So many bikes, so many people, America exercises.

GaryG wrote:
You got passed by a jogger? Oh, the humanity....


Do you find that amusing? Yes, I must admit, I was passed by a young
stud, propably about 26, in running shorts and most likely doing his 10
miles or more for the day. He was a good looking young man and this
old broad did not mind the view at all from my vantage point.

I only had the view for about 5 minutes and he was out of my range.
Very young, very fit and very cute. Sometimes life just hands you
some gorgeous scenery and you have to slow down to look. ;-)

I may be old, but I ain't dead yet. If I get to look at some young fine
guy in his mid or late twenties, why not do it. I see enough middle
aged men at work trying to pick up girls in their twenties. It's sad.
Especially when most of them just want their money. ;-)

At least all I do is look. Just like a beautiful garden....its there to
admire. And Admire I do!!!!!

Love and Stuff,
Maggie.

"Gooserider" wrote in
:

Maybe it's that way where you are, but here in the heart of
redneck Florida exercise is a foreign concept. Perhaps it's
because so many guys work contruction or other physically taxing
jobs, but I can ride my bike from one side of the county to
another and not see another bike. Well, except for the DUI riders,
of course.


Small story...we have a young lady staying with us who is from Plano
Tx. She came to Vancouver to attend one of several world famous
cooking here schools after graduating with a BA from U of T. Her
parents came up with her to see the city and get her a place to stay
for her year's course, and when they were driving around said "look
at all those losers walking". Her first came at car 16 and she had
never walked anywhere in her life nor had any of her friends at home,
but she did not bring her car up here.

Cut to today...after 3 1/2 months here she is planning to do a 10k
walk (Sun Run), has bought a bike and will be riding to school soon
and gererally views the whole world differently. Her friends at home
think she is crazy and one of them said when she told about a
training walk, "why do that when you could be watching soaps". Hey
there is hope.

Mike Latondresse wrote:

Small story...we have a young lady staying with us who is from Plano
Tx. She came to Vancouver to attend one of several world famous
cooking here schools after graduating with a BA from U of T. Her
parents came up with her to see the city and get her a place to stay
for her year's course, and when they were driving around said "look
at all those losers walking".

Two comments after several visits to that area of TX.

#1.) It seemed to a visitor to be a VERY pedestrian and cyclist
unfriendly area. Even from a motorist's POV, not a fun place to move
around.

#2.) The next town over, Richardson, has a large, sucessful, and well
known bike shop:
http://bikemart.com/site/intro.cfm

I didn't see any cyclists during several weeks of good weather visits.

So, either there's a lot bikes in garages there, or local cyclists are
willing to put up with much more than I. I'm figuring the good cycling
routes are in areas where I didn't go.

Barry

bbaka wrote:
Gooserider wrote:

Maybe it's that way where you are, but here in the heart of redneck
Florida
exercise is a foreign concept. Perhaps it's because so many guys work
contruction or other physically taxing jobs, but I can ride my bike
from one
side of the county to another and not see another bike. Well, except
for the
DUI riders, of course.


Physically taxing jobs are not necessarily Cardio workout jobs. Many of
these laborers die early from heart attacks because they are not getting
the proper kind of exercise.
Just a thought.

Cycling can be good in some cases, if your job has a lot of upper body
work, like heavy lifting, your legs may get little if any workout, so
biking around can be very helpful in evening things out.....

W

The Wogster wrote:
bbaka wrote:

Gooserider wrote:

Maybe it's that way where you are, but here in the heart of redneck
Florida
exercise is a foreign concept. Perhaps it's because so many guys work
contruction or other physically taxing jobs, but I can ride my bike
from one
side of the county to another and not see another bike. Well, except
for the
DUI riders, of course.


Physically taxing jobs are not necessarily Cardio workout jobs. Many
of these laborers die early from heart attacks because they are not
getting the proper kind of exercise.
Just a thought.


Cycling can be good in some cases, if your job has a lot of upper body
work, like heavy lifting, your legs may get little if any workout, so
biking around can be very helpful in evening things out.....

W

No argument there. I have seen the typical 300 pound gorilla worker who
could not run across the street without getting winded but could throw
most grown men that far. They may look totally fit on the outside but
then you have to wonder about the inside and Cholesterol and stuff. I
have done a few labor things when I was younger and there wasn't much
workout except for an occasional grunt when lifting something heavy.
Totally not a workout, just plain labor.
Bill Baka

I shop but I don't go to malls and I don't drive to get there. I walk
or bicycle to more people-friendly stand alone on the street shops.

