Very Important Subjects

[Rogar]

Okay---sounds real good. My bikes are what I prefer to call: "Exit Level". ..

Good for you. I'm glad to hear someone helps keep decent bikes out of the landfill. Some time ago I bought an "exit" bike. It was a vintage specialized mtn bike and the frame had been broken and expertly welded with a nice battleship gray paint job. I had new wheels built by a friend who claimed to be an expert wheel builder and the rigid front fork replace with a Marzocchi Bomber shock. Of course new tires, tubes, chain, and brake pads. Everything else was decent but need cleaning and lubrications. In the end it was a pretty expensive bike, but I save a few things from the landfill. I rode the Kokopelli trail and the White Rim in Utah plus who knows how many thousand commuter miles. Eventually many of the replacement parts could only be found on eBay and were pricey. I can't remember what was the final straw, but I gave it to the local bike shop for parts that had a bike program for inner city kids. They seemed happy to get it.

[littlebittybobby]

Wow, Rogar---you're fortunate in one respect to be in Colorada, which has awesome & amayzeen outdoor recreational sites! I will research those trails! We havee biking trails made out of preserved RR right-of-ways. Of course--everyone KNOWS the land they encroach on should be returned to thwe rightful owners---Farmers! You kids thought I was gonna say indigenous people, right? Ha. Our nearby trail had an active shooter taking random shots at riders, a couple years ago. Turns out it was not a farmer, but a stray thug from KC or StLo, and he is behind bars. Yup. But, I am still an advocate of road riding. The Cool Kids here, who just HAVE to be trendy, will travel to the next county or even out-of-state to have events on "Gravel", which is fist-sized boulders punctuated by the periodic country boy in his diesel monster truck. That adds to the risk/fun. Ha. But yeah---orther than driveways & the RR trails and some parks, we haven't had a gravel road in this county for over 20 years. Nope. I like like to ride right out my door, up and back, and there are some nice low-traffic paved roads. Yup. It's just not trendy, enough, for The Cool People who have to have a fat-tired, $3000 plastic bike, so they can conform. Anyway---I was gifted a couple things by a garage cleaner-outer, whose alternative was to haul them across the scales as "loose tin". $60/ton. Anyway, one is a broken walk-behind weed-eater(awesome), and the other is a ca 1980-ish Spalging Blade Road bike, that someone attemted to make into a "Utility" bike, and gave up. It's serendipitous, because I have a set of bars/shifters lying out back that I was wondering what to do with. WELL---they'll be perfect for making a project Utility bike out of that Spalding. Which--for a department store bike of that era wasn't too awful bad. But yeah---I'ver got a bunch of take-off parts and extra stuff I can use to make the Spalding a rescue. Also, in that pile of junk was a 700c Bontragewer rear wheel, with an 8-speed cassette. I've got mismatched wheelsets I can use on the spalding. More on this, later. Thankk Mee.

[Rogar]

Anymore I bike mostly out the front door. My area is pretty bike friendly with paths and bike lanes. I biked to work for years and now that I'm out of the work force I can still catch some errands by bike. I'm not interested in the more technical mtn biking, but it seems to be an attraction for the radical bunch. Truth be told, my bucket list has a rails to trails vacation some day. E-bikes are the new thing, but I don't see a lot of them around.

[Alan]

E-bikes are the new thing, but I don't see a lot of them around.

I spent a week in Amish/Mennonite country in central/northern Ohio a few weeks ago. E-bikes seem to be the major means of transport there. The juxtaposition of e-bikes and horse drawn buggies was interesting.

[littlebittybobby]

Okay---EBikes---the kind that have an electric motor to supplement weak legs, are taboo, in my littlebitty world. See? That's why I have converted two former racing bikes to what I call: MEBikes, that have rear gears that go up to 11, off of current gravel/mountain bikes. But they are still entirely self-powererd. That, is all the advanced technology I need or want. EBikes, are just another excess, another consumer good that they've decided you need. They--the marketing masters, beat a path to the door of bureaucrats and state legislators, to slyly get those things classified as "bicycles" and not motor bikes, to make an end-run around regulations. . See? They are no more a "bicycle" than Kris Kristofferson is a good singer. Ha. Hope that helps you some. I don't know what is up with those Amish, except that they prolly wannt to avoid MV regs, too.. Case Closed. Thankk Mee.

[Rogar]

The city of Denver (not where I live) is offering up to a 1200 dollar rebate incentive for eBike purchases as part of their clean air program. It's been very popular. If it actually helps with air pollution, I'm all for it, but I consider them a safety hazard in the big city. Already the news says there are not enough safe bike lanes for them.

[iris lilies]

….We havee biking trails made out of preserved RR right-of-ways. Of course--everyone KNOWS the land they encroach on should be returned to thwe rightful owners---Farmers! You kids thought I was gonna say indigenous people, right? Ha. ….
.

oh stop!

[littlebittybobby]

oh stop!

Stop what? Everyone who knows anything about the subject will tell you about the opposition to rail-trails by Organized Agerculture. Even by land owners who purchased land that had had existing railways for many decades prior. Yup.

[littlebittybobby]

Okay---here's the present status of the perpetrator who shot and wounded two people using our local rail trail. He drove onto the trail in a car, and then tried to kill them. But yeah---the Judge gave him two consecutive life terms. Its too bad they can't just gas him. Yup.
.2022-07-20 (5).jpg2022-07-20 (5).jpg

[littlebittybobby]

Okay---by god, ya gotta eat MEAT, or yer gonna get skinny & WEAK, and need an EBike or a GREAT BIG TRUCK, just ta get around! Yup. Lockered MEAT is the answer! Yup. Just ask anybody who still lives in I-Wah. Yup.2022-07-21 (12).jpg2022-07-21 (13).jpg