Passing out of the 'Fred' stage - Page 2 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

06-10-2004, 07:20 PM

"Badger_South" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
> Think I can now see the "light at the end of the Fred tunnel", if I can
> mangle a metaphor.
>
Using toeclips still pegs you as a Fred, unless you're riding a classic bike
and wearing wool. Then you're a retrogrouch. :-) Seriously, have you
considered an SPD-type pedal? You can get them with fairly wide platforms,
and they're double sided, so it's easy to clip in. I ride an ancient pair of
Look MTB pedals, and clipping in is super easy. They're discontinued, but I
think Crank Brothers makes the Candy SL, which is very similar in platform
size. Much easier to deal with SPDs than clips in traffic, IMHO.

06-10-2004, 08:57 PM

"Badger_South" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
> Think I can now see the "light at the end of the Fred tunnel", if I can
> mangle a metaphor.
>
> Today I rode hills again for the fourth day in a row and the legs feel
just
> fine (maybe the long winter and spring of long slow distance had primed
me,
> especially the week of long faster distance I did in Va Beach end of last
> month).
>
> I'm spinning pretty good all the time, and today I looked down and my
knees
> are only 5 inches apart - definitely not Fred territory! (my hip injury
> predisposes me to having the left leg flair out at times - the spinning is
> -definitely- helping the injury, BTW!).
>
> Got in and out of my toeclips without looking several times today, (thanks
> FK). ;-)
>
> I've now merged my am and pm rides into one long ride at every possible
> occasion, always trying to get in -at least- an hour per day.
>
> I've completed a half-century (but only on the old BSO)
>
> The weight has dropped more than 40lbs since I started, and the aero-belly
> is fading fast.
>
> I've finally got my test contact lenses and picked up some wrap around
> sunglasses - so I'm stream-lining.
>
> And of course, I have a real bike, so I no longer seem to have those
> ride-shortening aches and pains (butt, triceps, hands, hot-foot - all
gone)
>
> All I need is the blue fairy to tap me with her wand to turn me into a
real
> 'biker boy', eh? <g>
>
> -B
> Saying my prayers each night - think that'll help? ;-D

When you're saying your prayers, remember to pray that you don't ever have
to endure what is most definately the REAL rite of passage out of Fred-dom.
ROAD RASH! Road rash or some similar injury that leaves some sort of scar
that allows you to tell a bicycling story when someone asks you about it.
I'm loaded with them. Getting hit by a car will do that. So will crashing
on wet RR tracks when the leader of your paceline goes down and takes
everyone out. Pretty much all the "serious" riders I know can point to one
scar or another and tell you about the dog that flew into their front wheel
on a 40 mph descent or some such misadventure. Of course, there are a few
who can't point at all because of their broken collar bones.

I wear my scars as sort of cycling merit badges (though it would have been
far more meritorious to have avoided the incidents that caused them). But
I think one small one would have sufficed.

No ... saddle sores don't count.

Cherish your Fred-dom while you still have it.

Happy riding!

Bob C.
I sure don't mean this to discourage anyone from cycling. As my ER doc has
said to me a few times, "if you weren't in such great shape from cycling,
cycling would probably have killed you."

06-10-2004, 08:57 PM

"Badger_South" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
> Think I can now see the "light at the end of the Fred tunnel", if I can
> mangle a metaphor.
>
> Today I rode hills again for the fourth day in a row and the legs feel
just
> fine (maybe the long winter and spring of long slow distance had primed
me,
> especially the week of long faster distance I did in Va Beach end of last
> month).
>
> I'm spinning pretty good all the time, and today I looked down and my
knees
> are only 5 inches apart - definitely not Fred territory! (my hip injury
> predisposes me to having the left leg flair out at times - the spinning is
> -definitely- helping the injury, BTW!).
>
> Got in and out of my toeclips without looking several times today, (thanks
> FK). ;-)
>
> I've now merged my am and pm rides into one long ride at every possible
> occasion, always trying to get in -at least- an hour per day.
>
> I've completed a half-century (but only on the old BSO)
>
> The weight has dropped more than 40lbs since I started, and the aero-belly
> is fading fast.
>
> I've finally got my test contact lenses and picked up some wrap around
> sunglasses - so I'm stream-lining.
>
> And of course, I have a real bike, so I no longer seem to have those
> ride-shortening aches and pains (butt, triceps, hands, hot-foot - all
gone)
>
> All I need is the blue fairy to tap me with her wand to turn me into a
real
> 'biker boy', eh? <g>
>
> -B
> Saying my prayers each night - think that'll help? ;-D

When you're saying your prayers, remember to pray that you don't ever have
to endure what is most definately the REAL rite of passage out of Fred-dom.
ROAD RASH! Road rash or some similar injury that leaves some sort of scar
that allows you to tell a bicycling story when someone asks you about it.
I'm loaded with them. Getting hit by a car will do that. So will crashing
on wet RR tracks when the leader of your paceline goes down and takes
everyone out. Pretty much all the "serious" riders I know can point to one
scar or another and tell you about the dog that flew into their front wheel
on a 40 mph descent or some such misadventure. Of course, there are a few
who can't point at all because of their broken collar bones.

