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<p>Thank you idad! That’s me exactly - the casual rider befuddled by the gears. I can do this.</p>
<p>Trust me, I know all about befuddled. I got confused on my bike ride and ended up pedalling up the steepest hill in a hard-pedalling gear. I thought I was gonna die.</p>
<p>My wife says she just leaves her bike on the easy-pedalling front sprocket, basically turning it into a six-speed bike with one gear lever to worry about. There’s a lot to be said for that. I’m suggesting the same basic approach, but adding the larger front sprocket as an option for situations when you want a higher speed range on longer downhill or flat stretches. Around town, there would be no reason to ever leave the smaller front sprocket.</p>
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<p>Brava! Great plan. If this is your aim, I suggest you look at bikes that are already outfitted with fenders. (Or you could add fenders to your bike, but that would cost money and not all bikes fit fenders. Better to get a bike that already has them. Plus those retro bikes with painted-to-match fenders look so cool, but I digress.) You don’t want to have to change into special biking clothes just to go to the farmers market, and you don’t want an ugly mud stripe down your back on your favorite casual clothes when the roads are a little wet.</p>
<p>I also suggest a kickstand. Lance wannabes sneer at kickstands, but if you actually want to use your bike for transportation, a kickstand is so handy. I used to be a person who was too snobbish for kickstands. Then, when I was riding across the US, my riding partner had one on his bike. I was so jealous that he could just park his bike, while I had to search around for a tree or fence to lean mine against, that by the time we were halfway across the US my bike had a kickstand too.</p>
<p>You obviously haven’t seen my favorite casual clothes, CF. A mud stripe might be an improvement. My last bike had a kickstand, so I think my new one will as well. Didn’t even occur to me that one might not be part of the standard package!</p>
<p>Similar to IDad’s wife, I usually stick to one set of gears. I keep the front gear on the middle setting, and then go up and down the other seven gears (mostly between 3-7). If I geared down to the easiest range for hills, I’d end up going so slow I’d probably fall over! or pass out trying to peddle that much!</p>
<p>Man, I would kill to still have my last kid’s bike. A fully pimped-out black and chrome Schwinn Corvette with all the racks and headlights. Damn thing probably weighed a hundred pounds, but it was sweet.</p>
<p>It’s was just like this restored 1961 model:</p>
<p>[1961</a> Schwinn Corvette](<a href=“http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/pyrosis02/962163.html]1961”>http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/pyrosis02/962163.html)</p>
<p>I would have gotten mine sometime between Christmas 1961 and 1964. It would be perfect for tooling around.</p>
<p>I had the red version of that. My sister’s was white with cool fuschia trim. I think they’re still in my parents’ shed.</p>
<p>Well, my last bike was a bit newer than that, but I’ll never forget my metallic purple Schwinn Stingray- complete with a white wicker basket festooned with yellow roses. Think I got it around 1974 or thereabouts. Birthday gift from my grandparents. Next bike was a 10 speed that weighed…oh, a lot.</p>
<p>I love kickstands. How do you get a bike with one these days?</p>
<p>All this gear talk made me dig out the owner’s manual for my circa 1984 Fuji Del Ray 12 speed. </p>
<p>Here are the gears on my bike, with 1 being the easiest pedalling slowest gear and 12 being the hardest pedalling fastest gear.</p>
<p>Small front sprocket (uphill, slow range):</p>
<p>1
2
4
6
8
10 (not recommended, small front to largest rear)</p>
<p>Large front sprocket (downhill, fast range):</p>
<p>3 (not recommended, large front to smallest rear)
5
7
9
11
12</p>
<p>So on my bike, I essentially can choose from two five speed ranges. One with super slow hill climbing or traffic gears going up to a moderate pace with nothing for fast downhill. The other for high speed, hard pedalling going down to a moderate pace with nothing for hill climbing.</p>
