Any cyclists out there? Bicycling became my main hobby 12 years ago after I quit drinking and then more recently, shooting. I do a lot of road and trail riding in Illinois and the neighboring states. One reason I got my P-11 was that it was light enough to carry on the bike in case of dog attacks or running into a rabid racoon. I've been blocked by sick coons twice on rail trails out in the country. However, the law being what it is around here, I'm hesitant to transport a pistol on a bike, especially in state parks until the laws become less restrictive here. I also tour a little bit, mostly bike camping to parks in the region.
As a young man, I comuted year round by bike. (10 miles one way). Some of you Yankees might think big woop, but when it is raining on a dreary Feburary morning and you are soaked to the skin by the time you make it to the mailbox, you really develope a good out look on life. I like being in touch with the plant I'm living on. Can I brag on my kid brother? He got into biking about the time I was getting out of it. He races on and off road. Few years back when he was living in Valdosta (South GA, right near the FLA line) he flew out to Colorado for a race. He won a hill climb (off road, starting at 8000 feet, going up to 10,000 feet. He trained at sea level. I was impressed.
I used to bicycle a lot when I lived in Japan. It was often the fastest way around and it was pretty safe-- if you hit a bicyclist in Japan you are pretty much wrong and going to visit prison for a while. However, the downside was that pollution was so bad, it sometimes left an aftertaste for an hour or so after the ride. The pollution in Tokyo has to be experienced to be believed. You never see bicyclists here in rural KY for good reason. Riding the roads here would be downright suicidal. I think a good ole boy in a monster pickup or SUV wouldn't hesitate to run you over if you inconvenienced him. The soldiers I teach at ft knox that ride motorcycles uniformly agree that each time you go off base and ride you can pretty much count on a close call that will scare the snot out of you. A couple tell me that they don't ride here at all any more.
I've ridden year round up here and still do, weather permitting. When it gets too cold, the pawls in the rear hub won't engage and the pedals spin to no effect. (I've heard lot of freezing your pawls off jokes.) At one time I lived so close to work that I could get there on the bike before I could scrape the windows on the truck. When I used to commute by bike people would say to me, "But what do you do when it rains?" I'd move a little closer and with a dead pan look say, "I get wet." I've ridden a little in KY, I did some moutain biking at LBL and rode The Trace. Very pretty country, not much traffic there. There are some places I avoid, they are at worst suicidal and at best an extreme sport. I have a lot of respect for the guys that race; it takes a lot of training and commitment to do that. In the Tour, they ride over a hundred miles a day, averaging over 26 mph, and a lot of it is in mountains that I don't think I could ride in as good shape as I can get in today.
I rode a mountain bike to and from work when I was stationed at Camp Zama, south of Tokyo in the late 80's. Small world. Wish you'd mentioned it at the national shoot! The reason I stopped riding a motorcycle in the early 90's. I got tired of people trying to kill me 3 or 4 times a week, and was beginning to ride very paranoid. It took all the fun out of the ride.
Ha!! Last time I was at Camp Zama (in 2001), Yokota beat Zama at football! My wife was a DODS teacher at Yokota. The most lost I ever got in my life was riding a bicycle in Japan-- kind of scary, can't speak the language, can't read the signs, didn't bring a cellphone, had no money on me; I got really lucky, an airplane flew near me and I realized Yokota was the only landing strip in the area so I watched the direction it went, bicycled in that direction, and an hour later started seeing things I recognized. I learned that after years and years overseas you can get overconfident about your ability to take care of yourself in a foreign country, and that you need to be a little bit prepared for problems.
I ride the local trails here in eastern KY but try to stay off the roads as much as I can. One 30mi loop takes me on a back road that is kind of scary because you've got guys in trucks that don't care about sharing the road even though I get completely off it whenever I can. Once I raced in the Bob Evans Farm race (Farmhand XC) in Rio Grande, OH and want to go back and do that one again. The local bike shop puts on a few races including some adventure races that are pretty challenging. When I first started hitting the trails I carried my P11 and now I usually take either my P3AT or NAA Mini, or both. My jersey covers IWB holsters pretty well and one gun is always in my pack. Maybe I should dump that ridiculously heavy chain tool and replace it with my P11 :-/. Darn chain tool... So how do you guys carry when you ride?
I bike a lot...I bought a Townie Touring bike that I can ride all day. I live on a 17 mile paved trail :. I carry my p3at whenever I am on my bike. I wear a helmet too.
I'm guilty of being bitten by the bike bug myself. Its my third most expensive hobby next to cars and guns. I spent many weekends pedaling trail's here in north Florida and enjoy every minute of it. I keep my P-11 with me on every trip with a mag of snake shot loaded staggered with defense rounds in the stash pocket of my camelpak. I need to find more free time to get back out there.
I looked I to getting my bike tuned up this ear to start riding again until I was told that the cost of repairs would be equal to the amount I spent on the bike. I hung it back up and started jogging instead.
Love to ride, it's my main form of transportation in the summer. Once the bike trails turn into snowmobile trails, I call it for the year.
