MYB October: If you think earning points is hard, try making up a good thread title

Nothing exciting to report for this week. And family is coming into town this evening, so I won't get my normal Futsal in today :(. I'm hoping that I can still get my saturday ride, and Monday Futsal in though. Otherwise I'll start to feel like a lump.

2.4 miles of commuting by bike * 4 days of work (since my last post) == 3.2BP

That brings my total up to...

Monthly Total: 19.47BP
 
12 miles on the best single-track in the state, had a blast.

13.66 + 6 = 19.66 BPs

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Oh man, that does look like a blast! I honestly haven't done much true mountain biking, but I grew up dirt biking, and those trails look awesome.

How do you like that fender? I've been looking at fender options for my bike, and so far I can't quite decide. I just know I'd rather not have a wet butt at work again this winter.

And tonight I got my new headlight in for my bike, and I had to give it a test run. I rode the trip to work and back twice for 4.8 more miles. That's 1.6 more bp.

In other news, I'm not afraid of the night commute anymore. YAY LUMENS.

Monthly total: 21.07 BP
 
The fender is great, German made and very high quality.

As for lights, that's something I don't have. I have a bright blinky headlight that's very noticeable, but no flood light for my own vision enhancement. What did you get for yours?
 
I ended up getting a kind of spendy light. I've commuted by bike every day for the last 2.5 years. The bike path I take is great, but its unlit and tree lined, so its quite dark. Last year I almost ran over a really stupid pedestrian in the dark (standing still, smack dab in the middle of the paved bike trail, in dark blue jeans and a black hoodie, back toward me, head down, typing on her phone and listening to music). So this year I decided to upgrade.

It seems like to get a "to see" headlight you need at least 500 lumens or so, which starts in the $50-70 range. I ended up getting a fenix bc30r. On high it puts out a very floody 800 lumens, and has a remote triggered 1600 lumen burst mode (its not sustainable though, it is timed at 20 sec), and is USB rechargable. The burst mode works great for signaling that I'm about to pass/etc, since it works on people with headphones in and they'll notice the light and move aside.

Anyway, I've only got the ~5 miles of use with it so far, but I like it. Its leagues ahead of the aaa powered blinky I had. I do think I may wish I had more output if I was riding honest to goodness mountain biking trails at any real speed ( > 15 mph) just because it doesn't throw that well. If that were my use case, id grab a helmet light with some throw, and I think id be set. As it is, it works well for a commuter that needs to "see", which describes me to a "T". No weird battery packs to mess with, its all self contained and good to go.

Whew... I write to much.

What model of fender do you have? Does that style flop around a lot? That's been my biggest worry.
 
SKS X-blade, no flopping that I notice. It's a solid fender, easy to install and works like it should.

I've been tempted to get a good light for mtn biking in the dark, but so far i don't see me doing that just yet so I'm holding off. I do need to get a light for my roadie, it's now dark by the time I'm done riding and I need to see. Thanks for the info.
 
Get a nice, bright throwy Fenix light in your preferred battery configuration and a twofish lockblock . Then you can strap it on for night biking at speed, and drop it in your pocket for other outdoor activities.
With the rubber posts, when properly snugged down, it's less bouncy than the bulky screw -down plastic ones.

3 mile ride yesterday.

12 BPs to date.
 
I managed to sneak away from the in laws long enough to do my normal weekend loop again. Sadly, even though I skipped futsal last night, I didn't have any more energy, and I was slower than I was last week (1hr 2min 37 sec). I could blame the wind, but honestly I think I am either just out of shape, or worn down from the weeks of doing this without rest.

Anyway, that 17.3 miles == 5.76 BP

Monthly total: 26.84 BP

And thanks for the tip on the fender, I'll be sure to check them out.
 
I didn't purposefully go out and exercise yesterday, but between my wife's school's walk-a-thon, taking the kids to their events, setting up for a party, and running to the store I walked over 5 miles.
17 BPs TTD.
 
Question: I did a few hours of hand-pressing apple cider as part of a competition, it was easily more cardio than I normally get biking, so could I snag a couple BPs for it? Technically I wasn't moving other than speed-cranking a cider press, but it felt like running 2 miles by the end.
 
KingMC said:
Question: I did a few hours of hand-pressing apple cider as part of a competition, it was easily more cardio than I normally get biking, so could I snag a couple BPs for it? Technically I wasn't moving other than speed-cranking a cider press, but it felt like running 2 miles by the end.
Click to expand...

I'd say go for it. It's not like this is a competition or anything.....and that trail looks like a shit-ton of fun. Though I don't know if all downhill should really count ;). For commuting, SKS makes a removable fender set that totally kicks ass. Don't know if it's in MTB sizes or not, but it works on my 'cross bike and road bike - SKS Raceblades, IIRC. As for lights, handlebar lights are nice, but for MTB riding (and for generally better lighting overall) a helmet light is really the best. That way you can see where you're turning.....lotsa great stuff out there that's not outrageously priced....all of it worth it if you ride any at night. I have an old Marwi Nightpro headlamp that has been modified a couple times and I love it, but there are a LOT of good offerings on the Ama Zone that'll do the trick for many less $$ now with LED tech being so ubiquitous (as it was definitely NOT when I was buying bike lights). Remote, rechargeable battery packs are the way to go, IMO.

Anywho.....walked a bit this weekend at the Gathering as the site is a fair walk from the indoor/must use facilities.....but I ain't going to count it. It is interesting that I can ride my bike 35 miles with no problem, but a few tenths of a mile walk uphill has me winded.....
 
It took a LOT of effort to stay on the trail, my heart was pounding all the way down. I'll count the cider-pressing as 2 points, it was loads of fun and was way more tiring than playing ultimate frisbee for the same time usually is. I might have to get ahold of some pics of it.

2 + 19.66 = 21.66 BPs
 
KingMC said:
It took a LOT of effort to stay on the trail, my heart was pounding all the way down. I'll count the cider-pressing as 2 points, it was loads of fun and was way more tiring than playing ultimate frisbee for the same time usually is. I might have to get ahold of some pics of it.

2 + 19.66 = 21.66 BPs
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was kidding....I've done enough white-knuckle, legs-shaking, heart-pounding downhills to know that............





..............bUt that was only after pedalling uphill to the starting point......;).
 
If we had peddled up the trail first I'd've gotten twice the points, or we wouldn't've made it all the way up (like a few of the prior years) and we would've missed out on the awesomeness that is the top 3 miles of the trail. Perfect rolling single track with great banked corners and not as many rocks/roots/logs as the lower half. We learned from experience to shuttle up to the top. I can make the points only count as road bike points if it makes it more fair, I certainly understand the 'downhill isn't a workout' argument. ;)
 
Walked 7 miles today.

24 BPs to date.

Totally jealous of the mountain biking, though. I need to forgo all my fatherly duties one of these weekends and get back out there.
 
For commuting, I think a handlebar/self contained light makes a lot of sense. Mostly because they are quick and simple to remove from the bike if you need to lock it up. They also work pretty well if your routes are fairly straight, or are partially lit enough to make the lack of light while you're turning not a problem.

The mountain biking forums seemed to say a floody bar light for close up stuff, and a helmet light with more throw is "best". At least that seems to be the consensus of what "most" prefer, and I could see how that would work well.


I've been looking at the nitefighter BT21 for a helmet light, I'm just not sure quite what id do with the remote battery pack while I'm commuting, and it seems throwing it on the helmet might be a bit heavy. Anyway, I'll sure I'll develop more of an opinion as I use this one, and see if i still feel the need for a helmet light
 
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