New bike gifted to me

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

I have an agreement going with my youngest son Andy. I store and maintain his Valk and Ducati and in exchange I ride them whenever the urge hits me. His main thing now when he's not working or having fun with his boys is riding mountain bikes so most years I ride his motorcycles more than he does.

Well, he just added another bike to the stable, this one is a gift to me. A very nice Trek mountain bike with front suspension and disk brakes just to name a few goodies. With year 60 quickly approaching and managing diabetes now part of my life doing some peddling is a good idea I'm sure.

I took my maiden voyage on it yesterday, 2 miles, flat roads and I readily admit, it was a "tough 2 miles". After I recovered  I got in a much easier and longer ride on his Duc between jobs in the shop. Until I can make 5 miles on the road I won't be joining him and my grandsons off-road. Really hoping I can indeed reach this point, but we'll see. The bike is nice, the seat is not an Ultimate by any means but it is what it needs to be for this kind of riding.

For some reason I can't seem to post the picture from Shutterfly so here is the link.
https://moretwowheels.shutterfly.com/pictures/9

[Jess from VA]

Years ago, my wife convinced (browbeat) me to start riding bicycles with her for health (and fun??).

I'll tell you what I had to do right away..... go buy a seat that actually had padding (gel) as opposed to the narrow, hard buttcrack torture device that came on it.  No wonder those people you see riding are standing up all the time.

Years later the wife is gone.... and so is my bicycle.  A local neighbor boy couldn't believe I just gave it to him.  (I was prepared to pay him, if necessary.)

Here's another small piece of Karma and bicycles.  If they are ever placed withing falling distance of any car, truck or motorcycle, Karma dictates they will fall and scratch the paint.  It's as certain as death and taxes.  

[cookiedough]

yep,  cheapest solution so your son does not know is to at least buy a 10-15 dollar gel seat slip on cover.  I will NOT drive a bicycle now in the past 15+ years without one.  My butt still hurts, but is tolerable.  Doing 2 miles on fairly level roads is pretty easy, but just keep building up to it.  In a few weeks,  you should be able to go 10-15 miles no problems, but maybe NOT off road up steep hills. 

best thing is to get a much wider spring cushion seat even if it looks stupid on an off road bicycle,  who cares since no one will see it with you sitting on it most of the time. 

I use to bike when kids younger daily 5-10 miles and smoke them,  now age 16/18,  they can beat me easily on level or going uphill since I get winded now going uphills....

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Andy, his wife and my two oldest Grandsons do 25-50 mile off road/on road rides and never seem to ride less than 5 miles of trails when they go. They say, for long distance and off road riding those kinds of seats are necessary. I guess it's actually a near $100 seat on the bike now and I do hope to reach the point of being able to ride 5 miles of trails without winding up laying on back along the way somewhere. I've adjusted the seat so that my legs are at full extension at the bottom of the peddle stroke but I do stand up to ride it pretty often.

Andy did a 50 mile trail ride in the Brown County Indiana hills a year or two ago. That doesn't sound possible to me, and it's cursed difficult for him but I guess people do it. If I can eventually make 5 mile trail rides I'll be happy. One thing about it, all the places I used to ride off-road motorcycles are closed to me now but we have hundreds of miles of bicycle trails close by and more are being built every day. Don't know that I could ever enjoy trail riding bicycles as much as I did motorcycles but we'll see.

[cookiedough]

Andy, his wife and my two oldest Grandsons do 25-50 mile off road/on road rides and never seem to ride less than 5 miles of trails when they go. They say, for long distance and off road riding those kinds of seats are necessary. I guess it's actually a near $100 seat on the bike now and I do hope to reach the point of being able to ride 5 miles of trails without winding up laying on back along the way somewhere. I've adjusted the seat so that my legs are at full extension at the bottom of the peddle stroke but I do stand up to ride it pretty often.

Andy did a 50 mile trail ride in the Brown County Indiana hills a year or two ago. That doesn't sound possible to me, and it's cursed difficult for him but I guess people do it. If I can eventually make 5 mile trail rides I'll be happy. One thing about it, all the places I used to ride off-road motorcycles are closed to me now but we have hundreds of miles of bicycle trails close by and more are being built every day. Don't know that I could ever enjoy trail riding bicycles as much as I did motorcycles but we'll see.

