Hi everyone! I´m back in town! First of all I hope Juan Carlos is in such a good condition he can be on the road again or planning to be in the next month. I hope he is fully recovered or in the very best way to be with us asap. Please Chain, tell me how are things goin´!. David your holidays in Galicia were magnificent. I knew you wouldn´t regret to have your bike with you in such a all-mountain-biked soil There are certain words that define wonderful landscapes, local paths or nice spots.Corredoira is one of them. I remember to hear that word when I was 8 and of course It was in Galicia. At that time I was so unfamiliar with the local animals over there that I picked up a babosa on one of those corredoiras I didn´t know what a babosa was, kind of slug, so I got them and got licked by them!!!. So, my experience walking or riding on that corredoiras (corredores in castillian spanish) is linked to their slugs. Anyway, Beautiful places to ride sometimes a little scary to ride in the night due to the abundant vegetation around them (Galicia has a long tradition as a magic land in which the beyond is always a reference a land of meigas and queimada, a land of mystery a land of the Santa-Compaña!!!), but ok during the daytime!. I love Galicia´s tradition, landscape, food and people A very enjoyable part of Spain to ride a bike!. :dance On my holydays I went to Alicante, Andorra, Berlin and Milano. Except in Milano, I was able to get a bike whenever I wanted, so I think I stay in good shape well, that´s to say 22Kmts/h Hybryd average speed Or may be I´m stronger now and average 23 I have to check out my new average speed after being riding every other day (let´s put it that way ) :defiesta But I miss Madrid a lot when I am 3 or 4 weeks out!!!. Yeah, I know Galicia has a lot of corredoiras and paths to be ridden, but a ride over the Colmenar bike line towards La Sierra or towards La Casa de Campo is worth 12 rides elsewhere!... At least for me!:grin: I love almost every place in Spain, but good to know I´m in Madrid again!. How about you guys?. Did you enjoy your holidays as well?. Kona, did you go anywhere? It´s a pleasure to know about you all again!!! Cheers!
Hey Ángel! Good to hear from you again. Sounds like you had a great summer, and glad to hear you managed to keep pedaling throughout most of your journeys. Like I said before, I did a lot of biking in Galicia, and in fact I got a few pictures so I'll hang up another one here. This is me going up Montefaro with La Coruña in the background. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Biking in Galicia was great because it was a welcome change of pace, but like you I'm glad to be back in Madrid. I have to say though that coming from Galicia, where everything is green, Madrid feels like a desert. But I am gradually getting back on my bike and into my stomping grounds (pedaling places :smile, and exploring some new ones as well. Last weekend I went up La Morcuera on my mountain bike, then rode to La Canencia, then back to Miraflores where we started from. So that was new. Before I'd only gone to La Morcuera on my road bike. I have talked to Juan Carlos recently and he says recovery is very slow and boring. I think he's still a long way from getting back on his bike, he's mainly working on walking and just getting around on foot. But he's gradually recovering!
What a wonderful place to go ride. Great pics mate!. We are looking forward to seeing all kind of beautiful photos you have from your holidays in Galicia. Going from green to greenish is not so bad. It would be if you lived in Arizona. Do you remember Ivan´s words about deserts and places like that in the States???. Well, even in places like Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Colorado, etc, there are nice places to ride in the desert!. All you have to take with you is some extra water... :cunaoo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4dIO21Nh8A&feature=related
¡Awesome video! Good footage and music. That sort of thing really moves me. Speaking of moving, today I went on a ride from Cercedilla to Fuenfría and then down the "Carril del Gallo" (and to more places). A REALLY great ride. Grueling uphills and hair-raising downhills. And today is your lucky day: a guy had a camera! So here I am negotiating an enduro style downhill. By chainring at 2011-09-11 By chainring at 2011-09-11 If you want to see all of the pictures, go here. http://www.foromtb.com/showthread.php?274841-Las-Tablas-Sanchinarro-Pinar-Chamart%EDn/page155 So have you been out and about on your bike much these days?
Wooooow!!! Spectacular downhill there! If anybody is asking what a MTB is capable of, just show him these photos! Not only in the road, but you are quick as hell in the dirt too. This is the real scary movie, not that one shown on television. Well done, you´re now one step away from becoming a real bi-bicyclist. Good at two completely different disciplines. No matter if it´s the road or the mountain, you are the Bi-lingual Bi-bicyclist!!! :lol: I haven’t been out on my bike as much as I´d like to, but can´t complain… For sure my rides are not that spectacular… Even If I wanted them to be, I have no technic to even try to emulate some of them at that pace… I can imagine how slow my descents could be!!! LOL. So it seems like if you are a more trained biker in the mountain after your holidays in Galicia. Your rodie could be jealous of your MTB!. :scratch Be careful not to have a fight between them while you’re not at home! PD.- How did you get Cercedilla? By train? YOU DON¨T TELL ME BY BIKE!!! Cheers!
