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The old stereotype of the computer nerd dies hard. You envision one of two things. Either a pencil neck geek who hasn't seen the sun in years, or a guy with a huge gut from too many nights of Jolt, Twinkies, and menthol cigarrettes sitting on his butt twiddling his latest killer app.
Instead, you've got guys (and girls) who ride century's for fun, or can run 8:00 minute miles for an hour (not me; I'm more the 9:30 pace  ). The funny part is, most of us don't do it because of the health benefits, or to blow off steam, or any of those other things. We do it because we like to.
"Think of it as evolution in action." - 'Oath of Fealty' by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
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Well, I have the huge gut... but then again I came right out of the era when the computer nerd stereotype was born. I have *never* used a pocket protector though...
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One time a saw a BBC serial (correct term? You know what I mean) about cycling. One episode was about recumbents. They showed a recumbent rider from the UK, who has equipped his bike with a computer, power comes from solar cells. As a replacement for a mouse he uses a laser pointer attached to his helmet. Looked cool 
But I prefer to look at the road and/or the landscape if I use one of my bikes. Do I need to say that one of them is a recumbent? 
Greetings,
Martin
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I like to ride too. Have you done any tours? I'm signed up for the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure, a 300 mile tour of Ohio in June. The last one I rode there were a lot of recumbents, including a tandem or two. I did see a couple with full enclosure windscreens. The most unusual bike I saw was a custom built quad (a bike built for 4 riders). I talked to the guy who built it. He was a machine shop manager for Westinghouse, and built custom bikes in his spare time. On the day I talked to him, we had had a really steep downhill in one spot. I was doing 42 mph when I got to the bottom  . This guy told me that the quad was a beast going uphill, but on that same downhill they had reached 50 mph. And people say road cycling is too tame...
"Think of it as evolution in action." - 'Oath of Fealty' by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
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50mph on a quad?
It's funny but I've been putting off buying a motorcycle because I've had too many friends come off worse for wear in riding accidents - but I regularly hit 80kmh/50mph on my road bike dressed only in cycle shorts/top and a foam helmet.
Everytime I scream down a hill at that speed I'm always thinking 'one little slip and it's going to be a new skin for me'
cheers,
Chris Maunder
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I wouldn't have believed the guy, except I had gone down the same hill. I looked down at the computer, saw 42mph, and thought: "If I spill this thing, they're going to have to scrape me off the road with a spatula..."
"Think of it as evolution in action." - 'Oath of Fealty' by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
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Chris Maunder wrote:
Everytime I scream down a hill at that speed I'm always thinking 'one little slip and it's going to be a new skin for me'
ugh. i know that feeling. the one time i broke 50mph i was terrified. it was in a race and i was in a crowd - i couldn't have slowed down without taking out a dozen other people. and the course actually did a hairpin turn in the middle of the hill - you came down one lane of a two lane road, then in the middle of the hill, you had to turn and go up the other lane.
so in the middle of the hill they have a huge wall of haybails set up, orange cones for 1/2 a mile, people with flags telling you "slow down! turn ahead!" of course, though, there was a crowd of torn up cyclists on the other side of the wall with smashed bikes and many cuts.
1990 Cannondale Black Lightning, sr500. still going strong, though i go through at least one tube each week.
-c
I don't care, and you can't make me.
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Your name indicates you're a cyclist
I've heard of the GOBA in these good ol' days in the Cycling forum in CompuServe. Too bad I never did it to the US until now. I live in Germany.
And of course I'm touring Normally with the recumbent, because on tours it's far better than a wedgie, IMHO. The luggage doesn't affect the road behaviour as much as on a normal bike, and I don't get any problems with my hands and ...hmmm... you know.
Normally I tour two or three days every year at the Lake Constance. I like this place a lot. What I can recommend, too, is Luxembourgh. A friend from CompuServe once invited me, and it's really beautiful there. If you're lucky you can see Bjarne Riis, or Charly Gaul.
My fastest ride downhill? Don't know, I was too afraid and looked if there are stones or anything else on the road  But on the flat, it was 60 km/h. It was at the lake, when a boy didn't want me to overtake. He lost 
Too bad you can't include images here, would be fun to see our bicycles.
Martin
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Anonymous wrote:
Too bad you can't include images here, would be fun to see our bicycles
I was just going to say that it would be cool to see each others toys (ooh, err!).
