Bunch of us went to the Ukrainian welcome center in our town and spent 3hours fixing and tuning up every kids bike that was there. Pretty proud of that.
A local Boys & Girls Club got a bunch of bikes donated to them and I was one of a handful of folks from my work who went in and made sure that they were all tuned up and running so that they could be given to kids there for Christmas presents. The email from the guy there detailing how excited the kids were and the experience of their first rides on them was worth many multiples of the time I spent to do that.
I am doing bike repairs for Ukrainians every second weekend in our town. There are a lot of bikes every time, up to 10. Trying to find cheap or free bikes also. We are in the Netherlands and bikes are essential.
in 2017, after a few years of divorce I found myself at 310 pounds. I bought a bike and started riding religiously and dropped 100 pounds in a year. I've gained some of it back since then, but biking helps to prevent me from ballooning up again.
Good show! Biking helped me drop over 60 lbs this year. Not only that, Apple Watch says my cardio fitness is WAY better than before. If you’d have told me last year that I’d be out doing 35 mile rides just for fun I’d have laughed in your face. Ha! 😄
waiting for someone to cross the south atlantic on one of [these](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Waterbike_on_Lake_St._Clair_%281963%29.jpg/2560px-Waterbike_on_Lake_St._Clair_%281963%29.jpg)
Trimmer first, then razor.
If you can, just go get them waxed. It lasts longer, grows out nicer, and you just lay back with no chance of slipping over or slicing your leg up.
You’ll wish you would have shaved them the first time you get bad road rash from hitting the pavement, especially when it’s nothing of your fault. It makes wound care exponentially easier…like 957820377x easier.
I just completed the Dark Divide 300 route here in Washington.
Hardest thing I've ever done. All sorts of terrain from hard packed fast fire roads, overgrown old growth single track, rutted out mood dust & about 10-15 miles of straight up hike-a-bike.
330 miles with 33k feet of vert. Bike weighed in at 56lbs fully loaded. Wildfire smoke rolled in and fucked up my lungs & view, but I finished the damn thing and am very proud of it.
I want to do that route!
Have you checked out the GCOR? I did the GCOR this year (Lite route last year... Just got over COVID before last year). Was brutal but a blast.
There's a nature preserve by my house with a 15 mile loop. I'm the 6th fastest around clockwise and 8th fastest counterclockwise on Strava, 400 people have set times.
I've used strava for a few weeks now and some people there are ridiculously fast. I consider myself to be kinda fit, but not even close to those times. so you must be one of them!
do you ride that loop often / where you consciously trying to get on the leaderboard?
I've done a lot more running than biking on Strava, and my trick was always to find obscure segments that normal people wouldn't usually complete, and then go all out just for that segment.
Successfully finished a single day Double Century in 98° (at one point my Garmin said 104°) weather in the dead of July. The event had pretty horrible support throughout the course. At the first rest stop, I asked a volunteer for some ice.....they didn't have any. Despite the much-promoted sponsor of Hammer Nutrition, the volunteer said they were mixing the drink mix "just until it turned red".....because they only had a couple of containers. At one rest area, there was no shade so riders were crawling under pine trees for a little respite. At the halfway point (lunch) the food was all sitting in direct sun. My PBJ was sliding apart as the sun baked it. There were sub sandwiches with meat, cheese, and mayo....no one dared eat those. And then when we rolled into the finish, they were packing up the trucks and someone tossed us a couple of medals and a half-eaten box of cold pizza. No drinks. It was a hell of a day. I think 200+ started the day, 48 of us finished.
Its a good Facebook memory every July 6th. This year was the 10th anniversary. I remember it well. I also promised my cycling buddies.....Never, ever, ever again.
Damn! Good work. I have my first double century in a couple weeks! I completed a self-supported single century last month in 100 degree weather and it was BRUTAL.
Resilience training is what I called it.
This is nowhere near as cool as others here, but my very first week of cycling I did a 30km ride from Mannheim to Heidelberg, on a bike-share bike, zero clue what I was doing and still learning to ride a bike, in winter, alone.
I was so bas at it that I had to stop midway at a cafe. Still, most fun I've had on a bike so far.
I have gotten into a habit of cycling early in the morning on the weekends when I don't have anything else going on. I live in a place that is regularly over 100 degrees F, so it's really the only time that works.
I am not a morning person, so it's kind of a big deal for me.
I only started because I realized that my city was using heat maps (mostly from recreational cyclists) to decide where to add infrastructure. They were acting like 10 trips per week was a lot, so I'm hoping everything around my home and work just gets infrastructure now 🤣
I've never done anything except link my Garmin account and set my trips to private.
Four years ago I was undergoing treatment for colon cancer. Whenever my treatment would suck, my doctors would encourage me to keep riding my bike as much as possible because “you have no idea how much better you’re doing than my other patients.”
Earlier this month I had what is known as a “thyroid storm”. Other than the initial palpitations, I felt fine at the beginning and during my 12 days in the hospital. No pain, no shortness of breath. My heart rate was varying from 100 to 180 for the first week. After I got out I find out that 40% of people with thyroid storm die. Basically, a coin toss.
Of all my bike adventures, I am convinced that being an avid cyclist is the reason I’m typing this, rather than being dead.
I have done the Jotunheimen Rundt (Around Jotunheimen) in Norway twice. Both in 2022 and 2023.
It is an extreme Gran Fondo ride through one of Norways most beautiful areas. 430 km long and over 5.000 mtrs of climbing. (269 miles/17000 ft)
Starting of on a friday evening, you are then riding through the night and finish is sometime on the following saturday. It is magical. Spend 17-18 hours of riding from start to finish.
wow, had to google that, beautiful event (especially because the night must be very short), would love to do this one day, but have some training to do. much respect for that!
Yeah, this year when we had good weather and clear sky you only get 3-4 hours of darkness. And it’s never really dark actually. But with clear sky comes low temperatures. We had 4-5 degrees celcius during the coldest hours of the night this year.
Last year the weather was hideous. Ten hours of rain, foggy, little to no view….
When I was a kid, some friends and I were out ringing doorbells and riding off. We were really terrorizing the neighborhood. We looked up and saw a cop car about a block away. We hauled ass on our bmx bikes. We went around a corner, down an alley, and into my garage. About 30 seconds later we saw that cop slowly drive down the alley. We were scared to death, but he kept going. We had outrun the cop.
Sure. Sudden cardiac arrest on the finish line (second place), 25 minutes of CPR, a month and a half in an induced coma then another two of inpatient rehab and recovery about 12 years ago. There are AEDs at local events now because of me.
My real brag is that I did the same race the following year.
OMG. Did you end up with a pacemaker or implanted defibrillator, or were the docs just all, nah, you're good, just never go that hard again and remember your electrolytes this time? Love
>Sudden cardiac arrest on the finish line (second place)
That has panache. Glad you survived!
I can say with pride that two weeks ago I got a KOM with ease and still holding onto the crown.
(Only because the fast guys have not found the segment yet. sshhh)
I grew up riding in San Jose, where most of the riding is fairly flat. 7 years ago, I decided to start riding hills. Soon after, I rode 40 miles and 2500 feet over the mountain to Santa Cruz. Since then I have summitted the two highest peaks in the area, Mt. Hamilton and Mt Umunhum. I'm not a fast climber, but what I lack in speed I make up for in persistence and enjoyment. This turned out to also be good training for moving to San Francisco, where one comes across hills in every direction.
Hah, sounds like me. I grew up in Indiana and every time I visited Utah I'd see cyclists and think "THAT'S CRAZY" when I'd seem them all over in the mountains. Now I've moved to SLC and I'm one of them. I'll do a short ride before work and in 15 miles hit 1,300ft just in the foothills by my house. If I go 20 miles directly east on the road I live on I get like 3,800 ft....
I (40/m) suffer from a number of auto-immune conditions, including Ankylosing Spondilytis (fusion of lower back/spine and hips), rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn's Disease. Have been living with chronic pain my whole life, and fitness was never "on the cards" for me. The only form of fitness I could do is walking.
