NM

[GooooMarquette]

It has been a very warm past few days, but I've had some great bike rides.  One of the things I love about Rochester is that while we have plenty of big city amenities, I'm close enough to the countryside that I can ride on quiet rural roads just a few miles from my house.

Any other road cyclists out there?

[warriorchick]

It has been a very warm past few days, but I've had some great bike rides.  One of the things I love about Rochester is that while we have plenty of big city amenities, I'm close enough to the countryside that I can ride on quiet rural roads just a few miles from my house.

Any other road cyclists out there?

I enjoy a lot of different sports but could never get into cycling.  Too much mechanical stuff for my liking. 

[GooooMarquette]

I enjoy a lot of different sports but could never get into cycling.  Too much mechanical stuff for my liking.

That is the one big downside for me.

I actually came upon cycling by accident.  I had been a lifelong runner - HS track team, later turned into marathons and stuff - but I overdid it and herniated a couple discs at around 40.  My docs said that I had to give up running and find something lower impact, or risk surgery and pain even just walking.  Swimming was out because of an old rotator cuff injury that I never had repaired, and nothing else seemed to fit.

I figured cycling might be even worse than running (the uncomfortable looking hunched over position), but I gave it a shot and it turned out that the forward bending relieved the pain.  Fast forward about 15 years, and I can't imagine going without my rides.  The mechanical stuff and associated costs are still a hassle, but they've just become part of the background noise that I've gotten used to...and I LOVE the feeling of being on an open rural road on my bike.

[warriorchick]

That is the one big downside for me.

I actually came upon cycling by accident.  I had been a lifelong runner - HS track team, later turned into marathons and stuff - but I overdid it and herniated a couple discs at around 40.  My docs said that I had to give up running and find something lower impact, or risk surgery and pain even just walking.  Swimming was out because of an old rotator cuff injury that I never had repaired, and nothing else seemed to fit.

I figured cycling might be even worse than running (the uncomfortable looking hunched over position), but I gave it a shot and it turned out that the forward bending relieved the pain.  Fast forward about 15 years, and I can't imagine going without my rides.  The mechanical stuff and associated costs are still a hassle, but they've just become part of the background noise that I've gotten used to...and I LOVE the feeling of being on an open rural road on my bike.

Also a tough sell to a cheapskate like me to have to spend 4 figures on a "decent" piece of athletic equipment when I can get a pair of running shoes for $150.  I have participated in one mini-triathlon in which I used a 20-year-old Schwinn (which cost $125 at the time) and was receiving side-eye aplenty from my fellow competitors, usually as they were passing me.

[mug644]

It has been a very warm past few days, but I've had some great bike rides.  One of the things I love about Rochester is that while we have plenty of big city amenities, I'm close enough to the countryside that I can ride on quiet rural roads just a few miles from my house.

Any other road cyclists out there?

While you were writing your post, I was out on a 35 mile ride in the hills of western MA. I love living in this part of New England, where I have access to lots of cities, beaches, mountains, but am able to have rural existence that gives me peace and I'm surrounded by nature. I live on a dead-end, dirt road, with no cell phone coverage, but hike, bike and cross-country ski amazing places just by stepping out my door.

[GooooMarquette]

While you were writing your post, I was out on a 35 mile ride in the hills of western MA. I love living in this part of New England, where I have access to lots of cities, beaches, mountains, but am able to have rural existence that gives me peace and I'm surrounded by nature. I live on a dead-end, dirt road, with no cell phone coverage, but hike, bike and cross-country ski amazing places just by stepping out my door.

Sounds awesome.  Quiet rural roads are the best.

[mu_hilltopper]

Mecca .. Bradley Center .. Chaluparena.

Past, present, future.

[jsglow]

Mecca .. Bradley Center .. Chaluparena.

Past, present, future.

Middle children never get any respect, eh?

[fjm]

I enjoy a lot of different sports but could never get into cycling.  Too much mechanical stuff for my liking.

Unfortunately this heat is killing my Duck Hunting attempts so far. So I'm hoping for a cooling down period kinda soon. :/

[forgetful]

It has been a very warm past few days, but I've had some great bike rides.  One of the things I love about Rochester is that while we have plenty of big city amenities, I'm close enough to the countryside that I can ride on quiet rural roads just a few miles from my house.

Any other road cyclists out there?

I was, but these days I don't have enough time to get out there.  I have an awesome ride, but sadly it largely goes unused. 

My problem is that to get an equivalent workout to running, I need to really go for about 3x longer of a workout.  I run for about an hour, and that is hard to find time for...biking I'd need 2-3 hours minimum.

I started in mountain biking, and running.  After too many injuries from mountain biking, my wife banned me, and with back problems running was getting a bit more challenging.  Cycling was a good outlet for several years.

Strengthening my core though made my back infinitely better, to the point that I have had zero problems going on 4+ years and can now run long and often pain free.  Need to get back in the saddle though...maybe I'll do one day a week.

