EchtoGammut

Thanks Geary, I will definitely try to keep an eye out for Slowpoke Rides, I took my first extended ride this morning and realized I am worse off than I thought

roadtrekkie

My name is Jennifer and I live in Sacramento. I biked extensively when I went to college in Davis and picked it up again several years ago for purposes of exercise/weight loss and commuting. I went from a freebie box store hunk of steel to an Iron Horse Outlaw Pro. When I moved from Davis to Rancho Cordova, I lived a mile from the American River Bike path. Unfortunately, I pulled my back during moving and didn't ride for about a year and a half.

In December 2007, I bought my Electra Townie and it broke my heart, but I had to sell the Iron Horse bcause I couldn't ride it anymore. I didn't start getting serious about biking until March 2008, but by summer I was biking 20+ miles/day on my Townie (especially after I replaced the 2" cruiser tires with 1.5" city tires). Over the winter I slacked off again, although I did buy a vintage Schwinn Traveler as a slightly faster bike.

I moved again in January 2009. We had a spell of gorgeous weather in February, so I started scouting routes from my house to the bike trails. In May I pledged 500 miles for May Is Bike Month (https://mayisbikemonth.com) (I did 400 miles last May). I got faster and better, so I picked up a Performance hybrid on clearance and was up to 20-25 miles/day to meet my pledge distance. I was not getting any faster, so I started picking the brain of a co-worker of mine who has raced bikes for 30 years. It started with a pair of SPD clips that I could wear on my MTB shoes. Then he wanted to see if any of his extra road wheels would fit the hybrid. Next thing I know, he loaned me a Bianchi road bike & I'm training for a 100k ride in October (the Condor Classic in San Juan Bautista).

The Bianchi was the right height, but too long, and after a little over a month, my shoulders/wrists/elbows were complaining too loudly to be ignored, so I started bike hunting. The more I read, the more I wanted to go with a women's specific design, which are hard to find used let alone new. I was lucky enough to score a 2007 Trek Pilot 1.2 WSD that had been bought, ridden a couple times, then stored in the garage for a year and a half when the owner decided she didn't like riding near traffic. It's basically new and a perfect fit. My solo rides are 25-35 miles 3-4x/week and the long partnered rides are now up to 59 miles. I need to start doing group rides to prepare for the 100k and I'd love to find another beginner to do some rides with during the week.

diablo

Hi Matt, I'm Pete. Turning 48 in 2 weeks. Live in Walnut Creek. Bought a Fuji Roubaix Pro '08 back in Jan. '09. To get into ''road" shape. Been mostly riding up Mt. Diablo from the North Gate. Looping around the East Bay using mapmyride.com, and enjoying meeting some great people on the bikes. Let me know if you want to ride together, and welcome back!

galyons

Matt, Pete,(anyone else!?) I, too, would enjoy getting together for rides.

Cheers,
Geary

galyons

I guess it is time to introduce myself. I will be 59 in a couple of weeks. I have been riding since ’86, but had to take the last year off due to plantar fasciitis, (running related injury ). Riding wasn’t an issue, BUT stopping and putting a foot down was excruciating. (And immediately falling over was a bit embarrassing!).

I have three grown daughters. Other activities include cooking, mushrooming, large format photography and old sports cars.

I ride a Cannondale CAAD8. Rode my ’86 Cannondale R500 until I bought the CAAD8.

My goal is to do Centuries in September & October, (Maybe even November!) I am back up to 62+ mile rides, so the goal is looking good.

Cheers,
Geary

EchtoGammut

I am game for some small group rides, I am recruiting people all around me as well that seem to be interested. So far I have lined up my sister (who used to train for triathlons, but has been out of the saddle for about 2 years) and my other sister's fiancée. I am trying to get a couple of other people on as well. As long as we call this the slowpoke club, I think they all would love to ride with more people.

I just did my first 20 mile (roughly) ride Sunday, over flat terrain (the Contra Costa Canal Trail from Pleasant Hill to The Weapons Station). It wasn't too bad, I probably could have gone another 10 or so miles with no problems. My goal is to be able to do the next Napa Century, so I think I have about a year to train.

EchtoGammut

Welcome to the group. Sounds like you are in better shape than I am. I love old sport cars as well, although I need to clean the Miatas out of the garage first (all three generations). I need to find a route that gives me around 50 miles round trip (without a lot of traffic), so any recommedations would be appreciated.

sinclac

My name is Chuck and live in Citrus Heights and i just turned 52, i have completed my frist 20 and 30 mile ride and i'm looking for ride partners.

msincredible

Welcome to all the new additions!

pmarcos

Just stumbled upon BF, what a pleasant surprise! Thought I'd introduce myself: I'm Paul, 41, live in Los Altos (south bay), work for Apple (yes, I'm a geek). The last "bike" I owned had a 700cc engine and didn't take much effort to ride.

A coworker was recruiting folks for Bike To Work Day this year which I decided would be fun to try. Sadly I didn't have a bike but was able to borrow another coworker's wife's bike (she's a tiny woman and I'm a 6' man which made for an awkward fit). Had a great time and since I was looking for a way to augment time in the gym I figured I'd start commuting. Bought a comfortable bike (Giant Cypress) a week later and have barely driven the car since. Having a blast so far!

