Conference noted::bicycle

    There's a rather petite woman who works at ENS&R in Nagog Woods
    (Acton) who rides in from west Shirley every day; takes her about
    an hour to do 17 miles.  She takes backroads across Shirley and
    Ayer to come out at the Home Plate on 2A, crosses 2A, Bruce, under
    Veryfine, then Harwood out to Acton.  K
    

    I have been riding to work 2 days a week for the month of September and 
    I hope to continue the ride for another month.  My ride is from
    Lunenburg on 2A to Taylor St (13.4 miles).  I have a couple of
    recommendations for your trip that may make it a little easier.
    
    You can take Shirley Rd to Ayer Center do not go to Shirley Center. 
    This will cut out the hills you took through Shirley Center and shorten
    your ride.  Shirley Rd is a nicer ride than 2A into Ayer.
    
    I take a side road from Ayer Center (this road is picked up next to 
    the post office / in front of the police station.)  I stay on this road 
    (it turns into Sandy Pond RD) until I bear right accross two sets of 
    rail road tracks.  This road meets 2A at the Home Plate resturant.  This 
    road is much better than taking 2A out of Ayer. (less traffic and until 
    recently a better surface than 2A)
    
    You may want to park at the Shirley rail stop and ride in from there.
    This would shorten you trip enough so that you could ride it in an
    hour. The Shirley rail stop can be found off of Shirely Rd about a 
    mile from the turn to Shirley Center.
    
    I have also found that is is Up hill heading west of Littleton, so the
    ride home takes longer and is more work than the ride in.  I take about
    45 minutes from Lunenburg to Taylor St and about 55 minutes the other
    way.
    
    
    
    

RE .2 - This sounds like the same cut through mentioned in .1, since it comes
out at the Plate. I was thinking the same thing about finding a closer starting
point, either in Shirley or Ayer. Of course, it would have helped if I had
thought about this a little earlier in the year. It's going to be dark by 5:00
pretty soon! Right now my problem is mainly pace. I can't maintain an average
speed much over 13 MPH, and the hills really wear my legs out. I've started some
short morning rides to try and build up to it. It's funny, no matter how much I
work out on the weight and cardio machines at the gym, when I try some real
endurance exercise like swimming or cycling, I feel like I'm in terrible shape.
Just can't substitute for the real thing, I guess.

    What kind of bike are you riding?
    

    You're right about substition, there just isn't any. Weight training
    and other cardiovascular training are good supplements, however.
    
    This is a difficult time of the year to go after improvements around
    this neck of the world. It's generally windy and the temperatures do
    not really allow your muscles to heat effectively which interferes
    with maximizing their strength.
    
    Continued riding will eventually improve muscle strength and indurance
    as well as your aerobic stamina/capacity. 
    
    If you want faster and more effective gains (not talking a racer
    training schedule here) you should think about developing some
    program for the spring that includes some intervals and sprints.
    Also, riding companions are great for exercise :-)...
    
    Good luck and don't get discouraged!
    
    Chip

    Working out on your bike on a trainer (or on rollers if you have more
    skill than I have) is one way.
    
    I like rowing on a machine.  Though it doesn't work muscles as a bike
    does, it is a full body workout and a half-hour a day keeps the 
    endurance up.
    
    This winter, I plan to alternate between these two, favoring the rower.

I am using a mountain bike with knobby tires. I also have a very nice road bike
gathering dust in the basement. I like the ruggedness of the MTB (I also like a
bike that I can ride the way I used to when I was a kid :). I hit a few small
potholes head on, with nothing worse than jarred teeth. I would hate to think
what they would have done to the road bike, with its skinny tires. However,
would that be a better choice for commuting or other long trips? I added some
climbing horns to the MTB handlebars before going out Saturday, and they do help
attack a hill, I just don't have the strength for it!

    In a few miles of riding on a hybrid, I observed that it took more
    effort to pedal at any speed than my road bike does.  The knobby
    tires on a mountain bike would probably make this worse.
    
    IMHO, road bikes are the most efficient design for reasonable speed 
    on reasonably good roads.  They are not the best design for tooling
    around the neighborhood at 8-12 MPH.  Many people tried to use them
    for this purpose until mountain and hybrid bikes came along.

    yes a road bike will make an incredible distance in speed. i'd say
    you shouldn't be hitting anything with your bike, but...
    
    if you'd like to stick with a "rugged" set-up bail the knobbies and
    get some balogna skins or a tires. that should give you 1-2 mph more
    alone.
    
