…but MrD has informed me that we need to change our pedals so we can pull on the pedals as well as push…

Can you explain this better please Pain Master?

Dinetta said:

…but MrD has informed me that we need to change our pedals so we can pull on the pedals as well as push…

Can you explain this better please Pain Master?

cycling is all about energy and you want as much as your energy exerted used in order to make the bike go forward.

If you think about you foot, this is the place where bike and rider become one, your hands and your backside are just the parts that keep you on the bike, but your feet is where it is happening…. as your leg rotates the cranks, your foot always feels asif it wants to be part of the pedal. Who wants their foot flying off on every stroke/revolution? So your brian sends a message to your foot to apply a little bit of pressure on the pedals at all time. This includes the upstroke of the pedal revolution. This is wasting energy.

How amazing would it be if your upstroke coincided with a pull upwards of the pedal?

Thank you very much indeed for that explanation, Pain Master… I can see the physics of the situation clearly now, whereas before I was only aware of the push-down function of pedalling…

I guess the new pedals will happen after we pay for 4 HRMs to be serviced…mine is the only one still working but as our fat-burn HRZs are almost the same, MrD can use it without having to confuse both of us by pushing too many buttons…

I read the topic and this just popped into my head.

I don’t want a pickle
Just want to ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want a tickle
‘Cause I’d rather ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want to die
Just want to ride on my motorcy…cle

Bubba Louie said:

I read the topic and this just popped into my head.

I don’t want a pickle
Just want to ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want a tickle
‘Cause I’d rather ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want to die
Just want to ride on my motorcy…cle

LOL Bubba Louie!

the physics of cycling gets a little deeper as once you start to get your head around the upstroke, you may find yourself naturally also shifting your feet forward as you crest each pedal stroke and also pull your foot backwards at the nadir of the cycle.

Now, more importantly, you may need a really, really, really good cycle shop expert to help set yourself up in order not to cause injury once you are clipped into your pedals… Any untoward action can cause strains in your leg muscles and your knee ligaments which can lead to painfull cycling and a lower back issue.

just below your knee, there is the spot where your shin bone ends and this point (in a comfortable seating position) needs to be directly overhead of your axle.

Then you will need to work out the angle of your cleat so as to not ride pigeon or penguin toed…

seek advice.

Thank you for all that good advice. Our preferred bicycle shop is owned by a keen cyclist…we’ve been going to him for years now …

Bubba Louie said:

I read the topic and this just popped into my head.

I don’t want a pickle
Just want to ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want a tickle
‘Cause I’d rather ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want to die
Just want to ride on my motorcy…cle

go Arlo Guthrie

hums along

bluegreen said:

Bubba Louie said:

I read the topic and this just popped into my head.

I don’t want a pickle
Just want to ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want a tickle
‘Cause I’d rather ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want to die
Just want to ride on my motorcy…cle

go Arlo Guthrie

hums along

It sort of sticks in your head, doesn’t it. LOL

Bubba Louie said:

I read the topic and this just popped into my head.

I don’t want a pickle
Just want to ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want a tickle
‘Cause I’d rather ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want to die
Just want to ride on my motorcy…cle

I have a different song stuck in my head…

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like
Bicycle bicycle bicycle…

Fat Bottomed Girls you make the Rockin’ World go round…

pain master said:

Fat Bottomed Girls you make the Rockin’ World go round…

The weight loss programme I’m on, I was in danger of losing my derriere….that’s why I got back on my bike….to keep it there…

I jogged for a bit last night, now one foot has a twinge in the arch…guess I’d better not jog for a while…

pain master said:

Fat Bottomed Girls you make the Rockin’ World go round…

:D

Got you too huh?

For PM, when he gets back to Australia:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/26/2580803.htm

There’s a gardener’s interest in the photo as well…

I’m officially back on my bike, and really digging it… its all coming back to me now.

pain master said:

I’m officially back on my bike, and really digging it… its all coming back to me now.

Infradig, man!

:D

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

I’m officially back on my bike, and really digging it… its all coming back to me now.

Infradig, man!

:D

you lost me?

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

I’m officially back on my bike, and really digging it… its all coming back to me now.

Infradig, man!

:D

you lost me?

Gee I keep forgetting you’re just a tacker…

“Infra-dig” was a hippie slang for the best “dig” around… as in “I dig absolutely and completely what you are saying / experiencing”…

It was up there with “Make love not war”, which we should tell all the world leaders more often…

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

Infradig, man!

:D

you lost me?

Gee I keep forgetting you’re just a tacker…

“Infra-dig” was a hippie slang for the best “dig” around… as in “I dig absolutely and completely what you are saying / experiencing”…

It was up there with “Make love not war”, which we should tell all the world leaders more often…

World leaders didn’t take much notice back then and I doubt they would take any now.

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

Infradig, man!

:D

you lost me?

Gee I keep forgetting you’re just a tacker…

“Infra-dig” was a hippie slang for the best “dig” around… as in “I dig absolutely and completely what you are saying / experiencing”…

It was up there with “Make love not war”, which we should tell all the world leaders more often…

I thought as much… still digging my riding, had a great ride tonight :)

had a very slow leak in my rear tyre this afternoon, so after busting my legs on a ride out along the road to Charlie’s Trousers, the return leg was painfull as I raced the slowly leaking rear tyre in the hope I would get to the Stuart servo in order to inflate my tyre for the final kilometres home….

Unfortunately the BP had no air compressor, but the Shell down the road did…

I made it. phew :P

MrD reckons his bike is like “Granny’s axe” – Granny’s axe having survived 3 heads and 3 dozen handles in its’ lifetime…he had a wheel replaced but then the other one buckled…

Feller who rides with The Group (they go out on a round trip from Point A at about 6 am, about twice a week) somehow came off his bike… he cracked 6 ribs and broke a collarbone in 2 places…

How’s the traffic on the Charlie’s Trousers road? The shoulders are mostly generous these days…you couldn’t have done it back in the mid-70’s, and do you get to the Mingela Range?

Dinetta said:

MrD reckons his bike is like “Granny’s axe” – Granny’s axe having survived 3 heads and 3 dozen handles in its’ lifetime…he had a wheel replaced but then the other one buckled…

Feller who rides with The Group (they go out on a round trip from Point A at about 6 am, about twice a week) somehow came off his bike… he cracked 6 ribs and broke a collarbone in 2 places…

How’s the traffic on the Charlie’s Trousers road? The shoulders are mostly generous these days…you couldn’t have done it back in the mid-70’s, and do you get to the Mingela Range?

Poor bugger, cracking a collarbone is very popular amongst cyclist, same with the old scaphoid bone…

The traffic has road trains which are a bit hairy and the shoulder is generous, and no I do not make it out as far as Mingela :( I don’t have the legs nor the drive to clock up those kinda kilometres up here. Although there is an early morning group who ride out to Calcium and back.

My grave concern with the CT road is the thought of bombing out in one direction for 100ks and then discovering the tail wind which blew me out there is now smacking me in the face for the return 4 hours home… I try to pick my moments when riding out there. Same with the High Range Road.

Off to fix me bike.

It wouldn’t surprise me if you got out to the Mingela Range, but there’s nothing to stop at when you get there…

Calcium is still a fair haul, and there’s those couple of servos in emergencies…

Yep those tail-then-head winds are tricky, MrD has been happy for the past week as there has been no wind when he’s been riding of a morning…

There’s always the Mingela Pub on top of the range? They offer a free Sunday Roast for every patron who buys a beer.

Off to the bike shop.

How did it go?

pain master said:

There’s always the Mingela Pub on top of the range? They offer a free Sunday Roast for every patron who buys a beer.

