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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / June 2005[OT] My Bikey!
Two weeks ago I bought an odometer for my bikey (OK, I now have an odometer, an oo-ga oo-ga horn, a bottle holder, a halogen headlight, a red flashing tail light, reflectors, and sling my fanny pack with wallet (in case I get in an accident, I'll have ID) and my cell phone over the handle bars - I'm starting to look like a one-man traveling band!! ;>). The odometer now reads 201 miles traveled!!!! [It's pretty neat, it tells time, shows speed, distance, duration, lowest speed, highest speed, and average speed.] I got the headlight and tail light so I could start riding at night because the heat is just too horrendous here (and we're in the midst of a drought) - my kidneys are starting to hurt even though I try to keep myself hydrated while I ride). The big disadvantage to riding at night is that I have to keep my mouth tightly closed or I'll end up swallowing a bug (how do you know when a motorcycle rider is happy? count the number of bugs in his teeth!). It's getting to the point where I get antsy the closer it gets to the time I usually ride, I can't wait - I think I'm getting hooked on endorphins! For the first 5 miles I feel sluggish and like I'm making an effort, but the last 10 - 15 miles are just plain fun - I have to make myself stop. The next thing I want to get is a rear-view mirror and a turn signal (people just don't know what hand signals mean any more!). The fibro makes my neck really stiff and when I try to look behind me before making a left-hand turn (I hate jerks in cars who fly past you on the left doing 60MPH in a 20MPH subdivision!) it tends to make my arms turn also so my bike starts going left before I intend it to - I almost rode into the path of an on-coming car the other day because of this. But DH says if I attach one more thing to my bike he won't be seen in public with me (yeah like he rides with me all that often now!)! ;> Quick survey for those who ride bikes - how many attachments to you have? Hugs, CatNipped I had an odometer, water bottle, gel seat, rear view mirror and fanny pack. And tire patch kit. Covered a little over 600 miles the last summer I rode. I had a local map and marked off the places I'd been with a highlighter. Jo > Two weeks ago I bought an odometer for my bikey (OK, I now have an > odometer, [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > > CatNipped >The big disadvantage to riding at night is that I have to > keep my mouth tightly closed or I'll end up swallowing a bug (how do you > know when a motorcycle rider is happy? count the number of bugs in his > teeth!). Now, here, my friend, you are in real danger! lol! Just as I would be. Keeping my mouth shut has never been my strong suit. ;) > It's getting to the point where I get antsy the closer it gets to the time I > usually ride, I can't wait - I think I'm getting hooked on endorphins! For > the first 5 miles I feel sluggish and like I'm making an effort, but the > last 10 - 15 miles are just plain fun - I have to make myself stop. Wonderful. I am not getting the exercise I should, and I need to. I recall how good it felt to really get the heart pumping on a regular basis. > >The big disadvantage to riding at night is that I have to > > keep my mouth tightly closed or I'll end up swallowing a bug (how do you [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Now, here, my friend, you are in real danger! lol! Just as I would be. > Keeping my mouth shut has never been my strong suit. ;) ROTFLMAOWTIME! Guilty as charged! ;> > > It's getting to the point where I get antsy the closer it gets to the time > I [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > recall how good it felt to really get the heart pumping on a regular > basis. I had to find something that was "fun" rather than a "I have to" chore. I'm glad I picked the bicycle because it takes me back to when I was a kid and riding my bike was strictly for fun and not for fitness. Hugs, CatNipped > > >The big disadvantage to riding at night is that I have to > > > keep my mouth tightly closed or I'll end up swallowing a bug (how do you [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > glad I picked the bicycle because it takes me back to when I was a kid and > riding my bike was strictly for fun and not for fitness. But you live in HOUSTON!! It may be fun but if I recall those drivers correctly, you had better be careful! > > > >The big disadvantage to riding at night is that I have to > > > > keep my mouth tightly closed or I'll end up swallowing a bug (how do [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > But you live in HOUSTON!! It may be fun but if I recall those drivers > correctly, you had better be careful! I'm lucky in that I live in a very large and sprawling subdivision in Spring (just north of the city of Houston). I can ride for miles and miles without ever getting on a highway. However, as I wrote in my first note, that still leaves the @$$holes who drive 60MPH in a 20MPH subdivision and speed past you on the left without even slowing down. When I'm making a left turn I'll use a left-hand-turn hand signal, but I never assume that the nut-job behind me will know what that means and wait for me to turn left before speeding past me on the left. I either wait until they pass me, or make sure they're slowing down and waiting for me to turn. Which is a general rule-of-thumb* when driving *any* vehicle in Houston - *ALWAYS* assume that every other driver on the road is either insane or intoxicated (and often is both) and compensate accordingly! * Trivia question... I hate this expression, "Rule of Thumb" - does anyone else know where this expression came from? Hugs, CatNipped > > > > >The big disadvantage to riding at night is that I have to > > > > > keep my mouth tightly closed or I'll end up swallowing a bug (how do [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > * Trivia question... I hate this expression, "Rule of Thumb" - does anyone > else know where this expression came from? The expression rule of thumb has been recorded since 1692 and probably wasn' t new then. It meant then what it means now-some method or procedure that comes from practice or experience, without any formal basis. Some have tried to link it with brewing; in the days before thermometers, brewers were said to have gauged the temperature of the fermenting liquor with the