Getting to Know You!

[cyclelady]

Real name: Edwina
Where do you live? Israel

Explanation of your handle: I like to give way......be polite....grew up in London, learned so many manners!

Explanation of your avatar: n/a

Age (general or specific) 49

Occupation: Musician and piano teacher

Favorite bike: Whatever I have

What's in your stable? Giant Anthem

Another picture of yourself or your ride? No pictures yet!

What is the biggest lie you've ever told: Depends on the situation, anything for peace in the family...

Most memorable moment on my bike: Well, most recently I've been meaning to ask someone from the local riding group to help me find the trails around our town and two days ago my dream came true!!! We rode 16 miles, me huffing and puffing up the hills but I didn't give up and I learned about sand and ooohh it was fun and exciting! I ride fairly slow, am very overweight (224) and not exactly in shape at all but I'm trying to go out more. Getting my cycling equipment bit by bit from Aerotech (they're great) and the LBS.

Most fun ever had on a bike? So far it's the small things: realizing that it's all possible again after not riding for thirty years, appreciating the feeling of freedom on a bike, seeing that I can ride for further and further distances.

[pootler]

Hi all. I've been perusing these forums for some time now. I've picked up heaps of info. I particularly like the cross section of cyclists on here compared to some other forums. Joined officially last month. It would probably be terribly impolite if I didn't introduce myself....plus I like reading everybody elses intros!

Real name: Karyn
Where do you live? South of Adelaide, South Aus, where the sea meets the vines

Explanation of your handle: In reference to the blistering paces I set when going anywhere (hehe)!!
Explanation of your avatar: When i find one I will explain

Age (general or specific) 36

Occupation: RN

Favorite bike: Well I have a fairly new Salsa casseroll triple and I am in love with it. It slept in my room the first month I got it home. My bf found that a bit disturbing.

What's in your stable? As above and a Kona Dew Plus (its starting to feel neglected).

Another picture of yourself or your ride? Photos make my bum look big

What is the biggest lie you've ever told: Something about the tooth fairy and the global financial crisis.

Most memorable moment on my bike: My bf is not much of a cycling enthusiast as much as I have tried. I made him go for a little day tour on a trip to Mildura last holidays where we covered quite a few kms. It was priceless about 20km out of Mildura listening to his string of expletives about what was happening to his backside.

Most fun ever had on a bike? Most of it is fun. Except hills. I hate hills.

[crazycanuck]

Howdy Karyn(pootler)! Nice to have another aussie chick around *waves from perth*

Are you a mountain biker?? Just wondering if you've ever cycled at the Eagle mountain trails

[inkspot]

Real name: Victoria

Where do you live? In the flatlands in the middle of Canada.

Explanation of your handle: Someone once told me that the mud on my legs after a particularly soggy ride looked like inkspots. I thought it was cute. Combine that with my love of writing and antique pens...

Explanation of your avatar: I love owls.

Age (general or specific):31

Occupation: Graduate student in cognitive neuroscience

Favorite bike: 2010 Specialized Tricross Sport Triple

What's in your stable? As above, Trek Navigator 2.0 (paisley pattern - very girly), and a once-shiny-now-muddy-and-battered Raleigh mountain bike.

Another picture of yourself or your ride? Have irrational (or perhaps completely rational) fear of cameras

What is the biggest lie you've ever told: Something involving a plot to distract a madman with a plot to murder me and a mysteriously missing batch of cookies - I was 4 at the time...

Most memorable moment on my bike: Hmmm... Narrowed it down to two: 1)The first time I rode down Burnaby Mountain. I wasn't aware of just how steep a grade the descent was. I was enjoying the feel of the wind in my face, the light rain on my skin. That is until I went whizzing past a bus on the hill. I figured at that point that I was going too fast. I tried to ease on my brakes, hit a wet patch and skidded into the brush on the side of the road! The bus driver stopped and gave me a lift to the Skytrain station
2)The first time I rode my brother's BMX bike. I wad flying down a hill towards the highway when I realized that there were no hand-brakes on the bike I flew across 6 lanes of traffic (unscathed, somehow) before my brother caught up with me and told me that I needed to pedal backwards to stop.

Most fun ever had on a bike? This is going to sound stupid, but shopping for my latest bike at the LBS - those guys are a riot! It was two and a half hours of constant laughing as they pulled out every bike in the shop, tweaked, adjusted, and generally messed with me and the bikes! I had sore abs for the next three days, and it had nothing to do with my new riding position

[special_k005]

Real name: Karen
Where do you live? Baltimore, MD

Explanation of your handle: meh...too lazy to
Explanation of your avatar: When i find one I will explain

Age (general or specific) 18

Occupation: college student

Favorite bike: I have a minivelo which I built from a BMX frame. It's a road bike setup with 20" wheels. The best part is I can pack it up into within the airline-allowed dimensions and fly with it.