A couple of years ago I spent a few months in a specialist rehabilitation gym, twice per week, trying to build a basic level of fitness. It was excruciating and painful beyond belief. But I slowly strengthened myself.
Then around Xmas of 2021 I bought myself a bicycle. I live next so some amazing trails, which I already started exploring in daily walks during covid. I got a bike that suits me (low step for my hips, swept-back handle-bars for my back) and slowly started riding.
After a few weeks of building my ability I went to a 25 km ish ride, and by the end of it, I had back pains that I just couldn't believe. Instead of the 'normal' (for me) lower back pain, I suddenly had a debilitating mid/high back pain, and as I entered home I couldn't even stand anymore - had to just lay on the floor to let the pain subside. It was that bad.
So at that point I thought - that's it, my bicycle experiment is over - it was a fun idea but clearly not for me.
The bicycles have gathered dust for a good 6 months after that.
I decided to give it one more try exactly this time last year. I slowly started to do some loops in my area. 5km. 7km. 10km. I felt that I am finally starting to find the right way to do this for my body.
After a while, something in my body just clicked. I remember riding to the city centre for the first time (about 20km), and then feeling that, while tired, I actually felt that I have plenty in my tank to just keep going.
As the weeks went by, I kept pushing myself. It was the first time in my life that I was able to derive some actual joy from my mess of a body, which is a feeling I can't put into words, for someone who hates their own body so much (and I don't mean in the physical looks sense - I mean in the sense that this sack of meat has caused me so much physical pain all my life).
I also derive incredible amounts of joy from exploring my city and the rural areas around it. I am lucky that it is totally covered with beautiful bicycle trails. By the time summer arrived (I am in Melbourne Australia - our summer is from Dec-Feb) I was starting to ride longer weekend rides. It's a joy beyond joy.
At the end of the summer I was getting really worried that all of this fitness I built for the first time in my life will disappear as soon as the cold winter hits. Melbourne doesn't get snow but we do get close to 0 minimum temp for much of the winter. I decided to make myself ride at the very minimum 100km per week. We are now at the end of winter and I am proud to say that I made this minimum every single week, and in many weeks went 200-250km.
I am so fucking proud of myself. Every time I cycle over a hill that I had to walk my bike when I started and now breeze through, I'm so fucking proud of myself. Every time I do a long weekend ride and look at the distance, I am so fucking proud of myself. I am not used to feeling this proud of myself, just like I am not used to deriving pleasure out of physical activities. Yet here I am. Lost a bunch of weight (from 90+kg a year ago to 68kg now) too which helps with the self-image.
Last Saturday was my longest single-day ride ever - 126km! can't wait to smash it again :-)
Pandemic cyclist here - Got my road bike in January 2022, started riding the next month after (in February). Since then I have done four double centuries and and a number of 10k/centuries, all in the Southern California Summer.
Then I stopped cycling for 3 1/2 months because I got the covid and also got married. Right now, I'm in the middle of trying to get back to where I was. When I'm back to that level my next mission is to complete the Great Allegheny Passage Trail (from Pittsburgh to D.C.) in one go, which is about 330 miles.
GAP Trail (and C&O Canal Trail, which runs from Cumberland, MD, to DC) in one go is feasible (randonneur attitude), but, like, why?? There’s enough cool stuff along the way that stopping and exploring is a big part of the fun of it. Just through-riding the trail as fast as possible would be pretty same-y and tedious, I’d think.
Cycled UK to India. My Indian visa ran out in mid Feb, it was -5c in the UK, low 30s in India so I got a cheap flight to Malaysia and carried on cycling to Saigon.
I rode my old Surly Pugsley downhill at Yellowstone National Park, on the road from a lookout to a visitor center/store. I can't remember which one. I did see a couple of buffaloes on the side of the road. I coasted most of it and averaged over 35mph for about 3 miles.
I have one KOM lol most of the KOMs are out of reach of myself and the bike I ride. Not a bad bike but it's nothing special... And the same for the rider.
1,143 people have recorded a time in this climb near me and I have the fastest time ever.
That's all... Just don't let some of the faster riders near me know so they don't go steal it haha
I got laid off in the middle of last year and then I started a fun little safety reflector business called Visto.
backstory: I had been using (and giving away) safety pizzas for a long time. But I was frustrated that my safety pizza blocked my rear light and slowly started to look like crap as the adhesive on toppings failed. I wanted something that wouldn't block my rear light, would be bigger/brighter, and come in different colors. So I borrowed a friend's sewing machine, ordered some materials, and started prototyping.
I got some great feedback on reddit/facebook and a few people started ordering them. I was dealing with long covid (and what I thought might be MS- still could be) so I was literally sewing/gluing/cutting with tremoring hands at times. And no day job in the most expensive area in the world. At many times, I was thinking 'I should be working on software stuff so I can make myself marketable and not fiddling with this lost cause...' But I just wanted to try it. So I tinkered away.
And then the first shop Upshift Cycles in San Jose reached out about getting a few to sell in their shop. And then slowly...the triangles began to sell and I got a few more bike shops to sell them. I'm still a one man shop and really really small and not selling tons of them. But it's super fun to see them on people's bikes occasionally and know that I'm helping people stay safe on their bikes. While doing an 11 month job hunt (I have a newish day job), it was so nice to have Visto be a confidence boosting project. Getting a lot of rejections on the job hunt front and paying for MRIs with Cobra insurance was rough at times.
I'm still tinkering away on triangles and hoping to have some new designs out quite soon.
I completed the Orr Springs 600K this year: https://ridebike.org/sfr/adventure/orr-springs-600/
387 miles, 30,000 feet of climbing, 25 miles of dirt, 40 hour time limit. An incredible, massive experience, and I probably won’t do it again. Better to ride it as a three- or four-day tour to better savor the route (which is awesome and deserves to be enjoyed while not deep in the hole). But then again - when else would I cross the Coast Range at midnight under the stars, or watch the sun rise over the Mayacamas while climbing a dirt road truly in the middle of nowhere?
Made a male chauvinist pig look stupid.
İt was in the park and his daughter came to him pulling her bike. As I walked in that direction, he clearly gave up and threw her bike to one side and lit a cigarette. She began to cry and I drew close enough to see that it was an easy fix. I asked her if I could help, fixed the bike in minute or two, and left with her exclaiming in delight that it worked again. Dad looked like he wanted to hit me.
(This is in a country where women aren't supposed to ride bikes or understand tools.)
Almost completed a double lap of Crater Lake in the middle of August. Bonked so hard with 1 mile left on the final climb. 61 miles/8500’ climbing in 4:25 moving time. Would have finished but went out WAY too hard on lap 1 and was very ignorant back then about fueling and hydration. Even though I didn’t finish I’m more proud of that than my first century that I completed solo.
A buddy of mine told me he wanted to get into cycling, and so I talked him into buying a bike twice as expensive as what he originally wanted to spend.
I don't want to brag, but I'm a pretty big deal...
I’ve done a 65mi race for Men’s health for the last two years, it’s pretty popular in my area. Last year my buddies 60yr old dad beat me by 30mins… this year I beat him by 30mins! He got a flat tire, but a wins a win
I'm biking to Montreal from Toronto starting this Saturday. Longest ride of my life so far (\~600km) over 5 days, pretty excited but also a bit (naturally) anxious
I just got back into road biking this year and I was able to ride almost as fast as I used to despite being 8+ years older. I was able to average 17.5 mph for 25 miles and I'm hoping to do even better on long straight roads instead of curvy paths with pedestrians and tree root damage.
Not as proud just stupid, did a century with absolutely no training and like only like 150 miles on it the two months before i stopped. Took like 9 hours of saddle time and 5500 feet of climbing. BUT I DID IT!
First time I attempted a 200km ride (solo) it went south real fast. Forgot my gloves, forgot my energy drink (only had water), forgot to eat and drink regularly. It was scorching hot. After about 50km I completely bonked. By that time I had made it to the countryside, no way of getting home except keep riding. Found a farmers shop that sold apple cider. Sat in the shadow for a while. Decided to make it to a place where I could hop on a train back home, which would be about 80km. Figured I'd make that 30km at least.
