Greetings Readers
“Two weeks”
Total Recall
Two weeks. I can not believe it, but I can believe that I have been riding the Mountain bike for Two weeks now.
First of all, I can not ride the all round road bike, Tracey, since she still has that fucked up flat tire I got a couple of weeks ago that forced me to ride Lily since then. Secondly, I cannot ride the other bikes since I do not ride those “good” bikes in the snow / rain. Perhaps lastly, I am actually enjoying riding Lily.
Though, there are plenty of drawbacks. The handlebars. The handlebars are wide and I have to be careful of turning corners and areas where there may be a tight turn. Most of time, I know what I can and cannot ride on my road bikes, without the fear of my handlebars hitting the corner of whatever I am turning into.
The gripping of the handlebars. I am used to gripping the handlebars in the traditional 0 to 180 degree direction. With the Mountain bike grips I am continuously gripping in a 270 to 90 degree directions (basically perpendicular to my body.) I find myself trying to grip as I ride a road bike, but quickly know that I cannot.
The weight of the Mountain Bike, excuse me, Lily. She is heavy. Matter of fact, I think that the tires combined weigh about the weight of any of my road bikes. She is a bitch to carry up and down stairs. She is a bitch getting off and on the Light Rail Train.
The crank Lily. The Crank has less “teeth” than a road bike crank, which means I have to pedal much, much more, than I do on a road bike. It sucks. What usually takes me no sweat and no gasping for breath on a road bike now makes me work up a sweat and breathing heavy in the same distance on Lily.
The Height of Lily. She is much taller than my road bikes, but I feel even taller since the pedals are attached to a smaller crank, therefore giving me more height on Lily. Not a problem usually, but when I sit up from the seat on Lily I am usually standing up straight on Lily. Whereas, if I am out of the seat on any of my road bikes I am out of he seat, but hunched over and forward and not much taller than just sitting on any of my road bikes. So, I sometimes find myself hitting the branches of trees that I would not worry about while on any of my road bikes.
The Appearance of Lily. The M.S.R.P was about $ 800.00 dollars, but I got her at a discount since the store was clearing inventory. I am sure Lily looks great, but to me she sort of looks plain in a manner of speaking. Not a bad thing, but some of my faithful Readers out there know that I like to look more than just “plain.” Yet, as Lily is based upon the real Lily – she may look plain, but to me she is a goddess.
On the opposite side of the spectrum – I love the disc brakes. I love the shocks; I love the feeling that I can now jump off and onto sidewalks from the street without worrying about bending/cracking a rim. I can go up and down grass/dirt hills. I can ride in the winter feeling much more safer than being on a road bike in winter. I can carry a shit load of items without worrying about the weight limit on my carbon road bike rims that is specified. And most of all – I love getting dirty. More to the fucking point I desire to get myself muddy to show everyone/no one that I am one bad ass hardcore mountain biker. As oppose to being just a badass hard-core road bike rider.
Until the next time
Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete
“Two weeks”
Total Recall
Two weeks. I can not believe it, but I can believe that I have been riding the Mountain bike for Two weeks now.
First of all, I can not ride the all round road bike, Tracey, since she still has that fucked up flat tire I got a couple of weeks ago that forced me to ride Lily since then. Secondly, I cannot ride the other bikes since I do not ride those “good” bikes in the snow / rain. Perhaps lastly, I am actually enjoying riding Lily.
Though, there are plenty of drawbacks. The handlebars. The handlebars are wide and I have to be careful of turning corners and areas where there may be a tight turn. Most of time, I know what I can and cannot ride on my road bikes, without the fear of my handlebars hitting the corner of whatever I am turning into.
The gripping of the handlebars. I am used to gripping the handlebars in the traditional 0 to 180 degree direction. With the Mountain bike grips I am continuously gripping in a 270 to 90 degree directions (basically perpendicular to my body.) I find myself trying to grip as I ride a road bike, but quickly know that I cannot.
The weight of the Mountain Bike, excuse me, Lily. She is heavy. Matter of fact, I think that the tires combined weigh about the weight of any of my road bikes. She is a bitch to carry up and down stairs. She is a bitch getting off and on the Light Rail Train.
The crank Lily. The Crank has less “teeth” than a road bike crank, which means I have to pedal much, much more, than I do on a road bike. It sucks. What usually takes me no sweat and no gasping for breath on a road bike now makes me work up a sweat and breathing heavy in the same distance on Lily.
The Height of Lily. She is much taller than my road bikes, but I feel even taller since the pedals are attached to a smaller crank, therefore giving me more height on Lily. Not a problem usually, but when I sit up from the seat on Lily I am usually standing up straight on Lily. Whereas, if I am out of the seat on any of my road bikes I am out of he seat, but hunched over and forward and not much taller than just sitting on any of my road bikes. So, I sometimes find myself hitting the branches of trees that I would not worry about while on any of my road bikes.
The Appearance of Lily. The M.S.R.P was about $ 800.00 dollars, but I got her at a discount since the store was clearing inventory. I am sure Lily looks great, but to me she sort of looks plain in a manner of speaking. Not a bad thing, but some of my faithful Readers out there know that I like to look more than just “plain.” Yet, as Lily is based upon the real Lily – she may look plain, but to me she is a goddess.
On the opposite side of the spectrum – I love the disc brakes. I love the shocks; I love the feeling that I can now jump off and onto sidewalks from the street without worrying about bending/cracking a rim. I can go up and down grass/dirt hills. I can ride in the winter feeling much more safer than being on a road bike in winter. I can carry a shit load of items without worrying about the weight limit on my carbon road bike rims that is specified. And most of all – I love getting dirty. More to the fucking point I desire to get myself muddy to show everyone/no one that I am one bad ass hardcore mountain biker. As oppose to being just a badass hard-core road bike rider.
Until the next time
Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete
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