msincredible

Hi all, my name's Paula, I'm new to the board. I'm 35 and live with my two dogs in Foster City. I used to commute by bike to school/work for a few years, then circumstances changed and I was unfortunately without a bike for a few years. I got my current bike, a Cannondale hybrid, last year, for fun (unfortunately my current commute is not amenable to biking).

I did my very first bike tour ever last month, it was a week-long solo tour of County Clare, Ireland. I averaged about 55 miles a day on a rental mountain bike (needed because the road surfaces are sometimes really bad) in driving rain and gale-force winds most of the time. Despite the bad weather I had a total blast and would definitely do it again! That was the most I have ever ridden, and after I got back home I found I missed being on my bike all day every day and so have been riding more again when time allows.

I am signed up for my first charity ride (Tour de Max) on August 12.

My other interests include motorcycle riding, kenpo karate, hiking, running, and music (primarily violin and piano). I also travel a lot, mostly for work (flew 130K miles in 2006!), I'm actually posting from Osaka, Japan right now. Looking forward to meeting some of you and hopefully joining in on some group rides.

spingineer

Welcome to BF, Paula. Hope to see you out on the road. Not sure about this month, but we normally try to have a BF ride of the month. Have fun in Japan. Have a safe trip back.

uspspro

Paula,

I when I saw your Ireland pics, I stumbled across your Ducati, and track day pics. Very nice bike, and Thunderhill is a fun track from all I hear (I hang around with a bunch of racers/track day goers). I autoX my car, and I would have tracked it, but need a damn roll bar

cantdrv55

I guess I'm not the only one into autox and track here. I track with Trackmasters at Thunderhill and Sears Point.

msincredible

Nice car, uspspro, looks like you're having fun. I had a great time at Thunderhill, will be going back in October. How nice to share multiple interests!

So how do you explain your handle?

cantdrv55

No action pics

uspspro

nice!

uspspro

Since there are some car people here..

Here's what I installed in my MR2 Spyder... not in that configuration (The piping ended up being a bit more complicated to fit it in the engine bay).



EDIT: Also I weighed the car on a scale and it was 2200 lb on the dot with around 1/3 tank of fuel.

cantdrv55

How much more hp?

uspspro

It was at 235 rwhp (around 275 crank hp) with the stock down pipe and catalytic converter (which gets to less than 2 inch in dia. at one point)!!

since then, the catalytic converter exploded (haha) and I had to gut it for the time being.

I am going to replace the pipe with a full 2.5" down pipe with metal cat. Should be a big improvement!

I am hoping it will make around 250rwhp (close to 300 crank hp) after that.

It really makes a 2200lb car scoot!

cantdrv55

Wow, 8.8 lb per hp! That is supercar territory. My 911 is 15.6 lb per hp and is plenty fast for me.

uspspro

and that's wheel HP too

peak power is at redline, but the pull is rising and linear, so it's civilized around town.

msincredible

My Ducati has 70 rwhp, of course the big difference is that all together (bike with full tank, myself + gear) we weigh under 500 lbs.

uspspro

You got me beat there

That's like 7.14 LB/HP

Motorcycles are crazy indeed

cantdrv55

I didn't know the MR2 had so much under the hood in stock form. Have you driven a Miata or S2000? How does the MR2 compare in handling?

Yep, the Ducati and Paula would dust us.

uspspro

Oh no... that's not stock... Stock it makes only 140hp at the crank! hehe

Those figures are with the supercharger.

The handling is great. However, I could use a little more front sway bar, since the spring rate is a bit soft in front.

SteveE

Genejockey -

Did I see you on Junipero Serro, heading north near Stanford Ave. last Sunday? I was on the tandem with my daughter heading toward Los Altos. This would've been sometime around noon.

- SteveE

sj_roadie

Haven't made it to the track yet, but since I'm here - two wheels good, four wheels baaadd



my other bike is an F2, which is actually the one I'll probably end up taking to thunderhill.. it's my beater bike

cantdrv55

Didn't know we have so many track junkies here!

mtnwalker

Hey guys. Antonio from Sunnyvale here. I've been in the forums for a while mainly in commuting and road cycling and sometimes in foo. I love to ride so much that I made it a part of my workday. I commute 5 days a week for a 22 mile r/t. I just rode in my first organized ride at the 2007 Tour de Peninsula and that was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to more tours in the future. I'm mostly a roadie now though Mtn biking is still a pleasure I sometimes still delve in.

See you guys on the roads. Or trails. Or both.

BlastRadius

Welcome. Check out some of the rides we get organized sometimes.
Haven't organized an off-road ride yet though.

the_ali

Hello Everyone! My name is Ali- I will be turning 24 this weekend. I am pretty new to the cycling world- but I love it. I have been a runner for years and my dad Lance, a triathlete, got me interested in cycling. I have a Giant OCR1 which I have started to really ride this past year. I rode in the AIDS lifecycle this past June as well as a few metric centuries since. I am finding I really enjoy hills (which at this time last year I would never have imagined saying) as well as long distance rides. I am always up for an event- and I really want to participate in more. I would definitely like to join a team for an upcoming event.
I have a pretty long commute from San Jose to Hayward and with the combo of long hours it can be hard to get as many rides in during the work week as I would like to. I have joined a a spinning class twice a week to get some sort of training in. My big goal for next year is to attempt a DC next year... so anyone who is up for some training rides please let me know!!!

genejockey 

You wouldn't have seen me on the 5th, because I was on the East Coast. But you may have seen me on the 29th of July. I'd likely have been on Junipero Serra about that time.

uspspro

Hi Ali, nice to meet you.

You should join some of our rides.

I have a commute similar to yours, except on the other side of the Bay (Downtown SJ <-> San Mateo)

My solution to finding ride time was to ride home from work (I ride/take calTrain otherwise), rather than try to squeeze a ride in after I got home.

That way I get in a 32 mile ride 1x or 2x per week. I think it's a bit harder to find a good route over there though.

- Marco

spingineer

Hi Ali,
It was fun having you on the ride at Tour de Max. It was a lot of fun. I'm probably continue my doubles trainings, so we can definitely hook up on some training rides. Maybe we can reel in Jobob ... she's scheduled to do Solvang Double this year (although Autumn is much tougher than the Spring version that I did earlier this year). You have good base mileage with Aids ride, so you should do fine. In fact, you'll probably be passing me on the Labor Day ride.

Welcome to BF!