<p>Back in the gym again this morning. My work out friend cancelled again but didn’t make a difference to me. I started on the bike again thinking I would only go a half hour and then switch to the treadmill. Ended up on the bike for 70 minutes and did 21.52 miles! Yay!I really seem to zone out listening to tv and doing interval games in my head. The bike’s computer shuts you down at 70 minutes so I went over to the treadmill to walk slowly and cool down so I could loosen up my knee. Was a very good work out for me! My goal for the week is 100 miles…hope I can do it! :)</p>
<p>Lots if cruiser bikes and city bikes, which are trendy right now, have kickstands. </p>
<p>Here are some bikes that might appeal to the kid in us:</p>
<p>[Globe</a> Bicycles | Live 3](<a href=“Globe Haul ST | Specialized.com”>Globe Haul ST | Specialized.com)
[Suede</a> W (Pink) (2010) - Bikes | Giant Bicycles | United States](<a href=“http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/suede.w.pink/5688/36568/]Suede”>http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/suede.w.pink/5688/36568/)
[Milano</a> Parco | Bianchi USA](<a href=“http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/milano/milano-parco/]Milano”>http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/milano/milano-parco/)</p>
<p>H got a helmet today!</p>
<p>^^^^Excellent!!</p>
<p>Teriwtt, I read your car accident story with great interest. It’s amazing how the things that happen to us during the day really make an impact on how we feel. As evolved humans, we think we’re beyond that, but we’re not.</p>
<p>Driving home from this new job yesterday, the rain was awful and so the traffic was awful. Took me two and a half hours to get – not to home, but to the gym. I started my workout at 8:15 – sooo late for me! – and finished by 9:15. Unbelievable, since on normal days when I have all the time in the world, I take a good hour and a half. I felt sooo much better when I was done!</p>
<p>North Minn:</p>
<p>You are killin’ it on that exercise bike. Good for you. My tongue is hanging out at 30 minutes.</p>
<p>I did my iPod Nazi II workout again today. This is going to be OK, I think. I believe this month is four different workouts, one for each week. I’m just going to run through them doing 2 sets and intervals instead of 3 sets and intervals. Then, I’ll come back next month and do them again with the full 3 sets.</p>
<p>The 2 set version is plenty challenging, although I can at least do them – more or less. 45 seconds of the squat press is really tough still. 45 seconds of pushups is pretty tough, too in the middle of a sequence of exercises with short rest in between. The 45 seconds of plank on the stability ball is just killer, but it’s one of those that I just have to do over and over. Right now, I’m so wobbly on my elbows on the ball that it’s almost silly.</p>
<p>The official exercise bike of the NFL?</p>
<p>Look at the row of Schwinn Airdyne bikes at he Miami Dolphins training camp today:</p>
<p>[My</a> Way - My Way Sports News](<a href=“http://sports.myway.com/images/20100519/Dolphins_Football.sff_FLJC101_20100519120953.html?date=05192010&docid=v8184]My”>MyWay)</p>
<p>I went to spin class this morning. It was really a good workout. Boy, do I sweat in there! I strap my HR monitor (the watch part) to the handlebars so I can monitor my effort level.</p>
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<p>I’m telling you… best exercise bike around. It’s great for rehabilitation because it can be used for both arms and legs. Also, they are relatively cheap and there’s not a bunch of electronics on there. If they were to get rained on there at training camp, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Some of the other exercise bikes on the market would be fried…</p>
<p>You can add a kickstand to any bike. Buy one and bolt it on. </p>
<p>I’m not a huge fan of elliptical trainers but the best are the Cybex Arc and the Precor AMT. The Arc gives you a large knee raise and a more natural motion than the almost cross-country skiing oddity of a standard elliptical. The AMT is like running on a machine, but more like running in water because the stride frequency is lower. If your gym has either of these, use them. They take a little getting used to but they give a better, healthier workout, both aerobically and for joints.</p>
<p>I did it!!! 
I got 25.52 miles in 60 minutes today! I was so excited! I then did about 15 minutes on the dreadmill to get my knee loose again. I never thought I could do this. I should hit my 100 mile goal tomorrow! I am praying to see a drop in my weight tomorrow morning!</p>