That’s a bluddy good offer. What do you get if you buy 2 beers?

pomolo said:

pain master said:

There’s always the Mingela Pub on top of the range? They offer a free Sunday Roast for every patron who buys a beer.

That’s a bluddy good offer. What do you get if you buy 2 beers?

Same deal. A lot of motorcyclists head there, as it is a nice road there and back and because we have bought a nice new 4WD, there’s a goat track out acorss Hervey’s Range to Mingela, goes through the Fanning River so we have been known to wander out there for the free Sunday lunch. Normally we buy 2 light beers, maybe a third and enjoy roast of the day.

but back to cycling… had a good ride today, sole intent was to test the legs on Castle Hill once more… it has been a month since I tackled this 6.6% 3km climb and I ended up happy. ‘twas my best time since my return from PNG but still along way from my old times of yore. The good news is my power wattage is higher, I produced an average of 194 watts of power sustained for just over a quarter of an hour. Am aiming to increase the wattage to around 220 -250 watts maybe…

pain master said:

pomolo said:

pain master said:

There’s always the Mingela Pub on top of the range? They offer a free Sunday Roast for every patron who buys a beer.

That’s a bluddy good offer. What do you get if you buy 2 beers?

Same deal. A lot of motorcyclists head there, as it is a nice road there and back and because we have bought a nice new 4WD, there’s a goat track out acorss Hervey’s Range to Mingela, goes through the Fanning River so we have been known to wander out there for the free Sunday lunch. Normally we buy 2 light beers, maybe a third and enjoy roast of the day.

but back to cycling… had a good ride today, sole intent was to test the legs on Castle Hill once more… it has been a month since I tackled this 6.6% 3km climb and I ended up happy. ‘twas my best time since my return from PNG but still along way from my old times of yore. The good news is my power wattage is higher, I produced an average of 194 watts of power sustained for just over a quarter of an hour. Am aiming to increase the wattage to around 220 -250 watts maybe…

Just slipped that in didn’t you. What type of 4WD did you get?

After those figures I won’t even mention what I do on my Xtrainer. LOL.

pomolo said:

Just slipped that in didn’t you. What type of 4WD did you get?

After those figures I won’t even mention what I do on my Xtrainer. LOL.

Suzuki Grand Vitara, tis very nice it is, comfy car and goes alright… Got a diesel one and the fuel recordings I am getting see me using just under 8 Litres of fuel for each 100kms.

pain master said:

pomolo said:

Just slipped that in didn’t you. What type of 4WD did you get?

After those figures I won’t even mention what I do on my Xtrainer. LOL.

Suzuki Grand Vitara, tis very nice it is, comfy car and goes alright… Got a diesel one and the fuel recordings I am getting see me using just under 8 Litres of fuel for each 100kms.

Sounds good. Specially if you’ve got lots of miles to cover.

pomolo said:

After those figures I won’t even mention what I do on my Xtrainer. LOL.

Xtrainer wattages please?

cya later, off for a ride on the bike with GF wanting to head out for some sunshine!

pain master said:

pomolo said:

After those figures I won’t even mention what I do on my Xtrainer. LOL.

Xtrainer wattages please?

No way! All I will say is that I do it daily and that’s enough to amaze me.

pomolo said:

pain master said:

Xtrainer wattages please?

No way! All I will say is that I do it daily and that’s enough to amaze me.

Pflflflflflfllll!

Boy took me ages to find this post….. not sure how old it is, back at the start… didn’t click on the full thread…lol. Just scrolled back and back till I found in in “by time”

I have noticed while out and about on my feet or public transport the amount of push bikes with motors on them and can they go fast on the road.!!!!!!!!!!

While out walking today we saw one lad hooning past us and he was decked out with motor bike helmet and leathers…………………………. motor bike try hard.:(

Jimbob said some of his mates have lost their car license and have now fitted a push bike with a motor and tear arse round ion them.

Anyone else finding these are increasing in their areas???

Lucky1 said:

Boy took me ages to find this post….. not sure how old it is, back at the start… didn’t click on the full thread…lol. Just scrolled back and back till I found in in “by time”

I have noticed while out and about on my feet or public transport the amount of push bikes with motors on them and can they go fast on the road.!!!!!!!!!!

While out walking today we saw one lad hooning past us and he was decked out with motor bike helmet and leathers…………………………. motor bike try hard.:(

Jimbob said some of his mates have lost their car license and have now fitted a push bike with a motor and tear arse round ion them.

Anyone else finding these are increasing in their areas???

No, not at all…but I do believe they’re popular in Europe, think Denmark, with the Golden Age and infirm folk …ah Europe! Looking better than Yankee Doodle every day…

Dinetta said:

Lucky1 said:

Boy took me ages to find this post….. not sure how old it is, back at the start… didn’t click on the full thread…lol. Just scrolled back and back till I found in in “by time”

I have noticed while out and about on my feet or public transport the amount of push bikes with motors on them and can they go fast on the road.!!!!!!!!!!

While out walking today we saw one lad hooning past us and he was decked out with motor bike helmet and leathers…………………………. motor bike try hard.:(

Jimbob said some of his mates have lost their car license and have now fitted a push bike with a motor and tear arse round ion them.

Anyone else finding these are increasing in their areas???

No, not at all…but I do believe they’re popular in Europe, think Denmark, with the Golden Age and infirm folk …ah Europe! Looking better than Yankee Doodle every day…

The motorised push bike is now illegal in Qld, they are not fast enough to keep up with traffic, not meaty enough to register and they feel asif they can ride on the bike/foot paths. They’re nasty machines.

They’re nasty machines.
——————————————————
What I don’t like is the speed they go and where the kids are riding them…. even on footpaths.

Sounds like they don’t give the other traffic (motorised vehicles and pedestrians) much of a chance to react…

Dinetta these are kids still at school with them, as they ride them past our house on the way to school.

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta these are kids still at school with them, as they ride them past our house on the way to school.

Oh goodness: at that age they should not be on a public carriageway whilst in control of a motor…

Dinetta said:

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta these are kids still at school with them, as they ride them past our house on the way to school.

Oh goodness: at that age they should not be on a public carriageway whilst in control of a motor…

Tell me about it:(

Jimbob knows of people who lost their car license and are fitting these motors to push bikes to get round.

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta these are kids still at school with them, as they ride them past our house on the way to school.

Oh goodness: at that age they should not be on a public carriageway whilst in control of a motor…

Tell me about it:(

Jimbob knows of people who lost their car license and are fitting these motors to push bikes to get round.

But pushbikes brakes and wheels are not designed to be motorised…. grrrr!

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

Oh goodness: at that age they should not be on a public carriageway whilst in control of a motor…

Tell me about it:(

Jimbob knows of people who lost their car license and are fitting these motors to push bikes to get round.

But pushbikes brakes and wheels are not designed to be motorised…. grrrr!

Egg-zacly!

From: CollieWA
ID: 68114

Went to a bike shop today, gee the bikes are getting light. picked one up and it only felt like 5–6kg. Might be carbon fibre and stuff but 5–6 kg? Must be wrong. It was about $3,500, reduced from nearly 6,000.

Who was the cyclist? PM? Does 5–6kg sound right?

********************************************************************************************

$3,500 sounds about right if you’re going to be serious about cycling as a form of exercise…I’ve known weekend triathletes to shell out $4000, and that was about 8 years ago…

Are you going to be riding mostly on bitumen?

Oh Dinetta I was just killing time, I’m not seriously buying a bike right now.

I lean towards a recumbent trike if anything, I was in the shop to have a look at one or find a place that had them. Shop was not helpful on either count.

CollieWA said:

Oh Dinetta I was just killing time, I’m not seriously buying a bike right now.

I lean towards a recumbent trike if anything, I was in the shop to have a look at one or find a place that had them. Shop was not helpful on either count.

