bike clothing hate the fact that (or care at all about) the people who don't wear bike clothing don't wear bike clothing.

I hate the fact that I'm too lazy to wear bike clothing to work and then change

So you wear bike clothing to work and then DON'T change? ;)

I just hate clothing.




And debates about bike clothing.

Coming later this month. Be patient. You're going to love how I introduce her new look to the world.

Look at response number 5.

Clothed, I hope.

You can't be a Fed without photo proof.

I only read about 3 sentences. How I roll is, I don't care who thinks what about how I roll, so I'm not going to explain myself.

This thread is puzzling.

-dj

The Airzound should clear things up for you. ;)

Or an ice pick.....

Photo's won't be of me, just the bike. Won't be today. Almost forgot she is in the shop getting beautified.

Not going to pose next to the bike in a halter top and a pair of hot shorts?

I can help you fix that.

Cliff notes and pics please.

She!!??

Dude...If my bike had female anatomical parts, I would never leave the house.

Ok, I don't care at all about all this Fred talk, but I do want to know about your RAGBRAI experience!! I (and my husband and quite a few friends) are seriously considering a trip to Iowa for RAGBRAI 2010 (no vacation time in 2009). I hear nothing but good things, so please, let's hear about your RAGBRAI experience!

My experience had been really good. I have done the whole week of RAGBRAI in 1998, when I still had my road bike, and in 2007 on my Vision. I did one day in 2005, 3 days in 2006 and was supposed to do 2 days in 2008, but was sick only did one day and that was miserable. I didn't get sick until I got to the overnight town I started from in the middle of the night. I should have just went back home, but sucked it up and stuck it out and regretted it.

There are more then one way to do RAGBRAI. What I mean is you can join a charter, go with a club/team, go with the large main group, do your own thing and drive a RV or vehicle towing a camper. How ever you decide to do so in 2010 I recommend being registered. YOu can try and go bandit and a lot of people do, but to be with a charter or the large main group you have to be registered and if you have your own RV/vehicle it is harder to find a place to park it in the overnight towns. I have nothing against the bandits overall as far as I am concerned they should open it up, but being registered just makes it easier to do RAGBRAI.

In regards to registering for RAGBRAI there is a limit of how many registered riders that are allowed. It is up to 8,500 weekly passes and up to 1,500 per day day pass riders. And yes they do sell out of the weekly passes. It is a random lottery system that is used. Unless you are with a guranteed group you are subject to the lottery. I have never seen them run out of the day passes. As I mentioned there are what are called gurantee groups. Most of these are grandfathered in before the lottery started from way back when and unless they do something really stupid they are still a guarantee group. The club I belong to is such a group. One of the newest guarantee groups is the Livestrong team because they are a charity raising money to defeat cancer. I do not know how they became a gurantee group I just understand that they are. I do believe with the guarantee groups there are more then 10,000 registered riders a day, so these groups are not taking the credentials away from someone else who is subject to the lottery.

To train for RAGBRAI I recommend you ride in these conditions as much as possible; wind, tail, cross and strong head winds, rain, heat, humidity and hills. If possible all at the same time in the same day. All of these conditions can and have happened on RAGBRAI in the same day. You need to be ready for it. The ride does not stop nor is it cancelled for bad weather.

RAGBRAI ALWAYS starts on the west side of the state and goes to the east side. It is ALWAYS the last full 7 days of July. It DOES NOT always start or end at a river. When it does start at a river it DOES NOT always start at the Missouri River. It has started further inland from a bordering river. Iowa is actually bordered by 3 rivers not 2. The Mississippi, Missouri and Big Sioux. How ever when we started in Rock Rapids in 2007 it was near a river in that area as we were further inland from the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers.

You will need money. I recommend at least $500 per person and a credit/debit card of some kind.

You will also need to be used to riding with a large group. Unless you go off of the route you are never alone and there are hundreds of riders around you. You'll need to be used to either listening for riders that call out their intentions, use hand/arm signals and be prepared for riders that do neither. 75% of collisions on RAGBRAI are rider to rider. Draft/pace lines happen on RAGBRAI but are not recommended in a large group on a ride such as RAGBRAI.

Take your cell phone, but leave it off when on the route unless/until you actually need it. It will save the battery. And please don't ride and talk on it at the same time.

If there are 2 important things you should have on your bike during RAGBRAI they are sunblock and baby wipes. Sunblock for obvious reasons and I can not stress using it enough, SPF 30 or greater. Baby wipes because the kybos do not always have toilet paper and you'll likely want to clean your hands too. They also come in handy to clean your hands before you eat, or if you have to do something with your bike, change a tube, fix the chain, etc.

You will have fun. Make sure you stop in the pass through towns and see what the overnight towns have to offer. enjoy the food, music and atmosphere of RAGBRAI. It is truly something to be enjoyed and you will enjoy it all that much more if you're prepared for it.

I hope this helps. For more info go here; http://www.ragbrai.com/ and here; http://forums.ragbrai.org/