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    • OzJacko wrote:

      I am not a biker but I have a bike story.
      2007 AT hiker Bag Lady is 18 months into a cycling trip around the world. She landed in Australia on 1st March this year and cycled from Melbourne to Longreach in Queensland (Google it, it's a long way ). She then flew to Perth and is currently walking sobo on the Bibbulmun Track. Her bike is in storage at my place and when she finishes, she will ride from Albany to Adelaide, another bloody long way.
      Her bike is a trike actually. It's a recumbent 3 wheeler.
      That is cool! People who ride recumbents absolutely love them. They aren't very visible though. Does she have a tall, orange flag?
      Lost in the right direction.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Not much riding for me either in the past few weeks...just my commute.
      I split my days between walking to work and riding my bike to work. Absolutely nothing exciting about walking or riding roughly half a mile but at least the bike is getting used. Alaska is still a bit too big and intimidating for me to comfortably handle the mountain bike trails.
      “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T. S. Eliot

    • Ewok11 wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      Not much riding for me either in the past few weeks...just my commute.
      I split my days between walking to work and riding my bike to work. Absolutely nothing exciting about walking or riding roughly half a mile but at least the bike is getting used. Alaska is still a bit too big and intimidating for me to comfortably handle the mountain bike trails.
      That's a good thing. Being in Alaska, I bet a lot of exciting things can happen in half a mile...like being chased by the local moose.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I couldn't go hiking today so I went biking for about 15 miles thru all the neighborhoods around here. Now for my reward: Coffee + whiskey= :)
      Yum. I'm jealous that you got to ride.It's too damp and cold for me but I went to spin class yesterday. I thought it went really well until today when I could barely walk.
      What's a spin class?
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I couldn't go hiking today so I went biking for about 15 miles thru all the neighborhoods around here. Now for my reward: Coffee + whiskey= :)
      Yum. I'm jealous that you got to ride.It's too damp and cold for me but I went to spin class yesterday. I thought it went really well until today when I could barely walk.
      What's a spin class?
      Indoor cycling on a stationary bike.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I couldn't go hiking today so I went biking for about 15 miles thru all the neighborhoods around here. Now for my reward: Coffee + whiskey= :)
      Yum. I'm jealous that you got to ride.It's too damp and cold for me but I went to spin class yesterday. I thought it went really well until today when I could barely walk.
      What's a spin class?
      Indoor cycling on a stationary bike.
      I've been doing a lot of that lately for knee therapy....just ain't the same without the bugs in your face and the wind in your hair.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • Drybones wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I couldn't go hiking today so I went biking for about 15 miles thru all the neighborhoods around here. Now for my reward: Coffee + whiskey= :)
      Yum. I'm jealous that you got to ride.It's too damp and cold for me but I went to spin class yesterday. I thought it went really well until today when I could barely walk.
      What's a spin class?
      Indoor cycling on a stationary bike.
      I've been doing a lot of that lately for knee therapy....just ain't the same without the bugs in your face and the wind in your hair.
      No, it's not but boy do you sweat.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Drybones wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I couldn't go hiking today so I went biking for about 15 miles thru all the neighborhoods around here. Now for my reward: Coffee + whiskey= :)
      Yum. I'm jealous that you got to ride.It's too damp and cold for me but I went to spin class yesterday. I thought it went really well until today when I could barely walk.
      What's a spin class?
      Indoor cycling on a stationary bike.
      I've been doing a lot of that lately for knee therapy....just ain't the same without the bugs in your face and the wind in your hair.
      I will say however, there is some great scenery in these classes.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I couldn't go hiking today so I went biking for about 15 miles thru all the neighborhoods around here. Now for my reward: Coffee + whiskey= :)
      Yum. I'm jealous that you got to ride.It's too damp and cold for me but I went to spin class yesterday. I thought it went really well until today when I could barely walk.
      What's a spin class?
      Indoor cycling on a stationary bike.
      and i thought knitting.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • Drybones wrote:

      Drybones wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I couldn't go hiking today so I went biking for about 15 miles thru all the neighborhoods around here. Now for my reward: Coffee + whiskey= :)
      Yum. I'm jealous that you got to ride.It's too damp and cold for me but I went to spin class yesterday. I thought it went really well until today when I could barely walk.
      What's a spin class?
      Indoor cycling on a stationary bike.
      I've been doing a lot of that lately for knee therapy....just ain't the same without the bugs in your face and the wind in your hair.
      I will say however, there is some great scenery in these classes.
      Sheesh... :rolleyes:
      Lost in the right direction.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Drybones wrote:

      Drybones wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I couldn't go hiking today so I went biking for about 15 miles thru all the neighborhoods around here. Now for my reward: Coffee + whiskey= :)
      Yum. I'm jealous that you got to ride.It's too damp and cold for me but I went to spin class yesterday. I thought it went really well until today when I could barely walk.
      What's a spin class?
      Indoor cycling on a stationary bike.
      I've been doing a lot of that lately for knee therapy....just ain't the same without the bugs in your face and the wind in your hair.
      I will say however, there is some great scenery in these classes.
      Sheesh... :rolleyes:
      Don't you guys have a large screen TV with mountain videos while you ride?
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • For the bikers out there here are a couple of photos of one of the huts on our 1200km mountain bike trail the Munda Biddi that roughly follows the Bibbulmun Track. Hardly anyone uses this hut about 15 miles from my place. It has room for probably 60 people comfortably. Less than that appear to have stayed there in the last 12 months.
      Images

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      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I couldn't go hiking today so I went biking for about 15 miles thru all the neighborhoods around here. Now for my reward: Coffee + whiskey= :)
      Yum. I'm jealous that you got to ride.It's too damp and cold for me but I went to spin class yesterday. I thought it went really well until today when I could barely walk.
      What's a spin class?
      A teachable moment for political advisors.

