You know you love cycling when...

[KSH]

You buy a car so you can carry your bike around in the back of it! :D

I have been searching for 5-door car for MONTHS... and I finally found a car that I love! I bought a Mazda 3, 5-door/hatchback.

I am so happy, because my baby bike fits so beautifully in the back! My little girl is so happy now that she doesn't have to be shoved in the trunk of a 2004 Accord Coupe anymore!

What have you done for your bike/cycling that might seem a little *odd* togethers?

[Kitsune06]

I've insisted on keeping my bike indoors, insist (still) that biking through pouring rain will always be better than biking in hot weather, and (for heaven's sake) named my bike. I know lots of other people have done lots of these, but trying to explain these to a non-biker is still hard.

[emily_in_nc]

You buy a car so you can carry your bike around in the back of it! :D

Yep, me too! We bought a Honda Element specifically so we could carry two bikes upright in the back, so I totally understand where you're coming from!
:D

Emily

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Whoa, Emily! We have a Honda Element and we stand our two bikes upright in the back as well!!!! Right ON! :eek: :) :) They fit so beautfully back there, one strapped to each side. We can pack all our other stuf in the middle between the 2 bikes.

COOL! What color is your Element? Ours is the old Sunset Orange w/grey fenders.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

You know you love cycling when....

You and your husband visit NYC and instead of going to museums you track down obscure bike shops all over town.

You sometimes don't bother changing out of your biking clothes after riding. (what the heck, I'll just have to change for bed anyway twelve hours from now...)

You keep finding reasons to make another "quick trip into town" again. (Gosh, I forgot to make that deposit at the bank when I was in town 2 hours ago. and ...Honey, would you like a nice fresh loaf of bread from the bakery to go with tonight's salad?...or...Seems to me we are running low on faucet washers around here...)

You try to arrange your work schedule around the weather report so that you'll just "happen" to be done working during the break between rains.

You talk about saddle bags and deraillers over morning coffee in bed.

[Kalidurga]

You try to arrange your work schedule around the weather report so that you'll just "happen" to be done working during the break between rains.

I do that. I work one or two Saturday's a month and my boss lets me set my own schedule as far as a day off during the week. I always watch the weather reports and have been known to change my day off at the last minute if I think riding conditions will be better on a different day.

[emily_in_nc]

Whoa, Emily! We have a Honda Element and we stand our two bikes upright in the back as well!!!! Right ON! :eek: :) :) They fit so beautfully back there, one strapped to each side. We can pack all our other stuf in the middle between the 2 bikes.

COOL! What color is your Element? Ours is the old Sunset Orange w/grey fenders.

Hi Lisa!

There are several other Element owners here as there have been a few threads about how great they are for bike hauling, so welcome to the club! Mine's a 2004 in green. My step-mom has the sunset orange color, 2003 model. I love that color. The new colors are so pretty too; if they would just make a hybrid I'd be tempted to trade up!

We don't strap our bikes in. We remove both back seats, and hubby made a device that allows both bikes to be fork mounted in back, and even has extra parts he made to hold each front wheel separately. It's very cool but leaves a bit less space for luggage than doing what you're doing.

We're getting ready to travel to Ohio to visit his family this week, and the bikes will be traveling with us. :)

Emily

[Bad JuJu]

You know you love cycling when...
You take a trip to Maine to visit family, you talk one of them into driving to Freeport for an L. L. Bean shopping trip, and the first place you hit is Bean's Boat & Bike Shop. :D

OMG, Bean is spreading out like an amoeba. Every time we go there, it's bigger! It was great to see that one of the new developments is their boat & bike shop, which covers my two fave activities--biking and kayaking. I spend way too much of my discretionary income there this summer.:eek:

[rheidis73]

You know you love cycling when...

I get up at 5 am, so I can be on my bike at 6:15 ( still dark) so that I can get a 25 mile ride in before work...get home (tons of sweat) jump in the shower, jump in the car with wet hair, no shoes on to drive to work and then to sweat all day again. (I work a mostly a job where I am outside all day) The joy of cycling:D

[Tater]

You know you love cycling when:

- one has more miles on her bikes than her truck this year! (250 on the truck, over 2,000 on the bikes.)
- agreeing with Kitsune on this one, naming one's bikes. (I don't want to be riding with a stranger! :p )
- one spends more on bike clothes than work clothes!

[Geonz]

I, too, bought a Mazda 5-door for exactly that reason. Good mileage *and* enough room to put the bike, and available with manual transmission.
Even with those trips to Maryland and Chicago, I've got more miles on the bike, too - just crossed 5000 on the commute this morning :) :) .
Wishing I had a place on the handlebars to mount the garage door opener.

[caligurl]

You buy a car so you can carry your bike around in the back of it! :D

I have been searching for 5-door car for MONTHS... and I finally found a car that I love! I bought a Mazda 3, 5-door/hatchback.

I am so happy, because my baby bike fits so beautifully in the back! My little girl is so happy now that she doesn't have to be shoved in the trunk of a 2004 Accord Coupe anymore!

What have you done for your bike/cycling that might seem a little *odd* togethers?

we bought our acura mdx for our bikes! we used to carry them on the back of hubby's truck... on a hitch rack... but when someone tried to steal my brand new ruby off the back.... we decided it was time to get something where they could be INSIDE! we shopped.... and shopped... and shopped! everything from the toyota rav4 to the BMW.... for me the selling point of the acura was the BEST gps in a vehicle! (we were already spoiled by having the best gps in my accord! no other companies came even close!) plus it's a fitting vehicle for ruby (oh ya... and hubby's look! lol!) otherwise i would NEVER have looked at an suv! lol!