That’s OK Collie, better to get the info now before you really need it :)

Recumbent trike…I think there’s one here but it’s not for sale (Santa rides it at Christmas at various functions) and you can look but not touch…it gets people into the shop…

Will google to make sure I know what I’m talking about :P!!

Date: 24/10/2009 23:27:05
From: pain master
ID: 68313
Subject: re: October chat
CollieWA said:
Hey PM, how light (KG) do bikes get that are available to mortals like us?
ie the shape we used to call “racing bikes”, as used in Le Tour?
6.7kgs is the legal weight limit for Tour de France bikes.

From: pain master
ID: 68315
Subject: re: October chat
pain master said:

6.7kgs is the legal weight limit for Tour de France bikes.
but for us mere mortals… my road bike is around 8.5kgs and is/was a pretty decent bike. You can nowadays look at getting a sub 9 kg bike for a reasonable price and some would call it a bit heavy. However, the lighter the bike, the more it will suffer from fatique and the like. Some light bikes are also weight limited to cyclists who are 75kgs and under (shoes, clothes, mobile phone included)

Date: 24/10/2009 23:34:17
From: CollieWA
ID: 68318
Subject: re: October chat
Ah ok, ta.
Didn’t think of the weight carrying capacity..
Was at a shop on friday and picked one up and it felt about 5–6kg to me. Was $5800 reduced to 3500.
I was amazed at how light it was but the last two bikes I’ve had were chrome moly mountain bikes.

________________________________________
Date: 24/10/2009 23:35:32
From: CollieWA
ID: 68319
Subject: re: October chat
But no good having a 3.8kg bike if it’s going to plant you face first into the tar..
Reply Quote
________________________________________
Date: 24/10/2009 23:53:06
From: pain master
ID: 68320
Subject: re: October chat
indeed… and as expected a MTB will always weigh a touch more… but it will be a bit more rugged.

Date: 25/10/2009 12:37:42
From: bon008
ID: 68383

Ooh, cool. I’m following this discussion as well – I just this week realised that I’m probably not going to be able to go back to public transport to work (not in the time frame I envisaged, anyway), and I’ll be damned if I just keep driving forever. So hoping to train up to the point where I can ride. It’s only 13–14ks but for someone with my state of health and having never been fit enough in my life to do that, it’s intimidating.
I’ve asked Mr Bon to ask around with his cycling friends at work as to what price of bike I should aim for – I want it expensive/light enough to make the ride easier for me, but I’m not interesting in going especially fast or anything and don’t want to pay a small fortune.. not sure if that’s possible :D

I have moved this bicycle chat over here so it won’t get lost in the general chat thread…we are thinking up upgrading my bike one day

I have a mountain bike, 28” wheels, those special treadless tyres (thanks Craig) and 21 gears. It’s heavy to lift, but I love it as it is stable for someone with my balance problems, and I can get everywhere with a respectable cadence.

Initially, when I first start riding after some time off, I find that the most urgent thing is to get a particular set of muscles toughened up, they’re in the upper inner thigh…once they’ve woken up to themselves, the distances are a cinch…the 3 mile ride into town is nothing…and back again of course…

3 miles = 4.8 kilometres

14 kilometres = 8.7 miles

About 40 minutes, and the health benefits will knock your socks off…

pain master said:

for $1000 you’d get a reasonable machine… I’d opt for a MTB so that if you need to go off road you can, but if you want it to commute, you can add skinny wheels…

You’d be surprise how quickly 13kms pass.

Dinetta said:

I have moved this bicycle chat over here so it won’t get lost in the general chat thread

Thanks Dinetta :)

OK, I pulled out the exercise bike :)

Set the resistance pretty low, but not so low that the wheels were just spinning. This is an ex. bike with a heavy-weighted front wheel by the by.

Paced myself nice and slow. According to the little computer, I went 6k in about 16 minutes. Could have gone for longer but I didn’t want to push myself to the point of bringing on any tachycardia. Pretty good for a first go I reckon, but I won’t be rushing out to buy a $1000 bike any day soon :D

Question for you all.. how long does it take for your butt to acclimatise?? :D

We already have a padded gel cover on the seat of the ex. bike, but I still have to fold up a towel to sit on, and even then it’s still painful. Any extra tips for those of us with a boney butt?? :)

>Any extra tips for those of us with a boney butt?? :)

I’m still not convinced mine HAS bones.

But bike seats have a habit of wanting to become intimate with bits of me the sun has never lit.. So a wide, padded and sprung girly seat looks the go.. Perhaps worth thinking about Bon?

CollieWA said:

>Any extra tips for those of us with a boney butt?? :)

I’m still not convinced mine HAS bones.

But bike seats have a habit of wanting to become intimate with bits of me the sun has never lit.. So a wide, padded and sprung girly seat looks the go.. Perhaps worth thinking about Bon?

Wide sounds good.. have to do some Googling and see what is available.

bon008 said:

Paced myself nice and slow. According to the little computer, I went 6k in about 16 minutes. Could have gone for longer but I didn’t want to push myself to the point of bringing on any tachycardia. Pretty good for a first go I reckon, but I won’t be rushing out to buy a $1000 bike any day soon :D

22.5km/h is a pretty fair pace to be honest. I certainly don’t average much more than that on long rides.

bon008 said:

We already have a padded gel cover on the seat of the ex. bike, but I still have to fold up a towel to sit on, and even then it’s still painful. Any extra tips for those of us with a boney butt?? :)

You can try a different seat as Collie suggested, but bike shorts (with padding) are probably the best way to ride comfortably.

cb88 said:

You can try a different seat as Collie suggested, but bike shorts (with padding) are probably the best way to ride comfortably.

Oooh, OK. Well I wouldn’t mind some of those, as long as I could wear normal shorts over the top. Aside from my own opinion of lycra, Mr Bon would probably divorce me if I started cycling around in lycra :D

bon008 said:

Oooh, OK. Well I wouldn’t mind some of those, as long as I could wear normal shorts over the top. Aside from my own opinion of lycra, Mr Bon would probably divorce me if I started cycling around in lycra :D

Yeah, I wear normal shorts over the top of mine. You can also get bike shorts that look like normal shorts but have a padded inner.

cb88 said:

bon008 said:

Oooh, OK. Well I wouldn’t mind some of those, as long as I could wear normal shorts over the top. Aside from my own opinion of lycra, Mr Bon would probably divorce me if I started cycling around in lycra :D

Yeah, I wear normal shorts over the top of mine. You can also get bike shorts that look like normal shorts but have a padded inner.

Excellent :)

2 things Bon…

(1) Cadence…rpm that your pedal goes around
(2) bike pants are a must…best you can afford…this will help those muscles acclimatise…I’m middle-aged and acclimatisation takes me about 2 weeks, but you might get there in 1…

OK 3rd thing

(3) Ladies seats are generally wider cos our hips are…so find out about a decent bike shop before you go shopping for a seat on the internet…pick their brains…and buy something from them…

I’ve gotta get out on my pushy… but I’ll add comment later.

catch yas.

Dinetta said:

2 things Bon…

(1) Cadence…rpm that your pedal goes around
(2) bike pants are a must…best you can afford…this will help those muscles acclimatise…I’m middle-aged and acclimatisation takes me about 2 weeks, but you might get there in 1…

OK 3rd thing

(3) Ladies seats are generally wider cos our hips are…so find out about a decent bike shop before you go shopping for a seat on the internet…pick their brains…and buy something from them…

Thanks Dinetta :):)

My legs aren’t as sore today as I expected, but my poor bottom is a bit tender :D There is a bike store just down the road from us, and from the look of their website (http://www.cyclesbespoke.com/) they cater for the hard-core cyclists. So I will probably end up going in to speak to them.

