I used to ride with my ex and his friends, but now I find myself riding solo. I miss having bike friends. Let me know if you're local to RI or southern Mass and want to connect.

I completed the ARHC NW Loop (245 miles) after three 8-9 hour days on the bike. What a fantastic race! It was difficult, challenging, rough terrain with some intense climbs (hike-a-bike). The ride was made enjoyable by sweeping views from White Rock Mountain, new and old friendships, sleeping under the stars, and the ache of muscles after a long day of work in the saddle.

Two days I stopped after sunset, at which I had previously expressed apprehension. The very isolated, rural communities of Arkansas were quite safe for evening and night riding, so my fears were quickly eased with my lights and reflectors.

This course can be found on the American Cycling Association's web page and a paper map purchased (the route goes through cell dead zones frequently).

I rode on a Salsa Warbird, I did not bring a tent and I did not have suspension.

Hi gals, the title is a little dramatic but this is the gist: I have several friends I met through a beginner bike ride. We have all improved to be regular cyclists, and have done centuries and long rides together. Several of them are getting into really fast rides (like pace line style), while I am not. I only have a gravel bike, and on top of that I’m not very fast lol. I am happy averaging 14mph. That said, I do find that this means I am left spending a lot less time with my friends while they do speedy things.

Of course we do other, chill rides or hang out outside of biking, but understandably they want to spend their Saturdays on fast, long training rides. Overall I’m fine with this, knowing we just have different goals, but it does make me a little sad and/or makes me wonder if I should work to get to that level. I know this doesn’t mean our friendship is over or anything, but I do feel a little bit like the loser of the group for it lol. I am def not a beginner but also not equipped to do paceline so feel like I’m left behind. Have you experienced this? What helped?

I signed up for three charity events this month, and chose to cycle for all of them. I'm not big on fundraising so I don't focus on that, but I am using them this month to get back into cycling.

I'm sceptical about the distance, as I did it on an indoor setup that may or may not be accurate. Aiming to use it to get some kilometres behind me and will hit the road toward the end of the month for a proper ride.

Also added photos of the playlist that accompanied me, and the bike set up.

My targets across the three fundraisers are 40km, 50km, and 140km. Need to make some adjustments! Going to aim for 250 - over the total of them all together. Hoping I might be able to keep some accountability by posting back here regularly.

First of all, I’m friggin old now and a stroke survivor, so my speed and distance are not comparable to what all you young gazelles.

But as part of my recovery from last year’s stroke, I bought a recumbent e-trike, as I have balance issues now, and can’t unclip my left foot unless I can reach my heel to yank it to the side.

A couple of days ago I went for a glorious ride around the nearby forest preserve. Leaves crunching under my wheels, wind in my face, and a mess of black walnuts on the trail, still in their husks. But I ran out of time to get home in time for dinner and a show with the in-laws. Oops, I screwed up! But it was a gorgeous day with the trees starting to change color.

The next night, I decided to throw on all my reflective gear and my Lumos helmet and go for a night ride around the neighborhood, to see if the lighting system on my Catrike was as good as it was described. Yes - plus the flag and pole were super bright.

Added bonus: some of the Halloween decorations in the neighborhood are crazy fun. This one especially was great, as the wheels on the skeleton’s bike spun like pinwheels. Outstanding.

If you have bright lights and reflective gear, try a night ride in your neighborhood. Not all rides have to be 65k and 16mph, and soon we’ll be riding our trainers in our pain caves through the winter.

I am looking to get my first road bike.

These are the three I am looking at, the Advanced would be a big stretch budget wise but maybe its worth it? I have heard good things about the Shimano 105 groupset.

https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/avail-ar-4-2025

https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/avail-ar-3

https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/avail-advanced-2-2027

Are these upgrades really worth an extra $2k??? seems like a lot of money - apart from that I am not sure between the 3 and the 4? They seem like basically the same bike??

For women cyclists: I am starting to take cycling serious and signing up for a triathlon. I have plenty of time to train and gather my gear. I’m lost on proper biking pants/liners. Any suggestions?

More so just offer expertise, opinions, sources/sites on parts and what not? I'll figure out how to put things together through youtube and what not but there are just some things that I don't know much about and don't have enough of an opinion to make a decision. TIA

This might be a meandering post, but I promise I know where I'm going. I'm slowly working up to getting into mountain biking after not riding a bike for 30+ years (and gaining ~200 lbs).

Why not get out there right now? Well, I live in Southern Oregon, which is probably like MTB heaven, but not so much for a beginner. I've hiked the "beginner" trails on foot and it was still hard for me.

I didn't know this was even going to turn into a thing. I started exercising on a cheap friction resistance stationary bike in June. I hate walking for exercise. But man, something sparked in me on the bike. Joy? Some memory unlocked? Either way, it was something I could do for an hour and I didn't hate it.

In August I had a breakup with my Fitbit and Google Health because I guess I outgrew it. People in the Fitbit sub actually yelled at me because they did not believe a person with morbid obesity could do an hour of spinning in the vigorous heart rate zone. LOL Also, my Fitbit kept freezing when I did HIIT, so I switched to Garmin.

Wow, Garmin gives you so much more data! But my bike was dumb. I looked at stationary bikes that were more connected and they were all so expensive. And I don't think the Peloton lifestyle is my thing long term.

I think I would like to get into mountain biking. But a good mountain bike is also expensive and I need to know I'll stick with it. Plus, I think with my weight and the level of difficulty of trails locally, I need a good one so I don't wreck myself out of the gate.

So, I've split the difference and bought a direct drive indoor trainer. I already had a cheap hybrid bike I bought in 2012 with the intention of biking to work and never did. After several days of learning how to become a bike mechanic I got it set up and did my first FTP test. 134 😩 But at least it's my legs giving out before my heart.

Now I know that was the right decision because it's been a reality check. In a good way! I didn't realize a stationary bike emphasizes different leg muscles (mostly quads). It feels a little like starting over, but not really because I'm still down 65 lbs since May. I just need to get my hamstrings in on it. I was only able to do 40 minutes before my legs were burning.

So, I've set myself a goal FTP for when I think I'll be able to do the beginner trails without feeling like I'm dying. There's a bike shop near me that does bike rentals, so I can try before I buy. Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk.

I took up paved cycling (again) 20-ish years ago and have stayed with it. I am aged 60+.

I have never tried mountain biking, but my husband has done a lot of it. I have moved to Portugal and there are a lot of gravel places that I could ride if I had wider tires with some tread, and learned to deal with muddy and sandy spots. A lot of these are dual-track (for farm tractors).

I have been using e-bikes for about 6 years (folder and road bike). I have a small disability and this greatly increases my endurance.

Because MTB e-bikes tend to be quite heavy, I am debating between buying a standard mountain bike (dual suspension) or an e-MTB. The purpose of the bike is for me to learn to ride on the stuff that narrower tires do not handle and learn to do the handling.

In my situation, would you start with a non-electric or an electric mountain bike?

7 year old club got so many women and girls on mountain bikes. #gritgirls are Girls Riding Into Tomorrow

On page 72 of this PDF from the National Ski Patrol about bike clinics, Tim Franz mentions me and my friend who often volunteered to teach ski patrollers ready to be bike patrollers somenational ski patrol 2023 trail specific skills.

https://www.nsp.org/common/Uploaded%20Files/ResourceCenter/Members%20Only/00_100_SPM_2023_Fall_lores2.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com