(inspired by the skateboarding thread)

i know that it was discussed in the fixed gear thread new bike thread and in other places, but it's time for the first EA Biking Thread. what bike do you ride, since when, how often, injuries, crashes, stories, what pisses you off, what makes you feel good... everything.

there's also a poll. if you'll vote crap i will add you to my buddy list (if there is such a feature here) just co i could kick you the fuck out from it.

i ride a bh aka bialsa trekking bike, with '28 wheels, large chassis and 18 gears. i use medium size tyres (halfway between MTB size and uh tour-de-france-a-like size... maybe closer to MTB). it's great for riding on asphalt as well as dirt roads, and i'm in a very comfortable posistion while riding - on MTB bikes my back hurts after 2 hours of pedaling. i bought it for 200 euro, discount from 300.

i absolutely love it.

luckily i've never had a serious injury. the most dangerous situation i was in was nearly gettign hit by a truck (not my fault) and crashing at high speed - totally my fault as i was riding on a bike road parallel to a car road. i was passed by a bus so i start chasing it. i was doing good but i was focusing more on the bus on my side not on what's in front of me so when i noticed a 90 degree turn in front of me it was too late - there was no chance i could make it (i was driving at about 38 km/h). i hit the breaks, rear wheel got blocked (surface was slippery as rain was falling earlier thast day) and started to go to the side with the whole bike still moving forward. once the angle between the front and the rear wheel became too high i was catapulted in to the air, flipped, and landed on the grass with a few minor scratches on my legs. i fit perfectly between a tree on the left and steel poles on the right. i slowly got up and started to touch my limbs as i wasn't sure whether i'm really ok, i walked up to my bike which lied a good few meters from me and saw the bike is perfectly in tact - varnish has gone off at the side but that's it. i bet it looked great from the bus. oh, the best thing is it happend 5 minutes from the place where i live - i knew very well that this 90 degree turn is in this place. i know, i was very lucky.

Absolutely not crap - a minor revelation and one of the most enjoyable things I've taken up in adult life. I'm a casual cyclist - I ride each day to and from work (a mere five miles or so each way). Instead of a damp, fuggy bus ride full of scowling faces and pot-smoking teens I get 25 minutes of fresh air, feeling the seasons change and wind, sun and rain on my face. Part of the route takes me alongside canals which offers interesting scenery and the sense-sharpening hazards of low bridges and random drunks (one launched himself at me once zombie style - I'm pretty sure he would have taken a bite).

I ride a huge, hulking nameless thing bequeathed to me by an old colleague, Uwe - he stored it in my cellar when he moved and said I could keep it. I rode it to work one day on a whim a couple of years ago and was instantly smitten. It's as solid as a tank and seems pretty forgiving of my all terrain, kerb hopping antics. One day I'll save up and get a real bike - I'm absolutely awestruck when I see properly engineered cycles: there's some nice looking Gary Fishers I noticed in the repair shop here that are reasonably priced, when the time comes I'll post a thread for advice.

Buns of steel innit!

See this bridge?



It's called The Ram's Horn, or, if you are a child, it's called The Curly Wurly Bridge. It's a footbridge crossing a motorway and seperates the estate I grew up on, Hemlington, from Middlesbrough.

As a child, a BMX child, an unfit, fat asthmatic child, I used to like to try and build up enough speed on the pathway up to it to get all the way up it's curly wurly ways to the top. Most enjoyable was to accomplish this task and then build up speed on the top to then tackle the downward curly wurly as fast as possible without crashing.

I got took to casualty seven times with concussion.

Fucking bridge.

Biking to and from work never fails to be one of the highlights of my day. Even when there is a downpour and I get soaked to the skin.

I've ridden BMX since I was 14 so...20 years now. Here's my most recent ride. Through the years of contests and road trip associated with it I've had some incredible times and met wonderful friends.



I bought a mountain bike last year, first time I've had a bike with gears, and for months I couldn't ride a mile without my lungs hating me.
Now I ride about 7 miles every other day without breaking a sweat.

Biking is a big NOT CRAP.

very not crap.

i ride a 24-speed Specialized mountain bike with rock shox, which looks sorta silly out here in the plains, but i bought it back in CO. no injuries here, but i mostly take the routes without cars.

the coolest thing you can do on a bike is to go to a ski resort during the summer, take a lift up along with your bike, and ride down the bike trails. i also rode down a volcano in hawaii once and that was great.

I usually alternate between a Surly Instigator (with 24" rear wheel) for trails and fun night/neighborhood riding and a Specialized M4 converted to single speed and slicks for school and work commuting.

I miss many of the bikes I have parted with, as I was a bike shop employee before starting art school, with muchos rediculous bicicletas. Brooklyn Machine Works, Indie Fab, Sandvik, etc.

Very not crap. I wish I rode more.

Quite NOT CRAP.

I'd do even more of it, particularly to and from work, but (1) can't drink as much and (2) can't listen to iPod whilst riding.

Someday, Pashley Roadster, you, or similar, will be mine:

NOT CRAP !

i think i'm gonna go for a ride in the not too distant future.