Introductions - tell us about yourself

Use this board for general non-cycling-related chat, or to introduce yourself to the forum.
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Mick F
Spambuster
Posts: 56359
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Post by Mick F »

I maintain a bicycle.
Mick F. Cornwall
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gaz
Posts: 14649
Joined: 9 Mar 2007, 12:09pm
Location: Kent

Post by gaz »

Lawrie9 wrote:Not going to say anything about myself thus preferring to maintain my aura of mistique.


Ah, so you have an aura then. I'll keep an eye out for it, they're not too common. Hope it's a symmetrical one.
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Robert
Posts: 460
Joined: 13 Oct 2007, 8:58pm
Location: West Sussex

Post by Robert »

My real name: Robert

Age: 52 - in a couple of days - Feb 29th

Occupation: Market Researcher

Bikes/Cycling:

Dawes (not sure which) - built up with various bits & pieces.
Dawes Discovery Twin tandem
Ultimate Bikes Cobra 2000 - why did I buy that?
HP Velotechnik Street Machine
Airnimal Chameleon (x2) - in an attempt to up our mileage by doing the commute one way from Central London to Horsham - that's a bit daunting in the morning!

Planning a tandem ride from Horsham to our house in Tarn & Garonne, South West France in July. Really enjoying this forum, found it in the early stages of thinking about this summer's trip. Wish I'd seen the for sale section before I bought my Airnimal new - also wish I'd seen Si's posts about his falling apart!

Status: Live with partner
WesBrooks
Posts: 247
Joined: 7 May 2007, 4:56pm
Location: Merseyside

Post by WesBrooks »

Name: Wesley.

Age: 25

Occupation:

Engineering Researcher at University of Liverpool working on ultra light metallic lattice structures for aerospace. Mainly computer programming (Python) at the moment! Also doing a PhD part time in the same area.

Bike:

2005 Specialized Rockhopper Disc, slightly modded for a better (quicker!) commute. Shimano 2007 XT Group set (- front hub, shifters, and cassette), SRAM 11-32 cassette, Armadillo Nimbus tyres, and a Garmin 305 cycle computer.

Last year was my first year back in regular cycling for some years and got myself up to 100 mile weeks on the commutes and took part in the Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool ride (2hr50 saddle time). My only experience of racing is Cycle Speedway, about [scratches head] 10 years ago with Headly Hawks.

Status:

Living with my Girlfriend.
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gaz
Posts: 14649
Joined: 9 Mar 2007, 12:09pm
Location: Kent

Post by gaz »

Welcome to the forum.

Robert82 wrote:Age: 52 - in a couple of days - Feb 29th


52 in leap years, that's 208 isn't it?
sarahm
Posts: 74
Joined: 11 Feb 2008, 9:06pm

Post by sarahm »

My real name is still Sarah

Age 45

Occupation Carer in a Children's Hospice

Bikes
Giant Cypress which i find very hard work
Marlin Kentfield which I should have by the weekend yeh!

I only started cycling properly last year, still finding it hard work at the moment, burning legs and hyperventilating being the main problem. Just joined the local ctc cycling club, excellent. Molly on her fold up bike is now my new hero.
I'm doing a cycle challenge in November in Cuba for the charity Women for Women which helps raise money for research into genetic diseases, brain damage, cancer, infertility, still berth, anything really to do with women and babies.
troon25
Posts: 45
Joined: 6 Feb 2008, 2:14am
Location: South Ayrshire

Post by troon25 »

Hello to you all,

Having joined the forum on the 6th Feb, I never realised I should have introduced myself using this thread.

I have never used a forum in my life before , so please accept my belated apologies.

My real name is Brian

I am 49 years of age.

My bike is a 2001 Dawes Kara-Kum, which is used for my commute to work and in my dreams I would love to tour on it, but that is just not possible just now. This is my only bike and as it was bought as a present,
it would be a little ungrateful of me if I was to start looking for others when the one I have got is still in great shape and does all I want it to do. It gets me to work, gets me to the shops and I have great fun on it on day trips.
It is set up for touring rather than trekking.

My other interests include Golf and Caravanning and generally keeping fit.

Due to a back injury, I was not comfortable with drop bars. I tried the Kara-Kum and instantly found the comfort I required with its butterfly handlebars and when I got an opportunity of a new bike, (my wife got an interview for a new job, did not think she would get it and said that if she got the job, I could get the Kar-Kum. She started her new job and on my birthday 2002, I was taken to my LBS totally unaware that she had bought it, as I had been in to look at it and the owner had said it had been sold and a brand spanking new Kara-Kum was wheeled out and I was told to take it away), so I am not in the market for other bikes.

I am currently off work suffering with this recurring back problem , and have been viewing forums on cycling related topics since the turn off the year.

I must say that there are some that leave a lot to be desired and I would like to congratulate you ALL for helping to keep me stay as sane as possible while I am temporarily incapacitated, with all you topics, comments and advice and wit, that is so freely and readily given and for having such a well run , regulated forum.

Thanks for keeping me sane,

Brian.
thirdcrank
Posts: 36776
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Post by thirdcrank »

Brian

Welcome. And at the ripe age of 49, where were you in 1973 :?:
troon25
Posts: 45
Joined: 6 Feb 2008, 2:14am
Location: South Ayrshire

Post by troon25 »

Back in 1973 , I would be still at school, having a great time, playing rugby, golf and any other sports that came my way, cycling to school after my paper round and then my evening job delivering fish locally on the old bike with the huge basket on the front. I even think it was a Pashley. There was one day my mate, whom I shared the evening round with. got stopped and put off the road by the local Police as the bike had no brakes, the shop owner did not see the need to spend any money on it, after that we did get it repaired and it was like a dream after that.