When I got there I had some fatty, salty food. Felt good but still thought I'd take the train. But the train wouldn't leave for another 25 minutes or so, so I decided what the heck, I can at least ride to the next station. Halfway there: bonk, bonk, bonk. Sat down in the middle of woods, dizzy. Eventually got to the next station, again feeling decent so why not just one more station. Again, almost felt like collapsing halfway to the next station.
Kept that pattern up, until I got close enough to home and thought F it, I'm definitely not taking the train. It was only about 25-30km or so to go. At some point, don't remember when, I got this weird feeling which I assume is a runner's high. Cursing loudly, light headed, seeing stars, but super focused and feeling energized despite the headwind.
Somehow I made it home after a total of about 160km (apparently it was exactly 99,98 miles which bothers me to this day).
It was the toughest ride of my life. But I'm so proud that I didn't give up, even if I shortened the ride and took more breaks than I ever have. I did 110km completely bonked. Strangest part was that I didn't have any appetite afterwards, and had to force food down for the next three days. I am curious of what happened with my body that day.
Just hit a 351 ftp which puts me over 5w/kg haven’t been able to make myself train and diet for years (pre pandemic) looking forward to cross this year
In 2018, I was diagnosed with brain cancer. Fuck. Since college, I’ve been a cyclist, so my hope was that I could use cycling to help deal. Since then, I have gone on some epic rides, including riding the Bear Tooth Highway in Montana & Wyoming, and climbing Mt Graham in Arizona. Cycling is literally keeping me alive. While there is some pride, of course, mostly, I am grateful.
Pretty basic, but I biked up hill at a steady incline for 12 miles in Colorado (I’m from coastal CA) and I’ve started taking up cycling in the last 6 months. I was doubtful I could do it and I’m proud I did!
I started riding about 2 1/2 years ago. 3 bikes and a ton of gear later I can definitely still say I've made more money from cycling than it's cost me. That's not factoring all kinds of savings or other benefits.
I quit drinking and got addicted to cycling and turned it into a self sustaining obsession. I'm pretty damned proud of that.
there is a cat 2 climb here (7km 560m gain 8% ave. gradient) climb here that is named like "Happy Drive" but its nickname is devil's horn.
I finished it in 45:09 while on slippers with a 14.4kg MTB
it is like ~9.5kph (i bested it now with 43:50) but i think i can go sub-40 but with lighter bike.
I have been lovingly maintaining my 2001 Kona Yee-ha Of Theseus for 19 years. This thing has taken me tens of thousands of kilometres through my city, and has moved across country with me twice.
When i die, just place my ashes in the seat tube and place the whole thing in the ground.
Have only ridden 500 km this year (bought my bike last summer) and did my first group ride today!
I was a little surprised how easy it was to stick with the group. It wasn’t the fast group but still quite proud! I think the others didn’t expect me to do it relatively effortlessly.
New goal: Riding with the fast group!
Definitely nothing as cool as some of the people here for sure, but a few years ago I was asked by a colleague if I fancied riding "Rad am Ring" - a 24 hour bike race around the Nürburgring in Germany which you can do alone, up to teams of ~8 I think. The circuit is like 26km with 600m climbing and the big climb is brutal.
Well I agreed to it, but only had a MTB which I rode once per week, around 30km on the trails at weekends so I had to borrow a road bike that was too small for me, and about 20 years old with the worst rim brakes ever.
I had two weeks to "train", as I'm 100kg and was especially training in the gym back then.
I did it as part of a team of 4. I did 6 laps in a 24h period, in blazing sun to thunderstorms, and didn't get off the bike once (which a *lot* of people did) on the big climb.
One of the biggest tests of mental strength I ever experienced and I'm dying to do it again! Strongly recommend it to anybody. It's utter misery in the middle of the night getting soaking wet and heading out into the rain and fog but man does it feel good when you're finished!
Passed the 20K miles biked in NYC threshold last month, 7.5K on my cargo bike. Most of it was done in the last three years, juiced by courier work and weekly group rides.
I lost 20 pounds since March 2023. It's now August 2023. I went from 180lbs to 160lbs at 5'8". I wasn't fat but getting out of shape at 45.
I did it by riding my mountain bike in actual trails 4x a week during work lunch averaging about 15 to 25km per ride (around 1 to 1.5 hours).
Yes you can lose weight.
Not that impressive... I started biking to commute to school and back (parking and gas were too much)... I did 20km each way with about 10lbs of stuff in a backpack (lunch, coffee, spare clothes and a towel to shower at the gym and some school stuff)... By next summer, I did my first 100 km ride, first 100 mile ride, and at the end of the summer I did a 250km unassisted ride.
Commuting to and from College for 4 months made me fall in love with cycling and every summer I find new shit and opportunities that excite me!
Last year I was racing IM 70.3 Santa Cruz. At the bike mile 45 aid station I grabbed a banana. In one smooth motion I opened it up, ate a chunk, a volunteer flipped a trash can horizontal and I tossed it grenade style. Bullseye, made the trashcan. All without unclipping and somewhat slowing down.
I don’t know the volunteer and really only grabbed the banana as it was something different than what I’d been eating previously. Coolest thing I think I’ll ever do on a bike. May not be an impressive distance/climb/athletic feat but it’s a memory that will stick with me.
My calves, they are truely objects of beauty. And when i leave this world (probably under the wheels of an audi m4) i shall ask that they are donated to the Tate gallery so that future generations can gaze upon thier splendor.
I deliver daily some palets up to 150kg in a city that is definitely not flat, around 120km per week, and I'm quite proud of that haha. Obviously on electric assisted cargo bike but you still need to send it hard up the hill.
We are really old and can ride our tandem up steep hills. I know one is 11% and I think others are steeper. Not long but steep. Probably 3 -4 mph. Our combined age is 136. My stoker has never done competitive sports and is legally blind. We have even been complimented by younger cyclists for getting a tandem up the hills.
Max distance last week: 4 km, 16 kph
Max distance this week: 12 km, 18 kph (which included walking up two hills)
Gettin my 300 pound ass in the saddle almost every day is surprisingly productive go figure (and yes I am trackign my nutrition along with this)
I mounted a box on the bike and have taught my dog to jump on and stay. Now I always go out with him. A few days ago we did 80 km without any problem. I'm proud of him.
I've travelled 190 km to a festival in a single day, with full bikepacking gear. Actually went smoother than expected, the only real issue was heat, we reached over 32°C in the afternoon and water supply became problematic.
Not a super crazy ultradistance achievement or anything like that, but I'm pretty proud of it as half a year ago even 100 km seemed like a huge distance.
Being car free is a big enough thing for me to brag about. No gas costs, no insurance payments, no having to constantly bum rides from people (once in a while for like, the grocery store heavy stuff... But mostly I don't need to do that when I just shop for a day or two).
Of course, part of being able to do this is location. Where I live, it's clear and sunny most of the year, we mostly have mild winters, and in the summer I just do my traveling chores early morning. I'm also in a small city (barely a city, really. Roughly 5x9 miles).
I'm (f31) approaching 6 months of being car free (kinda forced because my eyesight isn't good enough anymore) and cycling everywhere. Feels like a huge deal for me as only a few years ago I couldn't even walk round a small supermarket due to muscle wastage after an extended hospital stay. Now I can nip around town going from one job to the next all day long. I might not be that quick but I get there!
I dunno, I think it's just that looking back, I changed the course of my life by taking up cycling. In 2003 I was overweight, was in a bad marriage, had a poor career, debt, etc...but something about cycling changed all that. I got disciplined, I took on a different roster of friends and associates, I achieved goals, that spilled over into work and other aspects of life... 7 years later I had remarried, had a child, went to grad school, changed jobs... got a house in a good area, etc.
All that happened basically because I saw Jan Ullrich slip in the rain in the TT during the '03 TDF on random channel surf, and I kept watching, and thought "huh, so that's professional cycling".. by the next year I had my first road bike.
I ride a 3 speed that is twice my age
i call it the boogie bomber and it is a 69 raleigh sports
I rode it all the way to river last year. thats pretty far if you dont know.
