New Year weight loss plans ???

"JohnH" wrote:


I regularly do some pretty stupid things on mountain bikes (scars to
show for it) but wouldn't be tempted to actually use one of the
motorized scooters (aka "gopeds") for transportation.

Maybe you should try one. I probably have several thousand miles on mine,
and it is by far the most convenient thing to carry as simple ground
transportation in a small plane. I've used it on all kinds of terrain and
it's no more prone to "endoing" than any bike I've ridden; the CG is way too
low to do that - you'd get thrown off the front if anything (which hasn't
happened to me).

The COG of the scooter is really low - it's the fact that the COG of
the rider is about belt-height that bothers me - that and Newton's
insistence that an object in motion... ;-) Any obstacle that the
front wheel hits taller than halfway up or more to the axle is likely
to cause "bad things to happen". If there was some suspension it
would be a bit less likely to spontaneously separate the rider from
the vehicle.

Then again, "I ain't skerd" to ride anything. My favorite bike is the penny
farthing with a 4' front wheel. Now THAT thing will endo!

And those things produce the mother of all endos (starting with your
head about 10 feet above mother earth). Never rode one, but would
love to some day.

Mark Hickey

insistence that an object in motion... ;-) Any obstacle that the
front wheel hits taller than halfway up or more to the axle is likely
to cause "bad things to happen"

Which could really only happen if you weren't paying attention. Fortunately
they're somewhat self limiting on speed on rough surfaces - as in grinding
to a halt.

Then again, "I ain't skerd" to ride anything. My favorite bike is
the penny farthing with a 4' front wheel. Now THAT thing will endo!


And those things produce the mother of all endos (starting with your
head about 10 feet above mother earth). Never rode one, but would
love to some day.

One has to be especially careful descending hills; sufficient grade will
quickly put you ahead of CG and over you go - and as you say, it's a long
fall. It's no wonder the newer bicycle designs are called "safety bikes"!
But it's the most fun inanimate thing I ride.

http://www.johnnyhouse.com/images/sayhi.jpg

"Mark Hickey" wrote in message
...
Any obstacle that the front wheel hits taller than halfway
up or more to the axle is likely to cause "bad things to
happen".

When I was first starting out letting my dog run beside me on a leash while
riding my trail bike, I kept the leash in my right hand, wanting him to be
on that side of the bike... A couple of times, he would see something and
try to cross in front of me and I would slam on the brakes with my left
hand... Well, that was the front brake and as such, I quickly did an end
over, followed quickly by a near face plant, followed soon thereafter with
choice cuss words directed towards the stupid ass dog... Eventually, I
figured that the dog wasn't going to get any smarter, so I reversed the
brakes so that the left brake lever controls the rear brake... Kind of
difficult to do an end over when you are only putting on the rear brake...

"Grumman-581" wrote:

When I was first starting out letting my dog run beside me on a leash while
riding my trail bike, I kept the leash in my right hand, wanting him to be
on that side of the bike... A couple of times, he would see something and
try to cross in front of me and I would slam on the brakes with my left
hand... Well, that was the front brake and as such, I quickly did an end
over, followed quickly by a near face plant, followed soon thereafter with
choice cuss words directed towards the stupid ass dog... Eventually, I
figured that the dog wasn't going to get any smarter, so I reversed the
brakes so that the left brake lever controls the rear brake... Kind of
difficult to do an end over when you are only putting on the rear brake...

Some of us are doomed to repeat the same mistakes... ;-)

I remember running my girlfriend's Irish setter (like a lot of women -
beautiful, but not too bright) (the dog, not the girlfriend), using a
longish leash. I got a couple miles in before wearing the dog out,
and headed back to her house. There was a fairly big hill on the way,
and I decided to see what the terminal velocity of an Irish setter is.

This experiment was going well until my speed exceeded that of the dog
slightly. I let out a little more leash as I reached for the brakes.

Unfortunately, that's the moment the dog decided running on the RIGHT
side of the speed limit sign would be a great idea.

Imagine coasting down a hill at ~20mph on an old road bike with drop
bars, wearing gym shorts and a muscle shirt (no helmet - I was young
AND dumb), and then turning the bars hard to the right.

I went over the bars and managed to tuck and roll, and actually did a
handspring out, landing on my feet (and not a soul around to see it).
Fortunately my guardian angle was apparently on duty that day and I
only got a little biffed up. Slightly scraped, but wiser.

Mark Hickey

"Grumman-581" wrote

Well, that was the front brake and as such, I quickly did an end
over, followed quickly by a near face plant, followed soon thereafter with
choice cuss words directed towards the stupid ass dog...

You are not the only one to do a face plant because of a dog. My experience
was on pavement, at high speed, though.

I'll set up the picture... At the time, I was around 12 years old, and
rode my bike all over the place, in small town NW Ohio. On the way to one
of my friends house, there was a dog that was always out (German Shepard, I
think) and it always chase people on their bikes.