Agree on bicycle use vs. motorcycle use, more and more bike trails prohibiting motorcycles and ATVs but if you do the states,  75% or more businesses in local towns would prefer open to atv and motorcycle use over bicycle use since that is what drums up the profit/business for local bars and restaurants and shops more so than bicyclists drinking nothing more than water.

I went to one open to public DNR meeting had over 100+ atv riders,  2-3 horse ladies, and 3-5 bicyclists and the DNR refused to listen to the majority of people there wanting a multi-use trail connecting our 3-4 towns nearby and restrict atv use to ONLY winter use under 28 degree temps is all vs. having guessing 10-15 bicyclists per week on the local gravel trails vs. say 50-100 per week easily on atv and dirtbikes.  DNR is a joke and you wonder why they are cutting hours, etc. due to lack of funds?? Idiots!

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Have a admit, I've been enjoying this bike.

I bought a wireless bike computer for it which keeps track of average and top speeds, trip millage, total mileage & length of ride in minutes.

Not taken it off road yet and may never, just riding my local gravel and paved country roads.

Managed 5.6 miles yesterday, top speed 25 mph and average speed 12.3 mph. Not bad for a 60 year-old in 90 plus temps who could barely make it a mile not long ago. On some of the hills I slow down enough to get eaten alive by deer flys which sure motivates me to go faster.

Probably the best thing about it is one of these rides usually lowers my blood sugar by 25-100 points and it stays lower for a day or two. I've been on metformin for a few years after reaching the point I couldn't control it (diabetes) by limiting carbs anymore. I hope to avoid stronger drugs for as long as possible. Really hope this continues to help. Funny, I've noticed things along the roads I'm been driving/motorcycling by for years without ever seeing. Guess there are good points to going slower.

[Titan]

Have a admit, I've been enjoying this bike.

I bought a wireless bike computer for it which keeps track of average and top speeds, trip millage, total mileage & length of ride in minutes.

Not taken it off road yet and may never, just riding my local gravel and paved country roads.

Managed 5.6 miles yesterday, top speed 25 mph and average speed 12.3 mph. Not bad for a 60 year-old in 90 plus temps who could barely make it a mile not long ago. On some of the hills I slow down enough to get eaten alive by deer flys which sure motivates me to go faster.

Probably the best thing about it is one of these rides usually lowers my blood sugar by 25-100 points and it stays lower for a day or two. I've been on metformin for a few years after reaching the point I couldn't control it (diabetes) by limiting carbs anymore. I hope to avoid stronger drugs for as long as possible. Really hope this continues to help. Funny, I've noticed things along the roads I'm been driving/motorcycling by for years without ever seeing. Guess there are good points to going slower.

It's been a whole lot of years since I rode a mountain bike but here's something I found that might change your mind. The first time I rode the new bike, I thought I would probably die after about a block long ride! Whipped my out-of-shape butt! It took a few weeks to really get into it but, after I did, I was doing 20 miles a day with a friend of mine. The best part was after we hit the woods! There's a ton of difference in the enjoyment level between street and woods! My advice to you, if you haven't already done so, take a leisurely ride through some woods. Don't go it alone. Ride with somebody.
That was some of the most fun I've ever had with outdoor activity. Give it a shot. I'm betting you'll get hooked.

[Alpha Dog]

I think this is fantastic.  Bicycling is much easier on the body.  I was forced to quit running when I developed stenosis and bicycling is recommended for this disorder.  Much easier on knees also.  One can see a lot more of the countryside.  I myself have a hybrid road bike so I can cruise fairly fast.

Do be careful.  There are a lot of pricks out there that will not give you any room and some are so stupid they will come right up beside you at highway speeds, not realizing that just hitting a small stone or chuck hole with skinny tires can move you out right in front of the auto.  I stay as far to the edge of pavement as possible, and do wear bright colors, I am sure you do.  Enjoy the new hobby.

[Steel cowboy]

I own 2 Trek's and a cannondale, when I was in my 30's I used to ride mount snow in the summer. Now I live in Florida and it's flat, I have discovered trike's. They even have mountain trike's. On flat land the comfort level is second to none and great speed to boot. I'm looking at a Katt trike and they are not cheap but I borrowed one (they let you borrow them to test out) and went 1 mile each way with it and I belive I could have gone 20 miles each way and had any back or butt problems. It's like sitting on your favorite couch, they even have arm rest you can install.

[..]

Bicycle helmet PLEASE