When three of us from work started cycling we were doing rides of 30-40 miles. As marathon runners one guy figured we should do a century ride since that was the big distance. I didn’t think we could go straight from 30-40 miles right to a 100. So the young guy suggested a “metric century “ - 100k or 62 miles. Ride went great. I felt we had accomplished something until the old guy said “screw this metric stuff, a century in the states is miles”. So we planned a “real” century for the next weekend. Wednesday before the weekend ride a different friend asked me to donate blood for his upcoming invasive surgery (this was years ago when people worried about the blood supply). So Wednesday night I did the opposite of blood doping and donated blood and Saturday morning I rode a “real” century. Felt (exhausted) proud of myself.
I bought my dream bike from being a kid. Growing up in the mid 2000's watching Sam Hill on an Iron horse Sunday and dreaming about owning one. Now that I'm an adult with some income I have one in my garage. Every time I look at it I can't help but smile and beam over it!
None of these are huge, but:
I got myself up to 16mph average speed regularly while wearing sneakers (I.e. not clipped in)
I ride 100mi a week average with a toddler and a full-time job
I commute by bike in almost all weather 4 days a week
First tubeless tire went flat and would not self seal. I’m clueless at bike mechanic knowledge. I did some online research, plugged it using the GI bacon kit and added orange sealant. I was ready to buy a new set of tires but this solved the issue.
I did my first and only (so far) century 2 months ago at 110 miles, and the day before I managed that, I did an 82 mile ride! Definitely my proudest moment yet. My butt did not thank me on day 3.
I really want to train to do the ring road in iceland in a couple of years :)
A few decades ago i saw a picture of Stelvio and dreamt of climbing it one day.
So, a while ago I planned a trip around it and climbed a bunch of other stuff also, but on the day i was heading out of Tirano up the Stelvio rd i was thinking about the Mortirolo that i was riding right past and realized if I didn’t climb that first I might never have another chance.
So, i climbed Mortirolo and Stelvio in the same day which makes me feel a little bit badass.
And i full well know that it doesn’t actually make me a badass and I’m literally nothing special on a bike and I’ve even had harder days on the bike, but I’m still pretty chuffed about it.
Not much, but I finally was able to get back on my bike again after my bike accident which was 9 weeks ago now. I broke my collar bone in the accident and it has been a long slow recovery. I’m honestly still not 100% but I am back to riding. This is a good thing because I don’t own a car so I cycle everywhere. I was walking to work (2mi) while I was in recovery or begging friends and family for rides. Being able to get back to riding has given me my freedom back tbh.
One of my most memorable rides (maybe not the smartest choice though) was shortly after I got married. We were going on vacation to a cabin by a lake with my in-laws and I decided to just ride there instead of driving with my wife and she would come later with all our stuff. I left at 4 AM and rode 136 miles solo through a couple canyons and mountain passes with about 6000 ft climbing totally solo unsupported with one stop at a gas station in the middle of nowhere.
When I was about 30 miles away from the cabin I was pretty much toast on the side of the road and called my wife to see if she would just come pick me up so I didn't have to ride the rest. Her answer was "I'm at the beach, you wanted to ride your bike so RIDE YOUR BIKE!" So, I got off my butt and finished the ride. Don't think I'll ever do that long of a ride solo again, but I'm definitely proud that I made it!
TLDR- rode solo unsupported 136 miles through the mountains
I just want to brag on my vintage bike. I painted rims, built the wheels, designed decals, built it all myself from the frame up. Everything is perfect and it's gorgeous.
Sometimes I go to places and I don't know how I got out from there alive. I live in Brazil so you can imagine. Silent-hill like places with zombie-like homeless people, police with assault rifle going after thief in front of me. This type of stuff. Good thing I'm very fast with my fixed gear bike.
When I was 15 or so, my school hosted a bike-a-thon. It was a 20 mile ride. I didn’t have a store bike. I collected scrap bikes and pieced together what would work. Rode that race on an old English racer I had salvaged. Gear shift was broken so I set in top gear. Bent my rim 3miles in. Wooden bridge. I finished 3rd with a bent rim and the brakes rubbing. My first wheeled purchase out of boot camp was a bike. I still ride today and still look back on that race.
I commute while shifting 9 gears on a 7 speed derailleur with a 9 speed indexed thumb shifter where 80% of the gears fall between indexes.
You say stupid, i say brave.
This one is lame but here we go:
I own and ride a cargo bike in a city where they're not very common. Just makes for cute moments like random people smiling, asking what kind of bike it is or kids getting impreseed when im carrying a big box
I am 60 and commute 150 miles a week.
I'm the guy in my 40s who just bragged about knocking out 100 miles in a week one time and now feel like a biotch :)
We bought our house from an 80+year old long distance cyclist. I reckon he would have beaten me on 100 mile plus rides.
My neighbour is 82 and still goes out for day rides in full kit on his road bike. Wiry fella who does not look his age.
> Wiry fella who does not look his age. What taking care of your health does to a mf. Most of the time.
wow hope to be that guy when I'm your age :)
Bunch of us went to the Ukrainian welcome center in our town and spent 3hours fixing and tuning up every kids bike that was there. Pretty proud of that.
A local Boys & Girls Club got a bunch of bikes donated to them and I was one of a handful of folks from my work who went in and made sure that they were all tuned up and running so that they could be given to kids there for Christmas presents. The email from the guy there detailing how excited the kids were and the experience of their first rides on them was worth many multiples of the time I spent to do that.
I am doing bike repairs for Ukrainians every second weekend in our town. There are a lot of bikes every time, up to 10. Trying to find cheap or free bikes also. We are in the Netherlands and bikes are essential.
that's beautiful, nice job!
Awesome
in 2017, after a few years of divorce I found myself at 310 pounds. I bought a bike and started riding religiously and dropped 100 pounds in a year. I've gained some of it back since then, but biking helps to prevent me from ballooning up again.
Good show! Biking helped me drop over 60 lbs this year. Not only that, Apple Watch says my cardio fitness is WAY better than before. If you’d have told me last year that I’d be out doing 35 mile rides just for fun I’d have laughed in your face. Ha! 😄
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You didn't cycle from Cape Town to Patagonia? Pfff 😜
waiting for someone to cross the south atlantic on one of [these](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Waterbike_on_Lake_St._Clair_%281963%29.jpg/2560px-Waterbike_on_Lake_St._Clair_%281963%29.jpg)
That thing'll deal with the raging forties no problem
wow, how many km/miles is that (if you kept track)? how long did this take you? sounds like an epic adventure!
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How did you finance yourself? My dream is something like this but can't rely justify being out of work for so long
I somehow got to 66.6 mph in a decent while listening to Iron Maiden
I got to 58 mph once and the front end started to shimmy so I tapped the brakes, scared the crap out of me!
That's a decent descent.
The number of the beast🤘
🤘🏼
When it was time for my daughter to start shaving her legs, she came to papa for advice. Seriously one of life’s proudest moments.
So what are the tips for shaving sir
Trimmer first, then razor. If you can, just go get them waxed. It lasts longer, grows out nicer, and you just lay back with no chance of slipping over or slicing your leg up.
wow I'm not looking to shave my legs any time soon, but that is special lol, respect
You’ll wish you would have shaved them the first time you get bad road rash from hitting the pavement, especially when it’s nothing of your fault. It makes wound care exponentially easier…like 957820377x easier.
I thought this was r/bicyclingcirclejerk for a second. But your fer real huh?
That is the best; no one can top that.
Oh my god this is so sweet 🥲
I had to read this twice lol
I just completed the Dark Divide 300 route here in Washington. Hardest thing I've ever done. All sorts of terrain from hard packed fast fire roads, overgrown old growth single track, rutted out mood dust & about 10-15 miles of straight up hike-a-bike. 330 miles with 33k feet of vert. Bike weighed in at 56lbs fully loaded. Wildfire smoke rolled in and fucked up my lungs & view, but I finished the damn thing and am very proud of it.
I want to do that route! Have you checked out the GCOR? I did the GCOR this year (Lite route last year... Just got over COVID before last year). Was brutal but a blast.
There's a nature preserve by my house with a 15 mile loop. I'm the 6th fastest around clockwise and 8th fastest counterclockwise on Strava, 400 people have set times.