At that time, I was saving up to buy a new slalom canoe, I had seen it in the local shop and fell in love with it, but it was about £120 , which in those days was fortune, so my parents told me I would need to save, I did and I got the dream canoe. The canoe had just been used at the Munich Olympics in '72 and this was it just getting released for general sale. It was made of Diolen which I believe was a forerunner to carbon fibre, which made it so light.

I left school and went off to the Merchant Navy and after getting my 3rd Mates FG ticket, I got made redundant, with no other jobs in the pipeline, I joined the Police and have been there ever since, with 6 years to go.

I started cycling again regularly, following my back injury about 10 years , as a way to improve general fitness, and as the saying goes , the rest is history and I try and use the bike as often as possible now and get withdrawal symptoms when I am not able to get out there.
thirdcrank
Posts: 36776
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Post by thirdcrank »

Sorry, I assumed you would have seen the coffee shop thread, where were you in 1973. If you have any pics of that year, that's the place. 8) You certainly seem to have packed a lot in.
troon25
Posts: 45
Joined: 6 Feb 2008, 2:14am
Location: South Ayrshire

Post by troon25 »

I see that now, but it was a good way to get the introduction going, will look and see if I have any photos from the era and will post on that thread accordingly.
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Robert
Posts: 460
Joined: 13 Oct 2007, 8:58pm
Location: West Sussex

Post by Robert »

gaz wrote:Welcome to the forum.

Robert82 wrote:Age: 52 - in a couple of days - Feb 29th


52 in leap years, that's 208 isn't it?


Surely not! I don't feel that young
urocyon

Post by urocyon »

Hello! I have been reading the forum for a little while now, and just joined up.

Real name: Rachel

Age: 33

Location: From Virginia, U.S.; living in Essex for about 4 years now.

Status: Married to a Swedish fellow for most of that time. (He's been living here longer, and seems to be in for the long haul.) This seems to confuse a lot of people, why exactly we're living in Romford. :D

Occupation: Currently off my latest moneymaking (ad)venture as a supermarket stock controller, due to making my back very unhappy indeed while shifting 25kg sacks of potatoes. Perhaps I should try harder to sit still long enough to turn a decent profit writing. I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up, which is seriously overrated, anyway!

Bikes/Cycling: I just started back cycling a few months ago--after more than 10 years--with an aging Carrera Maxima which had been sitting in someone's shed until a friend rescued it. My husband's initial idea was that we could share it (!), but I quickly appropriated it, since I spend a lot more time running errands around town and doing the shopping. Frankly, I think he was trying to be expansive, not actually expecting me to use it much. Little did he know! Apparently he has a previously unsuspected talent for locating free, neglected, shed-dwelling bikes, and acquired another one within a couple of weeks. We've started doing shortish (<10 mi.) rides together over the weekends, and are considering joining the Havering Section of the Essex DA for Sunday rides.

My own long-neglected talents as an amateur mechanic have certainly come in handy lately, rehabbing both the bikes! The Carrera has got a sticky rear shifter, and I'm still trying to decide if it's worth trying to replace bits after the shifter finally gives up the ghost, or whether I'd be better off just buying a new bike. Or possibly both. :) That frame must have been chosen by someone with longer arms. I'm still adding bits piecemeal, as they look necessary. The first priority was road tires all around, and I'm finally adding mudguards and rear pannier racks. That should be a huge improvement over doing most of the shopping with a handlebar basket and (overladen) backpack.

Using a bike as basic transport is new to me, and I've been enjoying it immensely. It's the best thing I've done in a long time. Neither one of us has a U.K. driving license yet--which I do want to remedy--and cycling has been a very welcome option, especially since most of the daily travel I've been doing lately is within a few miles' radius. There are enough other reasons that they'd require a whole other post!

Other Interests: Gardening, rambling/hiking (used to do more, living in the Alleghenies), fishkeeping--just to name a few.
AlbionLass

Post by AlbionLass »

Hi and welcome.


It's perfectly possible to live without a car
Neither myself or my other half have ever driven or owned a car, it never ever crossed my mind to want to learn to drive, bikes can get addictive though so be careful GMB (get more bikes) syndrome can strike when you least expect it. :wink:

Congrats to you and your partner for getting back in the saddle. :)
urocyon

Post by urocyon »

Thanks. :)

I've actually been impressed by how nonessential a car has seemed, since I moved here. DH has never owned a car, nor had a license, either--it's easy to get by without around Stockholm, which did look fairly bike friendly as well. Rural Virginia, though, is another matter entirely. :shock: I just considered a car a basic necessity, and still don't trust drivers on some of the narrow, winding roads at home--especially since they're not used to looking out for cyclists. Public transport and actually seeing other cyclists out on the road helps a lot. Keeping a car seems *much* more expensive here, too, so I'm just as glad to avoid that. As it is, I'd like to be legal to drive here if need be, but am planning just to hire a car as needed for longer trips and transporting bulky items. Though a trailer should work for some of those!

Ha, I'm already fighting GMBA (accessories) syndrome. Full-fledged GMB couldn't be too far behind. :lol:
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