Will stick to the ex. bike for now though – every time I have ever used it I end up with sore knees. Last night wasn’t as bad as it used to be, but still fairly uncomfortable, so I’ll keep training until that no longer happens. Unless it is a result of the ex. bike being set up incorrectly, but I think it’s just that my knees are having to do things they’re not used to!

I’ve got a bit of time to add comment…. dinettas post is spot on. Bicycle shorts (knicks or bib and braces) will work in so many ways. Firstly, a well designed pair (cost goes up) will mean that they will compress the muscles in your legs and buttocks so that blood flow is at a premium, which is what you want. Also the chamois inside will make things a little more comfortable.

Even still, with a great pair of bike shorts on, you will get sore while you adjust. For me, if I am off the bike for a long time, it will take around 2 or 3 big rides to get my arse feeling okay again. And then the soreness is gone unless I have a bad massive ride. So, for the starter, it is all about kilometres in the legs and in the backside. If you ride once a week, it ain’t gonna happen, you will also be sore in the rears.

Lets take a look at evolution, now we all evolved from the Apes if you believe Charles Darwin and if you have ever seen a monkey/baboon/gorilla sitting around doing sfa then there’s a good chance that he or she is sitting on the bottom or nadir of the pelvis bone in a squat. Now if you have ever seen a weightlifter or a SEAsian planting rice, they too squat, with that same two bones of the pelvis being closest to the ground. Lets call these bones Monkeybones (that’s a technical term). Many years ago, Anglosaxons could squat on our monkey bones, and some of us with flexible hamstrings could do the same, but thanks to modern living and chairs, we have evolved with shorter hamstrings, and by the time we are Adults, we struggle to squat.

Now on a bike, it is preferable if we could sit on these monkey bones, if your weight is there, then you decrease the risk of cutting of blood flow and circulation to other parts of the nethers. So some of may need to rotate our pelvis forward in order to sit right. More soon.

Bike setup is crucial… especially on the ex-bike, and for the record, an ex-bike is the most brain numbing form of exercise apart from laps of a pool. So setup is crucial.

Knee soreness could be all sorts of issues, and setup is the best way to go. Sometimes in the winter back in Adelaide when it was single digits and the roads were wet, I would wear two pairs of knicks (a drier arse is oh so much more comfy) and I would lower my seat height the same thickness as the second pair of knicks.

A simple gauge is to ride your bike in a position that your arms and butt are comfy and then place your heel on the pedal, then rotate the pedal down to the 6 o’clock position and if your leg was just extended at the knee joint then this would be pretty close, especially if you could place a spirit level at the base of your knee joint and this was plumb with the axle of your pedal. Another thing to do, is to ask someone to ride behind you (or on a ex-bike, stand behind you) and ask if your hips are rolling. You do not want rolling hips. In fact the legs turn the pedals, the arms, back, head, fingers, eyeballs do nothing.

Back to arse bones and monkey bones, you do not want to be sitting on the front of the pelvis… this will reduce blood supply. Numb nuts anyone?

My favourite seat of all time, is a teeny piece of carbon fibre with a piece of leather wrapped around it… Why, because the shape of it worked in placing the monkey bones where they needed to be… The first ride I ever did with that seat was a 200km solo ride; it started off with a 75km ride into a rude southerly wind, so I then headed East and up Willunga Hill and then North with the wind at my back for around 80kms and then a gentle 20km descent back home. A great ride and a great saddle.

and that reminds me, your handlebars should be lower than your seat.

pain master said:

I’ve got a bit of time to add comment…. dinettas post is spot on. Bicycle shorts (knicks or bib and braces) will work in so many ways. Firstly, a well designed pair (cost goes up) will mean that they will compress the muscles in your legs and buttocks so that blood flow is at a premium, which is what you want. Also the chamois inside will make things a little more comfortable.

Even still, with a great pair of bike shorts on, you will get sore while you adjust. For me, if I am off the bike for a long time, it will take around 2 or 3 big rides to get my arse feeling okay again. And then the soreness is gone unless I have a bad massive ride. So, for the starter, it is all about kilometres in the legs and in the backside. If you ride once a week, it ain’t gonna happen, you will also be sore in the rears.

Lets take a look at evolution, now we all evolved from the Apes if you believe Charles Darwin and if you have ever seen a monkey/baboon/gorilla sitting around doing sfa then there’s a good chance that he or she is sitting on the bottom or nadir of the pelvis bone in a squat. Now if you have ever seen a weightlifter or a SEAsian planting rice, they too squat, with that same two bones of the pelvis being closest to the ground. Lets call these bones Monkeybones (that’s a technical term). Many years ago, Anglosaxons could squat on our monkey bones, and some of us with flexible hamstrings could do the same, but thanks to modern living and chairs, we have evolved with shorter hamstrings, and by the time we are Adults, we struggle to squat.

Now on a bike, it is preferable if we could sit on these monkey bones, if your weight is there, then you decrease the risk of cutting of blood flow and circulation to other parts of the nethers. So some of may need to rotate our pelvis forward in order to sit right. More soon.

Hmm, I’m not sure I understood that 100%. I did notice in Indonesia the locals can all squat much, much lower to the ground than I’ve ever seen someone do here. The limiting factor for me is my ankles – they get very painful very quick if I squat.

I hopped on the exercise bike this afternoon to continue my training.. and I couldn’t do it :( bottom still too sore!! That’s even with an entire bath towel folded up on the seat.. so leaving it a week is too long for the bottom to stay adjusted, but I might have to aim for every second or third day to begin with I think…

bon008 said:

Hmm, I’m not sure I understood that 100%. I did notice in Indonesia the locals can all squat much, much lower to the ground than I’ve ever seen someone do here. The limiting factor for me is my ankles – they get very painful very quick if I squat.

I hopped on the exercise bike this afternoon to continue my training.. and I couldn’t do it :( bottom still too sore!! That’s even with an entire bath towel folded up on the seat.. so leaving it a week is too long for the bottom to stay adjusted, but I might have to aim for every second or third day to begin with I think…

Ride out of the saddle? Invoke the Spirit of Contador?

pain master said:

Bike setup is crucial… especially on the ex-bike, and for the record, an ex-bike is the most brain numbing form of exercise apart from laps of a pool. So setup is crucial.

Knee soreness could be all sorts of issues, and setup is the best way to go. Sometimes in the winter back in Adelaide when it was single digits and the roads were wet, I would wear two pairs of knicks (a drier arse is oh so much more comfy) and I would lower my seat height the same thickness as the second pair of knicks.

A simple gauge is to ride your bike in a position that your arms and butt are comfy and then place your heel on the pedal, then rotate the pedal down to the 6 o’clock position and if your leg was just extended at the knee joint then this would be pretty close, especially if you could place a spirit level at the base of your knee joint and this was plumb with the axle of your pedal. Another thing to do, is to ask someone to ride behind you (or on a ex-bike, stand behind you) and ask if your hips are rolling. You do not want rolling hips. In fact the legs turn the pedals, the arms, back, head, fingers, eyeballs do nothing.

Back to arse bones and monkey bones, you do not want to be sitting on the front of the pelvis… this will reduce blood supply. Numb nuts anyone?

OK, this makes more sense to me – but I will come back to it tomorrow when my bottom has had a chance to recover from yesterday :D

Regarding the rolling hips though – I may be in trouble there. One of the things I am working hard at with my clinical pilates sessions at the moment, is using my ab muscles to keep my pelvis steady, while my hips rotate properly in their joints. And at the moment I suck at it! I’ve progressed enough to be able to tell, more or less, when I’m doing my pilates stuff right and when I’m doing it wrong, but on a bike I wouldn’t know what I’m doing wrong and how to fix it. Hmm.