thumb (just as mothers for generations have tested the temperature of the baby's bath water with their elbows). This seems unlikely, as the thumb is not that sensitive and the range of temperatures for fermentation between too cool and too warm is quite small. It is much more likely that it comes from the ancient use of bits of the body to make measurements. There were once many of these: the unit of the foot comes from pacing out dimensions; the distance from the tip of the nose to the outstretched fingers is about one yard; horse heights are still measured in hands (the width of the palm and closed thumb, now fixed at four inches); and so on. There was an old tailors' axiom that "twice around the thumb is once around the wrist", which turns up in Gulliver's Travels. It's most likely that the saying comes from the length of the first joint of the thumb, which is about an inch (I remember once seeing a carpenter actually make a rough measurement this way). So the phrase rule of thumb uses the word rule in the sense of ruler, not regulation, and directly refers to this method of measurement. (http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-rul1.htm) I hope I didn't leave anything out!! ;o))  Signature·.·´¨ ¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Laurie ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- ((¸¸ ·.· *~*LiveLoveLaugh*~* Aloha!!!!! "There is no remedy for love but to love more"... ~~Henry David Thoreau > Hugs, > > CatNipped I don't even want to go out whenever the temperature or humidex goes up to above 30C, let alone exercise. Same applies when it goes down to -30C. I live in a highrise with AC in the hallways. So I can do my 'hall walk' and up and down the stairs. If I get too tired in the process, I can always summon the elevators to take me home. :) No need to get any exercise gears or carry my wallet, just a good pair of shoes and my door key. Even blackouts won't be a problem as the stairs and hallways have emergency lightings. There are treadmills and exercise bike in the building, but I found hall walks much less boring. I got to admire my neighbours door decorations. Also got to know who have cats by the signs on their doors. Winnie > Two weeks ago I bought an odometer for my bikey (OK, I now have an > odometer, [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > > CatNipped > Quick survey for those who ride bikes - how many attachments to you have? > > Hugs, > > CatNipped Well, tourer when fully loaded up.... cycle computer bar bag mount & bar bag Minoura space grip with 2 x Cateye 5LED front lights on it 3LED front light mounted to front fork cycle computer magnet mounted on fork 2 x bottle cages pump mounted to bottle cage rear pannier rack with red LED rear light fixed on it. Red LED rear light attached to whatever is on pannier rack On rear pannier rack can be assortment from... Brooks traditional cotton duck saddlebag Hard rack pack with lockable lid Left pannier Right pannier Mudguards (fenders) front & back Reflectives on mudguards, pedals, and the stuff that goes on the rear rack, & on wheel spokes Cheers, helen s > > Quick survey for those who ride bikes - how many attachments to you have? > > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Cheers, helen s LOL! How do you manage to pedal it???!! Hugs, CatNipped >> Well, tourer when fully loaded up.... >> [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > CatNipped You haven't seen my leg muscles ;-) On a serious note - it's only *heavy* when it's fully loaded up for a tour with panniers stuffed full... as in last summer when on cycling holiday in France. But I do go slower on my tourer than when on my race bike! Cheers, helen s > The big disadvantage to riding > at night is that I have to keep my mouth tightly closed or I'll end > up swallowing a bug (how do you know when a motorcycle rider is > happy? count the number of bugs in his teeth!). Those of us who like our faces the way they are use full-face helmets with the visors down -- no bugs in the teeth when I ride my moto! > It's getting to the point where I get antsy the closer it gets to > the time I usually ride, I can't wait - I think I'm getting hooked > on endorphins! For the first 5 miles I feel sluggish and like I'm > making an effort, but the last 10 - 15 miles are just plain fun - I > have to make myself stop. That's great to hear! Wonderful! I'm so glad you've found a fun activity =) > Quick survey for those who ride bikes - how many attachments to you > have? Hrm ... mine's a mountain bike, so it's a slightly different situation ... but ... - pump - "scrotum" bag (this is what I call the little pouch that hangs under my saddle ... take a look at one some time and you'll see why ...) filled with tire levers, tubes, and a multitool - remote lock-out for my fork, mounted to my handlebars - A cheapo watch attached around my headset (my "computer") - lots and lots of dirt caked onto the frame That's actually it. I wear a Camelbak, so I don't need a waterbottle, and my larger camelbak also has snacks, Purell wipes, a shock pump, and god knows what else that I've stuffed in there. I'd love to get a computer with an altimeter, though, preferably one that adds up the vertical travelled. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca >> The big disadvantage to riding >> at night is that I have to keep my mouth tightly closed or I'll end [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >Those of us who like our faces the way they are use full-face helmets >with the visors down -- no bugs in the teeth when I ride my moto! Getting a thumb-sized beetle in the face at 60 mph would definitely spoil your day (and probably wouldn't be much fun for the beetle, either). SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria On 2005-06-27, John F Eldredge penned: > Getting a thumb-sized beetle in the face at 60 mph would definitely > spoil your day (and probably wouldn't be much fun for the beetle, > either). Yeah. My dad used to ride back in the day, and apparently had an encounter with a bumblebee to the chest. He was wearing his jacket half-zipped for the coolness factor. Got a horrible bruise. He also got a bumblebee up the sleeve once. *shudder* Me, I wear boots with ankle coverage, padded pants, padded jacket, gloves, and a full-face helmet. No interest in testing the pavement with my skin. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca |
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