On the road I'm riding a Merida Extreme 907 (Shimano Ultegra) and off road it's a Merida Pro SX (Shimano XT). My dream is to get either one of those insanely sexy Klein's or a Trek 5900. Full carbon - yeah baby!
cheers,
Chris Maunder
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Okay, off road I ride a Jamis Dakota, Deore LX, a few years old hardtail, and on road either the bent, a Radius Hornet I or a Riese+Müller Birdy Red folding bike. The Hornet is short-wheel based, this means the front wheel is behing the bottom bracket (or front bracket?). The components are totally mixed, front derailleur is Shimano 105SC, Ultegra triple crank set, Sachs Plasma rear derailleur, Deore LX front hub, Sachs Neos rear hub, Ultegra bar end shifters, XTR cassette (the only 12-32, I prefer XT cassettes normally), and Sachs chain(s).
The Birdy is equipped with Shimano Nexave seven speed, XT rear derailleur, and Grip Shift shifter.
My road bikes have both full suspension
My dream bike is either a three-wheel recumbent, the Windcheetah, or a Trek Y-Foil race bike.
Martin
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Chris Maunder wrote:
I was just going to say that it would be cool to see each others toys (ooh, err!).
At a bike shop, I once saw a specialised seat with hole-type things so that one's err, reproductive organs, would be protected against accidents and other such nasties (supposedly one can become impotent through forces in that area resulting from riding).
Wouldn't like that seat to crush on me is all I can say...
--
Andrew.
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You can always post links to a picture or replace your whois photo here
http://www.codetools.com/script/profile/whos_who.asp?id=13155
I'm riding a 2001 Canondale F4000SL MTB with electronic suspension w00t! and a Specialized M4 Road bike.
VROOM
Todd Smith
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I thought that, but unfortunately I can't link to my local hard disk  And I found only pictures of the new Hornet in the Net. Don't know for what this bike should be good. No place for bottle holders, it's not a race bike, and the carrier can take 12kg, so it isn't a touring bike, too. The old Hornet is a lot better as touring bike.
BTW, nice bike. Each time I see a Cannondale, I'm wondering how good the recycling of coke cans is 
SCNR. It's an old joke between a colleague (who rides a C'dale) and me.
Martin
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Merida ?I've never heard of them , are they a local make ? Custom fit jobbie ?
Me ? A Roberts for time trials , a dawes for Audax and a cheap specialised for riding off road through grinding paste .
One of the boys in the club landed up in hospital a few weeks ago , he picked up a branch between his front spokes and shattered his carbon forks. I've never heard of this on steel forks , normally you end up bending or ripping out a few spokes.
You say the glass is half empty, I say that makes it your round.
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Yeah, I've heard that one before . I did some research into family history, and discovered that the name is from a profession: "wheelwright" (someone who made wheels).
I ride a Trek 1220 that I've had for about 3 yrs. It's an 'upright' (the opposite of recumbent, I guess). It's a pretty decent road bike.
60 km/h? That's about 37mph (sorry for the Americanism there). I'm impressed. My best sprint on the flat is probably 28-30 mph; I tend to cruise at 15-16 mph.
"Think of it as evolution in action." - 'Oath of Fealty' by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
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Yes, the opposite of a recumebtn is Upright. Or Wedgie, if you want to tease them
My normal cruising speed is 27 to 30 km/h. I have no conversion table here (currently I'm at work).
Martin
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I can't believe it.
No generalization is 100% true.
Not even this one.
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I had it on the board but ran out of space. I figured enough Canadians would type Hockey in the 'Other' box that your voice would be heard
cheers,
Chris Maunder
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Well it seems that computer geeks don´t like to play basket...
Here in Málaga, you can play a lot of sports no problem with the weather ( well if you want to ski you have to go to granada that is 150 Kilometers far from Málaga)...
Greetings from the Technologic Park of Málaga, in the coast of the sun
Braulio
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Greetings from Santander.
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Hola !
Q tal tiempo hace por allí ? ( aquí hemos tuvimos un sabado de solano, solano... tol mundo en la playa).
Oye, pues ahí más españoles de lo que me creía, claro sobre todo de Madrid y Barna... ( donde hay curro ).
Un saludo
Braulio
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You can do your excercising any time of the day. For half the year weather is my main reason for not getting out there. It's either to cold in the morning or dark when I get home.
Todd Smith
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