ls01

Oh...oh my....

genejockey 

You can make your own tacky bar tape by having a big swallow of sports drink go down the wrong way while riding. Ask me how I know!

MoAlpha

Don't. 5% is too low for anyone whose livelihood doesn't depend on it. I'm about 10% and have real concerns; namely, what would happen to me after a week in the ICU.

ls01

Come to Mi. They use federal grant money to build mups that are only in name. They're literally just sidewalks.
Or better yet. Take state monies to pave and dedicate a section of state road as a "state bicycle way" put up share the road signs and you are not allowed to ride on it. I have been literally threatened with arrest for riding on it

Mojo31

Just. Made. My. Day.

bampilot06

Yea, he basically stopped using it because of that reason. The super tack felt nice but I didn’t want just basic black. Boring. and the velvet tack was 20 more than I was interested in spending.

bampilot06

Damn that’s too far. According to my schedule I am in syracuse all day on friday.

ls01

news to me

genejockey 

To state the obvious, it's the MU part of MUP that causes all the problems.

There's ONE MUP that I ride on, and only because it's almost exclusively cyclists AND for 8 years it was the ONLY way to get from where I live to where I ride without just chucking the bike in the car. And even it is sometimes spoiled by the "MU" aspect - it's maybe 6-8 feet wide most of its length, but it's also very 'up-and-down', so you're either going >25 or <10 mph. There's a blind rise at the nadir, where bikes in both directions can easily be going >25.

Add walkers and it's an accident waiting to happen. Luckily, because it's so steep and doesn't really go anywhere people want to walk to, almost nobody walks there. Almost.

Then there was the time someone apparently took a horse on that path, and the horse took a dump....

ls01

You won't notice until you swap to a new chain and it doesn't mesh with the worn out components

genejockey 

I got a new cassette for the Battaglin last fall, and even though the chain wasn't all that old and there wasn't enough wear for either side of the Park chain tool to drop into the slot, it was loud and skippy. New chain - exactly the same model - and it was smooth and silent.

Trsnrtr

Agreed. Back in the '80s, I underwent a serious weight loss program over winter. In the Spring, I was racing well and finishing top 5 but couldn't win. One of the national coaches was in town for the weekend and estimated my body fat at ~4% using calipers. He suggested that I increase my weight to add stamina and help my sprint. It was the first and only time that anyone ever told me to gain weight and it worked out very well.

ls01

We have a power sports dealer on the mup near me. Had problems with his employees and customers for years. Until the cops went to the owner. I dont know what was said but no more problems.

MoAlpha

Must be why I'm so ******g fast.

abshipp 

Early last year two people rode horses on the recently re-done crushed limestone section of my local bike path. In addition to horses doing what horses doo, it was early in the year and they were punching post holes in the soft ground the entire way. At least they were considerate to stay mostly to one side

I think there's a sign at each road crossing now.

genejockey 

Woodside here tends to be a very 'horsey' community. They're usually on the paths alongside the roads, where I also see runners. I don't think I'd enjoy running on a path heavily used by horses.

It's also interesting to me the huge difference in how people view horse poop vs dog poop. There are - rightly - fines for not picking up after your dog in many places, but nobody even thinks about picking up after a horse. Yeah, different diets, but s*** is s***.

Mojo31

On one of our local MUPs you regularly see bobcat scat and coyote sheet on the path.

Trsnrtr

We have a large coyote population but I don't think that I could tell coyote poop from a dog's. I can tell their foot prints, tough.

rjones28 

I'm half an hour from the airport.

Mojo31

I assume it's coyote from the fact that it's really fresh early in the morning before anyone gets out there with their dogs. The makeup/consistency seems different than animals fed on prepared foods.

bampilot06

you working friday?

genejockey 

IIRC, coyote scat tends to have a lot of fur in it, since it's hard to eat a small furry animal, skin and all, without eating a lot of fur. Dogs don't generally get that in their kibble.....

Velo Vol 

Same. TYS, that is.

Velo Vol 

Facepalm

datlas 

I don't have the patience for this, but there are some cyclists who have cassettes and even chainrings that are for "slightly worn" chains, and as the chain wears they break out the worn gears....and resume newer gears for new chain.

I think life is too short to try that approach. I try to change chains when worn by approx 0.75%, change cassette (and now chainrings) when they are worn.