All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m seriously considering picking up a gravel/road bike.

Life isn’t allowing me much free time these days. Never mind my bike has been in pieces, but burning another hour(+/-) drive to get to a trail head is a contributing factor.

It’s possible I’m just suffering separation anxiety in my absence from dirt.

 

I wish I could ride as frequent as you all, but I’ll certainly take all I can get when I can get it!
I really wanted to hit 1000 miles this year but lost the drive during the recent colder months. What winter gear do you guys like for pants? Or base liners?

 

I have one, just to stay in riding shape. Just get a Giant Contend AR (can do both) and call it a day. Don’t need to go fancy when you’re just looking for that feel of being on a bike

 

Do it! I wish I lived close enough to ride from my house to trails but I don’t. Road bike is next best thing. I use a gravel bike with 40c tires on the road and it is solid.

I have some pearl izumi amphib bibs. I believe they are water and wind proof. Super warm. They make solid winter gear. If you want to ball out you can try Velocio, I’m a big fan of their stuff. IMBA members get a discount on both pearl Izumi and Velocio. I wear wool base layers usually, only the top though. 45 north gloves for really cold and hand up cold gloves for 40ish. Wool socks and a shoe cover. I do want to get some dedicated winter shoes though.

 

When I lived near the end of the east bay bike path in RI I used to ride providence to Bristol and back on a daily basis. 15mi each way took me a shade under 2 hours depending on the day. My first “real” bike outside of bmx was road. I enjoyed it when I was riding alone. It was fun, got me out, got to see some parts of the state, it was along the coast so it was nice. Ended up getting a dog - at least on a regular basis, it feels wrong going and exercising without her. On a nice beautiful 75 degree day, leaving her home for two hours to go ride and get exercise seems mean. She’s a cattle dog and would absolutely love 2 hours in the woods with me walking instead of me biking.

anyway. It doesn’t have to be one discipline. I at one time had 7 bikes at my house. One was my wife’s road bike. The other 6 were mine in one form or another. Now I’m down to...3. Bmx mountain and gravel. Gotta fix up the gravel and get it good, might ditch it and get a more commuter focused bike instead. I don’t count my hard tail as number 4 since that ones getting pitched in the spring.

all I’m saying is...doooooo iiiiiiit.

where you at? My hard tail would make a good conversion and my motobecane would be a good fit too. Both in the 5’10 range for sizing. They’ll both probably go pretty cheap let alone for TW.

 

I have a gravel bike for this exact reason. But also, there are a few trails behind my house that a full suspension is complete overkill for. a gravel bike makes it super interesting and very fun. I can also ride it on the road and I can smoke some roadies on it but I mostly do it for cycle time and exercise more than enjoyment. My other reason for one is for bikepacking mellow areas. we'll see if that ever comes to fruition but it is an option and a possibility.

 

Hoping to get another couple days in before the end of the year.
All MTB, all trail. 6 weeks off with a broken hand, elbow, and arm first week of the summer really ate into the fun.

 

whew! look at that elevation gain. IDK about you but I like to see how many "Everests" i've climbed. you're almost at 9!

 

Your name made me laugh way too hard.

 

Last year... no injuries.

 

Got the alert. Due to COVID, my frame won't ship out until mid January.

Guess the upside is that means it'll be right around when the trails start to open up when I get it finished.

 

Today new generation of riders

 

holy shit.

 

there has been twice in my life that the bicycle on the back of the vehicle is worth more than the vehicle itself. Now that I have my Tacoma it’ll be a long while before that happens again

 

DO it!! I picked one up the beginning of this year during Quarantine and its a nice change up. However, when you go back to riding trails after a couple road/gravel rides you realize how much you love the peacefulness of being in the middle of the woods/nature/nowhere and not having to worry about stupid drivers is nice too.

I picked up the Cannondale Topstone, nothing fancy or expensive, but i like it and it goes fast (enough for me). Eventually i will go to a 1x drivetrain.

You will not regret it, ill tell ya that!

 

Oh by the way if you’re new to clipless pedals (I don’t judge) you will go for a ride a few times. The first time you can’t get your foot out to stop is scary and you go down. After that, when you can’t unclip and go down it’s just funny. Most times I would be laughing on my way down, people would ask if I’m okay and I’m just there laughing because I understand the absurdity of it all: I just came to a stop and then just tipped over...

 

"Impromptu trail naps"

 

I’m open to suggestions for sure. I’m a complete fish out of water with anything cycling thats non-mountain bike.

 

Step 1: shave EVERYTHING
Step 2: Lycra
Step 3: develop strong opinions about espressi
Step 4: avoid grams at all costs