Thoughts on riding long distance. Well, 20 miles.

[JimMendel]

The "Bayshore Bikeway" is a bike route around San Diego Bay. It's mostly flat, a lot of it's bike path with no motorized vehicle traffic. It's been my favorite ride for a long time, so I thought about taking the old Schwinn around it- I just got back from the ride.
So I thought it would be harder to ride it on the Schwinn than one of the road bikes. Plus, the Schwinn's one gear is only good for about 10-12 MPH at normal cadence.
But guess what? It was really enjoyable!
First off, the old bike rides like a Rolls Royce- it just glides over rough pavement. I'm not sure if it's the tires, which are running at 50 PSI, that blade fork, which I think is spring steel, or the spring saddle. My guess is they designed it to ride smooth.
Second thing, you end up looking around at stuff and enjoying it more because you don't really need to keep an eye out for crap in the road as much.
Third thing, lots of people comment on the bike- one guy on a $4000 Cannondale 15 pound carbon fiber machine commented that he liked the bike, but it must be hard to ride any distance on it. To which I replied "No, it's actually kind of nice!".

 

[mikeeebikey]

I do 15 pretty regular, with a big Wal-Mart seat my buns got sore. Brooks had a fix!
Been getting most my miles lately on a skinny tire cruiser.
As far as roadies talking, I must be riding the wrong areas, they don't speak to me.

 

[Bicycle808]

I've found the roadies to be a pretty diverse bunch. Some are very friendly, enjoy talking about all types of bikes, and are great ppl all-around. Others won't even return a friendly nod or wave as you pass them head-on.

I try not to worry about it.

 

[Balam]

As long as you don't have to deal with any hills, you can't beat a cruiser. I'll ride a slow 20 miles any day on a cruiser!

 

[jats]

for my skinny I ride an 82 Schwinn world sport that I did a restore on. lately I have been riding a sears and roebuck Austrian made 3 speed with 26x 1 3/8ths tires starten to really love the the old sears!!!!!

 

[Bob Gray]

It all depends on how much climbing you're going to do and how fast you want to go. If you're on flat ground and you're content to cruise along at 8 mph then a cruiser will be a far nicer ride than a road bike. If you want to go 18 mph though and climb some hills it will kick your butt. One thing people don't realize is that reverse is also true. Try riding a road bike 20 miles sometime at 8 mph at it will also kick your butt. The weight of your upper body just isn't comfortably supported on an aggressive road bike if you're not pedaling hard.

I'm of the opinion that all the emphasis on going fast, fast fast is kind of silly. It's just so much easier to cruise along at a comfortable 12-14 mph and in most cases the difference in travel time is just a few minutes, not to mention that you don't need a $4000 carbon fiber bike and a spandex bodysuit.

Where I ride though, there are hills, so I want two good brakes, a wide range of gears and handlebars that I can stand up and mash with and that kind of nixes a traditional cruiser for me.

 

[mikeeebikey]

I should have mentioned;
You want a leg builder, run 3" tires! Holy smoke, I did my 15 a couple times on kenda flames, whooped me! Even made my arms sore!

 

[Loosenuts]

Jim I have ridden sections of the bikeway. I live pretty close to it. It being mostly level really helps. Just have to watch out for the little ones out with Mom and Dad. I try to ride on it during the week as it can get busy on the weekends.


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[Ldog33]

I run 4.25 inch tires on my Ruff, and it's a frickn workout riding more that 5 miles. I run 3.45's on my felt and compared the the ruff, it's a dream. But my fixie just plan flies.

 

[BuzzRocker13]

I did a solid 10-12 miles yesterday on the cruiser, which was the most mileage to date, and although I was pretty gassed by the time I got home, it was a fun ride. Also made me appreciate my runabout!

 

[jats]

the mileages you guys ride on fat tires/ balloons is amazing!!! I ride my MTB to Smith Rock state park to ride the trails there thats 3 1/2 miles each way on pavement LOL!!!!!!!!!! ( and I whine each way) you guys

rethinking my fat tires

Troy

 

[chepe13]

That's a fun trail, we usually ride close to that on cruises here in north county, oceanside a coast being one if the hilliest places.

 

[Balam]

If you're riding a bike to get fit, what's the point in making in making it as easy and efficient as possible?

I love an upright riding position for safety and a better view of the world. Plus, my town has no hills whatsoever. I can spend the entire day on my bike going to parks, restaurants, bars, maybe a couple friends houses.

Man I'm glad Spring is here!

 

[dougfisk]

If you're riding a bike to get fit, what's the point in making in making it as easy and efficient as possible?...

I have been saying this for a while. If you want to get even more fit, you should tow a trailer filled with rocks behind you...

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

The fittest riders I've known do everything on the bike. Errands, commute, train, race and recreation, with minimal car use. The bike is like another appendage for them. I wish I could be like that.


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[mos6502]

I used to ride the 15 miles from Aurora Co. to Denver on a Western Flyer 3 speed every week. Way too many hills for a cruiser - but easy enough on a 3 speed if you don't mind having to grind up hills in low because of the weight.

 

[Bicycle808]

If you're riding a bike to get fit, what's the point in making in making it as easy and efficient as possible?

I have been saying this for a while. If you want to get even more fit, you should tow a trailer filled with rocks behind you...

I get the logic behind this, but in my experience, the fittest riders do a lot of organized training while riding fast/efficient bikes, and do more informal riding via commutes/errands.

I've spent years JRA on heavy bikes, and i'm still pretty fat.

 

[mos6502]

I get the logic behind this, but in my experience, the fittest riders do a lot of organized training while riding fast/efficient bikes, and do more informal riding via commutes/errands.

I've spent years JRA on heavy bikes, and i'm still pretty fat.

There is a logic, but it doesn't work out completely because if you're going to be competing you need to be 100% familiar with the bike you're using and how to handle it if you want to get 100% out of it. So training on some old heavy bike can be detrimental. If you want to build more muscle - you just go to a gym.

For casual riders I think the issue is basically if you have a bike that's easier to ride - then why not ride it? You'll probably ride it more than a bike that's harder to ride.

That said when I sold off all my bikes I kept the three speed with the basket because it was the most practical, even if it isn't the "fastest".

 

[JimMendel]

Jim I have ridden sections of the bikeway. I live pretty close to it. It being mostly level really helps. Just have to watch out for the little ones out with Mom and Dad. I try to ride on it during the week as it can get busy on the weekends.

Yep. I'm getting a bell for the bike sometime before next weekend.

 

[Bob Gray]

I've been running 26x2.35 Big Apples for most of my riding and I love 'em. I did 17 miles on those tires the day before yesterday and 12 miles on a Raleigh Carlton running 27x1 1/4's today. I don't think there was really all that much of a difference between the two so far as effort went. I think the biggest difference was just the geometry of the two bikes. Yeah, the skinny tires were a little faster, (twice the pressure after all), but not a whole lot and the mountain bike with those big old slicks on it isn't a slug by any means.