That's pretty good: I'm bi-lingual and a bi-cyclists. You're right, in Galicia I only had my mountain bike so I rode it almost every day. Now I feel more confident on more technical sections. But I'm going to have to be careful not to get overconfident for that will surely lead to a face plant. In any case, we didn't ride to Cercedilla and then tackle those mountains. That would REALLY be tough: we drove there and back. So where have you been on your bike these days? Maybe we can go to Sport Zone again sometime. I'm thinking of getting elbow pads and knee pads. Well, I'm thinking of getting lots of things but I'm a bit short of funds after the holiday. But we'll see!
Ey Thesxer! Didn´t u wanna learn some english? Take a look at that word from Chain!: FacePlant (LOL). It´s our “Darse de bruces contra el suelo”! Nice expression in Spanish too. I´m thinking of “bruces” but it´s impossible for me to even imagine where on earth that word comes from!. Anyway, it´s a funny way of saying something painful in both languages. Talking of the devil, I must confess I had a face plant accident 4 days ago. :cursing Actually my FISRT accident -whatever the damage was- ever!. I was in my way back home, It was a downhill in the bike line… absolutely NOTHING around me. My bike (it was not my hybrid but another older one) was descending quickly and furious because it was late in the afternoon… Suddenly a kid (Oh my GOD another kid on the road… I remember my first incident –not accident- was involving a pretty sweaty girl) appeared from a corner made of vegetation… In a split second I ram into him… well not him (I would probably kill the little thing) but his bike´s front wheel!. It was enough to have my first face plant. :angry Luckily neither the kid nor I were severe injured… Well the kid was not injured at all (it was a good thing to know because he could be severely injured if I´d ram into him). I took a long way on the floor… My derailleur bended but nothing broke. I was in pain for two or three days after the accident but luckily that´s all…:wink: The kid was a very well educated one. I´m sure he was afraid to see how the accident was inevitable. I try to avoid it but it was completely impossible to maneuver in less than a second since I saw the kid till I was able to do something to avoid it. After the accident, the kid and I had a chat to never forget what and why it happened. He was a lovely and well educates child… so I hope he never does it again. The lesson for him to be learned was SAFETY FIRST… funny thing is this lesson was on me! So, be careful not only in the dirt but especially when you see a pretty little thing riding his/her bike! In my holidays I rode my bike in Alicante (it´s awesome how far you can go on a flat soil!), Andorra (no flat at all!) and Berlin (nice place to ride a bike!) Of course, I´ll go with you to SZ or somewhere else where my pace is quick enough to follow you, whenever you wish. Cheers!
Nice to hear from you Danzibao. Feel free to write anytime! That sounds REALLY scary interaptor. I'm REALLY glad you're OK. And the kid too. And it was nice he was so polite. I also crashed into a guy a few months ago and likewise, a really nice kid ("kid", he was probably in his early twenties). You know, sometimes you (the universal "you" i.e. everybody) have an accident when you least expect it, that is, in the easy sections. Juan Carlos fell in an easy section in the Casa de Campo. One time after a challenging ride I saw a guy lose control of his bike and fall on a fairly flat dirt road. I guess it's dangerous to let your guard down. In your case you were probably fairly relaxed when suddenly this kid comes out from nowhere :alloreto. I guess you just can't too careful. In any case, glad you're well!
Thank you David , Yeah; it was a pretty scary situation. I´m not bad at quick reactions, but this time I had no time to do anything. The kid just appeared from nowhere. The worst unexpected situation, you have no time to do an elusive maneuver, just to break a little too little I´m afraid. :rasca Maybe I speeded down 4 or 5 Kmts/h, no more- before the impact is imminent, and you are aware of it in milliseconds It´s funny how quick your brain works It was less than 1 second footage, but as it was clear I had no option but to impact, my brain was telling me the best way to do it. In this case, all I wanted to do was to avoid injuring the kid and prepare myself for the face plant. :???: Btw, Although it´s not an important accident, I´ve noticed my confident down so I´m even slower than I used to be!. I´m also tougher at breaks!!!. My granny average speed is history. Now I average like a Speedy-Gonzalez ant does. If I persist on this involution, worms will easily overtake me!... Well, in your own words overconfidence is the first step to an accident, so I should be miles away from the next one!.I guess these minor accidents are periodically present in a biker´s life, but I paid my dues to finally be an accident-free biker, at least for 1 year, I hope Murphy and God will take care of us. 8) Cheers!
Sounds to me like you've lost your biking confidence. You know what they say, when you fall, get back up and keep trying (riding in this case). It's not always easy but the alternative is being a fearful biker. And fear sometimes brings the very thing you're afraid of. Better to be confident. Things will go better. But not overconfident either. I guess it's all about balance. So if you find yourself being passed by elderly women with canes, then it's time to step on the gas and find your limits!! :biker
I´m thinking of a secret weapon for my hybrid to be a little faster… It´s not Cancellara´s electric stealth engine. Can U dig it? 
just came across this post and thought would be great to un-rust my English. Anyone riding on a Wtb Rocket saddle? my Duopower needs replacement and i have heard good reviews about the Wtb.
