Hard News: Space for Ol Dat I See
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for me gearing needs to be suitable for a good Mt Vic hill climb.
If you ain't in top gear yer a poof. ;-)
Way back a few years I became an involuntary cyclist (read lost my driving licence) There was this one hill I had to negotiate on my way to work each morning. First day I got barely a quarter of the way up regardless of which gear I was in, after a couple of weeks I could just manage to get to the top without dismounting, after three months I could sail to the summit in top gear. I felt sooo tough. How tough? Chuck Norris is a poof too.
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Chuck Norris is a poof
now there's a bumper sticker
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Ahhh...cycling. Back in the day, 30 years ago, bicycles were like this:
[IMG]http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o246/johnf_04/Oldphotos/pbikes.jpg[/IMG]I used to ride to work, keeping up with Dunedin's one way system traffic. What I really wanted, though, but couldn't afford, was a Yamaha RD350!.
Now I'm old and grey, I ride this:
[IMG]http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o246/johnf_04/bike/IMG_1673s.jpg[/IMG] -
Re Rode - I don't know much about bikes, but the Pashley bikes they link off their website? Man, gooooorgeous.
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Huh... I didn't even know putting road tyres on a MTB had a name :) We rode round the South Island like that in '95 or so and got a few strange looks but it was definitely the comfortable way to go. When I buy my next bike it'll be the same configuration for sure.
I seem to have been out of the country when Dylan Taite died so I didn't know. That's a shame. I met him once, when I was young and working in Farmers in Hamilton. He must have been in a crappy mood because he was a real prick that day, unfortunately, but I still loved his work.
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Just had another look at the image and the number plate . . .
My that is a well-preserved ute for one 18 years old or so.
P.
who will return to train-spotting -
If you ain't in top gear yer a poof. ;-)
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I'm actually several stops above granny gear, truth be told, if not at Jack level, but typical Wellington geography does place certain demands on the commuting cyclist that just don't exist for most Aucklanders. Eg I have about a kilometre of continuous hill climb (Courtenay Place to Upoko St) as the last leg of my trip home.
I'm very happy with my current commuting set up, on an old Specialized Hardrock with street tyres. But that hub gear and belt drive sounds pretty sweet.
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Back home, with my ears still ringing from the absolutely-bloody-fantastic Al Green concert at The Civic last night.
Apologies for the distraction. I have found the Al Green thread!
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Can't resist joining in the cycle love...
Jack and Stephen - My co-worker has a Blade 8C, and finds it works well. The granny gear isn't as low as his previous 21-speed bike, but he still manages to climb a good portion of the rise from Onehunga to Hillsborough beside SH20. He did put his own saddle (bought in 1980, iirc) and slightly higher handlebars on it.
Russell - there were some good maps put out in 2008/9 by MAXX. One each for North, Central, West, and South Auckland. CAA may still have hard copies if you can't find them elsewhere.
Also, with the next SH20 section there is supposed to be a cycleway to match. Plans are probably road based, but it would be nice to connect through Oakley Creek as an option. Tidying up some of the cracks and bad camber would help, as well as making it more wheelchair accessible. -
Thanks for the props Russell...
Onehunga Cycle Path is included in this ride.
Also "Bicycle Quarterly is a magazine for avid cyclists, who enjoy their bikes, whether on a weekend ride, commuting, randonneuring, racing or touring the countryside" - Bicycling Quarterly
Oh, and we will have stock of the Maxx cycling maps (hard copies) next week @ Rode.
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BTW - does anyone know where the "50 km cycle route" runs? There are little blue signs all over Auckland City telling you it exists, but half of them seem to be missing.
Yes Angus ... well the flipant answer is around the 'Auckland isthmus'. But to be more helpful... and the signs seem better if you go clockwise.
