Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Woo, finally getting back into biking! I had a roughly 3-year hiatus, which is really sad. But after I moved from LA to NYC, the quest for reliable public transportation seemed to be over. I didn't have a car in LA so biking was pretty much what I had if I wanted to get somewhere without having to depend on the shitty bus system. I biked a ton.

Fast forward to today... it took me a while to embrace the idea of biking in Manhattan, but now that I've done it, I'm feeling pretty good about it. One of these days maybe I'll hop on the greenway and put in some decent mileage beyond my regular commute. I've got a Cannondale Caad 8 (2008 I think? can't remember) named Charlie.

Whoa. This is awesome! And there's a vegan picnic one day! Thanks!

My team is demoing Marin bikes on Thursday! I'm really hoping their new cross bike works for me, because I'm going to buy it if it does. I'm also excited to try out a 29er and a dual-suspension mtb. I won't be in the market for anything like that in a while, but I imagine it will be fun to try that stuff out having only ridden a hardtail 26er.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the 29er.

I've been a hiking badazz lately. I miss the bikes but have decided to train for a Mt. Whitney hike. Hiking has also been useful for scouting MTB trails, so, YAY bikes! (It's been great cross-training, too. Legs are lots stronger from using different muscles.)

Durbridge takes the prologue, Evans takes stage one! Australia is looking good at Dauphine.. ;)

trying out new bikes is a dangerous proposal :)

hope the marin fits well for you.

Thanks! I hope it works out too, because it will mean me getting a nice-ass bike for cheap!

always the best way to go, unless you can get them for free ;)

plan to try and ride for the first time in a while. cant wait to take the niner out!

You guys, I just bought a pair of SPD-compatible Northwaves for around $30, took a complete stab in the dark at the size and hoped it was right (due to the amazing price). They arrived last night, and they fit PERFECTLY. I've decided that I am the best at the Internet.

did a local training mtb race last night. realized i have no mtb skill and i have no legs after a month of sitting around doing nothing. did have a blast hoping logs and trying not to die though.

I missed both the demo last night and the ride I was supposed to do this morning, and now I am in a foul mood. I can go demo bikes later, but I was looking forward to getting to try out a bunch of different things with a minimum of hassle (and in real dirt). Bah.

lame! go for a ride later, itll cheer you up.

Made up for not getting to ride Thursday and Friday by riding 90 miles this weekend! I've still got some congestion in my lungs from being sick, so I didn't do anything super strenuous, but it was gorgeous out, and it felt great to be out. Bonus points for yesterday's ride, since I got to meet up with friends for beers and pretzels, and then for guacamole and margaritas with littlebear!

If anyone is looking for some snazzy new spandex, I just came across these: http://www.animalliberationracing.com/howtojoin.php

Looks like last day to order is June 21.

ooo, that's awesome

Bumping this thread to obsess a bit. Mom has this part of her salary that she's not allowed to have unless she spends it on nice things for herself/her family or something (some BS about the tax code) and she couldn't think of anything to spend it on. So we went bike shopping this weekend to replace my 11 year old clunker of a mountain bike (yes, I've had it for 11 years and I'm 21 now).

First we went to our local bike shop that we've been going to since I was about 6. The people there are always great and knowledgable. Then dad wanted more options so we went to another bike shop which I guess is local to someone who isn't me and oh god the difference. I should not know more about a bicycle than the person selling it to me. And "I didn't see the one in your size so I brought the next size up, but I didn't look too hard" is not okay along with "here, try a size 56 you'll grow into it" (I'm 5'5" with shoes on). So we ran, didn't walk back to our bike shop and I came home with this (apologies for the lighting. I'm in the office) which is the most sexy and easily weighs 10 pounds less than my mountain bike:



Best. Ride. Ever. And clipless pedals, where have you been all my life? Anyone want to name it other than "super sexy new bike"?

Sorry about the novel. This is just really exciting.

That is super duper exciting! It's lovely and I'm thoroughly envious. I can't make out what kind it is though.

I've had a lot of bike lust lately, Nick got his Troll but used all our spare parts on it so if I wanted one I'd have to buy the complete and I don't have a grand buried in the backyard.

Nice! New bike day is the best kind of day. Clipless is also a big change. Also looks like youll be ready for cyclocross season coming up!

So, I did that insane mountain bike race last weekend. It was the hardest ride I've ever done - SO painful! It was 50 miles and between 6000 and 6500 feet of climbing. There were a few spots where I had to fight not to get off my bike and cry. The photos from the event just got posted, and I look hilariously terrible! (cross posted pic from the "you shouldn't be in pictures" thread)



What kind of bike is that, zwingtip? Clipless is the way to go - I hope you love it!

It's a Specialized Tricross Comp, so basically a commuter pretending to be a cross bike, but it's definitely love because it's a) a great fit, b) perfect for in-Boston ~3-20 mile purposes, and c) a lot of fun on hills.

Jordan, that mountain bike race sounds intense. Very impressed.

This weekend we went camping in a great state park and took our bikes. There was a trail from our campground to the beach and we're all 'hey it's a campground in Iowa I'm sure it's flat because otherwise no one would bike on it'. When in reality it was hilly, steep, choked with rocks/roots/sand, and crazy hard especially in 90+ temperatures. But damn I feel accomplished. I had my Cross Check with commuter tires on it and while I walked a lot I was still able to keep it together enough to not fall too far behind (Nick had the Karate Monkey all set up for mountain biking). I'm not going to be a mountain biker anytime in the future but it was really fun and hard.

nice jordan! you dont look too far in the cave at that point. good thing is once you do a wild race like that everything else is easy :)

everyone keeping up on the tour?

So far!

(I love this time of year!)

I've been watching some, though missing some mornings because I'm out doing my workouts. I loved the finish at Stage 2!

Anyone have any favorites? Riders you hate?