What's in your stable? As above, a 1993 Cannondale R700, a 1985 Cinelli Ramapchino (turning into a randonneur), and another Raleigh minivelo in progress
Another picture of yourself or your ride?


What is the biggest lie you've ever told: cookies are good for you
Most memorable moment on my bike: getting doored and lived to tell about it
Most fun ever had on a bike? Zooming down the highwway in the early morning

[margrette]

Salutations!

Real name: Carly
Where do you live? Los Angeles, CA

Age (general or specific) 24

Occupation: it's kind of a grab bag...right now I nanny and teach/coach swim

Favorite bike: Really depends on the day.

What's in your stable? Bmc streetfire , an '84 specialized allez (commuter) , and a trek hardtail that is currently 3000 miles away.

What is the biggest lie you've ever told: told my little brother that I had another brother before him named Pete who died.

Most memorable moment on my bike: Riding single track and clipping a tree with maybe a quarter inch of my handle bars and the subsequent most-epic-crash I have ever had to date.

Most fun ever had on a bike? The first day of dry riding after a week or so of commuting in the chilly rain.

[bikegurl]

So, yeah, hi everybody.. I guess I should introduce myself......

Real name: Alex

Where do you live? Buffalo, NY

Explanation of your handle: I want to bike....and am starting to do it more....

Explanation of your avatar: I used to have that cow....and that was when I realized I like cows. Unfortunately I had to sell her because the city doesn't allow cows I still think she is the most beautiful cow I've seen yet !!

Age (general or specific) 21

Occupation: I don't really have one....I help my mom homeschool (but that is not for pay), have tutored some struggling readers, and currently babysit sometimes

Favorite bike: I really don't know, but I fell in love with a Fuji Touring bike that I saw at a bike shop, and wish I could have gotten it......

What's in your stable? Trek 7.5

What is the biggest lie you've ever told: I don't know...I try not to lie...

Most memorable moment on my bike: Well....I haven't done much riding...but just did a 58.7 mi ride to Niagara Falls with my brothers. When we got home I hurt (my legs and stomach) so bad I could barely walk, and was soaked through with cold fall rain. The next morning I was VERY sore, but was excited to plan our next ride!! [I will remember to eat a little at a time, instead of basically having 2 meals while riding. Hopefully that will help the stomach next time ]

Most fun ever had on a bike? I really don't know....maybe sailing down dirt roads on hills in TN with the cousins.

[drgynfyr]

Drgynfyr

Where do you live? Miami, FL

Explanation of your handle: Year of the dragon and fire sign

Explanation of your avatar: i have to find one!

Age (general or specific): 34

Occupation: Administrative Assistant

Favorite bike: a full suspension specialized

What's in your stable? Trek 4500

Most memorable moment on my bike: busting my @$$ falling in a ditch.

Most fun ever had on a bike? Hmm, i'll have to get back to you guys on that one, lol.

[shoegirl]

Hello, everyone!

My real name is Angela.

Where do you live? Dallas, Tx

Explanation of your handle: I love shoes!!

Explanation of your avatar: my bike!

Age: just a few days away from my 39th birthday

Occupation: manager of coding compliance auditing team for a medical management company

Favorite bike: my specialized ruby. Someday maybe an orbea........

What's in my stable: a custom mountain bike and my specialized ruby

Most memorable time on my bike: riding with my son on a saturday. It was a great day. Great weather and spending time with my son who is 15. We left at 5:30 in the morning. We saw raccoons and foxes crossing the road. Beautiful!!

[Aisling]

Hi everybody, I feel like I've had such a positive experience of this forum already it was only proper to introduce myself!

Real name: Aisling

Where do you live? Dublin, Ireland

Explanation of your handle: Aisling is actually my first name. It's an old Irish (Gaelic) name which means a dream or a vision. It's pronounced Ash-ling, so a lot of people just call me Ash (or Ais!).

Explanation of your avatar: I'm taking up cycling with the goal of cycling 1000km for charity in New Zealand next September. I will be fundraising for the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU)'s Charitable Trust, which provides assistance for people who have been paralysed or otherwise seriously injured playing rugby. So the avatar is a little reminder for me of what I'm training for.

Age: 23

Occupation: Communications

Favorite bike: While I was in college, I had a beautiful 1950s 3-speed city bike with a little wicker basket and everything. My ex-boyfriend broke one of the pedals clean off it one day, and as I was just about to move back to Dublin (where I live on a hill!), it unfortunately wasn't worth bringing back home. I left it there for my cousin instead, who got a beautiful bike for only to cost of fixing the pedals.