Start (say) at Westhaven, left into Beaumont, then Hamer, Bringham, Halsey and through the Viaduct to Quay St (the REAL route does a bit of a loop somewhere via the Domain but I have never found that) then Tamaki Drive, all the way to the hill at the end of St Helliers - Cliff Rd, Glover Rd and onto Riddle Rd, up Roberta Ave, down past (is it) Tamaki College - Taniwha St and to Riverside Ave/Dunkirk Rd, along the Tamaki estuary waterfront to Kings Rd and Panmure, survive Panmure and the Panmure roundabout to Mt Wellington, turn off the Mt Wellington highway - Lunn Ave and Marua Rd and head for Ladies Mile, around Elerslie racecourse Morrin Rd and Mitchelso that takes you under the motorway and across Great Sth Rd to Atarangi and Mangakiekie Rd, skirt through Cornwall Park and then find your way through the back streets cutting across Mt Eden Rd, Dominion Rd to Sandringham Rd, then onto Mt Albert Rd and Carington Rd, thence Point Chev Rd to Meola Rd and West End Rd, left into Jervois Rd then Masons Ave, Argyle, Sarsfield then Curan St under the Bridge to Westhaven (this deviates a bit for the original 50km route)
Enjoy
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Yep, that cycle route's been there forever. I used to ride the GI - Mission Bay bit every weekend when I was 16, in the mid-80s. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that the terminus was the Robert Harris shop, where they actually made cappucinos.
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Chuck Norris is a poof too.
Chuck wouldn't ride up the mountain, he'd push the mountain down.
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I got lost on that 50km cycle route at the age of 10, ended up in Onehunga. Someone must have ripped a sign down or something. But I found my way home, faced the music when I got there. I was pretty proud of myself, but I never wanted to do it again.
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I was imagining the Chuck bumper sticker on a Hummer like I saw t'other day. First one in ages and still seemed pointless on urban roads. Even Mr Norris has probably been persuaded into a Prius..
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The Hummers are also pretty pointless offroad too..... a bog standard Lada Niva goes better!
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And resembles a bloated Niva..
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I've gotta boast about the great bikepath system here in DK (which to my shame I barely use - the public transport sytem is fab as well). Apart from Copenhagen being riddled with bikepaths, here's a map of the nationwide Cycle 'Motorway' system.
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Interweaving some more musical meanderings.
Free download of Massive Attack - Girl I Love You with Horace Andy - She Is Danger Remix.
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Love the Massive attack. :-)
<threadmerge> Islander claims that too much pot can turn you into a cyclepath </threadmerge>
groan... -
Tnank you for the Dave Dobbyn, Russell. Cos you know how I do love him so. What a lovely man. What a lovely voice. <sigh>
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Tim, Roger & tracymac - thank you
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Tnank you for the Dave Dobbyn, Russell. Cos you know how I do love him so. What a lovely man. What a lovely voice. <sigh>
Yep, on both those counts
Got a lot of time for that man.
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MA... songs of my youth... mighty thoughtless of them to turn up when I am tied up with an operational matter.
So can you please not post a review unless they were bloody awful...
On the topic... my thanks to John Davy Tyres in Thames. Shock absorber separates from car noon on Saturday. We limp in. Guy has a look and stays open while I (luckily) procure a pair from Repco down the road. It's now 12.30 and I've watched a steady stream of his mates pop in and ask him when he'll be joining them for a cold one on this scorcher of a day.
He fits the shocks. At 1.15 I say thanks and how much?
"No charge - just didn't want your holiday to be spoilt. Have a good time."
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I have been cycle commuting for 8 months now, and so far it has saved me around $1200 in bus fares. The only problems have been due to where I live, I have to choose between dominon rd (deathride for cyclists) or Mt Eden Road (which is mostly fine, but does have some crazies that stand at the side of the road and make gun hand signs at cyclists along with pew pew sounds). I would love a nice belt drive bike, but I find they don't have the gear options I would want (currently running a 36T at the front and a 18T at the back, which means through blind luck I don't need a tensioner with my vert dropouts).
I would love to continue riding in, but when my lease expires I will need to look at finding a place closer in to town, so I can walk in, as it is still far too dangerous to ride in auckland, with lots of drivers thinking that death is the correct punishment for simply being on the roads.
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