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Strategies & Market Trends : Galapagos Islands -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MulhollandDrive who wrote (47639)	9/18/2003 4:20:48 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57110

really strong crosswinds moving the bike around while hitting 40+mph... Yes, I've had my bike jump sideways on a descent before. I've heard of people on road bikes blowing tires on long downhills (several miles) because they use the brakes so much that it heats up the rims enough to cause the air in their high pressure tires to expand enough to blow out. Now if 40mph downhill on a narrow windy road doesn't scare you, imagine getting a blow out at that speed. (i later found out some of the cyclists used it for part of the course training for the tour de france)..... Hehheehehe, sounds like you know how to have a good time. My good friend Richard did the citizen's day in the tour a few years ago. It's the day when the regular riders have a rest day and the amateurs from all over the world are allowed to do the course through the mountains that the tour will go on the next day. He said it was the most difficult climbing he's ever done. He finished, but his French friend Sylvan blew up halfway through and was talking about selling his bikes afterwards. These guys are the most serious riders I know and if it humbled them so much it gives you a bit of insight into just how far away the pros are in terms of fitness and strength. Most Americans don't even have a glimpse of what it means to be in that kind of shape. I'm not as serious a bike rider as I was in my younger years (I picked up running instead) but back when I was serious, I remember how various friends would find out I rode and they'd want to go for a ride with me. I'd do my best to discourage them which only served to get them more interested (especially men who can't believe that a woman could be stronger than them in anything related to a sport). I'd pick the easiest ride I could think of but they'd still lose it on the first few hills. I had one woman friend who was so humiliated that she decided that even if it took years she was going to beat me on a ride. It took her a few years to catch up, but she did....such is the power of a little competitive spirit among friends. -g- Actually it's the same force that got me to finish that Skyline Drive ride. When I was thinking about doing it, Richard told me he didn't think I was ready and that was all he had to say (later he told me he said that on purpose so I would sign up). The last sixty miles of that ride the only thing that kept me going was that I was determined that I was not going to ride back in the car to Baltimore with him if I didn't finish the ride.