[mimitabby]

you know you love cycling when you've spent more on bike clothing this year than you have regular clothing for the last 3 (at least) years!

you know you love cycling when you find yourself at a party and you start talking about bikes to everyone you meet.

and finally
you know you love cycling when someone sends you an email of cute nude guys (backsides) and you are disappointed because their legs look soft and flabby.

[midgetcycler]

I saw someone on the road the other day that made me giggle.

He was driving a Mazda Miata with a road bike on the back. The bike was longer than the car was wide!

It just made me wonder, when he got to where he was going to ride his bike, did he just strap the Miata on to the back of it??

[Tiffanie]

So, for those who have fork mounts, etc., for use in the back of the car, would you mind posting pics or giving me an idea of where to look for these? I need something like that, and a bike stand that can be used to keep in the car and garage.

It turns out I have a great car to put my bike in... a Honda Odyssey. It fits perfectly. :D

I just need something to stabilize the bike while driving!

[caligurl]

So, for those who have fork mounts, etc., for use in the back of the car, would you mind posting pics or giving me an idea of where to look for these? I need something like that, and a bike stand that can be used to keep in the car and garage.

It turns out I have a great car to put my bike in... a Honda Odyssey. It fits perfectly. :D

I just need something to stabilize the bike while driving!

crud! i was going to post my pics but i can't get to the mdx site to get them!

i can post them tonight (unless the site comes up first! lol)

anyways... we use the saris traps... you can use just the fork mount bolted to the floor... but we got the track... and added 2 fork mounts and 2 wheel holders! the track is bolted to the floor (actually the door of the little gin in the floor) and then the 4 pieced slide along the track to get positioned!

nice looking and neat!

plus the 4 pieces are removeble and you just have a practically flat "track" there... (we take the wheel ones out whenever brie is in the back!)

[Tiffanie]

Is it this?

http://ilovemybike.com/images/library/large/saris_singletrack_empty_01_m.jpg

Then you buy the fork mounts separately?


crud! i was going to post my pics but i can't get to the mdx site to get them!

i can post them tonight (unless the site comes up first! lol)

anyways... we use the saris traps... you can use just the fork mount bolted to the floor... but we got the track... and added 2 fork mounts and 2 wheel holders! the track is bolted to the floor (actually the door of the little gin in the floor) and then the 4 pieced slide along the track to get positioned!

nice looking and neat!

plus the 4 pieces are removeble and you just have a practically flat "track" there... (we take the wheel ones out whenever brie is in the back!)

[caligurl]

that's it!!!!!!!!!! yep... you buy all the pieces separately!

(we have ours reversed of the pic... tires on the outside bikes in) but that's one of the nice things... they are moveable! unlike the fork mount only in the floor... THAT's the spot! with this... if you need to.. you can reposition the bikes... remove the thingy's! etc!)

i'll still post the pics if you want, after i get home.... so you can see how it looks in the vehicle!

[Tiffanie]

that's it!!!!!!!!!! yep... you buy all the pieces separately!

(we have ours reversed of the pic... tires on the outside bikes in) but that's one of the nice things... they are moveable! unlike the fork mount only in the floor... THAT's the spot! with this... if you need to.. you can reposition the bikes... remove the thingy's! etc!)

i'll still post the pics if you want, after i get home.... so you can see how it looks in the vehicle!

Yes, please!! :D Thanks!

[caligurl]

okey dokey! will do!!!!

[Tiffanie]

Oh and do you use just any old stand for supporting your bike outside of the car? Actually, now that I think about it, you and hubby had your bikes on some neat-o stands at our group ride, didn't you?

[caligurl]

Oh and do you use just any old stand for supporting your bike outside of the car? Actually, now that I think about it, you and hubby had your bikes on some neat-o stands at our group ride, didn't you?

lol! yes! we used to have just the one... but decided to start bringing them to the rides and they are SO much more convenient than trying to lean them on something (usually my car :mad: ) now those i don't know the brand name... my LBS had them! i was surprised to see a guy behind us last weekend using one!!!!!

what's nice is they come apart into two pieces so you can break them down to travel (you probably wouldn't have to break it down with just you and one bike! just "throw" it in the back!)

[Fredwina]

You borrow a stationary trainer from a friend to see if you can "ride" with you arm in a Sling!
You cosider it a good day when you put more miles on a bike than you do on a car

[caligurl]

OK! i can get to my gallery now! phew!

looking into the back from the front seat

http://www.acuramdx.org/gallery//500/14142img_0218__medium_-med.jpg


looking in the back from outside!

http://www.acuramdx.org/gallery//500/14142img_0211__medium_-med.jpg

hmmmmmm i thought i had more pics uploaded than that... but then... that shows you both sides! lol! the rest of my gallery is just the outside of the car (when it was clean! :eek: )

then we pack our clothes, shoes, helmets, cooler, etc.... on the sides of the bikes!

[eclectic]

You are not a morning person but get up at 6 am on a day off so you can work a metric century in before heading to the lake

THEN telling the BF on another day that you are not going to go watch his ball game at 9 AM because it is too early :p