The all new and only slightly recycled off topic thread (read post 1)

If a leg of lamb isn't pink it's sacrilegious in my book!

Took my first cycle in traffic ever today. Cycled through town to st Anne's park for the battle of clontarf. Have to say I've been missing out! Should've bought a bike years ago. I didn't end up under a car so that's a plus.

awec wrote: »

Did you buy a roadbike?

Actually a MTB as I plan on doing some trails in the summer.

awec wrote: »

Cycling on the road with a MTB? Heathen!

All that friction and lack of aerodynamics!

Ha. I never really understood why people take cycling so seriously, with all the super aerodynamic carbon road bikes you can get now adays that look more like something from a speed track. But then if your commuting serious miles every day or doing big spins then why not.

Buer wrote: »

Get into town and it's a new experience. A lot of cyclists behave like the rules of the road don't apply to them but they're also completely ignored by a number of drivers. I only cycled to work for about 5 months but had some stupid near misses. You get clipped when you're in your motor and you're p*ssed cause you might have to pay a bit of cash for a new wing mirror. Get clipped on a bike and you're waiting for an ambulance.

Yeah I live in town. I took it out for a spin around a few blocks first. Have to say I was utterly ****ting it, especially when trying to get into the right lane or going through junctions. I'm also just out of a brace for a fractured knee so I kept thinking 'don't fly off the bike, don't fly off the bike, don't....'

But with everything once you make a few mistakes you learn from it quickly. By the time I got out to Marino today I felt confident. I just treat myself as a car, but an invisible one. I did make a few mistakes like a couple of times I had right of way and just kept on full speed at a t section! but you hear stories all of the time of cyclists who have the right of way getting clipped cuz drivers can't see them or just don't register them in their minds eye. So that kinda freaks you out when you realise that could've been that driver and you were going pretty fast... So from then on I make sure I'm going at a speed I can stop easily at coming up to any turns, junctions, lights etc.

On a side note, the old lad lives about 300m from the park so was there yesterday and today, fantastic event and fair play to those who organised it. Today was only about a third of the crowd that was there yesterday though. I don't know who decided to schedule maintenance on the Dart line going northside for today. Utterly moronic.

Yeah to be honest I thought the reenactment was a bit lame. Although if I had kids it'd be ideal for that sort of thing. Cool atmosphere though and for something that's free it was great and it was nice to go around the trails in st Anne's on the new bike!

I thought the fact that the only way of seeing the reenactment was over a barrier was a bit silly. If you're like me, vertically challenged, then you won't see much as there crowd was 4 or 5 deep around the barrier. Some raised seating or platforms would've been handy.

CatFromHue wrote: »

The comfort though! No jaw jarring bumps as you go over the many pot holes.

Yeah you really feel the benefit of opening up the suspension, especially in some of the roads in Clontarf where there are so many bumps and holes, and if you stand up on the pedals it's completely smooth. I also took her for a spin on the off-road trails in the park and I'm very happy with my choice of going mtb. It's just so much fun doing off road stuff and it's quite challenging too, getting the gear balance right etc.

Yeah I will mostly be using it in town, I live off Parnell st. Also really tempted to start doing more off road stuff with it over the summer.

Buer wrote: »

Reports are rife that Moyes is about to get the bullet.

Hallelujah!!

mfceiling wrote: »

http://lovindublin.com/feature/cursing-hipster-helmets-well-written-wills-10-top-tips-cycling-dublin/

There you go .ak

Haha, that's brilliant.

so new poll.

Do we need an .ak Agony aunt thread