With regards to sitting on the back or the front of the pelvis.. I have no idea how to tell the difference. Wouldn’t it just depend on how far forward you are leaning to reach the handlebars??

Might have to do a Google Image search for “correct bicycle posture” :)

Thanks for all the info PM!!

pain master said:

My favourite seat of all time, is a teeny piece of carbon fibre with a piece of leather wrapped around it… Why, because the shape of it worked in placing the monkey bones where they needed to be… The first ride I ever did with that seat was a 200km solo ride; it started off with a 75km ride into a rude southerly wind, so I then headed East and up Willunga Hill and then North with the wind at my back for around 80kms and then a gentle 20km descent back home. A great ride and a great saddle.

and that reminds me, your handlebars should be lower than your seat.

Oooh, OK, that is definitely wrong on the ex. bike.. If I raise the seat at all I don’t think I’ll be able to reach the pedals, but the handlebars can go down..

pain master said:

bon008 said:

Hmm, I’m not sure I understood that 100%. I did notice in Indonesia the locals can all squat much, much lower to the ground than I’ve ever seen someone do here. The limiting factor for me is my ankles – they get very painful very quick if I squat.

I hopped on the exercise bike this afternoon to continue my training.. and I couldn’t do it :( bottom still too sore!! That’s even with an entire bath towel folded up on the seat.. so leaving it a week is too long for the bottom to stay adjusted, but I might have to aim for every second or third day to begin with I think…

Ride out of the saddle? Invoke the Spirit of Contador?

That just sounds like really hard work..! :)

pain master said:

and that reminds me, your handlebars should be lower than your seat.

Isn’t that more for aerodynamics rather than comfort?

bon008 said:

With regards to sitting on the back or the front of the pelvis.. I have no idea how to tell the difference. Wouldn’t it just depend on how far forward you are leaning to reach the handlebars??

You shouldn’t have too much weight at all on your hands, and reaching too much will change the alignment in your back. Hmm, tough one…

pain master said:

bon008 said:

With regards to sitting on the back or the front of the pelvis.. I have no idea how to tell the difference. Wouldn’t it just depend on how far forward you are leaning to reach the handlebars??

You shouldn’t have too much weight at all on your hands, and reaching too much will change the alignment in your back. Hmm, tough one…

I did originally set the ex. bike up according to instructions on the DVD that came with it – all I can remember from that now was that the seat goes at hip level.

It might not still be in my original set-up though, ‘cause we had to regularly switch it between my settings and Mr Bon’s..

bon008 said:

pain master said:

My favourite seat of all time, is a teeny piece of carbon fibre with a piece of leather wrapped around it… Why, because the shape of it worked in placing the monkey bones where they needed to be… The first ride I ever did with that seat was a 200km solo ride; it started off with a 75km ride into a rude southerly wind, so I then headed East and up Willunga Hill and then North with the wind at my back for around 80kms and then a gentle 20km descent back home. A great ride and a great saddle.

and that reminds me, your handlebars should be lower than your seat.

Oooh, OK, that is definitely wrong on the ex. bike.. If I raise the seat at all I don’t think I’ll be able to reach the pedals, but the handlebars can go down..

A road cyclist will have his handlebars some 130mms below the height of his or hers saddle. I think I started my roadbike with the handlebars 85mms below and then progressed in 5mm increments as I got more flexible to around 110mm.

It sounds wrong, but it works….

bon008 said:

pain master said:

bon008 said:

Hmm, I’m not sure I understood that 100%. I did notice in Indonesia the locals can all squat much, much lower to the ground than I’ve ever seen someone do here. The limiting factor for me is my ankles – they get very painful very quick if I squat.

I hopped on the exercise bike this afternoon to continue my training.. and I couldn’t do it :( bottom still too sore!! That’s even with an entire bath towel folded up on the seat.. so leaving it a week is too long for the bottom to stay adjusted, but I might have to aim for every second or third day to begin with I think…

Ride out of the saddle? Invoke the Spirit of Contador?

That just sounds like really hard work..! :)

Ahhh, but you may need to develop a perfect pedal stroke???

pain master said:

A road cyclist will have his handlebars some 130mms below the height of his or hers saddle. I think I started my roadbike with the handlebars 85mms below and then progressed in 5mm increments as I got more flexible to around 110mm.

It sounds wrong, but it works….

doesn’t this make it harder to sit on the monkey bones?

cb88 said:

pain master said:

and that reminds me, your handlebars should be lower than your seat.

Isn’t that more for aerodynamics rather than comfort?

I’m gonna say both.

pain master said:

Ahhh, but you may need to develop a perfect pedal stroke???

Oh good lord, if perfection is required then I give up now.. :D

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

A road cyclist will have his handlebars some 130mms below the height of his or hers saddle. I think I started my roadbike with the handlebars 85mms below and then progressed in 5mm increments as I got more flexible to around 110mm.

It sounds wrong, but it works….

doesn’t this make it harder to sit on the monkey bones?

it would… but with the increase in flexibility that comes with cycling (I’m talking the strengthening of hamstrings and the biggest muscle in our body, the Gluteus Maximus (and not a Roman Emperor)), the whole positioning of both pelvis and spine becomes as one?

Cycling is a selfish pursuit and one that can offer progressively improved results. I have been shy of my bike in the last month yet the last three days of some fairly serious efforts have already improved my mobility.

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

A road cyclist will have his handlebars some 130mms below the height of his or hers saddle. I think I started my roadbike with the handlebars 85mms below and then progressed in 5mm increments as I got more flexible to around 110mm.

It sounds wrong, but it works….

doesn’t this make it harder to sit on the monkey bones?

it would… but with the increase in flexibility that comes with cycling (I’m talking the strengthening of hamstrings and the biggest muscle in our body, the Gluteus Maximus (and not a Roman Emperor)), the whole positioning of both pelvis and spine becomes as one?

Cycling is a selfish pursuit and one that can offer progressively improved results. I have been shy of my bike in the last month yet the last three days of some fairly serious efforts have already improved my mobility.

so that is why cyclists have that characteristic hunched over look?

bon008 said:

pain master said:

Ahhh, but you may need to develop a perfect pedal stroke???

Oh good lord, if perfection is required then I give up now.. :D

If you invoke the Spirit of Contador, then even ye shall find perfection!

First step, go out and read LA’s “It’s not about the Bike”

Second step, go out and buy a Trek.

Third step, ride

Fourth, watch le Tour 2010, next July.

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

doesn’t this make it harder to sit on the monkey bones?

it would… but with the increase in flexibility that comes with cycling (I’m talking the strengthening of hamstrings and the biggest muscle in our body, the Gluteus Maximus (and not a Roman Emperor)), the whole positioning of both pelvis and spine becomes as one?

Cycling is a selfish pursuit and one that can offer progressively improved results. I have been shy of my bike in the last month yet the last three days of some fairly serious efforts have already improved my mobility.

so that is why cyclists have that characteristic hunched over look?

only when on their bikes, they stand quite tall and proud when ordering lattes at the cafe!

pain master said:

bon008 said:

pain master said:

Ahhh, but you may need to develop a perfect pedal stroke???

Oh good lord, if perfection is required then I give up now.. :D

If you invoke the Spirit of Contador, then even ye shall find perfection!

First step, go out and read LA’s “It’s not about the Bike”

Second step, go out and buy a Trek.

Third step, ride

Fourth, watch le Tour 2010, next July.

Well, I can’t comment on the first three, but as for four.. no, no no no. I’m not interested in cycling as a pastime, or a hobby or anything of that sort. I just want a way to get to work without driving, and public transport is causing me problems at the mo.

pain master said:

only when on their bikes, they stand quite tall and proud when ordering lattes at the cafe!

ROFL :)

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

so that is why cyclists have that characteristic hunched over look?

only when on their bikes, they stand quite tall and proud when ordering lattes at the cafe!

