things I learnt today....

[trailgumby]

Riding in the rain, downhill and hitting the front brakes on a path covered by wet leaves gives you that 'pucker moment'

your avatar seems to have captured the moment perfectly

[X-wing]

It's been a long time since I have taken my bike out without wearing some form of chamois, whether bibs or nicks...

Today I decided to test the saddle height on a rebuild I am doing... so I just threw on my helmet and gloves, and went out in my normal shorts.

I learnt today just how much I have come to rely on the padding benefits of nicks

[casual_cyclist]

I learned two things today:

1. boredom can't kill you

2. you wish it could

[Wayfarer]

i was riding through chipping norton lakes, and a mountain biker overtook me. being born in the year of the snake, i instantly took after the guy, putting in the competition. the guy beat me on the 15km ride, while i was thirsty as a horse.

today i learnt two things;
1. carry two drink bottles in hot weather
2. that it is actually possible for me to be beat*.

*(when i'm thirsty)

[greyhoundtom]

I learned today to regularly check the spring cleat retaining tension in my pedals from here on in, because while standing and sprinting for home in a race tonite my left foot unclipped and it was more good luck than skill that stopped me crashing.

Bugger I was in front and had a chance to win

[kosmiccarbon]

1. Be Careful on Bike Tracks

2.Crashing does serious damage to you and your bike

3. It takes time for your mum to pick you up

[ve safari]

Mudguards are great! I went looking for puddles!

[hartleymartin]

Mudguards are great! I went looking for puddles!

Full-length ones with mud-flaps are the best. When-ever it has been raining and I go for a ride, I'm the only one in the group who can ride straight through the wet spots, whilst others have to brake, look for a way around, etc.

[beauyboy]

+1 puddle are fun. I never get tired of them now i have mudguards

Donald

[Chaderotti]

Rode to a mates house and back. I went there in full kit, rode back in a T shirt and boardies. I have to say, boardies are good at channeling air... If ya get my gist

I got a couple of weird looks actually, beach bum with a mullet on a pinny :S

[Max]

I learnt that mouth-breathing leads to bug-swallowing!

Max

[twizzle]

Now the swellings/itching have subsided, I learnt that the insect that got inside my bib-nicks in a race last week bit me on the stomach and side 45 times.

[Fletcher]

Mudguards are great! I went looking for puddles!

I learned a bit about toe overlap today. Fitted new mudguards last night and made a mess of taking off at the lights. It involved some roadside reassembly and some bewilderment at the design of the guards, and the design of the stays which connect to the guards, leaving very little clearance from the tyres. Also, the manufacturer included no screws or other fasteners to attach the guards to the bike. They were $70. Not expensive in bike bit terms, but they would cost so little to make, considering the guards are made of cheap, light plastic. It would cost so little to include six screws and two nuts and wouldn't complicate things too much, one would hope.

[Max]

Now the swellings/itching have subsided, I learnt that the insect that got inside my bib-nicks in a race last week bit me on the stomach and side 45 times.

OMGosh Twizzle!!!!

Max

[ve safari]

Mudguards are great! I went looking for puddles!

I learned a bit about toe overlap today. Fitted new mudguards last night and made a mess of taking off at the lights. It involved some roadside reassembly and some bewilderment at the design of the guards, and the design of the stays which connect to the guards, leaving very little clearance from the tyres. Also, the manufacturer included no screws or other fasteners to attach the guards to the bike. They were $70. Not expensive in bike bit terms, but they would cost so little to make, considering the guards are made of cheap, light plastic. It would cost so little to include six screws and two nuts and wouldn't complicate things too much, one would hope.

I bought these ones. Cheap and do the trick for me, despite not being very long. They are bolted between the brake caliper and fork/bridge, and don't use stays. Seems to do the trick nicely, though they've only been on for a couple of days.



http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Zefal ... 360043663/

[Fletcher]

Now the swellings/itching have subsided, I learnt that the insect that got inside my bib-nicks in a race last week bit me on the stomach and side 45 times.

Sheeesh man that beats my record of mozzie bites.

So, did you win?

[twizzle]

Now the swellings/itching have subsided, I learnt that the insect that got inside my bib-nicks in a race last week bit me on the stomach and side 45 times.

Sheeesh man that beats my record of mozzie bites.

So, did you win?

Nah - came fourth.

It's the third time in the last couple of months I've picked up a passenger. Mark on the chest under the HR strap from the first incident are gone, I still have some marks on my right side from the passenger in a crit (felt that one and squashed the little bugger), but this one I didn't feel until hours later when the marks came up. A lot of it is like track marks where he was crawling around, leaving bites every few mm.

[Evilive]

Trying to impress girls at the traffic lights will only result in two things A: nearly falling off into their car. B: breaking a $500 pedal. Not to mention your dignity but I lost that a long time ago...

[slowflow]

Cycling past50 by Joe Friel is a really good read for someone starting out at over 50.

[stated]

When going 50+ down the hill you really need to watch the opposite traffic as they turn right, I nearly went through a window luckily I braked enough to avoid it and the car kept going and didn't stop half way in my path so that was good.

What a fellow BNA member said about the back wheel only lifting at slow speed is not true.

Remember to Take the pump from the spare bike before going for a ride.

[Baalzamon]

My road shoes that I have had for 4 years started to hurt me on my right foot around the cleat and getting pins as well. I suspected shoe as my cleats have not moved, so I went to Churchills Cycles and spoke to Rick, he took one look with the shoe on as saw the problem straight away, not wide enough

[greyhoundtom]

I learned last Saturday that climbing hills is a lot harder when your rear brakes are locked on

During the ride it felt like the handlebar had rotated downwards slightly, it turned out on closer inspection today that the left shifter had come loose and shifted far enough forward to partly engage the rear brakes.

The brake pads had burned black on the surface, so I must have ridden a fair way with them on, no wonder my legs cramped and I had to HTFU more then a few times during the ride.

It was my first try at a 100+ km ride.

[didge]

I learned last Saturday that climbing hills is a lot harder when your rear brakes are locked on

During the ride it felt like the handlebar had rotated downwards slightly, it turned out on closer inspection today that the left shifter had come loose and shifted far enough forward to partly engage the rear brakes.

The brake pads had burned black on the surface, so I must have ridden a fair way with them on, no wonder my legs cramped and I had to HTFU more then a few times during the ride.

It was my first try at a 100+ km ride.

Reminds of a time when I was heaving my lungs out on a hill, wondering why I was battling so much, then realised I had a flat tyre.

I learned to make sure that when you fit a new chain don't make such a hamfisted job of it so your chain completely falls off when you are blasting away out on the trails.

[robbie d]

learned this a couple of weeks back on a large publicised ride as part of the tour down under. Simple terms, Skins, the activewear products designed here. I don't work for them, I'm not sponsored by them, but hell do they work. 135km ride, absolutely no leg muscle soreness at all, not that day nor 2 days after. Expensive, well slightly, but for the long rides, well worth it.

[Pavlova]

I will make this cycling related by first saying that it happened during a quick snack break whilst I was browsing through Australian Cycling Forums... err, I mean working from home.

I just learnt that if the polskie ogerkies (polish cucumbers) are at the back of the fridge behind a whole bunch of other stuff, do not tip the jar on it's side to lift it over the other stuff as polskie ogerkie juice will pour over that stuff, and the stuff on shelves below, and the floor, and your feet (yes the b!(AT)(AT)&y lid was on).