This house was on a hill (yeah, I know, a hill in NW Ohio? ) and a fairly
good sized one at that. I tried going slow, and kicking him away, using a
bike pump to bash at him, and then I figured I would outrun him. How'd that
work? Not too good!

I turned onto the road, and started pedaling as fast and as hard as
possible. I suppose I was gong 35 MPH or more, when the dog came out to
"greet me." The next events happened "real" fast, but I believe what
happened was the dog misjudged my speed and distance, and got out in front
of me, but *not* enough to avoid having me plant my front tire squarely in
his ribs.

It must have hurt, from the volume and amount of yelps he let out.
Fortunately for me, he also hurt enough that he went away to lick his
wounds, instead of messing with me. I was hurting from the impact with the
handlebars, then the impact with the road, then the tumbling and sliding
along the road. Fortunately, my wheel was round enough that it only rubbed
on my fender a little bit, (yeah, right, it almost didn't go around) and I
was able to ride the 2 or so miles home, to properly wash and dress my road
rash.

So, the moral of the story is, don't deal with dogs by using speed. Ammonia
in a squirt gun is better. g
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote:

It must have hurt, from the volume and amount of yelps he let out.
Fortunately for me, he also hurt enough that he went away to lick his
wounds, instead of messing with me. I was hurting from the impact with the
handlebars, then the impact with the road, then the tumbling and sliding
along the road. Fortunately, my wheel was round enough that it only rubbed
on my fender a little bit, (yeah, right, it almost didn't go around) and I
was able to ride the 2 or so miles home, to properly wash and dress my road
rash.

Heh... I just can't help but relate another of my goofy dog stories.

I was doing a training ride in rural NJ (yes, there is such a thing),
and was laboring up a long hill. On my right was a farmhouse, on land
that rose up to the house from the road, with the farmhouse "on top"
to my right.

The owner of the house and his German shepherd were in the front yard,
and the dog decided that I looked like a good target apparently... he
charged down the hill (from the house) at a perfect intercept vector
to put us both in the same place and time (he'd obviously done it
before).

I mustered up the best uphill sprint I could manage trying to mess up
the dog's trigonometry, but he had a good jump on me, and gravity
working for him rather than against him (like me).

The worst thing was the owner laughing hysterically at his clever
pooch's bad behavior.

As the dog was approaching fast from my right, he decided to jink just
on my side of a telephone pole. I chose that moment to bark at the
dog (I have a tremendous bark that will always stop/reroute any dog
chasing me). It caused ol' Fido to jink to the right in reflex -
which happened to be the very space occupied by a very large telephone
pole.

The dog dead-centered the pole at a dead run, and went down in a heap,
twitching. I continued my sprint up the hill, laughing at the dog's
owner now running down the hill to see how much damage his dog had
done to itself.

Some days you're the bug, other days you're the windshield...

Mark Hickey

"Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired" wrote in message
news:KyOuf.73096$sg5.9349@dukeread12...
You guys are thinking way too high tech. My son recommends a skateboard.

My wife's motto, and subsequently mine as well: Don't put it on and
you don't have to take if off.

Corky Scott

"Mark Hickey" wrote in message
...
I went over the bars and managed to tuck and roll, and actually did a
handspring out, landing on my feet (and not a soul around to see it).
Fortunately my guardian angle was apparently on duty that day and I
only got a little biffed up. Slightly scraped, but wiser.

The first time it happened to me, I tended to stay attached to the bike...
Pretty good trick, come to think of it, since I didn't have toe clips on
that bike... I ended up inverted with the bike upside down... I guess I had
a death grip on the brake and the bike stayed with me... The dog decided to
make a loop or to around me and wrap me with the leash... He then had the
nerve to stop and look at me as to ask why I was laying on the concrete /
asphalt of the bike trail... Didn't have a helmet, of course, so I'm curious
how I managed to do it without getting the least scratch on my head... It's
not like I have a lot of hair up there protecting it...

"Mark Hickey" wrote

The dog dead-centered the pole at a dead run, and went down in a heap,
twitching. I continued my sprint up the hill, laughing at the dog's
owner now running down the hill to see how much damage his dog had
done to itself.

Some days you're the bug, other days you're the windshield...

LOL!!! I haven't laughed so loud at something on the internet in a LONG
time. Thanks!

I'll have to keep the barking trick in mind. It does seem like it should
work, and I also have a pretty good bark; guaranteed to make any dog stop
and look where the dog is!
--
Jim in NC

I'll have to keep the barking trick in mind. It does seem like it
should work, and I also have a pretty good bark; guaranteed to make
any dog stop and look where the dog is!

It really messes with them. As a young lad we had a neighbor with an
incessantly barking dog. Frustrated, I walked up to it with a bullhorn and
barked back. It gave me a quite confused look and walked away, never to
needlessly bark again.