I thought that was because of the riding shoes, with the toes higher than the heels!

bon008 said:

Well, I can’t comment on the first three, but as for four.. no, no no no. I’m not interested in cycling as a pastime, or a hobby or anything of that sort. I just want a way to get to work without driving, and public transport is causing me problems at the mo.

and so it begins…. i dare ya, go out and buy the book….

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

so that is why cyclists have that characteristic hunched over look?

only when on their bikes, they stand quite tall and proud when ordering lattes at the cafe!

I thought that was because of the riding shoes, with the toes higher than the heels!

it ain’t easy carrying 2 decaf lattes and 3 mugacinnos in those shoes!

Good thing me and my mates would finish a ride with a portagaff and a few pints of pale… never spilt a drop!

pain master said:

bon008 said:

Well, I can’t comment on the first three, but as for four.. no, no no no. I’m not interested in cycling as a pastime, or a hobby or anything of that sort. I just want a way to get to work without driving, and public transport is causing me problems at the mo.

and so it begins…. i dare ya, go out and buy the book….

Nah, reading list is pretty long already.. :)

bon008 said:

pain master said:

bon008 said:

Well, I can’t comment on the first three, but as for four.. no, no no no. I’m not interested in cycling as a pastime, or a hobby or anything of that sort. I just want a way to get to work without driving, and public transport is causing me problems at the mo.

and so it begins…. i dare ya, go out and buy the book….

Nah, reading list is pretty long already.. :)

C’mon its easy to read and not that long….

just spoken with GF… I bought her a new bike when we returned from PNG and she says it is much nicer to ride then her old klunker. I have looked at the design of both bikes… the current bike is designed for females with a fairly decent race saddle, the frame geometry is designed with ladies in mind and her headstem is just below saddle height. Whereas her old bike is an old steel frame with the headstem sitting upright and GF sitting upright.

Her frame and geometry has provided a more comfortable ride….

I want a three wheeler!
Last time I was on a bike I was a kid and I ended up in a creek in Ferntree Gully , caught in blackberries, turtle biting my toe, and the unsealed handlebar through my arm…

Happy Potter said:

I want a three wheeler!
Last time I was on a bike I was a kid and I ended up in a creek in Ferntree Gully , caught in blackberries, turtle biting my toe, and the unsealed handlebar through my arm…

I was going to say this must have hurt with tic: “ turtle biting my toe”
then I read this: “the unsealed handlebar through my arm”

OUCH!

Ummm, so I gather you have been accident prone all your life?

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

I want a three wheeler!
Last time I was on a bike I was a kid and I ended up in a creek in Ferntree Gully , caught in blackberries, turtle biting my toe, and the unsealed handlebar through my arm…

I was going to say this must have hurt with tic: “ turtle biting my toe”
then I read this: “the unsealed handlebar through my arm”

OUCH!

Ummm, so I gather you have been accident prone all your life?

Yep! lol But my brother and I made the bike out of parts, no brakes, no safety grips. Blokes at a nearby sawmill heard me yelling and it took several of them to rescue me. Never got on a bike again.

Happy Potter said:

Yep! lol But my brother and I made the bike out of parts, no brakes, no safety grips.

ummm, I could say something here, but I won’t!

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

Yep! lol But my brother and I made the bike out of parts, no brakes, no safety grips.

ummm, I could say something here, but I won’t!

lol, yep disaster waiting to happen.

I bought a bike when we moved down here – lots of lovely bike tracks locally. I fell off! My balance is no longer any good :(

Happy Potter said:

I want a three wheeler!
Last time I was on a bike I was a kid and I ended up in a creek in Ferntree Gully , caught in blackberries, turtle biting my toe, and the unsealed handlebar through my arm…

OK the arm thing is gross, but the turtle imagery is pretty cute :) Depending on how hard he was biting!!

>I bought a bike when we moved down here – lots of lovely bike tracks locally. I fell off! My balance is no longer any good :(

Sounds like you and HP should look at a recumbent trike.. I want one!
They are faster, you are not going to get the problems of perching your body on a tiny seat including genital numbness for the ladies and cancer for men.. OK, they are low so you mightn’t want to do heavy traffic in the city without the brave pills, but an open road, suburban streets or a bike track – yep, sounds sensible to me!

>Depending on how hard he was biting!!

They bite softly? A love bite perhaps?

CollieWA said:

>I bought a bike when we moved down here – lots of lovely bike tracks locally. I fell off! My balance is no longer any good :(

Sounds like you and HP should look at a recumbent trike.. I want one!
They are faster, you are not going to get the problems of perching your body on a tiny seat including genital numbness for the ladies and cancer for men.. OK, they are low so you mightn’t want to do heavy traffic in the city without the brave pills, but an open road, suburban streets or a bike track – yep, sounds sensible to me!

I see these around, but I worry about drivers not seeing them, they are so low. I would recommend a flag or three waving madly if you get one, even if they seem daggy.

bluegreen said:

CollieWA said:

>I bought a bike when we moved down here – lots of lovely bike tracks locally. I fell off! My balance is no longer any good :(

Sounds like you and HP should look at a recumbent trike.. I want one!
They are faster, you are not going to get the problems of perching your body on a tiny seat including genital numbness for the ladies and cancer for men.. OK, they are low so you mightn’t want to do heavy traffic in the city without the brave pills, but an open road, suburban streets or a bike track – yep, sounds sensible to me!

I see these around, but I worry about drivers not seeing them, they are so low. I would recommend a flag or three waving madly if you get one, even if they seem daggy.

I see them on my way to work every day, at a big intersection. The ones I see always have flags, but even still.. I wouldn’t feel safe at all, in the city.

More my style..
http://www.bicyclestore.com.au/Gomier-Tricycle-pr-21488.html

CollieWA said:

>I bought a bike when we moved down here – lots of lovely bike tracks locally. I fell off! My balance is no longer any good :(

Sounds like you and HP should look at a recumbent trike.. I want one!
They are faster, you are not going to get the problems of perching your body on a tiny seat including genital numbness for the ladies and cancer for men.. OK, they are low so you mightn’t want to do heavy traffic in the city without the brave pills, but an open road, suburban streets or a bike track – yep, sounds sensible to me!

Looks good Collie ! But who’s going to haul us up out of them if we can get in them?? LOL!

Happy Potter said:

More my style..
http://www.bicyclestore.com.au/Gomier-Tricycle-pr-21488.html

Wow! $899 – too rich for my pocket! Nice, though.

orchid40 said:

CollieWA said:

>I bought a bike when we moved down here – lots of lovely bike tracks locally. I fell off! My balance is no longer any good :(

Sounds like you and HP should look at a recumbent trike.. I want one!
They are faster, you are not going to get the problems of perching your body on a tiny seat including genital numbness for the ladies and cancer for men.. OK, they are low so you mightn’t want to do heavy traffic in the city without the brave pills, but an open road, suburban streets or a bike track – yep, sounds sensible to me!

Looks good Collie ! But who’s going to haul us up out of them if we can get in them?? LOL!

Watch out for gravel rash and speed humps….lol

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

I want a three wheeler!
Last time I was on a bike I was a kid and I ended up in a creek in Ferntree Gully , caught in blackberries, turtle biting my toe, and the unsealed handlebar through my arm…

I was going to say this must have hurt with tic: “ turtle biting my toe”
then I read this: “the unsealed handlebar through my arm”

OUCH!

Ummm, so I gather you have been accident prone all your life?

Thank heavens you don’t ride a motor cycle.

