I hate bicycles in canyons

[Brakelate]

James - Clearly anyone can see that this topic has struck a nerve for you, and that you have an obvious passion about bicycling.

Sadly, I must say, that like with anything I suppose, I pay no thought or acknowledge the good the thousand-plus bicycle riders are doing out there for themselves, or that they are obeying all the rules, and are thus invisible to me. What DOES stick out in my mind are the twenty or so cyclists that I have encountered on my drive home from work (sadly, we must share a great biking road during prime time riding hours - Saturday morning, early) in the car. On the motorcycle, I have seen things that make me shake my head, but I simply cut through the pack and dismissed the whole event mere seconds after such an incident. And that, even after Tetge and had the extreme displeasure of being forced to share the Angeles Forest Highway and Little Tujunga one Sunday morning with a bicycle road race, that had participants falsely believing that they were the only ones on the road. We encountered so many groups, riding four-wide in blind corners, refusing to yield or even go single file on a narrow stretch that even on a downhill, I had to weave in and out of a pack and actually passed a guy on the inside (!) right hand portion of the lane, as he refused to give up the left wheel track for us obviously present motorcyclists to pass. But, on the bike, I usually let it go. Now, in a car, it is a whole 'nuther story! Sure, I have been ripping up the road, and probably even with my loud exhaust was able to "sneak" up on an unsuspecting pack or closed on them at such a high rate that they did not expect, nor were given enough time to react. But, still, I have had so many instances where I almost creamed the "Alpha" rider of the pack or even several riders due to them riding abreast of each other. Then there are the countless stop signs they simply refuse to acknowledge (sure, I understand the theory of energy conservation) but, hell. Or, the rider who had a group "check up" in front of him and went over the bars trying not to get tangled who crashed out. I rendered aid to his head trauma and large amount of road rash while the group of his pack simply continued on, leaving him for dead. And I even got harsh looks from the hundred or so riders post-crash who pedaled by soaking in the scene, without a single one stopping to assist, or even ask if we needed help or who the rider was.

So, I am afraid it is one of those things where the bad 1% ruin the reputation of the other outstanding 99% of riders out there.

[jhwalker]

I don't disagree. I always rode with the "good guys". Or maybe it was the old guys who understand mortality. I don't understand those others. They are inconsiderate at best. If a hot dog joined us (never more than 6 riders) and showed signs of being an idiot, we would slow and let him/her (some of the chicks are very aggressive) move on. Life is too short.

[Brakelate]

Same goes on motorcycle group rides. Wait... I still ride with Tetge.

[Tetge]

Same goes on motorcycle group rides. Wait... I still ride with Tetge.

Yes, we ride. But wait, I have not ridden in months, group or no group. Just as well since there are rumors of serious maximum enforcement all about and they are writing for any little thing, just to send messages.

[Brakelate]

So are they the ones replacing the Saturday mail service? I wonder what message it is that they are sending

[jhwalker]

So are they the ones replacing the Saturday mail service? I wonder what message it is that they are sending

Dat's rite, homie. Just back from a GREAT day of shooting. Life is good.

[Tetge]

So are they the ones replacing the Saturday mail service? I wonder what message it is that they are sending

Dat's rite, homie. Just back from a GREAT day of shooting. Life is good.

Shooting? Ironic that you are shooting so much in Mexico, where I have heard that if a foreigner shoots anyone there is all hell to pay. But, as with so many other things, it appears that I know nothing about the modern, real, Mexico, other than what I read in the news.

In other news, Caltech, is working out all the statistics and preparing a report for me about how anyone could put on 75000 miles bicycle riding. They, of course, have to make some assumptions about average speeds, and that is what is taking the time. I had it down to about 1000, 6 hour rides, minimum, so, over 50 years that would only be 40, 6 hour rides, a year. But, it may be that the rides were even more frequent. As I said, it is being worked on...............

[jhwalker]

So are they the ones replacing the Saturday mail service? I wonder what message it is that they are sending

Dat's rite, homie. Just back from a GREAT day of shooting. Life is good.

Shooting? Ironic that you are shooting so much in Mexico, where I have heard that if a foreigner shoots anyone there is all hell to pay. But, as with so many other things, it appears that I know nothing about the modern, real, Mexico, other than what I read in the news.

In other news, Caltech, is working out all the statistics and preparing a report for me about how anyone could put on 75000 miles bicycle riding. They, of course, have to make some assumptions about average speeds, and that is what is taking the time. I had it down to about 1000, 6 hour rides, minimum, so, over 50 years that would only be 40, 6 hour rides, a year. But, it may be that the rides were even more frequent. As I said, it is being worked on...............