I wear my scars as sort of cycling merit badges (though it would have been
far more meritorious to have avoided the incidents that caused them). But
I think one small one would have sufficed.

No ... saddle sores don't count.

Cherish your Fred-dom while you still have it.

Happy riding!

Bob C.
I sure don't mean this to discourage anyone from cycling. As my ER doc has
said to me a few times, "if you weren't in such great shape from cycling,
cycling would probably have killed you."

06-10-2004, 08:57 PM

"Badger_South" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
> Think I can now see the "light at the end of the Fred tunnel", if I can
> mangle a metaphor.
>
> Today I rode hills again for the fourth day in a row and the legs feel
just
> fine (maybe the long winter and spring of long slow distance had primed
me,
> especially the week of long faster distance I did in Va Beach end of last
> month).
>
> I'm spinning pretty good all the time, and today I looked down and my
knees
> are only 5 inches apart - definitely not Fred territory! (my hip injury
> predisposes me to having the left leg flair out at times - the spinning is
> -definitely- helping the injury, BTW!).
>
> Got in and out of my toeclips without looking several times today, (thanks
> FK). ;-)
>
> I've now merged my am and pm rides into one long ride at every possible
> occasion, always trying to get in -at least- an hour per day.
>
> I've completed a half-century (but only on the old BSO)
>
> The weight has dropped more than 40lbs since I started, and the aero-belly
> is fading fast.
>
> I've finally got my test contact lenses and picked up some wrap around
> sunglasses - so I'm stream-lining.
>
> And of course, I have a real bike, so I no longer seem to have those
> ride-shortening aches and pains (butt, triceps, hands, hot-foot - all
gone)
>
> All I need is the blue fairy to tap me with her wand to turn me into a
real
> 'biker boy', eh? <g>
>
> -B
> Saying my prayers each night - think that'll help? ;-D

When you're saying your prayers, remember to pray that you don't ever have
to endure what is most definately the REAL rite of passage out of Fred-dom.
ROAD RASH! Road rash or some similar injury that leaves some sort of scar
that allows you to tell a bicycling story when someone asks you about it.
I'm loaded with them. Getting hit by a car will do that. So will crashing
on wet RR tracks when the leader of your paceline goes down and takes
everyone out. Pretty much all the "serious" riders I know can point to one
scar or another and tell you about the dog that flew into their front wheel
on a 40 mph descent or some such misadventure. Of course, there are a few
who can't point at all because of their broken collar bones.

I wear my scars as sort of cycling merit badges (though it would have been
far more meritorious to have avoided the incidents that caused them). But
I think one small one would have sufficed.

No ... saddle sores don't count.

Cherish your Fred-dom while you still have it.

Happy riding!

Bob C.
I sure don't mean this to discourage anyone from cycling. As my ER doc has
said to me a few times, "if you weren't in such great shape from cycling,
cycling would probably have killed you."

06-10-2004, 08:57 PM

"Badger_South" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
> Think I can now see the "light at the end of the Fred tunnel", if I can
> mangle a metaphor.
>
> Today I rode hills again for the fourth day in a row and the legs feel
just
> fine (maybe the long winter and spring of long slow distance had primed
me,
> especially the week of long faster distance I did in Va Beach end of last
> month).
>
> I'm spinning pretty good all the time, and today I looked down and my
knees
> are only 5 inches apart - definitely not Fred territory! (my hip injury
> predisposes me to having the left leg flair out at times - the spinning is
> -definitely- helping the injury, BTW!).
>
> Got in and out of my toeclips without looking several times today, (thanks
> FK). ;-)
>
> I've now merged my am and pm rides into one long ride at every possible
> occasion, always trying to get in -at least- an hour per day.
>
> I've completed a half-century (but only on the old BSO)
>
> The weight has dropped more than 40lbs since I started, and the aero-belly
> is fading fast.
>
> I've finally got my test contact lenses and picked up some wrap around
> sunglasses - so I'm stream-lining.
>
> And of course, I have a real bike, so I no longer seem to have those
> ride-shortening aches and pains (butt, triceps, hands, hot-foot - all
gone)
>
> All I need is the blue fairy to tap me with her wand to turn me into a
real
> 'biker boy', eh? <g>
>
> -B
> Saying my prayers each night - think that'll help? ;-D

When you're saying your prayers, remember to pray that you don't ever have
to endure what is most definately the REAL rite of passage out of Fred-dom.
ROAD RASH! Road rash or some similar injury that leaves some sort of scar
that allows you to tell a bicycling story when someone asks you about it.
I'm loaded with them. Getting hit by a car will do that. So will crashing
on wet RR tracks when the leader of your paceline goes down and takes
everyone out. Pretty much all the "serious" riders I know can point to one
scar or another and tell you about the dog that flew into their front wheel
on a 40 mph descent or some such misadventure. Of course, there are a few
who can't point at all because of their broken collar bones.