CollieWA said:

>I bought a bike when we moved down here – lots of lovely bike tracks locally. I fell off! My balance is no longer any good :(

Sounds like you and HP should look at a recumbent trike.. I want one!
They are faster, you are not going to get the problems of perching your body on a tiny seat including genital numbness for the ladies and cancer for men.. OK, they are low so you mightn’t want to do heavy traffic in the city without the brave pills, but an open road, suburban streets or a bike track – yep, sounds sensible to me!

I saw one of them in town his morning. In all honesty I thought the fellow was handicapped in some way and that he was in a type of wheel chair. I must get out more.

CollieWA said:

>Depending on how hard he was biting!!

They bite softly? A love bite perhaps?

They have an iron grip actually. Don’t let go either. Depending on size of the turtle of course.

bluegreen said:

CollieWA said:

>I bought a bike when we moved down here – lots of lovely bike tracks locally. I fell off! My balance is no longer any good :(

Sounds like you and HP should look at a recumbent trike.. I want one!
They are faster, you are not going to get the problems of perching your body on a tiny seat including genital numbness for the ladies and cancer for men.. OK, they are low so you mightn’t want to do heavy traffic in the city without the brave pills, but an open road, suburban streets or a bike track – yep, sounds sensible to me!

I see these around, but I worry about drivers not seeing them, they are so low. I would recommend a flag or three waving madly if you get one, even if they seem daggy.

Come to think of it, the one I saw had a flag on a tall post/pole. Whatever.

pomolo said:

CollieWA said:

>Depending on how hard he was biting!!

They bite softly? A love bite perhaps?

They have an iron grip actually. Don’t let go either. Depending on size of the turtle of course.

It drew blood lol But obviously not as much as the arm injury, or the blackberry canes stuck to me!

>But who’s going to haul us up out of them if we can get in them?? LOL!

I guess if you can throw a leg over a tredly you can get on and off these things.. Lucky they don’t have bean bags for seats though eh?

Happy Potter said:

I want a three wheeler!
Last time I was on a bike I was a kid and I ended up in a creek in Ferntree Gully , caught in blackberries, turtle biting my toe, and the unsealed handlebar through my arm…

I once had an unsealed handlebar go through my groin area…. enough said.

I’ve been thinking about posture on the bike, especially since I mentioned the seat up and handlebars down posture of professional riders and the straight up back of the commuter.

I have ridden behind the odd gentleman or two in the last few days who look to have had back soreness in the past and they have just ramped up the handlebars so that they are upandicular. It looks just like they’re sitting on the couch, from my position behind, I have been able to suss out what muscle groups are really helping these guys to propel themselves along the bike path, and it really looks like the group doing most of the work is their quad muscles, those 4 individual guys that cop a hammering when you are doing squats in a Gym, now sure, as a team they look pretty impressive and most cyclists have well defined quads, especially the Vastus medialis, the biggish muscle on the inside top of your knee.

Yeah, now these 4 can get a bike along, and these guys became larger through the evolution of Europeans and their habits of sitting on seats… Now the hamstring (3 muscles running down the back of your leg has been shortened by chair sitting and this can cause some pretty sore lower back issues) needs to be stretched a little (its a bit bigger than the quads) but we don’t thanks to chairs. However the big boy on the block that can get a bike motoring is the Gluteous maximus, and looking at these upright cyclists from behind, it doesn’t look like too much is happening there…

So my next observation was to watch a bunch of cyclists who were really keen on their sport, wore lycra, rode light bikes etc etc and their more aerodynamic position showed that a good deal of the work was being carried out by the Glute, and the hamstrings and quads were playing a secondary role.

I think it is like a lot of things, when I was learning (attempting) to sing falsetto and operatic numbers, my teacher would get me to use my stomach, my shoulder and upper back and neck muscles to provide bracing for the little tiny muscles in my larnyx where the noise was coming from. She said why expect the little tiny muscles in your throat to expel that noise to the other side of a hall when you have such strength in your back and stomach and neck. Don’t waste it…

Use ya Glutes, they’re Massive!

Oh, and I bought a new helmut today, and it is sooooo comfy and lightweight and the airflows through to me head just nicely :)

pain master said:

Oh, and I bought a new helmut today, and it is sooooo comfy and lightweight and the airflows through to me head just nicely :)

Awesome :)

I have made very little progress – only emailed the bike shop around the corner to suss them out a bit, all they said was come in and have a chat. Will get around to it one day.

PM if you want to be comfortable AND fast, maybe you should give these a look..

That’s the M5 Mediumracer.

That’s the M5 carbon Lowracer.

The M5 bikes have held the distance and speed records for years apparently, maybe another recumbent has intervened but they’ve been very dominant..

The numbers are impressive..

Here are the speeds for a 250watt effort:
This is from here.

Here’s some records set by this particular brand of bike.

OK I know they (particularly the carbon lowracer) is an extreme thing, but so is a sub 8kg Al or carbon fibre conventional bike with the seat a foot over the bars!

And I know the cycling federations won’t accept them because they are too much faster than conventional bikes… But worthy of thought…

PM if you want to be comfortable AND fast, maybe you should give these a look..

That’s the M5 Mediumracer.

That’s the M5 carbon Lowracer.

The M5 bikes have held the distance and speed records for years apparently, maybe another recumbent has intervened but they’ve been very dominant..

The numbers are impressive..

Here are the speeds for a 250watt effort:
This is from here.

Here’s some records set by this particular brand of bike.

OK I know they (particularly the carbon lowracer) is an extreme thing, but so is a sub 8kg Al or carbon fibre conventional bike with the seat a foot over the bars!

And I know the cycling federations won’t accept them because they are too much faster than conventional bikes… But worthy of thought…

pain master said:

Oh, and I bought a new helmut today, and it is sooooo comfy and lightweight and the airflows through to me head just nicely :)

Very good, what brand is it?

I now love my bicycle more ….not as much as my ultra but it is now easy to ride with arthur being a constant companion. I fitted a zbox motor and all is good no ….no rego no licence and 100+kms to the litre :)
www.zbox.com.au for those interested and lots of pics from all over Oz

bon008 said:

pain master said:

Oh, and I bought a new helmut today, and it is sooooo comfy and lightweight and the airflows through to me head just nicely :)

Awesome :)

I have made very little progress – only emailed the bike shop around the corner to suss them out a bit, all they said was come in and have a chat. Will get around to it one day.

Well all you need to do is chat, you’re outlaying the $$$ …it’s like buying a car…you go to lots of showrooms, check out all the info…the salesmen don’t expect you to buy then and there…and you need to find a salesman / saleslady you can relate to…

Re PainMaster’s post on bicycle riding posture and muscle groups used…informative post there PM…I find I have to sit upright on the rough gravel (formed earth) roads, to keep my balance…middle-ear deafness and all that…however my preference on the bitumen, especially once the pace settles down, is to lean over onto my arm-rests…this is much more comfortable and, over distance, less tiring than “upandicular”…

I find that getting the gearing right is what really helps me work me glutes: if the gearing is right, the cadence is right and there’s very little effort involved for that muscle at the top of the knee and the quads.

Correct seat height is a must.

Dinetta said:

bon008 said:

pain master said:

Oh, and I bought a new helmut today, and it is sooooo comfy and lightweight and the airflows through to me head just nicely :)

Awesome :)

I have made very little progress – only emailed the bike shop around the corner to suss them out a bit, all they said was come in and have a chat. Will get around to it one day.

Well all you need to do is chat, you’re outlaying the $$$ …it’s like buying a car…you go to lots of showrooms, check out all the info…the salesmen don’t expect you to buy then and there…and you need to find a salesman / saleslady you can relate to…

Yeh, but I’m antisocial. I’d much rather they answered a bunch of my questions via email, before I go in. Oh well. Somehow I don’t think I will find a bicycle salesperson I can relate to – I don’t actually like cycling.