Yes, things might be a little different than 60-65 years ago. Things are pretty strict here, except for the cartel arms. I carry 3 forms of official documents, re-issued each year, which grant me local and federal rights to transport three specific guns (by serial number) and up to 200 rounds (.38 special) at any time, in the states of Yucatan, Queretaro, Nuevo Leon, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Oaxaca, DF, Hidalgo, Jalisco and Estado de Mexico. If I forget to renew any one of the permissions, I don't shoot until they are all current. Consequences for not being current might not be good.

I conservatively estimate the 75,000, it was probably a lot more. I rode seriously for 25 years in the USA, and some of the years were documented biggies -- up to 6,000 miles a year, but I also had some 3000 mile years when I was slacking.
But I used the 25 years X 40 weeks a year (conservative since I don't ever remember taking 12 weeks off in any year) X 80 miles a week. Most weeks were actually closer to 100 miles, and some were 125-135 mile weeks when I was training for either a century event or a triathlon, split into 2-3 rides a week, and many of them averaged 15 miles an hour -- some faster and some like the Bell Canyon to PCH to Kanan and up Kanan and then back to Bell were slower due to the 5000 feet of steep climbing on that ride . Many weekend riding days started at 6 or 7 am and ended at 3 or 4 pm, often riding with a morning crew, and then an afternoon crew, because not many wanted to do a 10 hour ride. Yes, I probably rode a good bit more than 75K but I am comfortable with using the 3 times around the world number. Considering that there are 168 hours in every week, and I don't ever sleep much more than 6 hours a night, getting in 9-10 hours a week of riding was never a problem.
If I use the 9 hours X 13 mph X 40 weeks X 25 years, it equates to 117,000 miles, but I feel comfortable with the 75K number, knowing that it is very conservative.

[Tetge]

Wow! That's some serious riding. No wonder you are so defensive of the activity. I still consider all bicycle riders to be dare devils and risk takers, even if they are polite. I sympathize with those that have to use a bicycle to commute and as their sole means of transportation and I do not understand why anyone else would wish to engage in such activity. And, I expect that I am in the majority as most people might have ridden a bicycle as a child, but, they grew out of it. I realize that it provides exercise, but, there are more rounded exercises that do not have the risk of getting run over or crashing due to tiny tires and, effectively, no brakes. But, if the street gets too easy, a person can always get a mountain bike and cast themselves off some cliff and let gravity do the rest. Yes, they are all mental.

Strange that a person could ride 75000+ miles on a bicycle but that they considered street motorcycles too dangerous to have.

[jhwalker]

Wow! That's some serious riding. No wonder you are so defensive of the activity. I still consider all bicycle riders to be dare devils and risk takers, even if they are polite. I sympathize with those that have to use a bicycle to commute and as their sole means of transportation and I do not understand why anyone else would wish to engage in such activity. And, I expect that I am in the majority as most people might have ridden a bicycle as a child, but, they grew out of it. I realize that it provides exercise, but, there are more rounded exercises that do not have the risk of getting run over or crashing due to tiny tires and, effectively, no brakes. But, if the street gets too easy, a person can always get a mountain bike and cast themselves off some cliff and let gravity do the rest. Yes, they are all mental.

Strange that a person could ride 75000+ miles on a bicycle but that they considered street motorcycles too dangerous to have.

It is perhaps strange, but the feeling that kicks in at the 3 or 4 hour mark of a 6-7-8 hour difficult ride is exquisite, if you stay hydrated and avoid a bonk. And then knowing that you have just doing something really good for your body and mind added to the pleasure. I have always enjoyed the physical tests. It got to the point that if I only had 3 hours to ride, I would skip the ride and just run for 1 or 2 hours. The documented "Evil James" seldom raised his head after a long, difficult ride or run.

I found mountain biking to be much more dangerous than street biking for me, just due to my personality. I like to wheelie, I like to jump. I would look at a downhill and say, "no problem" and then it would turn into "problem". Most of my bicycling injuries came when mountain biking, doing the goofy crap. I never considered a street motorcycle too dangerous. That was a concession that I willingly made to Terri until the boys were grown. In reality, between the bicycling, running, swimming, the pissant triathlons, coaching basketball and soccer, playing basketball in two different city leagues, boating, waterskiing, houseboating, and a little bit of work (workaholic), I only missed the motorcycling when I thought about it. So I didn't think about it. My track record on motorcycle safety was suspect, and still is. Since I am still recovering from the wreck here almost 2 years ago, I have had no regrets over swapping the motorcycle for the bicycle while the kids were growing.
It all worked out fine. If I could redo the past 25 years, there is not much I would change.