Happy Birthday!

I love those Corsas. Vittoria finally brought back ribbed tread! They make who knows how many very workable cotton ribbed tread training tires BITD. With any label they were paid to put on. I never knew what I would get when I ordered from Palo Alto Bike other than they would be decent tires and serve me well. (Within the limits of Murphy of that famous "law".) Now that superior tread is back! In better compound (by a lot) and on a much better tire .

'53! Another DDE baby here, same vintage. My biking has taken a serious hit as I realize I need to walk for ankle strength, balance and for as few falls as possible going forward.

And back to the Corsas. Now this story is from before I switched back to tubbies but it emphasizes what I love about that tread. So - I was riding a narrow rural county road on the backside of the hills south of Portland. No traffic going my way but a solid line going 50+ the other. A hot Civic? pulls out from the end of that line to pass. Well, there's no shoulder, just a ditch. But! Just before the car arrives I come to a dirt farm road where they widened the county road about 2 feet. I pull onto it. The car passes me going 70? And I look up. Widened pavement's ending. Back to the ditch. A patch of damp sand just before the launching into the ditch. I cut the wheel over hard to (hopefully) climb back onto the road but this is on that sand. And the front tire just climbs up, no big deal. Rear the same. Even boring. Except my heart didn't think so!

And to this day - those are my all-time favorite tires, better since they are now sewups and if I glued them right, they're never coming off, even if a farmer destroys them with a shotgun. (That was/is the driving force behind the switch. Coming off, not the farmer. I had an old clincher blow and come off going a little over 20 mph. That crash is one I never want to do again. I woke up with the nightmare of doing that going over 40 many times. Back when I raced, I blew tubbies going over 40 at least once. So uneventful I do not remember the where, whether front or rear or how many times. That one clincher experience will be etched in my core 'till I expire.)

And back to today's ride - humbling! Took my fix gear out to climb a local hill. (The bike in my avatar photo, designed for easy cog changes to reflect an aging man who loves riding fix gear, even uphill.) Left the house on a sedate 42-18. Got to the hill and flipped the wheel to the 24 tooth cog. Got over the initial super-steep stretch but had my eyes opened the next time the grade ramped up. It was obvious that one of three things was very likely to happen 1) I hurt myself; pulled muscles, knees ... or 2) I come to a stop and fall over; not having time to release my toestraps or 3) have a heart "incident".

So I stopped. Maybe 5% of the way up my favorite hill. Put the big gear on. (Really just to check the bike out - it had been a long time since I'd ridden a serious hill on that bike.) Rolled down then up and down the little bumps of the next couple of miles to get some heavy lifting training on my legs. Put the flat ground cog back on and moseyed home, quite humbled. This guy doesn't have the legs he was known for. Walking, even carrying real weigh up steep hills just isn't muscling a fix gear! I've got work to do. Next time I'll do that hill with my geared bike. And do that plus ride the fix gear until I can get Jessica up that hill. (Jessica J, the bike I was on today.)

Jessica WILL conquer McCormick (McCormick Hill Road) before Labor Day. That's a promise from me to you guys and that gal.

I am guessing that the knees are not helping much with motivation. I have a few year to go to get there but it will come, it will come...

1950 for me and have been on bikes/trikes almost daily since 1953 (except when drafted) and can tell you all these are wise words from 79mooney. A month ago at a Diamondback/Dodge game somehow I fell, getting a concussion. I am riding again but am still dealing with dizziness and lightheadedness if I look up, lay down too fast, get up too fast or roll over too fast. Fortunately somehow doing well on my bikes, no issues.

I rode a fixed-gear bike a few days ago for the first time in about a year, having decided back then that I'd experiment with sticking to easy gears for climbing, in the hope of avoiding surgery on my painful left knee.

(I'd thought about swapping out the sprocket for a larger one, but it's easier to just use my bike with a triple crankset.)

To my surprise, the strategy worked. No left knee pain now, or almost none.

The ride on the fixed gear was interesting. (Still on the 72" gear I was advised to use when I got my first track bike in 1964.) Plenty of climbs, which can't be avoided in northern Baltimore County. Knee was mostly fine.

But: honking up those climbs! By the end of the 3.5-hour ride, my palms were burning from manhandling the bullhorns, and the back muscles over my ribs were giving me sharp pains. Weird. And I could tell that I'd pulled the left quad muscle. It was sore for a couple of days.