    Chip

    At least it will cut down on the resistance.  The off road tires should
    be used for exactly that, off road.  Then again, maybe you can find
    some, er, um, short cuts to take versus staying on the road?  The train
    tracks may offer an off road opportunity that has less variation in
    terrain changes or at least far more gradual grades.

Somehow sharing tracks with rolling stock doesn't seem like too good an idea!
What if you get stuck on a stretch with no place to jump to when the whistle
blows? Besides which I'd like to keep my teeth in my head ;)

I'll dig out the road bike and give it a spin if the tires aren't flat and I can
find both shoes. Maybe it won't be raining tomorrow morning...

    -1 it's tomorrow and IT IS raining! :-)

    
    	Looks like it'll be wet until Sunday.
    

    
    > Looks like it'll be wet until Sunday.
    
    Mountain biking in the rain on some decent trails, with mud etc. 
    can be a lot of fun, if you're not fussy about getting dirty. 
    Nothing a good hosing wouldn't cleanup! I personaly don't mind 
    mud, if realy helps with building good technique, plenty of work
    on the legs... very satisfying;-)
    
    Shaw 

    -1 Shaw speaks the truth! However, wet leaves, babyheads and roots
       make for a very interesting ride.
    
       Chip

    
    Tioga Slicks are the best if you want to use the MTB.  They pump
    up to a higher pressure than any other slick (but then, they do cost
    more!) and are the tyre of choice for most bike couriers.
    
    There's not a whole lot of difference between road and off road rims
    these days from a strength point of view, it's the tyre and pressure
    makes the difference.  I've put many a minor wobble in an MTB rim
    when riding over potholes (I run the back real soft) that my road
    rims (at high pressure) would have had no problem with.
    
    If you don't need the narrowness of the road bike to skim through
    lanes of slow moving traffic, you don't particularily mind the
    extra wind resistance (which is appreciable), you don't have too
    many hills to climb (road bike geometry kicks ass on paved road
    climbing), and you've got a lot of wet leaves on your route (road
    tyres suck on wet leaves), then use the MTB with high pressure
    Tioga Slicks.
    
    
    Peter.
    

Incredible, not only did I find both shoes, but the 8-year-old tires with 2,000
miles on them pumped up to 90 PSI and held the pressure! (supposed to be 125
psi, but I couldn't find the Presta adapter for my double-barrel floor pump) And
of course it's still raining... I'll give it a try as soon as the weather
clears. I'm a little nervous about getting out in traffic on wet roads with
skinny slick tires and my feet cleated in.

    Whenever I feel the need for speed I consider getting the road bike out 
    of the basement.  It has been sitting there for 2 years, ever since my 
    mtn bike arrived home.  My daily commutes seem to take me off the road
    every time, so the skinny tires continue to collect spider webs. The
    ability to explore off-road is too much fun !  And I used to be a
    die-hard roadie.  It's probably just a stage, I'll get over it, maybe.

    My guess would be that bicycle tires follow the same rule as automobile
    tires. Skinny is good, wider is worse. The wider the tire the more
    opportunity to trap water under them and float.
    
    In fact, balogna skins are rated higher (traction) because more tire
    surface is meeting the road (we're talking road bike tires here).
    
    If you look at the treads on a road nike tire you know right off
    they're going to be pretty useless.
    
    Chip

    
    	Of course, keep in mind that bicycle tires are so skinny that
    	they almost have no choice but to "cut" through water.  So I
    	don't think you have to worry too much about hydroplaning.
    
    	Consider the amount of force between the contact area of the
    	bike tire and the road compared to a car tire and the road.
    	The bike tire is alot more narrow, and there are only 2 of
    	them.
    
    	And MTB tires have lots of "water channeling", so they should
    	be almost as good as road tires.
    

Saturday came still wet, but not raining, so I overcame my fear of sliding and
took the bike out. Yow, I had forgotten how far over you bend to get into the
drops! But it felt very good, like raw power under me waiting to be turned
loose. I just tooled around the hills in Leominster, getting back into the feel
and trying out some light climbing. I went out again this morning for 30
minutes. Sliding my butt back on the saddle gave me good power for short climbs.
Now I just need to get some longer road time in.

As far as traction, rational arguments just don't work! My hindbrain sees that
teeny, skinny smooth wheel on the road bike, and the big knobby monster bike
tires on the MTB and blindly trusts the big ones. I'll just try and take your
word for it. 