I wear my scars as sort of cycling merit badges (though it would have been
far more meritorious to have avoided the incidents that caused them). But
I think one small one would have sufficed.

No ... saddle sores don't count.

Cherish your Fred-dom while you still have it.

Happy riding!

Bob C.
I sure don't mean this to discourage anyone from cycling. As my ER doc has
said to me a few times, "if you weren't in such great shape from cycling,
cycling would probably have killed you."

06-10-2004, 08:57 PM

"Badger_South" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
> Think I can now see the "light at the end of the Fred tunnel", if I can
> mangle a metaphor.
>
> Today I rode hills again for the fourth day in a row and the legs feel
just
> fine (maybe the long winter and spring of long slow distance had primed
me,
> especially the week of long faster distance I did in Va Beach end of last
> month).
>
> I'm spinning pretty good all the time, and today I looked down and my
knees
> are only 5 inches apart - definitely not Fred territory! (my hip injury
> predisposes me to having the left leg flair out at times - the spinning is
> -definitely- helping the injury, BTW!).
>
> Got in and out of my toeclips without looking several times today, (thanks
> FK). ;-)
>
> I've now merged my am and pm rides into one long ride at every possible
> occasion, always trying to get in -at least- an hour per day.
>
> I've completed a half-century (but only on the old BSO)
>
> The weight has dropped more than 40lbs since I started, and the aero-belly
> is fading fast.
>
> I've finally got my test contact lenses and picked up some wrap around
> sunglasses - so I'm stream-lining.
>
> And of course, I have a real bike, so I no longer seem to have those
> ride-shortening aches and pains (butt, triceps, hands, hot-foot - all
gone)
>
> All I need is the blue fairy to tap me with her wand to turn me into a
real
> 'biker boy', eh? <g>
>
> -B
> Saying my prayers each night - think that'll help? ;-D

When you're saying your prayers, remember to pray that you don't ever have
to endure what is most definately the REAL rite of passage out of Fred-dom.
ROAD RASH! Road rash or some similar injury that leaves some sort of scar
that allows you to tell a bicycling story when someone asks you about it.
I'm loaded with them. Getting hit by a car will do that. So will crashing
on wet RR tracks when the leader of your paceline goes down and takes
everyone out. Pretty much all the "serious" riders I know can point to one
scar or another and tell you about the dog that flew into their front wheel
on a 40 mph descent or some such misadventure. Of course, there are a few
who can't point at all because of their broken collar bones.

I wear my scars as sort of cycling merit badges (though it would have been
far more meritorious to have avoided the incidents that caused them). But
I think one small one would have sufficed.

No ... saddle sores don't count.

Cherish your Fred-dom while you still have it.

Happy riding!

Bob C.
I sure don't mean this to discourage anyone from cycling. As my ER doc has
said to me a few times, "if you weren't in such great shape from cycling,
cycling would probably have killed you."

06-11-2004, 07:17 AM

I've got a railroad track story and I all have to show for it is some
socks with holes around the ankles.

It was a Sunday morning ride with the fast guys. 75 miles and I turned
right to go home. I was tired and not paying much attention. Railroad
tracks crossed the road at a 45deg angle and I just simply forgot they
were there. I got my front wheel caught in the groove between the track
and the road. I went down and slid about 10-15 feet. I was bleeding
from my knees and my right sock had a big hole around the ankle. The
wound healed and did not scar. I still wear the socks!

06-11-2004, 07:17 AM

I've got a railroad track story and I all have to show for it is some
socks with holes around the ankles.

It was a Sunday morning ride with the fast guys. 75 miles and I turned
right to go home. I was tired and not paying much attention. Railroad
tracks crossed the road at a 45deg angle and I just simply forgot they
were there. I got my front wheel caught in the groove between the track
and the road. I went down and slid about 10-15 feet. I was bleeding
from my knees and my right sock had a big hole around the ankle. The
wound healed and did not scar. I still wear the socks!

06-11-2004, 07:17 AM

I've got a railroad track story and I all have to show for it is some
socks with holes around the ankles.

It was a Sunday morning ride with the fast guys. 75 miles and I turned
right to go home. I was tired and not paying much attention. Railroad
tracks crossed the road at a 45deg angle and I just simply forgot they
were there. I got my front wheel caught in the groove between the track
and the road. I went down and slid about 10-15 feet. I was bleeding
from my knees and my right sock had a big hole around the ankle. The
wound healed and did not scar. I still wear the socks!

06-11-2004, 07:17 AM

I've got a railroad track story and I all have to show for it is some
socks with holes around the ankles.

It was a Sunday morning ride with the fast guys. 75 miles and I turned
right to go home. I was tired and not paying much attention. Railroad
tracks crossed the road at a 45deg angle and I just simply forgot they
were there. I got my front wheel caught in the groove between the track
and the road. I went down and slid about 10-15 feet. I was bleeding
from my knees and my right sock had a big hole around the ankle. The
wound healed and did not scar. I still wear the socks!