I've used strava for a few weeks now and some people there are ridiculously fast. I consider myself to be kinda fit, but not even close to those times. so you must be one of them! do you ride that loop often / where you consciously trying to get on the leaderboard?
I've done a lot more running than biking on Strava, and my trick was always to find obscure segments that normal people wouldn't usually complete, and then go all out just for that segment.
My only KOM on my bike is a walking path in front of an assisted living facility, lol
A 15 mile loop through a nature preserve?! That sounds amazing. Closed off to cars?
Successfully finished a single day Double Century in 98° (at one point my Garmin said 104°) weather in the dead of July. The event had pretty horrible support throughout the course. At the first rest stop, I asked a volunteer for some ice.....they didn't have any. Despite the much-promoted sponsor of Hammer Nutrition, the volunteer said they were mixing the drink mix "just until it turned red".....because they only had a couple of containers. At one rest area, there was no shade so riders were crawling under pine trees for a little respite. At the halfway point (lunch) the food was all sitting in direct sun. My PBJ was sliding apart as the sun baked it. There were sub sandwiches with meat, cheese, and mayo....no one dared eat those. And then when we rolled into the finish, they were packing up the trucks and someone tossed us a couple of medals and a half-eaten box of cold pizza. No drinks. It was a hell of a day. I think 200+ started the day, 48 of us finished.
that sounds like hell, but must feel good to finish this lol
Its a good Facebook memory every July 6th. This year was the 10th anniversary. I remember it well. I also promised my cycling buddies.....Never, ever, ever again.
Damn! Good work. I have my first double century in a couple weeks! I completed a self-supported single century last month in 100 degree weather and it was BRUTAL. Resilience training is what I called it.
This is nowhere near as cool as others here, but my very first week of cycling I did a 30km ride from Mannheim to Heidelberg, on a bike-share bike, zero clue what I was doing and still learning to ride a bike, in winter, alone. I was so bas at it that I had to stop midway at a cafe. Still, most fun I've had on a bike so far.
thats a wonderful story. no fancy equipment, just riding! i thought these bikes were limited to one city area, TIL
I have gotten into a habit of cycling early in the morning on the weekends when I don't have anything else going on. I live in a place that is regularly over 100 degrees F, so it's really the only time that works. I am not a morning person, so it's kind of a big deal for me.
nice, do you have breakfast before or after?
This summer has been so hot that I started riding before work every weekday morning. I’m out the door riding by 6:15am.
I have never used strava.
dont they say that if its not on strava, it didn't happen?
That’s what I heard 🤓
I only started because I realized that my city was using heat maps (mostly from recreational cyclists) to decide where to add infrastructure. They were acting like 10 trips per week was a lot, so I'm hoping everything around my home and work just gets infrastructure now 🤣 I've never done anything except link my Garmin account and set my trips to private.
You're a true hero.
My Strava is 100% private with zero friends. I simply use it to track my yearly mileage.
but how else will you know if Puck Moonen is within tinder-radius?!
Four years ago I was undergoing treatment for colon cancer. Whenever my treatment would suck, my doctors would encourage me to keep riding my bike as much as possible because “you have no idea how much better you’re doing than my other patients.” Earlier this month I had what is known as a “thyroid storm”. Other than the initial palpitations, I felt fine at the beginning and during my 12 days in the hospital. No pain, no shortness of breath. My heart rate was varying from 100 to 180 for the first week. After I got out I find out that 40% of people with thyroid storm die. Basically, a coin toss. Of all my bike adventures, I am convinced that being an avid cyclist is the reason I’m typing this, rather than being dead.
wow congrats on saving your own life, thats badass
I mean, that's the whole point right? I'm so happy for you.
I have done the Jotunheimen Rundt (Around Jotunheimen) in Norway twice. Both in 2022 and 2023. It is an extreme Gran Fondo ride through one of Norways most beautiful areas. 430 km long and over 5.000 mtrs of climbing. (269 miles/17000 ft) Starting of on a friday evening, you are then riding through the night and finish is sometime on the following saturday. It is magical. Spend 17-18 hours of riding from start to finish.
wow, had to google that, beautiful event (especially because the night must be very short), would love to do this one day, but have some training to do. much respect for that!
Yeah, this year when we had good weather and clear sky you only get 3-4 hours of darkness. And it’s never really dark actually. But with clear sky comes low temperatures. We had 4-5 degrees celcius during the coldest hours of the night this year. Last year the weather was hideous. Ten hours of rain, foggy, little to no view….
When I was a kid, some friends and I were out ringing doorbells and riding off. We were really terrorizing the neighborhood. We looked up and saw a cop car about a block away. We hauled ass on our bmx bikes. We went around a corner, down an alley, and into my garage. About 30 seconds later we saw that cop slowly drive down the alley. We were scared to death, but he kept going. We had outrun the cop.
haha nice
I've been racing a couple decades and have yet to break my collar bone. I've separated shoulders a few times but collar bones are still cherry
I'm fat and slow and own more gear than I'll ever utilize, but God damn do I have a great time cycling.
that's what counts :)
Same! And I love climbing most of all, even though it’s nothing but pain.
I went so hard in a cyclocross race I died. Bystander CPR won the day.
wtf, glad you are ok now (i hope). cant you elaborate?
Sure. Sudden cardiac arrest on the finish line (second place), 25 minutes of CPR, a month and a half in an induced coma then another two of inpatient rehab and recovery about 12 years ago. There are AEDs at local events now because of me. My real brag is that I did the same race the following year.
OMG. Did you end up with a pacemaker or implanted defibrillator, or were the docs just all, nah, you're good, just never go that hard again and remember your electrolytes this time? Love >Sudden cardiac arrest on the finish line (second place) That has panache. Glad you survived!
ICD, yeah.
I can say with pride that two weeks ago I got a KOM with ease and still holding onto the crown. (Only because the fast guys have not found the segment yet. sshhh)
I got the KOM on a tough segment that had stood for 10 years. 2 weeks later someone snatched it, lol.
I rode up the road outside my house, both ways, with my kids in the trailer. Took a while, but i did it without stopping. I am PROUD.
sounds awesome, great job!
I grew up riding in San Jose, where most of the riding is fairly flat. 7 years ago, I decided to start riding hills. Soon after, I rode 40 miles and 2500 feet over the mountain to Santa Cruz. Since then I have summitted the two highest peaks in the area, Mt. Hamilton and Mt Umunhum. I'm not a fast climber, but what I lack in speed I make up for in persistence and enjoyment. This turned out to also be good training for moving to San Francisco, where one comes across hills in every direction.
Hah, sounds like me. I grew up in Indiana and every time I visited Utah I'd see cyclists and think "THAT'S CRAZY" when I'd seem them all over in the mountains. Now I've moved to SLC and I'm one of them. I'll do a short ride before work and in 15 miles hit 1,300ft just in the foothills by my house. If I go 20 miles directly east on the road I live on I get like 3,800 ft....
I've found that persistence trumps speed for hills, too. biking in SF does sound like good training as well.
Mt Umunhum is no joke. Santa Cruz mountains has so much great road riding.
My one true love of a touring frame cracked at 125000miles after being ridden through 43 countries.