I counted teeth, and it turns out that the road bike has a gear ratio range of
about 1.8 to 4.0, while the MTB has a range of about 0.9 to 3.2. This means half
the effort turning the crank on the MTB during a climb in bottom gear, and a
higher top end on the road bike. Actually, the MTB large chainring by itself
covers about 1.6 to 3.2, so I could stay on it and cover essentially the same
range I can reach on the road bike. If I have real trouble with the big climbs
on the road bike, maybe I will look into a new freewheel set. The bike is an '87
Raleigh Technium Scott Tinley Tri-Light (RTSTTL for short ;), meant for the
semi-serious triathlete, so more of a touring/commuter set might be better for
me right now.

Definitely, though, for the real distance, the road bike does feel a lot better.
I'll save the MTB for the shorter fun rides, hauling the kids in the trailer or
bouncing around in the dirt (which I really have yet to do...).

                                         
    I prefer my mtn bike over the street bike now.  Seems the mtn bike
    technology blows away my 12 speed capabilities.  
    
    Besides trail riding, I've been biking the Bedford rail trail at least 
    once a week on the mtn bike.  I like how the threatening sound of knobbies
    (especially if your in a group) can clear the trail.  If you have 3
    bikes, usually there is a fantastic harmonic pitch at ~15mph.

Two good reasons to stay off the particular disaster-in-waiting, I mean bike
path.

    yeah, bike paths are for mommies walking babies and those emaciated
    runner-types. hit the road or the woods like real men! :-)
    
    Chip

    
    
    	YEAH....Hoo-ah!

    
    I like enjoy the bike trail.  Provides a great, pollution free way of
    commuting to Boston in under an hour.  Problem is, many people feel that 
    it's a "Let's walk in large, non-tandem clusters trail".  

    
    
    I know what you mean about people walking in large groups and 
    claiming the whole trail. I have this same problem up here. When I 
    ride at the Odrion park, these are bike/hike trails and cyclist have
    been riding these for years. As much as I have respect for everyother
    living creature that wants to share the trails with me, I wish hikers
    were a bit more sensative and less selfish aswel. 
    
    Shaw

    Most of the time, I'm sure its totally un-intentional, after you've
    walked a few miles you tend to feel a little cramped in the same space,
    you want to keep talking to the main group, nobody likes talking from
    behind, or over their shoulder, psychologically you feel less tired
    when at the front, etc.  Shout "Hi There!" ahead of time, bring a bell,
    etc., and don't forget that walking a cycle path is a lot harder. 
    
    And hey, if you do meet a bunch of idiots, give them a good dousing
    with water after you've passed!

    and i thought the idiots were native to minnesota!
    
    i like to ride around the lakes in downtown minneapolis (the lakes that
    mary tyler moore was filmed at for her 70's sit-com). well, there are 3
    lakes (harriot, calhoun, and isles). there are 2 paths around the lakes
    - pedestrian (close to the water) and biking/blading(nearer the road).
    
    the paths are marked to circle the lakes in opposite directions.
    
    well, while i was there ther ohter night, the idiots who can't read
    were walking/running in the wrong direction on the bike path. not just
    a few, but a whole bunch!  and then you have theones that like to walk
    on the bike path (without bikes!), at least these people are walking
    in the right direction!
    
    	ann
    

    Spike Bike where are you???!!!

The problem is really that these "idiots" just don't know any better.  For every
one person you educate (and who may even thank you), there are 9 more waiting to
take their place.  It's a common thing about human nature -- people generally
don't stop to think.  If they did, we wouldn't complain.  I bet the hikers think
the bikers are rude and arrogant.  Unfortunately, cars rule.  That's why auto
racing is so popular (21 hours per week on the TV) and we get 21 hours of TdF
coverage a year.  Anyone know the coverage plans for the Olympics?  I'll start
writing letters now...

    Re: .0
    
    There is a MUCH better way to get to LKG than what you wrote.
    
    Do NOT go toward the center of Shirley and down RT2A (big mistake)
    Instead go straight through downtown and down Shirley "strip" into
    Ayer.  You will save about 5 miles.......
    
    Take a left at the Ayer Police station and then a right (toward Home
    Plate).  Before you get to Home plate there will be another left hand
    turn.  This will take you to RT119.  Take a right on  RT119 and 3 miles
    later you are at LKG.
    
    I took this route this morning for the first time and although it is
    the fastest and most direct I don't think I want to go through the
    terror of the morning traffic ever again!
    
    Good Luck!  BTW:  I'm riding from Shirley and that route is exactly
    11.06 miles.
    
    Linda