Hi santaheckler. Sorry not to be able to help you on your question. I´m afraid the possibilities for us to answer it are quite remote. Actually, there are just 3 or 4 of us who regularly write in here, so the chances to have the saddle you´re looking for are a wee close to zero. You never Know, but this thread is better for you to un-rust your English than asking for specific stuff, so feel free to introduce yourself and your bike. For any further information on that saddle you can go to the Spanish section on accessories and the like. Now, tell us a little about you!
Hi santaheckler. Welcome to here. That's a pretty funny nick you have: heckling poor Saint Nick. Well, I guess he deserves it for breaking and entering. Sorry I can't help you with the WTB saddle. Like Interaptor says, it's a bit specific for this thread where as often as not there are just two or three of us commenting. So tell us about yourself! On another note, I went to Festibike last Saturday and saw hundreds of bright shining high-tech bikes to kill for. And I was lucky enough to go with some people really in the know, so I learned a lot. You know, I'm considering getting my first full suspension one of these days, so I really got an idea of what's out there. I'll probably end up with an all mountain with 120 mm of travel, tho there are those who say I should go for more travel, like 140 or 150. Maybe a Lapierre Zesty or X-flow, or the Merida 120, or maybe even a Rockrider 9.2, tho there are some who put that bike down, but it looks decent to me, and a good value for "just" 1,400 euros. And if it ever goes on sale... Speaking of bikes, this is the time of the year when the 2012 models come out so you should be able to get the 2011 model really cheap, but that doesn't seem to be the case this year. Apparently they all sold out faster than umbrellas in a storm. It would seem the bike industry is thriving despite the gloomy economy.
thanks Interaptor, really need to refresh what I learnt in my English philology degree almost 20 years ago , uff, time flies. Chances for me to return to teaching are almost impossible now, as crisis slashes affect education as well. I´m building now my 2nd SC heckler bike. I have a heckler since 98 and wanted a frame replacement, so I got a 06 heckler through this forum and I´m building it myself when I have some free time. Just some cables and will be able to ride again... i´ll be back to this thread to read what you have to say guys PD: santaheckler stands for Santa coloma de gramenet and my Heckler bike. I had never looked "heckler" up in the dictionary.
Oh, I get it now. The brand of your bike is Santa Cruz and the model is Heckler. And you must be from Santa Coloma de Gramenet. Sounds to me like you're a big fan of Heckler bikes. There was a guy around here not too long ago (maybe he's still around) who just LOVES Kona bikes. In any case, if I were you I'd get those cables you're missing, and go for a ride! P.S We'll be happy to help you "unrust" your English.
Thanks a lot for your introduction. What´s the point of cleaning something that has not a trace of rust?. Rusted English? My ass your English is rusted… Mine is. At least it sounds good to me. Maybe Chain could tweak your nose on this, but he rubs shoulders with the real bilingual elite around here… I mean his mother tongue is English and he has been used Spanish in Spain for a long time… You know both of you are lucky people. Your dreams are coming true… Chain is about to have his full-suspension bike and you are some cables away from being on the road again… If only all dreams were that easy!. Bikes are worth it. Definitely they are. No matter what kind of brand if any you are keen on, your dreams are so easily to achieve… I like this biking world. I´m sure Chain will also enjoy the time before getting his new double suspension bike… you know, visiting places, stores and lbs is a passionate thing to do for a real biker like him. I´m glad to see how you all are so happy with such a simple thing… I´m beginning to think bikes are not simple things! Changing gears, I already have my secret weapon to increase my average speed… If my idea is correct, tomorrow I will be at least 2 Kmts/h faster than today on my hybrid… No drugs, no electric engine nor nothing but a simple device… Guess what it is?. Remember, it´s the simplest thing that counts… Cheers!
Wow, interaptor, you're really coming up with some good idioms related to body parts: my ass, tweak your nose, rub shoulders, Let's see, a simple device that makes you go faster. I'm intrigued, tho I thought maybe you bought thinner tires and inflated them to the maximum pressure. Or you reduced weight by taking off all accessories including your water bottle, and all your clothes too, ha ha ha. Maybe you're going to put your large dog on a leash and he's going to pull you along. But those things aren't really devices, so I'm stumped. As you know, I have my sights set on a new full suspension bike, but I'm just playing it by ear, especially since some are so dear, don't want to pay through the nose for one. So my advice: keep your eye on the ball, your ear to the ground, and your nose to the grindstone, tho it might be hard to do all that at the same time :cunaoo P.S. So how's that for an overdose of idioms? P.P.S. Sorry santaheckler. We're not usually like this.