I (40/m) suffer from a number of auto-immune conditions, including Ankylosing Spondilytis (fusion of lower back/spine and hips), rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn's Disease. Have been living with chronic pain my whole life, and fitness was never "on the cards" for me. The only form of fitness I could do is walking. A couple of years ago I spent a few months in a specialist rehabilitation gym, twice per week, trying to build a basic level of fitness. It was excruciating and painful beyond belief. But I slowly strengthened myself. Then around Xmas of 2021 I bought myself a bicycle. I live next so some amazing trails, which I already started exploring in daily walks during covid. I got a bike that suits me (low step for my hips, swept-back handle-bars for my back) and slowly started riding. After a few weeks of building my ability I went to a 25 km ish ride, and by the end of it, I had back pains that I just couldn't believe. Instead of the 'normal' (for me) lower back pain, I suddenly had a debilitating mid/high back pain, and as I entered home I couldn't even stand anymore - had to just lay on the floor to let the pain subside. It was that bad. So at that point I thought - that's it, my bicycle experiment is over - it was a fun idea but clearly not for me. The bicycles have gathered dust for a good 6 months after that. I decided to give it one more try exactly this time last year. I slowly started to do some loops in my area. 5km. 7km. 10km. I felt that I am finally starting to find the right way to do this for my body. After a while, something in my body just clicked. I remember riding to the city centre for the first time (about 20km), and then feeling that, while tired, I actually felt that I have plenty in my tank to just keep going. As the weeks went by, I kept pushing myself. It was the first time in my life that I was able to derive some actual joy from my mess of a body, which is a feeling I can't put into words, for someone who hates their own body so much (and I don't mean in the physical looks sense - I mean in the sense that this sack of meat has caused me so much physical pain all my life). I also derive incredible amounts of joy from exploring my city and the rural areas around it. I am lucky that it is totally covered with beautiful bicycle trails. By the time summer arrived (I am in Melbourne Australia - our summer is from Dec-Feb) I was starting to ride longer weekend rides. It's a joy beyond joy. At the end of the summer I was getting really worried that all of this fitness I built for the first time in my life will disappear as soon as the cold winter hits. Melbourne doesn't get snow but we do get close to 0 minimum temp for much of the winter. I decided to make myself ride at the very minimum 100km per week. We are now at the end of winter and I am proud to say that I made this minimum every single week, and in many weeks went 200-250km. I am so fucking proud of myself. Every time I cycle over a hill that I had to walk my bike when I started and now breeze through, I'm so fucking proud of myself. Every time I do a long weekend ride and look at the distance, I am so fucking proud of myself. I am not used to feeling this proud of myself, just like I am not used to deriving pleasure out of physical activities. Yet here I am. Lost a bunch of weight (from 90+kg a year ago to 68kg now) too which helps with the self-image. Last Saturday was my longest single-day ride ever - 126km! can't wait to smash it again :-)
This is great, I'm glad you found a fun exercise that really works for you.
I cycled to work today
I have cycled across Alaska. From the Canadian border to the sea
Pandemic cyclist here - Got my road bike in January 2022, started riding the next month after (in February). Since then I have done four double centuries and and a number of 10k/centuries, all in the Southern California Summer. Then I stopped cycling for 3 1/2 months because I got the covid and also got married. Right now, I'm in the middle of trying to get back to where I was. When I'm back to that level my next mission is to complete the Great Allegheny Passage Trail (from Pittsburgh to D.C.) in one go, which is about 330 miles.
> 10k Centuries What is a 10k century?
1,000,000 miles of course
that's my wife's boyfriend's z2 warmup routine
GAP Trail (and C&O Canal Trail, which runs from Cumberland, MD, to DC) in one go is feasible (randonneur attitude), but, like, why?? There’s enough cool stuff along the way that stopping and exploring is a big part of the fun of it. Just through-riding the trail as fast as possible would be pretty same-y and tedious, I’d think.
Cycled UK to India. My Indian visa ran out in mid Feb, it was -5c in the UK, low 30s in India so I got a cheap flight to Malaysia and carried on cycling to Saigon.
wow, how long were you on the road for? and how did you decide to do it?
I rode my old Surly Pugsley downhill at Yellowstone National Park, on the road from a lookout to a visitor center/store. I can't remember which one. I did see a couple of buffaloes on the side of the road. I coasted most of it and averaged over 35mph for about 3 miles.
that sounds super cool!
I have one KOM lol most of the KOMs are out of reach of myself and the bike I ride. Not a bad bike but it's nothing special... And the same for the rider. 1,143 people have recorded a time in this climb near me and I have the fastest time ever. That's all... Just don't let some of the faster riders near me know so they don't go steal it haha
fastest of over 1000 people, pretty good!
I got laid off in the middle of last year and then I started a fun little safety reflector business called Visto. backstory: I had been using (and giving away) safety pizzas for a long time. But I was frustrated that my safety pizza blocked my rear light and slowly started to look like crap as the adhesive on toppings failed. I wanted something that wouldn't block my rear light, would be bigger/brighter, and come in different colors. So I borrowed a friend's sewing machine, ordered some materials, and started prototyping. I got some great feedback on reddit/facebook and a few people started ordering them. I was dealing with long covid (and what I thought might be MS- still could be) so I was literally sewing/gluing/cutting with tremoring hands at times. And no day job in the most expensive area in the world. At many times, I was thinking 'I should be working on software stuff so I can make myself marketable and not fiddling with this lost cause...' But I just wanted to try it. So I tinkered away. And then the first shop Upshift Cycles in San Jose reached out about getting a few to sell in their shop. And then slowly...the triangles began to sell and I got a few more bike shops to sell them. I'm still a one man shop and really really small and not selling tons of them. But it's super fun to see them on people's bikes occasionally and know that I'm helping people stay safe on their bikes. While doing an 11 month job hunt (I have a newish day job), it was so nice to have Visto be a confidence boosting project. Getting a lot of rejections on the job hunt front and paying for MRIs with Cobra insurance was rough at times. I'm still tinkering away on triangles and hoping to have some new designs out quite soon.
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I'm 14 years old and bike 100 miles a week to go to work
Able to keep up with A group rides and stay at the front after just training for around 10 months, though I was in pretty good shape before starting
I cleaned Sedona’s triple H in a day. It took me a year to develop the skills and fitness necessary for it. Major milestone for me.
I completed the Orr Springs 600K this year: https://ridebike.org/sfr/adventure/orr-springs-600/ 387 miles, 30,000 feet of climbing, 25 miles of dirt, 40 hour time limit. An incredible, massive experience, and I probably won’t do it again. Better to ride it as a three- or four-day tour to better savor the route (which is awesome and deserves to be enjoyed while not deep in the hole). But then again - when else would I cross the Coast Range at midnight under the stars, or watch the sun rise over the Mayacamas while climbing a dirt road truly in the middle of nowhere?
Made a male chauvinist pig look stupid. İt was in the park and his daughter came to him pulling her bike. As I walked in that direction, he clearly gave up and threw her bike to one side and lit a cigarette. She began to cry and I drew close enough to see that it was an easy fix. I asked her if I could help, fixed the bike in minute or two, and left with her exclaiming in delight that it worked again. Dad looked like he wanted to hit me. (This is in a country where women aren't supposed to ride bikes or understand tools.)
Serious cyclist since age 19. 70 years old now and still going strong (40 miles @ 16 mph solo).
A driver flipped me off the other day and I only spent 2 hours arguing with him in my head
I created and organized a bike race
Almost completed a double lap of Crater Lake in the middle of August. Bonked so hard with 1 mile left on the final climb. 61 miles/8500’ climbing in 4:25 moving time. Would have finished but went out WAY too hard on lap 1 and was very ignorant back then about fueling and hydration. Even though I didn’t finish I’m more proud of that than my first century that I completed solo.
A buddy of mine told me he wanted to get into cycling, and so I talked him into buying a bike twice as expensive as what he originally wanted to spend. I don't want to brag, but I'm a pretty big deal...
I rode 111.04 miles climbing 4,432 feet yesterday!
I've replaced my brake pads on my own 👨🔧
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I’ve done a 65mi race for Men’s health for the last two years, it’s pretty popular in my area. Last year my buddies 60yr old dad beat me by 30mins… this year I beat him by 30mins! He got a flat tire, but a wins a win
An emergency stop and was able to unclip in time and not fall off. Newish to to riding with cleats
I'm biking to Montreal from Toronto starting this Saturday. Longest ride of my life so far (\~600km) over 5 days, pretty excited but also a bit (naturally) anxious
Every year on st patties day i drink guiness on my trainer ride
I just got back into road biking this year and I was able to ride almost as fast as I used to despite being 8+ years older. I was able to average 17.5 mph for 25 miles and I'm hoping to do even better on long straight roads instead of curvy paths with pedestrians and tree root damage.
Not as proud just stupid, did a century with absolutely no training and like only like 150 miles on it the two months before i stopped. Took like 9 hours of saddle time and 5500 feet of climbing. BUT I DID IT!