"B a r r y" wrote in message
.. .
Mike Latondresse wrote:
Small story...we have a young lady staying with us who is from Plano Tx.
She came to Vancouver to attend one of several world famous cooking here
schools after graduating with a BA from U of T. Her parents came up with
her to see the city and get her a place to stay for her year's course,
and when they were driving around said "look at all those losers
walking".
Two comments after several visits to that area of TX.
#1.) It seemed to a visitor to be a VERY pedestrian and cyclist
unfriendly area. Even from a motorist's POV, not a fun place to move
around.
#2.) The next town over, Richardson, has a large, sucessful, and well
known bike shop:
http://bikemart.com/site/intro.cfm
I didn't see any cyclists during several weeks of good weather visits.
So, either there's a lot bikes in garages there, or local cyclists are
willing to put up with much more than I. I'm figuring the good cycling
routes are in areas where I didn't go.
Barry

Most of the cyclists in the cities use the lesser travelled
residential roads and smaller
less car popular roads off from the main heavily travelled roads. Usually
you can plan a meandering path
through the cities that parallels the bigger busy roads, avoiding the heavy
traffic. If it is a Saturday and it is nice outside,
a lot of the cyclists are out doing triathlons or local or organized cycle
rides and competitions. Then a lot of the cyclists
who are working on long distances go out into the countryside away from the
big cities to ride. Just last Saturday I was
in Lancaster Texas for the GDB Lancaster Country ride for the longer 100km
route. It looked like they easily had more than 1,000 cyclists there too.
They also had a downtown Dallas Texas ride on the same day too, it draws a
couple thousand or more cyclists. Actually all the official
bike routes in Dallas converge on the downtown area. The official bike route
signs are difficult to spot in a car, but
are much easier to see on a bike. These bike routes are designed to avoid
the busy heavily traveled roads and highways where possible.
Unfortunately, during the weekdays, you don't see a lot of commuter
cyclists yet. But there are some out there. I think
we probably have more Mexican people commuting or using bicycles to get
around than everyone else.

bbaka wrote:
Gooserider wrote:
Maybe it's that way where you are, but here in the heart of redneck
Florida
exercise is a foreign concept. Perhaps it's because so many guys
work
contruction or other physically taxing jobs, but I can ride my bike
from one
side of the county to another and not see another bike. Well,
except for the
DUI riders, of course.


Physically taxing jobs are not necessarily Cardio workout jobs. Many
of
these laborers die early from heart attacks because they are not
getting
the proper kind of exercise.
Just a thought.
Bill Baka


Working in commercial industrial construction, I see it differently. I
see guys who are still working in their 70's. The guys who have been
working construction all their lives. My father is 85 and worked
construction until he was 67 or 70 (I forget). He still looks great. He
never had an "exercise" hobby. He had enough exercise all day long.
The owner of the company I work for is in his 70's and still going
strong. He goes out into the field everyday and works. It's amazing.
The man refuses to retire.

From what I see, the people having the most heart attacks....(and I am
at that age where they are people I know)..are the people who work at
their desk all day and then go home and watch TV. The guys who have
been out there doing hard labor all their lives are still going strong.
I work in the field of construction and come from a family of
construction workers. I definately think they always had plenty of
exercise even without a gym membership or hobby. They work damn hard.
When I was growing up, my father came home from a long day and he was
exhausted. He deserved to put his feet up and watch TV. Now at 85 he
walks for exercise.

I sit in an office all day long pushing papers and working on the
computer. I'm under alot of stress with construction law......I know I
have to go home and do something physical, or I will be dead in a few
years.
All Good Things
Maggie.

Maggie wrote:

I only had the view for about 5 minutes and he was out of my range.
Very young, very fit and very cute. Sometimes life just hands you
some gorgeous scenery and you have to slow down to look. ;-)

Congratulations, you have closed the creepiness gender gap.

Maggie wrote:
GaryG wrote:

You got passed by a jogger? Oh, the humanity....



Do you find that amusing? Yes, I must admit, I was passed by a young
stud, propably about 26, in running shorts and most likely doing his 10
miles or more for the day. He was a good looking young man and this
old broad did not mind the view at all from my vantage point.

I only had the view for about 5 minutes and he was out of my range.
Very young, very fit and very cute. Sometimes life just hands you
some gorgeous scenery and you have to slow down to look. ;-)

I may be old, but I ain't dead yet. If I get to look at some young fine
guy in his mid or late twenties, why not do it. I see enough middle
aged men at work trying to pick up girls in their twenties. It's sad.
Especially when most of them just want their money. ;-)

At least all I do is look. Just like a beautiful garden....its there to
admire. And Admire I do!!!!!

Love and Stuff,
Maggie.



This weekend I got dropped by an advanced rider and his newbie female
companion. It happened after I had some miles in and while I was having
some stomach cramps (don't know what's up with that). The newbie female
rider hadn't learned how to use her gears yet, so she was moving along
in a high gear and pedalling very slowly while the advanced rider was
maintaining a rather high cadence. Anyway, as soon as the next hill
came the lady had to struggle as she was not comfortable changing gears.
So I dropped her back and tried to hang with the advanced rider. Even
though I had been over that secton of road several times, this time
following him I got my best speed on that section (much higher than I
could manage alone). The lady got lost in the rear and he finally went
back for her.

Now, to bring this back on topic....had the female been more shapely and
fit, I would have stayed to her rear!!! I've done it before