Even at my advanced age, I still recover pretty quickly from minor muscle strains, though, maybe thanks to the fact that I've never been tempted to do any stretching or gym work. I know that there are people who swear by those activities, but I've always done fine without them. Horses for courses, I guess.

Cheers!
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d1c4bc8302.jpg

What's worked for me is having a schedule. Having committed to it for several years, my growing appreciation for its element of determinism has been liberating. The schedule is to ride every 3 days, which makes it easy to calendar and over time it's been something to look forward to with more delight than trepidation. For me it has been an easy idea to stay with because I always feel better afterward and that's great aftersale.

Knees are fine after right knee replacement three years ago. Just enjoy other things . I do not have any health problems that stop me ftom riding. I enjoy rebuilding boat anchors. Anyone know what that is?
Ed

Guessing... since boat anchors seem to be fairly bulletproof, something to do with the retrieval mechanisms (larger boats) for retrieving boat anchors...

In the Ham Radio hobby Boat Anchors are old outdated tube type equipment that invokes a bit nostalgia to the hobby.

That's great- reminds me of testing vacuum tubes in old TVs...

My Dad was a technician and had a lot of that old stuff that he still used.
Names like Halicrafters I believe, but cannot remember them for sure.
He's been gone for 23 years now. Curious, did you ever communicate with Hams in the Las Vegas area 20 some odd years ago?

Also like old Macintosh stereos, reel-to-reel tape decks and the accidental invention of rock by Marty Robbins due to a faulty mixing table's, "fuzz bass" ('Don't Worry About Me', it's all over now)...

My current project is this Hallicrafter sx100. It is a heavy receiver 40 pounds, so they are called Boat Anchors.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e1beb40fe.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e17575429.jpeg

If you could possibly remember his call-sign I could search my logbook and check. I’ve been a ham for longer than that.

I remember it quite well. Sent to you via PM for privacy sake.

Crazy times- so surreal! Tehran is evacuating. Got a bike ride mañana.

24 minutes on the bike at 12.5 mph per hour equals 10,000 steps, walking. That translates to.... e.g., 5 mi. on the bike.

https://www.cmu.fr/en/heres-how-many...s-faster-9857/

Yesterday, I was informed that my right shoulder needs replacement surgery, and is scheduled for July 24. I had a bike crash last May 28 that resulted in a fully torn rotator cuff and separation of the ac joint. The repair, previously repaired in 2011, has failed. The shoulder is badly out of alignment, pointing to the front and upward. I also had 2 fractured ribs and 3 fractures in my neck, C1 and C2. Ribs healed pretty quickly, neck was slow and doing okay now.

I am looking at the upcoming procedure as a step forward. I have been dealing with the very painful shoulder for over a year. At my age, I knew there was the risk of this occurring. I will permanently lose some mobility, but that has was already chronically limited. I need to lose the pain.

Guy I know well, age 69- still pretty fit and doing skilled trade work, fell off a roof. First time I ever heard the term, a 'broken muscle'. Operation is over and undoubtedly all went well but still... a long rehab time...

My worst bike accident was off-road. Not the first but definitely the last. Road bike only for me now but... it's definitely not free of danger! Head on a swivel but I figure that too may be a form of perhaps mental exercise for older dudes, no? On my ride, given grades and headwinds and recovery from numerous knee surgeries, average mph of 12 mph seems achievable but just slightly out of reach so.... there's a goal outside of just exercise. I've gotten close enough to where I figure, if I ever have a wind out of the West (which is the usual situation) but end up with a nice breeze out of the South for the return leg,.. I'll blow that avg. mph away!

Sorry for the crash, the year of pain, and for the interruption to your life. I have a purchased shoulder, but that was because of osteoarthritis. Best of luck with the surgery.

Last Ride before Back Fusion
 

I have been riding for about 50 years, now 83.
Today rode 35 miles with a bunch of mostly 30-40 year olds. 2000 feet of climbing. With an average 20 mph.
I do this ride on a Trek Domane+ and can use the small motor on climbs. I can now do rides I couldn’t do 12 years ago. I recommend an e pedal only bike for anyone who is old and still an active rider. It is good for fitness if you choose to ride hard enough.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...991aebb061.jpg
71 and going strong. Dirt crits are a blast!