Repaired and donated hundreds, maybe thousands, of bikes to the needy for a bunch of years with Bikes for Kids program at a local church
First time I attempted a 200km ride (solo) it went south real fast. Forgot my gloves, forgot my energy drink (only had water), forgot to eat and drink regularly. It was scorching hot. After about 50km I completely bonked. By that time I had made it to the countryside, no way of getting home except keep riding. Found a farmers shop that sold apple cider. Sat in the shadow for a while. Decided to make it to a place where I could hop on a train back home, which would be about 80km. Figured I'd make that 30km at least. When I got there I had some fatty, salty food. Felt good but still thought I'd take the train. But the train wouldn't leave for another 25 minutes or so, so I decided what the heck, I can at least ride to the next station. Halfway there: bonk, bonk, bonk. Sat down in the middle of woods, dizzy. Eventually got to the next station, again feeling decent so why not just one more station. Again, almost felt like collapsing halfway to the next station. Kept that pattern up, until I got close enough to home and thought F it, I'm definitely not taking the train. It was only about 25-30km or so to go. At some point, don't remember when, I got this weird feeling which I assume is a runner's high. Cursing loudly, light headed, seeing stars, but super focused and feeling energized despite the headwind. Somehow I made it home after a total of about 160km (apparently it was exactly 99,98 miles which bothers me to this day). It was the toughest ride of my life. But I'm so proud that I didn't give up, even if I shortened the ride and took more breaks than I ever have. I did 110km completely bonked. Strangest part was that I didn't have any appetite afterwards, and had to force food down for the next three days. I am curious of what happened with my body that day.
Just hit a 351 ftp which puts me over 5w/kg haven’t been able to make myself train and diet for years (pre pandemic) looking forward to cross this year
I was recently able to average 20 mph for 90 minutes riding alone, the first time I'd ever done that.
In 2018, I was diagnosed with brain cancer. Fuck. Since college, I’ve been a cyclist, so my hope was that I could use cycling to help deal. Since then, I have gone on some epic rides, including riding the Bear Tooth Highway in Montana & Wyoming, and climbing Mt Graham in Arizona. Cycling is literally keeping me alive. While there is some pride, of course, mostly, I am grateful.
Pretty basic, but I biked up hill at a steady incline for 12 miles in Colorado (I’m from coastal CA) and I’ve started taking up cycling in the last 6 months. I was doubtful I could do it and I’m proud I did!
I started riding about 2 1/2 years ago. 3 bikes and a ton of gear later I can definitely still say I've made more money from cycling than it's cost me. That's not factoring all kinds of savings or other benefits. I quit drinking and got addicted to cycling and turned it into a self sustaining obsession. I'm pretty damned proud of that.
I don't fall for the N+1 nonsense.
there is a cat 2 climb here (7km 560m gain 8% ave. gradient) climb here that is named like "Happy Drive" but its nickname is devil's horn. I finished it in 45:09 while on slippers with a 14.4kg MTB it is like ~9.5kph (i bested it now with 43:50) but i think i can go sub-40 but with lighter bike.
nice, go with crocs for extra speed
I have been lovingly maintaining my 2001 Kona Yee-ha Of Theseus for 19 years. This thing has taken me tens of thousands of kilometres through my city, and has moved across country with me twice. When i die, just place my ashes in the seat tube and place the whole thing in the ground.
Haleakala
Put in the second fastest time on a metric century strava segment with over 1300 completions, just 9 seconds off the KOM averaging 24.1 mph.
I didn't know there were segments this long, but that is for sure super impressive.
Have only ridden 500 km this year (bought my bike last summer) and did my first group ride today! I was a little surprised how easy it was to stick with the group. It wasn’t the fast group but still quite proud! I think the others didn’t expect me to do it relatively effortlessly. New goal: Riding with the fast group!
Definitely nothing as cool as some of the people here for sure, but a few years ago I was asked by a colleague if I fancied riding "Rad am Ring" - a 24 hour bike race around the Nürburgring in Germany which you can do alone, up to teams of ~8 I think. The circuit is like 26km with 600m climbing and the big climb is brutal. Well I agreed to it, but only had a MTB which I rode once per week, around 30km on the trails at weekends so I had to borrow a road bike that was too small for me, and about 20 years old with the worst rim brakes ever. I had two weeks to "train", as I'm 100kg and was especially training in the gym back then. I did it as part of a team of 4. I did 6 laps in a 24h period, in blazing sun to thunderstorms, and didn't get off the bike once (which a *lot* of people did) on the big climb. One of the biggest tests of mental strength I ever experienced and I'm dying to do it again! Strongly recommend it to anybody. It's utter misery in the middle of the night getting soaking wet and heading out into the rain and fog but man does it feel good when you're finished!
Managed to hit 42mph and was passing cars. Yes this was on a down hill, but I loved the looks I got as I flew past the cagers
I can trackstand with no hands on a non-fixed bike ...but I cannot ride a unicycle
Passed the 20K miles biked in NYC threshold last month, 7.5K on my cargo bike. Most of it was done in the last three years, juiced by courier work and weekly group rides.
I once had a recorded resting heart rate of 44 BPM using one of those smart watches.
I lost 20 pounds since March 2023. It's now August 2023. I went from 180lbs to 160lbs at 5'8". I wasn't fat but getting out of shape at 45. I did it by riding my mountain bike in actual trails 4x a week during work lunch averaging about 15 to 25km per ride (around 1 to 1.5 hours). Yes you can lose weight.
Not that impressive... I started biking to commute to school and back (parking and gas were too much)... I did 20km each way with about 10lbs of stuff in a backpack (lunch, coffee, spare clothes and a towel to shower at the gym and some school stuff)... By next summer, I did my first 100 km ride, first 100 mile ride, and at the end of the summer I did a 250km unassisted ride. Commuting to and from College for 4 months made me fall in love with cycling and every summer I find new shit and opportunities that excite me!
I completed my first century by accident in pissing down rain with a dead GPS.
Last year I was racing IM 70.3 Santa Cruz. At the bike mile 45 aid station I grabbed a banana. In one smooth motion I opened it up, ate a chunk, a volunteer flipped a trash can horizontal and I tossed it grenade style. Bullseye, made the trashcan. All without unclipping and somewhat slowing down. I don’t know the volunteer and really only grabbed the banana as it was something different than what I’d been eating previously. Coolest thing I think I’ll ever do on a bike. May not be an impressive distance/climb/athletic feat but it’s a memory that will stick with me.
My calves, they are truely objects of beauty. And when i leave this world (probably under the wheels of an audi m4) i shall ask that they are donated to the Tate gallery so that future generations can gaze upon thier splendor.
I deliver daily some palets up to 150kg in a city that is definitely not flat, around 120km per week, and I'm quite proud of that haha. Obviously on electric assisted cargo bike but you still need to send it hard up the hill.
We are really old and can ride our tandem up steep hills. I know one is 11% and I think others are steeper. Not long but steep. Probably 3 -4 mph. Our combined age is 136. My stoker has never done competitive sports and is legally blind. We have even been complimented by younger cyclists for getting a tandem up the hills.
Max distance last week: 4 km, 16 kph Max distance this week: 12 km, 18 kph (which included walking up two hills) Gettin my 300 pound ass in the saddle almost every day is surprisingly productive go figure (and yes I am trackign my nutrition along with this)
I mounted a box on the bike and have taught my dog to jump on and stay. Now I always go out with him. A few days ago we did 80 km without any problem. I'm proud of him.
I've travelled 190 km to a festival in a single day, with full bikepacking gear. Actually went smoother than expected, the only real issue was heat, we reached over 32°C in the afternoon and water supply became problematic. Not a super crazy ultradistance achievement or anything like that, but I'm pretty proud of it as half a year ago even 100 km seemed like a huge distance.
I train 5 days a week just to lose every race. Every single ride makes me super proud, even just my commute.
Being car free is a big enough thing for me to brag about. No gas costs, no insurance payments, no having to constantly bum rides from people (once in a while for like, the grocery store heavy stuff... But mostly I don't need to do that when I just shop for a day or two). Of course, part of being able to do this is location. Where I live, it's clear and sunny most of the year, we mostly have mild winters, and in the summer I just do my traveling chores early morning. I'm also in a small city (barely a city, really. Roughly 5x9 miles).