What's in your stable? Nothing! Well, technically, there's a Scott MTB of some description from my teenage years, but I've always found it pretty cumbersome and uncomfortable and I need a road bike for the kind of training I want to do, so lets not think about that!

Fastest speed on a road bike? Nothing - I've still to get on one.

Most memorable moment on my bike: Probably cycling to lectures at breakneck speed. Or coaching rowing from the side of the river while trying not to cycle into someone/something. My bike was such an integral part of my daily life in college, I miss it so much and I'm so excited about getting a bike that I love again!

Most fun ever had on a bike? As above, just everything! Where I went to college, everyone used their bikes for just about everything, but maybe if I had to pick one moment, it would be cycling through the town in all my evening finery (high heels included!) with my best friend in a mad rush to get to some formal dinner or other but just laughing away and having a great time.

[crazycanuck]

hey Aisling, are you comin down for the RWC??? RWC then cycle round NZ..coollllll!

[Aisling]

hey Aisling, are you comin down for the RWC??? RWC then cycle round NZ..coollllll!

That's the plan - we'll have Ireland v Australia at the start, Ireland v Italy at the end, and then the small issue of 1000km in between! I'm so excited to be heading down, and thrilled to be doing the cycle on behalf of a cause I really think makes a big difference to players' lives

[KimmyC]

Real name: Kim

Where do you live? Fairfax, VA

Explanation of your handle: Pretty self-explanatory, lol!

Explanation of your avatar: don't have one yet but I will probably put my dog's pic up

Age (general or specific) 25

Occupation: Entrepeneur

Favorite bike: my new bike, an Orbea Diva

What's in your stable? Diamondback RS insight

Fastest speed on a road bike? where? when? I was going 32mph on a deep descent in Reston.

Another picture of yourself or your ride? I will definitely take and post pics of my bike, just haven't had time yet.

What is the biggest lie you've ever told: I honestly don't remember.

Most memorable moment on my bike: Being able to keep up with my bro who's an awesome cyclist.

Most fun ever had on a bike? Whenever I'm riding my bike... I just enjoy the scenery while knowing I'm getting a great workout.

[Sheri L]

Real name: Sheri

Where do you live? Sarasota, FL

Explanation of your handle: It's my name and middle initial. I know, I am not very imaginative.

Explanation of your avatar: me and my best gal-pal acting silly in silly hats...halloween night at Busch Gardens...husbands had melted into the crowd by then and were pretending not to know us.

Age (general or specific) 39

Occupation: Field Tech for HP

Favorite bike: What I have now are both wonderful

What's in your stable? 2011 Trek Madone 4.5 WSD and a $125 Schwinn hybrid/moutain/crosstrainer type bike that I bought from Toys-R-Us...man I really like that bike (simple ain't I?)

Fastest speed on a road bike? where? when? 18 mph on my Schwinn in Daytona FL...I was riding back from the race track to the RV and got a real nice tailwind Sorry, don't have a speed on my road bike yet...DH just got it for my today for x-mas and only got to ride it about 2 miles before it got to dark to ride. (no lights or computer yet)

Another picture of yourself or your ride? I don't have any pictures of my rides...yet
But here's another view of 'crazies in hats'


What is the biggest lie you've ever told: That I was 39 *grins*

Most memorable moment on my bike: This was on a bike that I bought from Walmat or Kmart or something like that...it was the first time I road a full mile...when I started I was 233lbs (and 5'2 1/2") and got winded and the jelly legs after riding 1/4 mile at my first go...so when I 'got' my first mile I was thrilled...after that I was hooked. (oh, that's me, now, on the right)

[ButIDidntFall]

Real name: Alicia

Where do you live? New york city!

Explanation of your handle: Well, I frequently find myself saying this.. " I drank water .. But I didn't fall!" I ate something.. But I didn't fall!!" hehe

Explanation of your avatar:.. My little girl ella

Age: 27

Occupation: Medical Assistant in urology dept of a hospital

Favorite bike: My scott, my only one.. at the moment..

What's in your stable: 2011 Scott CR1 pro road bike!!

Fastest speed on a road bike : I can assure you it was terrifyingly amazing and probably going down a decent at central park.. but i really have no clue..

Another pic of yourself or your ride? i think my picture worked? mac illiterate.. this is before i had bottle cages on it..


What's the biggest lie you've ever told? I never really lie.. i'm terrible at it..

Most memorable moment on your bike? My friend passed me half a clif bar, i ate it, put the wrapper in my back pocket, and then hi-fived him... and I DIDN'T FALL!!