[Benny B]

It has been a very warm past few days, but I've had some great bike rides.  One of the things I love about Rochester is that while we have plenty of big city amenities, I'm close enough to the countryside that I can ride on quiet rural roads just a few miles from my house.

Any other road cyclists out there?

Actually, it was biking around Rochester that convinced me I needed a car.  I covered just about every bit of that city on my bike during my early teens.  I remember the day I hit 1,000 miles on my odometer... I was on my way to football practice and wasn't so much feeling accomplished as I was dreading the 3-mile bike home afterwards.  Even as the token skinny nerd on the football team, practice was easy compared to that damn hill in front of Calvary Cemetery (which today would probably not seem nearly as daunting, but to a 14 year-old kid trying to balance a helmet and shoulder pads, it sucked).

I've probably ridden a collective 25 miles since the day after my 16th birthday.

[GGGG]

Actually, it was biking around Rochester that convinced me I needed a car.  I covered just about every bit of that city on my bike during my early teens.  I remember the day I hit 1,000 miles on my odometer... I was on my way to football practice and wasn't so much feeling accomplished as I was dreading the 3-mile bike home afterwards.  Even as the token skinny nerd on the football team, practice was easy compared to that damn hill in front of Calvary Cemetery (which today would probably not seem nearly as daunting, but to a 14 year-old kid trying to balance a helmet and shoulder pads, it sucked).

I've probably ridden a collective 25 miles since the day after my 16th birthday.

LOL...yep!

Someone I work with is a biking fanatic.  Every other weekend she is going on some 80 mile trek around the countryside and is absolutely convinced that I would love it.  But all I think of is the misery of having to bike everywhere as a middle and early high schooler. 

[GooooMarquette]

Actually, it was biking around Rochester that convinced me I needed a car.  I covered just about every bit of that city on my bike during my early teens.  I remember the day I hit 1,000 miles on my odometer... I was on my way to football practice and wasn't so much feeling accomplished as I was dreading the 3-mile bike home afterwards.  Even as the token skinny nerd on the football team, practice was easy compared to that damn hill in front of Calvary Cemetery (which today would probably not seem nearly as daunting, but to a 14 year-old kid trying to balance a helmet and shoulder pads, it sucked).

I've probably ridden a collective 25 miles since the day after my 16th birthday.

Didn't know you were from RST, Benny!

I can see what you're saying.  I never used my bike as a form of basic transportation - I always lived near enough to walk to the places I needed to go as a kid, so my childhood riding was just fun around the neighborhood.  I can imagine viewing it differently if it had been my transportation....

[Benny B]

Didn't know you were from RST, Benny!

I can see what you're saying.  I never used my bike as a form of basic transportation - I always lived near enough to walk to the places I needed to go as a kid, so my childhood riding was just fun around the neighborhood.  I can imagine viewing it differently if it had been my transportation....

Not from RST, but lived there during my pre and early teens.   I'm sure the city is much, much different today than what I experienced.

[GooooMarquette]

Not from RST, but lived there during my pre and early teens.   I'm sure the city is much, much different today than what I experienced.

Yep, lots of changes.  We've been here since '98, and there have already been huge updates to the Mayo campus and the downtown restaurant scene.  And we're starting to see even more state, private and Mayo investment to turn it into a more modern, upscale destination.  Hilton and Hyatt coming to town, high-rise condos by Saint Marys and along the river, major renovation of the Art Center, the beginnings of a four-year university (UM-Rochester). 

Some of the locals lament it turning into a "big city," but I think the progress is great.

[GooooMarquette]

I don't care if I'm banned.

No, wait...I don't care if everybody else here is banned.

Wait, I mean I used to use Ban until I realized it had aluminum.

I think we ought to ban aluminum.

All in favor?

[warriorchick]

I don't care if I'm banned.

No, wait...I don't care if everybody else here is banned.

Wait, I mean I used to use Ban until I realized it had aluminum.

I think we ought to ban aluminum.

All in favor?

Aye.

[GooooMarquette]

Hugh Hefner dead.  Ban clothing.

[tower912]

Wear a silk robe in honor. 

[GooooMarquette]

Wear a silk robe in honor.

I was thinking of inviting some Playmates over for a pool party.  Just gotta get a pool...and a grotto...and a mansion.

[Dr. Blackheart]

I was thinking of inviting some Playmates over for a pool party.  Just gotta get a pool...and a grotto...and a mansion.

And a great chlorine system

[Spotcheck Billy]

maybe now we'll hear what really happened when Bill Cosby visited the mansion

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Hugh Hefner helped bring pornography to the mainstream.

Pornography helped spur the expansion of the internet.

Without the internet, there is no Scoop.

So in a way, you could say Hugh Hefner invented Scoop.*

*This is in addition to Scoop's other co-founder, Al Gore.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Then the Internet killed Playboy. So Hugh killed himself.

[GooooMarquette]

And a great chlorine system

Chlorine...and activated charcoal filters...and a reverse-osmosis purification system....