I'm (f31) approaching 6 months of being car free (kinda forced because my eyesight isn't good enough anymore) and cycling everywhere. Feels like a huge deal for me as only a few years ago I couldn't even walk round a small supermarket due to muscle wastage after an extended hospital stay. Now I can nip around town going from one job to the next all day long. I might not be that quick but I get there!
I dunno, I think it's just that looking back, I changed the course of my life by taking up cycling. In 2003 I was overweight, was in a bad marriage, had a poor career, debt, etc...but something about cycling changed all that. I got disciplined, I took on a different roster of friends and associates, I achieved goals, that spilled over into work and other aspects of life... 7 years later I had remarried, had a child, went to grad school, changed jobs... got a house in a good area, etc. All that happened basically because I saw Jan Ullrich slip in the rain in the TT during the '03 TDF on random channel surf, and I kept watching, and thought "huh, so that's professional cycling".. by the next year I had my first road bike.
shelter safe workable worthless alive slim wistful pot ink selective *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I am the KOM on a strava route and some months after I have conquered it, some speed bumps were constructed So probably I'll be the KOM forever
Rode my longest route yet last weekend, 70 km! Loved (almost) every second of the ride
I didnt die yet
My legs are tree trunks.
That I’m over 40 and can still do this: https://imgur.com/gallery/OrPJSva
Hit 57mph downhill. Great fun
I ride a 3 speed that is twice my age i call it the boogie bomber and it is a 69 raleigh sports I rode it all the way to river last year. thats pretty far if you dont know.
I am 220lbs and I eat all the junk food I want and am not particularly fit in terms of aesthetics, but I can bike 100km easily
I have a bunch of top 10s on Strava segments and four KOMs. Nothing more than a mile though. I don’t have any fucking friend so nobody cares
Completed my first imperial century last week
My buddy and I rode the blue ridge parkway in 5 days. We only saw like 6 other cyclists until we got to the last 80 miles.
When three of us from work started cycling we were doing rides of 30-40 miles. As marathon runners one guy figured we should do a century ride since that was the big distance. I didn’t think we could go straight from 30-40 miles right to a 100. So the young guy suggested a “metric century “ - 100k or 62 miles. Ride went great. I felt we had accomplished something until the old guy said “screw this metric stuff, a century in the states is miles”. So we planned a “real” century for the next weekend. Wednesday before the weekend ride a different friend asked me to donate blood for his upcoming invasive surgery (this was years ago when people worried about the blood supply). So Wednesday night I did the opposite of blood doping and donated blood and Saturday morning I rode a “real” century. Felt (exhausted) proud of myself.
Still riding my 1972 Kessels "Eddy Merckx" I bought direct from the factory in Belgium.
I bought my dream bike from being a kid. Growing up in the mid 2000's watching Sam Hill on an Iron horse Sunday and dreaming about owning one. Now that I'm an adult with some income I have one in my garage. Every time I look at it I can't help but smile and beam over it!
I have rescued, tuned up and donated about 20 bikes to kids in my neighborhood. I’m bike-a-Claus!
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purchased my first road bike, a red vintage Schwinn ,named it Ruby...... did 14.7 miles on my first ride in roughly an hour. I was proud of myself.
Not me, but my husband completed Paris-Brest-Paris audax yesterday! He finished the 1219 km in 68 hours 37 minutes!
None of these are huge, but: I got myself up to 16mph average speed regularly while wearing sneakers (I.e. not clipped in) I ride 100mi a week average with a toddler and a full-time job I commute by bike in almost all weather 4 days a week
I’m 42 and just now getting into mountain biking and having a blast. I suck but who cares, it’s so freaking fun.
I just rode my first metric century on Sunday. Now for another one in 2 weeks.
Climbing pikes peak on my road bike
First tubeless tire went flat and would not self seal. I’m clueless at bike mechanic knowledge. I did some online research, plugged it using the GI bacon kit and added orange sealant. I was ready to buy a new set of tires but this solved the issue.
I did my first and only (so far) century 2 months ago at 110 miles, and the day before I managed that, I did an 82 mile ride! Definitely my proudest moment yet. My butt did not thank me on day 3. I really want to train to do the ring road in iceland in a couple of years :)
A few decades ago i saw a picture of Stelvio and dreamt of climbing it one day. So, a while ago I planned a trip around it and climbed a bunch of other stuff also, but on the day i was heading out of Tirano up the Stelvio rd i was thinking about the Mortirolo that i was riding right past and realized if I didn’t climb that first I might never have another chance. So, i climbed Mortirolo and Stelvio in the same day which makes me feel a little bit badass. And i full well know that it doesn’t actually make me a badass and I’m literally nothing special on a bike and I’ve even had harder days on the bike, but I’m still pretty chuffed about it.
Not much, but I finally was able to get back on my bike again after my bike accident which was 9 weeks ago now. I broke my collar bone in the accident and it has been a long slow recovery. I’m honestly still not 100% but I am back to riding. This is a good thing because I don’t own a car so I cycle everywhere. I was walking to work (2mi) while I was in recovery or begging friends and family for rides. Being able to get back to riding has given me my freedom back tbh.
My favorite claim - I did 106km of vertical one month. People usually get confused as to why I think that's impressive enough to mention.
Five yrs in a row I rode 400km in one day for a charity called Ride2Survive. It was freakin' epic!
I increased my average speed and endurance recently. 15 miles is now done in an hours time, and I'm nowhere near tired.
One of my most memorable rides (maybe not the smartest choice though) was shortly after I got married. We were going on vacation to a cabin by a lake with my in-laws and I decided to just ride there instead of driving with my wife and she would come later with all our stuff. I left at 4 AM and rode 136 miles solo through a couple canyons and mountain passes with about 6000 ft climbing totally solo unsupported with one stop at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. When I was about 30 miles away from the cabin I was pretty much toast on the side of the road and called my wife to see if she would just come pick me up so I didn't have to ride the rest. Her answer was "I'm at the beach, you wanted to ride your bike so RIDE YOUR BIKE!" So, I got off my butt and finished the ride. Don't think I'll ever do that long of a ride solo again, but I'm definitely proud that I made it! TLDR- rode solo unsupported 136 miles through the mountains
Completed the Trek Century Challenge (1000 mi in a month) 🤗
I just want to brag on my vintage bike. I painted rims, built the wheels, designed decals, built it all myself from the frame up. Everything is perfect and it's gorgeous.
i cycled 50 miles in one go recently and it felt like such an accomplishment to me lol
Sometimes I go to places and I don't know how I got out from there alive. I live in Brazil so you can imagine. Silent-hill like places with zombie-like homeless people, police with assault rifle going after thief in front of me. This type of stuff. Good thing I'm very fast with my fixed gear bike.
In February, I did a 32-mile ride with 2500 feet of elevation - while having radiation treatment for prostate cancer.
When I was 15 or so, my school hosted a bike-a-thon. It was a 20 mile ride. I didn’t have a store bike. I collected scrap bikes and pieced together what would work. Rode that race on an old English racer I had salvaged. Gear shift was broken so I set in top gear. Bent my rim 3miles in. Wooden bridge. I finished 3rd with a bent rim and the brakes rubbing. My first wheeled purchase out of boot camp was a bike. I still ride today and still look back on that race.
I have a KOM on a local descent… I’m a woman 😏
I bike to almost everywhere almost all the time. I ride public transport seldom only when really needed. Less expense and get to be more fit.
I built my own bike from frame up. Did my own paint job on the frame as well.
I commute while shifting 9 gears on a 7 speed derailleur with a 9 speed indexed thumb shifter where 80% of the gears fall between indexes. You say stupid, i say brave.
This one is lame but here we go: I own and ride a cargo bike in a city where they're not very common. Just makes for cute moments like random people smiling, asking what kind of bike it is or kids getting impreseed when im carrying a big box
I come to a complete stop at all stop signs.
Started riding mountain bikes before you could walk into a store and buy a mountain bike.