Comments on: From Time to Time, I Do Not Suck

By: Tyler

Tyler — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 05:54:00 +0000

That the reason I started training on the road bike was because of a girl.That, after progressing from hadn’t-ridden-since-childhood to 10-to-12 hours a week, losing some weight, and getting much stronger faster, I saw this girl again.That when she saw the new version of me, she looked me up and down, smirked and said "damn!"That I never saw her again, but now train 15 to 20 hours a week.

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 05:08:36 +0000

For me, finishing Leadville and getting a belt buckle is the highlight. I trained hard, dropped 20 lbs., but still had doubts I could do it. My younger brother Charlie, who had a completed it before, was a huge inspiration through the whole process. Training and completing Leadville was definitely one of the major mental and physical highlights in my life. It was life changing event, and I’ll cherish is forever.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 01:40:41 +0000

The most impressive thing I did on a bike was to decorate a soft sky blue, banana seat hand-me-down with lovely and long baby blue and white streamers on the handle bars and write my name on the frame with a shiny, metallic gold paint pen. I was 25. -e(ok, I was 9.)

By: barry1021

barry1021 — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 23:27:10 +0000

-Instead of waiting for any of the other biking boys to protect me, I then kicked his ass. Yeah, this was my proudest moment. I did it all while still attached to the bike. My teeth are perfect to this day-Woah! With due respect for some incredible stories, there’s a winner!! You go, Mocha Momma!!!!

By: A Dawn Tinsley

A Dawn Tinsley — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 23:20:31 +0000

I wish I had a bike story I was proud of, but all of my bike stories involve debilitatingly embarassing events…

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 21:50:16 +0000

There’s an epic hill in every cycling story of mine, and this one from my childhood is no different. It took me exactly one month to attack the hill and go down it on my bike, but I had just gotten braces and my mother was worried I’d take a softball to the mouth or get my mouth stuck to the climbing rope in P.E. class and she became overprotective.All the boys in the neighborhood taunted us little girls and dared us to speed down The Hill. Since I felt the need to tempt death and my mother in the same task, I waited till everybody had cleared out and went down The Hill. No problem. The next day, when all the guys were there taunting and teasing and generally being He-Man of the Hill, I dared a guy to race down the hill. WHAT? Not only was I going to go down The Hill, I was gonna go fast. He snorted and decided to take me on. I beat him and when we got to the bottom he was really pissed and being laughed at by the other guys. He proceeded to punch me in the arm really hard. Instead of waiting for any of the other biking boys to protect me, I then kicked his ass. Yeah, this was my proudest moment. I did it all while still attached to the bike. My teeth are perfect to this day.Kelly

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 20:23:26 +0000

Twenty-some odd years ago, I was at the barbershop and I saw an article in a magazine about these guys in California who would rebuild old bicycles and ride them down fire roads. It sounded like a great idea, except I didn’t have a bike and I didn’t know how to ride one. Eventually I managed to get most of an old 3-speed and rebuilt it—K-mart tires, BMX brake levers and a seatpost and handlebars made of gas pipe. In retrospect, that flat handlebar was actually pretty advanced. I proudly showed it to a couple of my fraternity brothers (yes, I was that old and did not know how to ride), who promptly convinced me that using a 3-speed internal hub without a shifter was not a good idea. We went to the K-mart and bought the finest $14 rear wheel that they carried and bolted it on. Then we got rid of those old brakes from the 3-speed, since they were always a little iffy and I was assured that the coaster brake I now had would be far superior. That just left the not knowing how to ride problem. Back to K-mart we went, since it had an inordinately large parking lot that I could practice in. My friend Bill went with me and was remarkably unembarrassed about the spectacle running along side of me, holding and releasing the bike until I finally took off on my own. I was afraid to steer to quickly, so I was riding huge magnificent circles in the parking lot. HUGE magnificent circles. Circles that eventually involved going around the entire K-mart building. Because somewhere along the way, I had neglected to ask how a coaster brake worked. It took a few passes to relay this to Bill and get instructions about what to do, mainly because he was laughing so much. I have had ten more bikes since that afternoon, many of which I built and most of which I rode into the ground. Now I go mountain biking most weekends and bicycle commute every weekday, but that first glorious afternoon is what will always stay with me.

By: barry1021

barry1021 — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 19:52:59 +0000

from Dug-once i sat through the entire 6 hour bbc version of pride and prejudice. i didn’t ask my wife to pause it when i had to pee, but i think it still counts-Dug i am confused, were you on the trainer or rollers? If not it looks like you do not meet FC eligibility standards for the bag, which of course you do not care about anyway. Still an impressive feat no doubt. When I am in that situation, I get up, put a hand on the stomach as if to say "The sushi and pepperoni pizza are not agreeing with me" and never return. Most of the time my wife says the movie sucked anyway and i did not miss anything….

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 19:20:01 +0000

most memorable – it’s a tie (and a way to get two stories in front of the judge)1 – first completely independent bike trip – my brother and i (11 & 13) left on a wednesday with nothing but tarps, sleeping bags, some changes of underwear (this was pre biking shorts for us) and $50 bucks apiece. we were gone for four nights and 5 days riding around the san juan islands, humping it up mt. constitution, sleeping in farmers fields and generally having a complete blast (’80s reference since that was the era). we called from about 20 miles out on sunday and my dad drove back up our route home to take some pictures. he caught a shot of us that to this day is about the happiest i have ever seen myself on a bike.2 – fast forward 5 years now i’m 18 and starting to race seriously. so as training i entered the seattle to portland, opting for the double century since i couldn’t get off work for two days. i will never forget sliding into my first real paceline (more then 5 people). the absolute rush of watching the lead person swing off and drop back and then me being the very tip of this 50 person snake of energy. i try to keep it smooth, marvel that maintaining 27 mph for 5 seconds is easy, drift over to the leeward side, wait for (interminably)that tap on the rear that signals the second to last rider then slide in and hunker down in the biggest draft of my life. i remember that day because riding was still effortless and new and i did 200 miles at a crack on under 10 hours.subject change – - – NOTE TO EKIMOV – GET RID OF THE MULLET>>>>>PLEASE

By: Loes

Loes — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 17:18:20 +0000

I was cycling as a 13 year old girl with some guys and another girl. So we did one or two laps, about 10k long, and after that we did a TT on the same lap. The other girl wouldn’t ride the TT because she was well, tired (after just 20k!!!!!!). We would start one minute after one another, and I would be the last one to start. A 21 year old guy would start before me. So I started and like halfway I saw a cyclist in front of me. He wore the same clothes as that 21 year old guy, but I thought there was no way that could be him. He wouldn’t be that slow. But, anyway, I would try to catch up with him, it’s always nice to have someone in front of you. And I came closer and closer. And it really was that 21 year old guy. So I overtook him. He tried to stay in my wheel but he just couldn’t keep up with me, although he wasn’t that far behind him when we finished. And that guy was still satisfied, he had an average of something like 30km/h. That day I was really proud of myself.The other guys we were riding with loved it. One of them still talks about it even though it was like 2 or 3 years ago.