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • OzJacko wrote:

      For the bikers out there here are a couple of photos of one of the huts on our 1200km mountain bike trail the Munda Biddi that roughly follows the Bibbulmun Track. Hardly anyone uses this hut about 15 miles from my place. It has room for probably 60 people comfortably. Less than that appear to have stayed there in the last 12 months.
      if reservations are required, sign me up for Jan 2018

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • Reservations not required.
      They are free like shelters on the Bib.
      For more info on the trail google Munda Biddi.
      There is a volunteer organization similar to the Bibbulmun Track Foundation that has a website with lots of info.
      Like the Bibbulmun it is under the responsibility of our Forestry Dept and is government funded mostly.

      BUT!!!
      January not recommended for holidays here.
      1. It's school holidays and the pointy heads and their suffering parents are everywhere.
      2. It's too freaking hot and dangerous.
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.

    • Oz, you mention some shelters not getting a lot of use. Do they have mice?

      I have noticed that the shelters on the Ouachita Trail do not seem to have any mice. I attribute this to their newness and that hardly anyone actually uses them, therefor if the mice were dependent on crumbs and raiding hikers food like the AT, they would starve to death.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • The Munda Biddi shelters (at least the southern ones) are only a few years old and little used and I do not think that they have mice. My eldest son stayed in two of them (I think there are only about 10 all up) and didn't have any.
      There are 49 Bib shelters and I think maybe half a dozen have mice issues. None as bad as AT shelters.
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.

    • The weather has been so nice the past couple of days that I brought out my bicycle and went for a ride each day.
      I did in the neighborhood of 8-9 miles each day at a very easy pace so my legs have a chance to get used to this again.
      The trick for me will be to get in some rides on days when I work.

    • Mice depend on messy hikers dropping food crumbs. Off-season, even AT shelters are tolerable in that regard. I had no issues with mice on my long 2007 section, except possibly at Calf Mtn. Shelter -- the southernmost shelter in SNP. And the issues I had there may well have been some other kind of critter, since it chewed up one of my pole straps and made off with a dirty sock. Any way you cut it, that shelter is a good one to avoid.

      Slo and I had no mouse problems at the shelters on the Monadnock-Sunapee trail. But they get very little traffic. I've had some mouse issues on at least one shelter on the Long Trail.

    • LIhikers wrote:

      The weather has been so nice the past couple of days that I brought out my bicycle and went for a ride each day.
      I did in the neighborhood of 8-9 miles each day at a very easy pace so my legs have a chance to get used to this again.
      The trick for me will be to get in some rides on days when I work.
      One of my fellow riders has a bike at work she uses for noon rides. It's a third hand one and not at all as high-tech as her tri- bike.

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • LIhikers wrote:

      The weather has been so nice the past couple of days that I brought out my bicycle and went for a ride each day.
      I did in the neighborhood of 8-9 miles each day at a very easy pace so my legs have a chance to get used to this again.
      The trick for me will be to get in some rides on days when I work.
      Are you planning on riding your bike down the runway? That would be tricky. :)
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Dan76 wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      The weather has been so nice the past couple of days that I brought out my bicycle and went for a ride each day.
      I did in the neighborhood of 8-9 miles each day at a very easy pace so my legs have a chance to get used to this again.
      The trick for me will be to get in some rides on days when I work.
      One of my fellow riders has a bike at work she uses for noon rides. It's a third hand one and not at all as high-tech as her tri- bike.
      That's an interesting idea I hadn't thought of. A beater bike at work.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      The weather has been so nice the past couple of days that I brought out my bicycle and went for a ride each day.
      I did in the neighborhood of 8-9 miles each day at a very easy pace so my legs have a chance to get used to this again.
      The trick for me will be to get in some rides on days when I work.
      Are you planning on riding your bike down the runway? That would be tricky. :)
      It would be safer riding down the railroad tracks at on-coming trains...I think :huh:

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      The weather has been so nice the past couple of days that I brought out my bicycle and went for a ride each day.
      I did in the neighborhood of 8-9 miles each day at a very easy pace so my legs have a chance to get used to this again.
      The trick for me will be to get in some rides on days when I work.
      Are you planning on riding your bike down the runway? That would be tricky. :)
      I'll bet he'll use the crosswind runway. ;)

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • I wont be in it, but there is a bicycle race from Jacksonville, AL to Mt. Cheaha tower road. I think they then return to Jacksonville. May 8th, 2016. Two fastest cyclers, from the base of the mountain, to the CCC tower, can win a special jersey. Sounds like overexertion to me.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • LIhikers wrote:

      My wife, Kathy, is talking about wanting to try a recumbent bicycle.
      Anybody here have experience with one and maybe some insight and advice for her?
      All I know is that people love them, especially those who have back issues and can't bend over comfortably. From what I've seen, they're harder for vehicles to see so you need a tall, brightly colored flag.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • LIhikers wrote:

      I got out on my bike again today, and did a slow 12 -14 miles.
      It was pretty windy and it seemed like I was riding into the wind no matter what direction I was headed. How does that work ?????????
      Lol! Frustrating, isn't it? I think I've posted this before. Sheldon Brown is a great resource, especially for the mechanics of cycling.

      sheldonbrown.com/brandt/wind.html
      Lost in the right direction.