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01-24-2019, 08:10 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-24-2019, 08:12 AM by Canard.)
I prefer riverfront MUT’s or old Rail Trails through forests, rather than the open road with huge open fields, cars and pickup trucks, but that’s just me. “More scenic” is very subjective.
Besides, how do you guys see anything other than the ground, with your bars slung so damn low? 
(Fun fact: Ziggy’s staff actually thought there was a “problem” with my bike when they saw how high my handlebars were. Earlier in the week I had some random tradie yell at me “Way up there!” and grin.)
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01-24-2019, 02:40 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-24-2019, 02:51 PM by clasher.)
(01-23-2019, 09:02 PM)jamincan Wrote: More scenic and quieter. I love gravel riding. Have you ridden much out in Dufferin County, clasher? There are some fantastic back roads there.
Yeah I've done a few good rides up that way, the roads starting around the Hockley Valley rd. and going north past Mono Cliffs to Boyne Valley, past Kilgorie and up to Honeywood and beyond... basically just following the escarpment up to Collingwood. There's Turas Mór out of Creemore that hits some of that area that I would like to do sometime... it used to be a vintage themed ride like Eroica but they weren't strict about requiring vintage gear and the site doesn't really mention it anymore. The growling Beaver out of Collingwood looks pretty good too but I don't know how much of that was gravel. There's a monster gravel climb just out of Collingwood, south of Scenic Caves, gonna do that next time I'm up there. I have done some gravel in the Beaver Valley near Flesherton and that would be another area worth exploring... the climbs are pretty good up and down that valley and it's very scenic.
I have the tops of my road bars about level with the saddle so they are pretty high by "roadie" standards but for the "endurance" rides that I mostly do they are fine. I think folks should set up their bike however they like as long as they are comfortable. I don't mind rail trails but I find they sometimes can be boring; like how much bush can I look at? Kind of reminds me of snowmobiling. But they're worth it for the bridges and open spaces they pass...
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I feel the same way though about rides in the country - like how many fields can I look at? And then some pickup passes you with 30cm at 100+ km/h and sprays you with gravel. Not much fun to me...
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(01-24-2019, 06:35 PM)Canard Wrote: I feel the same way though about rides in the country - like how many fields can I look at? And then some pickup passes you with 30cm at 100+ km/h and sprays you with gravel. Not much fun to me...
This is why I've essentially stopped riding on even fairly quiet roads...I'll pretty much only ride trails and in the cities these days, it's too bad because I really did enjoy it.
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I have to think of it like roller coasters, we all have our favourite types and manufacturers, and it’s ok to all like something different!
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(12-03-2018, 08:53 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Nice!
Very tempting...although honestly, I fully expect I'd be sitting in a police station in a day or two, because putting a sticker on an illegally parked car is serious business, unlike continually endangering my life which is like really f***ing meh who cares right.
1) Find inexpensive P.O.S. bike.
2) Leave near this area.
3) Find BMW parked on bike lane.
4) Grab throwaway bike + bike lock and attach to door handle/wheel of what you assume to be an expensive new bike rack that pops up frequently in your lane.
5) "Bike rack" owner gets the point?
Coke
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Actually, those rims look like they could hold just the bike lock.... maybe even one of the old style cheap ones......
The owner can decide if they want to play outside to go thru up to 9999 number combinations, or risk the paint job on the way home to get bolt cutters....
Coke
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(01-29-2019, 03:03 PM)Coke6pk Wrote: (12-03-2018, 08:53 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Nice!
Very tempting...although honestly, I fully expect I'd be sitting in a police station in a day or two, because putting a sticker on an illegally parked car is serious business, unlike continually endangering my life which is like really f***ing meh who cares right.
1) Find inexpensive P.O.S. bike.
2) Leave near this area.
3) Find BMW parked on bike lane.
4) Grab throwaway bike + bike lock and attach to door handle/wheel of what you assume to be an expensive new bike rack that pops up frequently in your lane.
5) "Bike rack" owner gets the point?
Coke
I agree, these are very fun things to speculate about.
But I have absolute certainty I'd be sitting in handcuffs in a WRPS precinct. I already had the police come out and talk to me because I was taking pictures of the vehicle parked on the sidewalk in front of Laurier's police station. They were very concerned that I would publish the photo, and questioned why I was touching the car (I had folded in the mirror as I had to walk around it).
They came out and questioned me, and I had to explain twice that the car was parked illegally and that was a problem for me.
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Somehow THAT was the issue??
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(01-29-2019, 03:14 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: But I have absolute certainty I'd be sitting in handcuffs in a WRPS precinct. I already had the police come out and talk to me because I was taking pictures of the vehicle parked on the sidewalk in front of Laurier's police station. They were very concerned that I would publish the photo, and questioned why I was touching the car (I had folded in the mirror as I had to walk around it).
They came out and questioned me, and I had to explain twice that the car was parked illegally and that was a problem for me.
Uhm... and you told them that taking photos in a public location is legal as is publishing them?
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Do fat bikes help in this weather? The past two days have been the only two days where my cyclocross tires haven't had an easy time. The snow slipped under my tires more easily, turning at any kind of small radius was very hard, and on the worst days, even going in a straight line at slow speed, the front and back wheels would be skipping a bit side to side.
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Yeah, that's the problem I'm having too. My other half suggested renting a Fat Bike, before committing to buying "another bike". 
(I really don't want to go through the hassle of renting... such a pain.)
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The other problem I'm having which is new is with my shifters. I have 3x8, usually 2x4 is where I ride, but yesterday on the way home I couldn't shift out of 2 at all, and on the back end, I could move maybe from x4 down to x2, but if I went to x1 or tried to go to x5-8, the controls would advance the red flag on my shimano shifter to the right number, but I would feel a lot of excessive tension, and never actually get a "click", which was new and alarming. In the basement at home, I could move through all rear gears, but the front didn't want to reach the 1 or 3 extents, so the chain could be heard rubbing against the guide. I'd brushed off all snow from all the chain, toothed components, shifters, exposed cabling, etc.
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Fat bike is better. Lower air pressure = better traction.
As for the derailleur; it can get frozen in place. I've had it before where I'm effectively riding single-speed and stuck in my pedals. Single-speed solves this problem completely and can be a great choice for your about-town beater. You might want to adjust your derailleurs if you were pulling on them like that as you might have stretched your derailleur cable which would affect your shifting.
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(01-29-2019, 11:22 PM)tvot Wrote: (01-29-2019, 03:14 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: But I have absolute certainty I'd be sitting in handcuffs in a WRPS precinct. I already had the police come out and talk to me because I was taking pictures of the vehicle parked on the sidewalk in front of Laurier's police station. They were very concerned that I would publish the photo, and questioned why I was touching the car (I had folded in the mirror as I had to walk around it).
They came out and questioned me, and I had to explain twice that the car was parked illegally and that was a problem for me.
Uhm... and you told them that taking photos in a public location is legal as is publishing them?
I certainly did, and their response was "we know that, but we strongly urge you not to post it".
I didn't, but frankly, the attitude coloured my opinion of them further. They were more interested in their reputation than they were about the fact that a delivery vehicle driver was endangering my, and dozens of other's of people's safety.
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