Indeed Collie, the lounge couch approach to cycling is indeed a fast one… cycling mates of mine entered the SA 24 hour endurance in one and they averaged 62 kph for the entire 24 hour period, that’s just under 1500kms for the event. They were told not to enter the next year because they were scaring the other competitors who were averaging around the 35 to 40kph mark…

Oh, and I would never ride one in traffic.

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Oh, and I bought a new helmut today, and it is sooooo comfy and lightweight and the airflows through to me head just nicely :)

Very good, what brand is it?

Met

drylander1 said:

I now love my bicycle more ….not as much as my ultra but it is now easy to ride with arthur being a constant companion. I fitted a zbox motor and all is good no ….no rego no licence and 100+kms to the litre :)
www.zbox.com.au for those interested and lots of pics from all over Oz

they’re illegal up here now… too many punks terrorising the locals on pathways and such…

Dinetta said:

Re PainMaster’s post on bicycle riding posture and muscle groups used…informative post there PM…I find I have to sit upright on the rough gravel (formed earth) roads, to keep my balance…middle-ear deafness and all that…however my preference on the bitumen, especially once the pace settles down, is to lean over onto my arm-rests…this is much more comfortable and, over distance, less tiring than “upandicular”…

I find that getting the gearing right is what really helps me work me glutes: if the gearing is right, the cadence is right and there’s very little effort involved for that muscle at the top of the knee and the quads.

Correct seat height is a must.

what she said.

pain master said:

Indeed Collie, the lounge couch approach to cycling is indeed a fast one… cycling mates of mine entered the SA 24 hour endurance in one and they averaged 62 kph for the entire 24 hour period, that’s just under 1500kms for the event. They were told not to enter the next year because they were scaring the other competitors who were averaging around the 35 to 40kph mark…

Rotfl!!

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Oh, and I bought a new helmut today, and it is sooooo comfy and lightweight and the airflows through to me head just nicely :)

Very good, what brand is it?

Met

Just checked on the internet…they do have a lot of holes in them, don’t they? I wear a baseball cap under mine, to keep the sun off my nose in the day and the headlights out of my eyes at night…

Good morning by the way if there is anyone about

AnneS said:

Good morning by the way if there is anyone about

I’m not anyone much .. but top ‘o the mornin’ to ye. ;)

Oops! Wrong thread!

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

Very good, what brand is it?

Met

Just checked on the internet…they do have a lot of holes in them, don’t they? I wear a baseball cap under mine, to keep the sun off my nose in the day and the headlights out of my eyes at night…

I’m going to require a bit of sunscreen.

been thinking about it… in fact just spent between 0600 and 1000 pedalling around the town… weightlifters are known to pledge “why stand when you can sit, and why sit when you can lay”, a similar pledge those funny bikes that Collie has shown us all, but it is also the reason why swimmers have such low heart rates.

Your heart has to work against gravity to get that blood where you want it, and by being horizontal, your heart has an easier time of things as opposed to be upandicular. So it would be fair to suggest that the seat higher than your handlebar approach would be a benefit to the old ticker? If it saves you 2 beats a minute, then I saved 480 this morning. They’re in the bank to use at another time when perhaps I feel like getting horizontal… I mean exercising…..

Good ride this morning, 50ks and no Magpie attack, it does look like the majority of young are now out of their nests and are learning to fly, complete with juvenile grey uniforms.

CollieWA said:

PM: I was up in Perth on Monday and took a recumbent trike (a Greenspeed GTO) for a ride around the causeway/narrows loop around the river. That’s about 12-14km I think.. Had no trouble even though I’m really out of condition.. That trike is a little heavy but it is like a canvas recliner and is very comfortable! And it feels like a sports car going around corners.

Looks awesome Collie, I’d still be wary amongst traffic though…. I’ve had a look at their site and the Tandem looks cool, but I wonder if they can make an off road version with some suspension?

>Looks awesome Collie, I’d still be wary amongst traffic though…. I’ve had a look at their site and the Tandem looks cool, but I wonder if they can make an off road version with some suspension?

The width and the lower visibility would be a bit of a worry in traffic. The ride I went on was entirely (except 400m of deserted side road) on dual use pathways though.

Don’t know about off road.. Ground clearance might be an issue..

CollieWA said:

Don’t know about off road.. Ground clearance might be an issue..

Bummer…

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

Hope I have a tail wind along the Nullabor?

you will if you go west to east :)

A friend of mine once rode from Adelaide to Perth, and he figured it would take him 13 days, and he figured on one puncture per day, so he carried 13 spare innertubes in his pack…

Well he arrived in Perth with the same two innertubes in his tyres that he left Adelaide with… and 13 new tubes in his pack.

Dinetta said:

…but MrD has informed me that we need to change our pedals so we can pull on the pedals as well as push…

Can you explain this better please Pain Master?

Did you ever change those pedals dinetta0?

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

Hope I have a tail wind along the Nullabor?

you will if you go west to east :)

A friend of mine once rode from Adelaide to Perth, and he figured it would take him 13 days, and he figured on one puncture per day, so he carried 13 spare innertubes in his pack…

Well he arrived in Perth with the same two innertubes in his tyres that he left Adelaide with… and 13 new tubes in his pack.

at least he was prepared, although wouldn’t a puncture kit done just as well?

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

you will if you go west to east :)

A friend of mine once rode from Adelaide to Perth, and he figured it would take him 13 days, and he figured on one puncture per day, so he carried 13 spare innertubes in his pack…

Well he arrived in Perth with the same two innertubes in his tyres that he left Adelaide with… and 13 new tubes in his pack.

at least he was prepared, although wouldn’t a puncture kit done just as well?

puncture kits are okay, but time consuming… it’s easier to just stuff a new tube in, and on a road bike with pressures of around 90 – 120psi in the tubes, you don’t want to rely on a patch and a bit of glue.

Although I have. I always carry a tube plus a puncture kit on my MTB, but on the road bike, two tubes only.

pain master said:

puncture kits are okay, but time consuming… it’s easier to just stuff a new tube in, and on a road bike with pressures of around 90 – 120psi in the tubes, you don’t want to rely on a patch and a bit of glue.

Although I have. I always carry a tube plus a puncture kit on my MTB, but on the road bike, two tubes only.

Come to think of it… I used to carry one tube on the road bike, and emergency non-glue patches. It was a weight thing.

I’m off, on me bike…

pain master said:

I’m off, on me bike…

bet you would have liked trundling around Adelaide with Lance Armstrong??? :)

AnneS said:

pain master said:

I’m off, on me bike…

bet you would have liked trundling around Adelaide with Lance Armstrong??? :)

tour downunder week is/was always a great way to waste a few days just trundling…

Got up this morning… inspired by the Tour Down Under and rode a lazy 78kms… home to watch the guys going up and down Willunga Hill and then the GF got inspired and we got on the bikes for another lazy 25kms this arvy….

Good to have the bike again :)

rode a lazy 78kms… home to watch the guys going up and down Willunga Hill and then the GF got inspired and we got on the bikes for another lazy 25kms this arvy….

=======
Obviously no bus service where PM is!!

8^)

colliewa said:

rode a lazy 78kms… home to watch the guys going up and down Willunga Hill and then the GF got inspired and we got on the bikes for another lazy 25kms this arvy….

=======
Obviously no bus service where PM is!!

8^)

I have caught a bus here in Townsville… once. The time spent waiting for one is time wasted and the bus doesn’t get me to where I want to go… although Townsville Bus Drivers are allowed to go off route to get you closer to home.

>although Townsville Bus Drivers are allowed to go off route to get you closer to home.

Cuts down on the beatings I guess..

colliewa said:

>although Townsville Bus Drivers are allowed to go off route to get you closer to home.

Cuts down on the beatings I guess..

oi… the beatings here are all domestic anyway…. didn’t you see my previous post?