Like riding a motorcycle, I prefer riding solo. It's my quiet peaceful time to myself. I stay off the main roads and have gradually been increasing the distance I ride during my commute. The side roads are wide, few cars, have a ton of options for variety and I like looking at people's houses/yards for inspiration for my own. To satisfy the geek in me, I track my rides with my iPhone mounted on my bike.

It's great to find this site, looking forward to meeting folks and learning tons from you all! As a n00b, I have lots of questions...

kyle16

Welcome to the boards Paul. Nice on the Apple job.

Ask away, there will be numerous responses to all your questions.

lopposse

My name is Ian and I have been riding for 2 months. I live in the Lake of the Pines area between Grass Valley and Auburn. I ride about 100 miles a week all solo. I am interested in finding a riding group or partners. I have several routes I take in the area ranging between 15 and 40 miles. I ride an entry level Schwinn road bike but look forward to upgrading soon. Any beginner friendly groups in the area?

sinclac

Check this on out.
https://www.bikehikers.com/

a1penguin

I jjust turned 52 and live in Santa Clara. I used to ride a lot when I was younger, but I've been a couch potato for several years because of my geek job and bad knees. When my car had to go to the shop unexpectedly, I got the mtb out of the garage to go fetch the car. My knees felt fine, so I started commuting to work 8.5 miles each way. I then got my relatively new 2003 road bike out and the tubes still held pressure! I've been averaging 3.5 days per week of riding to work. Last weekend I took my first long ride. It was 38 miles and I did rather well, except I had to stop twice on the Arastradaro/Alpine hill ride. I felt pretty good when I got home although I certainly felt the ride in my legs/knees for a couple of days. My endurance and strength are improving and that makes me feel good.

I find the forums here useful for tips/hints and reviews on gear.

kyle16

Welcome to the boards penguin!

Sean T

Hey All,
I'm Sean. Just getting into road racing after getting kinda burnt out on triathlon. I'm really looking forward to getting some low key racing under my belt this winter with SJBC and then hitting it hard next year
For anyone in the South Bay (SJ and south/north a ways) area looking for a ride hit me up.

-Sean

cantdrv55

Welcome newcomers. Looks like we have quite a few of you interested in slowpoke rides. As soon as my home remodel is complete (for this go around anyway), I'll be hosting one that will span both Carquinez Straits bridges and you're all invited to ride. If that route is too far from you, pick/plan a ride and post it.

c0urt

I guess this puts me out here with you all,
I think i have posted in more of these sub groups over the past 4 years.
any way i am courtland, I live in Fairfield, ca and I am still trying to learn my around. riding a masi fixed gear and trying to get my kuota k-factor out of storage in alabama.

BlastRadius

Hello Courtland,

Welcome, I've seen your posts in Foo and your stories on stupidhurts.org are hilarious.
Hope to ride with you sometime. There's a number of NorCal folks in fairfield too.
Foxy's Fall Century sounds like it's shaping up to be a a big BF gathering.

Henry

scottmorrison99

Welcome to Fairfield, c0urt! It's great to have another BF'er and fixed gear rider here.

Fueco

My name is Mike and I've been addicted to cycling for 19+ years...

I discovered cycling in high school when a club I was in did a group ride to Vasona County Park and back. It might have been 25 miles... But it got me hooked.

I did my first metric century the day before I turned 18 and my first real century a couple of years later. On a mountain bike... After a few years of bike commuting on that bike, I caved in and bought a road bike. That was spring 2001. In September that year I did my first double metric. And I've been a nutcase ultracyclist ever since.

In 2006 I did my first double century (Eastern Sierra Double). In 2008 I did my first triple century (LA Grand Tour Highlands course). And last fall I did my first 500 mile race (HooDoo 500). All in all, I've done 14 rides of 200+ miles, with a couple more coming up in the next month...

Locally, I love doing long rides with plenty of hills. I'm on a mission to do all of the notable hills in the area by the end of the year: my most recent new addition was Alba Road, which I did for the first time this past Monday. I also plan on doing some of the San Jose Bike Club's winter series races, as well as some of the Low Key Hill Climbs (did both last season as well).

In my spare time I enjoy: swimming, running, photography, rock climbing, graphic design, skiing, etc... Oh yeah, I also did my first Ironman Triathlon this past March in New Zealand. And I've signed up for another one for next summer to go along with training for team RAAM... Maybe I'm just nuts.

adacas

Hello Norcal folks my name is Adam and I'm 25 from the Central Valley. I've always been into riding bikes but mostly just cruises but I've been inspired the past couple of years to get into road biking. I finally dived in and bought a slightly used Schwinn Fastback Sport a couple of weeks ago and commute with it almost every day and do single rides mostly on the weekends. I'm hopin to improve my game and maybe join some group rides and maybe get competitive. I look forward to talkin to the rest of you

BlastRadius

Welcome Mike and Adam.

@Adam Seems a lot of the races are around Fresno so you're definitely in the right place if you want to "get competitive".

mebaxter

Hi all,
I'm Mike and I live in the east bay (Fremont) Mainly a road guy but I do own a XC bike. Though it is mainly used to cart my 2 year old son around currently. I race for Team Integrate (Cat 4), So hello there Henry. I have heard a few people mention this site so I decided to take a look.

BlastRadius

Hi Mike,
Welcome to BF. We should post some of our October LSD rides here and see if folks want to join.
Henry