new from tn
 

Hi all. My name is Brad, I'm 19, and I live in Murfreesboro, TN, USA. The 'boro, as we call it here, is about 30 mi. south of Nashville. It's a pretty cool little town, which happens to have a state u of about 23k kids.

I've been riding bikes of different sorts since I was about 8 or 9, but haven't actually ridden one recently since I was about 16. I rode a Wal-Mart bike, singlespeed with a *****in' coaster brake for a few years, and then got into BMX when I was about 12. This led to freestyle, which led to flatland, where I found my home. I rode a highly modified Mongoose freestyle bike from about 13-16. I was pretty alright. Then it got stolen one day outside my school. And I hadn't ridden since then.

Having moved to go to college here about a year ago now, I'd been looking for quite awhile into getting something cheaper to move around than my Jeep (which gets about 11mpg :D ). I decided on biking, since we have a halfway decent amount of sidewalks around here, and I don't ever have to travel super far on a regular basis. Got a couple old bikes from my dad... both had dérailleur issues, which led me to Google, which led me to here, where I've been lurking for maybe a month and a half or so.

I'm now converting an old Schwinn LeTour (blue, maybe '68 or so) that I picked up on the cheap from a friend's dad to fixed (with a flip-flop). I've always enjoyed re-building bikes and cars, and restoration. So it's been pretty fun poking around on here looking at builds and drooling over the fully carbons and so on.

Not sure if anyone is on here from the Nashville area, but if so, gimme a holler. I'd love to go on a ride.

Well, if you've been lurking, you probably know your way around, but don't forget to say hello to the locals in the Southeast forum.

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

Hi Brad and welcome to BF.

Sidewalks are deathtraps for cyclists. Bicycles are VEHICLES in all 50 states. Ride on the road.

Check out the Southeast subforum. Lots of Nashville and TN folks.

Thanks! As far as the whole sidewalk thing goes... this here is a bit of a dangerous town to be riding on the road, during normal commuting hours at least. I'm fairly certain that around 40% or possibly more of the automobiles on the road are either '00 or so F150's or some big SUV... Add to that college kids, and otherwise completely oblivious drivers, and very, very few pedestrians, and the sidewalks are looking a whole lot better.

Having now commuted for a couple weeks, I've found that there are some ridable roads (usually the busiest ones, due to the recent increased size of the lanes), and there are some that are best kept away from. I ride quite a bit between 10pm-2am, so most of the time I have free range. Nothing like shooting around with a couple friends down a four-lane+median in the middle of the night to make you feel like you own the world :-P.

If you do ride on sidewalks, recognise that they have their own dangers :eek: ! It takes practice to get used to riding in traffic, and there's nothing that says you have to start with the biggest, baddest road. Let's see some photos of that bike in the commuting forum, ok?

East Hill

Hi Brad. Welcome to the forums from a fellow Brad! :)


... Brad

Hey Brad,

My stepdad's people are all in McMinnville or in neighboring Grundy County. I've driven through Murfreesboro quite a few times getting there from Michigan, where I grew up. Welcome!

Um, (belated) thank you. :-P

Also, I am now a car-free bike commuter... thanks mostly to the myriad of problems with my Jeep, and the most recent death-blow of a blown transmission.

From another Brad ... welcome to the forums! :)


... Brad

Well, Brad, I realize it's not the easiest thing in the world to be car-free where you live, but there are people here who have been car-free in worse places. You'll be able to get a lot of tips, if that's what you're looking for. :)

Gee, sounds kinds like Atlanta. :o

Hi Brad, welcome!

Could you say a bit more on that topic?

I always thought sidewalks were safter for cyclists.

^ check your state's DMV website for rules; as RonH said, bicycles are vehicles and supposed to ride on the road.

Here's a brief guidebook from NY, but I bet you can find one by googling your state's department of motor vehicles website: http://www.nysphysicalactivity.org/s...tion/IB_17.pdf

I don't know what the rules are in Houston (where I currently am), but in Florida (where I used to live), there are rules for riding on the sidewalks. . . .


http://www.dot.state.fl.us/safety/pe..._bikeLaws1.htm


But in any case, my real question was in relation to the "deathtraps for cyclists" part of the comment.

Get comfy and read up, my friend.

Yes, it seems like there is quite a discussion on the matter.

I will say this:

I'm really, really sorry to hear about that. There is one thing to keep in mind, however. Drunk drivers do get up on sidewalks and hurt and kill people that way, too. There's no way to predict what they will do.

That is true.

Although I think that there is a larger group of drunk drivers who are drunk, but yet not so drunk that they can't stay on the road.

The guy who hit my brother was 2 times over the legal limit, but he did manage to keep his car on the road, and he didn't hit any other cars.

Cyclists are at more risk from drunks (or other less-aware drivers) because they are smaller in size, and probably not moving as fast as the other traffic on the street.

And obviously the harm is much greater to a cyclist when such an accident occurs. Something that might not be that serious to a person in a car might be lethal to a person on a bike.

I can agree with that. I myself am fairly nocturnal, so I don't see much of the pedestrians (not that we have many anyway, why walk when you can drive?), or the cars.. That means I have no problems riding the sidewalks and sides of the road... but, I can also just take the lane and ride all over if I get the itch. But, I've noticed a fair amount of drunkenness and stupidity while driving and while biking. I think maybe it's just human nature?

Also, I need to find out what the rules are on macing people who scream things at you while you're biking down the side of the road. I had a guy riding in the backseat of (most likely) someone else's car yell "get a car, a******!" at me. I really wanted to mace that guy... :p