In my city we have a street called central avenue which is very congested and unsafe to cycle on. There is a street 1 block over that runs parallel, and has bike lanes. I use that street with the bike lanes daily to commute and run errands. All day long people double park in them because they are too special to find a parking spot, so I have to endanger myself going into traffic to go around them. I fantasize about carrying an aluminum bat so I could hit their mirrors as I cycle by.

I sort of think that the only way to make visa/mastercard reverse course is to boycott the fuck out of them. Go back to using cash to make EVERY purchase. Purchase physical copies of games every time with cash. (I’ve been able to link games to my steam account purchased this way.) No longer buy skins and loot crates, and battle passes. Same goes with media. Go back to hard CDs for music/movies. Starve them of income any place you can, which would fuck with the business models of so many other companies that want your debit and cc on file for streaming services and subscriptions.

I missed that, yeah that does suck.

So uh, if you break the law a ticket seems pretty appropriate. I ride an E-bike to work. I stop at stop signs and red lights, I don’t ride on the sidewalk.

I legit thought that was a paint job. Had no idea it was duct tape. Nicely done!

What will you be duct taping, and why?

I have only personally ridden on Gary Fishers, Treks, cannondales, and GT bikes. Among those 4 brands that I rode, there wasn’t much difference between bikes made with similar materials and components other than price. A used bike that’s been tuned up is just as good as a new one. As a teenager in the 1990’s my first bike was a 10 speed Raleigh from the 60’s. I got the bike for free and had to replace the tires, tubes, brakes, gears and chain. I was lucky that the front and rear derailleurs were in good condition after all that time, those are a bit more pricey to fix. I’ve purchased many high end bikes used for cheap because people with tons of money to burn want something fancy, then end up never using the damn things except to ride around their neighborhood. If you’re just starting out, get a used bike. This way if you decide it isn’t for you, you haven’t spent a mortgage payment on the damn thing. Something like this is likely up your alley brand new: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/contend-3 The frame here I believe is an aluminum frame and it’s kind of what you would spend these days for something entry level. Trek and cannondale entry level bikes are even more expensive. The last road bike I had was a women’s specific trek, hybrid carbon fiber/aluminum. I spent $1400 on that bike new 20 years ago. I rode that bike for 20 years, and I would still have it if it hadn’t been stolen. If you properly maintain your bike it can last a lifetime.

When purchasing a bike, imagine a triangle. One side is cost, one side is strength, one side is speed. Pick two. A cheap strong bike sacrifices speed. A cheap fast bike sacrifices strength. A strong fast bike sacrifices money.

Do not shop for a new bike at department stores like walmart, target, or places like dicks sporting goods. The bikes get assembled by random minimum wage workers that don’t know what they are doing, you’ll end up with something that is poorly tuned right out of the box. New bikes generally need tweaking no matter what after being ridden for a while because the break/shifter cables stretch out a bit once you start riding. Find a local shop that only sells bikes. You might be able to find models that are a few years old, but still new at a better price than the latest bike to hit the market. Bike shops might also have a good selection of decent used bikes to sell too.

I’d go with an aluminum frame road bike if your intent is to work up to a 100 mile bike ride. Steel is more durable, but it is also way heavier which means over a longer ride, you are using more energy to keep things moving.

Why a road bike vs a hybrid or a mountain bike? Road bikes, hybrids, and mountain bikes all have different gear ratios, which impact your top speed. There are also weight differences between mountain bike frames, vs road bike frames, vs hybrids that also come into play. The rim/tire diameter impacts how far you travel per revolution. Even the way that tires are designed on these bikes make a difference.

-The gear ratio on a road bike can allow you to hit speeds of 50 mph while you are pedaling downhill. Depending on the mountain bike, your max speed might be closer to 20-30 miles per hour.

-Shocks on a mountain bike or hybrid will slightly rock as you pedal. This is stealing energy from you over long periods of time making your pedaling less efficient.

-Mountain bikes and sometimes hybrids traditionally have smaller rim/tire diameters, meaning you travel less distance per full turn of the wheel.

-In terms of tire design, most road tires are almost bald. This is because on a flat, dry surface you will generate enough friction to keep the tires from slipping. Mountain bikes have lots of knobs made to dig into the road/gravel/dirt, and tend to be a bit heavier. You may feel like you are less likely to slip with them, especially on wet road surface, but over a long ride they will make you less efficient and more tired. With hybrid tires, you’re looking at the worst of both worlds. The center of the tire is mostly bald, while the edge of the tire is knobby. If you’re trying to go for speed on a hybrid, like a road bike, you will find that the knobs on the edge fuck with the friction you’re generating in a turn, and the tires are more likely to skid/slip.

If you’re an every day rider going on short 10 mile rides you probably won’t feel much of a difference, between a road vs MTB, but on a long ride, I promise you will feel it. I did my first ever century ride on an aluminum mountain bike where I swapped out the MTB tires for baldies to try and make it more like a road bike. My suspension system on the mountain bike could also be locked to make the fork stiff. My first ride took me 10 hours and my average speed was about 16 mph. The second year I switched to an aluminum/carbon fiber road bike and I cut my time in half, avg speed was 25 mph.

Is over training a thing? It sure is. If you aren’t using cleats to clip into the pedals to take advantage of your opposite leg pulling up, while your main leg is pushing down, you end up having your quads doing all of the work, and they become overdeveloped. Overdeveloped or imbalanced quadriceps muscles can potentially contribute to a condition known as patella alta, or “high-riding patella”. This condition occurs when the kneecap (patella) sits higher than normal in the groove of the thighbone (femur). While often a congenital or developmental condition, it can be influenced by muscle imbalances around the knee. As someone that experienced this first hand, it hurts, a lot. For me, this condition developed over 20 years of constant cycling; (I cycle to commute and exercise.) As long as you can do it safely, without inflaming old injuries, you should find ways to work your other leg muscles to keep things in balance to prevent this.

In terms of training for a century, everyone is different. I spent a year training on a mountain bike and gym bike/spinning before I even attempted a century ride. Before you sign up for a long ride sign up for shorter rides, sag supported rides. Start with 20, then 40, then 60 mile rides. (Sag support means there is a vehicle that follows behind the cyclists to offer support, or pit stops along the route to help with breakdowns, snacks, water ect.) Before I did my first century, on my bastardized mountain bike, I was able to do a 60 mile ride no problem. On the century ride, I hit my wall around 80 miles, the last 20 were pure torture.

Other considerations - learn to fix a flat tire, and make a point to carry spare inner tubes, a pump, and a pressure gauge, or pump with gauge for ANY ride that will take you away from where you can get reliable transportation or a ride to pick you up if you have a flat. In my area, the roads are absolute dogshit and full of major potholes, which are sometimes unavoidable resulting in a pinch flat. A pinch flat, also known as a snakebite, is a type of flat tire on a bicycle caused by the inner tube being pinched between the tire and the rim, typically due to underinflation or a hard impact. This results in two small, parallel holes in the tube, resembling a snakebite. Having your tires at the max allowable psi/barr will go a long way to prevent this, but you will experience more flats on a road vs mountain bike.

Watching anything that fElon fail sparks joy.