Tons of people ask me what kind of bike they should buy, then tell me three days later that they bought the bike from Walmart I told them not to bother with, because "the price was right."
Please stop doing this! Granted, if you only want a bike to ride a few times a year down the sidewalk or a rails to trails system, go for it. You aren't serious about buying a bike anyway. But if you want to buy a bike that might be useful to you at all in the future, look on craigslist.
Step one: Figure out what size bike you need.
Mountain bikes are sized in inches, and road bikes are sized in centimeters. You night want to swing by your local bike shop and try out a new bike or two just to find out what size fits you best.
Step two: Determine what type of riding you intend to do.
Mountain bikes are great for the single track, but really heavy and cumbersome for most other situations. Know where you are hoping to ride.
Step three: Do your research. Learn which namebrands are quality, and look for those models first.
Step four: Look on craigslist in your local area. Know that there are no guarantees on anything, but also know that you should save at least $100-$200 on the good quality bike that is just a couple years old. Also, make an offer. Barter. The price is only what someone is willing to pay.
Step five: Sell your old bike on craigslist. Everybody's garbage is someone else's treasure. I have bought quite a few treasures along the way!
Disclaimer: I love being able to buy bikes this way. Out of the 8-9 kids and adults bikes in my garage, only one was bought brand new. We looked though... for a solid month. Sometimes the right bike just doesn't surface. But 8 out of nine isn't too bad!
One of my favorite blogs to check every day is Jonathan Pait's www.lowcadence.com It is a biking blog from a cyclist in Greenville, who rides daily and continues to blog about it daily. That is one of the hardest things of all to do: continue to blog about it daily.
Nonetheless, Jonathan is embarking on an epic ride across the state of SC at the end of the month. I find this ride particularly interesting, because he is doing the ride to raise support for a CHD (Child Heart Defect) child that was in the hospital with my son Josiah before he passed away. If you do not know our story, check it out at www.thewilsonheart.com
My son Josiah was flown via helicopter from Greenville to Charleston, SC. Planning a ride on that route was something I had hoped to do myself. Now that Jonathan is riding the route, and doing it for a cause I am personally passionate about, my interest is peaked. Jonathan is riding the 240 miles in a single day, for Rebekah Grace Ellis, a little girl who fights for every breath, and every heartbeat, every single day. Her story, and her family is absolutely amazing.
Please visit this website, where you will learn more about little Rebekah Grace and consider donating to support Jonathan in this epic trek across the state.
One of the greatest frustrations with any receiver mounted bike rack is the inability to open the rear hatch on your vehicle. I built this bike rack in stages, but I am very happy with the finished product.
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| The rack is built around something called a hitch extension bar. They are typically used for a pickup truck that has a camper on the back, and needs the towing hitch extended. The one that I used is 18inches long, and fits in my 2 inch receiver hitch. |
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| From there, I built a frame for the rack using angle iron. Since these pictures were taken, I have switched out the angle iron for boxed steel crossbars which are much stronger. |
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| The rack is held in place by a clamping system. It is based around the idea that bikes are somewhat balanced weight. Four long bolts are tightened down snugly to create a tight clamp around extension bar. |
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| After that, I added two toolboxes for carrying biking helmets, random tools, a change of clothes, tie-downs, and a first aid kit for the inevitable crash. These toolboxes are water tight, and would apparently done a great job of keeping out the moisture until I drilled four holes into the bottom to mount them on the rack. I advise you to caulk them well so your equipment doesn't pick up moisture and rust. I didn't do this, and had no problems with one of them, but have a rusty socket set in the other |
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| I added a yakima wheelstrap for the rear tire |
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| and this is a Saris fork mount on the other box for the front wheel. |
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| This toolbox has a wedged groove running the length of it that makes it perfect for a bike tire. Truth is, when the tire strap is attached, the groove is irrelevant... but it looks cool! |
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| So, If i just want to carry one bike and have all the equipment I need with me, here it is, and away I go. (Although with this set-up I still can't open the rear hatch. I do have more space in the back for cargo though, because my gear is all in the toolboxes instead. |
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| This is where it gets fun. You see, up til now, all of this could have been done using a basket carrier rack. But, because we used the hitch extension, now we can add whichever type of carrier hitch rack you already have. In my case, this is a 4 bike rack made by outfitter. |
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| So, I can now carry up to four bikes on the standard rack, plus one on my new rack we just built, without giving up roof rack space for kayaks. |
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| This is a rack that also included a towing ball option, so in theory you could pull a utility trailer along behind as well. I wouldn't recommend more that a load of leaves however, because all of this is beginning to add up to a significant amount of weight on the rear of the vehicle. |
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| Again, if you do want to be able to open the rear hatch without moving bikes around, you would not have the white bike in place. Just carry around the other four bikes. |
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| Here is the side view of a full load. This was a day that we took a bunch of students our for a mountain bike riding adventure on their spring break. |
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| And here we are from the rear. Without question, it was a full load. But I had room for everyone who wanted to come! |
No one likes to bike in the rain. Having some of the proper gear can help the process be less miserable, but overall you really have to decide ahead of time that training hard will require some discomfort.
More than anything else, the clothes I am wearing are to help keep me warm. I know I look ridiculous. I have accepted this and continue to go out there. I hope I am visible to motor vehicles. this is the only way I will continue to be able to ride in all types of weather. Here is the video blog post. enjoy!
watch on youtube
I ran my 1st half marathon this year, and it really kicked my butt. I have been biking now consistently for a number of years, but training to run really did me in. I don't know whether it is the pounding on the body that every runner experiences, or bad running form on my part for longer distances than 2-3 miles, but I am still hurting from the run 3 weeks later. Here are a few things I learned running my 1st half.
1. I lost 8-10 lbs training for this run. I have never really lost weight biking.
2. There are far more runners out there than cyclist. people resonate with what you are training for.
3. It is absolutely miserable to run 13.1 miles alone.
4. Having a written down training plan is very helpful in getting yourself prepared.
5. I am a long ways off from being ready for a full marathon (26.2).
watch on youtube
I got out this morning on the "good" bike and it felt really good! I have been riding a beater bike to work through most of the winter here in Buffalo, but it definitely feels good to be on a bike. The surprise of the morning was the crazy gusts of wind. It blew me all over the place! I rode an easy 15 miles, in just under an hour.
Most of the ride was on the Amherst bike path, but the fist 2 miles or so were on the road from my house. I was really surprised at how rough the road felt to me. While it was nice to have a big wide shoulder to ride on, the brutal winter has definitely left its mark in potholes and large cracks in the road.
Here is a map of my ride. Look for more to come soon! The weather is improving...